This is the last chapter! Thank-you for reading, your support means the world to me. Remember to drop a vote or comment, I would love to hear any comments about the book as a whole or it's ending. Much love x

Dominika’s POV

Standing in the apartment I had shared with Natalia, I couldn’t help but feel the loss.

This was the place where we would watch comedies, where we ordered bad take-out, where we could just be ourselves without the pressure from the rest of the world, especially her family.

Here, we were just two normal girls.

Since she had met Dexter she had been living in that little apartment, but when she could she would come back to the apartment we shared. We would laugh and it would seem like we were just as close as we had been.

Somehow, in the back of my mind I knew that we would end up like this. Natalia was never one to be distant, she got attached, she was drawn to those who needed her help and she never considered doing anything but the best she could.

I knew one day she would realise the lies she had been told and she wouldn’t stand for it. I wanted it so badly though, I wanted her to feel like she was equal to her brothers in her father’s eyes, because it was what she craved most, so I had encouraged her to go to her father to ask to become more involved.

She wanted to do it so badly, to be like her brothers. Only I could see that she would never be like her brothers and her father, and maybe that was a good thing.

My black heels were loud against the floor as I packed up the last box of her stuff. My black dress was tight against my skin, and I wished that I could change out of it, but I had to wear it.

Walking into my room I looked at the photo on the desk. Sitting down at the desk I fingered the photo carefully, smiling at the image.

Natalia and I were just children. I was much taller than her, my dark hair long and free, a smile on my face as I stood with my hand linked to the shorter girl beside me. Natalia’s long blonde hair was blowing in the wind as she smiled, a bright innocent smile.

My computer started making noises. I opened the laptop and answered the video chat.

‘Long time no see Nika,’ the girl smiled at me, the smile wasn’t as innocent as the girl in the photo, but it was the same girl, albeit older, but just as beautiful.

‘Good morning Natalia.’

The girl on the screen was sitting outside, on a beach, the waves and sand behind her as she sat on what looked like a deck chair. Her hair which was once blonde was now a dark brown, the strands cut just above her shoulders.

‘I see you’re enjoying life.’

‘Beach living does have its perks,’ she laughed, a happy, pure sound. Even though I missed her like crazy, to know that she was happy was enough for me.

‘I miss you Natalia.’

‘I miss you too, maybe one day you can come visit me?’ She asked hopefully.

‘Maybe Kitten,’ I smiled back, ‘Just so you know, the plan went perfectly, no-one but Bri and I know that you two are alive, and Bri only knows because she was instrumental to the plan, and don’t worry she won’t tell anyone the truth. The plane crash worked perfectly, the bodies were declared yours and Dexter’s, and engine failure was the official cause of the crash.’

‘You are a miracle worker Dominika, if it wasn’t for you I don’t know what would have happened,’ Natalia said, her expression dark for a moment before her smile returned, ‘How could I ever make it up to you?’

‘Just have your happily ever after Natalia, live that life you deserve and video chat me every once in a while.’

‘Of course Nika. How did things work out with Molly? She wasn’t hurt was she?’ Only Natalia would worry about the wellbeing of the person who almost destroyed her relationship and her life.

‘Oleg was pretty hurt, he wanted to have her killed,’ I laughed, knowing that he wasn’t joking, ‘but Alexander and I talked her down. We managed to get him to agree to break up with her, in turn the FBI cancelled her mission. Oleg also hacked into her computer and deleted every piece of evidence she had about all of us, she knows the truth, but the case wouldn’t have held up in court, so it seems we are safe for the time being.’

‘I’m glad, I-I do hope that Oleg is alright, I know how he felt about her.’

‘He’ll get over it, he has Alexander.’

‘True, and Alexander and Bri, how are they?’ she asked brightly.

‘Good, don’t quote me on this, but I think Alexanders going to propose!’ I smiled.

Natalia laughed, ‘That’s fantastic.’

I took a quick glance at my watch, realising that Leo would be here to pick me up at any moment.    

‘I must go, I have a funeral to get to.’

