“Where are you taking me?”
“How about the place we first met.”
“Oh, you old romantic,” I cooed.
Angelo laughed. “I’m taking you for a walk on the River Dee, it’s hardly a romantic picnic on the Seine.”
“It’s good enough for me.”
He pulled me close. “And that’s why you’re the perfect girl for me.”
I felt a rush of love for him.
We sat at a bar on the River Dee, close to the place we first met.
It seemed strange to think about my last visit here.
Life then was mundane and meaningless.
Now, everything sparkled with freshness, and I was sitting here with the most amazing man, enjoying a large glass of red wine.
Of course, Angelo complained about the alcohol, but I had my excuses ready.
“It’s medicinal,” I said, tittering.
He shook his head in disapproval, then smiled. I knew he couldn’t stay mad at me. He didn’t drink so settled for a large glass of iced water.
Watching the boats on the river or the happy couples stroll by soothed my soul. It was the ideal way to unwind and relax.
I felt at peace with the world.
The weather was glorious for the time of year–hopefully, we were in for a long, hot summer.
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied, feeling happier than I had for a long time. Unable to put my finger on why, I felt free, like everything was as it should be.
“You are the most beautiful woman in the entire cosmos.”
“You’re gonna make me cry, Angelo.”
The day couldn’t be more perfect.
I was right in wanting to get out. Too nice to sit indoors, we sat for hours just watching the world go by. I felt comfortable with Angelo, even during long periods of silence.
“What are you thinking?” He looked at me, his eyes full of desire.
“As gorgeous as the weather is here, I’d love to take advantage of my break from work and explore somewhere new.”
“You’re not long out of hospital and might not be allowed to fly.”
“Then we’ll go somewhere on the ferry.”
“You are the most incorrigible woman…”
“I know my own mind, Angelo, and body for that matter.”
“Then call the hospital and find out what you are allowed to do.”
“I’ll call them now, get it out of the way.”
Five minutes later, I had the all clear. I could travel, but not by plane. Angelo didn’t need to know that part.
“I can go,” I said.
“Flying?” he asked.
“All good as long as I’m careful.” I felt bad misleading him.
“Then why don’t we book a flight somewhere?” Angelo said. “I have plenty of free time, and love to travel.”
“Where would we go?”
“I don’t know, you choose. Name the place and I will arrange it.”
“I’ve always wanted to go to Sweden.”
“Done,” he said. “I’ll make the arrangements and we can fly out and spend as long as you want there.”
“I only have a few weeks left, you know?”
“Then, we have a lot to fit into a short space of time.”
“I’ll finish my drink and go to the toilet–one drink and I need to pee. I’ve got the bladder of an eighty year-old.” Oh, God! Why did I just say that? I always had a problem with oversharing. “Then we can stop at a travel agent and get some brochures.”
He laughed. “There’s no rush, Ella.”
He wasn’t going to run screaming out the door. “You’re far too laid back,” I said, kissing him on the lips, before jumping up and heading back inside to visit the ladies’ room.
“And you should learn to take life a little easier, especially now,” he called after me. “There is much to see. Slow down and learn to appreciate the beauty God surrounds us with.”
Could he be any more adorable?
I turned to blow Angelo a kiss, crashing straight into an unamused looking man.
“Oops, sorry,” I said.
“ELLA,” Angelo roared. I turned as he leapt to his feet and rushed toward me, a look of horror across his face.
“Gabriella Montgomery?” the stranger said, ominously.
“Yes, but how did you…” I screamed as he lunged for me. He gripped my arm as I tried to shake myself free. “Ow,” I roared, trying to fight him off. “Get your hands off me, you’re hurting me.” My skin felt like it was on fire.
“Let go of her,” Angelo yelled, as he charged at the stranger.
“She is ours,” the stranger shouted, strengthening his grip, as I screamed louder.
“Never,” Angelo said, storming into the man like a battering ram. The stranger never stood a chance. The force of Angelo’s charge sent him flying backwards, but in the hubbub, I was knocked off my feet, tumbling down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom.
I managed to glance up as Angelo and the strange man engaged in vicious battle before my vision blurred and I was out for the count.
Chapter Six
I opened my eyes and Angelo was right beside me.
“Ouch, my head,” I complained. “What happened?”
“You were attacked at the bar, don’t you remember?”
I glanced out of the window, it was dark already.
How long had I been unconscious for this time?
“My head feels a little hazy right now.” I wasn’t exaggerating, but as well as my foggy brain, my arm tingled, and my stomach hurt, just like it had before. I hoped the fall hadn’t popped my stitches. “Who was he?” I asked, remembering the stranger.
“I have no idea.”
“He seemed to know who I was.”
“I don’t know, Ella. Maybe it’s an overly zealous fan. Whoever he was, he ran off after I confronted him.”
“A fan–I’m just an agent, but he could have seen me on television.”
“There are some strange people in this world.”
