Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 244(@200wpm)___ 195(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
“So do I.”
Damien sighs. There’s something in it, the way it catches. This is the first we’ve spoken since coming out here. Before, we were in bed, lying quietly together. I drifted off and woke to him staring down at me, his lips curved into a just-Damien smile, a smirk, a possessive twist of his lips.
“What?” I say, looking at him.
“He’s coming back soon, Liliana. I spoke to him before he left.”
“You did?”
He nods. “On the phone. I told him what I told you, how I feel, and I said I wouldn’t do anything until he gave his blessing.”
Panic hits me. “But we did do something.”
He shakes his head. “Not that, Liliana. Something else. Something that will make this real.”
Before I can answer, Henrik appears on the porch, walking over to Damien. He leans down and slips something into Damien’s hand.
“As requested?” Damien says.
“Of course.”
“Thank you.”
I raise my eyebrow at Damien. “What was that?”
He smirks, his eyes glistening. “A secret. It depends on what he says.”
Damien gestures behind me. At first, I think he’s joking, playing a trick. But then I see he really means it.
I turn, watching as a car drives up the path. Uncle Nick sits behind the wheel. I spring up to be sure it’s him. He brings the car around and climbs out, leaning on the roof as he looks up at us.
“What did you say, Liliana?” he calls over.
“At least come up here and sit down,” I say, rushing over to him and softly taking his uninjured elbow.
“When he told you,” Uncle Nick says as he follows me to the porch. “What did you say?”
I don’t have to ask what he means.
He’s talking about the need, the life, us, me, and Damien.
“I told him the truth,” I say once Uncle Nick has sat down. “I told him I feel the same. I felt it too, Uncle Nick. If he told you, then you know what I’m talking about. You know how I feel.”
Nick frowns up at me, but then his face softens. “I mentioned, once, that your dad wasn’t trying to run from the Cartel. Do you know what he was running from?”
“No,” I whisper.
“Himself,” Uncle Nick says, looking at Damien for a moment.
They exchange a glance, seeming to come to some sort of understanding. Uncle Nick’s face hardens, and I imagine him thinking, You better take care of her.
He turns to me again. “I’m sick of it, Liliana, of running from myself. Your dad wanted to leave the life because he thought it would make him sober. But who knows if that would’ve worked? He could’ve changed. I can change. I’m done blaming Damien for what the Cartel did. I’m done pretending he’s not a good man just because some bad things happened.”
“Does that mean…,” Damien stands, taking a few steps forward. “Nick, do I have your blessing? I have to make this official. I can’t wait any longer.”
Uncle Nick smiles softly, his eyes glassy as though he’s going to cry.
“I’m happy for you. For both of you.”
“What’s happening?” I whisper, my heart thudding as I try to keep up with it all.
With what Nick said or implied, what’s Damien going to ask me?
He’s looking at me so seriously, the sunlight making his hair shimmer. His lips are shaped into that just-Damien smile, except there’s less smirk in there now.
It’s like genuine joy is shining out of him.
“I love you, Liliana,” he says, stepping forward and taking my hands in his. “I have loved you since the moment I saw you at the party. I wanted to say it…sooner, earlier, but I couldn’t. Not until Nick had made his decision. But now I’m free to tell you. I love you. I’ll never stop. From now to the end of our lives, I will love you with every part of me.”
“I love you too,” I whisper, my voice clashing with sobs. “So much.”
“Good.”
His smile widens as he lowers himself to one knee.
When he reaches into his pocket, I flap my hands around, feeling like a freaking dork but not caring. I look at Uncle Nick, and he smiles in return, with no resentment, no hate in his eyes at all. He looks lighter somehow, despite his injuries.
The diamond glints up at me as I turn back as Damien opens the ring box.
Henrik, I remember.
“You arranged everything,” I say, tears sliding down my cheeks, sobs trying to turn my words meaningless.
“I had to act fast,” he says passionately. “After the warehouse, after I almost killed that bastard….”
“Thank you for that,” Nick says quietly. “For putting a fright in against Gabriel. For getting rid of him.”
Nick laughs and raises his hands, rising to his feet.
“And on that note, I’m going for a walk. See you soon.”
I giggle as he wanders down the porch, walking onto the grounds.
Damien is grinning when I return my gaze to him, the ring box still in his hands. “After that,” he goes on, “I knew I couldn’t avoid this anymore. I’d go crazy if I tried to. There was no way around it, Liliana, there is no way around it.”