Figure 8 (19 page)

We finish our meal in silence. Damon makes us both a cup of hot chocolate and we sit down on the sofa. This is going to be a painful conversation, so I try to get as comfortable as possible. I curl my legs up so that my feet are resting on Damon’s thighs and I lean back against the plush pillows, blowing on my steaming mug.

“Where should we start?” I ask, unsure of where this conversation is going to go.

“I’m going to tell you the story from the beginning. I want you to listen and try not to get angry or upset. Some of it you have heard, but I want you to know everything from the start.” I nod my head and allow him to continue. I am scared, but I need to hear it all no matter how painful the truth is. We need the truth, to be able to go forward with our future.

“When I was little I was so happy, carefree, and healthy. I had a mom and a dad who loved me and a brother who was always there for me. We had a great relationship; it was the perfect family life. Then when I was ten my dad lost his job. He was a biker when my mom met him but he settled down when she found out she was pregnant with David and he got himself a stable, reliable job in a garage, fixing up old motorcycles. The owner died and they closed it down, we were broke.

“Dad started hanging round with his old mates again in Hell’s Eights, he had always kept in touch and rode with them at the weekends but he wasn’t involved with them the way others were. Well, he wasn’t before he lost his job.” I flinch when he mentions the number eight, but he doesn’t notice, too lost in his own memories.

“We struggled financially for a few years but then suddenly money started coming in. Dad started buying us nice expensive things, he even took us all on a family holiday to Disneyland. I was young and never questioned where the money came from, I was just so happy. Dad was always coming home late, some nights he didn’t come home at all. Mom would sit in her room and cry; I could hear her through the thin walls sobbing. She loved him so dearly, but she knew she was losing him to the gang.

“When David turned eighteen, Dad bought him his first motorcycle. He started taking him out with him on jobs and to the clubhouse. Mom was furious with him and they would have some ferocious fights over David’s participation in that lifestyle. Mom always wanted something so much better for her children.” He takes a deep breath before he continues.

“One night when I was fourteen, Dad and David arrived home late. I was in bed but I could hear Mom screaming and shouting at them from the kitchen. I heard her asking what they had done, why there was so much blood everywhere. I was so scared, Izzy. I didn’t know what to do.” For the first time he looks up into my eyes. “I ran into my room and put the covers over my head, I tried to sleep but I couldn’t. I heard banging and shouting and I was so scared of what I would find in the morning.” He pauses for a moment taking a deep breath, losing himself to that night.

“The next day I went downstairs but everything was normal. Mom acted like nothing had happened. I went to school, but when I came home it had changed. Dad and David were gone and Mom was sobbing. She told me they were never coming back.”

He looks up into space, his mind transformed back to that time.

“I didn’t know at that time what had happened. I heard rumours and people were looking at me and pointing at school. It was hell. I didn’t know why it was happening. I finally asked Mom and she told me what happened. She kept newspaper clippings and photos and then she started following your dad and then you. When your dad went away for his depression, she broke down. She was so upset and she felt responsible. She kept saying that it was all her fault. She said that she had been bugging Dad about money and bills and that if she hadn’t have bugged him then he wouldn’t have been drug dealing in the first place. In the end she couldn’t take the guilt anymore.

I found her in the bath, her wrists sliced to shreds, the blood was everywhere.” His eyes glaze over and I lean into him, gripping his hand tightly. I don’t know if I should say something to him. In the end I stay quiet and wait for him to continue.

“Anyway, I went off the rails after that. I was bounced from foster home to foster home, until I met Dr Kirkland. He helped me to deal with everything that happened. He is the reason that I am here today, that I am the man I have become. Without him, I probably wouldn’t exist. He taught me how to deal with my anger and my grief. He showed me that holding onto everything would only destroy me in the future. He taught me how to let it out and how to accept what had happened and move on. He helped me to get into college and to get my psychology degree.

“One day I had a phone call from a solicitor about my mother’s estate. They had been trying to find me for a while. I collected her things and I was left a life insurance policy. When I finally got up the courage to look in the boxes I came across all the pictures and articles. I decided to look you up, I hired a private investigator that tracked you down and told me you were here. I came to England for a holiday, I saw you. You were the most beautiful person I had ever seen in my life.” He looks up at me and smiles. His eyes come alive when I give him a small smile back.

