Chapter 52
The Little Beach House
Alex
"Ow! That’s hot…" The flame from the lighter licked my thumb for the tenth time, but I was finished. It was all set up.
Almost.
Jade would arrive any minute, and I was going to propose, make her cry from happiness—it was going to be great.
It looked fucking phenomenal. I mentally patted myself on the back for this idea. The night was calm, the ocean glistened in the moonlight, and the fifty or so candles I had set up around the beach, on the rocks, and in the sand were like out of a fairytale.
I couldn't wait. I couldn't wait for her to say yes and to slide that ring onto her finger. God, I could see it now—Jade, my fiancée, my future wife.
My criminal mastermind.
She had orchestrated the day to go exactly how she wanted, and after bail was posted for Andrei, I somehow convinced Jade to go pick him up instead of calling Olga. I suggested we surprise Olga, and of course, I couldn’t go myself, considering he thought I was dead.
I thought this through—it was perfect, it would all go smoothly. Slight shakes overtook my limbs, but I marched inside to change, and just as I stepped outside of the bedroom with a fresh shirt on, a car rumbled to a stop right outside.
What. The. Fuck? It was way too early for her to be back. I had at least, at least half an hour left.
And then I heard Andrei's voice. Fuuuuuck.
Had he decided to drop by before going home? I raced to the front door, already dialing Olga. There was a shuffle outside, and a key turned in the lock, but I immediately locked it again, keeping it in place.
"Hell—"
"Olya!” I whisper-yelled into the phone. “Quickly, distract Jade with some long, made-up story! Keep her on the phone for at least two minutes!" I spat out urgent instructions, panicking.
"What?" she responded, confused. God damn, both Andrei and Olga were going to fuck this up for me.
"Just make anything up! Tell her how hard it's been without Andrei, about your baby, ask her about the whole OnlyFans thing, I don't know! Just keep her occupied!"
"Why isn't it working?" Jade's angelic voice sounded from behind the door, and I swung it open, both her and Andrei’s puzzled faces coming into view.
"Sasha!" Andrei exclaimed, and my jaw almost dropped at the sight of him. Holy shit, he looked like death. Damn. These three months had aged and destroyed us both.
Both Jade and Andrei made a move to step inside the house, but I shoved the phone into Jade’s hand instead, urgently shooing her out the door.
"Olga wants to talk to you. Here." Jade stared at me in bewilderment, and I bit my bottom lip, holding back my laugh. Gently, I pushed her back out of the door just as Andrei beelined it for a hug.
"What? Now?" Jade asked, and I nodded eagerly, encouraging her to stay outside.
"Yes, go! Go talk. Girl stuff, I don't know."
I shut the door right in her face and spun toward Andrei, who had managed to weasel his way inside. "You have to leave. Now!" I spoke urgently, and his face dropped. He went from smiling to disoriented in half a second.
"Wow. That's how it is, huh? I'm over there in prison, thinking you're dead, and that's how you—"
"Brother, I'm so happy to see you, but I'm about to propose to Jade, and I just can't have you here, fucking it up,” I interrupted his accusations, and it was instantaneous—his face lit up like a Christmas tree.
A hush fell between us while we stood in the dim foyer, and I waited for him to leave, but instead, he brought his hand to his chest and spoke slowly and quietly.
"You're proposing? Tonight? Sasha...brother...I'm so happy for you."
The news hit him right in the heart, and, of course, I was so happy that he was excited, but when he lunged for a hug again, I stopped him.
"Later. I promise. You can hug me all day if you want, but you have to go!" I pulled on his arm to hurry his departure, but it was as if he didn’t hear me.
"How are you going to do it? Here?" he asked, and then his eyebrows shot up as if he realized something. "Oh! That's actually perfect! This is where you guys started the whole thing, eh?"
Oh my God. Andrei, the gossip queen, had to shut the fuck up.
"I promise I’ll FaceTime you first, okay? Go."
But again, he didn’t hear me. His smile widened, and he looked around the house until his gaze landed on the open sliding doors. All the candles on the beach gave off a light glow, and that’s when he clued in.
"On the beach?!" he whispered loudly, genuine joy lighting up his face. Oh man. I didn’t want to kick him out like this, especially since he had spent the last three months isolated from everyone and from all the wonderful things life had to offer.
"Aw, that's so romantic. She’ll love it.
" Andrei looked me over like a doting father.
"How do you feel? You ready for married life? "
Fucking hell, Jade would return any minute, and he had to go!
But he was so wonderfully curious, and we hadn't seen each other in so long after having spent our entire lives as brothers.
We didn't call each other 'brother' in a friendly way—we were as close as family. Our parents had known each other, we’d always been in the same class in school, and we had spent every free minute together when we were kids and teenagers.
