Ginny looked at the terrified Evangeline crying as the beautiful woman, despite being beaten mercilessly, cupped the little girl’s cheek to stop her from crying. When that didn’t work, Aanya took of the diamond-encrusted broach, pinning it to the thin shirt that the little girl was wearing.
Pointing at another door, Aanya was silently telling the child to leave. The little girl was shaking her head, but Aanya pushed the little girl toward the door. Little Evangeline was still crying as the door closed behind her, and as it closed, Ivan came back into the room, his face retaining the same fury as when he had left.
Bending down, he lifted Aanya’s struggling body to her feet by her neck. As Aanya’s body went limp in Ivan’s hands, Ginny’s hand went to her neck and pulled on the necklace tucked under her cream-colored blouse.
Singing the last words of the song, the screen cut to Ivan and Aanya standing on the balcony on their palace grounds. As the camera panned in, it was easy to see the woman next to Ivan, while just as beautiful, was not Aanya.
As Ginny sang the final bars of the song, the screen switched back to display her standing on stage. The crowd sat in silence looking at the screen and seeing Ginny’s glistening tears and the camera zoomed in on the scalloped-shaped broach, exposing Aanya’s royal insignia that matched the ones on Alek’s and Markoff’s chest.
The camera panned over to Markoff, who slowly rose to his feet, tears on his face. Staring at Ginny, he bowed his head in acknowledgment, then turned to his guards to usher him out of the coliseum with Alek trying to talk to his father, whose bodyguards repeatedly kept shoving him away until his guards forced him back to the end of the procession.
Ginny finished the song and replaced the microphone. As she began walking off the stage and to the curtain, a sound of clapping could be heard, slowly swelling higher and higher until the whole coliseum was on their feet.
Walking behind the curtain, she went straight to the arms that Gavin held out to her.
Gavin held Ginny in his arms as she cried. Tonight was the only other time Ginny had been willing to watch the video that her mother had given to Ginny before her death. Gavin had watched it the same number of times. Both times, he had thanked God for how close he had come to losing the woman he loved more than life.
“Aanya told me to run and hide, Gavin.”
“I know, baby.”
“She saved my life.”
“You would have survived.”
Ginny lifted her face from his chest. “How do you know?”
“Because that’s what heroes do.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Ginny’s arms went out for Gavin to lift her off the small jetty that had transported them from the yacht to Clindale Island. She’d been fighting back tears since this morning when she woke to see where they had stopped during the night.
“I told you I would bring you back.” Grinning at her, he set her feet on the new dock.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Ginny asked tearfully. “They have to hate me ….”
“Ginny, look at them. It’s because of you they were able to come home, that their families have been reunited. Allerton loaded them on two ships, telling everyone the island was in the direct path of the storm, and each ship was going to different islands. It was just luck of the draw that my investigators found one of the islanders. Do you know how many islands I paid for them to go to? When they found the first hundred people, we never expected to find the rest of them a hundred miles away. It was pure luck.”
“No, it wasn’t. It was divine intervention. I’ve never wished ill will on anyone in my life, but I do Allerton.”
“Wish him dead as much as you want any other time, but not today. Today is about us, them, and the rest of our family. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Placing her hand in the crook of his arm, he smiled down at her. “Are you finally ready to marry me?”
“Technically, we’ve been married twice before,” she argued.
“Are you finally agreeing the first one was legal?”
“I’m not going there.” Ginny laughed, taking the bouquet of flowers from Trudy as Dalton placed her down on the deck behind them.
She hugged her sister tearfully. “We’re home, Trudy. We’re home.”
Trudy hugged her close, her eyes filled with tears. “It’s just as beautiful as I remember.”
Dalton gave them handkerchiefs. “I thought these may come in handy today.”
Wiping her cheeks, Ginny turned back to the island when the children began singing. Their beautiful voices were low, reverent.
“That’s our signal,” Trudy said, moving in front of her and Gavin to take Dalton’s arm as they began walking down the dock to the island.
Ginny took Gavin’s arm to follow behind them. As they got closer, she squeezed the bouquet of flowers holding Gavin’s arm tighter to keep from falling down. The children were singing “Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo?ole.