Chapter 194

Chapter 194
LEVI

I pressed the start button and the engine roared to life, low and smooth, like it was in with us eloping.
“What about my clothes—my wedding gown, my shoes? Oh my God,” Isabella said, half-laughing, half-panicking as I drove us out of the parking lot. Her hands fluttered in the air as if trying to hold onto reality. I get her—it seems like a dream to me too.
“Baby,” I said, glancing at her with a small smile, “I’ve already arranged everything. The stylists are bringing the dresses, the flowers, the shoes—everything. Whatever you need to get ready, we’re flying with them. And whatever they don’t get, by the time we land, it’ll all be waiting for you. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”
She squealed, covering her mouth, her laughter echoing through the car. “So where are we having it? In the church, or I dunno… whereeee?”
“It’s a surprise,” I said, turning onto the quiet, open road leading toward the airport. The streetlights cast fleeting gold across her face, and for a moment, she looked unreal—like a dream I’d once lost and finally found again.
She pressed her palms to her face, laughter spilling through her fingers. “Oh my God, Levi. Today has been insane—just one wild thing after another—but I never thought it would end with us eloping.” Then she peeked at me between her hands, eyes wide and gleaming. “Are you pranking me?”
When I didn’t answer right away, she exhaled shakily and placed a hand on her temple, her voice softening into disbelief. “This feels like a dream,” she whispered. “I thought of every possible outcome for today—how it would end when I finally told you the truth—but this…” She shook her head slowly, a tearful laugh breaking through. “This never even crossed my mind.”
“I didn’t think about this until three hours ago,” I admitted, my voice softening. “After my meeting with Mrs. Sebastian, the idea just… came to me, and I couldn’t shake it off.”
Her brows lifted. “You planned all this in three hours?”
I smiled, glancing at her before turning back to the road. “Baby, I’m a man of means. And when it comes to what I love most, BEST BELIEVE—I’ll use every power I have to make it happen. I don’t want another night to pass without you being my wife. I want to wake up tomorrow as your husband.”
Her breath caught, eyes gleaming under the shifting lights.
I smiled faintly and added, “Scratch that—I need to wake up as your husband. If the world decides to burn for it, then let it. I’d gladly light the match myself, babe. I’d rather walk through fire with you than live in peace without you… my sweet girl.”
The road stretched out before us—endless and silent, a ribbon of darkness glinting faintly under the streetlights. The emptiness of it steadied me, made me feel more in control, more certain of everything I was doing and of driving. I pressed down on the accelerator, the car gliding smoothly as the speed climbed from forty to fifty kilometers an hour.
She leaned closer, her warmth seeping through my sleeve. Her breath brushed my neck as she kissed my cheek with reckless tenderness, and I shuddered. Her hands slid around my waist, fitting us together. My pulse stumbled, my body answering before my mind could. Every nerve was alive with her—her scent, the feeling of her, the softness of her lips.
“You’re still on 50 km… You sure you don’t want me to drive?” she teased. “Maybe you’ve got PTSD from the accident…”
“I wasn’t driving,” I said, chuckling low. “My driver was. And he was fine. Maybe if I’d driven instead, I would’ve been fine too. Wouldn’t have forgotten you.”
The words came out half-laugh, half-truth, and they hit deeper than I intended. I inhaled slowly, the ache of what I’d lost tightening in my chest. Since the moment I knew that indeed we had known each other—we had been lovers—it felt like I had lost something so huge that it suddenly occurred to me, that yeah, you lost this, and now it hurt like hell.
I’d never really let myself feel it because I was busy preparing the itinerary for our marriage—the hole where our memories used to live. Sometimes, it clawed up from the dark though, whispering things I couldn’t fully remember: I wondered what it felt like—our first kiss, our first fight, her laughter. What she felt like the first night. What we had done. Where we had been.
The way she looked at me like I was both her ruin and her haven—I wanted to remember why that is. Her master. Her Levi. Forgetting that… forgetting her… hurt like hell.
The thought of forgetting her—fucking hurt like hell. I wanted those memories back. I wanted her back. Because even though I’d made new ones with her, even though life had gone on, some part of me knew I’d lost something irreplaceable with those memories. I had always somehow known it—that there was something so important I was forgetting.
“I feel bad that you don’t remember,” she said quietly, as if she could read my thoughts.
“Me too,” I murmured. “But…”
She smiled faintly. “But maybe we’ll make better ones.” Then, laughing, she added, “Besides, you were kind of a huge asshole to me anyway—as Levi.”
I smirked. “Oh really?”
“Yeah,” she said, laughing again. “Everyone was scared of you. You were so strict, so impossible to please. But as Mr. L…” She paused, exhaling like she could taste the past on her tongue. “You were sweet. Intense. You challenged me. You saw me. But still, I loved you as Levi—the charisma, the quiet way you watched me, how you made me nervous just by walking into a room, speaking to me… God, I wanted so bad to fuck you.”
She turned to me, her expression naked and trembling with truth. “I fucking love you, Levi Ferrari.”
My heart melted—honestly melted—right there in my chest. I reached for her face, my thumb brushing her jaw. “I love you too,” I whispered, my voice rough, “and this time, I’m not letting go. And I want so bad to make love to you right now.”