Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“Shit,” I scowl when I fall off the block of my pointe shoes and trip over my own feet. I have to put my hands out to nearly brace my fall, but Vincent is there, catching me before I’m in any danger of hitting the floor.
“Easy, my little ballerina,” he says gently as he holds me in his arms.
“Don’t tell me to stop,” I say, feeling frustrated and disgruntled enough to be argumentative. It’s misdirected anger, but I can’t help it.
“I wasn’t going to,” he smiles. “I’ve learned that you are much too stubborn and headstrong to be told no.”
I smile back at him for the first time since the night of the gala happened, and then, when he lets go, I return to dancing again.
For days, we go on like this‚—with me trying to regain my strength and resume my training, each day with greater determination. And with Vincent right there beside me, putting whatever business he has to do on the back burner for now in order to be here with me. He catches me when I fall, offers gentle words of support when I feel like crying and giving up, and above all—he doesn’t tell me to stop. After a few weeks, I feel like I’ve finally regained the time and skill that was lost and returned to myself again.
“I want to show you something,” I say to him one night after I’ve decided that I’m ready to give him my answer. “Come with me.”
Vincent walks beside me as we go to our private theatre again, and I urge him to take a seat in the audience this time. Then, I dance.
This time, the dance is a new solo that I’ve been choreographing in my head ever since I was lying in that hospital bed. I’ve practiced the moves in isolation these past days while I’ve worked to resume my training and regain my strength, but I hadn’t yet put them together into this new piece until now.
Everything flows beautifully again, each movement into the next without faltering. I feel stronger now, freer, and when I dance this time, I feel like I’m dancing just for him. I feel more like myself being his than I have ever felt before, which seems like a contradiction, but it’s not. I’ve finally figured it out—this is who I want to be, a dancer and the wife of a powerful mafia don. I don’t want to give up any part of myself or have Vincent give up any part of himself, either. I want us both to be a part of the other’s worlds completely.
When I stop dancing, I’m breathless in the best of ways, but I still catch my breath enough to go to him and tell him what I want.
“That was incredible,” he says, clapping for my performance in the theatre all alone. “You are exquisite, and your dancing is even more beautiful than it was before, although I’m not sure how that’s even possible.”
“I think it’s because I am so in love with you, Vincent,” I say as I sit down in his lap and let my legs hang over the side of the red velvet theatre chair. I kiss him, holding his jaw in my hands as I linger in the moment and feel his excitement swell beneath me.
“I'm in love with you, too, Isla,” he says when I pull my lips away. “Have you given any more thought to my proposal?”
It’s the first time that he’s asked about it since the hospital, and this time I’m ready with my answer.
“Yes, I have. Vincent, I don’t want you to change for me, not at all. I want to be a part of your world, and I want you to be a part of mine. I think we balance each other, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“I agree,” he smiles. “But that still isn’t an answer.”
“It is,” I say as I go to kiss him again in the dim light of the theatre. “It’s a yes.”
Vincent reaches his hand into his pocket to pull out a stunning diamond ring that sparkles even in the near-dark. His phone accidentally falls out of his pocket as he does so, but he doesn’t bother to stop and pick it up.
“Have you been carrying this around in your pocket the whole time?” I ask as he slides it onto my finger.
“Yes,” he laughs. “I’ve been patiently waiting and hoping for your acceptance of my proposal, and as you know, patience is not my strong suit.”
I stare at the incredible ring in awe as he slides it onto my finger. “It’s absolutely stunning.”
After a few minutes of intermittently gazing at the jewel between kisses, I notice that Vincent’s phone is still on the ground and lighting up the dark with its bright white screen.