Page 58 of Sinful Storms

“Okay.” I cleared my throat to get rid of the lump. “Ready to face my parents?”

I didn’t give her any time to stress about it, quickly tugging her towards them. When we reached them, I ducked down so I could see beneath the golf umbrella they were huddling under.

Might as well get the news over with as soon as possible. “Mother. Father. Do you recognise this?” I tapped the lightning bolt that lay against Aria’s breastbone.

My mother gasped, her hand flying to her heart. “Your grandmother’s necklace.”

“Yeah. I got it from Jack’s safe during the party. It legally belongs to me—Father gave me an inventory of all the pieces I was due to inherit when I came of age, and I knew this one had been stored at the manor, so you didn’t take it for yourself.” I shot her an apologetic look. “I didn’t actually think you would really take it, of course. I never even had a say in where all the pieces were stored.” I sucked in a breath. It was the moment of truth. “I hadn’t ever considered giving it to anyone before, but as soon as I remembered it was there, I knew what to do.”

She stared at me in disbelief. Turning to Aria, I continued. “I got this from the safe that night. Before I knew about the money. Before we found the missing pages. Before…you know. I got it to give to you. I know you don’t want anything else from me, but this is something I wanted to give you before everything happened. It means a lot to me.”

Aria stared down at the ground, twisting her hands together. “Why?” she eventually said, and her voice was uncharacteristically subdued.

“Why? Because I want it to be yours. Because it reminds me of you—you’re the storm, and the lightning, and the person who lights up my world. Because you’re fucking amazing and deserve to be appreciated. Because you mean so much to me.” I paused, looking both of my parents in the eye before I continued, my gaze returning to Aria. “Because I’ve realised the things I used to think mattered don’t matter to me anymore. Because you’re my girlfriend, and I want to be with you. I don’t give a single fuck about what other people think. I’m prepared to walk away from my family…to lose the Smith-Chamberlain name if that’s what it takes.”

“Tristan,” my father bit out. “You cannot possibly?—”

My gaze shot to his. “Listen to what I’m saying. Iwillwalk away. I’m not giving you an ultimatum. I’m telling you what will happen if you don’t accept the fact that me and Aria are together.”

His eyes widened as my mother clasped her hands together, her knuckles turning white with her tight grip. “We’re her godparents.”

“So fucking—so what? We’re not related. There’s nothing wrong or immoral or whatever bad things your minds are thinking. Do I need to remind you that my grandfather arranged for this to happen in the first place?”

“Tristan,” Aria whispered. Our eyes met, and I lowered my head, sliding my mouth over hers. Ignoring my mother’s shocked gasp, I picked Aria up and carried her away from them, striding across the field and detouring around the buildings until the two of us were lost in the trees with the misty rain pattering softly on the leaves over our heads. Just me and her, alone. Together.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, lowering her to her feet.

“I—yeah. Wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” Her hand went to her necklace, her fingertip tracing the shape of the lightning bolt. “When I heard this was your grandmother’s necklace and you’d chosen to give it to me, I…I guess I was wondering if this was all worth it. IfIwas all worth it. If your parents have a problem with me being with you?—”

“No.” I jerked my head towards the direction we’d come from. “What I said back there? I meant every single word. Fucking hell, I know I only just asked you to be my girlfriend, but I’m all in. No regrets, no changing my mind. Okay?”

“You told me to be your girlfriend,” she muttered, aiming for a glare, but the way her lips were curving upwards ruined the effect she was going for.

“Yeah, that’s because you’re stubborn as fuck, and sometimes you need to be told instead of asked.”

“Oh, really?” Her brows rose. “I seem to remember you saying ‘please’ several times in your texts to me.”

“That’s because I know you so well. I know how to handle my little scorpion.”

“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”

“Probably not.”

She sighed. “Fine. I guess there are worse nicknames.”

I grinned down at her. “It’s okay to admit you love it.”

“Fuck off.”

“Hmm.” I tapped my lips with my finger. “Don’t think I will. I wouldn’t want to deprive you of my company.”

“I hate you.”

“Do you really, though?” Drawing her into me, I wrapped my arms around her waist. “It’s okay to tell the truth. No one else is here to hear you say it. Just you, me, and the forest creatures.”

“Forest creatures.” She huffed out a laugh before winding her arms around my neck, looking up at me with what I knew for afact was adoration in her eyes, not that she’d ever admit it. How the hell had it taken me so long to lock this girl down?

I kissed the tip of her nose, and she smiled.

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