“But you looked so sad, I knew then that I had to help you. I applied for a visa, and got myself the job at the hospital. With my credentials it wasn’t that hard. I started following you around, I watched you with your friends and I watched you at work, I saw through the mask you wore. I fell in love with you. So many times I just wanted to reach out and touch you, to talk to you, to hold you and to feel your lips pressed against mine. Then the day you ended up in that hospital bed, I knew it was my chance, my chance to reach out to you and to help you. I was angry at myself for letting you get that far but I was given a chance that day, a chance to save you, a chance to love you.”

“So you were my own personal stalker?” I smile.

“I guess I was.” He shrugs.

“Damon,” I look into his eyes. “I know this isn’t going to be easy but your family messed us both up. They destroyed both of our lives that day, not just mine. I see that now. I was so angry with you for lying to me that I didn’t see the bigger picture. I don’t want them to ruin us anymore. I love you Damon, I want us to be a family.”

I reach out and run my hands down his cheek and across his lips. “I forgive you.” He takes my hand and presses his lips against mine with force. His tongue slips into my mouth hungrily; tasting me, showing me how much he loves me. I kiss him back with the same ferocious force. He pulls back and looks into my eyes. “We can’t change what has happened in the past, we just have to learn to move forward, accept it and not let it destroy our future.”

He lifts me up into his arms and walks me into the bedroom, laying me down on the bed. He lifts his t-shirt over his head and takes off his belt, he removes his beige chinos and I smile at the bulge in his boxer shorts. He stalks me as I inch backwards across the soft mattress. He grabs my legs and pulls my Pyjama bottoms off, flinging them over his shoulder. He pounces on top of me and lifts my top over my head.

“I have missed you so much Izzy.”

“I missed you too Damon.” He pushes my heaving breasts together and puts his face in between them inhaling deeply.

“I love your smell.” He trails feather light kisses over my tits, then works his way down, caressing my stomach, kissing it lightly. He makes his way further down and my body starts to burn from his touch. I need him in me now.

“Damon, make love to me,” I beg. He pulls off my knickers in one quick movement and he is inside me within seconds.

“Anything for you, Isabelle.”

We lay in each other’s arms, sated and exhausted. I know it’s not going to be an easy road, but I know that we can overcome it together. Damon strokes my stomach, and then moves so his head is lying in my lap

“Hey, you in there. Do you know how much I love you already, I love you so much. You’re going to be the most loved baby in the whole world. You have the most beautiful mother ever, and your daddy is the luckiest man alive.” A happy tear falls down my cheek. I really do think everything is going to be all right.

Finally.

We exit the plane at the Charles de Gaulle airport and collect our bags. Damon grasps my hand tightly as we walk out into the cold winter air. We find a taxi and give him directions to our hotel. This is the first time I have been to Paris; I can’t wait to see all the landmarks that I have dreamed of seeing my entire adult life. As we travel down the Champs-Elysees, I sit awestruck at all the theatres, cafes and designer shops. We go under the Arc de Triomphe and I snap pictures from out of the windows. Damon sits and watches me, smiling.

“Why are you grinning?”

“I haven’t seen you this happy in so long. If I had known, I would have brought you here sooner.” Damon had surprised me for my birthday with a weekend away in Paris. I was so excited when I opened the tickets, I almost pee’d my pants.

We pull up outside a tiny hotel and Damon takes the bags and pays the driver. I stand on the street, huddled inside my cardigan; I really should have worn my coat.

“Come on, let’s get you inside and warm.” He puts his arm around me and escorts me into the lobby. A petite lady greets us. Damon speaks to her in fluent French, which surprises me. There are still so many things that I don’t know about this man, but now I know this is forever, we have a lot of time to get to know each other. We enter the room and I gasp at how adorably quaint it is. There’s an old four poster bed with drapes against the back wall, a table with tea and coffee making facilities, there is a closet and a vanity unit and that is it, however it is perfect. I turn around and hug Damon tightly.

“Thank you, I love it,” I tell him.

“Are you sure it’s not too small?”

“It is perfect, now can we go sightseeing please?”

“You’re a bit eager aren’t you? I thought you would at least want to ravish me before we did anything else?” His eyebrows raise and I pounce on him, pushing him onto the bed.

An hour later and we are back in a taxi and on our way to the Eiffel Tower. Damon pays and we head up in a weird looking lift

. When we get to the top I have heart failure, what the hell was I thinking? I can’t do this I am petrified of heights. Damon senses my fear and takes my hand.

