Page 63 of The Champion
I smiled at him. “That’s great. Now that my parents know about us, we have nothing to hide. We can even start recruiting investors, and the Boulder family will be my first pick. Indiana and his father are always more susceptible to my ideas when they’ve been drinking.”
“You think we can start our own country for real?”
“Yes.”
Victor held me close and muttered against my ear. “I hope you’re right because when I thought they were going to kill me, I had an epiphany.”
“What was it?”
“That I wasn’t as scared of dying as I was scared that they would force us apart.”
Looking deep into his eyes, I whispered, “That is the sweetest declaration of love that I’ve ever heard.”
There was a slight widening of his eyes as if talking about love still freaked him out, but he didn’t protest out loud.
“I’m loosening your strings, Victor. Do you feel it?”
“I think the encounter with your angry protectors did that. If I ever had doubts on what mattered to me, it’s gone. I know that you’re the best thing in my life.”
With a smile, I kissed him and whispered, “I’m not a thing.”
Victor was shaking as he held onto me. “That thing Linea said in her vows at the ceremony today sort of got to me. That part when she talked about standing back-to-back against the world. I’ve never had that with anyone.”
“That’s because you don’t have family, Victor. You saw how my protectors reacted when they thought I was in danger. I understand that it was traumatic to you, but they were all coming from a good place. They had my back today.”
“And you had mine.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m starting to understand. It’s the same with Marco when he tries to keep Ada from sleeping with Shiva. I can tell Marco loves his daughter and wants the best for her. I’ve just never had anyone watch out for me like that.”
With a small chuckle, I joked, “I’ll be happy to do the job and keep you from sleeping with Shiva.” My silly comment made us both laugh, and it released the tension in my body.
“It would still be strange for me to marry and call you my wife. At the same time, I wouldn’t want to go back to my life as it was before you came to live with me. It’s no secret that I’ve had my share of lovers, and no one ever came close to making me feel like you do.”
Words failed me as I sat in his lap smiling at him. “Maybe we could find a different way of forming a partnership. We are already taking the best from different countries and making our own version of the perfect country. Who says that we can’t do the same when it comes to our way of living together? It’s not important to me that you call me wife. What’s important is that I can trust you, that we have shared values, and that we never stop communicating with honesty.”
“Would you live with me as my lifelong lover?”
I smiled and tasted the word, “Lifelong lover. Hmm… does the title hold exclusivity?”
“If you want it to. No one else excites me anyway.”
On the inside, I felt like falling to my knees and sobbing with joy. For Victor to go against his culture like this showed how much he loved me. On the outside, I kept it cool and planted another kiss on his lips. “Lifelong lover sounds a lot better than eternal pen pal.”
When we finally got up and left my father’s office, I took Victor’s hand.
In France, walking hand in hand would have gotten us in trouble, but in the Northlands, we were free to love each other. Victor drew in a deep breath before he tightened his hold on my hand and we walked back to the party.
I had butterflies in my stomach and felt worried that my brother and Linea would blame me for ruining their wedding. It helped as soon as Linea came rushing toward us and gave me a big hug.
“Well done. I’m so proud of you for breaking free and finally being honest with yourself and everyone else.”
“Thank you. I feel ten pounds lighter now that our secret is out.”
Linea’s red hair was beautifully styled and long enough to cover the shoulder straps of her white dress. “And what about you, Victor, how do you feel?”
“Lucky to be alive,” he exclaimed.
