Page 176 of In Love and Revenge

It’s a kiss that tells him I love him.

But most of all . . .

It’s a kiss that tells him I forgive him.

His eyes are misty as it ends. He rests his forehead against mine.

‘I’ll love you until the last beat of my broken heart, Beauty,’ he whispers.

‘And I’ll love you until the final beat of mine,’ I whisper.

He uncurls my fingers from his shirt with aching gentleness. Then he kisses me one final time and climbs back into the helicopter.

My father comes to stand beside me and we watch it fly away until it’s no longer even a speck on the horizon.

He wraps his arms around my shoulders.

And I cry the entire time.

Chapter 43

Rafael

Two months later

The French armoire glistens in the late-afternoon European sun, taunting me. But no matter how hard it is to watch, not watching would be even harder.

‘They have a wedge heel, and this really pretty detailing on the strap,’ she says, her smile bright as she holds up the brand-new shoes she’s unboxed so the camera can pick them up. ‘My dad and I are going to the local market later, so I’m going to wear them with this dress.’ She gestures to the white broderie sundress she has on. Her blond hair is flowing around her shoulders and she’s a vision in white.

She looks like a goddamn angel.

That day in the hospital, and the day I left her in the helicopter ... Shecriedfor me.

She loves me.

I’ve spent my entire life since my accident avoiding it. Then when I finally got it, allowed myself to want it, I screwed up royally.

I lost the best thing that ever happened to me.

‘Jesus.’ I scrub a hand around my jaw, my eyes burning.

I’ve done this every day, watched her vlogs, the same as I always did. Only now instead of my dick throbbing, it’s my goddamn heart.

She’s been gone two months, and I’ve died a little more each day without her.

But I knew letting her stay would have killed her eventually.

She wouldn’t have known it to start with, but if I’d let her come with me that day I returned her father to her in the helicopter, then she wouldn’t have had what she needed: time.

Time to reconnect with him without anyone else placing demands on her attention. Time to heal together after what they’ve been through, if healing is even possible. And time to decide for definite if I’m worthy of her. If she still loves me enough to truly forgive me deep in her heart. Because if there’s even a shred of doubt left, then I could never live with myself if I let her ignore it, or gloss over it, thinking that’s the best she’s going to get.

Aurora deserves a man who loves and adores her. But she also deserves to be one hundred per cent free to love in her own way in return. I can’t look into her eyes for the rest of my life knowing I’ve stolen the purest form of love from her if she’s only ninety-nine per cent. She needs to be completely sure. She needs to choose me, all by herself.

I pause the video. Her beautiful smile freezes on the screen, suspended in time. Her and her father are staying in a chateau in the south of France. Walking, swimming, cooking together. Dancing in the kitchen at night after bottles of wine from the vineyard the chateau sits on. George has given me those little snippets when he’s messaged me, and I’ve clung to each one like a lifeline. She’s getting what she needs. My girl’s happy again. She has her father back, just like she dreamt of. I’d be a greedy arsehole to ask for more.

She hasn’t messaged me. I don’t know whether she’s even tried. I asked George to delete my number from her phone. She needed to do this without me and our relationship hanging over her like a cloud.

I just didn’t realise how hard it would be to see her so clearly thriving without me when I’m barely functioning without her.