CHAPTER 139: DARE TO LOVE ME It’s Always Been You
Patrick
“We need to increase the equipment capacity, Gaby,” I finished jotting down the details our new client required. It was a big project for a group of women in this country. I had been working
on it for a while with her, the director and founder of a women’s TV channel, a 35–year–old
businesswoman who, since entering the building, had asked that I be the one to handle the
negotiation.
“We will take all your recommendations into account. It is clear that you know perfectly well
what you are doing,” she smiled, and I reciprocated.
“I wanted to invite you to another dinner tonight with my partners, as we have done lately. You
know they are delighted with you,” the girl said, and her companion smiled.
I had gone out to dinner with them, and it was pleasant. They were a group of interesting and
successful women with whom I had formed a good friendship, although it was evident that
Gabriela had a more than friendly interest in me.
“Tonight, I have a family dinner,” I explained. We were going to meet as a family, something we
had been looking forward to since Dominic woke up.
“I understand, Patrick, it’s a shame.” She placed her hand on mine, and I smiled kindly.
“It will be another time,” I looked at both of them.
“Of course, we still have a lot of work to do.” She stood up, and I did the same.
She leaned in to kiss my cheek and shook my hand, leaving her scent on it.
I got home and left the keys in the foyer. The silence told me my grandchildren weren’t there,
and Tony must have been working with Ashley. Lately, they had been spending all their time
locked in her room, working on her next collection.
The house phone rang, and I didn’t see anyone around, so I walked over to answer it. I froze
when I heard Sophia’s shaken voice saying that Paula and Noah had been taken.
“I’m on my way,” I said quickly and hung up the call.
“Uncle,” Ash approached me. “What’s going on?” She took me by the shoulders.
“Patrick,” Tino appeared behind her.
“Someone took Paula and Noah.”
Ash’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth.
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“What are you talking about? We were just with them a few hours ago.”
“No, no, Mama Paul, my little prince,” Tino clutched his chest and sobbed.
“Sophie called. They were taken while they were at Nick’s house,” I said, walking towards the door.
“My God!” Elise came in with a frightened Loli.
“We’ll go with you,” Ash said. We all got into my car, and I took my phone to call my father. I asked the security team to accompany us.
Tino sat next to Ashley, looking very affected. My niece cried silently, wiping away her tears before they fell.
“Are you crying?” Tino looked up at her. “You never cry,” he whispered, his voice thick with
emotion.
“It’s our boy, honey, the only little man I could cry for,” Ashley replied. They looked at each other and smiled sadly before hugging again.
We arrived at the chaotic scene that was Nick’s house. I hugged my daughter and granddaughter, feeling the worst possible sensation knowing Noah and Paula were in danger.
We endured a tense afternoon, unable to get any information about them. I spoke with the company to see if we could locate Paula’s phone, but it was impossible. They must have destroyed it.
Nick arrived later with no news of them, and I didn’t doubt for a moment that he had decided to go after Paula and my grandson.
Everything happened quickly. Arriving at the house on the outskirts of town where Killian was
holding them captive, organizing the team… I felt an adrenaline rush like never before,
anticipating the moment I could see them, see Paula, the only woman I had ever loved.
We entered the house and had a confrontation with the men inside. We went up to the room
where they were, and my chest felt an enormous sense of relief when I heard Paula’s voice
and knew they were both okay.
“Patrick,” she murmured as we entered the room. I held her tightly in my arms and kissed her lips lightly. She seemed dazed and didn’t seem to notice. I kissed my grandson’s head and
smiled at him. We moved to get out of the house.
When we reached the vans, we saw Nick and Will going after Killian. We knew he wouldn’t get
far.
“We have to get them to safety,” Alejandro said to Gavin and me. We got into the vans. The
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police and several ambulances arrived and checked us over, preventing us from returning to the house. Surprisingly, Alaia arrived while we were still tense about Nick and William. We felt the strong explosion, and my daughter decided to go after Nick without us being able to stop her. I hugged Paula, whose eyes were lost in the direction of the house.
After several long, agonizing minutes of waiting, Nick came out in an ambulance with Alaia. They informed us that he would be fine. After that, we were taken to the hospital.
