Surrender (11 page)

“It doesn’t matter now.” I say. I look up into his face, searching his eyes, “David, I know that love can be destructive. I know it can hurt, and God knows I’ve been a victim, I grew up a victim of what love can cause when it’s wrong, but I’m not ready to never be in love again, to never be loved again. Because without love, life doesn’t mean as much as it should.” I pause. “You think that because you’ve been hurt by someone you loved, you shouldn’t love anyone ever again.”

“Sophie,” David interrupts, “You’re wrong, if you think I can’t…won’t love you because of my childhood, because of my mother and stepfather,” he breathes, “Well you’re wrong.”

My breath hitches in my throat. Then why is it? I wonder, am I just unworthy then, unlovable in some way that I don’t know. Am I good only for sex?

“You’re wrong, Sophie,” he continues emphatically, his eyes intense, “Because I love you.”

I feel my breath leave my chest.

His eyes are searching mine, and when he speaks, there’s a desperate edge to his voice. “I think may have loved you from the first time I saw you.”

There is a lump in my throat. This is not the same as his outburst in Bellevue, only a few days ago. He is in control of himself, and he’s telling me that he loves me.

“I love you, Sophie.” He says again.

I close my eyes as his words wash over me, wanting so much to believe him. “Do you mean that?” I ask, “Or are you only saying it because you think it’s what I want to hear?”

“No, I mean every word.” He frowns, shaking his head. “I’ve spent my life avoiding close relationships. I think Steve may have been the closest person to me, before you. But everything I thought I was changed when I met you.” He moves forward and takes my hands in his, “That day you left, I would have lain at your feet and begged you to stay, even then I knew I didn’t want to … I knew I couldn’t live without you.” He sighs, his eyes imploring me to believe him. “But I was afraid, jealous, confused…” he shakes his head. “It’s been hell since you left Sophie. Nothing is the same.”

I want to cry. “But this morning…”

“About that…” he turns to look at the painting, and when he looks back at me he has a strange smile on his face. “This morning I went to get you something.”

I search his face. “What?”

I watch, stupefied, as he gets down on one knee. “I love you, Sophie Bennett – Preston,” He says, producing a ring from his pocket, “and if you give me another chance, I promise to do it right this time, to spend the rest of my life proving just how much I love you.”

I want to scream, to let out the incredible rush of joy in my heart. I can’t breathe. I’m crying, and I’m just so happy.

“Oh, David!” I say, wrapping my arms around him as tears start to fall down my face. “I love you so much.”

He gets up, lifting me with him. “So you’ll come home?” he asks, his face relaxing into a relieved smile.

I laugh happily and proceed to cover his face with kisses. “Nothing can keep me away.”

Epilogue

I’M SCARED.

There’s a storm, and it sounds really bad. I pull my blankie closer and try not to hear the scary noise outside. Mommy says it’s just the wind whistling, but I know it’s ghosts screaming, bad ghosts who haven’t gone to heaven like my Dad.

I miss my Dad.

I want to cry, but I try my best not to, Henry, my new step-father, says only weak little boys cry. The night I woke up and ran around the big house looking for my Dad, he called me a sissy.

And mommy didn’t say anything.

It’s so dark in my room. I miss my old room in our old house, where me and mommy and my dad lived together. Henry’s house is big and scary, even during the day. I hate it here, but mommy says I shouldn’t say that.

Suddenly the room is very bright, and then it goes dark again. I cover my ears because I know there’ll be thunder soon. My dad said that was only because light travels faster than sound even though they both happen at the same time. That doesn’t stop it from being scary.

I don’t hear anything, so I remove my hands from my ears. Then the thunder comes, and it’s so scary because it’s loud and I can hear it inside my head. I close my eyes, and the noise doesn’t stop. The room is shaking like an earthquake.

I scream and run outside, down the long dark hallway to the big room where mommy and Henry sleep together now. I open the door and run inside.

Mommy is alone on the bed, so I climb up on her side.

“Mommy?”

“Sweetheart.” Her voice is sleepy. It sounds like back in our real house, when I used to climb into the bed with her and my dad. She doesn’t call me sweetheart anymore now, not when Henry is around.

“I’m scared.”

She sits up and hugs me. “It’s just a storm baby, an itty bitty storm.”

I hug her back tightly. “I want it to stop.”

“It will, soon.”

I don’t feel so scared anymore. I close my eyes and imagine that we’re back at home, and my Dad is still alive. She’ll sing something funny, and I’ll laugh with my dad and then fall asleep on their bed.

“Sing something Mommy.”

She looks towards the bathroom, and then she closes her eyes. She almost starts to sing, but then the door to the bathroom opens, and Henry comes into the room wearing a robe.

He stops when he sees me. Immediately I start to feel scared again.

“What’s he doing here?” He asks my mom.

“There’s a storm. Henry.”

He doesn’t say anything, but he’s looking at my mom and he looks a little mad. She sighs and gets up from the bed. “Come on David.” She says, walking ahead of me, out of the room.

I follow her, turning to look at Henry before I leave the room. Another flash of lightning comes from the window behind him, and it makes him look scary, like a monster. I scream and run out of the door, bumping into my mommy’s legs.

She doesn’t look at me until we reach my room. She puts me back to bed, her face looking sad. She didn’t used to look sad when my dad was alive.

“Don’t go back mommy.” I tell her.

“Go to sleep.’ She whispers.

There’s another flash of lightning and before long the thunder comes again.

“Don’t go mummy.” I beg.

“David.” She sighs and gets up. “It’s only a storm.”

But it’s scary. I want to cry, even though I’m trying my best not to. “Don’t go.” I say, but she continues to walk towards the door.

“Don’t leave me.”

“David.”

“Don’t leave me.”

Arms tighten around me, my nose fills with the sweet scent that’s all her. I pull her closer, filling my senses with her.

“I won’t leave you.”

I sigh, relief flooding me even in my sleep. Opening my eyes, I see Sophie looking at me, her beautiful green eyes right in front of my face.

“I love you.” I tell her, and I mean every word. My heart is full to the point of bursting from having her so close to me. “I love you.”

She giggles. “We love you too.” She says softly.

My hand drifts down to the smooth roundness of her stomach, where our child is growing. It’s the most wondrous thing I’ve ever felt. “I love you.” I say again. No matter how many times I say it, it wouldn’t be enough. I have to tell her as often as possible, and not just with words, because she is my life, the end of my nightmares. My love.

Forever.

The End

About the Author

Serena Grey discovered her first love when she was a child, and that love, reading, has been her constant companion since then.

She still loves to read, but now she also writes, because the stories in her head won’t leave her in peace otherwise. Even though she loves all kinds of fiction, she has a soft spot for love and romance, and that flush of pleasure that can only be found at the end of a beautiful love story.

When she’s not reading and writing, she enjoys cocktails, coffee, the Vampire Diaries, Smash, and constantly drools over Gabriel Macht as Harvey Spector in Suits.

From the Author

Thank you all so much for sticking with me to the end of this series. Even though I’m soooo happy to have completed my first series. I feel a little sad, knowing that my time with David and Sophie is over. Hopefully, I’ll be able to create new characters before too long, that will also capture your hearts and keep you entertained.

If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review. I would love to know what you think.

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Thank you for reading Surrender.

Love,

Serena Grey