"I am." I smiled too, one hundred percent sure of this. I wanted Jade in my life forever. I wanted everything with her—house, babies, grocery shopping, all the regular life activities. She lit up my whole world.
"I’m so happy for you. Truly." Andrei gazed into my eyes, but I knew that smile—he was about to spiral into a dark pit of anxiety, and I just didn't have the time for it.
"Get out," I commanded, and he chuckled, taking a step toward the door.
"But uh...I'm really glad to have you back,” I added right before he reached for the door handle, and without thinking about it, pulled him in for a hug. My friend.
"You know what?” Andrei ended it quickly, stepping back.
“Don't wait. Give me the keys to the car, and I'll go home alone.
I'll keep Jade outside for a minute so you have time to get to the beach, and then do it.
Don't let her go by herself. You never know how life will turn out or what can happen. Don't delay. Even a minute."
I paused, absorbing his every word and looking into his tired blue eyes. He was right. For the first time, I agreed with his anxiety. A minute could change everything.
"You're right." I made the decision without having to think about it, chastising myself for thinking it was a good idea to let Jade go alone. I never wanted to let her out of my sight and arms.
With an encouraging nod, Andrei stepped outside the front door, distracting Jade long enough to give me time to run down the back steps to the beach. I took a second to catch my breath, and that’s when I heard Jade.
"Alex?" she called out for me, my whole soul shivering at the sound of her voice saying my name. Just like the first time. "Listen, I love your friends and all, but both Olga and Andrei are super weird tonight. She kept me on the phone for like five minutes! Talking about her delive...delivery."
Jade stepped onto the back patio and noticed me immediately, stopping in her tracks. She descended the steps slowly, oblivious to the wild rhythm of my heartbeat.
"What’s this?" she asked, excited. "Are we going for a romantic midnight swim?" She took in the sight of the candles, her smile radiant and joyful, anticipation and interest bursting from her eyes.
I loved her.
I adored her.
I was alive because of her.
Jade wore a white T-shirt, light-blue jeans, and sandals. Her long hair shone in the candlelight, and she looked simple and relaxed, but she was also the most beautiful woman on the whole planet.
Her foot sank into the sand, and that’s when I descended to one knee, chuckling nervously at the way her eyes widened and that smile fell off her face.
I popped the little jewelry box open, and—
"Oh my..." Jade whispered, taking a step closer.
"Did you think we’d be here?” I asked, wanting to delay so I could stare at her longer.
Jade’s expression softened, and she shook her head. “No. I lost all hope.”
Her words pierced me right in the heart. Me too. There was a moment when I’d also lost all hope.
“But now I want to hear you say it. I want to hear you ask me.”
I would. I had a few questions, actually.
"Jade? Will you spend the rest of your life with me?
Will you let me love you, caress you, support you, and provide for you?
Do you want to have a family together? Will you commit to going on dates only with me from now on?
" At this, she giggled, and her eyes sparkled in the candlelight again, filled with tears.
"Will you be my wife, Jade? Will you marry me, Preziosa? "
That was it—she was crying, exactly how I’d imagined. I wasn’t sure why I was so set on making her cry, only that I wanted all her tears to come from happiness instead of pain.
As if drinking in this moment, my love stood before me and smiled through her tears. The silence was only broken by the soft lulling of the ocean waves beside us, and, oh fuck, I hoped I wasn't going to cry.
Jade's long brown hair fluttered with the light breeze, but then, unexpectedly, she fell to her knees in front of me, never even taking a glance at the ring.
I wasn't sure if God was real, but he had to be, right? To give me a woman like this? To give me her love?
"Yes,” she finally answered, her voice resolute.
"Of course. Absolutely. I will definitely be your wife.
" Jade gazed into my eyes, each one of her words like medicine on my heart.
"But…no more Preziosa, okay?” Her smile never faded, but a twinge of anxiety ran through me at those unforeseen words.
"I won't have an Italian last name for much longer. "
Oh, sweet baby Jesus, thank you. I nodded like a complete idiot, barely alive to clue in that I had to slide the ring on her finger.
With shaking fingers, I popped the ring out of the box and reached for her equally shaking and clammy hand.
God, we were both a fucking mess.
Reverently, I held her hand, noticing how bony her fingers were. As I suspected, the ring was too big. I had picked out the emerald cut design and ordered the ring before the nightmare, and now…Jade had lost so much weight. The ring waited, hidden away in a safe, in this house all this time.
"Oh wow.” Jade sniffled and admired the ring. “Looks like you're going to have to be an outstanding husband and cook for your wife. So she can return back to what she was…when you freed her."
Jade was a dream. A whole universe. She was real and pure. She was both a vibrant color and obsidian darkness. She was fire and ice, she was an angel and a demon, and she put me back together after I was crushed into nothing.
Just like that, I carried a quietly crying and smiling Jade back into our little beach house, determined to never let her out of my arms and sight.