DARK FAÏZ Book 3: Dawn never keeps its promises
Page 25
He froze. The woman he was madly in love with was there too. The young man, suddenly anxious, turned around gently, then stood up with his daughter in his arms, looking haggard. In a split second, he forgot the pain that had been with him for a while. She looked beautiful in her white tank top with her hair up, her shoulders showing. Faïz had dreamed so much of this moment. Zoe was mechanically fiddling with her fingers and clinging to her smile as charming as it was reassuring. A ball was blocking her throat as the emotion was strong for her too. The awful feeling of betrayal that had hugged her until now disappeared.
"See? I didn't forget to come back," she said insecurely, sticking her hands in the back pockets of her jeans.
Faïz put Georgia down on the ground and she went back to the staff. He drew Zoe against him and took her face in his hands to kiss her passionately.
After several seconds of hugging, she moved her face away from his and shook her head to come to her senses.
"Your parents are gonna be so mad when they find out we're in New York instead of Los Angeles for the birthday."
The young man, who couldn't keep his smile off his face, nodded, "We'll just have to go back to LA tomorrow."
Suddenly, a shadow of anxiety crossed his eyes, "You're staying in Los Angeles, aren't you?"
"YES," Zoe grabbed her beloved by the neck to bring him close to her.
A sparkle revived his dark eyes and sent a shiver down the spine of the young woman.
As he opened his mouth to confide his deepest feelings to her, the deep voice of a man caught his attention, "Hello."
Faïz immediately took his hands off of Zoe's hips and turned his head towards the person who seemed to come to him. Although he had never seen him before, he recognized certain features of his face: the same as those of his daughter. Bewildered, he cleared his throat and approached the man with the straight, solid build that naturally inspired respect.
"Mr. Reyes, it's a pleasure to meet you," stammered Faïz, intimidated.
The warm smile of his interlocutor split his face in two. The handshake between the two men finally filled Zoe, who was looking at the scene, with tenderness. Her father, with a wave of his hand, then invited her to join him.
"I'm happy to meet you," he continued. "I count on you to take care of my daughter."
"Georgia and she are the two most important people in my life. I hope one day I can deserve them. I'll watch over them every second of my life."
Zoe's father, touched by his words, stared at his daughter and sighed deeply, "Then I entrust her to you and you have my blessing if you ever consider..."
Embarrassed, I blushed slightly and turned my eyes away to my daughter, who was still in the middle of a conversation in front of a conquered audience.
"I intend to marry her, Mr. Reyes. I don't ever want to spend another day without Zoe."
Hearing these words, my gaze came to settle in Faïz's sincere pupils. The palm of my hand delicately caressed his cheek. This silent response seemed to suit him and give him back everything at the same time. This time, he would never leave me. From now on, it was the two of us or nothing. Us against the world. Us, quite simply.
EPILOG
Faïz entered the small room after abruptly opening the door. He suddenly froze when he saw Ray standing next to a solitary easel. The young man, on his guard, gently closed the door.
The spacious and nicely decorated place was bathed in the last rays of the afternoon sun thanks to its huge skylight. Faïz walked towards the oak desk, set up near the library.
"I didn't know you'd be at David's wedding," he said in a cautious voice. "I was looking for Julio and thought I'd find him here."
Ray sighed. He bulged out his chest and pretended to put his tie back in its place.
"I'm not staying! I just came to offer my congratulations to the newlyweds and it's done."
"But you haven't seen my parents nor Zoe and Georgia," the young man wondered.
His old friend shot him a penetrating glance. His eyes were surrounded by dark circles and his cheeks were extremely pale, and he still seemed to be in invincible pain. After a moment of reflection, Ray pronounced slowly:
"Tell them I said ‘hello.’ Ok?"
No emotion transpired in his voice and he continued to stare at Faïz insistently. The latter couldn't explain the strange feeling that ran through him at that moment. Very calmly, Ray continued, "I saw your daughter and Zoe earlier by the fountain. I'm happy for her, all her anger seems to have subsided. She finally forgave you. You have a nice little family now."
In front of the sly and icy tone of this one, Faïz's eyebrows came closer, "Have you forgiven me?"
His friend laughed and then bowed his head, looking serious, "I'm working on it, brother, I'm working on it."
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy and electric. The two young men looked at each other for a moment, then Faïz smiled amiably, slowly nodding. Before leaving, he laid his eyes on Ray's jacket, placed on the back of the office chair, "Nice jacket! The drawing on the back is quite surprising and very showy."
"It's a precious memory for me. Asarys bought it for me in Cartagena while I was trapped within four walls on Sefiros."
These words stung Faïz sharply, who immediately clenched his jaw. He glanced menacingly at his old friend as a sign of warning, then walked towards the door. Before crossing the threshold, the young man turned around to address him one last time, "The Maestro is no longer on Earth, we have defeated evil. You too should move on and enjoy this peace we never knew until now."
"You're wrong! Hell is empty, all the demons are here," Ray said in a low voice, "William Shakespeare was right."
When he found himself alone in the room, a high-pitched laugh echoed in his head. He closed his eyelids as tightly as he could.
"Shut up!" he grunted to silence the mind-numbing whispers in his skull that tortured him.
When he opened his eyes again, he walked quickly to get his jacket. Before putting it on, he stroked the drawing on the back. The immense dragon, as wonderful as it was terrifying, captivated Ray and fascinated him. It appeared alive so much it was realistic. This fearsome creature, with its sharp claws and teeth, capable of breathing fire, represented alone, the beauty of darkness. The demonic murmurs in his head promised to turn him into a powerful dragon, capable of bringing to his knees the man who had stolen the life of the woman he had loved so much.
Ray, with his soul darkened, left the room without turning around, an evil rustle in his head. He dragged behind him the shadow of death.
End
“Evil exists, but not without good, as the shadow exists, but not without light.” – Alfred de Musset
“One of the characteristics of our century is to corrupt the good, to the point of making it worse than mere evil.” –Felicity Robert de Lam
Follow me on Facebook : Romance passion addictive
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to all my readers for your messages and encouragement. Writing this trilogy took me a few years and I must admit that it hasn't been easy every day. Luckily, your support has always motivated me to continue this project and to keep at it. You have contributed considerably to making this dream a reality.
A special thanks to Kimberose (French singer) even though she will never know how her songs helped me in writing and fed my thoughts.
To my parents, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything you bring into my life.
Thanks to all my beta-readers on Wattpad who believed in this project very early on and encouraged me to publish the first volume. To my two proofreaders, Marine and my mom, who were there from the beginning and who worked hard to make your reading easier.
= " -webkit-filter: grayscale(100%); -moz-filter: grayscale(100%); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share