Her expression changed to a look of worry instantly, ‘A funeral?’ she asked, her eyes wide.

‘Stop worrying, the funeral is yours Kitten.’

‘Oh,’ she laughed, and I couldn’t help but join in, ‘Have fun at my funeral, sing a song for me, tell stories of my heroism’ she joked, ‘C-can you make sure that Leo is alright? I know we can’t tell him the truth, but can you give him a hug for me? He won’t know it was from me, just still’ I knew that she was beating herself up for hurting Leo. She knew that Oleg and Alexander would have each other, but Leo didn’t have anyone really.

I took a breath, summoning the courage for the question I was about to ask, ‘I will, oh and Natalia, is it alright if I ask out your brother?’

She suddenly looked angry, ‘You want to ask out Erik? After all of this?’

‘No!’ I laughed nervously, ‘I-I meant Leo’.

Leo had been so torn up after Natalia’s ‘death’ and we had gotten closer. I had developed feeling for him, to him I wasn’t just a pretty girl, I was his friend and he valued my opinion like no other man had in all my life.

‘You like Leo?’

I nodded, a smile on my lips.

‘Go get him tiger,’ she winked and I wished in that moment that I could hug her.

‘Love you Kitten, I’ll video chat you soon.’

‘Bye’ she blew a kiss to the camera before the screen went black.

I grabbed my purse, black to match my outfit, and was only a few steps away from the door when the doorbell rang.

‘Hi Leo,’ I said to the man as I opened the door. I wished that it would be appropriate to tell him that he looked nice. He wore an elegant, classical dark suit with a dark green tie, which emphasised out the flecks of green in his eyes. 

‘Hey Dominika,’ he said sadly.

I pulled him into the hug I had promised Natalia I would give him, pressing our bodies together. We seemed to fit like that, my arms around his waist and my face pressed lightly against his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around me.  

‘I miss her,’ he said quietly into my hair and I squeezed my arms tighter around his larger frame.

‘Let’s go celebrate her life,’ I said, pulling away. 'Wherever she is, there is no doubt in my mind that she is at peace.'

‘That’s a nice way to put it,' he smiled appreciatively at me before taking my hand. It felt nice, his warm, reassuring hand around mine and I smiled at him after looking at our intertwined fingers for a few moments.

‘My sister would absolutely kill me for doing this, but do you want to get dinner sometime?’

I smiled and opened my mouth to reply, but he blushed and continued, ‘I’m so sorry- here I am asking my sisters best friend out on the day of her funer-’

I stopped his rambling by pressing my lips to his and he responded, kissing me back. His lips were soft against my own, and it somehow felt like home.

‘I actually think that Natalia would be more for it than you might think,’ I said quietly, pulling away.

He smiled and nodded, squeezing my hand.

I locked the door and we walked towards the elevator, towards my best friend’s funeral, but the start of a new life for her and myself. As we walked, our linked hands swung between us, and for the first time since Natalia’s ‘death’ I actually thought that it would all be alright, that maybe I would get my happy ending.

Natalia’s POV

I had lived in the city my whole life, but now, looking around at the beach, the way that the water lapped at the sand and the way the slowly sinking sun seemed to make everything look more inviting and positive, I wondered how I had ever spent so much time in the city.

I was relaxing and tanning, the warm tropical sun heating my skin. I was clad in a white bikini, my now brown hair straight against my face.  

Dexter was at work, something he did not need to do with the amount of money we had, but he claimed that he wanted to do anyways.

I decided that I should go back to the house. I got up, collecting my laptop and walking the short distance from the beach to our home when I noticed that Dexter’s car was in the driveway. Our home was beautiful, it was old, but timeless. We had renovated it, painting over the fading walls of the home and creating something special. This was ours.

I practically ran into the house, excited to see my boyfriend after a long day of being without him, but I stopped in my tracks the moment I opened the front door.

Rose petals were spread along the hallway floor, almost as a trail, providing guidance. I stopped and picked one up, tossing it gently between my fingers before dropping it and following the trail. I walked through the house, where candles were lit along the ground, cementing my path. I placed my laptop on the table and out of the way before continuing to follow the path set out for me.

