Chapter 108 Let me love you
“Give me a minute,” Rayan told Liam before rushing after her.
“Sam?”
She ignored him, walking faster.
“Sam, please.”
He reached out and touched her hand.
“What?” She yanked her hand away. “I already said I don’t know who the fuck you are. Stay the fuck away from me, Rayan.”
Seven years collapsed into a single breath.
Samantha’s chest tightened painfully as she stared ahead, refusing to look at him.
The man who had vanished from her life without explanation now stood behind her exactly like the ghost she had buried, mourned, and never quite let go of.
“You don’t know me,” Rayan said quietly, running a hand through his curls, “but you know my name. Sam, please… let’s sit and talk things out.” He grabbed her arm again.
She slapped his arm away and turned to him “You think you can disappear without a word, show up years later, see me by chance, and suddenly feel remorseful? You think I’ll listen to you?”
She took a steadying breath. She wouldn’t cry again not for this motherfucker.
“Sam, I left without explaining because of unavoidable circumstances. But when I came back, I looked for you…”
“Now you’ve seen me,” she cut in sharply, turning to face him, “and I’m telling you to stay the fuck out of my life. I’m getting married.”
She shoved her hand forward, flaunting the ring in his face.
Rayan’s hand faltered midair.
She turned away before he could see the tears spill, climbed into her car, slammed the door, and drove off.
“Adults are so complicated,” Liam muttered as he walked up to his uncle.
He looked up at Rayan. “Uncle Rayan, let's go take ice cream.”
Rayan sighed and lifted him into his arms. Liam didn’t complain this time he could tell his uncle wasn’t in the mood.
As they drove in silence, Rayan steadied himself and asked softly, “Where’s your mama?”
“She went on a date,” Liam answered honestly.
“What?!” Rayan yelled. Then he caught himself. “Please don’t mention that to Fabian, okay?”
Liam nodded. He understood more than they thought.
He stared out the window, voice small. “Did Uncle Fabian and my mama fight because of the man next door? Is that why he doesn’t want to be my uncle anymore?”
\~~~~~~~~~~~
Maverick didn’t answer her
Silence followed heavy and suffocating.
Heaven’s eyes filled as she searched his face for something. Truth. Denial. Anything at all.
But Maverick’s mind was elsewhere; it flashed through memories he alone now carried. The first day he saw her at the Civil Affairs office. The last day he touched her without her consent. Every moment burned. Too painful to revisit and how could he possibly explain that to her.
He hadn’t planned for things to spiral this far.
“You looked… familiar,” he finally said.
Relief flooded Heaven’s face. Her interest sharpened, hope ignited in her fast and reckless.
This was it. Her past. The memories her body refused to release.
“Familiar to who?” she asked immediately.
“To my dead girlfriend,” Maverick said through clenched teeth, forcing the lie past his lips.
The wind seemed to still. Even the waves felt quieter, as if the world itself paused to absorb his words.
“What?” Heaven whispered, processing slowly. “You’re saying I look like her but I’m not her because she’s dead?” Her voice trembled. “Is that why you called me Heaven?”
Her hope shattered completely.
Maverick nodded once. He wished there were another lie, something easier, something kinder but there wasn’t.
Heaven let out a hollow scoff. “So all of this everything: the dress, the flowers, the dinner… it was just to get into my pants because I look like your girlfriend?”
Her voice cracked.
The pain hit harder than his denial ever had. Tears spilled freely now.
“Take me home,” she said, turning away as she wiped her face. “My son is waiting for me.”
She started walking.
In two long strides he was behind her, arms wrapping around her waist like steel bands, pulling her back against his chest. She struggled instantly, fingers prying at his forearms.
“Let me go—”
“No,” he growled his grip tightening possessively. “You don’t walk away from me until I’m done.”
Frustration snapped inside him hot and uncontrollable.
With one swift, effortless motion, he lifted her off the ground. She gasped, legs kicking uselessly as he carried her back to the candlelit table. And a powerful sweep of his arm sent the white tablecloth flying; plates, glasses, and food crashed to the ground.
He set her down on the edge of the table, she was stilled in shock, her hands braced behind her.
“You’ve been talking,” he said hoarsely. “Now let me talk, Vera.”
Heaven lifted her head slowly and looked up at him. Tears streaked her cheeks; she sniffed, trying and failing to steady herself.
Maverick didn’t let go, his hand gripped her hips firmly, anchoring her there. The other rose to her face, his thumb wiping away a lone tear with a tenderness that contradicted the tension that was flowing through his body.
“I want to fuck you senseless until you can’t move those pretty little legs again.” he whispered, low enough that only she could hear.
Heaven’s heart slammed violently against her ribs. So she had been right.
But before the thought could fully form–
“Not because you look like anyone,” he continued, his eyes locked onto hers like an unbroken promise. “But because you are Vera Johnson. Every single thing planned today down to the tiniest detail was made for you. And you alone.”
He exhaled, the sound heavy, almost broken but his grip on her hips didn’t loosen
“So stop being stubborn and let me love you right. Let me love you until eternity feels too short. Let me love you the way I’ve wanted to for so damn long.”
As the last word left his mouth, the island erupted in light.
Heaven gasped, head whipping toward the sudden glow.
Heaven gasped, her breath caught as she turned toward the source of the light.
A screen hidden moments ago came alive all around them.
With images of her.
Before today and even today the moment her front door opened. When she stepped into the car. Inside the car, every rose she had collected. Her entering the helicopter, even here on the island.
Her breath trembled. It captured every moment of her.They were beautiful.
Then a sound tore through the sky.
She looked up.
Massive bold letters, blazed across the dark expanse above them illuminated by fireworks:
I LOVE YOU, VERA JOHNSON.
Her breath hitched.
She turned back to him. His eyes were already on her never once had they left her.
“All this…” she whispered, still sniffing, searching his gaze for any trace of deception. “All this was done for me and not her?”
He nodded. “Yes. Just you.”
He lifted his other hand again, thumb brushing away another tear, but this time his fingers lingered tracing her jaw, tilting her chin up so she had no choice but to meet his stare.
“Will you let me love you?”