Kaylee watched the sun set over the horizon from the balcony of the home she had lived in for the past three months with Sark. It had all started with an offhand suggestion from her mother to take a little time as far away from Paris as she could get. And Newcastle, Australia was about as far as she could think of.

She hadn't thought twice about asking Sark to leave her mother's side and come with her. He didn't give it a second thought, either, and immediately packed up his things.

Kaylee hadn't spoken with her mother in all the months she's been gone. To her, it was easier that way. Easier to stay out of the business. Easier to forget Sydney and the father she had never met. Easier to imagine a life without deceit and deception. With Sark. Easier to live the lie than face the truth.

"I should have known you'd be out there," Sark said as he entered their penthouse suite.

"I watch the sunset every night. Of course you should have known," Kaylee said, turning to him with a smile. "How did your work go today?"

"Good, all things considered." Sark knew that Kaylee understood he still kept in contact with her mother. She knew that the business he conducted had something to do with her mother's organization. But she clearly never wanted to know what that connection was and what was happening in terms of the organization.

Keeping with her daily routine, Kaylee asked, "Everything okay?"

"Absolutely," Sark said pulling her from the balcony and into the room. "I missed you."

"You sure have gotten good at showing your emotions over the last few months," Kaylee said with a light laugh.

"What can I say?" Sark smirked. "I'm a changed man."

"So what's on the agenda for tonight? Did you still want to take me out to dinner?" she asked.

"Darling, that is what's been getting me through the day today. That and the thought of you wearing the new dress I picked out."

"The one you bought weeks ago and still haven't let me see?"

"That's the one." Sark motioned over to the closet. For the first time, Kaylee noticed the presence of a new garment bag. She squealed in delight and went running. "I'll leave you to your unwrapping. Try to be ready within the hour."

"I don't know," Kaylee said as she lightly fingered the material of the dress. "This dress might call for a lot more preparation than normal."

Sark simply smiled and walked out of the room.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Kaylee only kept him waiting for a few minutes past the hour he had given her to prepare. She just wanted everything to be perfect for him. He had been a lot more tense than normal the past couple weeks, and she knew he was really counting on this dinner to be a time where he could relax and let down his guard. She smiled at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. "This dress should be an ample enough distraction," she thought.

The under dress was simple black halter dress that stopped at her upper thigh. A very sheer, silky material was attached at the waist to fall down to her knees in the front and her mid calf in the back. It had a vague floral pattern embroidered in it with black thread. Kaylee had recognized it as a Miriam Mone almost immediately. She had no idea how Sark had found a dress by one of the most exclusive Irish designers here in Australia, and frankly she didn't care to know the length of trouble he went to to get it.

"You look fabulous," Sark said as he entered the bathroom. "I knew that dress would suit you perfectly."

"Thank you," Kaylee said with a smile. "Where are we going to eat?" She grabbed her purse off of the table by the door and allowed Sark to help her into her coat.

"It's a surprise." Sark smirked.

"I should have known. Wipe that damn smirk off of your face. I know you love having the upper hand with me, but could you please pretend like it's not that huge a deal?"

Sark smiled and wiped his face clear of any emotion. Kaylee laughed and let him lead her out of the hotel and into his Jaguar. She couldn't get him to buy any other type of car even if she wanted him too. It was his thing.

They drove for about half of an hour silently sitting next to each other holding hands. A lot of the time they had spent together lately had been in silence because of the pure fact that they didn't really need to say anything to keep the atmosphere comfortable. Both knew that some day soon they were going to have to leave the little paradise they'd created and return to the hectic world. They were content to just absorb everything they had at this moment without commenting on it.

"We're here," Sark whispered, breaking into Kaylee's thoughts. He opened the car door for her and offered his arm. She found herself staring out across Sydney Harbor all it up.

"Guillaume at Bennelong," Kaylee said softly. "Did you know that this was my favorite restaurant when I was little? My mother always used to bring me with her when she had business in Sydney so that we could go to the Sydney Opera House. It always made me feel like such a grown-up to be able to see an opera and then come and eat in such a fancy restaurant."

"I know," Sark said with a smile. He led her inside. She was surprised to realize that no one else was in the restaurant.

"What did you do, Andrew?" she asked with her mouth hanging wide open.