I saw Nick awake with Alaia and Noah in a room. They were finally smiling. Everyone had been checked over. Gavin and some of Alejandro’s men, the man my father had hired, were injured, but none seriously. The people who had been on the plane had the most complex prognoses, especially Killian. Finally, life had caught up with him for all his evil deeds.
I went to the room where Paula was and watched as a nurse checked her blood pressure.
“You risked your life going there. You shouldn’t have,” Paula said, and I looked at her.
“I had to. You and Noah were in danger,” I explained, and she nodded, lowering her gaze.
“Mr. Russell, Gabriela Baker has asked to see you. She asked for your room number, but we
explained that you hadn’t been assigned one. She’s a little upset.”
Paula looked at the nurse and then at me.
“Is it her?” Paula asked.
Our last kiss came to mind, the moment I realized I thought there was someone else,
something that wouldn’t happen, hadn’t happened before, wouldn’t happen now. I had decided to distance myself when Paula asked me to, wanting to know if I should let her go once more if she felt nothing for me. But I realized that this time, she had taken small steps. She had no idea of my happiness at feeling her kisses, but I couldn’t let myself fall so easily. I couldn’t risk her deciding to push me away again. Although every time she kissed me, I felt an enormous urge to lose myself in her lips and make her mine, I needed her to realize for herself that she felt something for me, that she would finally stop denying her feelings and let me into her life as something more than just the father of our daughter.
“Don’t keep her waiting,” Paula looked disappointed.
After the events of today, after all this time that our love had been unable to blossom, I decided to play my last card, hoping for a different outcome.
“My life wouldn’t be the same without you,” I said, and Paula looked up. “You are and always have been my beginning and my end. I’ve loved you since I met you. I decided to let you go once, an act of love.” I shook my head. I had walked away, but my heart had stayed with her. “You didn’t want me by your side, and I’ve spent every day of my life wondering what our life
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would have been like if we had dared to love each other as we should have if we had been the
family I’m sure we were destined to be.” Paula was speechless, and the nurse looked at me
dreamily. I ignored this detail and continued. “I don’t want to keep imagining it, Paula. I want to live it with you. We still have time to be together, for you to become my wife.” The mother of
my daughter’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’ve kept that place for years, and I know it’s always
been yours. There is no other woman.” I shook my head and laughed humorlessly. “There will
never be another woman if it’s not you… I’ve put myself in your hands. I need to know that you
feel at least half of what I feel for you, and I’m sure that will be more than enough for me.”
“Patrick,” I heard Gabriela nearby, but I was focused on Paula, who had fallen silent, not
knowing what to say.
History repeated itself, and when I received no response from Paula, I nodded and turned to
Gabriela, feeling my chest break once more.
*****
Paula
Unable to believe the words Patrick had just spoken to me, the most beautiful declaration of
love I had ever heard, I was unable to move. I thought I had lost him. I thought someone else
was on his mind. My heart almost leaped out of my chest when I heard him say that he still
loved me.
I blinked, and tears welled up in my eyes. I was a sentimental fool now, and I couldn’t care
less.
“Ma’am,” the nurse spoke to me, and I snapped out of my daze. “Aren’t you going to go to him?
If you don’t, I assure you, I will,” she said, making me laugh.
“Thank you,
dear.” I hurried out of bed to go after him.
I walked down the halls and found him talking to a very pretty brown–haired woman. Patrick’s
face was serious.
“We saw the news. What happened was terrible. As soon as we saw everything, I rushed to
find out where you were,” she said.
“I appreciate it,” he replied.
“Patrick,” I said before the woman, who was standing very close to the man who had just
declared his love for me, could say anything else.
He looked at me in confusion, and I walked over to where he was.
“I want to be brave,” I said, looking at him. He started to say something, but I cupped his cheek
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and kissed him.
We drew back and stood there in silence, gazing at each other, lost in the moment and
oblivious to our surroundings.
“I think I should go,” the girl said uncomfortably, and we both turned to her just as the whole family arrived. Patrick looked at me, and I understood what he meant.
“We’ll wait until this is over to talk to them,” I murmured, and although he didn’t seem to like it,
he nodded.
“Mama Pau!” Tino and Ash, with our little girl in their arms, were the first to run towards me. Alana, my precious granddaughter, gave me a beautiful smile when she saw me.
