FOREVER SERIES: COMPLETE BOX SET

by Lynn, Sandi

  “Welcome home.” Julia smiled as she walked in with Brayden.

  “Ah, Julia. What are you doing here?” I asked as I looked at Amelia. We both hid our hands behind our backs.

  Julia glared at me. Suspicion was running through her head, I could tell. “I just left Mom and Dad’s and when I stepped off the elevator, I saw you two walk in. I thought I’d say hi. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing’s going on. Why?”

  “You’re acting weird. What did you do?”

  I snorted. It was something I did when I was nervous.

  “You snorted!” She pointed her finger at me. “Talk to me, Collin. Amelia?” she said as she looked at her.

  Amelia caved and held out her hand with her ring on it.

  “OH MY GOD! You got engaged!” she exclaimed as she looked at her ring closely. She must have noticed the wedding band. “Wait a minute.” She looked at me and grabbed my hand with my wedding band on it. Her eyes widened and she looked at me. “YOU GOT MARRIED?” she yelled rather loudly.

  “Shh.”

  Brayden started to cry.

  “Here, let me take him,” Amelia said as Julia willingly handed him over to her.

  “Oh my God, Collin. Why? I mean, I’m happy for you. But, oh my God, Mom! Dad!”

  I walked away, shaking my head. “I know. I know. But this isn’t anyone’s business. I love Amelia and we were in Vegas and I wanted to marry her, and she wanted to marry me.”

  “Isn’t anyone’s business? Are you kidding me?”

  “Okay. I shouldn’t have said that.” I sighed. “I’m scared, Julia. Mom and Dad are going to flip out.”

  “Damn right they are. You took a wedding away from them. You know what a control freak Mom is. You’re her sweet boy.” Suddenly, an evil grin took over her face. “Maybe you won’t be her sweet boy anymore.”

  “Ugh, Julia. Stop it. You’re making things worse.” I sat down on the couch and buried my face in my hands.

  She sat down next to me and hooked her arm around me. “I’m sorry, Collin. You know I love you. I am so incredibly happy for you and Amelia. I really am. I’m just scared for you.” She laughed.

  “Thanks.”

  “Aw, come here.” She pulled me into her. “When are you telling them?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, when you do, I’ll be there for you. When Mom explodes, I’ll do my best to calm her down.”

  “Thanks, sis.”

  “I’d better get Brayden home and to bed.” She got up from the couch and hugged Amelia. “Welcome to the family. I truly am happy for both of you.”

  “Thank you.” Amelia smiled as she handed Brayden over.

  “You better take off that ring before you come to work tomorrow.”

  “I will. Have a good night, sis. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Collin.” She walked out the door and I looked up at Amelia. She sat down beside me and placed her hand on my thigh.

  “Do you regret getting married?”

  My heart ached when she asked me that. I took hold of her hand. “Of course not. I wanted nothing more than to make you my wife and no apology will be made. My parents will just have to accept it and move on.”

  “What if they won’t?”

  “They’ll be happy we’re married. They love you. They just won’t be happy that we didn’t include them.” I sighed.

  “Do I have to be there when you tell them?” She smiled.

  “Yes. If I’m going down, you’re going down with me. Now enough talk about my parents. They are last people I want to think about when I’m about to fuck you for the first time in our home as my wife.”

  She took her bottom lip in her mouth as her seductive eyes stared into mine. “Mhmm. I like that idea.” Her lips softly touched mine.

  Chapter 2

  Ellery

  Life couldn’t be more perfect. I was married to the man of my dreams, I had two beautiful grown children, a perfect son in-law, and a beautiful grandson. The art gallery was thriving better than we had ever imagined, and Black Enterprises was strong and solid. Connor had talked about retiring and letting Collin take over, but he wanted to wait a couple more years. He still felt Collin needed to grow up a little bit. I disagreed, and we had our discussions about it, but I stood by his decision to wait.

  “Good morning, baby.” Connor walked into the kitchen and gave me a warm kiss.

  “Good morning. Tell Collin when you see him at the office that dinner is at six o’clock sharp.”

  “I will. Don’t worry.” He took his coffee over to the table as I set his breakfast in front of him.

  “I was thinking last night about Collin and Amelia and how we could be planning a wedding for them in the near future.”

  “Let’s not rush them into marriage, sweetheart. I think Collin needs a couple more years before he even considers getting married. They both need to get settled into their careers first.”

  “I agree, but isn’t the thought exciting? Watching our baby boy walk down the aisle, marrying the love of his life like Julia did. Where is Julia, by the way? I thought she was bringing Brayden by this morning.”

