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“I’d do it to see you,” I hold her gaze, “This isn’t over for us. Please.”
Isolde looks from me to the door. Car doors open and shut, the sirens are right there, colored lights flash in my windows. “I don’t want it to be over either.”
I don’t get a chance to respond before the door is opened and the Captain, along with a few other officers and medics, hurries inside. Isolde is ripped away from me and she goes to stand by the Captain while I’m being poked, prodded and questioned. A sheet is thrown over Lamott’s dead body. Isolde takes a call and leaves the room. Everything happens so fast that I don’t get to talk to her. I’m loaded into an ambulance. I see her next to the Captain in her clothes. Our eyes meet, and I see the sadness in hers. My heart plummets knowing this is goodbye.
ChapterFourteen
Isolde
Four months later…
Between the tips I gave my boss, Adam’s attempts at the dock, and my last conversation with Dimitri, we were eventually able to tie him to the whole case with Adam. After his arrest I was taken into custody and then released. Becca Reynolds is no more. I am Isolde Mariata again.
Life after being undercover feels strange. I moved out of the apartment I was in, and found a new place located closer to my job in Atlanta. Everything feels different. My mind believes this is where I should be. My heart yearns for the beach and tropical waters of Candy Cane Key. My soul longs for Roman Mohagen. I haven’t contacted him since I left, although my superior did make me aware that he made it out of surgery and that his wound is healing fine. After everything that happened I feel ashamed to call him. He took a bullet because of me and all I did was lie to him about my work. My heart breaks from wanting to be near him, but I don’t think I could forgive myself if Roman were ever put in danger again because of me. He and his family already suffered enough.
“Mariata, you in tonight?” My new investigation partner yells across the room. They’ve all been making plans to get a drink after our shift after solving two intense murder investigations.
I shrug, “I might stop by.”
I hear him whistle low and joke about my undercover status being too good for them. I roll my eyes and grab my jacket. I just want to go home and take a bubble bath, and read to escape the loneliness that I feel.
I take in deep breaths of the cool March air as soon as I step outside. Lately I've been feeling suffocated by my norm. I wish that I was brave enough to let it all go and chase my heart down in Candy Cane Key. I could beg the Captain of the police there for a job and be happy helping stop crime from ever touching that town again. I would have a home with a rooftop escape where I’d convince Roman to set up a hammock for me, and I’d relax and read and eat his deliciously made meals. On my time off I’d help him at the restaurant, and then make him come home with me when he wasn’t needed. We could get to know each other, grow to love each other more. I could give up my life here. But I’m too embarrassed to try. I feel too guilty over how everything turned out. I glance at my phone and pull up Expedia, looking for a flight to Candy Cane Key.
Two spots left on the flight. Tomorrow morning…
I hit buy, and don’t let myself second guess. Roman’s last words float in my head. We aren’t over. I shouldn’t be giving up. With a smile on my lips I head down the stairs in search of my car.
“Isolde.”
I know that voice. That manly voice, rich, deep, and full of assuredness. I turn around to find the greatest sight I’ve ever seen. Roman.
“What are you doing here?” I manage to breathe out. “I mean, how did you find me?” He laughs, his brow quirked up.
I cover my eyes with my hand, “I’m not saying any of this right.”
I feel him walk over to me, until his chest brushes my arm. “You said Atlanta, and I searched from there. What I’m doing here, is finding the woman who left the island with my heart in her hands.”
My hand drops and our eyes collide. My whole body fills with warmth and a sensation of being right. This is real and I was stupid to think it wasn’t. “Then what?”
He chuckles and I realize how much I missed that sound. His arms wrap around my waist, pulling my body into his. “Hopefully I can convince her to let me stay.”
My head tilts back, so I can look at every inch of his face. “I feel so bad. I just bought a ticket to Candy Cane Key. I was on my way to you.”
Roman’s eyes widen and the grin on his face is both cocky and relieved. “We have time. We can figure out what works best for us. I just couldn't let you go, Isolde. I wanted to come sooner, but my doctor wouldn’t let me fly. I thought about calling, but I knew if I heard your voice I would have been here on the next flight.”
Tears form in my eyes, “I wanted that too. I felt so guilty though about you being shot because of me, and I lied to you.”
Roman's warm fingers cup my face, his thumbs brushing away my tears. “I get it now. I know I pushed back, but I thought you were in danger. I believed you when you told me that our times were the real you, and you know what, I love that woman. Are you her?”
I nod, frantically, “Yes.”
“That's all I needed to know, baby.” Roman dips his head down, our lips brushing gently at first, before the kiss grows demanding and he’s half holding my feet off the ground.
“So my place?” I smile at him, “And then we decide where we go after that?”
“I’ll go wherever you are,” He promises, kissing my lips one more time.
“I love you, too” I tell him, testing the words and holding the weight of their truth in my heart, “I’ll never leave you calzone.”
The End!
