by Sam Crescent
Benjamin liked it, but even after a week here, he wasn’t talking to Wolfe. They had to hire him a tutor while she dealt with finding him a school. Benjamin was pissed at Wolfe for fighting with Ryan, and for the town turning on them. At least Ryan hadn’t continued with an assault charge, and they’d been able to move away without drawing too much attention to themselves.
Their home back in the town had already been put on the market, and Wolfe arranged for their furniture to be put into storage until they could find a place.
She hadn’t even looked at homes to buy, let alone rent.
The tutor they hired for Benjamin came in every single day.
Miss Bernard had called her because the dress shop had also been closed down; Wolfe’s doing, not hers. She agreed to finish the woman’s dress for her. There was only a couple of days’ worth of work.
Being in Wolfe’s home though, it wasn’t what she wanted.
This was his space, not hers.
There were no personal touches.
The place had been decorated, but he didn’t even have a single picture. Since they arrived at the city, Wolfe had to leave to attend his business, and she was left alone, in a large penthouse apartment.
“It could be worse,” Alice said, one evening.
They’d opened up a bottle of wine and were happily drinking the contents. Mary had taken Benjamin again to give her some space to look for schools. She didn’t want her son tutored. School and being part of a classroom were important, at least she always believed it had been.
She had been in class, and sure, she’d been subjected to bullying, but it hadn’t been that bad. There were a lot of good memories for her, and she wanted the same for her son.
“Yes, it could be worse. I’m back in my husband’s apartment, who I wanted to divorce on the grounds of the fact we’d been separated a long time. I’m now living with him. How will I even get a divorce now? I’m living with him, Alice.”
“What about adultery?”
She shook her head. “I can’t use it.”
“Why? Because there’s no evidence? Please, I bet that man has got a ton of evidence for you to use.”
“He didn’t cheat on me.”
“What?”
“In the five years we were apart, he didn’t sleep with anyone else.”
“How do you know that?”
“He told me.”
“And you want to believe him?”
“Why not?”
“He’s lied to you before.”
Rachel shrugged. “I know, but this was different.”
“He had everything to gain by lying to you.”
“It’s weird, but I do believe him,” she said. “There’s no reason for him to lie. He’d already come to live with me by then.” She laughed. “I have no chance of ever getting this divorce.”
“Don’t bite my head off or anything, but do you even want a divorce?”
“Of course I do. Why would you think I wouldn’t?” she asked.
“I don’t know. You did love him. Are you telling me now without a shadow of a doubt, you’ve fallen out of love with him?” Alice poured her another glass of wine.
Rachel opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, and frowned. “I hate you right now.”
“You still love him.”
She pressed her lips together.
“It’s still only the two of us here, Rachel. You and me. Tell me the truth, do you love Wolfe?”
Rachel sighed. “This is embarrassing.”
“No, it’s not. I’m your sister, and I won’t tell another soul.”
“Oh, please, you’ll tell Mary the first chance you get. I know the two of you, and you’ve both probably got a bet on when I’ll cave and give in to Wolfe.”
“We do have a bet. Not on when you’ll cave and become Wolfe’s love slave, but on you admitting the fact you’ve never fallen out of love with him. I know you liked to spew all that garbage about not finding a man because you were married. Please, honey, you and I both know, if you didn’t love Wolfe, you’d have done everything in your power to get rid of the man. You’re not a fucking fool.”
Rachel stood up and walked to the kitchen.
“You don’t have to run away.”
Rachel threw her wine in the sink and turned to look at her sister. She knew she was going to cry and she tried to contain the tears, but it was no use. Her emotions were all over the place.
“Yes,” she said.
“Rachel, honey, you don’t have to cry.”
“But I can’t seem to help it.” The first tear fell down her cheek, and she swiped it away, angry with herself for even crying. This wasn’t what she wanted. “I love him so much, and I know I really shouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s an asshole. He will do whatever the hell he wants for himself, and he doesn’t care about anyone else. Look at what he was willing to do. He married me because of a damn place on the board. I couldn’t give a fuck about my father’s business. I don’t really know what it is he does.” She burst out laughing. “I’m clueless about it all. Yet, Wolfe was willing to marry me in order to get it. I’m as useful as a seat. He will never feel the same way about me.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I do. Wolfe will never love me. He will never care about me. Not the way I do him. Even after everything we’ve been through. He threatened to take my son away because I wanted a clean slate away from him, and look, I still love him.”
“You need to stop worrying about every tiny detail. So you love an asshole. I’m sure you’re not the first woman to fall for a guy who’s a little, you know, out there.”
“I don’t even know why I moved in here with him. I hate this place,” she said. “It’s so cold.”
“Turn the heating up then,” Alice said.
