Page 2 of Culmination
It was the most terrifying realization.
And the most thrilling.
I’d been ready to give my life for her. To leave everything I’d known behind me, if only to keep her safe and start life anew, far away from my father’s shadow.
Until he got impatient.
Until he called me away.
Until she threatened to leave.
I thought I’d made my mark on her.
I thought I’d convinced her in the only way I knew how.
Once again, however, my beautiful little lamb proved me wrong.
For the last time.
Or so I thought.
I’d never lost before. Certainly not to another man. How was one to cope? How was one to think clearly when the love of his life had undoubtedly been brainwashed by an imposter, a plant, a pretender?
Kidnap her.
Get her to listen to reason.
Most importantly, whisk her away from the edge of danger she was so precariously close to, even if she was unaware.
I got her out. We were on our way to safety. All I had to do was make it to the airport where we’d meet our plane to take us far away. Once we were in the air, I planned to explain everything. I just needed time.
Time I, apparently, was not going to be granted.
The police cruiser came out of nowhere, and I swerved, narrowly avoiding a disastrous collision. Panic rushed in, causing me to overcorrect into the opposite lane. I barely had time to hit the brakes before I realized what fate we were about to meet.
And when the car veered off that bridge, my life flashed before my eyes. Gabriella’s life. From the moment I’d first seen her to when I’d watched my bodyguard stick the needle into her neck and every damn second in between. I saw it all and it wasn’t enough.
I wanted more.
Whether I lived or died was of no consequence. Losing Gabriella, however, was out of the question.
As the car sank, I had to make a life-altering decision: stay and risk getting caught or go and risk Gabriella’s life.
How could I leave?
How could I stay?
The shouts of arriving police officers already making their way down to the water made my decision for me. They would save her. They had to.
If I was caught…
She’d be doomed.
I swam to the opposite shore and hightailed it out of there before anyone was the wiser.
So here I am, like those years before, watching this beautiful creature from afar. My hands aching for her touch. My heart clenching for her love. Need coursing through me violently as I fight dominant urges to go to her. To wipe her tears. To scoop her into my arms and vow never to let her ago. Never again.
One foot moves forward on its own volition. My heartbeat intensifies like a high-speed train racing across its tracks, eager to get to its final destination. I stop myself, continuing to watch.
