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My best friend.
“Florian, come on. Stay with me.”
The pain becomes too strong, though, and slowly, my eyes close. A smile curves my lips when I hear the barely audible baby’s cry, warmth spreading through my system and giving me solace.
My life had meaning if it meant I saved my son from the unfortunate fate that followed me like a shadow since I took my first breath.
Inhale.
Exhale.
And everything goes blank.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Our first love is either a beautiful memory or a bittersweet one.
But what outcomes it’ll have…
Solely depends on how kind destiny is to you.
Love is a gamble.
An addiction that we all happily indulge in because when we love, we feel alive.
And isn’t that the point of life?”
Jimena
Jimena
A raspy breath slips past my lips, and my hold on the thornless roses in my hands tightens. My heels click soundly as I approach the church filled with people gathered here from all over the world to pay their respects to the Price family.
My heart pangs painfully, and I gulp for breath, rubbing the diamond bracelet on my wrist. That always calms me down, as it reminds me of the best moments of my life.
“If you squeeze them any harder, you’ll crush them.” Santiago’s voice startles me, and I smile as he walks toward me from the back door, looking as handsome as ever in his three-piece black suit. “It’s going to be okay, Jimena.” He cups my cheek, and I nod even though I don’t share his sentiments.
The wind whooshes over us, billowing my hair backward as my long sky-blue off-the-shoulder satin dress with the slit on the right thigh skirts over my form, and I shiver a little. “I think they will disapprove of the color.”
“It’s his favorite color, right?” I swallow, and my hand flexes tighter on the flowers. “It brings out your eyes and matches your necklace.” He taps on the sapphire necklace Florian designed for me on that memorable Christmas.
When we kissed for the first time and everything changed.
I thought it was fitting for the occasion, even if looking back at the memory makes my heart ache every single day.
“Come here,” he whispers and hugs me close. I close my eyes, basking in strength from his embrace. “You look beautiful, and I love you,” he murmurs into my ear. I lock my arms tighter around him because I don’t doubt these words.
How can I after what happened?
He stayed with me during one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, holding me while I delivered the baby. Octavius covered the baby enough to clean its mouth, which allowed the baby to give us a tiny cry. Thankfully, he called in backup before they found me, so about two seconds later, Ryder and Diego ran to us and led us to a van just as the storm stopped raging. I lost consciousness around that time and woke up in the hospital, where my first thought was about my baby.
The doctor assured me everything was fine and the baby should be healthy as long as they monitor the health and stats. They called us lucky and praised whoever assisted in the delivery for their quick thinking and protecting the baby in such rough conditions.
Happiness filled me at that moment, and I wanted nothing more but to hold my little bundle of joy in my arms when Octavius entered my room.
And the world as I knew it shattered.
That was when my whole family surrounded me with love so strong, I never questioned my place in it ever again. We spent a lot of time talking about the past, and even though I didn’t need their reassurance, because my feelings were never about the lack of love…all these things healed some parts of me.
