“Where are we?” I ask as Dion leads me down the airplane’s steps. He all but kidnapped me this morning, and I still have no idea why. Based on the duration of our flight, I’m guessing we’re somewhere in Europe, but where?
Dion simply grins at me. “You’ll see.”
A black car is waiting for us on the tarmac, and he leads me to it with palpable excitement. I can’t help but smile at him. Whatever he’s up to, he’s clearly put a lot of thought into this outing.
“Is this your way of making up for staying out all night last week?” I ask, my brow raised.
Dion smiles sheepishly. “I told you, I was just at Lex’s house. We all had way too much to drink, and we just crashed there. I was literally ten minutes away from you, I swear.”
I roll my eyes. “I know,” I tell him. “Sierra pulled the security footage to appease Val’s anger.”
His lips part a little in shock, and I burst out laughing. “Don’t look at me like that,” I murmur. “It wasn’t me.”
“Honestly,” he says. “I truly pity the man that ends up marrying her. We’ve had a lifetime to get used to her antics, and she still shocks me every once in a while.”
I bump his shoulder with mine. “Any man would be lucky to have Sierra!”
He shakes his head and purses his lips, clearly choosing not to fight this battle. Smart man. “Oh my god,” I murmur as the scenery begins to make sense. “We’re in Italy!”
Dion grabs my hand and entwines our fingers. “I told you I’d make all of your dreams come true, right? I know our marriage isn’t conventional, and baby, I know I haven’t always treated you right, especially when you were younger. There’s so much I regret, but I’m tired of letting it weigh me down. I want this with you, Faye. If you’ll let me, I’ll make all of your dreams my own.”
I smile at him, a burst of emotion hitting me hard. “Even if it means getting on horrible long-haul flights?”
He smirks at me. “There’s nothing I won’t do for you, angel. Haven’t you realized that by now?” He lifts our joined hands to his lips and gently kisses the back of my hand, a pleading look in his eyes, almost as though he’s wishing this’ll be enough to make me happy, when it’s far more than I ever could’ve hoped for.
“I love you,” I murmur.
Dion grins and glances out the window as the car stops in front of a square. “You’re about to love me a whole lot more, darling.” He leads me out of the car and onto a large square with fountains in the middle and restaurants surrounding it. “See that tiny little booth at the back? That’s the best gelato you can find in all of Rome.”
I stare at him in disbelief as we walk toward it, hand in hand. “Gelato in Italy,” I murmur, surprised he remembered what I told him that night in our pool. I’m so used to feeling invisible that it still astounds me when he proves to me that he really does listen.
Dion smiles at me so indulgently, and it all just seems unreal. For years, the thought of marrying him terrified me, but with each day that passes, he stills more of my fears, until they became non-existent, leaving only pure faith in their wake.
Minutes later, I find myself staring at my gelato in astonishment, and he just chuckles at me. “It’ll melt, my love.”
I nod and take a bite, my eyes falling closed as the flavors hit my tongue. “Oh god,” I murmur. “This is the best thing I’ve ever had. It’s delicious.”
Dion laughs, and I belatedly realize he’s filming me. I lunge for his phone, but he holds it up above my head, out of reach. “Dion!”
His arm wraps around my waist as he smiles down at me. “That was better than I expected,” he tells me. “I’ll definitely be playing that when I’m in bed all by myself. I’ll just have to imagine it’s my cock you’re gushing over.”
I try my hardest to glare at him, but it’s too hard to even fake it when he makes me so insanely happy. “I’m deleting that the first chance I get,” I warn him, pulling away to focus on my ice-cream. He’s right, it’s melting rapidly, and there’s no way I’m letting this deliciousness go to waste.
“Just this one moment was worth that shitty flight,” he murmurs, his gaze trained on me. The way he looks at me will never get old. When we’re together, it’s like nothing else exists, like I’m all he can see. I’ve never felt special at all, until Dion.
“You were right,” I murmur as I throw my empty cup in the garbage bin. “I do love you even more now. It’s got nothing to do with the gelato, or this dream trip. It’s you, Dion. I just really love you. I’d love you without all of this, simply because you’re you. I hope you realize that.”
He reaches for me just as a big fat raindrop hits my nose, and I gasp as heavy rainfall comes pouring down on us.
“We should run!” I tell him, but he simply pulls me into his arms and shakes his head.
“Or we could dance. You and me, Faye. Right here, on this empty square in Rome. Will you dance with me, angel?”
I laugh, my heart beating out of my chest. “With you, Dion? Always.”
He hums a tune I vaguely recognize as he sways with me, both of us rapidly becoming soaked, yet it doesn’t seem to faze him. He just stares at me like nothing else matters.
“This is better,” I admit. “The dreams I had don’t hold a candle to the reality of you, Dion.”
He pauses and just stares at me for a moment, almost as though he still struggles to believe my words. I’ll remind him for all of eternity if I have to. He saved me, breathed life into me when I was lost. I’ll do the same for him for as long as I need to.
Dion’s head dips toward mine, and my eyes fall closed when he kisses me slowly, his touch desperate. His tongue brushes against mine, and I moan, lost in this moment with him. My wildest dreams couldn’t have prepared me for him.
His breathing is labored when he pulls away, his forehead dropping to mine. “I love you, Faye. I really do want to make all of your dreams come true, but is that the right thing to do? You deserve a choice, baby. With me, your dreams have to fit into the few free days I have every once in a while. You’ll never have the true freedom you crave. You should be able to chase your dreams on your terms — not mine. I desperately want to be selfish with you, but I can’t. I love you too much to clip your wings.” He pulls away a little to look at me, pure torment dancing in his eyes. “If you want me to let you go, I will. All of this… the adventures, traveling, everything you wanted to do before me. You can have all of that, if it’s what you want. You deserve to have a choice. I spoke to my grandmother, and she assured me we can get a divorce without any penalties if it’s what you want. I don’t want to do to you what your father did, Faye. I can’t. I won’t control you simply because I can’t imagine a life without you. My needs should never come before yours.”
I take in his pained expression, the way his voice wavers, as though it kills him to even say the words. I can see it in his eyes. He thinks that losing me is inevitable.
“I do,” I murmur. “I do deserve a choice. I’ve never had one before, you know?”
Dion nods, his arms falling away as he takes a step away from me, his expression tightening as he forces a smile to his face.
“Dion, every second of every day, I choose you. Even when you don’t want me to. Even on days that feel impossibly hard. I’ll always choose you.”
He looks at me in such disbelief, as though he can’t quite believe his ears, and I can’t help but smirk as I rise to my tiptoes and pull him back down toward me. His arms wrap around me, and he lifts me off my feet as he kisses me.
He is my ultimate dream, my greatest wish. It just took me a while to realize that.
