Page 74 of Bound

Epilogue

Porter

Waves crashed behindme, and I could taste the salt off the ocean as the wind blew across my face. It was a perfect day, the first perfect day I could actually remember.

Nothing was going to ruin this moment.

The sound of a ukulele began to play, signaling that it was time. My mother reached out and touched my arm as she stood beside me, her smile warm and excited. She looked like years had been erased from her face in the last couple of months.

Everything had changed; literally.

Franco was out of the picture, my mother left him after all that shit went down. He was doing hard time with Disesto anyway for helping to orchestrate the whole damn thing.

I wanted to kill them both, and I wouldn't say I won't be happy when either one takes their very last breath. But, I was glad that I had kept my control, I was happy that I didn't allow that evil to control me anymore.

Taking the stand to tell my story wasn't easy, it was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. But I did it, and through that I was given a second chance in this life. I was allowed to start over.

At first I thought my mother would be depressed that Franco was gone, but that wasn't the case. She looked lighter, like the weight that had been on her shoulders was gone.

The mother I remembered from when I was a really young boy had come back to me. She was smiling all the time now, and was more than ready to start this new chapter of her life.

We were moved to the other side of the country, finding refuge with a new name in a new place, where no one would know who we were. As far as any of the assholes back home were concerned, we were invisible.

George Donovan. . . Can you believe that shit? That's the name the witness protection program gave me; fucking George Donovan. At home I was still Porter. I didn't think anyone would ever find us here anyway, but it was better to be safe than sorry—Emery's words, not mine.

Looking down at the small cluster of seats, Emery's grandmother was sitting in a white wicker chair at the base of the small platform, rubbing her hands back and forth nervously as she would periodically wipe her eyes with a tissue.

Della, Emery's best friend was already standing across from me, holding her bouquet, with a teary twinkle in her eye. I was happy Emery had a friend like her. She uprooted her entire life for her friend.

Everything was perfect.

The sun, the sky, even the damn air was exactly as it should be for today. Because today, I was marrying the woman of my dreams.

The minister, or as the locals call him, the Kahu, cleared his throat and shifted his feet, positioning his small book in front of his chest. Small creases crept out from the corner of his eyes, his smile was light and airy as a permanent twinkle kept shining in his pupils. The band of flowers around his head danced gently in the breeze as he lifted a conch shell to his lips and blew.

On the outside I looked calm and relaxed, but inside I was a mess. My nerves were running wild, my heart was racing, and my stomach was doing so many flips I thought I was going to throw up.

Taking in a deep breath, I let it out slowly as I stared at my feet. It was a strange feeling, to be standing on the beach, about to give myself to a woman who had become my world. I never thought I'd be here, not a chance in hell.

I expected my life to end, I never thought it would just be beginning.

Closing my eyes for a second, I touched the small locket in my chest pocket. My mother had given it to me a few days before I had gone to court to testify against Marcos. She told me it was a symbol of strength and love, filled with my brother's ashes. I've kept it with me ever since, refusing to put it down.

He was here with us today, standing by my side as my best man, silently smiling down on us from above. I had to believe that, because I could feel him.

Opening my eyes, I started to lift my head, and I had to hold my breath. Emery was coming down the flower-covered aisle, barefoot and glowing. The biggest smile I had ever seen was on her face as she held her bouquet at her waist.

The orchids cascaded down over the back of her palms, flowing like water to her wrist. Her dress moved like silk against her skin, cradling the bump emerging from her belly. I tried to breathe, but I couldn't, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.

Passing the flowers to my mother, Emery smiled up at me as a single tear trickled down her cheek. Lifting my thumb to her face, I swept it away.

I knew it was a happy tear, a tear built off of something special, made from the purest form of love anyone could wish for. But she didn't need to cry, not for this. This was all about us, about our life together.

Taking her hands, I braided our fingers together and stared into her eyes. I wanted to live in this moment, to hold onto it forever.

Because this was a new birth for me. I was no longer held back by the pain I had felt, or the anger that worked me from the inside. All of that was gone. I had finally found happiness.

The minster opened his book as he started to speak. “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous, it's not angry, or arrogant. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. Love does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

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