Fighting With Light (The Coldwell Brothers #2)

58. Aelia

58

Aelia

Three Months Later - November

Liam is taking me somewhere down the shore and we’re getting closer and closer to the cliffs. He keeps looking at me over his shoulder with a silly grin on his face.

“Is this where I die? We’re not married yet, so you couldn’t collect the insurance, you know.”

Liam chuckles. “You are so funny, making jokes despite the giant engagement ring on your finger.”

I lift my hand, glancing at it, reflecting in the dropping sunlight. Squeezing his hand, my massive four-carat engagement ring gets in the way. He wanted to get me five and even I said that was too much.

“Watch your step right here,” he says and holds out his hand on the other side of the cliff.

We’re not on the cliffs with the shear drop to the water, but we’re getting close.

“You should have brought a flashlight,” I mumble.

“Fair. I didn’t think, I just did,” he says.

I laugh and hold his hand tightly as he guides us towards what looks like a small inlet cave the ocean has carved out of the rock. “Why does that not surprise me?”

“It really shouldn’t at this point, princess.”

He takes another step and gets me to the edge of a pool and sits down next to me.

“This reminds me of El Salvador. ”

He looks at me and kisses my cheek. “That was a day.”

“Are you still mad at me for that?” I ask him.

He shrugs and looks down at the water. I still don’t know why we are here, but I don’t care where Liam takes me. I will always go with him.

We’re not far from the Malibu house we’ve been staying in for a few months. The election is tomorrow and I know Liam has been on edge about it for days. He didn’t even want to surf this morning, so I had to distract him…with wedding planning. We head off to Bali in a couple of weeks to get married. It was the most neutral for the families, and also meaningful place I could come up with, and my mom agreed to come.

After we sent all the information to news outlets, we didn’t hear a peep. Liam thought it was so odd that he checked to make sure the emails were delivered and opened. They were. He also went through their search histories, and they were looking things up, and then…nothing. It was as if all research had come to a halt and the story killed—as if someone had told them to bury it.

I find it hard to believe that one man who represents the state of Massachusetts could make the largest news outlets cow to him. Our only conclusion was that Fred Coldwell denied allegations, weaseled out of it, and called in a lot of favors. There’s no other explanation.

I can’t imagine how his brothers and Esmarie feel. I’m pissed for them. The injustice of it all is incomprehensible.

Liam sighs and drags his fingers around my palm. “What are you thinking about so hard over there?”

“Everything,” I sigh.

“That’s a lot of things,” he says.

I glare and punch him in the arm.

“Ow princess, that’s not just a girl punch you know, you actually make it hurt.”

“Good,” I grumble.

He tugs on my hand and pulls me into his chest.

“What’s wrong, babe?” he asks.

“Do,” I pause, “you ever feel like we can ever make up for the things they’ve done? Even after everything we have bled for, it wasn’t enough.”

He sighs and presses his lips on my forehead. “I’m trying not to think about it right now because it boils my blood. I don’t think we will ever be able to do enough to atone for them. It isn’t our responsibility, but it definitely feels like it is,” he says.

“Yeah, it does, maybe one day we can change that.”

He lifts my chin and pecks my lips. “With you, I’m sure we can.”

“How do you feel about tomorrow?” I ask him.

He lets go of me and focuses on the rock around us. I still don’t know why we’re here. The sun is almost completely down and I know we’re going to have a tough time getting home.

“I don’t know. Well, no, I do know. I’m angry, I’m confused, and it feels like I always have been. Every time I think we’ve won, we lose. So I don’t know what to make of it anymore. Maybe we should just give up.”

“We’re sharks, Tarzan. The moment we stop swimming, we die.”

He doesn’t respond to me as he continues to stare at the water.

“Some days, I think that would be easier,” he says.

“And what about Theo?” I ask him. I think we’ve both been in this place before. It’s a difficult thing to accept your lot in life, figure out a way to live despite it, then get knocked down over and over again, and still get back up. It feels like a cruel punishment.

“You know…I’ll never forget something my mom told me. This was back before I started traveling more and just generally going wild. I was still watching over her, and it was one of her more clear-headed days.” I pause and grab Liam’s hand, forcing his attention on me. The light is fading fast, so I put his palm over my chest so he can feel how hard my heart is beating for him.

“She said, in life, you will struggle. Some days, it will seem like there is no way out. On other days, it will feel like there is nothing to complain about. Learning the difference between what you can and cannot control is difficult, but once you do, you’ll see that the light cannot be extinguished. So, Liam, we have fallen down. Both apart and together. But we are forever. That has never been the case until now, so maybe God put us together to see the victory through this time. This was just a battle, babe, we will win the war.”

