Chapter 29 - Realized

Chloe stood watching the sunset. Her thoughts became one with the ocean. It felt as though the wind was lifting the weight off her shoulders and sweeping it to the ocean. This is why she loved the ocean. She felt at peace. After hours of listening to her phone blow up, she was finally able to get her thoughts straight. She finally knew what she needed to do. She walked back to her car and sat for a second. She then pressed dial on her phone. When the other line answered, a thick, worried, familiar voice came across, almost yelling. "Chloe, where are you? Are you okay? Tell me where you are, and I'll come get you. I'm not sure what happened, but we can talk this through. Please, say something." Chloe took a deep breath, smiled, and spoke calmly. "Baby, I apologize for causing everyone to worry. I'm headed back home now. I'll meet you there. I had a lot on my mind, and I will tell you everything when I get home. Okay?" " How far away are you?" "About an hour. I will be okay. Talk to you later." "Chloe wait!" With that, Chloe hung up the phone. She knew Brian wasn't happy with her disappearing like that, but she needed to clear her head.

Meanwhile, Brian sank into the couch and let out a loud sigh of relief. "She is okay and headed back home." He spoke to Ryan and Sam who rushed over as fast as they could after searching for her for almost two hours. "Where was she? Did she say what happened?" Sam gave Brian an aggressive tone, almost demanding answers. "No, she didn't say. Just that she was okay and headed home, she said she would explain everything when she gets here." Brian looked a little worried. He wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about or what could have been on her mind so bad that she would just disappear like that. He wanted to call her back and demand answers, but he was afraid that she would disappear from his life if he did. "Thank you guys for coming over. If you don't mind, I would like to speak to her privately. I'll call Ryan later and let you both know what happened." Sam gave a disapproving look while Ryan nodded and grabbed her hand and headed for the door. "No problem boss. We have plans anyways. Let's go Baby." Sam wanted to stay but when he Ryan called her Baby like that her heart fluttered and her feet followed behind him like a love-struck teen.

Brian was left alone and pacing back and forth waiting for Chloe's return. About an hour later the front door opened and in stepped Chloe. "Baby, I'm s..." Before she could finish her words, Brian had run up and scooped her into a hug. "I was so worried about you. I'm glad to see you are safe." He kissed her lips. Not wanting to let her go he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. She was quiet. Mostly because she was admiring how much this man loved her. She had never felt such love from another man before. He laid her on the bed. Then he spoke firmly to her. "Now speak, tell me what has you so bothered that you couldn't even call me. I don't know how many times I have to tell you to rely on me. It worried me. We had an amazing night together and then today you disappear on me. What am I supposed to think?" Chloe looked at him with a loving smile; a tear rolled down her face. She was happy to have this man in her life and sad because he was right. She should have contacted him; she made him worry too much. She spoke softly to him, not wanting to upset him and not sure how to tell him everything. "I'm sorry, Baby. After getting a long bath this morning, I received a call from Sally. She asked if I could meet her at the hospital. She had something important to talk about. I went, thinking she may need a friend right now because of everything. When I got there, she talked about how she felt Phillip's suicide was staged. She said he would never have left his suicide note about me. She felt he was really beginning to move on. She said whoever killed him must have been able to pay off the police department to cover things up. Also, She said she would get to the bottom of it and make his killer pay for what they have done." Chloe paused to view Brian's reaction. He seemed unphased and still looked at her with care in his eyes. Waiting for her to finish her story, he nodded, so she knew to continue.

"When I heard this, I tried to tell her that from what the police told me and what the report showed, it was a suicide. The reason he wrote the note for me was because of the harm he had caused me. He was apologizing for the crap he pulled. She didn't believe me and continued to say he was killed. That no matter what, she will find evidence of foul play. When she does that person will pay. After leaving the hospital, my mind was so full of questions. All about what would happen to you. What if she were to find something and it led back to you? What would happen? How could I stop this from happening? Then my mind went to, 'Did I make the right choice?' Being with you, I mean. It jumped from one thought to another. Before I realized it, I was at the beach sitting and listening to the waves crash on the shore. After sitting and letting the ocean take my problems away with every crash it made to shore, I was able to come to one conclusion." She sat up and grabbed ahold of Brian's hand. His face looked hurt, almost as though he didn't want to hear the next part. "I realized I love you, and for that, I will trust you and walk through fire with you. I would give you my life if I needed to because you are worth everything this world has to offer and more. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe as you would for me. I'm done letting people walk over me. I refuse to stand by when others show you ill intentions. I want to be by your side as your queen to this ruthless empire of a world." When Chloe finished speaking, she kissed Brian passionately wanting to express how much she loved him and wanted to give him everything. Brian was no longer upset. He was overjoyed and kissed her back, pushing her to the bed; their bodies became entangled into one. He has done everything to express how much he loved her and, until now, questioned how much she loved him. However, there were no more questions...only their love for one another. He wanted her and didn't want to share her with anyone. She was his.