46. Epilogue
O ne year later
Aria and I get up super early, just as the sun is starting to rise, to do the typical tourist stuff she enjoys whenever she visits New York. I thought it would be a cool surprise to bring her here after she sold her first painting.
That’s right. My girl is a full-time artist now.
It’s funny how things turned out. The painting I displayed of Aria’s last year drove people wild. People contacted the gallery often, every day almost, wanting to see more from this “mysterious artist” who had everyone talking. It really boosted her confidence to take her art seriously. She's been busting her butt for months, painting non-stop day and night. She finally got an incredible offer and sold her first painting. Now, more offers keep rolling in. It's pretty amazing to see her hard work paying off like this.
I’m so damn proud.
But it’s not the only reason why I brought her here.
We’re on our way to the Met, and I’m so fucking nervous, I want to crawl out of my skin. The red velvet box is practically on fire in my pocket, and my fingers are itching to grab it and scream at the top of my lungs how much I love her.
Walking into the Met, Aria looks around, confused. “Why is this place so empty on a Saturday?”
“I rented the place.”
She looks at me, dumbfounded.
“The whole place,” I continue.
It took some serious connections and effort to pull this off, but I’m so fucking happy I did it. Coming to the Met with Aria holds a special place in my heart, and I couldn’t think of a better way to make such an important, life changing memory. As we’re walking around the museum, the silence is peaceful, but somehow makes me even more nervous at the same time.
As we admire every painting and every masterpiece, I think about this past year. We’ve been through so damn much. I reopened the gallery not long after everything went down and the business has been booming ever since. We attended Alex’s trial after all the documentation and evidence was “anonymously” submitted to the FBI. Turns out, Alex was running a whole operation with other sleazy motherfuckers from the industry. They all caved in pretty quickly and betrayed him, resulting in a ten-year sentence with no chance of parole.
We did our damnedest to move on from that mess and go on with our lives. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably be honest with her instead of pushing her away. That was such a stupid mistake. That woman's got so much love for me, that she'd be on board with anything without a second thought. She's crazy like that, and I love her for it.
We arrive at our favorite collection, the European paintings. We stand in front of Cypress in Moonlight . That painting that a little over a year ago we admired together as I was admiring the one masterpiece before me— her .
“God, I love this painting so much,” she murmurs.
I look at her, studying the way her face concentrates on the painting. There’s something so peaceful about her admiring art. It’s my kryptonite.
She glances up, her eyes fixing on mine. “What?”
I wave my hand around dismissively. “This place that’s filled with so much art and history, there’s so much to admire. But I can’t help but to admire you. Just you.”
I slip the red velvet box out of my pocket, and her eyes drop to the box and her eyes bulge in surprise as her face turns red.
“Oh my God, Damian.” She gasps.
I get down on one knee as I let out a nervous laugh. My voice trembles slightly as I say, “ Tesoro , this past year has been a rollercoaster, but an amazing one. You've shown me how to love, how to be true to myself, and, most importantly, how to find happiness. I have everything I could ever want. I am so proud of you, and I admire you so much. There’s just one missing piece,” I express, opening the box to reveal a round diamond. “I want to admire you for the rest of our lives. I want you in my life, forever.”
“Yes,” Aria replies, nodding as tears swim in her eyes.
I chuckle. “I haven't even asked yet.”
She laughs through her tears. “I'm sorry.”
“ Tesoro , will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?”
“Yes. A thousand times yes,” she says, leaping onto me.
We both fall to the floor laughing and she kisses me with so much love and emotion, it makes my heart flutter.
For the first time in my life, I feel complete, happy, and full of love.
And I owe it all to Aria Petrov.
THE END .