When Travers’ gun discharged, Alex thought his heart had exploded in the same instant the shot reverberated in the small room. But his years of training did not fail him.
Two of his men had taken out the armed assailants with swift, accurate shots. But they weren’t his concern.
Serenity delivered a hard punch to Travers’s throat, but even as the man clutched at his neck, desperately trying to breathe, he managed to step away from her, breaking free and waving the gun around. The force knocked Serenity off balance, and as she fell, he managed to point the gun directly at her.
Alex was already moving at full speed as he took this in, but he had seconds until Travers pulled the trigger again. Terror exploded in his throat and chest, plummeting down into his stomach as he leaped across the room. He reached out and pushed Travers’s wrist up at lightning speed. The gun went off again and broken pieces of the ceiling rained down. Alexios crushed Travers’s wrist in his grip and shook it until he dropped his pistol, then holstered his gun and controlled him with an arm lock. Once he had control of him with his right arm, Alexios grabbed the back of his neck with his left hand, and spun around, pulling him down in a ferocious, relentless drive to put him on the floor. In seconds, he had him contained, but it wasn’t enough.
Waves of anger and rage flooded him. This was no training maneuver or a nameless enemy combatant. This was the man who had just tried to shoot the woman he loved.
“Talia,” Serenity screamed, scrambling up from the floor and running over to a large sofa.
Travers groaned from the floor, then sucked in another wheezing gasp. Alexios wanted to go to Serenity, to help her, but he couldn’t leave Travers for the moment. So instead, he dug his knee into the man’s back unmercifully, securing him still further. “Is she safe?” he panted, looking over at Serenity kneeling beside the sofa.
“Yes,” she answered, almost sobbing with relief.
“He used her as bait?” he asked.
“Yes. How could I not come?”
That answered the only questions Alexios needed answered in that moment. He looked around at his men, who appeared to be done clearing the room. “One of you come and change places with me.”
As soon as he was free to do so, Alex moved to Serenity’s side, then froze at the sight of the little girl, covered in plaster dust but completely unresponsive. The urge to kill Travers came back to him. He had to fight it back with an iron will.
“She’s alive, but she needs medical help as soon as possible.” Serenity’s wide eyes were fixed on Talia’s still face.
Alex put his arm around her, pulling her close against his side. “She’ll get it. Don’t worry. You’re both safe now.”
She turned and fell against his chest, gripping his shirt, and sobbing. He held her and let her cry, the whole time wishing that he had somehow prevented this, cursing himself that she’d had to go through this, but in the same breath, thanking God he had gotten to her in time.
***
That evening, Alexios stayed at the hospital with Serenity as she kept a watch over Talia with her family—her mother, grandparents, and several somber-eyed siblings. He translated her effusive apologies for what happened to Talia, even though it went very much against his own opinions on that matter. She couldn’t blame herself for the choices of an evil man. Luckily Talia’s mother told her the same thing.
When Talia at last woke up, he held Serenity while she cried in relief. With that burden off her shoulders, hopefully now he could finally convince her to go back to the palace and get the rest she so badly needed.
He pulled her gently aside while Talia’s family crowded around the hospital bed. “Darling, you are brave and sweet to still be here, but you are exhausted. Will you please let me take you home to rest now?”
“Home?” she asked, her voice catching on the word.
He hadn’t realized he’d used that word until she questioned it, but that was precisely what he hoped it would be for her. “The palace, I should say. Though I very much hope you will consider it to be a home for you.”
She smiled in such a way that if they had not been in a very public place––and his engagement not yet broken––he would have kissed her.
“Let me say goodbye, and then, yes—please—take me home.”
He nodded and watched as she got a tissue from a box near the bed and went toward Talia. The girl’s family parted immediately for her to go through, as if she was one of their own. She sat on the edge of the bed, and Talia’s mother, who sat on the other side, smiled across at her with a warm welcome in her eyes.
“Talia, I have something for you before I go.”
Alexios moved forward and translated, and though the little girl did not speak and still looked very drowsy, her eyes lit with curiosity.
Serenity touched the key around her neck, held it a moment, and then took it off her neck. She reached for Talia’s hand and pressed it into her palm. “Remember this? You liked it, yes?”
Talia nodded and smiled a little.
“I have been wearing that for a long time to help me be brave. Let it give you courage to live a happy life no matter what a bad man did to you. And remember that I—and Prince Alexios—will always be your friends. Someday, when you are very grown up, I will tell you the story of that key, and you will know how closely you and I are bound together, two girls moving forward together.” Then she leaned forward and kissed Talia’s forehead.
Alexios could barely translate because his voice was choked with emotion. His hand shook a little as he reached for hers to help her off the bed and lead her out into the hall. The corridor was quiet in the evening hours. His security team had cleared a safe passage for them to an underground parking garage so they could avoid the press, who were naturally hungry to know what had happened. Soon they would have to hold some sort of press conference, but that was the last thing he wanted to worry about tonight. For now, he just wanted to keep Serenity as close to him as possible and feel every breath she took. He wanted to steep himself in the goodness of her heart and be the rock she needed him to be.
