“But you are different,” Ren cried. “You’re not—”
I wound my arm around her back, and she stilled. “So I pushed you away because it was still there. The anger. It was better to hurt you now than later. That’s what I told myself.” I paused, closing my eyes. “Then when I went to The Underground, I wanted to prove him wrong. I had nothing left, and it hurt too much, so I went back.”
“You never lost me, Ash,” she said. “Never. I was hurt, and I had to get some distance. I know I said some ugly things…”
“I know,” I murmured. “I know.”
Ren raised her had and caressed my cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You know why, Ren. I didn’t want you to have to deal with my family drama after yours. I wanted to protect you from the inevitable fallout.”
“You wanted to protect me from you.”
I flinched. When she said it like that, it sounded totally fucked up.
“It didn’t work last time, remember?” she asked.
“Nope.” I dropped my arm and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees.
“You’re not your father, you hear me? You’re not him. You’re good and kind and I love you. You’re the best father Violet ever had.”
She was so passionate, it knocked me for six, and hearing those things come from Ren meant a great deal. I believed her. I really did. If I was like him, then I wouldn’t try and fix the things I broke. I wouldn’t have been there for Violet or Ren… I wouldn’t have gone to the hospital and fixed things with Steel either.
I wasn’t my father.
“The ring…” She let whatever she was going to say dissipate into the air, and it hung heavily between us.
“I bought it a couple days after I mentioned it to you,” I said with a shrug. “I saw it in a window, and it reminded me of you.”
“A piece of jewelry reminded you of me?”
“Ironic.”
We sat in silence, allowing all my revelations to sink in. She was still here, so it was a good start. There was still hope that we could fix this thing between us. I would always love her even if she fell out of love with me.
“I can’t survive without you,” she blurted, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. “But when I saw you in that cage, it was terrifying.”
“I’d never hurt you, Ren,” I said desperately. “Not intentionally. Never.”
“I know. We’ll work through it.”
Remembering what Violet told me, I said, “You’re the only one who has ever brought me back.”
Placing her forehead against mine, she reached up and traced my lips with her fingers. She was trembling, her breathing shallow, so I curled my hand around her wrist, pushing her away. Leaning forward in a moment of desperate hope, I kissed her.
And she kissed me back.
Pulling away, she brushed her lips against mine and whispered, “Ask me.”
“What?”
She pressed something into my hand and said more forcefully, “Ask me.”
Glancing down, I saw the ring I’d bought for her sitting in my palm. That stupid fucking ring started all of this bullshit.
“Maverick,” Ren prodded.
It was her name for me that sparked life back into my soul. Despite all of the heartache, I still wanted it—her and me tied together for eternity. Thinking back to the day I walked into that shop, I realized I’d do it again. Buy her the best, give her the best and be the best I could be for her.
Taking a deep breath, I raised my gaze to hers. “Ren Miller,” I murmured. “Will you marry me?”
She smiled, and her entire face lit up.
“Yes.”
Twenty-One
Ren
Staring at my reflection in the full-length mirror, I sighed.
I was in Vi's bedroom in Ash’s Toorak house, wearing this white streamlined dress, my hair all done up on my head with little white flowers stuck in it. There was make-up on my face and lipstick on my lips. Lip. Stick. Ugh.
I’ll give it to Josie, she really knew how to put together a wedding, entirely solo, with two weeks’ notice. Food, music, celebrant, guests, flowers, rings, dress… She was a powerhouse.
“Ren,” Violet said with a sigh. She was perched on the edge of her bed, watching me with a dreamy expression.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I grumbled, smoothing down the dress with my palms.
“Like what?”
“Like I’m a powder-puff.”
She burst out laughing and shook her head. “Once a fighter, always a fighter.”
“Dresses and me never got along,” I retorted as Josie stepped into the room.
“Shut your face, Ren Miller,” she declared. “I picked it out for you myself. Say that again, and I’ll walk right outta here.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
Josie had picked well, I’d give her that one. She’d squashed me into so many dresses they all started to look the same to me. There’d been lace ones, ruffled ones, full skirts, fishtails, strapless, corsets and dresses of all shapes and sizes, but we’d finally settled on a totally unorthodox knee-length lace dress, with an inbuilt corset. It had tiny shoulder straps that were bedazzled with little crystals and a slight flare on the hem so there was a little twirl to it. Most importantly, it wasn’t ‘flooffy’ at all.
Josie had finished it off with a pair of three-inch white heels and a simple silver necklace with a teardrop pearl. Simple. Classic. Totally Ren Miller if she had to wear a dress.
“She won’t be Ren Miller for much longer,” Violet said, and I glanced back at my reflection, taking in the entire ensemble.
Renee Fuller. It had a nice ring to it, and it was only a change of two letters.
“We better get downstairs,” Josie exclaimed, looking at her phone. To me she said, “Ten minutes, okay?”
I nodded, blowing out a sharp breath.
“You’ve got this, Ren,” she added with a wave.
“Kick ass,” Violet added like I was going downstairs to battle it out in the cage.
Just as suddenly as they’d blown in half an hour before, they blew out, and I was alone with my thoughts and this dress. Glancing over the ensemble, I twisted this way and that, and then shrugged to myself. Not bad. Not bad at all.
There was a knock at the door, and I turned. “Come in.”
Ash’s head appeared, and I squealed. He was wearing a black three-piece suit with a silver tie, and a white rose was pinned to his lapel. He looked totally hot, but he wasn’t meant to see me until I went downstairs.
“You’re not meant to be in here!” I cried, trying to wrap my arms around myself and crossing my legs. Like that would hide the dress. It just made me look like I was trying to hold in my pee.
“I couldn’t take it anymore,” he said, prowling toward me.
I frowned as he slipped his hands over my waist and turned me around so my back was against his chest. “Couldn’t take what?”
His gaze met mine in the mirror. “Let’s run away.”
“Ash,” I scolded. “Everyone’s out there.”
I could hear the sound of muffled voices and the clink of glasses drifting up from the garden below. Everyone was here. Everyone who mattered at least. Dad, Violet, Josie, Dean and Lincoln, Hamish, Ryan and Cole from the gym, Bobby, Seth and even Joseph from the cafe around the corner from Beat. There was a bunch of other people there from both gyms, along with some of the big wigs from Pulse’s sponsors. Caleb had even deigned to shown up after Ash had stern words with him. I was glad I wasn’t there for that conversation, but at least the two men had straightened it out.
“I don’t give a shit,” Ash said, holding me tightly. “I’d be happy if we just signed the bit of paper and slipped the rings on our fingers. No fuckin’ confetti.”