“You ran into him and I was knocked down the stairs, I think I remember.” My eyed widened as I realised he could have been hurt too. “Are you okay?”
My arm tingled. He’d grabbed me there.
“I’m fine, but I’m not much of a knight in shining armour this time. Me charging into him sent you flying.” He looked upset. “I think I should leave the heroics to somebody else.”
Who was he kidding?
He was built for battle. That was one of the first things I noticed about him. Yes, to some, he could look intimidating, but I could see the man behind the mountain. “I’m alive to tell the tale, and if I’m right, that’s twice you’ve saved my life now, Sir Angelo Godlove.” I gazed adoringly at him. He really was the man of my dreams.
“Then you forgive me?”
“Only if you come down here and give me a big kiss.”
“You drive a hard bargain, M’Lady,” he said.
I closed my eyes as our lips touched, feeling a surge of electricity pass between us.
“Make love to me,” I half begged.
“You know I can’t do that,” he said, taking hold of my hands. “I cannot abandon my beliefs.”
Damn.
I fully respected those beliefs, even finding the fact he wanted to remain chaste honourable, but selfishly, I wanted to feel that closeness with him, feel him inside me, his strong, hard body pressed against mine.
I had daydreamed about him making love to me.
I found myself fascinated by something I had no experience of.
I chastised myself for indulging myself in filthy thoughts, but I’d never felt such attraction to another human being.
It felt like he’d been sent to lead me into temptation. I was the modern-day Eve and he was the tantalising apple, hanging from the tree in the Garden of Eden, I wasn’t supposed to take a bite of.
He grinned. “As much as I desire that intimacy with you, if I throw away everythin
g I stand for, the Angelo you see before you would cease to exist.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I guess I’m just used to men wanting me just for sex.”
“There is nothing I want more than to make love to you. It’s the most natural thing in all the world, but…”
That was my cue. I kissed him again, feeling his body tense as he pressed against me. “Please,” I begged. The atmosphere crackled with sexual tension. “Make love to me.”
A crash of thunder startled me, making me jump and cry out.
My room was illuminated, as lightening filled the skies.
Rain hammered against the windows.
Angelo raised his head and whispered. “My Lord. I am sorry if I have offended thee.”
I’d never witnessed such a downpour, but Angelo’s reaction was even stranger to me.
He seemed to be in a trance like state.
“Angelo?”
He pulled away from me. “I’m sorry, I can’t do it.”
The rain stopped, but thunder still crashed in the skies above us.
I glanced out of the window as forked lightning struck the tree opposite my house, flames roaring from its branches.
“Wow, that’s some freaky weather.”
Angelo held his hands as if in prayer. “It’ll pass in a moment.”
“I doubt it,” I said.
But as soon as the words left my lips, the sky cleared.
“I’m sure you can predict the future,” I said, bounding out of bed, feeling alive again.
“Take it easy, Ella, you’ve had a nasty bump to the head and we’re flying to Sweden tomorrow, or did you forget?”
“I’ll be fine – it’ll take more than that to finish me off.”
“Our Lord broke the mould when he made you, of that I’m certain.”
He said the oddest things.
I have to admit, his faith warmed and comforted me.
I just wish I had half the amount of faith Angelo did.
Chapter Seven
I called my parents before the taxi came to take us to the airport.
It was early, but I needed to hear their voices. It was like a compulsion.
Time had passed me by and I hadn’t seen either of my parents since I was discharged from hospital. I never usually left it so long to visit them, or have them come to me, but they were happy I was in the throes of romance and wanted to leave me to it.
“I’ll see you both when I get back,” I said.
Angelo stared at me. He looked worried.
“Goodbye, Ella,” my mum said.
I was certain I heard a sob.
“We’ll miss you,” Daddy said, sounding equally emotional.
“I’m only away for a week,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “Stop it, you two.”
I said my own farewells and hung up before climbing out of bed and rushing straight into the shower.
The two and a half-hour flight to Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport was uneventful.
I slept fitfully but was aware Angelo had held my hand all the way.
We both had an early start and I was tired. I wasn’t in the mood for idle chit chat, but he didn’t seem to mind. If he did, he kept it to himself.
I felt so close to Angelo, like I’d known him all my life. He was easy to talk to, never pushed me, and best of all, he understood me perfectly.
I was exhausted by the time the plane landed. It was that same exhaustion that floored me nearly two weeks ago.
The short flight felt like I’d flown around the world.
Once again, fatigue held me in its tight grip.
Angelo looked at me, his eyes full of concern.
“How are you feeling now, Ella?”
“Tired if I’m honest, but once I get out into the fresh air, I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t like to admit defeat, do you?”
“Not a chance,” I replied. “I’m enjoying life right now, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“You know, we can go straight to the hotel, and rest for the night. The sights can wait.”
“Are you crazy?” I said. “No way. I’ve wanted to visit Sweden for years, and now I’m finally here, both of us are going to make the most of it.”
