Page 52 of Deliah

“I…” I looked at him, completely speechless. “I don’t even know what to say.”

He poured the champagne without breaking eye contact. Then he lifted his glass.

“You don’t have to say anything yet,” he murmured. “Just be here with me.”

And I was. I was so fucking there.

As I lifted the glass to my lips, the yacht gave a soft, humming shudder beneath us, the engine starting up.

I looked out over the water just in time to see the lights of the port slowly beginning to blur into the distance.

We were drifting out into the open sea, into the kind of quiet that only existed beyond the shore.

The sky was navy now, stretched out wide and endless above us, the first stars just starting to blink awake.

The sea reflected them like glass, and the warm breeze kissed my shoulders as we moved through the water.

I turned to Damion, and for a moment, I couldn’t speak.

He was just… watching me. Like I was the only thing in the world worth looking at.

“What?” I asked, breathless, half laughing.

He shook his head slowly. “Nothing. Just... you.”

We ate slowly—seafood, fresh and perfect, like it had just been pulled from the ocean.

I barely tasted any of it. I was too busy trying to calm the flutter in my chest. Something about tonight felt heavier than just romance.

It felt like something was coming. Something I wasn’t quite ready for but desperately wanted anyway.

Between bites and sips of champagne, we talked.

About the villa. About our families. About how Cherry was definitely going to scream when I told her about this date. Then I said it—without planning to.

“I don’t know how I got this lucky,” I whispered. “You. This. All of it. It doesn’t feel real.”

Damion leaned back in his chair, eyes locked on mine. “It is real. Every second of it.”

I swallowed hard, heart pounding. “I’m grateful,” I said. “For everything. But mostly… for you. You changed my life.”

He didn’t smile. Not right away. His jaw clenched slightly, and his eyes softened in that way they did when he was about to say something serious. Something that mattered.

“I’ve loved you,” he said quietly, “from the minute I saw you.”

I stopped breathing.

“I don’t mean just your body. Though, fuck, that got my attention.” He gave a soft laugh, but his voice was thick. “I mean you. Your fire. The way you walk into a room like you own it. The way you test me. The way you fucking challenge me.”

My heart thudded harder in my chest.

“I tried to stay detached at first. I didn’t want to feel like this. I didn’t want anyone to get under my skin. But you… you didn’t give me a choice.”

He leaned forward, forearms resting on the table, eyes blazing with intensity.

“I love you, Deliah. I love you with every single inch of me. You make me want to be better. You make me want to stay still. You make me want forever.”

I blinked fast, but the tears still came.

“You’re not chaos to me,” he said, voice lower now. “You’re clarity. You’re everything that makes sense in a world that never fucking has.”

My fingers were trembling around my champagne glass. I could barely breathe. Then he stood.

Without a word, he came around the table—his steps slow, certain, deliberate. My heart was hammering, and I couldn’t stop the tears already rolling down my cheeks.

He dropped to one knee in front of me.

And then he pulled out a box.

A square-cut diamond caught the lantern light and scattered it like fire. It was ridiculous. Stunning. So him. So us.

His voice shook just slightly as he said it. “Deliah… will you marry me?”

The world stilled.

All I could hear was the rush of blood in my ears and the sound of my own breath catching. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t think. My entire body lit up like electricity had shot through my veins.

And then I launched into him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder, breathless and shaking.

“Yes,” I gasped, over and over again. “Yes. Yes, I fucking will.”

He laughed, exhaling like he’d been holding his breath for years. His arms closed around me, lifting me slightly off the ground as I buried my face in his neck.

He kissed my cheek, my jaw, my lips—again and again—whispering “mine” like a promise, like a vow.

I couldn’t stop smiling through the tears. My heart felt like it might explode from how much I loved him.

He slipped the ring onto my finger, hands steady, eyes locked on mine the whole time.

“Fits perfectly,” he said softly.

“Perfect, just like you,” I whispered back.

And there, on the deck of a yacht under a blanket of stars, with the sea rocking gently beneath us and my entire world kneeling in front of me, I said yes to forever.

I was so overwhelmed with happiness that I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I cried as he wrapped his arms around me and spun me in a circle, both of us laughing like idiots in love. The stars above, the sea below, and him—my fiancé. The word felt surreal in my mouth. Like magic.

And just when I thought the moment couldn’t get more perfect, he leaned in close and whispered, “Oh… and I have another surprise for you.”

I blinked, half laughing through my tears. “There’s more?”

He grinned. That smug, quiet Damion smile I knew too well. “Follow me.”

