“Lu?”
“Hmmm”
“Look at me.”
Her emerald eyes fix onto mine, huge and so striking against her pale complexion and she leans her head to focus upon me, at the obviously serious expression on my face. “What, Seb? You’re freaking me out here…”
“I’m devastated at the loss of our baby - I’ll be here to support you everyday I promise you that, and when and if, in the future, you can ever consider trying again, I’ll support you in that too - your choice. I know you probably can’t think about that right now, but, Lu these few months with you; us as a couple, lovers and friends has been… well words can’t express how amazing.” I stop and consider my next words carefully, taking a deep breath. “You’re the one, baby - you’re it! I knew it when I saw you ten years ago, when I threw a drink over you in the cave bar and let you walk out that door with another man like a complete dick - I knew it when I came home from Dubai before you propositioned me, but that proposition was my way in at last. I knew it when I saw you in that pearl dress, wiggling your sexy arse and walking away from me with more sass than any woman I’ve ever met and when we danced to Nina Simone in The Maldives, under the stars. I know it every day I look at your gorgeous face and hear your dirty laugh and I know it now as I watch you fight to get through this horrendous trauma, my respect for your strength is immense. I know that you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
Tears begin to fill her eyes, turning them to liquid and one slithers down her cheek and I pause. “I love you so much it breaks me, Lu. I’m ridiculously addicted to you. My lover. My best friend… my wife?”
Lu’s eyes well. Her brows rise as she computes the meaning of my words. “Your wife?
“Marry me. Make me the happiest man alive and marry me. It’s been ten years in the post - marry me.”
She nods immediately, scrunching that gorgeous snub nose of hers. “Yes! I’ll marry you, baby.”
I expel the breath I’ve been unknowingly holding. She is mine. She loved me and we had a future, despite some bastard’s attempts to put an end to it all - we were impenetrable.
My beautiful, lady. My life.
I slide onto the narrow bed, drawing her body against me, planting kisses on her face and head. “I love you, Lu and we’ll get through this and we’ll have our revenge. I promise you that. It’s you and me, always and forever, baby.”
As he watches Sebastian Silver curl up with his Lucia, his lip snarls in contempt for the man who could not seem to take the fucking hint. Was he that dense?
He must be - he’d just looked out of the bloody window and not seen him hiding behind the pillar next to the bench! They obviously couldn’t see out into the darkness but with the bedside lamp creating a halo of light around his love and all the flashing buttons from her medical equipment he had a great view of them.
Yet again he was watching from afar - on the fucking outside looking in. When oh when would he be the one by her bedside, mopping her brow and bending her to his will? Hey? Wasn’t it his time now? Silver had had his chance and look what a fuck up he’d made of things. He couldn’t even protect her from a little car accident. She would be much safer with him. Yes - Silver had served his time and needed to piss off and let him step in now.
His eyes are drawn to the rose that takes pride of place on her bedside table. That fat bitch of a nurse that wouldn’t let him hand deliver it had at least put it in a narrow vase and placed the card on show for all to see. These roses were pricey but he wanted people to see eventually that he was as good as Sebastian Silver, he could do classy.
Shame he couldn’t put a microphone in this one - it wouldn’t have worked anyway with all the hospital equipment so would have been a waste of money. Not that she wasn’t worth every penny. His car had been towed away tonight, and was in the shop now waiting to be fixed - that would cost a bomb but would have been worth it to ensure she was de-silvered by the time he had his way with her.
This message had been short but ever so sweet. She needed time to get her head around things - he wasn’t totally without feeling. She would soon see that it had all been for the best.
He’d waited hidden in the hospital, to hear snippets of her updates during her admittance and subsequent surgery, and had managed to avoid contact with all of her friends and family - no small feat as several of them would have recognised him and his cover would have been blown.
He hadn’t wanted to cause her so much damage - just enough of a crash to induce a miscarriage and get rid of Silver’s little bastard. Perhaps he should have resorted to pushing her down the stairs as he’d originally planned? Maybe that wouldn’t have caused the damage to her head? He didn’t want her to be scarred - well not on the outside anyhow.