Page 90 of Rogue Romeo

My eyes shift to the other.

Thiago Marquez

Together in Eternity

I reverently brush my thumb across each urn, smiling through my tears as my mind finally realizes why we’re here. I raise my emotion-stained face to Alex, a watery smile on my lips.

“Are we here to lay them to rest?”

Alex shakes his head, shifting closer as he lifts his hands to clasp mine, his forehead deeply creased with the intensity of his gaze. “No, baby. We’re here to bring themhome.”

I blow out a shaky breath, glancing past Alex’s concerned face to the window behind him. To the blue sky beyond, eventually scanning the horizon before shifting my gaze downward.

The sun hits off the water of the calm bay beneath us, almost winking at me, and a slow smile overtakes my face when my eyes settle on Alex.

“It’sperfect.” A matching smile lights up his features at my enthusiasm. “It’s exactly what she would have wanted. Whattheywould have chosen for themselves, given the choice.”

My gaze drops down to Abuelo’s urn, and I dust my thumb across the inscription once again.

Alex’s hand grips mine, gently moving it across to Lita’s urn so that my palm touches both of them at the same time.

The muffled sound of the chopper blades slicing through the air fills my ears until Alex softly murmurs, barely audibly. “Together in eternity, Rey. At their favorite place. Wouldn’t any of us choose that for ourselves?”

I look up to find his eyes fixed intently on my face. My nod tugs a smile from his lips as I softly reply, “I’m ready.”

“Sit back in your seat, Reyna.”

Ford’s voice fills my ears as I feel the chopper drop lower, and I quickly do what he says, settling the seashell box atop my lap with both my and Alex’s hands gently gripping it.

The door on my side slides open, and a breeze ripples through the small space. Alex drops to the floor on his knees, edging closer to the open door. Fear threatens to overwhelm me until I glimpse the view outside.

We’ve dropped much lower, the serenity of the crystalline water below us interrupted by air swirling courtesy of the rotor blades' proximity.

Alex reaches the side of the chopper, dropping both legs out the side to sit as he calmly looks back to me, his palm outstretched in invitation.

Your intuition is your gift.

I know I’m safe with him, and so, despite my fears, I grasp his hand immediately, sliding closer across the seat until we’re side by side, albeit at differing heights.

He looks into my eyes, nodding once before slipping the seashell lid from my lap. I reach for my abuelo and then my abuelita before depositing the box on the seat behind me.

My eyes close as I hug both of them against my chest for a long moment, and a feeling of complete tranquility overtakes me. When I open my eyes again, a peaceful smile parts my lips.

Acceptance.

I pass Lita’s urn to a plainly shocked Alex.

His eyes are like saucers as he glances from me to her and back again. “Rey…”

My smile grows. “It’s only fitting. As hermijo.”

He swallows roughly against the emotions that are clearly etched on his handsome face. “It…it would be my greatesthonor.”

Side by side, we open the urns, and leaning out over the side of the hovering chopper, we simultaneously send my family back to their roots.

And even as sadness flows through every vein in my body, there’s an overriding sense of rightness. Of closure.

And of destiny.

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