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“So does this mean you’re staying?” I ask her, squeezing her hands.

“Holt,” she says, choosing her words carefully. “I don’t remember the last time I agreed with my father about something, but you’re the most amazing man I’ve ever met. Strong, resilient, tough as hell.” I chuckle, and she joins me, wiping at her eyes again. She’s had a pretty crazy couple of days. “I always assumed I’d have some kind of arranged marriage, but this is nothing like that. I don’t feel like I’ve been forced into anything. In fact, I’ve never wanted anything more.”

My throat is dry, and not from the fire. I squeeze her hands again, and I feel like I can feel her heart pounding from here. “Hattie…” I say, my own heart swelling with joy at the things she’s saying.

“This is the life I never knew I needed. This is the life I’ve been dreaming about. Forget fairy tales — forget princes and knights. You’re you, and that’s the most amazing thing I ever could have asked for. Would you marry me, for real?”

I’m stunned. I’ve never felt as happy as I feel in this moment, and it’s like my head is spinning. I don’t know what to say, so I settle on something simple.

“Fuck yes, Hattie.”

She laughs as I kiss her hands, finger by finger. I don’t have a ring right now, but I know for damn sure that I’m going to give her the world.

“You’re incredible,” I say. “You’ve been through hell and came out the other side as this tough, fun, sexy woman. I need you in the rest of my life.” She bites her lip and gives me that coy smile that’s already starting to turn me on every time I see it.

“Really?” she says.

“Really. This is happening. I will fight for the life you deserve every damn day, Hattie.”

She throws her arms around me again, and this time I grip her waist and lift her up high until she squeals with laughter. It’s the best sound in the world to me.

Ten

Hattie

Two weeks later

The park in Thickwood is unbelievably beautiful. The sun is shining, the grass is green and smells freshly cut. My white dress is drapey, silken, and ripples in the breeze.

Just beyond the flowery gate I’m waiting in front of, the string quartet strikes up the Wedding March. I hear the clattering sound of people standing from their plastic chairs. A huge smile spreads over my face, and beside me, someone takes my arm.

It’s my father. His eyes are watery, but his expression is hard and impenetrable as always. None of his men will point out how shimmery his eyes look.

We had a long talk when I told him about the wedding, and I told him it had nothing to do with pleasing him — that it was truly what I wanted. I told him all the things I’d been too afraid to tell him my entire life. That I wished I could be free, that I could have had a normal upbringing. That I could have brought friends over or stayed out past dark. He actually listened for once — listened to the whole thing.

And at the end, he apologized to me. Said it was tough being a father, and he wishes he’d done better. There’s really nothing I can do to go back in time and change anything, so with Holt’s help, I’ve decided to just take every day as it comes and try to let go of the past.

Now, standing beside my dad in my wedding dress, I finally understand — he loves me and he always has, even if he’s never understood me. As a person, a daughter, a woman. But that’s okay, because I have my own life now and I get to decide what role he plays in it.

The flowery gates open and I walk through, unable to keep this huge, stupid grin off my face. In the seats, there is a hilarious mix of Holt’s salt-of-the-earth friends, all beards and flannel, dabbing at their eyes, and my father’s black-suited men, guns at their hips, sunglasses on, arms folded. Some of his men nod as we pass, and all of the Thickwood residents just look excited and touched to be here.

It’s a surprising mixture of people, but it is what it is, and I’m so touched at the turnout that I feel tears spring to my own eyes. There’s Rick, my bodyguard, and he gives me a nod with a hint of pride.

I finally made it out.

I made it out, and I stayed out, and now I get to live my life on my terms.

Holt is waiting for me in a black tux that shows off his amazing body and brings out the piercing blue of his eyes, and he can’t stop smiling. I bet we both look equally silly, grinning like idiots at each other, but I know we can’t help it. We found something really special in each other, and there’s no way back from it.


Tags: Mila Crawford, Aria Cole Romance