Page 118 of Betraying Family Vows

"No," he corrects me, eyes locked to mine. "I want you forever. By my side. In my bed. Having my children. The whole nine yards."

The words hit me like electricity, jolting through my body and leaving me breathless. I can feel a smile spreading across my face.

"What are you trying to say, Dimitri?" I ask, my voice cracking

He lifts his gaze to the ceiling for a moment, and then he looks back at me.

"I never knew what love was," he admits, tone unsure. "I was raised to protect, to fight, to be a weapon. I was never taught this." He pauses, his thumb still brushing across my cheek. "But I'm telling you I'm not capable of anything else in my life if you're not in it."

My vision goes blurry with tears. My stomach drops and my heart swells in my chest, pushing against my ribs as if trying to reach him.

“I love you, Alepoudítsa."

I reach for him at the same moment he leans in, and our mouths meet in a kiss that feels like it's saying everything he needs to.

It's not a frantic kiss, or even a lustful one. It feels exactly the way I imagine forever feels when you finally find it.

"I love you too, Dimitri."

My mother always told me beauty was my only power. She was wrong.

This love, this future, is mine.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out something small. A ring, old but beautiful, with a delicate setting and a beautiful stone that catches the light.

"It was my grandmother's," he says, turning the ring between his fingers. "If you're willing to kill for me, protect me, stand beside me, then you're my family now. And hopefully soon, we'll build our own."

I cover my mouth with one hand as tears spill down my face. He takes my other hand and slips the ring onto my finger. It fits perfectly, as if it was always meant to end up here.

"I'm going to destroy Stavros for what he's done to me, to both of us," he says. "Then I'm going to marry you, make love to you, and have you bear me so many children you'll beg me to stop. So get ready."

A startled laugh breaks out of me, and I choke on a sob at the same time. I wipe my tears away and laugh some more.

"You're insane," I say.

"You love it," he says.

"I do," I admit.

I then throw my arms around him, burying my face in the crook of his neck and wish I could live in this moment forever.

"Wait," he says suddenly, pulling back. He slides off the bed and drops to one knee, looking up at me with those intense blue eyes. "I should do it like you're supposed to," he says.

He takes my hand in his, his grip firm. "Beautiful Athena Lianou, will you marry me?"

The world seems to stop for a moment, everything narrowing down to this man kneeling before me, offering me a life I never thought possible.

I laugh, tearfully. "Yes," I say without hesitation. "God, yes."

He rises to his feet and kisses me.

For one perfect moment, it feels like nothing else exists, just this man, this ring, this promise.

But I know as much as we want to pretend the world has stopped turning, Stavros is still out there. And soon, the real war will begin.

"I know you wanted to wait until after everything to try for kids," I say and bite my lip, "but we can still practice, right?"

Dimitri's blue eyes burn dark and full with desire and lust. He scoops me up and tosses me on the bed like I'm weightless.