“We’re waiting a few days to tell her,” Jules adds carefully. “We thought about waiting even longer, but we’re hoping with Theo more than likely going to prison, it might help her with knowing she still has parents. I know it’s going to hurt her, but we’re hoping to ease some of the pain.”
Mom and Dad have been quiet, so I glance at them. Mom’s eyes are dry, and I’m shocked to see the blatant anger flaring in her green gaze. I’ve never seen that look in her eyes before. Dad doesn’t look much better.
I close my eyes and think back to all the dreams I’ve had over the years. The silhouette that I couldn’t quite make out, except for her amber eyes. Her voice calling my name, imploring me to save her. They started about a year after Jules went into a coma and drove me bat shit crazy. I wouldn’t have admitted it at the time, but thinking back to when they abruptly stopped, a small part of me missed them. When they started back again six months ago, she was more vivid. I could actually make out her face. I still had no idea who she was, but the haunted look in her eyes called to me. I know now it was because my heart and subconscious knew her, even if I didn’t remember.
I think about the dream in the field. Jules smiling so brightly when Theo walked up. But it wasn’t him, it was me. And that wasn’t just a dream, that scene actually happened. It was the day I asked Jules to marry me. I believed my brother’s story so much that I inserted myself on the outside edges of the dream and put Theo in my place. That’s why I became enraged when I saw them together, because that wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
Another one comes to mind. The one of her pleading with me to not hurt her. Except that wasn’t the case. It was her begging Theo not to hurt her and for me to save her. In my mind, it was my actions that put her in a coma, it was me that hurt her all those years ago, so again, I put myself in Theo’s shoes and he in mine. It fucking burns my insides that I so easily allowed him to fool us. I never questioned him. Not fucking once. I feel like an incompetent fool.
I had always assumed Jules’s dream silhouette was me. She said it was sinister, evil. What happened to her was definitely sinister and evil. In my dreams, she was my silhouette. Always sad and hurt. I realize now she was trying to warn me of the evil surrounding her. Begging me to protect her. To remember her.
Jules moves on my lap, and I realize my grip on her waist has tightened. I loosen my fingers and mutter, “Sorry, baby.”
Mom stands from the couch, and I watch as she visibly pulls herself together. “We’re going to leave and let you both rest.” She grabs Dad’s hand when he takes to his feet beside her. “I brought some food over so neither of you have to worry about cooking. It’s in the fridge.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Always, honey. We’ll pick up Aria from school and keep her for a few of days.”
I nod, knowing it’s for the best. “We’ll come by and we can all tell her together about Theo.”
“I think that’s a good idea. She’s going to need all of us.”
We follow them, Ella, and Vicki to the door. After more tears are shed, they all say goodbye, and I close the door behind them. My arms immediately engulf Jules, and I pull her to my chest, where she snuggles against me. It feels so damn good to have her there. I’ve held her multiple times since she came to stay with me, each time more perfect than the last, but it’s different now. There’s nothing holding back our feelings. No shame, no remorse, no guilt, no doubt, and no uncertainty. It’s pure and real and precious and there’s not a damn thing wrong with it. I’ve loved this woman for years. We may have forgotten for a while, but even before we got our memories back, I felt it, and I know she did too. Because of that, it’s stronger than it ever was before.
“Tired?” I ask, gazing down into a pair of eyes that captured me from the first moment I saw them and countless times while I slept.
She releases a sigh, and I have my answer before she speaks. “Exhausted.”
“Come on. Let’s get you to bed.”
I bend and scoop her up into my arms. I’m in heaven when she throws her arm around my shoulders and nestles close. She yawns and then kisses my neck.
I take us to the bedroom and gently place her on the bed. We both need showers, but that’ll have to come later. Jules’s body needs rest at the moment more than it needs to be clean.
I help her out of her clothes then she helps me out of mine. I snag something out of my pocket before my pants hit the floor. It’s not in the cards right now, but I want nothing more than to make love to Jules… my wife. Fuck, I love the sound of that.
As soon as my body is settled against the sheets and before I get the chance to reach for her, Jules is on me. We lie facing each other, arms wrapped around the other, chests smashed together, and legs tangled. You couldn’t fit a piece of paper between us. Just the way I like it.
“My wife,” I whisper, and watch Jules close her eyes. When she opens them next, happiness shines in the beautiful orbs.
“My husband,” she whispers just as softly. Those two words center me. They give my life meaning. We never got the chance to live as husband and wife before we were cruelly ripped apart. Now though, we have all the time in the world, and I plan to cherish every single second of it.
“There was something else Kale found on Theo’s bedroom floor and gave to me.”
Her brows lift. “Isn’t it illegal to take stuff from a crime scene?”
“It is, but I’m sure there’s enough evidence against Theo that they won’t need this or the sonogram.”
There’s no fucking way I’m handing them over anyway. There’s no telling if I would get them back, and I’m not taking that chance.
“What is it?”
I pull my arm from behind her back and lean back just enough to fit my hand between us. I open my palm. When she sees what’s resting there, she gasps and tears spring to her eyes. They jump to mine with hope.
“Is that…?”
I nod and smile. “Your wedding ring.” The same one that was in the bag at the hospital in the nightstand. Theo must have found it after the first time I saw it and put it in his box of fucked-up lies.
“Oh my God,” she breathes.
Without prompting, her hand appears, and I slip the simple woven diamond ring on her finger. It’s inexpensive, she certainly deserves more, but it’s what I gave her when we married, and it has the word ‘infinite’ inscribed on the inside. From the loving look in her eyes as she gazes down at it, I know the value is meaningless to her. It’s what it represents.
“I don’t know what happened to mine.” The thought saddens me.
Some of her happiness dims, so I kiss her sweetly, wanting that euphoria back.
“We’ll get another one for me. I want to marry you again. This time we’ll have the family there.”
She smiles, and once again my world is perfect.
“You saved me. You saved us.”
“Always. No matter what.”
“I love you.”
Her words are music to my ears and my heart bursts with happiness.
“I love you, Jules.”
It’s been way too fucking long since we’ve said those words to each other, and I promise myself I’ll say them at least a hundred times every day until I draw in my last breath.
I don’t know if it was God that made me have those dreams to keep Jules alive in my head or if it was just my mind not willing to let her go, but I thank whatever it was. She may have been gone from my life for seven years, but she was never truly away. She was always with me, just as she always will be.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Luca
I’M A NERVOUS FUCKING wreck. My knees bounce up and down and my palms are sweaty. Nausea swirls in my stomach so much I feel like I’m going to puke my brains out.
Shit!
I didn’t know this was going to be so hard. I thought I had prepared myself, but I was fucking wrong. I don’t think anything would have prepared me.
Jules sits beside me on the couch, her nerves no better than mine. I take her palm in mine and find it just as damp.