Chapter 5 - The Harbor Breeze
An hour later, Marcus and I slipped away from the music and laughter to stand on the hotel’s private terrace.
The cool evening breeze rolled off the Mississippi Sound, carrying the clean, sharp scent of salt water and jasmine.
Maya was inside, happily dancing in circles with her cousins under the watchful eye of my Aunt Evelyn.
I leaned my back against the carved stone balustrade, watching the moonlight dance across the dark water.
Marcus stood beside me, taking off his tuxedo jacket and draping it gently over my bare shoulders.
"Are you all right?" he asked softly, tucking a loose lock of hair behind my ear.
"I know seeing him wasn't part of the plan tonight."
I looked at my husband, feeling a wave of warmth and gratitude that had nothing to do with revenge.
"I’m more than all right, Marcus," I replied, pulling his jacket tighter around me.
"For five years, I carried a tiny, lingering question in the back of my mind."
"I used to wonder if I had done something wrong, if I had somehow failed to be enough for him."
Marcus’s jaw tightened slightly, his eyes filled with fierce protectiveness.
"You were always more than enough, Sienna. He was just too blind to see what was standing right in front of him."
"I realized that tonight," I smiled, reaching up to touch his cheek.
"When he told me that leaving me was his best decision, I didn't feel hurt. I felt profound relief."
"Because if he hadn't walked away, I never would have met you. I never would have known Maya."
Marcus leaned down, his lips meeting mine in a deep, tender kiss that erased every lingering ghost of my past.
His kiss carried the promise of safety, devotion, and a future built on mutual respect and unconditional love.
When he pulled back, a mischievous glint sparkled in his steel-blue eyes.
"By the way, did I mention that our private yacht is docked at slip forty-two right below this terrace?"
"Is it?" I laughed softly.
"Captain says the engines are warm," Marcus whispered against my ear.
May you like
"We can let Maya fall asleep in the master cabin and cruise back across the bay under the stars."
"That sounds like perfection," I agreed, taking his hand as we turned back toward the glowing ballroom.