“So, let me get it right, the chances of you taking it easy are…?”
“Slim to none,” I replied. “I’ve always been stubborn, and besides, life is for living, and this the most fun I’ve had in years, thanks to you, my gorgeous man.”
He smiled at me and I melted.
If ever there was purity in a single person, Angelo had it in spades. He enveloped me with a tenderness I’d never have expected from this giant of a man.
“As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
I felt a tsunami of emotion, like it had rushed around my body in a matter of seconds. I was warm and tingly inside. “I must have done something right in my life for you to have been sent to me. It feels like I’ve known you forever.”
“Do you believe in guardian angels?” He asked off the cuff questions all the time, like he was testing me.
“I’m not sure what I believe in to be honest. Why do you ask?”
“Maybe I’m your guardian angel, did you ever think of that?”
I was waiting for the punchline, but he was remarkably straight faced
“It’s a romantic notion, but I’m a great believer in fate.”
“Oh?”
“Throughout life, a person learns to be the best version of themselves, and fate throws all manner things in the way, that’s what I think, anyway.”
“That’s an interesting theory for a sceptic, Ella.”
“I believe this life is a test. It’s how well you do in the practice run which defines the next life.”
He seemed surprised by my reasoning. “So, you do believe?”
“Some of it, yes. I like to believe that when the body dies, the soul moves on to another place.”
“Where do you think that place is?”
“Nobody has ever come back to tell us.”
“But, if you had to hazard a best guess?”
“I believe we were created by an evolutionary process, and humanity will continue to evolve into something entirely new, but somebody, or something out there gave us a helping hand. I will never believe we are the only beings in existence.”
“Interesting.” He appeared to mull over my beliefs. “Do you believe you have a soul?”
“Yes,” I said. “We all do.”
“And what do you think happens to the soul once it casts off its mortal shell?”
“I think the soul leaves the human body and returns to its spiritual home. Call that place what you want.”
“Heaven?”
“If that’s what you want to call it, yes.”
Suddenly, I felt very uncomfortable with all this talk of death.
“What are your opinions on Heaven?”
“The idea we all end up in Heaven is a bit too cozy for me to swallow.”
“How so?”
“It’s a nice thought, but if Heaven is a real place, we’re not meant to know about it.”
“Do you think we all get to go to heaven?”
“If we all believed we had a free pass, there would be anarchy, but I’ll hedge my bets on that one for now.”
“I think you’re right, Ella.”
“Hey, I’m happy to be proven wrong when the time comes.”
I leaned in to kiss him, feeling that surge again.
“And when your time comes, do you think you’ll accept death and happily move onto the next phase of your journey?”
“Who knows?” I said, shuddering at the somewhat depressing subject of my own mortality. “Does anybody truly accept death?”
“If they aren’t frightened of it.”
“I think we’re all frightened of death, Angelo.”
“But would it make it easier for you to accept if somebody was with you to guide your way? A guardian angel perhaps?”
“If only.” I loved that romantic idealism. “But I think when I close my eyes, there will be a long dark tunnel with a bright light at the end, and then, a big set of golden gates.”
“Are you sure you’ve never read the Bible?”
“I prefer Harry Potter. It’s way more believable.”
“Blasphemy,” he said, trying to keep a straight face.
“Look, I know you believe, and I would never want to offend you.” I wanted to choose my words carefully. “It’s adorable you have so much faith in something you can’t see, but for me, personally, it would depend if I felt I’d achieved everything I’d set out to do. If I had, maybe I’d welcome death with open arms, eager to see what the next life would bring.”
“What if you didn’t have that choice?”
“There’s always a choice, Angelo. It’s about making the right one.”
“You are wise beyond your years.”
“There’s more to me than just a pretty face you know.”
His face flushed red.
“So it would seem.”
“Now, let’s stop this maudlin talk and move our arses. The Captain has turned the seatbelt signs off and most of the passengers are already on the tarmac.”
I moved like the wind, surprised by how quickly the exhaustion lifted from me. The less time I spent thinking about it, the better.
Chapter Eight
We went through the humdrum of customs.
Passports stamped, and luggage collected, we were on our way.
I wasn’t going to admit this to Angelo, but I hadn’t recovered fully from my surgery or being thrown about while at the river. My body was sore and despite the joy I felt being with Angelo, my heart felt heavy.
I couldn’t explain it, but I felt different.
The winds of change were already upon me and my mind was troubled, crowded and jumbled.
I felt like I was standing on a precipice. In front of me was a huge drop. The answers lay at the bottom the drop, I could tell that much, but I was reluctant to take the plunge.
Don’t step too close to the edge, or you’ll fall, my inner voice kept telling me. Keep fighting. But what was I fighting for?
I didn’t know why I felt this way, but I kept my fears to myself. It would come to me, but something told me not to try and force it.
Angel Of Mine Page 3