Page 55 of Kiss of Ruin (Brutal Empire)

The blue water in front of me blurs. Alone, I don’t bother trying to keep the tears at bay anymore. I let them flow down my cheeks. This is my life. With nothing to look forward to.

In the distance, I see a man standing a few feet away from the water’s edge. I furiously brush at my face, the last thing I need it another person asking how I’m doing or if I’m okay. I stop and sit down on the warm sand, watching as the waves crash onto the shore. The sight is mesmerizing, helping me forget all that is wrong in my life.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I lean up and pull it from my back pocket. It’s a text from Sofia, telling me to check my Facebook page. I don’t know what she’s up to. Whatever it is, it’s better than focusing on Nico.

There’s a new notification. I realize Sofia’s tagged me in a post. When I open it up, my fingers freeze on the phone. It’s a post from a couple of hours ago from Nico.

Time for some relaxation on the beach.

I climb to my feet and start walking down the beach again. My eyes searching every inch for him. The man from before is still there. I move in his direction.

As I get closer, familiarity screams at me. There’s something about the way this man carries himself that has me reaching into my memory to figure out who he reminds me of. I continue to get closer and closer. Less the ten feet away, I halt my movements. I finally understand why I recognize the man standing on the beach.

“Nico?”

He turns to face me. I want to run to him, want to wrap my arms around him and beg his forgiveness. The same forgiveness I’ve been asking for through unanswered calls and text messages. I hold my ground.

“Hello, Scarlett.”

“I thought you were in New York?”

“I had some business to take care of in Miami.”

My heart breaks the rest of the way. “Oh, I’m sorry to have bothered you. I’ll get it out of your way.” As I try to scurry past his hand shoots out stopping me. “Wait, some of it has to do with you.”

“With me?”

“Yes. I want to talk about what happened in New York.”

I shake my head and try and take a step backward. “I’d rather not.”

“I think we need to.”

I suck in a breath and brace myself. “How did you know where to find me that night?”

“Once Antonio told me you were in New York, I took the first flight out that I could get and went straight to the mansion. I forced Carlos and Andreas to tell me the entire plan.” He reaches up and brushes a piece of hair out of my face. “I told you that I would find a way to protect you, no matter what and that meant knowing where you were.”

“Well, the family is yours now. I’ll no longer get in your way.”

“See that’s not what I want at all, and I flew all the way down here to tell you that.”

“Then what do you want?”

Nico lowers down to one knee and opens a box, revealing one of the two rings Antonio had made for me. “I want you to spend the rest of your life as my wife. I want you to always be by my side. To impede my decisions. I want to be your protection from now until the end of time.”

Now, I really can’t stop the tears.

“Scarlett, will you spend the rest of your life with me?”

I let out a shaky breath, “Yes.”

He slips the ring out of the box, then onto my finger. I throw myself at him, knocking him back into the sand. His fingers weave into my hair as he holds my mouth to his.

We lay there kissing, enjoying being back together again when the wind picks up, pelting us with sand.

“What do you say to taking this back to the house?”

“Lead the way.”

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