I took it, moving closer to him amid a smattering of applause.

Before I could say anything, Dyson pulled me towards him. His scent was something I’d come to love, just like him. It was an indescribable mix of fuel and sweat and danger. I barely had a chance to slide my tongue across my lips before he pressed his mouth against mine. He held me close, squeezing me in a hard embrace, consuming me the entire time.

The crowd around us fell completely silent. At last, he broke his mouth free from mine. My eyes fluttered open. He smiled down at me.

“Did you already forget?” he asked.

My awareness still under the influence of a sudden haze of lust, I looked up at him, confused.

“Forget about what?”

Dyson chuckled at me, turning and gesturing towards his car.

“Here,” he began, pointing towards it. “Come look.”

Uncertain, I looked at him in silence.

“It’s okay,” he said, motioning for me to continue in his direction. “I promise. You’ll like it.”

Trusting him, I did as he asked and within a couple of seconds stood by his side. After I’d walked towards him, the crowd of people closed in around us. Dyson smiled at me.

He slid his arm around my shoulder, pulled me close and we moved towards his car. Once we stood no more than a foot away, Dyson pointed towards the front of it. I followed the line of his arm with my eyes, gasping when it came into view.

“Surprise,” he said.

To my disbelief, the name ‘Bella’ stretched across the nose of the car. I looked down at the letters and raised my hands to my face, covering my mouth. Within seconds, tears streamed from my eyes and cascaded down my fingertips. I stood there for I don’t know how long, shaking my head and staring at the name.

“I dedicated it to her,” Dyson began. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Overcome, I turned towards him. I had no words to communicate the way I felt inside. For him to think of me, my sister, and Simon in that way touched me in a way that no man, or for that matter any person, ever had.

Sobbing, I reached up for him.

Dyson embraced me, pulling me close and leaning in towards my ear.

“Are you happy, baby? Are you happy?”

I nodded, nuzzling against him, still overcome with feelings of sadness and gratitude mixed into one. We lingered there, in the midst of several hundred people who looked on in silence. Eventually, we separated and the surreal nature of it all started to sink into my awareness.

“I got this,” Dyson began, turning and facing the crowd of people. He raised his arms above his head once again. “Everyone! Everyone! We are having a huge party at the hotel. Everything is on me. Whatever you want, I got you!”

When he finished speaking, a huge roar erupted. In less than a minute, the crowd started to disperse, streaming away from us in all directions.

Well-wishers paused on their way out and congratulated Dyson once again. He spent the better part of fifteen or twenty minutes thanking fans and supporters for standing by him during the past few months.

After he finished, Dyson hugged me close once again.

“We need to get going to the party,” he began. “All the guys are there waiting for us. Marco, Dieter, Darren, and the rest of the team.”

Looking up at him I smiled and said, “Okay, can I have a second?”

Dyson frowned at me, confusion stretched across his brow.

“Sure,” he said. “Whatever you want. Is everything okay?”

I nodded. “It’s better than okay. It’s incredible.”

I reached up, hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. Caressing the spot with my fingers I touched his face briefly before turning away and looking at the hood of his car once again.

Kneeling next to it, I extended my hand towards the lettering spelling out my sister’s name. I couldn’t explain it, but in that moment I felt closer to her spirit in the aftermath of a car race than I did visiting her gravesite. I touched the letters with my fingers, dragging the tips along the raised markings. I said a silent prayer to her memory. Although we were different people, we were the same family, and I loved her and missed her very much.

“Bella,” I began, draping my palm across most of her name. “I don’t know whether you can hear me or not. But, I want you to know that Simon—he’s a wonderful boy. He’s bright and caring, and I love him more than anything in this world. I want you to know that I’ll always do whatever I can to protect him and give him the life that I think you would have wanted for him.”

Another surge of emotion pulsed through me. I glanced up in Dyson’s direction. He’d been talking to reporters, but when I looked up at him, he stopped.

“What is it?” he asked. “Is everything all right?”

I nodded. “Yes, everything is fine.”

I looked away from him and back towards the letters spelling out my sister’s name.

“Someday, Bella, all of us will be together again,” I began, swallowing hard and trying to keep my emotions at bay for a few seconds longer. “But until that time comes, I want you to know that I will always love you and that your son will always be proud to have you as his mother.”

With that, I moved my fingers towards my lips, kissing them. I stood, reaching towards her name one last time and pressing my hand against it. Afterward, I turned and looked towards Dyson.

Smiling at me, he said, “Are you ready? Everyone’s waiting for you.”

I nodded at him and smiled in return.

“Yes, more than ever.”

AVA

Dyson had a room in the hotel where the team held their after party. It was close to midnight by the time we made our way to it.

By then, I was completely exhausted and hardly able to keep my eyes open. We entered the room, and I immediately headed towards the king-sized bed in the center, flopping my body backward on top of it. Dyson followed behind me, walking through the door and laughing after seeing me spread out on top of the bed.

“Too much excitement for you today, Ava?”

I rolled my head to one side and glanced up at him, just in time to see him peeling off his T-shirt.

“I’m going to grab a quick shower,” he began, tossing his shirt aside. “Care to join me?”

“Only if you want to hold me up the entire time.”

He chuckled and turned away from me, stripping off his clothes while walking towards the bathroom.

“Get some rest, sleeping beauty.”

He vanished from sight, closing the bathroom door behind him. A few seconds later I heard the sound of the water hiss from the showerhead. I rolled my head once again, staring straight up towards the ceiling.

Not only was I physically drained, but the mental pressure I’d been under finally started to wear me down as well. With the sound of the shower running in the background, I began to wonder what, if any, future I had with Dyson.

He’d been kind and sweet to me, but also less so at other times.

Deep down, that wasn’t the kind of relationship I wanted. Who would? Worse yet, I still couldn’t stop thinking about the various insults and threats Anastasia and Svetlana made to me. And the truth was, I really had no promises from Dyson that I’d be any different from them in three months, six months, or a year.

What if that came to pass? Immediately, I thought of Simon. He was already so fond of Dyson. If I continued seeing him and things didn’t work out, having Simon hurt in that situation would be worse than any pain I might feel breaking up with Dyson.

I missed having my sister in my life. At the same time, I wondered how much different Simon’s life would’ve been. Even though I tried my best and loved him like my own, the fact was he wasn’t my son.

Maybe my exhaustion got the better of me because I began to feel overwhelmed all of a sudden. In spite of the day being so wonderful, I still had no idea what tomorrow would bring. I propped myself up on my elbows and shook my head. Dyson was still in the shower. Sitting up, I scooted to the edge of the bed and stood.