SWNOVELS Chapter 70
“When are you finally going to tell me where we’re going?” my wife asks excitedly as she looks out of the window in our private jet.
My heart warms as I watch her, and gratitude rushes through me when she looks at me and smiles. She’s so beautiful, so precious, and somehow, she’s entirely mine. It’s surreal, and even after all this time, I can hardly believe that she’s my wife.
“You’ve been acting kind of weird all day,” she adds, narrowing her eyes at me as she crosses her arms and stares me down. “First you wake me up super early, then you drag me onto this plane with a suitcase Raven has allegedly packed for me, and you won’t even tell me where we’re going.”
I grin and reach for her hand as the plane begins to descend. “You always see straight through me, don’t you?” No one knows me like she does, and it’s thrilling to have one person in my life that’s just mine, someone who understands what I’m thinking without having to explain. “I’m taking you on a little island retreat.”
She gasps and tightens her grip on my hand. “Are we going back to Enzo’s island? God, I loved it there.”
I shake my head. “I bought us one of our own, since you seemed to really love it. Besides, Enzo is being weird about that particular island anyway. Told me it’s meant just for his wife and no one else, when somehow, that wasn’t an issue last time. He isn’t even married yet, so I don’t know why he’s being like that.”
Sierra’s eyes light up, and she laughs. “Probably for the best,” she says, her eyes roaming over me. “You’re always so stressed out when we go on holiday. I’d much prefer having a place of our own that we know is highly secure, so you can actually rest. You’re never fully relaxed in unknown places.”
There’s no judgment in her eyes, no blame, and I love her for it. “I have a surprise for you,” I admit.
“I know,” she replies. “Why else would you have been scheming all morning?”
I can’t help but chuckle, and she grins as she leans in and threads her hand through my hair, pulling my lips onto hers. I groan as I kiss her, loving the feel of her. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of kissing her, of being with her. I smile as we both sit back, my eyes on hers as we land. She’s the light of my life, the love of my life, and every single day, I fall a little deeper in love.
Sierra gasps when we step off the jet, on our own runway. “This is incredible,” she says as she looks around and finds miles and miles of clear blue water around us. She looks so happy as she reaches for my hand and pulls me along, even though she has absolutely no idea where she’s going, and I just know I’ll follow this woman to the ends of the world if that’s where she chooses to lead me to.
“There’s something I want to show you,” I tell her as we get closer to our holiday mansion. Sierra looks over her shoulder, her eyes filled with curiosity.
I try my best to smile, but I’m just so goddamn nervous as we head toward the beach behind the house, down a trailing stone path. My hands are clammy, and I know she can feel it, but thankfully, she doesn’t say anything as she follows me down.
She tightens her grip on me, her breathing becoming a little shaky when she spots the giant stone book on the beach, texted carved into it before it was painted over. It’s a replica of The Story of Us, opened up to a page that isn’t in our version of the book — yet.
Sierra has tears in her eyes when she looks at me, and I think she knows what’s coming. “I had a more robust plan,” I tell her as we pause in front of it. “But then you took my hand and started to look at everything so excitedly, and I just knew I couldn’t want a second longer.”
She looks from me to the painting on the background of the left page, in which I’m down on one knee, and tears begin to gather in her eyes when she read the word Let’s Start a New Chapter written over it in big letters.
“Sierra,” I say, reaching for her hand and stealing back her attention. I smile up at her, my heart overflowing with happiness. “Every day, I’m fighting for my life against the romance heroes you love so much.” She bursts out laughing, her tears drying. “And it’s a worthwhile fight, Kitten. You deserve the world, and nothing makes me happier than trying to give it to you. You changed my whole outlook on life, made me want to be a better person than I ever thought I could be, and in my quest to become worthy of you, I began to learn how to love myself, scars and all — something I didn’t think would ever happen. That’s what you do, you know? You make everything you touch better. You saved me, a thousand times over, with each little smile, each note scribbled in the margins of a notebook at a meeting. Each little action kept me on the right path — the path that led me here.”
I tighten my grip on her hand, my heart pounding wildly. I’m already married to her, and somehow, I’m still terrified standing here. “I don’t regret any part of our story, because every single page we’ve written together made us who we are, and it made us stronger than I ever could’ve hoped. However, if there is one thing I could do over, it would be this…”
She gasps when I go down on one knee and reach for the ring box I’ve been hiding from her. She sniffles when I open it clumsily, and I notice the exact moment she recognizes the pink diamond I once bought at an auction, the one the media has been reporting about for years, pondering who its recipient would be.
I know she’s always dreamed of a proposal, and having an engagement ring. I should’ve proposed to her once I’d gotten her grandmother’s approval, so she wouldn’t have had to miss out on it. “I hope it’s not too late,” I say nervously, my heart hammering in my chest. “Sierra, you are the love of my life, and if you’ll let me, I’d love to make up for everything we’ve missed out on. If you’ll let me, I’ll show you that you’ve always been the heroine in my story, every single day, starting with this… Sierra Kingston, will you marry me — in a place of our choosing, with our friends and family around us as we make our vows?”
“Yes,” she says, a tear running down her face. “Yes. A thousand times, yes. I’d want nothing more, Xavier.”