“Izzy, you’re safe, I’ve got you.” He holds onto me tightly and squeezes me into his side. I breathe deeply and walk forward, keeping my eyes tightly shut. “Open your eyes,” he tells me softly. I open one and look at his face, he looks concerned but I can tell he is finding my fear amusing. “Open them both and look out at the wonderful view.” I don’t know if I can do it. Years of being afraid of heights have rendered me immobile. He moves me around so that I can look out, but I am still clinging tightly to his waist. I open my eyes and admire the view. It really is spectacular.

“Can we go back down now that I’ve looked?” I ask hopefully. Damon chuckles and walks us back towards the lift.

We go for lunch in a lovely little patisserie, and walk along the Seine. As it gets dark we head back towards the hotel, taking in Paris at night. The Eiffel Tower looks magnificent all lit up twinkling in the night sky.

As we walk hand in hand I think about everything that happened after we reunited. We had a difficult few days after the attack, we had to go to the police and give statements, David was arrested and is currently awaiting sentencing, the police told us that he would probably be deported and would carry out his sentence in America as he broke his parole conditions. I don’t know what will happen to him and to be honest I really don’t care. The police assured us that he will never step foot on British soil again and that’s good enough for me. David had requested that Damon go to see him before he leaves, but he refused. He told me that his family is here and we are all he ever wants or needs.

Damon also found out the real reason that Angie was continuously turning up at the flat and his office was because David had been sleeping with her to get to Damon and I. She was meant to be a honey trap to make me jealous. It just never worked. I look up at my man and I think about how lucky I am that he found me. No matter what has happened; no matter what lies he told, everything he did was to protect me. I know that when I am with him I am safe and loved. Isn’t that what every girl wishes for?

We head into the hotel and Damon drags me into the bathroom. He turns on the shower then turns back to face me with hunger in his eyes. He strips me of my clothes and quickly removes his. He takes my hand and pulls me into the shower. I lift my head back, letting the water drip down my face. I feel his lips along my neck as he showers me with kisses, stroking my engorged stomach with his hands.

“Do you know how beautiful you look when you’re heavily pregnant? I think I may have to get you pregnant more often.” I smile at the thought of us with lots of little Damon’s running around.

“Let’s get this one out of the way first.” I smile at him. He runs his hands down and cups my pussy, gently pushing a finger inside me. He pushes me up against the cool tiles and I lift my leg up so he can enter me further. Ever since I became pregnant I have been a raging ball of hormones. I have turned into a nymph. I can never get enough. I feel his erection pressing against my stomach and I reach down and grab it, stroking his hard length.

“Baby, that feels so good,” he moans. I bend down and kneel in front of him, licking the tip, whilst the water flows over me. The shower has made everything so slick and I easily take him in and out of my mouth. “Stop, I’m gonna come.” I stand up and he devours my mouth, he shifts and then slips his throbbing dick inside me. I gasp at the intrusion, no matter how many times he enters me; it is always like the first time. He starts to move and I position myself so that he goes deeper. I feel myself building the more he thrusts and my legs start to shake. He grabs me by my arse and pulls me into him as my orgasm explodes. I watch him come undone in front of me as he slips back out. He takes the soap and gently washes every inch of my body, taking extra care and attention to our baby growing inside me.

The next day we go to the Louvre and I get to see all of the magnificent art. We spend hours looking around and getting lost with the audio guide. We find a little restaurant to eat at, it’s a beautiful little French place just across from the river. We sit by the window looking out at the lights twinkling on the water. We order our food, Damon has been quiet the entire time, he seems nervous. When we finish our meal he stands up, he is sweating profusely. He pulls out a box from his jacket pocket and bends down on one knee. My whole body starts to tremble.

"Isabelle, I have loved you from the very first moment I saw you. We have both been through hell and back but we are still here and we are still standing, together. I promise I will spend the rest of my life making you happy. I will always love you and nothing will ever change that. Will you marry me?" I gasp at his sudden proposal. "I know it's sudden and I know we haven’t discussed marriage, but I love you Isabelle and there is nothing more that I want than for you to become my wife.” He looks so nervous and I have to put him out of his misery.

"Of course I will marry you," I say, he leans over and slips the ring onto my finger. I swing my arms around his neck and pull him towards my lips.

“Je t’aime.”

“Je t’aime plus,” I whisper back.

“Not possible, I love you infinity times infinity.” I smile up at him. Infinity is our new number eight. I overcame my dreams; I haven’t had one since the night David attacked me. When we talked through everything we decided that our lives had been overturned and so should my dreams, we flipped it on its side and turned it into something special. No more number 8 just an infinite love that will last forever.