Ghost City

44

"Damien explained to me why you rather stay in hiding, but-" I got out before Diane cut me off.

She shook her head, "I'm sure you have a lot of faith in your father, but I don't. My son was driven off the road even under the supervision of two of your father's personal guards. Was he not?"

"Yes," I admitted, remembering the car accident that caused Damien to be sent away for a few months.

"You cannot tell anyone about me being alive," Diane said. "You, yourself, wasn't supposed to know. It must be kept between the four of us. It's imperative that Aurora doesn't say anything to anyone either."

I nodded, "I'll make sure she doesn't, and I'll respect your wishes."

"Good," she nodded before flickering her eyes to Damien. "So, how's my son treating you."

"Uh..." I said as my mouth went dry. "Um...he's been treating me-"

"Badly," he said, "or at least not as well as I should be. No need to sugarcoat anything."

Diane shook her head in disapproval before saying, "Well, I hope you two figure things out. Every time we'd visit each other, he'd be worried about his relationship with you. Every relationship has its complications, but I hope that now that you know why he has been moving so secretively, you both can make up."

"Unfortunately, that's not the only thing that has been causing complications," I shook my head. "I guess he and I can talk it out."

Diane huffed, "Well, you never know when someone you love will be taken from the world. When the time comes, you'll feel like you didn't have enough time with that person. Take advantage of your youth and the moments you both can create." Damien and I nodded in response while connecting eyes with each other. "I'm going to help Aurora with the crossword puzzle. You two can have some time to talk with each other."

"Okay," I nodded, and she got up and walked over to the living room to hang out with Aurora. "So..."

"Come closer," Damien said, and I walked around the table and sat in the chair beside him. "You should speak your mind first," he encouraged.

I inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before saying, "I understand you keeping this as a secret from me. Lives are on the line, and there's also simply respect for your mother's wishes. I do still feel a type of way about Ashley and our vacation. I understand that we're still not together and that you're technically allowed to be with whoever you want, but I feel a type of way because the vacation was a huge slap in my face in terms of whether you even wanted to marry me anymore. I understand you thinking the timing was off, but for you to just move on like that...that really broke my heart, Damien. That was a different type of pain that I still feel."

Damien nodded, "I wanna first say that I'm sorry for keeping information from you and sleeping with Ashley. I most definitely wasn't moving on. I wanted you more than anyone else. I honestly thought you were done with me, especially when you took the ring off. Nonetheless, I shouldn't have let us being apart be a reason for me to sleep with another woman, especially because it was my actions that led to the break up. I should've tried harder to get you back instead of doing things to push you further away. I know that my actions have hurt you and have caused you to lose some trust for me, and I'm willing to do anything to change that."

"Okay," I nodded. "I apologize for slapping you last night and not giving you enough time to explain yourself before jumping to conclusions. I'm also sorry for accusing you of being unfaithful and sorry for taking the ring off in the first place."

Damien nodded in response before taking my hands in his. He then brought up, "I know our vacation didn't go as planned either, and I want you to know that I most definitely do wanna marry you. You're honestly the only person I've ever felt comfortable being completely vulnerable to. You really make me happy, and when I'm without you, I'm fucking miserable! I don't wanna be with anyone else, City. I only want you." I shyly blushed while nodding in response. "If you give me another chance, I won't waste it!"

"Okay," I nodded while connecting eyes with him.

"Will...you be mine?" he nervously asked, and I shyly nodded. He cracked a wide smile that warmed my heart, and then he brought my hands to his lips and placed a kiss onto each. "Thank you," he smiled before pulling me into a hug, which I melted into as his scent clouded my brain.