I believe that with my whole heart.
“Whatisthis?” I breathe out. “Where are we?” I add as I take in my surroundings. We’ve just pulled up to a historic inn on the bluffs on Tybee Island. Lighthouse Landing. It’s elegant and quaint, but the real beauty is in the scenery. Beyond the rustic white building is the ocean, as far as the eye can see, and a dock that stretches out into the water. And it does in fact have a lighthouse on it. The waves lap around it and the sun is just beginning to set.
I think I hear music playing as we get off Sean’s bike, leaving it parked right in the circular drive. There’s a parking lot out back that I can just see the outline of, but Sean insisted we park here. It sounds like there are violins, or an acoustic guitar maybe, as we walk to a wide, flat grassy area and more of the water comes into view. I pause when I realize there are people lined up along the bluff in the distance. They all wear uniforms of some kind, but I can’t tell what for. There are at least a dozen of them facing us and they’re all standing behind large cages.
Cages full of … doves.
I look up at him in shock and confusion, not knowing what the hell is going on. Just when we get a little closer and I think I couldn’t be any more confused, he drops to his knees in front of me, his back to the cages as he faces me.
“This is the place we’re going to get married very soon,” he says gruffly. “I’ve been breathing for approximately one hundred thousand, four hundred and eighty-eight minutes since the moment I laid eyes on you, but it would only takeonesecond of living without you for my lungs to take their last breath. I say we’re infinite, because there is no quantifying you and I. If I lived a thousand lifetimes and loved you in every one of them, it still wouldn’t be enough. This isn’t just love. It’sunendinglove.”
My hands fly to my mouth as Sean pulls out a box and holds it up to me. It’s all so fast, but am I surprised? No. Am I hesitant? Not a chance. I know this man is everything I’ll ever want, forever.
“And I’m hoping it takes you less than that one second to say yes.” He opens the box and my eyes are met with the most beautiful diamond I’ve ever seen. “Will you marry me, little dove?”
My eyes trail upward, because with just a slight nod of his head, every cage has opened and doves are ascending into the sky, feeling freedom under their wings. The same freedom I feel under mine when I’m with Sean. And as of this moment, the only cage I’ll ever live in for the rest of my life is his arms. A cage I’ll welcome.
“Yes, I’ll marry you!” I cry out as he stands and kisses me.
“Fuck, I love you, Layla,” he growls into my lips as he slips the ring on my finger. Of course it’s a perfect fit.
“And I love you, Sean Hunter.”
“Can we come out now?” I hear Shelly’s voice from around the corner and I gasp.
“They wanted to celebrate with us.” Sean smiles, then kisses me again and then pulls me around the back of the inn, and I’mgreeted by over a hundred people and their cheers when Sean shouts, “She said yes!”
Twinkle lights and greenery decorate the scene, and flameless candles and lanterns light the space. There are round white iron tables and a full spread of food and drinks, and a man with an acoustic guitar is playing softly as we’re surrounded by family and friends. I glance to the other side of the space and lock eyes with Dell. He looks nervous as hell but he’s here, and it touches me. So many people are hugging us at once it’s hard to tell which way is up or down.
I hug Dell tight once he makes his way over, and he congratulates me.
“I’m glad you’re happy, Lay.”
Having him here is gesture enough to tell me he may be opening his mind—even if it’s just a small corner of it—to the fact that life isn’t so black and white after all. He even laughs when Sean picks him up in a bear hug, lifting him right up off the ground and calling him “brother” before offering him a shot of bourbon. It gives me hope that I might have some semblance of my brother back.
“My sweet and sour girl. I knew you were the one,” Shelly says, gripping both sides of my face. She has tears streaming down her cheeks as I see Sean hug Robby J behind her.
“And I’ve always wanted a daughter,” she adds. “Now I have one.”
I swipe a tear away. “I love him so much, Shel.”
“I know you do, baby. And he loves you,” she tells me as she beams. “I hold a lot of pride for that boy, but I hold guilt too.”
She reaches down and squeezes my hand.
“The first time Sean ever took a life, it was for me.” She looks up at me and I see the regret there. It’s lived in her every day, I’m sure. “It was inevitable, but he was young, and it was to protect me. He never looked back after that, and that says everything you need to know about him. He’ll never fail you. He’ll never letyou down. As long as you love him for the man he is, he’ll love you more than anything in this world.”
“I always will,” I say, hugging her again. I know it from the tips of my toes to the top of my head as Sean looks over at me hugging his mom, as if he feels me watching him. His knowing eyes gleam as he mouths,I love you.
My gladiator, my protector. I love him alright, and this was beyond the proposal of my dreams, but I’m still going to give him a piece of my mind for proposing to me in front of everyone we know with a heart-tipped plug buried in my ass.
“We’re celebrating, little dove.” Sean pushes into our room at Lighthouse Landing three hours later. The entire club is staying overnight.
“Don’t be angry. I’m still gonna fuck you, but it will be a lot more fun if you aren’t angry.”
I let him kiss me. I’m anything but angry after three hours of this plug in my ass and him looking at me all night—the night he proposed, gorgeous and rugged by the candlelight with all our family and friends. All of that combined was torture.
“I’m not angry, Sean. I’m bothered, I’m ready to combust and I’m dying for you.” I back up and pull my dress straps off my shoulders, cocking a hip as I look up at him through my lashes.
