Page 112 of Bastian

Intense.

Soul shattering.

Kismet.

Us.

BASTIAN

I WILL DIE FOR YOU

“She put stars in his eyes.” — Ben

Even after so many years since I was a young boy accompanying his parents to shallow social events it still feels the same. The air was filled with arrogance, stupidity, and people without substance. Mind you not everyone’s the same. I don’t get off on generalizing humans but most celebrities I have met tonight have yet to convince me otherwise.

Mom and Dad made the evenings of socializing bearable back then until I lost them. Then it was just me and the woman who was hanging on my arm that day going to these types of gatherings as a means to an end.

But now things have changed.

The only silver lightning is the golden goddess in my arms.

Arianna.

Looking down at her, I am left speechless. Just like every time I look at her. Even when she looks annoyed, she is the most stunning woman in this room. My God what a beautiful creature she is. Every day she looks more perfect than the day before if that is even possible. She looks breathtaking wearing the gold Arnault dress I chose for her. There were a few gowns that caught my eye when I was searching for the perfect fit for her and when I saw the gold dress, I knew it was the one for her. It had her name written all over it. As if it were made for her.

Gold, glamorous and sensual.

Her.

My otherworldly beauty.

Then there are her eyes. I never thought women’s eyes were sexy until this woman.

Arianna’s eyes tell the stories her lips won’t.

Even when she was an eighteen-year-old, standing on Malibu’s beach, with her head held high as her entire life changed, her eyes told me more than her bratty mouth did, and even now, it tells me all I need to know.

Because even when insults slip from her perfect mouth, her sweet emerald eyes– eyes that shine more than the lights all around us– tell me a different story.

She loves me, but she’s terrified, and it breaks my heart that I did that, but as long as there’s breath on my body, I will not stop showing her just how much she truly means to me. My entire world, right along with our daughter, because this woman embraced my girl and loved her as her own. She loved Ellaiza so much that she didn’t have to be told twice before she signed the adoption papers.

Now, you might think I was being selfless when I decided to share custody of my daughter and in part I was. We both know Ellaiza is mine, just as much as she is Arianna’s, but the selfish bastard in me also knows that Arianna adopting my child ties her to us for a long time. And even if Arianna hadn’t forgiven me, at least with Ellaiza in between, I could keep her in my life forever.

It was a shitty thing to do but sometimes shitty things must be done in the name of love or war. In this case…both.

Like tonight with me showing up at the gala.

I could not for the life of me miss this pivotal night of hers.

Some moments stay with you forever until you’re in your grave, and even then, you take them with you. I share many moments like that with her. Tonight is one of them.

The second I got word that Arianna was invited to the gala, I knew I would do whatever needed to be done to be there for her. Including getting on a plane and following her here.

Because looking at her now, glowing radiantly I am certain I made the right move.

And even when I know she must have felt out of her element, at some point on the red carpet, she never let it never show. Arianna was the most beautiful woman in a sea of A-list celebrities.

There is no competition.

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