Page 138 of King Of Order

In the warmth of his touch, a new wave of emotion rose in me—joy, disbelief, and wonder. The realization was surreal, as if the universe wove us together in ways I hadn’t dared to imagine.

‘I can’t believe this,’ I whispered again, shaking my head in amazement. ‘All long.’

‘You don’t understand,’ he said, voice breaking. ‘What you did, how you kept me alive when I didn’t deserve it—it blows my mind, Chiara. I thought I loved you before, but now,’ he trailed off, shuddering. ‘Now, it’s like I can’t breathe without you by my side, that you’ve been part of my life this whole time when I didn’t know it.’

I gazed at him, eyes wide, surprise and emotion snaking through me. ‘Rio—’

‘I love you,’ he growled, his timbre solid and sure. ‘I adore you more than I can explain, and not solely because of what you did back then. Because of who you are. Because you’ve been by my side, even when I was unaware of it, our lives became connected long before I understood it, and I can’t imagine my life without you now. I owe you everything, Chiara. Not for saving me back then, but for being here now, for being you.’

I gazed up at me, tears gathering in my eyes, and for a moment, neither of us spoke.

We swayed into each other, the essence of the past between us and something else—more substantial that bound us together more than I ever thought possible.

I whispered, ‘You don’t owe me anything, Rio. I was doing what anyone would do.’ I paused, my throat tightening with emotion, ‘Regardless, I love you too.’

His sensual lips widened into a full smile, those muscled, sinewed arms pulling me closer, arms wrapping around me as if he’d never let go.

‘No one else would have done what you did. No one else would’ve seen me the way you did. No one else would’ve made me feel like this.’

My tears spilled over, not in shock or confusion this time.

They were steeped in pure, raw joy.

Pleasure surged through me as I realized our lives had always been intertwined.

Rio pulled me into his embrace, and I clung to him, the heat of his body against mine, the steady beat of his heart under my ear.

I closed my eyes, letting the moment wash over me, luxuriating in wonder. I smiled through my misted eyes, overwhelmed by its peace.

Emotions shifted deep inside me, and I felt a sense of completeness I had never experienced before—we had found each other.

His hand slid up to cradle my head and kissed my forehead. He held me close, checking my pulse, the rise and fall of my breath, and the steady beat of my heart against his.

I was sure of one thing: I was never letting him go.

He let out an exhale he’d been holding, and for the first time that morning, his muscled body relaxed.

We lay in silence for a while, clinging to each other and listening to the rhythmic sound of the waves crashing on the shore outside.

I tagged the faint calls of seabirds in the distance and, beyond that, the hum of boats gliding through the water. The sea, endless and steady, was a comfort.

I tilted my head to look at Rio, his face calm, the strain fading from his features. His eyes fixed on the horizon, where the sun was rising, casting a soft golden glow over the ocean. He caught me watching him and smiled faintly, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

‘I never thought I’d feel like this,’ I murmured, my utterance muffled against his chest.

His arms tightened around me, his rasp thick with emotion. ‘I never thought I’d owe my life to the woman I love.’

I pulled back, gazing up at him, my heart swelling with a fierce type of joy.

The kind that only comes when you realize something extraordinary had happened.

‘Maybe we were always destined to encounter each other,’ I sighed, wet welling once more in my eyes.

Yet now they were a release—a shedding of all the years since and the agony endured.

He cupped my face, his thumb brushing away the tears that clung to my cheeks. ‘I believe that,’ he said, his voice timbred and full of conviction. ‘I maintain we were always meant to be together, Chiara. From the beginning to our end, I’ll always want to be next to you,leonessa.’

With Rio, I found a peace I had never realized possible.

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