I followed it until I reached the back deck, where the entire place had been covered in red and white flowers and candles. The small table in the centre of the deck was covered in a white table cloth, a single box sitting in the centre. On one of the two white chairs which sat next to the table, was Dexter. He was wearing a dark suit, looking as handsome as ever. He had let his hair grow out a bit and light stubble covered his chin and jawline.  

His smile was wide as he stood, offering me his hand.

‘What is this?’ I laughed, looking around me. My words held my full Russian accent and I relished in the fact that I would never have to fake anything or pretend to be anything I wasn’t when I was around Dexter.

He didn’t say thing, instead he squeezed my hand and pulled me in for a kiss which ended way too soon.

‘Natalia Cherkesov,’ he said, pulling away, ‘You gave up your entire life for me. You chose me over everything else, and I need you to know that I choose you. I will always choose you. You’re my entire life and every day I wonder how I spent all those years without you, because now, I can’t even imagine spending a day without you. I love you Natalia.'

I wiped a stray tear from my eye, smiling brightly at him, ‘I love you too.’

He reached out behind him and pulled the small box into his hand. He slowly dropped to one knee and opened the box to reveal a diamond ring, ‘Natalia Cherkesov, will you marry me?’

I grabbed his hand, hoisting him to his feet before attacking his lips with my mouth. My hands rested on his chest while my fingers carded through his soft hair. He pulled away laughing, ‘I dropped the ring.’

‘Whoops,’ I laughed, kissing him again before stepping back. He bent down and picked up the ring box, which thankfully still contained the ring in question.

‘You never did answer me,’ he laughed, pulling the ring from its box.

I laughed, realising that I didn’t answer him, ‘Yes.’

That one word caused such a bright smile to cover his face that I think it could have been seen from space. ‘Thank-god because otherwise this would have been really embarrassing.’

I joined him in laughing before he slid the perfect ring onto my finger.

‘So, you’ll no longer be a Cherkesov.’

‘I think that’s the best part’ I smiled cheekily.

‘Oh and the best part isn’t waking up next to this gorgeous face every morning.’

‘That too,’ I smiled.

‘Oh god,’ he said, realisation hitting his features, ‘I literally have the worst father-in-law in history,’ he tried to keep a straight face but it didn’t work, ‘He actually tried to have me killed. I thought that people were exaggerating when they talked about how bad in-laws are. That will be one to tell the kids’

‘Well, at least I know you won’t have the nerve to cheat on me, I could just call up my father and tell him where you are,’ I mock threatened, giving him a cheeky smile.  

‘No need, I would never cheat on you anyway,’ He smiled.

‘So,’ I said causally, ‘Are we going to address that kid comment from before?’

‘Geeze Natalia, we only just got engaged and you already want to talk about kids,’ he said with fake annoyance as his arms threaded around my waist.

I shook my head, ‘I was being serious.’

‘We have our whole lives to figure all that out,’ he shrugged.

‘True, but just so you know, I’m not opposed to the idea.’

That made him smile, and he slowly lowered his head to meet my lips, but I pulled away at the last second, looking down.

‘I am in a bikini, this is not appropriate proposal wear,’ I laughed and by the smile on his face I assuming that he probably only now realised what I was actually wearing.

‘I don’t know, it’s white. You could wear it to the wedding too,’ He joked.

I giggled, pressing my body back up against his and kissing him with everything I had. His arms wrapped tighter around me, one sliding up my back to rest in my hair.

I wondered what a strange sight we would have been to anyone else. A man in a suit, making out on his back deck with a woman in a bikini. The deck in question, being covered in flowers and candles, yet it was perfect.

My life was perfect.

The End

Hi there! Thank-you so much for reading my story! I truly hope that you have enjoyed Natalia’s journey. If you’re saying to yourself, ‘Oh no! I have nothing to read now!’, then fear not! I have many other stories for you to read. Just go to my profile and you’ll be able to find my other works! Remember to Follow/Fan to get updates when I start new stories you might be interested in!