Page 151 of Prodigal Son

His speed startled her. Tugging her hand out of his grip, she took another step back. “Look, you’re just not my type. You’re Amish. I’m not. And you’re putting off a real creeper vibe with that intense stare. I’m just gonna go back to my friends. As long as you leave us alone, I won’t make a complaint to the manager.”

She turned to walk away. Before she could take a step, his hands caught her upper arms and he spun her around to face him. She gasped, prepared to scream as he looked into her eyes.

“Lembre-se de mim.” Remember me.

Destiny stumbled back as if the wind were knocked into her lungs rather than out. A thousand chaotic images flooded her mind with no real explanation or reason. The woods. A monster. Cain saving her. The cave. The farm. The bishop kissing the nun who wasn’t a nun at all. Vito eating pie. Cain kissing her, making love to her, holding her, laughing with her. Feeding a calf. Falling in love. The moment she realized she couldn’t stay. The joy of hearing him say I love you. Her euphoria when he asked her to come back. Then the horrific moment when she was attacked and she realized what he was. The pain of knowing he lied. That terrible moment when she told him goodbye. The bishop coming to take away her memories when she looked at Cain one last time. And then seeing a stranger for a split second before waking up the next day, alone in her bed with only the memory of having the flu.

She stumbled to the table and dropped onto a seat. “Wh-what… How…”

He slipped into the booth across from her and took her hand. “Tell me you remember me now.”

Disoriented and terrified she was having some sort of reverse dementia, tears rushed to her eyes. “I don’t understand.” Her heart raced and she felt a little sick as if she’d just ridden a rollercoaster.

“When you left, we couldn’t let you take certain memories with you. Our laws forbid it.”

“Laws…” she repeated dumbly. “Because you’re… I saw you. The blood. The Foster girl.”

“It was a terrible, tragic accident.”

The air seemed to thin and she couldn’t catch her breath. Her hand lifted to the side of her throat. “She bit me.”

“She’s unwell.”

Sucking in a hard breath, she leaned back. “Your sister, Grace, she fed me—” Her hand covered her mouth. “What’s going to happen to me?”

His hand tightened around hers, lifting her fingers to his lips so he could kiss them. “Nothing. The blood healed you. That’s all over now.”

Her mind danced around images and forgotten sensations. Overwhelmed, she tried to decipher what was reality and what was a dream. She remembered Adam and Annalise. “He was your brother. Your twin. The one I met last week. I remember him now.”

“Yes.”

“Why was he here?”

“Because I didn’t want to risk disrupting your life. Had I come, and found you with someone else, I couldn’t trust myself not to intrude, or worse. Adam came to find out if you were in a relationship.”

She scoffed then frowned. “You sent your twin to spy on me?”

“I did no such thing. Adam acted out of his own concern on my behalf.” His thumb moved over her knuckles and she couldn’t deny how incredible it was to feel his touch again. “Passing the last year without you, it’s been…” He shook his head. “A hopeless hell.”

Her breath hitched. “The fire. Oh my God. You were—That wasn’t my first time on the farm. How did you… I had no memory of ever being there. And your house! That was your house.”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me then?”

“Because you said you were happy, and your happiness will always come before mine.”

Her heart pinched, but then more memories flooded in. This was why she’d felt like something was missing. Vito must feel the same. “You erased my brother’s memories too.”

“The bishop did.”

She didn’t want him to tamper with her mind. Those were her memories. “Will it happen again?”

“No.”

“Why? What’s changed.”

“This time I’m not leaving your side. We belong together, Destiny. I’ve spent months trying to forget you, but I can’t. I’ve never cared about, wanted, or obsessed over anyone the way I do you. I want a life with you, for however long we have. I want to marry you.”

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