Page 90 of Emerald

Ivan takes my hand and leads me upstairs. I think he’s going to take me straight to the bedroom, but instead he pulls me into the library.

He’s set up a table in here, with two chairs and dozens of candles all around. There’s a rosebud in a vase atop the linen tablecloth and two formal place settings.

“What’s this?” I ask him.

“The night I was going to pick you up at the train station, I wanted to take you out for dinner,” he says. “I wanted to take you on a real date.”

I can’t help laughing.

“We really haven’t been on a date, have we?” I say.

“I hope this counts,” Ivan says.

He pulls out my chair for me so I can sit down.

He takes the seat across from me.

His face looks unbearably handsome in the glow of the candlelight. I can hardly look at him. Yet, I never want to look at anything else.

He takes my hand across the table.

He pulls a little box out of jacket and places it between us.

My heart is fluttering against my ribs. My fingers tremble as I lift the lid.

I see a gold band, set with a dark green stone.

I take the ring from the box and slip it on my finger. It fits perfectly.

“You’re mine forever, my little love,” Ivan says. “My own grim reaper.”

The End