Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Seraphina
Six Months Later…
“Can I take the blind fold off?”
Sergio and I had been taking things slow. So slow, it was getting on my damn nerves. He was pacing himself for my sake, giving me space and being careful, but I was ready for us to stop tiptoeing and start being us again.
I’d known him for years. Loved him since I was fourteen, before I even understood what love meant. Back when it was just a feeling I couldn’t name, a pull I couldn’t explain. And now, with all the history between us, all the good times and bad, I wanted more.
I wanted him.
We’d been trying to make things work, but it was hard. I finally decided it was time to do something with my life, so I enrolled in some college courses, and he had been swamped with work.
“I don’t remember you being so impatient,” he said, humor lacing his voice. “We’re almost there. Just sit back and relax.”
He squeezed my thigh.
We didn’t speak much this week. He just showed up at my door with a blindfold and a smirk on his handsome face.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you serious?”
“Trust me,” he said, already tying it over my eyes before I even agreed.
I let him. The car door opened, the seatbelt clicked, and then we were moving. I couldn’t see a damn thing. I just felt the rhythm of the road beneath us and the silence between us.
“Are we going somewhere with indoor plumbing, or am I supposed to pee in the woods like an animal?”
He chuckled.
“You know I hate surprises.” I huffed when he didn’t respond. “This is kidnapping. You realize that, right? You’ve abducted me without snacks, without a charger for my phone, and without basic information.”
He still said nothing. The only sound was the low hum of the engine and the occasional turn that made my stomach lurch.
I faced the window even though I couldn’t see anything because of the stupid blindfold, biting back the urge to scream. “If we end up in the woods and you pull out a tent, I swear on everything that’s holy, Sergio Puglisi, I’ll walk home.”
“How the hell you gonna walk home, Sera?” He laughed like it was the funniest thing he had heard. “You don’t even know where the fuck we’re going.”
“And that’s the problem!”
He chuckled under his breath, and I hated how warm it sounded.
“You think this is funny?”
“A little. Anyway, we’re here. So, you can calm down.”
“I am, calm.”
“If you say so.” He chuckled. “Keep the blindfold on.”
The car made another turn, and the road shifted to gravel, the sound of crunching filled the space. Then after a few minutes, the car slowed before stopping. I blew out a breath as his door closed. Nervous energy surged through my body, but I didn’t know why. It was like the air was charged.
I felt the shift in air when he opened my door. His hand found mine. “Come on. Watch your step.”
He guided me forward. The air smelled like honeysuckles and damp earth. I heard wind, leaves, and the distant hum of the city but no voices or engines.
“Where are we?”
He didn’t answer, just reached behind my head and untied the blindfold.
Light spilled in and I blinked.
“This is amazing,” I said in awe.
We stood at the edge of a slope tucked behind a grove of tall oaks. The city stretched below us, glittering in the distance like a field of fireflies. A rusted guardrail curved along the edge, half-swallowed by vines. A crooked lawn chair sat beneath a twisted tree, facing the skyline.
I turned to him, arms still crossed. “You could’ve just said we were going somewhere beautiful.”
He shrugged, finally meeting my eyes. “I could have, but this place is special to me, and I wanted it to be a surprise.”
I wanted to stay mad at him for the surprise, but I couldn’t. The quiet wrapped around us like a warm blanket on a snowy day. It was so peaceful, so calm, like nothing else in the world mattered but him and me.
“How did you find this place?” I asked as the wind tugged at my jacket.
He didn’t answer right away. He just stared out at the city lights below, hands tucked into his pockets like he didn’t trust them to stay still.
“After you got married,” he said, voice rough, “I couldn’t breathe. Everything felt too loud. My apartment, my position in the family, the voices inside my head. So, I got in the car and drove. No destination. No map. Just… away. Away from everything.”
I watched him, the way his jaw tightened, the way his eyes didn’t quite meet mine. He was heartbroken that I married Dorian, but so was I.
“I ended up here by accident,” he continued. “Pulled over because I couldn’t see through the anger, the heartache. I just sat on that rusted guardrail for hours, just staring at the city like it could give me answers, like it could make things go back to when things weren’t broken between us.”
He laughed, but it was hollow.
“It didn’t of course. But it was quiet. Peaceful. And for a while that was enough.”
I stepped closer, heart hammering inside my chest. “You know I did what I had to do to keep you and my family safe. I didn’t want to marry him.”
“You don’t have to explain,” he said. “I know I was the reason I lost you. I never blamed you for anything that went wrong between us. It was all me. I take responsibility for it. But I wasn’t doing too good.
I kept thinking about all the things I should’ve said.
All the ways I should’ve fought harder. All the ways I should have changed. ”
The silence between us stretched, thick with everything we hadn’t said. I reached out, fingers brushing his arm.
“I missed you,” I whispered. “I wished we hadn’t even gotten to that point.”
He turned then, slowly, like he wasn’t sure I was real. His eyes searched mine and whatever he saw broke something open.
“I never stopped loving you,” he said. “Not for one second. And I wish I’d done so much stuff differently. I could have saved us both a lot of fucking pain.”
“It’s in the past now, Sergio.” I grabbed his hand, interlacing our fingers. “We’re past it now.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I just wanted to share this place with you. And thank you so much for giving me another chance. But I want more.”
“More?”
He reached into his coat pocket. “I’ve carried this with me for years. Through every regret. Every night I wished I’d fought harder.”
A velvet box. The edges were worn. And when he opened it, I gasped. Inside the box lay a slim silver band, smooth and unadorned except for a single round diamond at its center. It was clear, bright, and held in a simple four-prong setting. It was so simple and stunning.
“I can’t have kids, Sergio…”
He threw up his hand, stopping me from continuing.
“I want to build something new with you,” he said.
“Not just make up for the past. I want mornings with you. Arguments over coffee. I want your laugh in my kitchen and your name on my mailbox. If we decide we want children, we can adopt. If not, that’s cool too because I want you, Seraphina. Will you marry me?”
The world narrowed to the raw hope in his eyes. I nodded, tears slipping free. “Yes. God, yes. I’ll marry you.”
He pulled me into him, his mouth crashing against mine. The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was years of ache, of missed chances, of finally finding our way back to each other.
We stumbled back against the hood of the car. His hands were everywhere. My waist, my jaw, the small of my back like he couldn’t decide which part of me he wanted to touch first. I tugged at his shirt, desperate to feel skin.
“We’re outside,” he mumbled against my mouth.
“I don’t care.”
And I didn’t. I just wanted him.
“Well, I do,” he said. “It’s fucking cold out here.”
He grabbed me and pulled me to the backseat of the car. I felt like a teenager again. I giggled as he slid inside the back seat after me.
We grabbed at each other’s clothes. Our kisses were feverish because it had been months since we’d been together and I couldn’t wait to feel him inside me.
His mouth traced the curve of my shoulder, reverent and rough. “You’re mine,” he murmured against my collarbone. “You’ve always been mine and our forever starts now.”