Fortune (47 page)

He thought he'd won.

No! She drew back and brought her heel square into his chin. His head snapped back, and his hand fell away from her ankle. A look of disbelief crossed his features, and he reached out for her as the last of the oxygen bubbled out of him.

Skye dragged her gaze away and struggled toward the surface for the last time, completely spent. She couldn't do it again, she knew. This was it; her last shot at life.

Her head broke the water; she gasped for air. Chance was there, half in the water, arm looped around the ladder, searching for her. He caught her and hauled her out and onto the dock. They collapsed into each other's arms, shuddering, teeth chattering.

“I could have lost you,” he said, stripping off her sodden coat and wrapping her in his. “When I realized—”

“I was so scared. I thought I'd never see you again.”

He ran his hands over her, as if convincing himself she was with him, that she was safe. “That'll never happen.” He kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, her mouth. “I love you, Skye. I love you so mu—”

“Hold me, Chance. Just hold me.” She clung to him, coming back to life. “Don't let me go.”

“I won't, love. I won't let you go. Not ever.”

T
he next morning, Skye awakened in Chance's arms. Sunlight spilled through the window and fell across the bed, doing its best to dispel all traces of the hellish night before. The police had arrived shortly after Chance pulled her from what had almost been her icy grave, alerted by the Chicago police and Adam.

They had questioned her, wanting a detailed account of everything that had happened. She'd had to go over it all again and again; retelling the story brought back her terror, the horror of believing she was going to die. The horror of those last moments, when Griffen's hand had closed around her ankle and he had pulled her under.

She could have died. If not for Chance, she would have.

The police had done a perfunctory search for Griffen's body, though they hadn't expected to find him. They probably wouldn't until spring, they'd said, but planned to bring a team out today for another attempt. She and Chance would be gone by then, on their way home. Together.

Through it all Chance had stayed by her side, his arm protectively around her. It had been he who'd insisted she was finished answering questions, he who had fed her some soup and tucked her into bed, crawling under the covers to hold her until the cold was gone. His tender lovemaking had chased the last of the terror away, only then had she been able to sleep.

Skye snuggled into Chance and he made a sleepy, comfortable sound. She was safe now, she thought, moving her gaze lovingly over his face. In Chance's arms, where she had always been meant to be. Griffen had talked of soul mates. If there was such a thing, Chance was hers. It seemed as if she had loved him forever already.

She would take whatever the future brought them; she didn't expect a perfect love, not anymore. She just wanted two people who loved each other enough to give it their best shot.

She kissed Chance lightly, then slipped out of bed. She padded down the hall, toward the other bedroom, Moo at her heels. There, she found the strange necklace and gems, just as she had left them. And there, she saw the letter she had missed the night before.

Knowing it was from her mother, Skye sat on the edge of the bed, unfolded it and began to read.

Chance found her there, head bent over the letter, crying. He came to her, he took her in his arms. “She really did love me,” Skye whispered. “She didn't leave me behind, we only got separated.”

Skye cried for a long time, for what she had and what she had lost, she cried for the mother who had loved her as much as a mother had ever loved her child, so much that she had given up everything to protect her. Even her own life.

It would take a long time for the hurt to go away, Skye knew. For the deep ache of longing and regret to fade.

But it would. And when it did, she would be left with just the memory of love.

She had gotten her every wish, she realized. With them had come terrible consequences and the miracle of Chance's love. And through them, she had learned a powerful lesson. She was done wishing for what she didn't have; life was too short, too precious to waste that way. From this moment on she would enjoy all she had been given.

Wearing her mother's talisman, Skye packed her few things, anxious to leave this place, this house. Anxious to leave Griffen and the events of the past months behind her forever. It was time to begin the future, hers and Chance's, free of the taint of the Monarch family, free from the darkness of their sickness and obsession. She wanted nothing to do with them, nothing to do with the things they held dear.

“Are you sure?” Chance asked when she told him her intentions. “Are you sure you want to give it all up? Monarch's and all that goes with it is worth a fortune. Some might even call it your destiny.”

Skye shook her head and closed her hand over the gem-filled talisman. “These are my destiny,” she said softly. “My fortune. These and you.”

He kissed her, then together they stepped outside, sunshine spilling over them, warm and bright.

Without a backward glance, they headed toward their future.