Chapter 42
CHAPTER 42
CHAMPIONS
Jules
The week flew by in lazy days spent reading and swimming and eating. I’ve soaked up every second of it, and the only thing I’ve missed about London is our cat.
“I’m so sad you’re leaving,” Kal, Remi’s wife, shouts in my ear to be heard over the woman at the karaoke machine on the stage at the front of the restaurant where we’re having dinner.
As much as I love the vibe of this place, it’s the people who have really made me fall for it. “Me too. I love it here. I hope I’ll be back.”
She squeezes my hand and pats it reassuringly. “You will be. That man of yours will make sure of it.”
I smile and nod, but I don’t know how. We’ve spent a lot of time with them and Tyson and his wife this week. And we made fast friends. This is the existence I used to dream of. Friends, a community, love, home. It’s even sweeter than I thought it would be.
“Hey, I’ll be right back,” Omar says from my other side where he, Remi, his younger brother Tyson, and his wife Dina are having a spirited argument about basketball. He presses a kiss to my cheek, and I reach out to grab his hand. “Where are you going?”
“Be right back,” he responds and drops a kiss on my nose.
I have butterflies in my stomach because this man who’s as faithful as the sunrise loves me so much that I could swim in it. But every day we’ve spent here with his family and friends, in that amazing house that feels like home, I’ve grown more and more guilty that he’s coming with me.
I’ll do everything I know how to make sure he never regrets it.
“This song is dedicated to my heartbeat. My Crown Jewel.” I whip around to look at the stage and scream in surprise to see him standing there holding the microphone. But as soon as our eyes find each other, my heart skips a beat, and when it starts again, we’re alone. On that same sea where he first kissed me and where we made ourselves.
“You’re a winner because what they tried to break is blooming. I love you, Beat. Nothing can dim your light. Pity the fool who tries.”
I blow him a kiss, and he catches it in his palm and flicks his fingers at the crowd like he’s spraying water from them. “Sharing the love. You’ve just been blessed. Now fucking clap for me or I’ll be annoyed.”
The jazzy piano intro plays, but I don’t realize what song he’s singing until the guitar strums a few chords in. And I’m crying before he gets to the second line of “We are the Champions” by Queen. I laugh in delight, and the tears pooling in my eyes spill down my cheeks now, but they are the happiest tears I’ve ever cried.
He’s really not a dancer or a singer, but it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. He sings to me and nobody else, and I’m mesmerized and humbled because every word could have been from my heart.
He knows it completely and always gives it exactly what it needs.
And I needed this reminder. This song. The lows of my life don’t define me. Nothing anyone else says or does changes the truth. He sings the chorus, and I sing with him. Him and me, we are the fucking kings of the world. We can do anything when we do it together. He is my ride or die. Nothing will break us—it might bend us a bit, but we will never break.
It’s after midnight when we pull into Omar’s driveway and park next to a black Ferrari with Noah Royale perched on the side of it. Sunglasses and all.
“What is he doing here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you investing in his project?”
“I don’t think so.”
“No, don’t say that because of me,” I beg. I don’t want him turning himself inside out on my behalf anymore. He has a whole life outside of me, and I’ve already taken too much.
“It’s not because of you. It’s because I won’t have anything to do with the family led by people who fuck with lives and think nothing of it. But I like him.”
“You do?”
“Yes, he’s honest. And passionate. He’s a good guy.”
“I’m sorry if this messes up your friendship.” I remember how fondly he spoke of him before we got here.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Come on, you go on in, and I’ll deal with him.”
“Solomon, we need to talk,” Noah says as soon as we climb down.
“I’ll be right in, Jules,” he says and squeezes my hand.
I’m too tired to argue, but I can’t take my eyes off Noah. If Nora Royale is my mother, then he’s my brother. When she said her husband and children couldn’t know, I thought about him. I wasn’t looking for her, or them in the first place. But now… I have a brother. Someone who shares half my DNA. I wish I could get to know him.
“You look like her,” he says. Even behind his dark glasses, I can feel the intensity of his stare.
“Did she tell you?” I ask.
“Yes. That’s why I’m here. You were right to come. But you were barking up the wrong tree. Can I come in? I need to talk to both of you.”