"I wanted tonight to be special for you. And that means eliminating anything that could distract you." He slid her coat off of her shoulders and handed it to the attendant. "What do you say about warming up that dance floor before we eat?"

Kaylee smiled and slid into an easy waltz with the man she loved. "This whole night already feels like a fairytale," she admitted.

"Good. That was the reaction I was going for."

"And are you my Prince Charming?" she teased.

"We'll see."

By the time she had finished with her meal, Kaylee still hadn't adjusted to the absolute perfection of the night. She couldn't believe that Sark could plan this whole thing without her knowing.

"You're good at this," she whispered taking in her surroundings for the millionth time.

He smiled and grasped her hand. "We'll see about that in a minute or two."

"Why?" she asked with an eyebrow arced in curiosity. "Are you planning on something?"

"You could say that." Sark reached into his pocket and seemed to be fishing for something. "I have something else I wanted to give you."


"Was the dress not enough of a present that you thought you needed to get me more?" she teased as she held out her hand expectantly. She was surprised when, instead of a box, he placed a key in her hand.

"What is this to?" she asked. It was too small to be a key to a car or anything of that sort.

"See that box over there?" Sark pointed to a table about ten feet over. On the table was a very intimidating lock box that looked like not even the world's best thief could break into.

"Do not tell me that you want me to help you find a way to disable the security system on that box so that you can open it! Because I might have to kill you for ruining the evening, Sark," she hissed.

"Back to calling me by my last name?" he said playfully. Sobering a little, he continued, "There are no security precautions on the box except the box itself. Go open it."

Kaylee had no idea what was going on. Sark always acted a little shady, but it never involved this much shadiness. Shooting him a look of pure bewilderment, she walked over to the box silently praying that it had nothing to do with Rambaldi or her mother.

The key slipped in rather easily, and she slowly turned it until she heard the satisfying click of a lock letting go of its position. She lifted the box top open, which wasn't the easiest feat considering it weighed about as much as it looked like it would. Whatever she expected to see in the box, it wasn't what was actually in there.

She looked at Sark in amazement and rather skeptically. Smiling at her, he stood up for his seat and slowly waltzed over to where she was. He reached into the box and removed the platinum two-carat round ring which had taken him over a week to track down.

"I love you, Kaylee Julia Derevko. I've never said those words to any other person in my life. And honestly, I never want to say them to anyone else. You threw my whole life upside down, and I didn't like it one bit. But it turns out that you knew what you were doing because you made my life ten times better than it ever was. I would warn you that being part of my life would put you in constant danger, but you already know that. Which is why I feel comfortable asking you to let me slip this ring on your finger. I love you now and I will love you for as long as there is one single breath in my body. Will you marry me?"

Kaylee was speechless. She had dreamed of a million different ways that this very scene may occur, but she never honestly believed it would. Sark was the least likely man to ever want to settle down with someone for life. Which is why she couldn't even find the strength to breath, let alone answer him.

Sark looked at her expectantly. Even though he was a naturally cocky person, he wasn't overconfident in this situation. He had learned enough in his life to know that nothing could ever be for certain when it came to huge life decisions such as this. Kaylee's hesitation wasn't helping him at all, either.

Kaylee forced herself to breath and take a closer look at the ring that was still in Sark's hand. She looked up at him for the first time since he had come over to her. She couldn't believe what she saw. He was biting his lower lip, and his cocky smirk was nowhere to be found. His eyes were desperately trying to read any sort of expression in her face.

"If I didn't know better, I think that you were nervous, Mr. Sark," she said flashing a smile. Knowing he was waiting patiently to hear an answer, she felt her throat begin to choke up, and her eyes filled with tears. She did manage to choke out a very soft "yes" before her emotions took over.

"Did you just say yes?" Sark asked in awe.

"Yes, I will marry you," she said as she felt the tears flow down her face. "There was never a doubt in my mind that you were the one I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. I knew from the very first moment I saw you." Sark smiled at her and slid the ring onto the hand. She stared down at it in wonder. "I just never thought this day would come."

"Me either," he said. He lightly touched her chin and turned it up towards his. Kaylee felt his lips lightly brush hers before igniting a passion they had both been building up. She couldn't comprehend the fact that she was kissing the man who wanted to be with her for the rest of his life.

Pulling away from him just a little, she look down at the ring he had slipped on her finger. "Wow" was all she could say.