AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll need you to be patient with me,” I say gently. "I have a lot to work through, Sergio."
He holds my hand in the silence. “Don’t we all?”
Sometimes in romance, there are grand gestures that display nothing but unflagging adoration. I've seen Disney movies where Prince Charming rides off into the sunset, securing his love of the princess.
And I know there are extravagant gestures of love, like standing up in a crowded room and proclaiming love from the rooftops, a bed of roses, a diamond ring. Moving across the country to be with the person you love.
Sometimes it means saving someone’s life despite impossible odds.
It’s the knowledge that someone will come home to you. That they will pave your path to freedom with their own flesh and blood.
Sometimes it’s the knowledge that someone will wait for you.
Sometimes it’s the type of love that burns through the barriers that hold you back from each other.
But sometimes the grandest gesture of all is sitting in the quiet aftermath of brutality, in a sterile hospital room, with a slow beeping of machines in the background… holding hands.
Sometimes it’s a bottle of water when you're thirsty, a sandwich when you’re hungry, and the sure, steady strength of an arm around your shoulders.
I look at Starla, peacefully lying in her bed.
I think of what Sergio has done for me, and what I have done for Starla. And I know then. Sometimes love isn't a feeling… but what you do.
* * *
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Sergio
Starla does not haveto stay long in the hospital. But that leaves us with an interesting predicament.
For all intents and purposes, Eden and Starla are now homeless. Eden’s only been staying in the club as an employee, but she doesn't technically live there. I have my own home I could bring them to, but it feels strange taking her sister there with us.
I talked it over with Mario over a cold beer in the club one night. "There is no way Eden wants her sister in the club, and frankly, she can't stay there anyway because she’s still a minor."
"Of course not," Mario says with a growl. "I still can't get over the fact that you guys let Marialena in here."
Marialena may be an adult, but she’s the youngest Rossi sibling, and she'll probably always be a minor in their eyes.
"Where do you and Eden stand?"
Where do we stand? "I love her. I'm going to marry her, and soon. I don't want her to have a single doubt in her mind about who I am, about who we are."
Mario nods. His own relationship with his wife Gloria had been fraught with difficulty when it began. Gloria actually isn't even her real name, but that's their story and not ours. We all have complexities that we bring to the table. We all have wounded pasts, and trauma, though some scars run deeper than others.
But I won't let my wounds define me, and neither will Eden. Her fierce insistence on overcoming anything is probably one of the things I love most about her.
"I know that you're not getting married to anyone but her,” Mario says. "Romeo made that clear as day. But I mean, what’s next?”
I'm not the kind of person that doesn't like to think about the answer to that question. I always like to know what’s going to happen next. But I love her. So that means the answer to that question is up to her.
“All that matters to me is that Eden and Starla are safe."
"Oh, Jesus. Do you two have to become, like, legal guardians?"
"They’re orphans now. So, yeah, for now."
During the aftermath of the deaths of the cult leaders and the remainder of those in charge being arrested, Eden’s mother fled the country. We found out recently that her body was found in the Caribbean and the cause of death was suspected suicide. Doubtful, but we won’t pursue it.
