CHAPTERS 31, 32 & 33 HAVE BEEN UPLOADED TOGETHER. READ CHAPTERS 31 & 32 BEFORE THIS.

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^Play the song above please. It's so beautiful.
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"So take a look in that mirror and remind yourself to be happy because you deserve to be.
Believe that.
And believe that dreams come true every day.
Because they do."

~~

Life is funny.

Sometimes when you want something too badly, you picture it over and over again in your head. You imagine your dream coming true and you imagine the joy you would feel if it did.

But that's the thing about miracles.

You don't actually expect them to happen.

And when they do, all you can feel in that moment is disbelief and shock.

As I gazed at the man standing in front of me, I knew I was witnessing a miracle.

Either that or I was going insane.

I pinched the palm of my hand.

"This is not a dream. Trust me, I have pinched myself enough for the two of us." His voice broke in.

His voice.

The voice I had longed to hear for the past four years.

"Is it really you?" I whispered, tears pricking my eyes.

His eyes drifted shut, like he couldn't quite believe that he was hearing my voice.

That's when I lost it.

I flung myself at him, my hands clasping his body desperately, afraid that he would disappear again if I let go.

"I missed you so much." I sobbed into his chest.

Familiar arms wrapped around me. I'd almost forgotten the warmth of his embrace.

"I missed you too tesoro. It was almost too much to bear." His voice broke.

I finally lifted my head to look at him. "How is this even possible? I held you, I saw you-" My voice wavered. I couldn't even bring myself to finish the sentence.

He nodded. "I'll tell you everything. I'll explain." He guided me to the sofa, "but you need to sit down first."

We made ourselves comfortable on the sofa and sat down facing each other.

I reached for his hand and entwined my fingers with his.

"Tell me everything."

He brushed his lips against my hand gently.

An all too familiar shiver ran up my spine at the brief contact.

He felt the same but he looked different. He'd lost weight so he was thinner than before. His hair was longer and he'd grown a beard.

Sebastian's face suddenly became solemn. Pain flashed in his eyes.

I held my breath waiting for him to speak.

"The doctors said it was a miracle." He finally murmured, his eyes growing distant. "They don't know what happened for sure, they're assuming it was autoresuscitation." He took a deep breath. "To make it simple, my heart restarted itself after it had stopped."

My eyes widened in shock. "How did you manage to escape the authorities for so long? They would have thrown you in prison for the rest of your life if they caught you." I gasped. "Are you a fugitive?"

Sebastian laughed softly. "Please let me finish, all your questions will be answered, I promise." He brushed his knuckles against my face affectionately.

His face grew serious once more. "I know you're confused, so let me clarify, I was alive but barely and I wasn't conscious. I had lost too much blood. When they got me to the hospital, it was late, it was a miracle I slipped into a coma instead of dying."

I swallowed thickly, my eyes prickling with tears. "A coma?" I whispered.

He nodded. "I was in a coma for eight months."

Tears started trailing down my cheeks. "Oh, Sebastian. I wouldn't have left if I'd known. Warren told me that y-" I stopped short when a realization suddenly dawned on me.

"What about Warren? You're telling me that Warren didn't know that you were alive?"

"Not until you were already gone. He tried to look for you when he found out, Angelica. But you had already left and we had no idea where you'd gone, it could have been anywhere in the world. He couldn't use the government's resources and risk them finding out that I was alive." Sebastian's expression saddened.

"You said you were in a coma for eight months, what happened after that?" I asked softly.

He swallowed, I could tell that talking about it was hard for him.

"The first thing you need to understand is that Sebastian Alfonsi was declared dead that day. I had no ID on me when I was taken to the hospital so no one knew who I was. When Warren discovered that I was actually alive he kept that to himself. He listed himself as my emergency contact, so when I regained consciousness he was the one who was contacted. He got me a new identity and a passport and told me to get out of the country as soon as I could. No one except Warren knew that I wasn't dead, so no one ever bothered to search for me." He squeezed my hand tightly. "You need to believe me, Angelica, when I tell you that you were all I thought about when I came back. I searched for you relentlessly, even though Warren told me he'd tried every possibility."

"I believe you" I whispered as I squeezed his hand back.

"It was hard, coming back from a coma, I had to teach myself how to talk again, how to walk, how to eat. I stayed with Warren. I don't know how to repay that man for everything he's done for me." His voice wavered with emotion but he continued to speak. "I left Italy and went to the USA once I was capable of being on my own. I was hoping that maybe you'd gone back to where you had come from, I searched for you for six months before finally giving up hope." He shuddered.

