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Beatrice grins the whole time, never once fazed by the love that they all push onto her. I was right when I said they were pushy, they are, and while sometimes it’s annoying as fuck, they aren’t just friends . . . they’re family.
My family. Her family.
Our family.
In a world where darkness often prevails, in this room, surrounded by these people, there’s light. So much light that all you can do is bask in it. And when Beatrice snaps her gaze to mine, mouthing,I love you, I do bask.
After eleven years, I finally got the girl . . . and there isn’t a thing in the world that will take her away from me now.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Beatrice
Thesundipsbehindthe clouds, the sky darkening as night crawls in. There’s a hush over the pier, as my feet slap against the wooden slats. Wind roars in the distance, and rain falls in a light drizzle. I tuck my hands into the pocket of my sweater, lifting my gaze to the sky.
A voice calls out behind me, and a smile breaks on my face as I turn, my eyes zeroing in on the man from so many of my dreams.
Maverick strolls toward me, his eyes never leaving my face. Wearing a pair of dark jeans and an old Outwood High sweater, his hair is tucked beneath his backwards baseball cap. When he reaches me, he holds his hand out to mine and I take it, threading my fingers through his as I start down the pier with Maverick following my lead, something he always does.
For the last six months, a day hasn’t gone by that we haven’t seen each other. Whether it be FaceTime when he’s been stuck at college, or the late nights he’s made the commute back to our hometown, slipping into my bedroom long after the lights have gone off.
He’s been at all my meetings with my lawyer, a silent presence holding me up when I struggle to do it myself. On the days where I can’t find the motivation to get out of bed, he crawls in beside me and hides in the darkness until I’m ready.
We don’t always talk in those moments, and when we do, it’s often not about anything of importance, but still, he lies there with me, letting the world pass by.
Then there are the good days.
The days where we walk along the beach, hand in hand, and the ones where everything feels possible. Maverick lets me live on those days, just as I asked him to all those months ago. He isn’t my knight in shining armor; he hasn’t slayed all my dragons, or pulled me from my tower, but with him at my side, the road doesn’t seem so rocky.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I answer, tipping my gaze up to meet his eyes. His smile is wide as he takes me in, his dimples on full display. The sight takes my breath away, and my heart stutters as he presses a kiss to my forehead. “I really am.”
Today was one of those good days.
Today was the day I took my abuser to court.
While Sebastian may only serve five years on a third-degree felony domestic battery charge, the conviction will live with him forever. He can’t buy his way out of this or threaten me anymore to lie for him. His life is over as he knows it, and that’s more than I can ask for.
For so long I let Sebastian hold power over me and control me in ways even I didn’t understand, but I put an end to that cycle. Today I fought and I won.
Today, I became a survivor.
So many people have used those words before, but I’ve never understood them. And unfortunately, there are so many others who have been through what I have that will feel the same.
We reach the end of the pier; the same one Maverick has inked into his skin forever. He told me once that he found his purpose walking along these wooden slats with me by his side, and today I finally found mine too.
I want to help others who are in the position I’ve been in. The ones who, unlike me, don’t have the resources to fight.
“I’m going to go back to college,” I tell Maverick. His eyes lock with mine, and his expression softens to awe. “In the fall. I want to get my degree, and I want to help women. I want to give them the freedom that I have now.”
He doesn’t say a word, but pride shimmers in his eyes, and he presses a kiss to my lips.
“I don’t know what happens tomorrow,” I say, turning to face the waves as they crash against the sand beneath us. “And I’m always going to have bad days, and I’ll probably rely on medication for the rest of my life to help me get through them, but I want to give others what you have given me.”
“What’s that, Bumblebee?” he whispers, his breath fanning my ear as he tightens his hold on my hand.
“I want to give them a chance to live . . . I want to help them find their happiness. Because that’s what you are to me, you’re my happy place, Maverick. There isn’t a thing I can’t do without you at my side.”
