“It’s over, baby,” Antonio whispered as we both fell to the floor, his arms still tightly wrapped around me. “It’s all over. He’s dead. He’s gone.”
I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. It was as if my body and soul were purging themselves of years long of bottled-up rage.
Antonio rocked us back and forth, repeating the same words. “It’s over, Doe. It’s over.”
Epilogue
Doe
It had been weeks since I killed Vadik. Weeks since I broke the chains he had on my soul. It still felt surreal, knowing that he was gone. That I was finally free.
I still saw him in my nightmares some nights. His face. His eyes. His touch. In my dreams, whenever he touched me, spiders crawled all over me, covering me from head to toe until I couldn’t breathe. Some nights, I would cry myself awake, but most of the time Antonio would wake me, softly placing kisses on my forehead, brushing his fingers through my hair. Only he had the power to chase away the demons in my dreams. And once he managed to pull me from the nightmare, he would make love to me. Worship me. Cherish me. Every time.
We never spoke about what happened that night, the way it affected him watching how Vadik touched me, and almost raped me. I guessed it was something Antonio didn’t want to relive. It was something he tried to forget, just like I tried to forget every second I had ever spent in the clutches of that madman. But I knew it wouldn’t be possible. A part of me would always return to the past during a moment of weakness. I was okay with that…as long as I had my king.
“You okay?” I turned to see Antonio leaning against the doorframe.
I smiled. “I’m fine.”
“I don’t know if anyone told you this, but you do this thing with your nose whenever you lie.”
He walked closer, and I cocked a brow. “What thing?”
“Almost like you’re scrunching your nose. As if the lie makes your nose itch.”
I chuckled. “A lie makes my nose itch?”
“Something like that.” When he reached me, he placed his hands on my shoulders. “Seriously, are you okay?”
I took a deep breath. “I know he’s dead, Antonio. But he will never disappear completely.”
His features hardened. “I know that. At least you have the peace of mind that he can’t hurt you anymore.”
I only nodded. What was the use in telling him that Vadik hurt me every time I dreamt about him? Just thinking about him was hard.
Antonio leaned back slightly, staring at my neck as he pushed back the braid which hung over my shoulder. “Does it still hurt?”
I shook my head.
His fingers brushed against the Band-Aid before placing my braid over my shoulder, as it was.
“What did you do with it?”
He pressed his lips together, his fingers still lingering on the braid. “I took care of it.”
“How?”
“Don’t worry about it too much, Doe.” He touched my cheek. “I took care of it in a way that you never have to worry about it ever again. Trust me.”
The dark eyes which had become the center of my existence were filled with adoration as he stared down at me. It was when I lost myself within the earthy brown tones of his eyes that I felt most at peace. Well, that and whenever he claimed me, moving inside me, proving to me he owned me, body, mind, and soul.
Laughter came from outside and caught our attention, and I turned to look out the window. It was Rafe and Dante playing in the garden. Layla was standing a few feet away, laughing, watching her son and the man she loved play.
My heart bled.
Antonio wrapped his arms around my waist, settling his chin on my shoulder. “It’s good to see their little family reunited.”
“Yeah. It’s a shame they had to be apart in the first place.”