Two Nights in Paris
Page 21
“But of course I want you back. You were a great fashion director. You’re good at your job, you have a great eye, and I trust your judgment.”
“But what will people think?”
“About what?”
“About you hiring me back now that I’m married to your son.”
Sylvie pursed her lips. “I will let you in on a little secret. I don’t care what people think, and neither should you. Try it. Practice it. It gets easier over time. If I worried about what people think, I wouldn’t be as successful as I am. Frankly, people can say whatever they want. Who would dare say it to your face? Live your life the way you desire—the way you deserve. Let the busybodies live theirs being miserable. They are not your problem.”
It would take time for her to get to the point where she completely ignored other people’s opinions of her, but just the idea of having that much freedom gave her a sense of relief, as if a lead yoke had been lifted from around her neck.
“Now, one more thing,” Sylvie said.
Roselle tensed. Here it comes.
“Stephan told me something terrible happened to you when you were a teenager. I won’t bring it up again. I will leave it up to you to do that, but I want you to know that I’m aware. And I want you to understand something.” She leaned over the bed, and her light brown eyes—so much like Stephan’s—were open and kind but contained a fierce light. So different from what she’d expected to see. “Listen to me very carefully. You are not alone. We do not turn our back on family, and now you have a whole family of people who care about you, on two sides. Brooks on my husband’s side and Johnsons on my side. But more importantly, anyone who dares to hurt you again will have to deal with me. And let me assure you, my darling, no one wants to deal with me. Are we clear?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Sylvie tucked the sheets more snugly around her.
Stephan stepped into the room and paused in the doorway. “Mother?” Worry filled his voice.
“Hello, darling. I’m having a little chat with Roselle. I’ll be off now and leave you two alone. Roselle, remember what I said.” Sylvie folded her coat over one arm. She strode to the door and stopped in front of Stephan. She tapped her cheek, and he kissed it. “Keep me updated on Avery’s progress. I’ll stop by in a few days to see her. Have a good night. Roselle, get some rest.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Sylvie turned a sharp eye on her son. “Make sure she gets some rest.”
“I will.”
When she’d left, Stephan rushed over to the bed. “I was gone for five minutes. Five goddamn minutes. What did she say to you?” He set a cup of coffee on the table beside the bed.
Tears filled Roselle’s eyes.
Stephan cursed. “I’ll have a talk with her. I can’t believe she’d come at you while you’re lying in a hospital bed.”
“She didn’t. It’s okay.” She sniffed.
“She must have said something. You’re about to cry. What did she say?”
Roselle laughed through her tears. “She welcomed me into the family.”
The angry frown disappeared from his face, and he eased onto the edge of the bed to keep from jostling her. He took her hand. “She’s right. You’re part of the family now, with everything that means. The good and the bad.”
“Mostly good.”
“Don’t be too sure,” Stephan said dryly.
She grinned, knowing he was half-joking. He loved his family, no matter how much he liked to complain about them.
She squeezed his hand in hers. “We did it,” she said.
“You did it.”
“We. You were with me all the way. With you beside me, I felt like nothing could go wrong.” A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
“Hey.” He frowned and brushed it away with his thumb.
“I’m okay. I’m happy, that’s all.”
He kissed her forehead and the corner of her eye.
“I love you,” Roselle said. It felt so good to say it now. She could say the words whenever and as often as she wanted.
A playful smile graced his handsome features. “Not as much as I love you.”
Epilogue
The wedding reception for Malik Brooks and Lindsay Winthrop was winding down at The Winthrop Hotel in downtown Atlanta. The wedding band played a low tempo beat, while their lead singer, a lovely Black woman wearing giant hoop earrings, belted out lyrics in a husky voice that should have been selling out arenas instead of providing entertainment to a much smaller crowd in the ballroom of a hotel.
Malik and Lindsay slow-danced with other couples around them doing the same. Lindsay wore an haute-couture off-the-shoulder gown, and her short hair brushed back from her face and flipped up at the ends using extensions. Their love was evident in the way their eyes locked on each other as if there was no one else around.
Stephan’s eyes scoured the room and once again landed on Reese and Nina huddled together in a corner. He was pretty sure Nina hadn’t had a chance to talk to too many people since Reese had barely left her side the entire night.
Roselle sidled up to him with a drink in hand and looped an arm around his waist. “Who’s the girl Reese has been talking to all night?”
“That’s Nina, Lindsay’s younger sister.”
“Does she and Reese have a thing going?”
“No.” He had a bad feeling that Nina was going to break his brother’s heart. “She’s the one who got away.”
“Oh.”
“You ready to go?”
“Yes.”
