Chapter 123: Love is an Understatement

Achilles’ Point of View:

“Do you want a divorce, Achilles?” Her voice rang in my ears, making my head spin round—and I scoffed.

“No! No. What part of ‘I still love you’ screams ‘I want a divorce’ to you?” I said, my breath running out. She opened her eyes and looked at me, her eyes bearing an unreadable expression.

“I just—I thought you were letting me down easy. Saying you still—you still loved me but…”

“No,” I said and pulled her closer again, holding on to her and trying to reassure her. “God, Isabelle. I love you. No buts. No conditions. No complications.”

I could feel her sob against me as she shuddered. She had been hurt so many times, she couldn’t believe this time was any different. Maybe she learned about the fact that she needed to stop hurting me way before I did—but now I had realised it too, and there was no way in hell she would shed any more tears because of me.

“This was hell, Achilles. Don’t ever… don’t ever do that again.” She said, her voice breaking.

I broke away the hug and held her neck lightly. “I’m sorry.”

She smiled. “It’s alright now. Just—just one condition.”

“What?” I whispered.

“Kiss me.”

I chuckled before kissing her lightly. She pulled me in, kissing back passionately. Her hands went in my hair as she slightly parted her lips and I took control of the kiss. She always tasted so sweet, and lord knows how much I’ve wanted to feel her lips against mine for the last month.

She continued kissing me and then we stumbled on to the bed, but I sat down instead of falling down. She sat down in my lap without breaking the kiss before finally taking a breathing break.

I panted as she stared into my eyes. “It’s been a fucking month, Achilles. You’re a devil for that.”

“I…” Before I could say anything, she kissed me again. I felt her moving against my lap, and I let out a small moan as I felt myself getting hard at her sensual movements.

“Bella…” I whispered as she continued kissing me and doing her thing. “You’ve been at war for so long,” she said in my ear, and continued, “And let’s not forget the last time I didn’t pleasure you well.”

“Huh…” I closed my eyes as she touched my chest.

“Just enjoy,” she said and then the pleasure took control of me.

***

Josephine’s Point of View:

I was living in California. It had been a little over 40 days since I came here, and it had been a good time.

Good time because I finally met Carlos after six months of him being “dead”. Yes, he wasn’t awake so it wasn’t exactly a meet, but I managed to.

## Flashback ##

“If you don’t let me see Carlos Diaz right now, I will expose all the dirty work that you do under the table. And I am not bluffing. I have pictures, audios, videos… whatever the court might need to put you away for good,” I threatened the man who was taking care of all the volunteers in the program Carlos was enlisted in. My face was fearless, and honestly I had grown quite fond of gathering dirt on officials and then blackmailing into doing my work—a habit I’d have a hard time leaving behind once this all ends.

He raised his eyebrow and looked at me in a peculiar way. “Really? Then you might be able to tell me what dirty work I do, exactly.”

“Yes,” I said. I knew when to bluff and when to actually have something. I didn’t make it this far being dumb. “You are a drug addict. Which is funny working in such a huge medical institution. So you pay for your drugs down the block in an abandoned alley, where you make all your deals.”

His face lost his smirk as he realised I knew. I had been following him around for a long time before I came here, knowing they wouldn’t let me meet Carlos the right way.

“You have to make it quick. The volunteers who haven’t recovered yet aren’t allowed to have visitors.” He finally gave in and said in a low voice.

“Yet? You mean some have?” I asked, hope sparkling in my eyes.

“Out of the 100 volunteers, 36 have made full recoveries and most of them have shown significant improvement.”

“And what’s Carlos’ condition?” I couldn’t help but ask.

He looked at a file kept on his desk before looking back at me. “He’s one of the fastest among all the rest in the race of ‘back from the dead’. With any luck on his side, he should be the 37th.”

I smiled, a wave of happiness flourishing over me. I knew he wouldn’t leave me. “Now let me see him. I’ll be back before you know it.”

He handed me a key. “Room 44.”

I took the key and stealthily made my way to the room mentioned. My heart was bursting out of my chest. I was gonna have him back. We were gonna be together again. I couldn't believe it. It had been so long and I had been so alone without him. Who would have thought I’d need him like oxygen when I met him in Argentina?

As soon as I opened the door to his room, I felt my eyes moisten at the sight of him. He was there, sure with a lot of machines attached—but he was there. Something in me wanted a living proof that he was still alive and not in that coffin we buried months ago, and now it was here. I could finally believe it. It was true. All of it. I was gonna have the love of my life back.

I walked over and planted a kiss on his forehead.

“You’ll be back to me, Carlos. And we’re gonna do it right this time.”