I rubbed my thumb against his knuckles comfortingly.

He took a deep breath. "I kept thinking, how you were living somewhere in this world working for the life you wanted, striving to be the person you had dreamed of being. And I kept thinking how you would want me to do the same, how you'd want me to be the best version of myself." He smiled. "I told you once that I had to give up on my dream of becoming a doctor when Matteo died. I didn't have the money or resources to get into med school but I realized that my dream wasn't to be a doctor, it was to help people and ease other people's pain. So I got my EMT Certification and became a paramedic. A few months in, I heard that there was a team heading to Africa to set up a medical camp, it seemed like a perfect opportunity so I volunteered to go with them. I had been working in Africa with the US medical team for almost two years before I came here, yesterday."

For a moment I was speechless. It took me a while to process everything he'd told me.

He'd been in a Coma for eight months and then gone to America once he was awake.

He'd become a certified paramedic and then traveled to Africa with a volunteer Medical team.

"Wow," I whispered, completely awestruck at what he'd managed to accomplish.

I felt a surge of pride.

I had always known that Sebastian was capable of great things.

I had always known that he had a good heart.

"I'm so proud of you," I murmured as I pressed a tender kiss against his jaw.

He inhaled sharply but then his whole face softened.

"Aren't you going to ask me how I got here, to you?" He finally murmured.

I encircled my arms around his neck and pressed my forehead against his. "To be honest, I don't care about how you got here, all I care about is that you're here with me now."

His arms went around my waist as he dragged me closer, till we were pressed against each other. His head came to rest against the crook of my neck and he inhaled deeply. For a moment we stayed like that.

Finally, he leaned back. His gentle eyes studied me. "I'm glad you feel this way, mia cara. But trust me, you need to know the end. It's the best part of this story."

I raised my eyebrows at him in question. "Well, now I'm curious. Please tell me."

His gaze grew intense. His thumb traced my lips.

"You know, I always despised fate." He murmured. "Fate had always been a curse to me but six months ago, that changed." His hand cupped my cheek tenderly. "Remember when I told you about my brother Matteo's wife, Ellie?"

I nodded. "I remember every word. You told me about her and your nephew Adrian. I've often wondered about them." My eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, what does Ellie have to do with this?"

Sebastian smiled. "Ellie and I exchange emails occasionally. A year ago Ellie told me about a new friend she'd made, she told me that her new friend would be the perfect woman for me. She wanted me to talk to her friend, but I couldn't, I couldn't even think about another woman after you."

"I don't understand," I whispered.

Sebastian leaned closer, till his nose brushed against mine and our breaths mingled. "Six months ago, Ellie tried her match-making again. Only this time she attached a picture of her friend with the email."

My breath hitched. The puzzle pieces started falling into place.

"At first, I thought I was dreaming. It couldn't be you, sitting with Ellie and Adrian, smiling so brightly at the camera. My cursed fate could never gift me such a miracle. To be honest, I hadn't truly accepted it till I saw you walking towards me looking as beautiful as ever." He murmured. "Even now I find myself fearing that this is a dream."

I was in a state of shock. "You mean to tell me, that Nora, my Nora, is your sister-in-law Ellie? And that Ryan is your nephew Adrian?"

Sebastian nodded. "When they left, I made sure to get them new identities so they couldn't be found and be dragged back into that hell-hole again."

I suddenly felt a stab of hurt pierce my chest. "Did Nora know-"

"No, she didn't, she still doesn't," Sebastian answered quickly. "When I saw your photo, it was the best day of my life Angelica. I packed all my things and booked the next plane to Paris. But when I called Nora she told me that you weren't ready to see anyone. That you were still healing from a tragedy from your past."

My back stiffened. I felt a spark of anger. "You know that was different! You were the loss I was mourning. If I had known it was you-"

Sebastian pressed a soft kiss to my lips to silence me. "I know you must be angry, mia cara, but please listen to me."

I swallowed down the anger I was feeling.

I needed to hear him out, to let him explain, before losing my temper and behaving irrationally.

I gave him a small nod, indicating for him to continue.

He squeezed my hand gently as if to reassure me.

"Angelica, it took everything in me to not get on that plane and come to you. But it was the right thing to do. I knew you would have taken me back, I knew you still weren't over my death. But you know what stopped me?" His eyes searched mine expectantly. "There was this voice inside my head that kept saying that the first time you'd chosen me, you'd been hungry, without a roof over your head, and mourning a loved one's death. You fell in love with me when you were at your lowest. At that point, all you'd gotten from life was pain and suffering and I'd been the first person to show you a little kindness."