Stephan took her hand, and they said their goodbyes on the way out. When they arrived at home, the sitter told them that she fed Avery a few minutes before and she was still awake. After they changed into comfortable clothes, they went into the nursery.
“Hi, sweetie,” Roselle cooed.
She was rewarded with a toothless smile.
Avery and Roselle had spent an extra day in the hospital before the doctor gave the go-ahead for their release, and as new parents, she and Stephan had hovered and watched over their daughter with the tenacity of lions. Stephan had taken off a month from work. This week Roselle started doing occasional work-related tasks from home because she missed her job, but she wouldn’t be back at SJ Brands full-time for another three months.
“Are we watching a movie tonight?” Stephan asked.
“Yes.” Roselle lifted the baby from the crib.
“Which one?” They exited the room and made their way downstairs toward the theater room.
“Black Panther.”
“Oh, right, because somebody hasn’t seen it yet.”
“I wanted to, but I never got around to seeing it.”
“I’m seriously thinking about taking away your black card.”
“Please don’t,” Roselle said with mock distress.
Instead of sitting in the high-backed chairs, they settled next to each other at the rear of the room on a comfy sofa that reclined.
“I won’t if you give me a kiss.”
“I can handle that.”
Their lips came together in a quick, soft kiss. Her lips were so sweet. He’d never tire of them.
“Do I get to keep my black card now?” Roselle asked with exaggerated hopefulness.
Stephan licked his lips. “For now. Consider yourself on probation.”
“Is there anything I can do to change that?”
He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Meet me where the magic happens and we’ll see.”
Roselle giggled. “You’re awful.”
“Yet you still married me.”
“Best decision I ever made.”
She puckered her lips and gave him another quick smooch.
Roselle liked to lean on him when they watched movies, so Stephan took the baby, whose heavy-lidded eyes signaled she’d be fast asleep very soon.
Roselle curled up her feet and rested her head on his shoulder, and Stephan scrolled through the movie options until he arrived at Blac
k Panther. He chose it, and the opening credits appeared.
“Don’t fall asleep,” he warned, looping an arm around her shoulders.
“I won’t.” Roselle smothered a yawn with her palm.
She’d be asleep in fifteen minutes, max.
With his daughter dozing on his chest, and his wife about to fall asleep at his side, Stephan smiled to himself, thinking about how much his life had changed in the past year.
He was truly living the good life now.
More Brooks Family
Check out the other books in the Brooks Family series and get to know the other family members!
* * *
Find out how Simone Brooks met and fell in love with nightclub owner Cameron Bennett in A Passionate Love.
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Read how Oscar Brooks and Sylvie Johnson found their way back together after fifteen years apart in Passion Rekindled.
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Read how Ella Brooks finds love in an unexpected place, the second time around with Detective Tyrone Evers in Do Over.
* * *
Experience the fireworks between Malik Brooks and relationship expert Lindsay Winthrop when they enter into a fake relationship in Wild Thoughts.
Find out why Stephan Brooks will risk it all for fashion director Roselle Parker in Two Nights in Paris.
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Also by Delaney Diamond
Brooks Family series
A Passionate Love
Passion Rekindled
Do Over
Wild Thoughts
Two Nights in Paris
Johnson Family series
Unforgettable
Perfect
Just Friends
The Rules
Good Behavior
Royal Brides
Princess of Zamibia
Princess of Estoria
Love Unexpected series
The Blind Date
The Wrong Man
An Unexpected Attraction
The Right Time
One of the Guys
That Time in Venice
Latin Men series
The Arrangement
Fight for Love
Private Acts
The Ultimate Merger
Second Chances
More Than a Mistress
Undeniable
Hot Latin Men: Vol. I (print anthology)
Hot Latin Men: Vol. II (print anthology)
Hawthorne Family series
The Temptation of a Good Man
A Hard Man to Love
Here Comes Trouble
For Better or Worse
Hawthorne Family Series: Vol. I (print anthology)
Hawthorne Family Series: Vol. II (print anthology)
Bailar series (sweet/clean romance)
Worth Waiting For
Stand Alones
Still in Love
Subordinate Position
Heartbreak in Rio
Other
Audiobooks
Free Stories
About the Author
Delaney Diamond is the USA Today Bestselling Author of sweet, sensual, passionate romance novels. Originally from the U.S. Virgin Islands, she now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. She reads romance novels, mysteries, thrillers, and a fair amount of nonfiction. When she’s not busy reading or writing, she’s in the kitchen trying out new recipes, dining at one of her favorite restaurants, or traveling to an interesting locale.
Enjoy free reads and the first chapter of all her novels on her website. Join her mailing list to get sneak peeks, notices of sale prices, and find out about new releases.
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www.delaneydiamond.com