Page 4 of Happily Ever After
"Okay," Ade says, a little bemused.
"Actually, it's kind of like my life after meeting Tiero."
I sense Ade's eyes on me. He doesn't say anything, but patiently waits for me to elaborate.
I let out a sigh. "As much as I loved Tiero, I never felt like I could truly be myself. When I first met him, he seemed so out of my league.
"His whole persona screamed power. His wealth intimidated me. The constant entourage around him was invasive and foreign to me. I couldn't see myself living like that."
"Rhia had to pep-talk me into going on that first date. I didn't think we'd have anything in common and feared we'd have nothing to talk about.
"She talked me into playing 'Opposite Ella'. At the time, I liked the idea, but in hindsight, it should have been a red flag. Pretending to be someone I'm not was never going to work. Like this mattress, I had to contort myself to fit the package."
"Hmm," Ade hums, contemplating my words. "My interactions with Tiero were limited, but I believe he did see you. Not 'Opposite Ella' or the brave front you were putting on. He fell for the real Ella, because you could never be anybody but her. He fell in love with your light, your essence, your soul.
"Just like me."
He steps closer and winds his arms around me, pulling me into his body.
"Even from afar, you shone luminously. That's why you are my lucida--always and forever the brightest star in my universe. I was pulled into your orbit. It's where I've always belonged."
Butterflies erupt in my abdomen. Even after more than a year together, they haven't settled down. Especially not when he makes me swoon like that.
I wrap my arms around his shoulders and pull slightly to bring his lips to mine. I claim him with my mouth. If I'm his sun, his star, his lucida and he's in my orbit, that makes him mine.
Mine.
It's not the first time I've felt this possessive.
And it's also not the first time I wonder if it's Tiero's possessiveness that's overtaken me. But whether it's mine or his, I understand Tiero better now, and somehow it makes me feel closer to him... and myself.
I rub my thumb over the scar on my chest where Tiero's heart now beats. It's faded a lot more over the last few months, but the memories of the man who is part of my soul and who sacrificed everything so that I could live have only become more vivid.
Above all, I love that Ade isn't threatened by it.
Some might say, why would he? Tiero is dead. But sometimes the dead have a way of haunting us.
Luckily, in our case, Tiero only seems to enhance what we've got. Perhaps there really is some truth to my Scottish prophecy that Tiero, Ade, and I are each part of the same soul.
Ade bites my lower lip playfully, bringing my mind back to him. I retaliate, taking his lower lip between my teeth to gently pull and stretch it before letting it go and licking it to soothe the sting.
Ade's eyes find mine. "So did you?" he asks.
"What?" I have no idea what he's talking about.
"Did you have something to talk about on your first date?" he clarifies.
I chuckle. "Yes, it surprised me. Once my nerves had settled, Tiero was surprisingly easy to talk to. That's until he tried to kiss me. Then I panicked."
Now that memory definitely makes me laugh.
"Is that when you got bitten by the spider?" Ade asks, and I nod.
He knows all about my animal-sitting saga, and how I pranked Rhia afterward. Truly priceless.
I stare at the mattress on the bed, reminding me what our original conversation was about.
"After Tiero kidnapped me and I discovered who he really was, everybody wanted me to accept that I was a Mafia girl. They wanted to compact me into a role I didn't want to play, especially when the rules were 'Do as you're told' and 'Never question anything'. Well, that's not me. I could never live like that.
