Security ushers me back to the dressing room where Luke greets me at the door.

“Out of the fucking park,” he says. “Baby, you were out of the fucking park.”

“Thank you, Luke.”

“So…”

He lingers in place, blocking my entry.

“So?”

“Let’s talk next show. World tour. Isabella, you have to give them more.”

He’s got dollar signs in his eyes, and I’m already shaking my head.

“I told you the deal, Luke. One show. One time. That’s it. I’m done. I’m out of the game for good.”

His shoulders fall, and he still doesn’t want to accept it.

“Baby doll, c’mon, did you not see that crowd out there? They were wild for you. You have to ride the wave.”

“There is no wave,” I tell him. “This was it, Luke.”

“So that’s it?” he repeats. “You’re just going to give all this up and go back to your hole and be a mom?”

I smile, despite the horrified expression on his face.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

“Unbelievable,” he mutters. “Unbelievable. You’re going to miss it, Isabella. You’re going to want this back. This feeling. But you won’t be able to have it. Not if you wait too long.”

“It’s okay,” I assure him. “I’ll live with it if I do.”

He sighs. Shuffles from side to side.

“Will you call me if you change your mind?”

“You’ll be the first number I dial.”

He moves in for a creepy hug, and I hold my hand out instead. He shakes it, and then reluctantly moves along. I open the door to my room and sit down. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

That’s when it hits me.

The scent. The unmistakable scent of wild roses. I open my eyes to find the stems laid out on my dressing table.

Crimson red.

Tears fill my eyes. I don’t dare to hope. I don’t dare to fear. But there is knife right beside them. A knife that is all too familiar.

“My sweet Bella.”

The voice comes from behind me, so soft I can’t be sure I’m not going insane. I can’t move. I don’t dare. I am so afraid that if I blink, that if move even a fraction of an inch, the illusion in the reflection will disappear. His face will disappear, and I will be plunged right back into my waking nightmare again.

“You have two choices,” he tells me. “You can keep me, or you can kill me. For I cannot go on living without you. And I cannot go on living with you as my captive. So you must decide on your own. You must choose to be my willing captive. You must choose to remain by my side for the days of your life, or be merciful and have your vengeance by bleeding me dry.”

A tear falls down my cheek, followed by another. And then another. Soon, Javi is kneeling before me at my feet, cupping my face in his palms. And they feel so real. So warm.

I can smell him. I can feel him. It is either the cruelest fabrication of my mind or the best day of my life.

Javi wipes away my tears.

“Do not cry for me, my Bella.”

“You can’t be real,” I whisper. “This can’t be real. I must be dreaming.”

“It is no dream,” he assures me.

I close my eyes and open them again. He is still there. Still breathing. His heart still beating when I feel it beneath my palm.

“Javi?”

“Yes, my love,” he answers. “It is me. I am real. I am here. And I am not going anywhere.”

I leap into his arms, and he catches me.

“Javi.”

Over and over, I say his name like a prayer. He kisses me. He holds me. And he doesn’t let go. His eyes move over my body. Over the bump that now rests between us.

“You carry my child so well, my Bella.”

His hand hovers there nervously, wishing to touch, but possibly afraid.

“You can,” I tell him. “This baby is ours, Javi.”

He touches me, as gently as Javi has ever touched me.

“I still cannot believe it is real,” he says.

“Did you know?” I ask.

There are so many questions. So much for us to talk about. I don’t know where he was or what happened to him. But I don’t know if I’m even ready to hear it yet, and I think Javi knows it.

“I did know, Bella,” he answers. “There is much for us to discuss.”

“There is,” I agree. “One step at a time. I only just got you back.”

“I take it then,” he says hopefully, “you do not wish to kill me?”

“Don’t ever leave me again,” I tell him. “Ever.”

“I won’t, my Bella,” he says. “But your father…”

I shake my head and close my eyes.

“No. Not now.”

Maybe not ever.

I don’t know how to make sense of the things that I feel for my father. My warring grief and hatred for the man that he was. I think I will always be split in two as far as he is concerned.

I mourn him because I am still his daughter. But I have so much anger towards him too. Anger that I never had a chance to express. But none of that matters right now.

Nothing else matters when Javi is real, and he is right here beside me.

I tell him as much.

And then I tell him to take me home.