Page 158 of Lethal Obsession

And, I think, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror opposite, I’m done trying to find them.

Mind made up, I slide open the door and step out onto the deck.

Ofelia rolls over, her face lighting in a smile that breaks my fucking heart as she begins to swim toward me. I meet her smile with one of my own as I go behind the bar and pull out a bottle of Krug and two glasses.

“Krug?” Her smile widens. “I take it the call with Sergei went well, then?”

“Of course,” I lie, stroking the hair back from her face as she rests her elbows on the poolside. “Which is just one of the reasons that today is a celebration.” I touch my glass to hers. “To no more secrets.”

Her face lights up like the sun glittering on the water. “No more secrets,” she repeats softly.

We drink. I put the glasses on a poolside table, then pull off my shirt and dive over her head, grinning at her squeal as I go under. I surface with her in my arms and kiss her, on and on, losing myself in her sweet taste and long limbs. She wraps her arms around my neck, nestling into me as I turn us both slowly in the water.

“No more secrets.” She shakes her head in wonder. “Do you have any idea how good that sounds, Alexei? To know I don’t have to lie to my family anymore . . . that we can just be happy, like this. Forever.”

She stops speaking abruptly, turning her face into my shoulder.

I kiss the top of her head, then tilt her chin up so she can look at me. “It was always going to be forever, Ofelia,” I say quietly. “You do know that, don’t you?”

She bites her lip and nods slowly, the sun catching the crystal drops threatening to spill down her face.

“I said that no more secrets was one of the reasons today is a celebration.” I carry her toward the edge of the pool, my lips moving against her temple as I speak. “Would you like to know what the other reason is?” I lift her out of the water, then deposit her on the side of the pool and move between her legs, my hands resting on her thighs.

“Sure.” She gives me a quizzical look.

“It’s this.” Reaching into the pocket of my discarded shirt, I bring out the leather box I pocketed inside the cabin. Ofelia stares at it, her eyes widening. “I’ve been carrying this with me ever since I left Miami.” I hold the box against her legs, looking up at her. “In fact, I brought it to your twenty-first birthday. But the moment I saw you that night, I knew I couldn’t gift it to you. I knew you’d see straight through me if I did.

“I’m not worried about that anymore, Ofelia, because the truth is, you saw through me a long time ago.”

She strokes my face. “We saw through each other,” she whispers.

“Yes.” Despite my certainty in the cabin a few moments ago, my heart is racing harder than if I’d run a marathon. “We both inherited so much history that is not our own. This”—I open the box—“is part of our shared history, but it’s also something that is just ours, Ofelia.”

She stares at the egg-shaped pendant on the end of a fine chain, resting on a bed of satin, her eyes widening. “Is that—”

“Fabergé?” I nod. “Yes. He made it for Papa’s sister as a birthday gift, but she never wore it. She never even saw it. The pendant went into the vault before she even opened the box, and she didn’t survive the gulag to reclaim it.”

“Are they musical notes?” Ofelia traces the white-gold decorations down the side of the blue enamel. Each note ends in a small pearl.

I nod. “Anya—that was her name—played piano. She was gifted, I believe, just like you.” I place her fingers on the tiny diamonds that encircle the middle of the egg. “Turn it.”

Ofelia’s eyes lock on mine. “It opens?” Her voice is very quiet.

“Yes.” My heart has slowed to an even, heavy certainty. “As I’m sure you know, Fabergé always hid his most precious work inside his eggs.”

Her fingers twist the diamond band, and the pendant clicks open. My thumbs shaking slightly, I lift the top half, and Ofelia gasps.

“It’s white gold,” I say as she stares at the ring inside. “The stone is a sapphire, surrounded by diamonds.” When she doesn’t speak, I go on. “When I first found the piece and learned the story behind it, I wanted to give it to you right away. It just felt like it belonged to you. But I didn’t know how to explain the gift, or what I’d say.

“Then, later, I thought that perhaps I could just give you the pendant and keep the ring separate, so you didn’t think that I—well.” I clear my throat. “It’s yours,” I say roughly. “It was always yours, Ofelia. And I don’t want there to be any confusion about what it means.”

I take the ring out of the egg, then pick up her hand and slide it onto her third finger. “It means forever.”

I stare at the rich stone gleaming on her hand, looking so perfectly right that some hard pressure inside my chest slowly eases, then disappears altogether.

“Whether you want to wear that ring or simply keep it inside the pendant is up to you.” I take both her hands in mine. “But either way, I’m asking you to marry me, Ofelia. To be mine, always.”

When she raises her eyes, they are clear of any trace of tears, gleaming instead with the rich depth of the sapphire on her finger. She lifts the necklace over her head, and the pendant settles against her skin as if it’s always belonged there.