“It’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. I’m really not good company right now.”
“It’s fine. You’ve moved from one house to the other. You have a right to be a little pissy.”
She rubbed at her temple. “Thank you, for being here, and for everything.”
“You’re going to cry again.”
“I know. Give me a minute. I’ve got to get myself under control.”
“Do you mind me turning your TV on while I wait?” Alice asked. “I don’t like sitting around doing nothing.”
“Sure, go ahead, have at it,” she said, rushing toward the bathroom.
She didn’t know why she was crying so much. There was no reason for her to cry or to be this emotional. She should be more than fine. Perfectly fine.
Turning on the water, she splashed some on her face.
Living with Wolfe wasn’t as bad as she originally thought it would be. He was trying to make this work with her, which was more than she ever believed he was capable of. For five years she’d thought the worst of him, and why not? He didn’t mince his words when she wasn’t in the room.
He wanted that place on the board, and she didn’t even know why.
Grabbing a towel, she dried her face and looked at herself in the mirror.
“You’re going to be fine. All of this, it’s going to be fine. You’ve got nothing to worry about.” She released a breath, but it didn’t feel true.
There was a knock on the bathroom. “Sweetie, you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You really need to come out and see this.”
“What?”
“I can’t tell you. You really need to come and see this, Rachel. Come on.”
Frowning, she opened the door to see Alice right there. “I got a text from Mary and she told me to turn on the news. The entire video has gone complete viral.”
“Video?”
“You’ll see.”
Following Alice back to the siting room, the large screen showed Wolfe.
“Tonight, well, it’s not Valentine’s Day, but there is love in the air as we bring you the latest video that is going viral. You a
re looking at a confrontation with another man. The Wolfe Montgomery, multi-millionaire, and as you all may remember, he is also married to the elusive Rachel Parker, now Rachel Montgomery. For years we have had rumors of a seemingly bad dispute between the two that has always been covered up with one story or another. It would seem there wasn’t always love in paradise, but now the couple are together once again, and Wolfe is not willing to let her go. Let’s play the video of the day.”
Wolfe stood in front of Ryan’s house and someone was filming it, but clearly Wolfe didn’t know because he never once looked at the camera.
“I love the blue of her eyes. They’re like an open book to the woman inside. She cannot hide what she thinks or feels, even as she tries so hard to do exactly that. Her laughter. I missed it so much. It’s infectious, and even if you’re having a really fucking shitty day, hearing her laugh, you know everything is going to be okay. She’s on this planet, and knowing that, you can’t hate the world, or what it represents. She wants to be completely loved by someone, and she is. She just doesn’t know it yet. I love my wife more than anything else in the world, and you know, I am a fuck-up. A giant, stinking fuck-up, but I will do anything for her, because even though she doesn’t realize it, she owns my heart. My entire life is linked to hers, which is why I won’t let her go. If you think these past five years have been easy for me, you’re wrong. They’ve been the hardest of my life because she realized what an asshole I am, and well, rather than step out of my comfort zone, I let her believe it. I am an asshole, but with Rachel, I couldn’t hurt her.”
“That’s right, folks, Wolfe Montgomery has just confessed his very soul, and we are all wishing we’re Rachel right now.”
“I had no idea I was being filmed,” Wolfe said.
Rachel spun around, and there was her husband. It had been raining outside, and he was soaked.
“Wolfe.”
“I’ll, erm, give you guys some privacy,” Alice said. She clicked off the television and rushed out of the room.
“Did you mean all of that?” Rachel asked.
“Every single word. I didn’t lie once. I am in love with you, Rachel. I have been for a long time. I was too fucking blind and stupid to see it.” He stepped closer to her and cupped her face. “I wasted so much time not coming after you. Not telling you the truth.”
“What truth?”
“At first you were a means to an end. I wanted the spot on the board, but I don’t know what it is you did to me. Little by little, I fell in love with you, and I haven’t been able to get over you. I haven’t wanted to get over you. I love you so fucking much. I don’t want to go on living without you, or without Benjamin.”
“Why was the board’s position so important to you?” she asked. “I need to know why you did the things you did without even asking me?”
He pressed his head to hers and sighed. “Your father is known for buying places on the board and tearing them up, selling them down. He takes the best parts of each company, and sells off what he doesn’t like.”
“Isn’t that what you do?”
“Not exactly. I expand any potential company I can see with a bright future but bad decisions. Your father, he was interested in places I knew with a little time and effort, they could bring in so much more rewards. Being on the board, it gave me leverage and an opportunity to stop him ruining the lives of others.”
“Wow,” she said. “You’re actually a good guy, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not.”
She chuckled. “I think you’re lying to yourself. You’re a good guy.”
