Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“Stop!” I shout through our punches, but Damian is a man possessed, and then he’s flying through the air, trying to hit me. I’m quick to step out of the way, but then I hear him scream. He can’t stop, and he’s going to fall.
I run to grab him, my body sliding across the concrete. Skin rips as I move, but my fingers catch onto his.
“I have you,” I say, my torso now hanging over the edge of the building, the only thing keeping my brother from falling is my hand. “Give me your other hand.” I’ll need both to save him.
Damian looks at me with clear eyes for the first time.
“Why are you trying to save me?” he asks.
“Because I love you,” I answer truthfully, and his brows knit together. “Give me your hand.” He doesn’t, and it gets harder and harder to hold on as my fingers lose their purchase.
“Is it true? Is what you said true?” he asks.
“It is. I’m sorry. Now give me your hand so we can move past this.”
He starts to lift his hand up but then stops.
“Goddammit, Damian, give me your hand.”
I see the moment it happens … when his eyes grow wet with unshed tears.
I shake my head. “No, Damian. Please—”
“Too much has happened.”
“That’s not true. Please give me your hand. Regardless of the past, I love you …”
“How can you love a monster like me?” he says, and then he lets go.
“No!” I try to grab him, but it’s too late. My torso starts to slip, but then someone is tugging my leg.
“I got you,” I hear Cristian say as he continues to pull me back until my body is secure on the concrete.
My brother is dead.
This time, for good.
54
Alaric
After what we have both have been through, I decide there is still one more thing we have to do before we can move forward with our lives. Now that I have given the business to Cristian, time is a luxury I have, and I plan to spend every moment with Phoenix and my baby when he or she comes.
Since Phoenix is still fairly early in her pregnancy, this is the safest time for me to take her this far from shore.
We are both still grieving even though it’s been a month.
The first few weeks on the yacht were hard. But eventually, we both found a way for our hearts to heal.
I never did tell her where we were going, and when the island comes into focus, I wonder how she will react.
There is a very important question I need to ask her, and I can’t imagine another place to ask.
The boat stops, and we drop anchor. Since the island isn’t developed yet, we will need a tender to get back there.
“Where are we?” she says from behind me, and I turn to face her.
“You know where we are,” I say, moving closer and taking her hand in mine. I lift it up and place a kiss on each knuckle.
“What are we doing here?”
“I thought you might like to see it. With eyes no longer clouded by fear.”
She inclines her head and thinks about it for a minute. At first, I think she might say no. That it’s still too soon or she needs more time, but then she nods.
It doesn’t take us long before the Zodiac pulls up to the beach. I get out first, and then I lift my hand out to grab her.
The island is exactly how we left it. Still uninhabitable and it never will be. That’s the beauty of the island. It’s not meant to sustain life, just give it. And that’s what it did. It gave me life. It gave me Phoenix, and most importantly, it gave me the baby we will have soon. The island will never be a place that we can call home, but it can be a place that we hold in our memories forever.
A place where all my dreams were born.
Together we walk the grounds, remembering every moment we were together, and then we get to the cave.
So right there, in the cave where I first made love to her, I get down on one knee.
Her mouth trembles as she realizes what I’m doing. Then I take her hand and place an oval diamond on her finger.
Tears stream down her face. “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” I ask, and then stand.
“Yes,” she says through tears and then lifts up on her tiptoes to kiss me. “Where and when?”
“I was thinking back on the yacht?”
“Like now?” she asks.
“Well, we would have to leave. Are you ready to leave?”
She looks around the cave and then nods. “I’m ready to put this part of our lives behind us and move forward with you, wherever that may be.”