EPILOGUE

I stood wistfully at my front door and looked down at the only suitcase I hadn't sent home beforehand.

My mind was reliving my time here and I shed a few tears thinking of him and realizing I really may never see him again. All I had left were the memories of his voice, his eyes, and his smile.

So little time had passed since we met, but the more feelings we built up and well, now I was living alone with my love for him and in the end I just had to accept it.

Mira was safe. His father dead... So everything he wished for from his heart had come true. I even managed to avoid being arrested, and with that last thought about the court date, I opened the front door and suddenly found myself staring at the limousine I'd been in so many times before.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Hector, who just pushed past me and took my suitcase.

"I'll drive you to the airport," he explained as if it were a matter of course and I just let him do it.

Then, as he walked back to the car with my suitcase under the sun, I turned back and looked down the hallway.

I knew everything that had happened was real, but it still felt like a dream.

Taking a deep breath, I closed the door and padded over to the car to sink into the warm leather of the passenger seat. I adjusted my white summer dress and looked over at Hector, who grinned creepily again.

"Ride in that limousine for the last time," he said, but he seemed to be talking more to himself, so I didn't answer him either, preferring to stare out at the choppy sea.

The airport wasn't far away, but Hektor missed the exit and I looked over at him again, startled.

"My flight leaves in an hour!" I said excitedly and he looked at me apologetically for a moment to take the next exit immediately.

"I'm very sorry," he apologized, and I just took a deep breath to look down the street.

After a short while, I realized to my amazement that this road led to private property and was not a detour to the airport.

There were only jets here and Hektor was definitely wrong. Maybe he had never been to the airport before.

"I'm really sorry," he suddenly said again and stopped the car in this huge square to switch off the engine at the same moment. "I didn't want to lie to you, but nothing else was possible."

I stared at him in confusion and didn't know at the time what he meant by that or what he was supposed to have lied to me until he suddenly turned his face to the windshield and nodded smiling.

As if in slow motion, I followed his gaze and saw this private jet in front of us, where the door on the side suddenly opened and I thought for a moment that my heart would stop beating.

"Hector," I breathed in disbelief, grasping his arm to squeeze hard, because as I watched in front of me Emilio suddenly run down the jet's few steps, I thought I'd completely lost my mind.

"Go," said Hector and leaned over me to open my door while I looked at Emilio with wide eyes and recognized the incredibly beautiful smile on his face.

I cried uncontrollably and got out of the car as fast as I could to run towards him, sobbing.

The closer I got to him, the faster my heart beat and I jumped into his arms, crying bitterly, with which he immediately pulled me tightly.

"I missed you so much," he breathed into my hair in a trembling voice and immediately laid his lips on mine longingly. I enjoyed that incredibly familiar taste of his lips, ran my hands excitedly over his soft hair and still didn't understand what was happening here, but I didn't care.

Even if it was just a desperate dream, I craved the feeling of his closeness and gave myself completely to him until he parted his lips from mine far too quickly and took my face carefully in his hands.

"Are you really here?" I asked, crying, my voice shaking, and he immediately smiled at me, gently wiping away the tears on my cheeks at the same time.

"I promised you, butterfly," he said softly, leaning his forehead against mine. "You and I, we're going to Ireland."

I didn't know how to process all this, but I immediately snuggled closer to him and listened to his words.

He told me about that night and also how Hector had shot him in the thigh so he would lose enough blood to fake his own death.

They placed the corpse of a child molester right in front of Emilio's unconscious father and doused him with a little petrol to ignite him in a controlled manner so that the skin and face could no longer be identified. The plan was risky, because if the police had investigated further, it would have been clear that it wasn't Emilio, but since Ernesto didn't want to investigate further, the case was quickly closed.

"I had to do it to be free and I hope someday you can forgive me for the pain I caused you."

I looked up at him through my tears and nodded, because after experiencing firsthand what it would be like to live without him, life without him was out of the question for me. I never wanted to be apart from him for a single day.

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" I finally wanted to know, whereupon Emilio gently stroked my lips with his thumb.

"I didn't want to take the risk that the police would see through everything. They had to see the sadness in you to really believe that I was gone."

While I understood what he meant, I was also angry that he had made me suffer like this. However, my happiness outweighed my anger and I grabbed his hand to squeeze it tightly.

"Never leave me alone again!" I tearfully warned him, letting him guide me to the private jet, still feeling like I was caught in a beautiful dream. But even if I did, I wanted to stay here forever.

"If you really want to be with a man who has nothing but this jet, then I'll be by your side forever, little butterfly."

"I don't give a damn about what you own," I retorted immediately, leaning against his strong chest. "I only want you, Emilio. From the start..."

We just looked at each other lovingly for a while and then got into the jet together, in which I took a seat on one of the wide seats and he squatted in front of me.

"I love you, Isalie. I always have and I promise you a life of happiness and security. You won't have to be lonely another day, please believe me," he breathed out at me and I couldn't help but smile brightly , while I recognized the tears in his eyes, which looked so beautiful that I wanted to catch them.

"I believe you," I replied, placing my hands on his warmed cheeks. "We're going to start over and leave it all behind."

"I'm sure we have to work a lot," he said, laughing briefly. "With no money, it will definitely be a new experience for me, but the main thing is that we are free from all the worries."

"I love you, Emilio, with or without a villa. I'm happy too just walking the streets of Ireland in bathrobes," I whispered gratefully against his lips and after we kissed passionately, he looked deep into me my eyes and brushed a strand of my hair out of my face.

"And I love you, little butterfly, and thank you for not fearing the darkness of my heart for a second."

END