Page 144 of Downfall

“I remember them.” I say cutting across him. They were a nasty bunch of shits. Used to bully the hell out of me when I was too young to get away from them.

“They happened to be passing at exactly the right time. They pulled over. Started beating the shit out of Ben.”

I gulp. “That’s what happened to his eye.” I say.

“Yes. I got my rifle, and I shot him.”

“Sounds like he deserved it then.” I reply.

His eyes flash, for a second I think I can see it, the murderous Roman Montague again. “He did deserve it. But Rose, I want you to understand, I knew what I was doing, I’m not making excuses, I wanted him dead.”

“Tybalt was always a bully.” I say cupping his face with my hand. “And if you didn’t kill him he would have killed you.”

He puts his hand on top of mine. “If we’d not been on that road, if we hadn’t broken down, then maybe you and I…”

“Stop.” I reply. “Stop the what ifs. It’s too late now. We are where we are.”

He grins. “And I have you back.”

I grin too. “I guess you do.”

“And I’m never letting you go again. Never letting anyone take you from me.”

I kiss him before I reply. “They’d have to kill me to separate me from you.”

“Till death us do part eh?” He murmurs.

I nod back. I might not have said the words. We might not be married but I have his ring on my finger, and I have his love. Nothing my family do, nothing they say can change that. I know Roman is mine as much as the birds fly in the air and the fish swim in the sea.

We are one and the same me and Roman. We are united now. Nothing my family can do will ever destroy what we feel for one another.

And as I look at Roman, as I meet his gaze I know he feels the same.

Rose

Iwake to his mouth on me, to his kisses on my skin. It feels like a dream. Like I’ve slipped into a fantasy world but as I open my eyes and see his face staring back at me I know it’s real. I’m here, in the Montague House and Roman, Roman is here with me. That we’re together now. United.

I want to lie here all day. I want to savour this moment and let it replace every awful one I’ve experienced leading up to it.

Only I can’t. I have to leave. I have to go out into the Bay. My lawyers have called a meeting. I don’t know exactly what they want but they say something about Paris’s will, like I care right now. I don’t need his money. I don’t even think I want it now. It feels like blood money. An awful reminder of a life I’m still in some ways trying to escape.

Reluctantly I leave the safety of the Montague house and re-emerge into the wider world.

And that’s how it feels.

Like I’m some sort of butterfly finally breaking free of the cocoon that’s been locked around me for so long.

Roman was insistent that Mitch and Turner came with me, acting as bodyguards, and though my pride wanted to say no, common sense prevailed. Afterall, my parents know where I am and I wouldn’t put it past them to do something to get me back.

I walk into the big glass building, noticing once more the glances, the murmurs. I’ve been MIA for over a week now and I know social media has been rife with speculation as to where the ‘grieving widow’ has been hiding and what I’ve been up to.

But none of them have a clue. No one does.

My relationship with Roman has somehow managed to become my best kept secret and for the moment that’s how I want it, I’m so sick of this world feasting off the titbits of my life. For once I have a sliver of privacy and I want to cherish it for as long as I can.

I cross the main atrium, head over to where my lawyer’s office is but as I reach it I tense up, my body recognising the sound ofhisvoice before my head registers who it is the other side of the door.

I step closer, making sure I’m out of the line of sight. I can see them now, through the crack, tucked away, with their heads bowed together, looking exactly like the conspirators I know they are. Only my lawyer’s sat there too.

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