He took my hand and led me around the side of the yacht, the sea breeze catching my dress, the distant sound of waves soft against the hull.

We reached the stairs, and he guided me down to the lower deck, his grip firm, steady.

My heart was pounding again—not from nerves but from something deeper.

Like my body knew something huge was waiting.

He stopped in front of a set of double doors, looked at me for a moment, then opened them wide.

And I collapsed. Literally dropped to my knees, a sob bursting out of me so loud and raw I barely recognised my own voice.

Because standing there—in the soft golden light of the cabin, smiling, crying, waiting—was everyone.

My mum. My dad. My brother. Cherry. Fucking Tommy. Aneeka. A couple of the Boiler Boy lads behind them, already grinning like idiots. And just behind them, hand in hand, were Damion’s mum and dad.

All of them. All of them here. On this boat. For me. For us.

My whole world stopped. I broke.

I scrambled to my feet, still sobbing, and ran straight into my mum’s arms. I collapsed against her, the smell of her perfume, the warmth of her skin. It was like being a child again.

“Oh, my baby,” she whispered, squeezing me tight. “We’re so proud of you.”

I reached for my dad next, throwing my arms around his neck. There were tears rolling down his face, his voice was rough as he said, “Took a strong man to deserve you.”

Then he paused, pulled back slightly, his hands still resting on my arms.

“And just so you know—when he flew home last week, he sat in our kitchen and asked for your hand.”

I froze. “He what?”

Dad nodded, eyes soft. “Said he wouldn’t do it unless I gave him my blessing. Said he wanted to do it right.”

I blinked back fresh tears, then turned over my shoulder, locking eyes with Damion across the room.

“ You sneaky little sausage ,” I mouthed at him.

He just grinned, smug as hell, and raised his glass like he’d just pulled off the heist of the century. And I cried all over again.

Then came Cherry—tears in her lashes, already crying before I even got to her.

“You absolute psycho.” She laughed, hugging me so hard we nearly fell over. “You’re getting engaged and didn’t even warn me! I’d have worn glitter!”

“I didn’t know!” I cried, laughing and sobbing at the same time.

Aneeka was next, shaking her head and wiping away tears.

“I’m so happy for you, babe. He’s so good for you. You look so happy. Finally.”

I hugged her tighter than I ever had.

Even Tommy stepped forward, awkward but smiling. “For what it’s worth,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck, “you and Damion… yeah. That’s the real deal.”

I nodded, too emotional to speak, just hugging him and hoping that said enough.

Then I looked around at them all—laughing, smiling, crying—and something in me just cracked open.

I’d never felt love like this. Not just from one person—but from all of them.

My family. My friends. Damion’s parents, standing back with proud eyes and soft smiles, like they already thought of me as theirs.

I turned to Damion, shaking, overwhelmed, tears streaming down my face. “How?” I whispered. “How did you do this?”

He just smiled, eyes glinting, chest rising with the same emotion that had swallowed me whole. “Had to be perfect,” he said softly. “For my new fiancée.”

I burst into fresh sobs, covering my face for a second before walking back to him and crashing into his chest. He held me like I was the most precious thing in the whole world. Something he’d waited his whole life to find.

“You’re insane,” I mumbled into his shirt.

“And you love me for it,” he said, pressing a kiss into my hair.

“I do,” I whispered. “I really fucking do.”

The room erupted into cheers, glasses clinking, Cherry yelling something inappropriate about strippers at the hen party, and my mum threatening her with a slipper.

We partied the entire night, music echoing off the water, champagne flowing like it was on tap, laughter spilling from every corner of the yacht.

There were no strangers here. Just people I loved, people who had watched me fall apart and now stood cheering as I finally, finally had everything I didn’t dare to dream of.

At one point, I glanced across the deck and nearly choked on my drink. Cherry was straddling Tommy on one of the cushioned loungers, her tongue down his throat like they were the last two people on Earth. His hands were gripping her thighs like he’d never let go again.

I laughed, nudging Damion with my elbow. “Look who’s back in love.”

He followed my gaze and smirked. “Knew those two wouldn’t last long apart.”

“Disaster soulmates.” I grinned.

He pulled me closer, pressing a kiss behind my ear. “Fitting, don’t you think?”

The night was perfect. Warm air. Golden lights. The gentle sway of the yacht beneath our feet and the sound of the sea whispering promises all around us.

And I just stood there, in the middle of it all, wrapped in Damion’s arms.

My fiancé.

My family.

My friends.

My whole world.

Everything I’d ever wanted, finally standing in the same room.

This wasn’t just the end of a chapter. It was the start of everything.