Total pages in book: 206
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 961(@200wpm)___ 769(@250wpm)___ 641(@300wpm)
“It’s beautiful, Tommy.”
He kissed my cheekbone, kissing a tear away. “The way you trace my ink all the time after we make love, I want you tracing your name on me, too. So, I had it written just the way you’d do it. Went through your boxes to get a writing sample. I’m branded. You own me, baby girl. Body and soul.”
“Will you marry me?” I asked, through tears, looking at my Ice Cream Parlor Hottie, my dream man.
Every time he gave me a big smile, I thought it was the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. But right then, lying together in the little bed in the hayloft where I’d truly fallen in love with him, he gave me the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen yet and then he said, “I’ll think about it.”
I scrunched my nose up at him and he leaned over and kissed it.
Later that morning we drove back to the city to finish packing our things. We were starting over somewhere else. We didn’t want to live in the house Tom bought, the house that I now knew was bought because it was my own mother’s dream house. Tom’s distorted entitlement put all this in motion and we wanted nothing to do with it. We were getting on a plane and taking some time for one another before the family flew down to meet us for our wedding.
I went into the kitchen and Sarah handed me a cup of coffee. When I took a sip, I could swear there was not a grain of sugar in it. My eyes narrowed at her and she gave me a sly smile and turned around and resumed packing a box of dishes. I was about to reach for the sugar but noticed the sugar bowl had already been packed away. I sat down at the island and decided to see if I could live without my three sugars. I took a second sip and really, it wasn’t all that bad.
Epilogue
We planned to get married in Costa Rica with Tommy’s siblings, Eddy, Bianca and Nino, Sarah, Lisa, and all the kids. Tommy and I are moving there for now.
I haven’t said goodbye to my old friends and my old life; I just can’t go there right now. It’s too raw and I’m too different.
My friends are in school, dating, working part-time jobs, and being teenaged girls. I’ve changed so much in the last few months. I wrote Rose and Cal a letter, it was vague but heartfelt. I mailed it to them before we left. I do hope I can see them again.
Dario’s taken the company reins and he’s going to transition it into something clean and wholesome and then he says he’s going to sell it. He’s thinking of becoming an airline pilot. That’s what he dreamt of ever since he was a small child. I asked Tommy what he dreamt of. He never answered the question honestly, gave me a storybook ‘happily ever after with my ice cream parlor maid’ kind of answer. I know that’s not true, because he never envisioned himself settling down before he met me. I know he envisioned himself at the helm of Ferrano Enterprises.
I don’t know what he’ll do with his life, but I know he is too driven and too smart to stay idle for long. He needs time to heal, to figure out what he wants. We both do. Then we’ll see what pearls life’s oyster offers us.
My father is still incarcerated, but at least he’s still alive, thanks to Tommy. Tommy’s father’s death along with the death of the guards that were also there was reported in the newspapers as having to do with mafia business gone wrong and related to a cartel in Mexico. I guess JC, whoever he is, has good clean-up skills. Thank God Tommy had the foresight to put a GPS in my engagement ring. It was crazy stalkerish of him to do it, but it probably saved my life. Would Tom have killed me to teach his son a lesson? We’ll never know.
Since we’ve been here in paradise, Tommy’s been having nightmares and I finally convinced him to get therapy after he woke up in the throes of one of those nightmares with my throat in his hand as I began turning blue. He agreed, after a big argument where I stood my ground and won, to start video counselling sessions with a therapist in the UK that has excellent credentials and experience in helping men like Tommy come to terms with their dominating personalities.
I don’t know if it’s the counselling, the guilt, or the grief over all that happened but he hasn’t wanted to play any sex games. I’ve tried to initiate them for stress relief, or thinking it’d help bring his spark back but right now he’s quiet, subdued, reflective, and seems to be all about the vanilla. He’s sweet and attentive, but he’s also sad and troubled and he’s not the same. I’m missing the blackjack berry thunder. We just have to give it time. I hope. I know he feels regret for all the pain and hurt and I know he loves me but I kind of miss my dominator. Yes, he’s possessive and protective but he’s trying to be too… vanilla.