LAST DAY IN PARADISE

**Dominic’s story**

The days I spent here with Rebecca were dreamy, but even now, after all this time, I couldn’t mark her. She’s barely gotten used to the idea that I was a raging wolf, and now I had even suggested she marry me. It wasn’t even a question.
I had so many problems in my life and so many secrets that Rebecca didn’t know yet. How could I make her all mine? Anyway, I didn’t feel any danger of her backing out.
It was still evening when I proposed we just go for a walk on the huge beach in front of the house.
And there she was, in the dim light of the moon. In a casual red floral dress that barely covered her upper legs, with her hair in a ponytail and a small shoulder bag and her sunglasses. She was a natural beauty. My eyes got mesmerized by her ravishing being. It was just a dress, a bag and a pair of sunglasses, but the way she wore them made her so desirable. I could already imagine my hands tracing the fire under that dress and her responding to my every touch. I just wanted to feel her shiver again, to push her over the edge, to see the lust in her eyes begging me for more. It was always like that with us. Insatiable desire. We had to put in a sustained effort on both our sides to be able to refrain.
I barely recovered from the numbness I felt just watching her.
“Wow, love, you look ravishing” My words made her blush in such a beautiful and innocent way.
“Thank you, Dominic. So, where are we going?” I loved her curiosity, but this time it was just a walk. A few more intense moments where I simply stared at her until I responded.
“Just on a longer walk. I’d like to get this place firmly in our minds.” You couldn’t help but love Bali, especially when you were with the woman you loved. Because I loved Rebecca most of all. And even though there were a lot of obstacles between us, we lived it to the fullest.
“It’s perfect! I love long walks” Suddenly and without even proposing such a thought, I remembered the past when also during a long walk my life changed forever. But I had learned to leave those memories behind, like all the situations in which I could no longer do a thing or which were no longer up to me.
The weather was warm; the wind was barely blowing and the ocean waves sounded like a perfect song for a perfect last night spent here. “Wow, Dominic, look at the moon!” grinned Rebecca as she urged me, but the smile faded from her face when she realized the powerful connection between me and the full moon. “Oh God, I hope you don’t...” So, I rushed to answer her.
“No, love, don’t worry. Luckily, I have the power to control it.”
“Dominic, can I ask you something? More personally...” I knew this was coming and that eventually we would have this conversation.
“Of course, you can. Shall we sit on the sand here by the ocean?”
I guess I wanted to make the setting as romantic as possible and the situation as bearable as I could. Nobody liked to hear how the beast was coming out of me.
“How is it? Do you have any regrets after all this time?” I found her questions very normal, only for me they brought back memories that I had buried long ago. And now that I’d found Eve, things were really going to get complicated.
“Maybe Eve has already put you on topic with what I’ve felt in the past. I have long considered that my father stole my childhood, but now I see things differently. If he hadn’t, I would have died. Looking at it from that perspective, I’m grateful to him now. But he’s no longer here to tell him that...” As much as it hurt to talk about it, Rebecca was part of my life and although she had heard it all from Eve, it was different when I told her.
“If this makes you feel sad, you don’t have to tell me anything.” There was a lot of love in her heart, but it was time to stop holding anything in.
“I’m fine. Everything that has happened to me, only my parents knew about it, and apparently Eve. That’s probably why Zack wanted to eliminate her. The worst I can think of is that Tom, your fiancé, was involved.” I couldn’t help but bring up that miserable bastard. Practically all the problems started from him. And the thought of Rebecca ignoring it all made my blood boil.
“You had no way of knowing who he was until you probably saw him lying next to me, and so it brought back those bitter memories. So somehow, I should be sorry for that...After all, he killed your fiancée...” I felt it hurt her to say that. “What was then will remain then, in the past. Neither you nor I can change it,” I said without letting the sadness nestle in her soul. Then I turned to her and clasped her hands. They were sweaty and slightly shaky. “And most importantly, baby, we have each other. All other burdens will pass.”
It did me a lot of good to hear her talk like that. As each day passed, I felt her love growing more sincere. But I…
“I feel so fulfilled with you here. Too bad we’ll have to go back tomorrow. In conclusion, let’s make the most of the time we have left.” I helped her up and, just like children, we let go of what we felt the most, and that was our happiness.
I started chasing her all over the beach. Her laughter was magical, and I loved seeing her like that. She deserved all the best in the world. We hugged and walked on the sand almost all evening. She never seemed to get tired. And it was like she was back in her childhood, laughing and giggling with all her perfect being. And I was the only witness to this happiness.
The sun set slowly and found us having dinner in our little cottage. It was cozy and inviting, and having Rebecca here made it perfect. I admired her for her strength, her way of being, and the way she handled this difficult situation. Because it really was knowing what she knew about me. Watching her do simple, natural things, like the way she ate or how she rested her hand on her cheek and contemplated everything that was beautiful, made me realize how lucky I was. I had the most incredible woman by my side.
It wasn’t until I realized how late it was that we retired to our room. Rebecca fell asleep immediately, as she was exhausted. Just as I was closing my eyes, my phone rang. I quickly pulled away so as not to wake her.
“Dominic, are you asleep?” The truth was, it wasn’t very late, but for Declan’s phone, it certainly was.
“Well, and if I was sleeping, now I’m not,” I replied, amused and at the same time frustrated with the hour he was calling me. “Did something happen?” There followed a pause that puzzled me. “Declan?”
“Okay, I’ll tell you, but promise me you won’t panic and promise me you won’t cancel your vacation for something we don’t know for sure,” Already Declan was talking nonsense and I couldn’t understand anything. The fact was that our vacation was over, anyway.
“Declan, whatever you say, tomorrow Rebecca and I will be back. So, stop stalling and just say it!”
He definitely had something serious to tell me or he wouldn’t have called me so late.
“Let’s just say I had a not-so-pleasant visit...” Declan began a little hesitantly.
“What do you mean? Who visited you? Where?” I was eager to find that out before Rebecca woke up and realized I wasn’t next to her anymore. I didn’t want to worry her further.
“Okay, don’t worry. Just like I said, we have time to clear this up. Yesterday, around noon, my trusted cardiologist had a not-so-pleasant appointment with none other than Zack Barnett,” As soon as I heard his name, my blood was already boiling in my veins and I could barely keep my composure, given where I was.
“Are you sure it was Barnett?” I asked anyway, knowing that Declan hadn’t interacted with him and basically didn’t know him.
“I’m pretty sure. If Zack Barnett was a middle-aged, gray-haired, tall, skinny man with a hateful look in his eyes, then it was him. Plus, Dr. Swan, the cardiologist, said his name a few times, and I heard him very well. On the bright side, none of them knew where I was hiding” It was only now that I realized how much of a risk Declan had taken just to find out what else that bastard Barnett was up to. If he’d realized he was being spied on, Declan would have been dead meat.
“Ok, thanks for the heads up. Our plane is very early tomorrow morning. I’ll return and make that jerk regret even being born!”