Chapter 23

David

Wow. Good fucking job, David.

You had your one chance, and what did you do with it?

You drove her out the fucking door. Let her drive away.

So much for having a big masterful grand plan, you fucking idiot. So much for winning Vivienne over and making her see just how sorry you are. No, I just had to go and fucking yell at her and then blurt out ‘I love you’ like some last-ditch effort.

Vivienne is more special than that. She deserves a lot more than a rushed ‘I love you’ from a man who has nothing else to offer her.

She deserves the fucking world, and I’m going to be the one to give it to her.

My only saving grace is that she hasn’t left for the airport yet. There were no flights until this morning, which gave me twenty-four hours to figure out how I’m going to fix this mistake and prove to her that I’m the man she wants me to be.

I had Charles find out where Vivienne was staying, then asked him to arrange for a limousine to pick her up. Viv thinks that it’ll be taking her to the airport, but as I check my watch, I realize that she’s due any second now.

It’ll be just like in the movies.

I hope.

I don’t know. I’ve never done this before—but Viv makes me want to be a better man, the best man. She makes me want to be the man she really deserves.

So, here I am.

Ready to perform one big, romantic gesture that’ll stun her into silence for long enough to listen to my heartfelt apology.

She turned me into a fucking lovey-dovey bastard. And I’m surprisingly comfortable in this role. It’s like it’s tailored to me.

But here goes fucking nothing, standing on the steps of St. James Palace, waiting for the car to pull around and for Vivienne to step out.

I’m so fucking terrified. My heart is racing in my chest. I almost feel my hands trembling.

What the fuck’s gotten into me? I’m King David Lockridge! Even when I served, I wasn’t this nervous.

At least then, I knew who and what I was doing.

But who am I without Vivienne?

What am I going to do without her?

I’ve already seen that I can’t go back to who I was. For better or worse, she’s changed me and made a part of me hers. Whether she wants it or not…well, I guess we’re about to find out.

Charles winks at me as the car pulls around. As the door slowly opens and out climbs Vivienne—looking like a fucking bombshell as ever—I realize that I don’t need a wink to give me strength.

She’s my strength.

“What’s all this?” Viv asks as she walks up the steps towards me, though she keeps her distance. “I told you that I wanted to leave. You’ll make me miss my flight.”

“If you still want to leave, I’ll buy you a new flight. I’ll buy you your own fucking private plane if you want.”

A smile flickers across her face, no matter how hard she tries to fight it. God, I just want her to fucking smile at me forever.

“Viv, I know I fucked up. I don’t know how many more times I can fucking say it. But I fucked up, really badly, and I’m sorry.”

“Are you looking for a repeat of yesterday?”

“No. Jesus, fucking God no. But I wanted to tell you that I was sorry, and I wanted to show you just how much I really mean it.”

“How can I even believe you?”

“You can’t—or at least, you have every right not to. When I went out and got drunk with those girls, a part of me knew how much it would hurt you, and then I kept drinking and telling myself that I didn’t care.”

She rolls her eyes and moves one foot up on the steps, so that we’re on an equal level.

“But I do care. I care so fucking much, Viv. It’s tearing me up inside to know that I hurt you…I realize that I did all that because I was scared. I was so fucking scared that anyone could actually love me for who I really am—and what’s fucking scarier was that I loved you, too.”

“Loved?” She asks, looking back towards the limousine.

There’s a coldness in her tone, a level of professionalism that I know she’s using to keep herself distant from me, but I know I can wear her down. I have to.

“No. Present tense. Now and forever. I love you so fucking much, Vivienne.”

“And you did all this…for me?”

“All for you. Only for you. Please Viv, don’t give up on me just yet.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

It’s a valid question, one that I’ve been tormenting myself with over the past twenty-four hours. Why should she give me another chance? What have I ever done to deserve it?

“Because even if you can’t see it yet, I’ve changed. I want to continue to change so that I can be the man you deserve.”

I fumble inside my jacket where the velvet box has been burning a hole in my silk-lined pockets. I begin to drop down onto one knee, feeling the rain from last night’s shower soak through my trouser leg. But I don’t care.

When I pull out the velvet box, Vivienne’s eyes begin to go wide. When I open it up to reveal the glittering diamond that flashes in the mid-morning sun, I think she might faint.

“You’re a queen, Vivienne. It’s about time I treated you like one.”

“Are you serious?”

Vivienne looks around for the paparazzi or for someone to come out and tell her she’s been Punk’d.

“There’s no one coming. It’s just you and me. No cameras, no pretending for the media… I love you, Vivienne Taylor, so fucking much I think it might kill me.”

“David, I…”

“Will you marry me?”