As they sat in the back of the limo with a dark, silent world gliding by and silver streaks of rain streaming down the windows, she sat with her head on his shoulder, their hands still linked together. He was glad she was resting, but couldn’t restrain himself from asking, “When I am very grown up, will you tell me the story of the key?”
She chuckled softly and raised her head to look up at him. “Why wait? I’ll tell you now if you’d like.” But she paused for a moment and took a deep breath before speaking again. “Are you sure you can take more details about that night with Travers?”
He tensed, but nodded. “Please. I want to know everything.”
“Okay.” She thought for a moment, then began. “I was so proud of that key. Not many of the assistant designers were given one. I wished for a while that I hadn’t, because then I never would have walked in on Daniel Travers after he’d drugged and raped a young model.”
Alexios clenched his teeth, enraged anew at the man. Would he never find the limit of Travers’s depravity?
“Alex?”
“I’m fine. Continue. If you want.”
“Okay. I finally realized that even though I had to live a nightmare because of that, what that other girl––and who knows how many before her––had suffered was worse. And I had been able to bring him to justice and prevent the same from happening to others. So, no regrets.”
There was no help for it. He needed her closer, so he pulled her up onto his lap and gathered her into the circle of his arms. She tipped her chin up to him, and he accepted the invitation with enthusiasm, kissing her gently but still with the force of all his pent-up emotions and with a love that had deepened impossibly through the nightmares of the day.
She returned his kiss, and unlike their kiss on the beach, she held nothing back. Her soft lips, salty with tears, moved over his, caressing, tugging, seeking—comfort or distraction or something good to repl
ace all the bad, he didn’t know what precisely. But he gave her all she asked for, just as he always would.
When she gave a shuddering breath and eased away before dropping her head limply onto his shoulder, he rested his chin on top of her head and said, “You must remember one thing, my love.”
“Hmm?”
“Even though you gave your key to Talia, the motto on it must still direct you. Because no matter how you feel now, you only intended to bring beauty and friendship into Talia’s life. And you did. What happened today was not your fault.”
“He was going to sell us to sex traffickers,” she murmured softly.
And then Alexios discovered it was possible to go from utter pleasure to an anger so cold and violent it froze his blood in the space of just a few seconds. Daniel Travers was a very fortunate man that he was locked safely behind iron bars at that moment. But Alexios would not rest until the man suffered as he deserved.
“Again, Serenity, not your fault. And you will live your life with no regrets.”
“Only if I can live it with you,” she whispered, her sweet breath tickling along the skin of his neck.
“Didn’t you know? I’ve already spoken to Lydia and my parents. It’s not official, but I’ve broken my engagement. So, will you marry me?”
She took a deep breath, as if an enormous burden had lifted from her. Her smile was radiant. “Neh,” she said.
He stared at her. “When, my love, did you learn to speak Greek?”
Despite her pale, weary face, she smiled up at him. “It wasn’t that hard. The little girls said ‘yes, yes, yes’ so many times when I was giving them their dresses. It’s an easy word to learn.” Her eyes weren’t too tired to sparkle.
And so, she simply had to be kissed again.
Chapter Eighteen
To Serenity’s immense relief, the country of Cristonia accepted her in place of Lydia as the bride of their prince with touching enthusiasm.
The king and queen did too, which was even more important. Not getting along with your in-laws would be miserable when they ruled a whole country.
In the days following her kidnapping, Alexios barely left her side, which she didn’t complain about at all. The only time he did was to hold a press conference with his parents, Lydia, and the Prime Minister where they showed a cheerful and united front as they announced that Alexios and Lydia had mutually agreed to end their engagement. Since Lydia eloped with the ambassador’s son the next week, it was assumed that she was the reason for the break, and the public even celebrated the announcement a few months later that he was marrying Serenity Wade of New York.
And that day had finally arrived.
Serenity stood in front of a full-length mirror in her rooms at the palace, which she had missed while living in New York for the past few months, and stared, awestruck at her reflection. It had been easier than she thought to design her dress. It was a simple gown of lustrous white satin with a full skirt and short train. The only embellishment was the hint of lace set into the cap sleeves and the hem. The brilliance of the design was in the exquisite cut and tailoring that marked it the work of a master. Or rather, three masters, since Jade and Ben had helped to make it. But her favorite part was the long veil of sheer net and more lace. It was the lace that made it so dear to her as it had all been handcrafted by the women of Thissa. Along with a diamond-and-pearl tiara loaned to her by Alexios’s mother, she felt as if the dress perfectly reflected who she was and where she was going in her new life.
Jade laughed. “Will you kill me if I say you look like a princess?”
“Yes.” She laughed. “I will. And I need you to keep things going for me in New York while I’m on my honeymoon, so don’t.”
Jade shook her head, frowning slightly. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me to fill your shoes. And it’s not like you two are going on just any honeymoon! Two months sailing around on his superyacht, really? And right up until six days before Paris Fashion Week?”