“Some days, I don’t think I have the strength anymore,” Liam sighs.

“Then you come to me. You tell me. I am where you land.”

He leans in and nuzzles his nose to mine. “ You are my greatest adventure, Aelia,” he says, pressing his lips to mine. I lean into him and he pulls me onto his lap. His callused hands skim up and down my body, and I feel cherished. That’s how I know he will always be the one.

He pulls away and I grumble. “Look,” he whispers.

Liam takes my chin and angles it down at the pool of water and I gasp. The water glows an unearthly teal blue.

“Liam!” I yell, scrambling off his lap.

I stare in awe at the blue light floating in the water and reach for it. Liam grabs my wrist tugging me back.

“I wouldn’t,” he says, “it can make you sick so just look at it.”

“Oh,” I sigh and stare at it. It’s glowing so brightly it almost completely lights this little cave. I glance at Liam and he’s smiling at me with a blueish glow on his face.

“Thank you,” I rasp. I don’t know why I’m on the edge of tears, but I am. Love bursts through my chest and I sit up pressing my lips to his.

“You’re welcome, princess, I know you wanted to see it.”

“How did you know it was here?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “I had been looking for it since we got to Malibu.”

“How did I not notice you disappearing at night?” I ask him.

He chuckles. “You were quite engrossed in the design of your wedding dress and wedding stuff. Which…by the way, seems very complicated. I thought you said we were getting married on the beach? Why do you want a crazy gown?”

I giggle and shake my head. “ Men.”

Crawling back onto his lap, I grab his face and kiss his crooked nose. “You are the best surprise Tarzan, you know that?”

He smiles in the blue light and it makes my heart stutter in my chest.

We may be down, but we are certainly not out .

LIAM

We’re sitting on the couch, the news is on, and I’ve been texting my family all day. Aelia cuddles up next to me and the cool breeze blows in off the ocean through the massive sliding doors.

The race for governor of Massachusetts will be called in just a few hours, and I know what the outcome will be. He’s been leading in the polls for months. All the work Aelia and I did was for nothing. I can’t find it in myself to be completely mad about it, though. We did some good, too. We saved some women and kids from a fate worse than death.

Aelia and I found love.

I would do it all over again if it meant that I get her in the end.

“Hey, so, I sort of got you something.”

She looks up from her phone, and I can see pictures of a beach she’s scrolling through. “What does sort of got you something mean? Does that mean you didn’t get it yet, but you were thinking about it?” she asks.

I chuckle and shake my head no. Reaching for my phone, I pull up the photo and hand it to her.

She looks at it for a minute, then zooms in. “Wait, why is there a building with my middle name on it?”

“Because I wanted a piece of you to go with it.”

“What?” she says, her expression pinched in confusion.

“Gabriella’s Place. It’s a women’s shelter, Aelia. It’s the most unorthodox and weirdest wedding gift on the planet, but I knew it was better than any diamond on Earth.”

“You started and fully funded a women’s shelter for me ?” Aelia asks.

I nod, hoping that I didn’t overshoot. Maybe I should have gotten her a diamond necklace or something. I still could.

Aelia stares at the photo until the screen goes black. Then she tosses my phone and crawls onto my lap so she is the only thing I can see. She kisses me and says, “You have no damn idea just how special you are, do you? ”

I grin and wiggle my eyebrows.

She smiles. “You have such a beautiful soul, Liam. I still can’t believe I get to call you mine.”

“I am pretty awesome,” I say.

“You are and I love you for it, every second of every day. Thank you. This is so unbelievable, and thoughtful. It’s going to help so many.”

“It’s yours to run or hire someone to run, whatever you want. I know you’ll do an amazing job.”

“Thank you,” she says, biting down on her lower lip. Her eyes glitter and I know this was the best gift I could have given her because it means more than the love that sits between us. It’s the outpouring of what we have built together in such a short time.

Love comes in hot and fast, and there’s no stopping it; it will overflow. What better way to pour into others who have suffered like our mom’s?

“You’re welcome, mon amor,” I say and kiss her cheek again. “I figured it’s time to start changing the tide.”

“This just in: polling places closed an hour ago, and we’re calling it for the governor for the state of Massachusetts,” the news anchor says.

I look into Aelia’s eyes, and she stares into mine. We know what’s coming, but I have her. We have our family. We will find another way.

“Fred Coldwell has secured the governorship for the state of Massachusetts with a seventy percent vote.” My phone goes off, but I ignore it, captured in her hazel gaze.

She kisses me and says, “And we will keep swimming.”

The End