She started to understand why Gabriel was the way he was. All those confidentiality agreements, how he kept his private life tight shut from the public, why he was so paranoid about people knowing details about his life. From a single picture of his ‘pregnant date’ on a magazine spread, someone had already plotted to kidnap the unborn child. It was dangerous to be that rich. No wonder he was so isolated from the world and lost his trust on people.
It took almost a month for his wound to heal and then they were back in Bhorma. She wanted to be with her turtles, collecting eggs, caring for her hatchlings and releasing batches after batches of her babies. Most of all, she was ready to visit her baby’s grave. She left flowers on her tomb and wondered how different things would’ve been if her baby was with her at the time of her kidnapping.
Bhorma became her second home because that’s where her baby was.
“Do you remember what you said to me before you fainted in the car?” She brought up the topic.
They stood facing each other by the beach and the sky was orange from the sunset. Gabriel thought for a moment, “No … I remember feeling extremely exhausted and sleepy … and then everything went black.”
She smiled, she wasn’t disappointed that he didn’t remember. She was more sure that he meant it because he’d said it subconsciously. “There’s something I wanted to tell you.”
He watched her in anticipation.
“That kidney test I took before we came here … we’re a match,” she said.
His eyes widened in glee.
“I’ve signed the papers with Doctor Blake before we flew over here, I’ve agreed to be your donor.” She held Gabriel’s hands, “I was so scared … I thought I was losing you in that car … and what you said to me … I swore if you ever made it out alive, the first thing I would do was to sign those papers.”
There was a soft smile on his lips. He touched her cheek and gently kissed her mouth. “Everything … Jamie … that’s what you’re worth to me,” he said.
**********
The streets of Malta weren’t very crowded in April. The yellow brick road goes up and down like hills with ancient European architecture on both sides. You can go super extravagant or super street cheap in Malta, and they experienced both sides of the small island country. Even though they arrived in his Yacht, Jamie loved to take Gabriel to the narrow streets to go to cheap bars for cheap beers and a local experience of every place they go to.
Jamie loved trying out local food from the street cafes in exchange for the seven stars hotel dining experience that Gabriel was accustomed to. She bought trinkets, souvenirs from street sellers and enjoyed their vacation as common tourists.
Perry couldn’t stop taking pictures of their surroundings of historical sites from ancient Kingdoms. And Gabriel, being the businessman that he was, he kept considering to make an investment on the island and a possibility to buy a summer home because Jamie seemed to like it there.
“You can’t buy a property everytime we go somewhere for a vacation, Gabriel,” Jamie said, adjusting her bandana.
“Why not?” He wasn’t familiar with the concept.
She laughed, “Okay … you can … but you don’t have to … we can just rent a room or a place whenever we decide to come visit again … you know … like everybody else?”
He didn’t respond to that, buying a property at a location where he didn’t own one had always been a thing for him, just like how Jamie liked to buy bohemian accessories from every vintage place she could find.
They were walking hand in hand towards the center of Valleta where the St. John Co-Cathedral was. Perry had been telling them how much he wanted to visit it because it was one of the buildings with the most beautiful interior in the world.
“Did you really have something on Robert Blakely … and you were going to help Eddie with his lawsuit?” Jamie had a sudden wondering.
“Yes … and no … I wanted to make sure you were safe … it had nothing to do with helping Eddie … he deserved to be punished for what he did,” he said.
“So that’s why he shot you? You told him the truth when I got out of the room?”
“No … that was his wounded ego … he missed the first shot … I thought he would miss the second one too,” he smiled, “but I was wrong.”
“Have you ever been in that kind of situation before?” she wondered aloud because he seemed very cool at the time, but then again he always seemed cool in any situation.
He stopped walking and stood facing her.
She looked at the man’s face as the Malta sun reflected on his skin, his devilishly handsome look and how she could see beyond than now, she could see the sweet wonderful man beyond his riches and good looks.
“I’m not gonna lie to you, Jamie, if he had touched you the wrong way … things would’ve turned really ugly for him,” he said it with all seriousness. “There are things I keep very private about my life for a very good reason … and you …” he paused for a moment, “you’re the first person I want to share it with.”
For anyone who knew how private he was would know how much his confession meant.
“Would you take a chance on me, Jamie? And be my wife? We’ll put meaning to all this … for the rest our lives,” he continued. His eyes looked straight into her soul.
Her eyes widened in disbelief, “Are you serious?”
“Yes … right here … at the St. John Co-Cathedral, tomorrow? This weekend? I’ll see what I can do … surely they can be persuaded to bless our holy union?”
She laughed hard and loud, “Are you being serious? I’ve never seen you so impulsive before.”
“Oh, it’s not impulsive … trust me … I knew this was going to happen … it’s just a matter of when,” his confidence can be over the top sometimes, “So … are you in?”
She was in awe of him. A gunshot wedding in Malta, totally unplanned yet had been carefully calculated, they’re growing to be more alike with each other with each passing day. “Yess!” she shouted out loud that it attracted tourists attention. “Yess! I’ll marry you … right here, no weddings, no party, no hassle … just you, me and Perry.”
She couldn’t stop laughing, and they kissed. It was exactly the kind of wedding she wanted for herself and Gabriel seemed to have been well adjusted that it came naturally out of him too.
She wore a wedding dress from a local store, a simple long broken white dress that Perry helped pick out, a flower crown, she did her own make-up and hair. She looked like an angel just from the smile across her face and her eyes beamed with joy. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt that happy.
He wore a simple broken white long-sleeve shirt, bought from a local store. Simple pants, simple shoes, everything was done impromptu. They weren’t even prepared for a ring. It was a wedding without any guests, no decorations, just a witness and a priest because no one else needed to celebrate that day except for them.
Gabriel made a huge donation to the church and the city of Valleta. It was money well spent rather than lavishly threw it away for a party. Perry cried throughout the ceremony, took pictures of them after they said their vows and announced as husband and wife. It would be the only documentation of the whole event.