Page 140 of Under the Albanian Sun
He reached for an item wrapped in a white cloth.
My chest tightened as he lowered himself to one knee, not even wincing when he came into contact with the marble floor.
He carefully unfolded the white cloth and I stared in bewilderment at the sandal I’d lost that day. It was cleaned, preserved.
“You saved it?” I breathed. “All this time?”
“I’ll always treasure everything about you,zemra ime,” he rasped, easing back. He lifted my foot, took off my shoe and slipped on the sandal with a tenderness that made my knees weak.
“Perfect fit,” he murmured.
“I feel like Cinderella meeting her Prince Charming,” I teased.
“I’m happy you think of me that way.”
“How could I not? You saved me from a snake at our first encounter. Remember, I climbed you like a tree?”
“You climbed me like a lifeline,” he said, voice steady but thick with emotion. “And you became mine. You, Sophie Baldwin, are my peace, my heart, and my soul. I might not love you perfectly, but I vow to love you endlessly.”
Tears blurred my vision as he looked up at me, his dark eyes full of love and reverence. He always made me feel like I was the center of his universe. And God knew, he was definitely the center of mine.
He reached into his jacket, pulled out a velvet box and opened it, revealing a timeless, diamond ring that caught the light.
“I want to be the man who walks beside you, and I want you to walk beside me as my wife. Just the two of us. You’re my woman, and you own every single one of my thoughts, every breath, and every heartbeat. I’m all yours, only yours.”
I released a shuddering breath, my eyes burning with happy tears. “And I’m all yours. Forever.”
“Marry me, Sophie,” he rasped, his voice thick with all the emotions I was feeling.
The mountains bore witness. The river rushed on. The hotel remained still, as if the world had narrowed to this single moment.
“Yes,” I breathed, a laugh breaking through my tears. “Yes.”
He slid the ring onto my finger, his hand warm and steady, then rose and pulled me into his arms. He held me like I was his diamond. The sandal and my other shoe slipped off my feet and fell forgotten to the floor while I clung to him.
“There you go losing your shoes again,” he teased.
“Don’t need them,” I whispered, half laughing, half crying, my words muffled against his chest. “I don’t need anything, but you.”
I’d found my home in his arms with happy tears on my cheeks. I’d found the man who loved and cherished me above all else.
Kian Cortes was my country and my home. He was my safe haven, the soul who made me whole, the love I would choose in every lifetime and every scenario.
THE END
