A Kiss Stolen

I nod.

“She’s called your name a couple of times.”

Tears fill my eyes. Never have I been so overwhelmed and confused all at once, but if there are any lessons I have learned from life is that everything happens for a reason. Fate put her in front of me to tempt me. And now Fate has brought her back to me. I would do it all again for her.

All I want to do now is to put my arms around her and hold on to her until we become old and decrepit and even after we are dead I want us to be buried in the same grave. Our flesh disintegrating, our bones entwined.

Chapter Fifty

Liliana

I touch my father’s hand. “How did you find me so fast?”

“Fast? Hell, Liliana, do you know what one and a half weeks of hell feels like?”

“I’m so sorry, Dad. I never meant to hurt you. I thought I came up with a believable story. I thought I could protect Mum.”

“Believable?” He snorts.

“Don’t make me laugh. It hurts when I laugh.”

His cellphone rings. He looks at it and smiles. “Your mother just touched down in France. Shane and Dom are with her and they’ll be here in half an hour.”

I smile back. “Good. How did Mum take it?”

He frowns. “Terribly. I was scared for her.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Everything will be all right now that we’ve found you.”

“How did you find me?”

“When it comes to the underworld no one has better connections than I do. One of Brand’s men boasted about the kidnap to a prostitute. She wanted the reward and I wanted the information.”

“Dad, why was my story not believable? You did go behind my back and get me that internship and I had every right to be angry and go off on a sulking trip to Spain.”

“You called me Daddy. You haven’t called me Daddy since you were five years old, honey.”

“Oh.” I bite my bottom lip. “Dad?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to forgive Brand one day? Maybe?”

He keeps his face expressionless. “Maybe. One day.”

“He’s been through a terrible time, Dad. They did unimaginably horrible things to him after he left our house.” I start to sob.

My Dad strokes my head gently. “Hey, stop that. I will forgive him one day, but it will take time. He kidnapped my baby. If anything had happened to you …” He stops, takes a deep breath, and forces a smile. “Believe me, if he had been anybody else I would have torn his fucking throat out.”

“I really love him, Dad.”

“Are you sure? Don’t rush into anything. You have been through an ordeal. You think you’re in love with your captor, but things might look different in time. You just need a bit of time to heal.”

I reach up and touch my father’s face. “Dad. You know how you feel about, Mum? Do you think you will ever change your mind?”

“It’s different.”

“No, it’s not. Remember when you told me you don’t choose love it chooses you. That’s exactly what happened to both of us. All these years I was waiting for him and he was waiting for me. We are perfect together. You’ll see.”

Chapter Fifty-One

Brand

I come into the room and her whole face lights up in a bright smile, but I feel sick to my stomach. She looks so damn pale. She lifts her arm in a beckoning gesture. I walk up to the side of the bed.

“I’m so sorry, Liliana. Somehow I managed to get you hurt again.”

“Don’t be silly. It had nothing to do with you. It all started when a boy called Pierre told me the best way to a man’s heart is to get helpless. He suggested breaking an arm or a leg. So of course, I thought I’d go one better and get myself shot in the stomach.”

I try to smile, but I can’t.

“Come on, Brand.”

“That Pierre should mind his own damn business and watch his mouth while he’s at it. Giving crap advice to other men’s girlfriends.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh, my goodness. You just called me your girlfriend. I think I like that very much.”

“Think you like that better than wife?”

Her eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. “What? You’re going to make an honest woman out of me, Brand Vaughan.”

I shuffle my feet. “Yeah, I’m going to make an honest woman out of you, Liliana Eden.”

She grins. “You’re going to get an engagement ring for me and everything?”

“Um …I got one already.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Really? When did you do that?”

“I bought it seven years ago. I was passing a shop and I saw this ring and it was the exact same color as your eyes so I bought it and kept it. I told myself I was just doing it because it was beautiful, but I guess my heart always knew.”

She entwines her fingers with mine. “You know, I’m almost afraid this is a dream and I’ll wake up.”

“This is no dream, Princess.”

“Then I swear I am the luckiest person alive.”

“Nah, you’re going to have to fight me for that title. Because nobody is luckier than me. I got the woman of my dreams.”

She looks up at me saucily. “Yes, I have to agree with you. You are very, very lucky to have me. I’m a bit of a catch, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are. Hey, I wanted to ask you something. What was that reference you made to the story of the Monk and the prostitute?”

She pats the space next to her. “Come on. Make yourself comfortable. It’s a good story. I have to warn you though that in this story you are playing the part of the prostitute.”

I gingerly perch next to her and she begins her story.

“In ancient India, monks were not allowed to hang around in any area for too long. The reason for this being that they lived by begging for food and didn’t want to become a burden on the poor villagers. The only time they would double down in one area was during the monsoon season which lasted for about three months. At that time the mountain passes were impossible to cross so they had no choice but to stay with one household.

“Before the season started all the monks would go to the head monk’s hut and tell him who they were planning to stay with. That was when one of the monks announced he had been invited to stay with the local prostitute

.

“All the other monks were suitably scandalized. How can a monk stay with a prostitute in a one room house? She would be a bad influence on him. There would be too many temptations in his path. Her ways were godless. Even the head monk wondered if it was a good idea.

“But the monk who had been invited remained calm. He said he didn’t see what the fuss was all about. He was a monk because he believed his way was the best way to live in this world, but if the prostitute’s way was better then there was no reason for him to be a monk. In the end the head monk agreed to let him stay with the prostitute.

“For three months the monk lived with the prostitute. During this time she plied her trade. Men came. She danced. There was music and alcohol and fine food served. All the other monks were worried about the state of the monk.

“Once the three months were up, the monk went to see the head monk and with him he had a new recruit. The prostitute had decided to become a monk.”

“Your father told you this story?”

“Mmm…”

I nod. “It’s a good story.”

“You’re only a criminal because you don’t know a better way, Brand. There is a better way for us and we’ll find it together.”

I look at her in awe. At this amazing woman who agreed to be mine.

“What does a woman have to do around here to get kissed?”

I bend my head and kiss her. She smells of medicine and chemicals, but the magic is still all there and it makes me burn with desire. “I love you,” I whisper into her sweet mouth.

“I love you much, much more,” she says, tightening her grip on my hand. “Even right now as I speak to you … my heart feels like it’s melting. Even my feet, they feel like they’re not really on the mattress. It’s like I’m floating … in this … in this bubble of ridiculously delicious heat and joy and … magic.”