“There are a lot of people in this world who’d disagree.”
“You love me?”
“Yes.”
“I love you too. I tried so hard to hate you. I wanted to hate you, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t hate you at all, and I really did.”
“I’m not going to complain about you not hating me.”
She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Will you still be divorcing me?” he asked.
“Not a chance. You meant every single word, and I know you did. I saw the look in your eye. I’ve seen it when you’re determined to get something you want. You were fighting for me, and I’ve never had you do that before.”
He ran his hands down her back, moving up to cup the back of her neck. “I will always fight for you, always.”
He slammed his lips down on hers, and she moaned. He sank his fingers into her hair, and she groaned against him, wanting more, so much more, but he suddenly pulled away.
“Wait, wait,” he said.
“What?”
“I didn’t use a condom any of the times we were together.”
“So?”
“You could be pregnant.”
“I know.”
“You know.”
“I’m not stupid. I know how you get babies, and I know what we did, I just … I wanted you, and I was willing to take the risks. It made me realize it didn’t matter how much space we had apart, I wasn’t going to ever be able to fall out of love with you. You’re my soul mate, Wolfe. For now and forever.”
Epilogue
Five years later
“Sir, your wife is here to see you,” Denise said.
Wolfe looked up from his work just as his wife, the love of his life, the mother of his three children ,and reason for living walked into the room. The video taken of him confessing his love and baring his soul never went away. He didn’t want it going either. His feelings for Rachel, he wanted the world to know. Especially as no one could ever deny his love for her. Since he’d won her back, their relationship had gone from strength to strength.
He had gotten her pregnant, and she’d given birth to a little girl, Laura. Two years later they had another baby, Jade, and he couldn’t have been happier with his little family.
Rushing from behind his desk, he embraced his wife, kissing her lips as she let out a sigh. He never got tired of hearing that.
They’d been married for ten years but only truly together for five. They wouldn’t be celebrating their ten-year anniversary but their fifth in just a couple of weeks.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked.
“Nothing. Alice and Mary are looking after the kids, and I wanted to come and see you.”
“Wait, I thought your sisters were away on vacation.”
“They were. They came back early so you and I could finally go on our honeymoon. Do you think you can skip work a little earlier today, do you think?”
“Skip work? Are you crazy? I can’t do that. I’ve got nothing more important than taking my wife on our honeymoon, ten years after when I should have taken her.”
She let out a little giggle as he picked her up. Rather than lead her outside, he spread her out over his desk.
“What are you doing to me, Mr. Montgomery?” she asked.
“Whatever I want, wife of mine. I love you more than anything in the world, and you know I’m never going to let you go.”
“Good, because I’m exactly where I want to be.”
He had found his reason for existing, and he wasn’t going to lose it, not again. There was no way he’d fuck this up. For the next fifty-plus years, Rachel would be his, and he would cherish her always.
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BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER
BIKER BULLY
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2019
Sample Chapter
Chloe Decker
sat on the park bench outside of school, waiting for her father to pick her up. She didn’t know why she bothered waiting for him. It wasn’t like he ever showed up on time. More often than not, he forgot, but that’s what she got all the time from her dad. Her father, Kurt, was none other than a Satan’s Crew MC lackey. They would never give him prospect status. Whenever she was near any of the MC club members, she always heard the lingering insults of “coward” thrown his way.
She tried hard to spend as little time as possible around the club. It helped that her mother didn’t like it and would often avoid the family gatherings her father kept trying to pull them into.
“Look at it, if it’s not fatty Chloe sitting on the bench. I bet the wood will bend and snap.”
Chloe stared down at her book. She didn’t need to look up to see it was Alfie Pace and his other MC brat goonies who were near her. They liked to take their time making her life a misery, and she had no doubt it was because of who her father was.
Ignoring them was easy. Most of the time they moved on, but not today.
Today she had a banana skin thrown at her, and she groaned, getting off the bench. She didn’t need to wait for her dad. He was supposed to be taking her out to get new boots, but she’d rather walk home than have to put up with this kind of crap.
“What’s the matter, fatty? Don’t want to eat it? Shouldn’t a fatty eat everything that’s thrown at her?”
Forcing herself to look up, she stared into Alfie’s sharp blue eyes. She hated this guy more than anything else in the world. For as long as she could remember, he’d been mean to her. He never had a nice thing to say to her, and part of her often wondered if he thought he was better than she was.
His father, Eagle, was the president of the Satan’s Crew MC, and he was a merciless bastard. She’d seen him hit his son a few times. One of the first times she saw Alfie, he’d been thrown across his father’s knee and spanked so hard. He’d screamed the clubhouse down until he finally apologized for whatever misdemeanor he’d done.