We come together in our kind of love.

* * *

The next morning, I stand next to the runway and watch as the plane carrying my parents home takes off. When it’s nothing more than a small dot in the sky, I turn to Julian, who’s standing beside me holding my hand.

“Tell me again,” I say softly, looking up at him.

“I love you.” His eyes gleam as he meets my gaze. “I love you, Nora, more than life itself.”

I smile, my heart lighter than it’s been in weeks. The shadow of grief is still with me, as is the lingering feeling of guilt, but the darkness no longer clouds everything. I can picture a day when the pain will fade, when all I’ll feel is contentment and joy.

Our troubles aren’t over—they can’t be, with us being who we are—but the future no longer frightens me. Soon, I’ll need to bring up the pretty doctor and Peter’s plan for revenge, and at some point later, we’ll have to discuss the possibility of another child and how to deal with the ever-present danger of our lives.

For now, though, we don’t need to do anything but enjoy each other.

Enjoy being alive and in love.

Epilogue

Julian

Three Years Later

“Nora Esguerra!”

As the president of Stanford University calls out her name, I watch my wife walk across the stage, garbed in the same black cap and gown as the rest of the graduates. The robe billows around her petite frame, hiding the small, but already visible bump of her stomach—the child we both eagerly await this time.

Stopping in front of the university official, Nora shakes his hand to the sound of applause and then turns to smile for the camera, her delicate face glowing in the bright morning sun.

The flash goes off, startling me even though I knew it was coming.

Catching myself clutching the gun at my waist, I force my hand to uncurl and move away from the weapon. With a hundred of our best guards securing the field, my gun isn’t necessary. Still, I feel better having it on me—and I know Nora is glad her semi-automatic is tucked inside her purse. Though the opening of her second art show in Paris went off without a hitch last year, we’re both more than a little paranoid today, determined to do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of our unborn daughter.

Another flash goes off beside me. Glancing at the seats to my right, I see Nora’s parents taking pictures with their new camera. They look as proud as I feel. Sensing my gaze on them, Nora’s mother looks in my direction, and I give her a warm smile before turning my attention back to the stage.

The next graduate is already up, but I don’t notice who it is. All I see is my pet, carefully making her way down the left side of the stage. The leather folder with the diploma is in her hands, and the tassel on her cap is hanging on the other side of her face, signifying her new diploma-recipient status.

She’s beautiful, even more beautiful than at her high school graduation five years earlier.

As she makes her way through the rows of graduates and their families, our eyes meet, and I feel my heart expanding, filling with the mixture of dark possessiveness and tender love she always evokes in me.

My captive. My wife. My entire world.

I will love her to the end of time, and I will never, ever let her go.

~The End~