A Slow-Burning Dance (15 page)

Chapter
Sixteen

Sela
listened to the events of two days ago as Damien filled her in on everything
he’d learned since the fire. She didn’t have words for any of it. Ernest,
making good on his threat to Tomás, had nearly succeeded in killing her as
well. The mall was ruined. They’d have to start all over again.

“Tomás
had insurance, and he wants to build it again. It will be even better this
time, but you can’t have the same set-up, Sela. They want no rooms behind the
walls like you had. Too risky.”

She
nodded. Talking still hurt, so she did it as little as possible. The doctors
told her it was likely her voice would be hoarse for a while yet, weeks
perhaps. They said the pain would subside, and there was no permanent damage to
her lungs. They all told her she was very, very lucky, but she already knew
that.

“Ernest
has left the country, but it doesn’t matter. The men who planted the bomb
behind the units likely worked for him, or he was one of the three that were
seen, but the police have no leads on who they were. Immigration said the
threats he made are enough. They won’t let him back in, and they won’t let any
of the crew he worked with back in either.”

Damien
had already told her that a woman who lived in one of the apartments next to
the mall saw three men get out of a van and walk behind the units, but she
didn’t get a good enough look at them or the van before it sped away after the
men ran out from behind the buildings.

“Explosion?”
she asked.

“Yes,
what we both heard and felt was an explosion.” Sela had told him she’d felt the
ground shake right before the fire alarms went off. “I was two blocks away
getting our dinner, and I left it to run over there.”

He
settled his weight next to her on the bed so he could move closer. He’d barely
left her side for two days, and she couldn’t wait to go back to his apartment.
She was never leaving it again.

“Santino
is coming over again after work,” he said. “I don’t think he believes me when I
tell him you’re okay, all day long, every hour on the hour.”

She
smiled and rolled her eyes. She’d dropped her phone while crawling toward the
door, but Damien had already bought her a new one. Santino had texted her every
half hour since Damien had called him from the ER. It was nice to have people
who loved you that much, so she really didn’t mind, but there was nothing new
to tell him. She was fine, and they were sending her home tomorrow or later
tonight once her latest blood work came back.

“How
long will it take to rebuild the mall?” she asked.

Damien
grinned. “That’s the longest sentence you’ve spoken in two days.”

She
smiled in return as she waited for his answer.

“I’m
not sure. Six months, minimum. I’m sorry,
niña
.
You’ll have to keep teaching at the gym.”

She
shrugged. It didn’t matter. She was alive, and he was okay. Everything else
would sort itself out. Damien had already emailed her instructors and told them
what happened. Every single one of them had written back to tell her to take
care of herself, to heal, and to let them know when the studio would be ready.
No one was upset about the delay.

She’d
been flooded with emails from all the Weathermen, and from Liane, Angela,
Harper, and Julianne, wishing her well. Sela hadn’t been so touched by a show
of support and camaraderie since her childhood. She felt like she was part of
them now, even if there wasn’t a huge diamond ring on her finger. She belonged
to Damien, and he belonged to her, and each of them knew that now. They’d
already accepted her as part of their group.

As
she listened to Damien talk about work and everything else, her heart
overflowed with love all over again for this sexy, charismatic man. She owed
her life to him, and she’d never love anyone else the way she loved him. That
was a given. No matter what happened with the mall and everything else that was
going on, as long as she could snuggle up with him at night, and be part of his
day to day life, she’d be thrilled. To live without Damien Rivera was no longer
an option for Sela.

****

Two
weeks after the fire, Damien still hovered over everything Sela did. She’d
begun her lessons again, and was back to teaching. Her voice was still a bit
gruff at times, but nothing like it had been during the first few days. The
pain was gone, but she found she got a bit more tired than usual if she danced
really hard or for long periods. Her doctor assured her that would pass in
time.

Damien
brought home food from the same take-out place he’d been at when the fire had
occurred. He’d asked
Sela
if she wanted to go out
since it was Friday, but she told him she wanted a quiet evening at home. His
apartment was her home now. She’d given up her lease, and had completely moved
in with him.

He
was acting more animated than usual, so she asked him if he’d heard anything
about Rob Marin. What else would have him so wound up?

“Funny
you should ask. Viggo’s associates have the date planned. They’ll steal the
laptop one week from tonight when Rob and Olivia are out of town for her
cousin’s wedding in SouthCentral.”

“That’s
convenient, but don’t they have a security system?”

Damien
grinned. “Sure they do, but there are ways around that.”

He
continued talking up a blue streak all through dinner, and then he surprised
her by producing a bottle of champagne. Actual champagne. It was almost
impossible to come by. “What did you do?” she asked. “Sneak up to the surface
while I was in the hospital?”

He
chuckled. “No. I got this from a friend who owed me a huge favor.” He poured
them each a glass, then clinked his gently against hers. “Sela, I had this planned
for the opening of your studio. It’s been killing me to wait, but I had to be
sure you were healed completely, or very close to it.”

She
had no clue what he meant until he drained his glass, placed it on the table,
and then took a small velvet box from his pocket. Sela drained her glass and
put it next to his before she dropped it. She bit her lip, but the tears came
regardless.

Damien
gave her a look filled with so much love and passion she was sure she’d faint.
It evoked every memory from the past two months of all the larger than life
things he’d done to her and with her, beginning with the wildflowers that still
arrived every week, and the concert.

There
had never been a moment when she hadn’t known how much this man loved her, and
she could only pray she lived long enough to give him back even a fraction of
that. He dropped to one knee and opened the box. Sela gasped. The diamond was a
chocolate one, her favorite. It sparkled and shone so brightly she almost had
to close her eyes.

“
Mi amor
, you are the woman I have waited
for. Please tell me you will be my wife.”

“Damien,
of course I will. I love you more than I can put into words.”

He
slipped the ring on her finger. “I love you more than the whole of my heart, my
soul, and my body combined, and I always will.”

Then
he stood and kissed her, picking her up off her feet and twirling her around
until they both laughed and kissed again, then laughed some more, and finally
kissed until neither of them could breathe.

Sela
held onto him as tightly as she could, using all her strength to hold his body
against hers. She was happier than she’d ever been in her entire life, and she
would spend the rest of that life making sure that Damien knew how very, very
much she loved him.

The End

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