Damian grins. “Only for the groom.” He comes inside and shuts the door.
We look at each other. I know what he’s thinking, because I see in his eyes what I feel in my heart. We’re back under a blanket in the dark, holding hands for comfort. All we have is each other, but in our make-believe tent we’re safe. We came a long way. I rescued myself with my fairytales, and Damian saved himself with his truth. We made it. We created the realities we wanted. We’re okay. We’ll always be, because no matter what, no one can take this strength away from us.
“Zee.” His eyes glitter with pride. “You’re lovely.”
“Isn’t she?” Lina says, blinking away fresh tears.
A look passes between them, something I can’t decipher, but it’s profound.
“I have something for you,” he says, taking a small box from his pocket and handing it to me.
“What is it?”
“Open it.”
I flip back the lid. A pink heart shaped diamond on a thin platinum chain glitters on the velvet cushion. My breath catches. I know how rare pink diamonds are, how precious.
“Damian,” I exclaim. “You shouldn’t have.”
He takes the necklace from the box and motions for me to turn around. When he fastens the chain around my neck, I trace the heart with a finger. I can’t help but admire the beautiful color and perfect cut.
“It’s you,” he says, meeting my gaze in the mirror. “A real princess.”
The bells toll again.
“It’s time,” Lina says with a tremor in her voice, bouncing Josie on her hip.
Damian kisses my cheek. “Thank you for giving us this. Photos could never compare.”
My cheeks heat when I think about the lies, but then I push it away. Today is a day for the truth. “It was Maxime’s idea.”
Lina hands me the bouquet of roses tied with a pink ribbon.
Damian offers his arm. “Ready?”
I smile.
When the tenor starts singing Bon Iver’s I Can’t Make You Love Me, Damian leads me down the aisle. There aren’t many guests, mostly our work colleagues and associates, but the people who mean the most to me in the world are here, and that’s all that matters.
I lift my eyes and look toward the end. Maxime stands in a pool of angelic light that fans through the window. In tailored pants and a fitted waistcoat underneath a swallowtail jacket, he looks cultured, beautiful, untamed, and wild.
The crazy beat of my heart evens out. When his gray gaze homes in on me, isolating me in his vision like nothing else exists, everything falls into place.
His eyes shine with a possessive light as he tracks my movement. When we stop in front of him, he only breathes one word, but it’s charged with the history of a lifetime. “Zoe.”
Damian shakes his hand. “You know what’ll happen if you don’t take care of her.”
“You don’t have to worry,” Maxime says. “No one and nothing can ever mean more to me.”
When Damian, Lina, and Josie join Josh, who sits in the front row with his nanny, Maxime folds his broad hand around mine. His skin is warm and calloused. Those skilled fingers can play many different sensations over my body, but right now his touch is gentle, a promise to protect and hold.
Lowering his lips to my ear, he whispers in his seductive accent, “You’re beautiful. So damn much. Just like a flower.” His voice turns hoarse. “I’m never letting you go. You know that, right?” He leans closer, letting our shoulders brush. “You know what you’re promising, don’t you?”
I stare up at his face. He’s a fallen angel in a holy place with a ring in his pocket and a question in his eyes.
When he asks me for my answer, I’m going to say yes.
Every time.
That little saying about being careful of what you wish? It’s science, really. We attract what we think. That’s the law of energy. Our deepest desires shape our paths. I dreamed about a prince. It’s the villain who found me. It just took me a while to figure out it’s the villain I wanted all along. My light attracts his darkness. His darkness is a canvas for my light.
I’ve waited for him for a long time. He conquered my heart in a dark broom closet. He broke it in real life. He took me far away and gave me beautiful dresses and lots of pretty glasses. He mended my heart with the biggest sacrifice a man can make. He gave me a fairytale, and he never broke those glasses.
Our love isn’t conventional. It’s so much more. It’s bigger than us, even bigger than life. It’s a bond that follows soul mates beyond death into eternity. Our love shines like a diamond. It’s the kind that lasts, because diamonds are forever.
~ THE END ~
Bonus Epilogue (Lina)
Lina
Damian’s deep timbre comes from down the hallway. “The spaceship landed on Earth, and the Goollie monster lifted the hatch.” His voice deepens. “I’m hungry. Bring me some toys to eat.”
I make my way to the bedroom and peer around the frame. The sight melts my heart. Damian lies in the middle of our bed with Josh under one arm and Josie curled up against him on the other side. Josh’s eyelashes brush his cheeks. His chest rises and falls with even breaths. Josie’s eyes are closed too. The bottle has slipped from her perfect little rosebud mouth, but she clutches it like a life buoy in her tiny fist.
Damian catches my gaze over the book. It’s a giant book of sci-fi tales, a gift from their beloved Auntie Zee. His lips tilt into a sexy smile. With those new reading glasses, he looks extra hot, like a rocket scientist with a male stripper’s body.
I lean a shoulder on the frame. “I think they’re sleeping.”
He gives me a sheepish grin. “Have been for about fifteen minutes.”
My smile is soft. It comes easy. He has that effect on me. “You’re still reading.”
“The story was almost finished. I read
