A MARRIAGE OF HATE: Chapter 11 – The End
Chapter 24
Julianna?
“Gideon?” I gulped and practically choked out his name.
“Hello, Julianna,” he said, taking a step closer. His voice was calm and smooth, but thick with emotion.
My eyes darted to Killian, looking at him for confirmation, and he gave me a single nod. My stomach twisted, fluttering with disbelief.
“How?” I questioned softly.
Gideon took a seat next to my hospital bed, his fists clenched atop his knees. Almost like he was trying to stop himself from reaching out to me.
His kind eyes roved my face.
“I had been in hiding ever since Bishop…” he swallowed, wincing.
“Ever since he killed Eliza.”
My breath hitched, a lonely tear sliding down my cheek.
“Bishop never loved your mother. It was obsession and that only lasted for the first year of their marriage,”
Gideon lamented. “Eliza was merely a trophy wife. She felt suffocated and I saw how much she hated Bishop. We grew closer and it just happened. You don’t choose who you love…”
He broke off, his expression growing bleak.
I figured as much – that while my mother might have had an affair, there had to be some kind of reason behind it.
I knew it wasn’t a love marriage and though, I wasn’t condoning cheating… I didn’t blame my mother for wanting to have love, to find peace in another man’s embrace.
Especially now that I knew the type of man Bishop Romano was, I could only imagine how he was as a husband.
Shaking his head, Gideon ran a hand over his face, his body shaking. With anger and deep sorrow.
“When I found out that you were supposed to marry Killian, I got a job as the stableman on Isle Rosa-Maria, with the hope of finally seeing you again. I just wanted to see my daughter, in person, instead of photos I saw online and from the media.”
“You never said anything to me,” I whispered.
A wave of pain crossed his face before he gave me a bittersweet smile.
“I couldn’t. It would have been too dangerous and I had to thread carefully. In order to keep you safe. Anyway, I don’t think you would have believed me then, without proof, and sadly, I didn’t have any.”
I reached out for him and Gideon quickly grasped my hand in his, squeezing as if his life depended on it. His chest rattled with a relieved sigh.
I swallowed past the ball of heavy emotion in my throat and blinked the tears away.
“Can you tell me a little bit more about my mother?”
Gideon smiled, real and kind. The type of fatherly smile I had craved for the longest time.
“Of course,” my father said.
.
One month later
His lips whispered over the back of my neck, his hands stroking down my arms before he cupped my small bump.
At eleven weeks pregnant, my stomach was slightly protruding now, visible proof that there was, indeed, an innocent life growing inside of me.
My eyes caught his black wedding band and my chest filled with warmth at the sight of it.
A week ago, Killian and I married again. It was a very small ceremony with only Emily, Stephen, William, Mirai, Selene and my father present.
This time, instead of vows of hate … Killian spoke about his love for me. He vowed to love me, to protect me and to cherish me for the rest of our days.
He didn’t leave me at the altar, of course. He lifted my veil and placed the most tender kss on my lips. If I had to choose the best days of my life…
I had two of them.
The day I met Killian.
And the day I married him. Well, the second time I married him.
If Gracelynn was looking down at me right now, I wondered if she would be proud of me.
That in the end, I chose love and happiness. I chose to live.
I knew it was what she would have wanted for me.
“I’m healed enough that I can bathe on my own now,” I said, fighting back a smile.
Killian hummed in response. “Is there a problem with me regularly bathing you, wife?”
“Not at all. I was just saying…”
His teeth grazed the sensitive spot behind my ear. “I like taking care of you.”
Taking care of me was an understatement.
After I got discharged from the hospital, we came back to the island. The security had been tripled and was strict. No one was allowed on Isle Rosa-Maria without Killian’s written permission.
My husband had barely left my side for the last four weeks. If I winced, he was calling for Rani, our general physician, who was at our disposal on the island.
If I made as much of a pained sound, he was on me, asking dozens of questions.
Where are you hurt? Is it the baby? Does your wound hurt? Should I call for Rani?
Do you need the bathroom? Is it another headache? Are you feeling nauseous?
I haven’t had a seizure since we came back to the island, thankfully. The last one I had was while I was still unconscious, in the hospital.