My lips trembled, and my eyes grew blurry with tears once more.

His eyes were gentle. "The first time you never had a choice. I was the one person in your life who cared for you. The second time I wanted to make sure that you did have a choice. I wanted to make sure that you chose me when you had everything you ever wanted. I wanted you to choose me when you were independent and successful, and happy and complete." He pressed his lips against my forehead. "So I waited for you to be ready to love again because this is how love is supposed to be."

Tears trailed down my cheeks but for the first time in my life, they were happy tears.

"We're survivors, you and I." I whispered. "I feel like we're both different people now, aren't we?"

"Different but exactly the same." He breathed.

His lips finally met mine in an achingly soft kiss.

My hands grasped the back of his neck and he cupped my jaw.

The kiss was slow and gentle.

Like we had all the time in the world.

~~

For a moment I just stood and watched him.

It was something out of a dream.

Sebastian was standing in my apartment, my living room, in front of the floor-length window, looking outside. He had taken off his shoes and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt

"Vincenzo, huh?" I teased as I walked up to him and slipped my arms around him, my head resting against his back.

His body relaxed as he leaned into me.

"Vincenzo Moretti. Warren chose the name for me." He chuckled, the muscles in his back vibrating as he did so.

"It's a nice name," I murmured but my voice got muffled against his shirt. "I like your new look too, you look good with a beard."

He finally unclasped my hands from around himself and turned to look at me.

"You should know, mia cara, I don't have much money, no house, most of the work I do is volunteer work so I don't have a steady source of income." He sounded so nervous and serious that I had to bite my lips to keep from smiling.

He really thought that mattered to me.

That he wasn't everything I wanted?

Nothing mattered to me as long as he was with me.

I nudged him with my shoulder. "Well, in case you haven't heard, I'm the head chef at Septime. I earn enough for the both of us." My expression softened. "And even if I didn't have a single penny, I would still choose you."

I kissed his neck.

I smiled when I felt his breath hitch.

I started trailing open-mouthed kisses along his neck towards his jaw. His beard tickled the tip of my nose.

I nipped the very edge of his lips.

His chest vibrated in a groan.

Our heated gazes collided. The air in the room turns electric.

A yelp escaped my lips when I felt myself being hoisted up. My legs automatically wrapped around his waist, arms encircling his neck. He gave me a smirk before heading in the direction of my room.

Our room.

Once we were inside, he kicked the door shut with his foot.

He hoisted me up against the door. His hands against my back shielded me from the hard wooden surface.

I leaned forward and dragged my tongue up the hollow of his throat.

His eyes turned dark. Pupils dilating.

His lips crashed against mine. Wild and hungry.

Like he wanted to devour me.

His tongue coaxed my lips open and tangled with mine. I tilted my head to deepen the kiss.

His hand grasped my calf and hitched my leg higher and my hips thrust up slowly, making his body press harder against mine. I moaned.

His arms tightened around me. His lips finally left mine and I gasped for air. He started trailing open-mouthed kisses down the column of my throat.

He set me down gently and my eyes fluttered open.

"I love you." He murmured before pressing a soft kiss to my lips. "I love you. I love you. I love you." He whispered again and again in between kisses. "It used to kill me inside to think that I never got a chance to say it to you in person."

"I love you, Sebastian," I whispered.

The look on his face was one of absolute happiness.

I realized that this was the first time he was actually hearing me say that I loved him.

"To me you are love. Before you, I didn't know what love was." I smiled through my tears. "I will love you forever."

His lips found mine again and I sighed in contentment.

My hands unbuttoned his shirt and he shrugged it off.

He took a step back from me and at first I was confused.

But then I realized what he wanted me to see.

My lips broke into an awestruck smile at the beauty of it.

The tattoo was still there. Sprawled across his chest.

It had represented his life's purpose once.

It still did.

Only now it read,

'Amore prima di tutto'

Love before all.

~~

~END~

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10/21/2020

The day I finished When Storms Collide. This date will forever have a special place in my heart.

To everyone who has been a part of this amazing journey THANK YOU.

Your support is the reason I had the courage to write this story and had the motivation to finish it.

I loved writing this book, every single part of this book has a special place in my heart. This is my favorite book out of all the books I've written so far and the one I'm most proud of.

Thank you to everyone who believed in me and read my story. Thank you for your kindness and your love.

I'll be posting the Epilogue soon!