“Really?!” I asked Lucian with a squeal. “We’re going to the Eye?!”
God, his smirk.
“Wait and see.”
I couldn’t sit still. I just couldn’t. I was squirming back and forth, my attention zipping from him to the window and back again on constant loop, still flying high with the excitement.
Oh my God, we were going to do it. We were going to ride the London Eye as the sun set, lighting up the river Thames in perfection. It would be PERFECTION!
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I gushed at Lucian as the limo pulled up at the entrance, next to the line barriers.
Except there were no line barriers. Not tonight. There was only a red carpet, lined with security guards and attendants.
They helped me from the limo and I stared up at the Eye with a lump in my throat as Lucian took my side. It was really happening. It would be a dream come true.
There wasn’t a single person around. Nobody in the line. Nobody in the pods. Not a single sign of life as Lucian guided me along the carpet, all the way up to a waiting pod.
He stepped aside, giving me a little bow as I walked on in, and there I was, spinning around with that lump still in my throat, trying to comprehend the reality of truly being in this space. My dream.
Being in this space with my dream.
I let out a squeal as the pod started moving and we began the ascent, just the two of us holding each other tight, mineral waters in our hands, staring out at the incredible view.
“Thank you so much,” I said again, and the lump in my throat showed itself with the dip of my voice.
“You are more than welcome, princess,” he told me. “You are my life, this is just one tiny little testament to that.”
We pointed out landmarks with smiles, everything etching itself into my memory for ever. The Shard. Westminster. The Tower of London.
I still couldn’t believe it. Lucian had taken over the whole of the London Eye, all for me.
It was when we reached the very top, and the very height of our spin, that Lucian let me go from his arms. I turned to face him, shocked at his body moving away from mine, but not as shocked as I felt when he dropped down in front of me onto his knees. Only it wasn’t onto his knees.
It was on one knee. ONE.
Lucian Morelli was on one knee in front of me, at the very top of the London Eye.
It was then when the fireworks lit up the Thames in front of us. Bursts of pure sparks flying high into the sunset and glistening diamonds on the water. I was blown away by the crazy emotion of it, because surely not… surely it couldn’t be…
But it was. It was!
“Will you marry me, Elaine Constantine?” Lucian asked me, and presented the ring. A full glittering diamond in a little black box.
I couldn’t speak. I didn’t have a voice. Didn’t have a breath. Didn’t have anything but a nod as the tears fell. The lump in my throat had nothing on the gushes of happy tears that ran down my cheeks as Lucian got back up to his feet and slipped my engagement ring onto my ring finger.
He held me tight and kissed me deep, then turned us both back to face the fireworks still bursting all around us. Only my eyes weren’t on the fireworks, they couldn’t be. They were too transfixed on the diamond on my finger.
I was going to marry Lucian Morelli.
Holy fuck, I was engaged to Lucian Morelli.
He held me tight as the pod descended back to the ground. It was slow and perfect, the atmosphere between us so loved up that my heart could have burst for real.
The attendants were ready and waiting for us when our descent reached its end, helping us back onto solid ground with smiles and congratulations.
The red carpet felt so long and incredible as we made our way back to the street. There were paparazzi gathered, managing to capture just a few pictures of us walking together before the security guards ushered them away.
“They were given minimum access, don’t worry,” Lucian told me. “Believe me, baby, I’ve got so much security around us they could fight a war.”
“Amazing,” I said, because it was. It was amazing. Us being alive was amazing, after betraying both families and their vendettas back home across the Atlantic.
He had his usual smirk on his face as we approached the waiting limo. “It’ll be even more amazing when you see the Morelli-Constantine Manor by High Wycombe. The security is so well ingrained you won’t even see their presence, but believe me, princess, they will be there. People won’t be able to step within a quarter mile of the place without being wiped out for their intrusion.”