I step onto the warm, fine sand of our private luxury beachfront property, complete with a beach that's all ours.
We leave tomorrow, but it's like I've hit paradise, and nothing can ever beat this.
But it can, because the strong arms that come around me and the mouth that nuzzles my throat belong to Enzo. And if I didn't love him before, I'm madly in love with him now.
Not because he flew me here on a private jet or took me to an exclusive island with pristine sand and water that also homes some of the very rich and famous, including this one that belongs to his Uncle Gino.
But because now I see him in full light, understand what he was doing in protecting me, how he got lost in the game of Alex, and how, when he fell for me too, he didn't know what to do.
We both made mistakes.
We both got lost because feelings make you vulnerable, even if the person you are tangled with, and suddenly don't understand, is the same person you've loved your whole life.
Because I have loved him. Different sorts of love, from family and little girl trust to my first crush and heartbreak, to the love that lurks behind hate, to that shake-down-to-the-core panic of love stripping your own psyche naked as you discover yourself along with the person, to this.
True love.
Or maybe it's always been true love, and this is the final landing place where we really begin a future.
As a family.
Him, me, and Squish.
There is his found family who welcome me.
And my newfound sister and friend that is his true family.
Even Mario.
I think I love it all.
And I love Enzo most of all.
"What are you thinking?" he asks.
"That this is perfection."
He laughs. "The island isn't perfection, Lola. You are."
My heart stutters at that.
And I don't think I've ever had a better time.
"So are you, but that's not what I meant. The island is perfection because we are here. And we have our games. And they just enhance things."
"I don't think Gino will let me keep this. It is perfect, though. And..." He squeezes me tight and turns me. "I've never seen anything so beautiful."
Before I can respond, he tilts my head up, and his lips take mine in a long, slow, meandering kiss.
It's the kind of kiss that whispers of forever and lifetimes. And love.
I kiss him back, our tongues sliding over each other.
My heartbeat quickens.
When he ends that kiss, I'm turned on, soft, all his.
But he doesn't lead me inside to the open bedroom that has two massive glass sliding doors that open completely up, letting the breeze in.
