Page 75 of Scars of Silk

I snigger and take a swig of my beer. “Like when we were there last month signing the paperwork, I'll feel it was the best fucking idea I ever had.”

Her hand lands on my chest, pressing against my sun-warmed skin. “I love you, Dan Smith.”

“And I love you. And I’ll miss you while you’re gone.”

“Me too.”

I kiss her again. Never enough with the kisses. “Oh, one last thing. Can you make sure your mother isn’t doing a naked limbo with Enrique when I get home this time?”

Sienna snorts. “That’s the best all of us can hope for.”

Two weeks pass quickly, my thoughts are with her. Every minute spent waiting to hear her voice, wondering how she is. Worried that something bad will happen to her.

When the plane lands at Heathrow it’s like I can breathe again. No one has ever seen a grown man run quite that fast through passport control and customs before.

When she’s in my arms, her body pressed against mine, then I can breathe.

“Marry me,” I whisper into her hair as I swirl her around in the air.

Her eyes shine a brilliant green, who see me like no other. “Try to stop me.”

I tuck her into my side, and we walk for the car park. “Is your mother decent?”

“Yes, yes. She’s given Enrique the boot and now Ray is the man of the month.”

“Bloody hell. She’s moving fast.”

“Making up for lost time.” She grins up at me and I pop a kiss onto her lips.

“How’s Faith?”

“Totally and utterly oblivious.” She slants a glance up at me. “About the wedding. And honestly, I think the moment the trial was over she was just so relieved. It was like she could just live life.”

“Tell me how big she is, so I don’t laugh when I see her.”

“Huge. Don’t let me get that big. Please.”

“I think that’s mother nature you have to take that up with.”

I run my hand across her belly. “Has anyone guessed?”

“Nope.”

“Good. Let’s keep it that way. I like this incognito life we have.”

“So do I. Have I mentioned I missed you?”

“Not yet.”

“I missed you.”

Later I’m leant against the pier at Brighton. Only my childhood friend could get married and not know about it. It seems so Faith.

I haven’t seen her since the fateful day when I stormed out of her house and straight into Sienna. Whereas for a long time I thought I’d hate to see her again, that I’d never get over the pain our tangled lives caused, now as I stand and wait for her to come into view, an old and familiar spark of anticipation settles inside me. One thing is crystal clear to me. That awful day where I shared a secret I promised to take to the grave; it was a life defining moment, but only for the woman it brought into my life. It was my moment.

My phone vibrates and I pull it out of my pocket. It’s Abs. Checking I’m not going to fuck everything up.

You'd better be here.