Serenity gazed at her friend, knowing it had been a lot to ask of her. Especially since all their work had been destroyed by Daniel, forcing them to start all over again. But Jade had proven more than ready for the challenge. “You know, my friend, you’d better get used to it. I’ll be handing more and more of the creative work for the label over to you in the future. That is, if you want to take it on.”
Jade’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious? Of course I do. But it’s your baby. You built it from the ground up and worked so hard to live your dream.”
With a peaceful smile, Serenity shrugged. “Oh, I’ll keep designing, don’t worry. But only when I want to. I’ve found another dream that I love just as much.”
At that moment, Ben, looking dapper in a light-grey suit with a white daisy in his lapel, opened the door. “They’re ready for you.”
Butterflies erupted in Serenity’s stomach. Not because she was nervous about marrying Alexios, but because everything about it was to be so public. “Here goes nothing.”
Ben and Jade helped her down the stairs, lifting her train and protecting the delicate lace from catching on anything. A limo awaited them in the courtyard, but even with such a roomy vehicle, fitting the dress inside without crushing it proved nearly impossible. In the end, Serenity ended up kneeling on the floor in the very center, her dress fluffed up around her with Jade and Ben helping to support her over the bumpy roads.
As the car moved down the steep hill into Thissa, Serenity was amazed to see the crowds of people lined up along the streets to wave at her, with all the little girls in front wearing “Serenity” dresses––the wrap style she’d first made for Talia––and holding white daisies. “Oh, I’m going to cry!”
“Don’t you dare,” Jade hissed, pulling a white handkerchief out of her bag just in case.
Serenity blinked the moisture away, and dabbed at her eyes.
When the limo pulled up in front of the ancient cathedral and Ben and Jade helped her emerge, she found Talia and a dozen other girls waiting, gowned in white dresses with daisy chains placed on their shining dark hair. And Talia, she saw, wore her gold key around her neck. Bending to give her a hug, Talia murmured in a very strong accent, “Best wishes on your wedding day, Princess Serenity. I love you.”
Now she was crying. She kissed Talia’s cheek and groped for the handkerchief again.
But when she entered the church with Talia walking elegantly in front of her, beaming with pride, and the other girls tossing petals, her eyes saw nothing but the tall, handsome figure awaiting her at the altar. Alexios looked like something out of a fairytale in his dress uniform, the handsome prince that all little girls dream of. If it weren’t for the fact that his lips were slightly pressed together as he fought to hold back his emotions, she might have been intimidated by him. But no, he loved her as much as she loved him, and this day was perfect already.
With his parents and his people all around him, feeling the weight of every duty that came with this life, she felt incredibly humbled by the obstacles he’d fought through to share it with her. In that second, all the former hurt of the past—flecks she hadn’t even realized were still buried in her heart—vanished. Her happiness was complete, and she moved forward to take his hand with perfect peace and confidence.
He pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a lingering kiss on her fingers. “You’re killing me, darling,” he whispered as they turned to face the priest.
“You said the fates were intent on making you suffer,” she whispered back.
He grinned. “I’ll take this kind of suffering any time.”
The priest cleared his throat. “Is it my turn yet?”
Alexios and Serenity fought back their laughter and focused on the vows they needed to speak to formalize the promises already made in their hearts.
Epilogue
Alexios paced in the interview room of Cristonia’s most secure prison. He’d prepared for this moment for months, but still his long-repressed anger and need for revenge threaten
ed to overwhelm him at the thought of the man who would soon be brought before him. He’d exerted his influence to make sure Travers’s trial had moved quickly and with as little trauma as possible to Serenity and Talia. Two counts of kidnapping, drugging a minor, and attempted murder had garnered the man a life sentence. But having him locked away in a prison where he would seldom hear English spoken and would enjoy few of the luxuries or connections afforded by an American prison was not enough for Alexios.
The heavy metal door opened, and two guards brought Travers in. He was dressed in a baggy grey jumpsuit that matched his hair but wasn’t as light as the pallor of his skin.
“You,” the man growled in a raspy, broken voice.
Alexios smiled, tremendously satisfied that Serenity had left a permanent mark on the man. “Yes, it is I. Sit. I have something to show you.”
The guards forced him into a chair, and Alexios pressed play on the remote that controlled the TV mounted in the corner of the room. The video that came on showed ten clothing racks full of designer clothing…suits, gowns, dresses.
“What is that?” Travers croaked out.
“That is your life’s work. Oh, not all of it, of course. It will take time for me to collect it all.”
And then the video showed men taking the clothes by the armful and tossing them into an industrial furnace. It took several minutes, but when it had all been tossed in, one of the workers locked the door and ignited the gas flames. Soon the window on the door glowed with orange light.
Travers’s jaw clenched, and his eyes burned with hatred. “You think burning my work will hurt me?”
“I don’t care if it hurts you. My objective is to effectively expunge you from existence. Which is why I also have a highly skilled team erasing you from the internet. You will never see me again, but I wanted you to know how completely and utterly you will now be forgotten.”
Alexios stared him very hard in the eye, looking his last on the man that had caused so much fear and suffering. Then he turned away and walked out, leaving his anger behind forever.
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