Killian had told me it was my worst one yet. I scratched my face, bit my tongue so hard it bled and somehow managed to re-open my stitches.
Killian helped me out of the tub and before I could reach for my towel, he was already grabbing it himself and patting down my wet skin.
I sighed. “Stop treating me like I’m so fragile, Killian.”
He wrapped the towel around me before his arms curled around my hips.
“You’re not fragile, but you’re my wife – the woman I love and I almost lost you a month ago. Please, humor me. Let me do this,” he rasped.
His dark gaze pleaded with me. I knew how badly he was affected by this whole ordeal, probably more than me.
While I found it easy to move on after we came back to the island, it was Killian who was plagued with nightmares – of me bleeding and him not being able to reach me on time.
He would thrash and scream out my name. Every time Killian woke up from one of those nightmares, he would cling to me, burying his face into my throat as he gasped for air.
He was so fiercely protective of me and the baby, it was almost like he was obsessed about our safety.
I went on my tippy toes and my hands landed on his chest. My lips feathered over his.
“Kss me, husband.”
I didn’t have to ask him twice.
A MARRIAGE OF HATE: Chapter 11 – The End
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“Killian!”
Spent, he laid his forehead against mine. Our chests heaved as we tried to catch our breaths.
When Killian tried to roll off my body, I tightened my th ighs around him and my arms locked behind his neck.
“Stay,” I breathed.
I liked how he felt on t op of me, in side me.
I missed him, this in timacy, in the past month.
Sx had always been explosive for us, but today felt different. The tenderness in his eyes, and his gentle touches. The way he took me slow and deep, almost like he wanted to savor this moment.
He brushed his lips over my scars, almost adoringly. My breath hitched as he kssed the jagged ugly scars and mangled flesh.
“I love you too,” I whispered. “More than I can describe in words.”
Hours later, I laid in his arms, sated and feeling more at peace than ever. “What do you want for dinner?”
Killian asked, running his fingers through my hair.
“I’m craving guavas,” I mumbled, scrolling through my phone.
“You can’t have guavas for dinner, Julianna. Dessert and as a treat, yes. Not dinner.”
I rolled my eyes. “Says who.”
“Says me.”
“Bossy much.”
His hand tightened around my hips.
“You like me bossy.”
Oh yeah, I definitely did.
I didn’t usually check the news, but since Bishop was still missing,
I made it a habit of checking the news and my social media a few times a day. To see if there were any updates about Bishop Romano.
My eyes widened and I sat forward when I saw the headline for the top news.
WAS IT SUICIDE? BISHOP ROMANO FOUND DEAD!
“Killian,” I gasped. I felt him move behind me, looking over my shoulder as I opened the article.
My eyes quickly darted over the words.
Bishop Romano was found dead – hanging from a ceiling fan – in an apartment, which the FBI assumed was his hideout.
After autopsy, they found that he had been injected with something lethal. While it was possible that he was murdered, after further investigation, his death has been filed under su icide.
I shook with relief, my breathing coming out in short gasps and my chest tightened.
The last sentence of the article glared back at me and I read over it again.
Is it possible that Bishop Romano felt cornered and he knew that he was running out of time?
So instead of surrendering, he decided to end his own life?
No, I refused to believe that.
Bishop Romano was cruel and vindictive.
Yes, it was true that he would never surrender, but I also knew he would never take his own life, choosing the easy way out of this situation.
I dropped my phone on my lap and turned to face Killian.
I watched his cool and composed expression, carefully assessing my husband.
He didn’t even acknowledge the fact that our enemy was found dead. His face was impassive, not at all surprised after reading the article.
Almost like he already knew…
I straddled him, my arms curling around his neck.
Our foreheads touched and I breathed in his musky and spicy scent. Unique. Manly and mine.
“Are you behind this?” I didn’t beat around the bush. After all, I already had my answer. I just wanted him to confirm it.
“No,” he deadpanned, without any emotions.
Killian was a good liar, but I found the truth in his eyes.
He lied, while his hands were tainted with blood.
He killed to protect me and our baby.
A MARRIAGE OF HATE: Chapter 11 – The End
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