69

Adrianna
Archer holds my hand as we pad barefoot through the sand, the sun just setting beyond the horizon and casting a warm, orange glow over the beach.
Natalya’s wedding was beautiful. And even though I still can’t believe she’s married the man that tormented her for years, I’m happy that she is happy.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I ask, stopping to watch as the sun dips slowly lower.
Archer smiles at me. “Shall we sit down and watch?”
I nod in response. “Sounds good.” I sit down in the sand and he sits behind me, placing his legs on either side of my thighs and his arms around my waist. “This is nice,” he murmurs into my ear.
I lean back into him. “It is.”
“Did you enjoy the wedding?” He asks.
“It was beautiful, even though I still can’t quite believe that Nat ended up with Elias after he was such a bully.”
Archer moves my hair to the side and skims his lips over the back of my neck. “Is it any different to you being with me after I blackmailed you?”
I stiffen at the reminder. “Not sure it’s in your best interest to bring that up right now.”
“No?” He asks, his arm tightening around me. “And what about you trying to break my heart? Shall I not mention that either?”
He has a point, but it’s not like I was going to sit back and be bossed around without some kind of retaliation. He should have seen it coming.
“I guess we’re even then?”
He kisses my neck. “I guess so.”
“Do you think we’ll ever get caught?” I ask, feeling more on edge than ever being back on Mexican soil. Even if it’s not territory my family run, it’s still Mexico.
Elias insists that his family will keep us both safe as the Vasquez Cartel wouldn’t dare step foot in the Estrada Cartel’s territory, at least not this deep into it. Even though Adrik may have taken control of the American operations, Elias’ family still controls everything south of the border. They’re working with the Russian, which is rather unconventional.
My father’s disappearance did cause a stir, but no one knows what happened to him. We enlisted the help of Oak and Blaine for that, as apparently they had previous experience. Thankfully, it’s assumed whoever made him disappear also had his daughter, which means I’m presumed dead.
He kisses my neck again. “No, I won’t let your family find us.”
“But you’ve had to give up so much.”
“Have I? I don’t think I have, to be honest.”
“The academy, you love it there.”
I can feel him tense a little against me at the mention of the academy. “I do and one day I hope we can return together, but for now we need to keep any ties between us and the academy at a minimum until the heat dies down.”
“You’ve given up too much.”
He bites my shoulder playfully. “I’ve given up nothing and gained the entire fucking world when you agreed to take off with me.”
I shudder at the intensity of his tone. “You are crazy. Did you know that?”
“Perhaps,” he murmurs, tightening his grasp on me. “Did you know there’s a really beautiful cove near to here?”
I shake my head. “No, what are you suggesting?”
He chuckles. “You know exactly what I’m suggesting.”
“It will be dark soon.”
“Even better,” he murmurs.
“How the hell are we going to see anything?”
He leaps to his feet. “Come on,” he says, holding a hand out to me.
I take it and allow him to pull me up, lacing my fingers with his. I’ve learned since we’ve been together that it’s best not to question him when he’s like this. We walk further up the beach until we go around a headland and come to a cove which is lit with so many candles.
My attention moves to Archer, who is smiling.
“You were saying?”
“How did you do all this?” I ask.
He shrugs. “I wanted to do something nice for you.”
I smile. “That’s very sweet.”
His hand tightens around me as he leads me to the table set for two.
I glance around. “Are we here to eat?” I ask, since the table is set with dinner plates and silverware.
“Yes.”
“And where is the kitchen?”
Archer chuckles and speaks into a radio. “Ready for you.”
The noisy rattle of an engine sounds as two bright lights appear from behind the cliff face.
“It’s on the boat.”
I arch a brow. “This is very fancy.”
“Well, it’s our first holiday away together, and I thought we could use a bit of a reward.”
“A reward for doing nothing for three months in Alaska?” We ended up joining Oak and Eva in Alaska for the summer, since my father compromised Archer’s cabin by finding it. We couldn’t risk staying there, especially not after Archer shot him dead.
A man and a woman come toward us with silver platters.
“Oh, I’m starving.”
He chuckles. “Don’t say that if Bly is around. He has a problem with it.”
“A problem with the saying?”
“Yep, I got told off at the diner when I said it.”
I laugh. “Weird.”
He shakes his head. “I think there’s a reason behind it. Pretty sure Bly knows what it’s like to be truly starving. He won’t open up to anyone about what happened in Russia during his childhood. All I can assume is that it was pretty fucking awful.”
“Oh, that’s awful. I get why he wouldn’t like that saying. It is said far too flippantly.”
He tilts his head. “I agree, but it’s just a saying.”
The server comes over holding a bucket with a bottle of champagne. “May I?”
“Of course.”
He pours us each a glass and sets the bucket down on a table against our table. The other server brings over two platters of food.
He sets down one platter and lifts the lid to reveal a load of tamales.
“Oh my God.”
He smiles. “I know you love tamales.”
“Yeah, they’re one of my favorite.” I grab one and put it on my plate.
“Taste them.”
I take a bite and groan, as they may even be better than the ones my great grandmother made when I was little.
“And fajitas, right?” Archer says.
As he puts down the other platter to reveal a stack of made up fajita wraps. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
His smile widens. “Not nearly enough.”
The other server who poured the champagne comes forward.
“Surely not more?” I ask.
He nods. “And last, chicken mole.”
I practically fall off my chair, as this man knows me so well. Both of our appetites align in all aspects. To most, it would look like we’re seriously pigging out, but this is just the right amount of food for us. “You are the best.”
“Dig in.”
I grab a couple of fajitas, two more tamales, and a heap of mole. And I just pig out. We both do, in comfortable silence.
Archer puts down his fork with a clang. “I think I’m done.”
He polished off as much as me. Oddly, he looks a little nervous as he takes a sip of his champagne.
“I never thought I’d find a man as greedy as me.”
“You’re very lucky, aren’t you?”
He hasn’t lost his arrogance, but it’s something I’ve grown to love about him. “I think you are the lucky one.”
“Oh, I don’t contest that, baby.” He stands and walks over to my side, dropping onto his knees next to me.
“What are you-”
He pulls out a black velvet box and I’m pretty sure I almost go into cardiac arrest. “Adrianna Vasquez, will you marry me and make me the happiest man on this planet?” He flips open the box to reveal a beautiful baguette cut diamond ring.
I can’t get my words at first as a well of emotion claws at my throat, making it almost impossible to breathe. Finally, I make a sound, “Yes!”
He pulls the ring out of the cushion and slides it onto my finger. “Thank God you said yes. I thought I might have to blackmail you.”
I shove him in the shoulder. “Don’t be an idiot.”
Grabbing my hand, he yanks me out of my chair and wraps his arms around me. “You are everything to me, Adrianna. I can imagine life without you.”
“Me neither.”
He kisses me then and twirls me around under the starts to imaginary music. My heart feels so full it could explode. I thought I was destined to be alone forever. My upbringing had closed me off to the prospect of love or emotion. And yet through sheer pig-headed persistence, Archer broke my barriers down piece by piece, never giving up on us. For that, I’ll be forever grateful.
He pulls me onto a blanket on the sand, kissing every inch of my body. “I love you more than anything in this world.”
I smile up at him, knowing that somehow the man I hated so much less than twelve months ago is now the love of my life. “I love you, too.”
And he kisses me again under the stars as the waves crash gently against the shore. In that moment, it makes it hard not to believe in fairytales and happy endings, even if our story was far from conventional.