She did mean it. She still loved him, despite this show he was making of himself. Despite how weak minded he could be. His own family hadn't been able to cope with it. He'd tried and failed to hide it from Hadley. And then Pauline outright refused to talk about it; she would have been so angry if he'd even tried. But Abi was just standing with him, talking of love.
There was a tiny flicker of pleasure across his expression, and then he gave her a little nod of confirmation. "Of course I do," he told her. "Of course I love you," he added, keeping close to her. One more hurdle and they could be home. Away from all of this terrible mistake. It was just a building.