  “I’m right here, Dad.” She smiled as she walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and he took Brayden from her arms. “You know I’m only a few minutes late. It’s hard with Jake being out of town.”

  “Sorry, princess. I was just missing this little guy.”

  I poured Julia a cup of coffee and handed it to her. “Why don’t you and Brayden spend the night here until Jake gets back?” I was hoping she’d say yes.

  “It’s fine, Mom. I’m more than capable of being alone with my son. But thanks for the offer. Jake will home tomorrow night.”

  “Well, I have a full day planned with this little one.” I walked over and took him from Connor’s arms.

  “Elle, I wasn’t done playing with him.”

  “Sorry, babe, but he wants his grandma. Don’t you?” I held him up in the air and he smiled.

  It was hard to believe that he was already six months old. Spring was settling in New York and I was excited to take him to Central Park.

  “I have an idea, Julia. How about you pack Brayden an overnight bag and let him stay the night with us tonight? That way, you can have a night to yourself.”

  “How about I take you up on that offer tomorrow night when Jake gets home so I can spend the night alone with my husband?”

  I gave her a smile. “That’s an even better idea.”

  Connor finished his breakfast and got up from his chair. “Are you ready to head into the office, princess?”

  “Yes, Dad. I’m ready.” She walked over and gave Brayden a kiss goodbye. “Be good for Grandma, Brayden, and Mommy will see you later.”

  He cooed and smiled at her. I took his little arm and waved goodbye as they stepped into the elevator.

  * * *

  Connor

  “Good morning, son,” I got up from my desk chair and walked around to give him a light hug.

  “Morning, Dad.”

  “How was the rest of your trip in Vegas?”

  “It was good. We had a lot of fun.”

  I walked back to my desk and sat down. Collin planted himself in the chair across from me. He seemed different.

  “What’s going on with you?”

  “Nothing. Why do you ask?” He gave me a strange look.

  “I can’t put my finger on it, but you seem different.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m the same Collin I was a few days ago.”

  “Okay. Maybe it’s just my imagination. Oh, your mom said dinner is at six sharp tonight. Don’t be late.”

  He got up from his chair. “We will be on time. I promise.”

  I gave him a small smile as he left the office. As I was looking over some documents that my new secretary, Cara, typed up, I noticed a lot of errors. I pushed the button on my desk phone.

  “Cara, could you please come in here?”

  A few moments l
ater, the door opened, and she walked in. “Yes, Mr. Black?”

  “Have a seat please.” I pointed to the chair. “As I’m looking over these documents, I’ve noticed a lot of typing errors. Did you even go through them before handing them over to me?”

  She looked at me with her brown eyes, and as she chomped on her gum, she sighed. “I thought I did. I’m sorry, Mr. Black. Hand them over to me and I’ll go through them again.” She held out her hand.

  Handing the documents back to her, I frowned. “You have until five o’clock to get them back to me.”

  She walked out of the office and shut the door. I missed Valerie and Diana. I hadn’t been able to find anyone competent enough to fill their shoes and it was starting to piss me off. Why I let Collin talk me into hiring Cara, I had no clue. She didn’t even have that much secretarial experience. I looked at the calendar and thought next weekend would be a good weekend to go to the Hamptons and open up the house for the summer. This was the time of year I loved. Spending weekends at the beach house with the family were times that I always treasured. Although this year would be different with Collin having his own house right down the street. I pressed the button on my desk phone again.

  “Cara, please call the florist and have a bouquet of roses sent to my wife at our home.”

  “Will do, Mr. Black.”

  I pulled out my phone and sent a text message to Ellery.

  “I’m having roses sent to the house so you can use them as a centerpiece for the dinner table tonight.”

  “Thank you, babe. I was going to stop with Brayden on my way home from the park to get some. I love you.”

  “I love you too. I’ll see you later. Send me some pictures of our grandson.”

  Before long, Ellery had blown up my phone with the cutest pictures of Brayden; some by himself and some with her. As I stared at him, he reminded me so much of Collin. I sat back in my chair and thought about what Denny used to say.

  “Connor, that son of yours is the spitting image of you. Brace yourself because I have a feeling you’re going to be in for one hell of a ride as he gets older.”

  I silently smiled because he was right. Collin was the spitting image of me, not only in looks, but in personality and defiance as well. He had grown into a man before my eyes and already endured such heartache but also extreme happiness, and I couldn’t have been prouder of him for the way he handled things. I didn’t have any worries as far as the company was concerned once I retired.

  Chapter 3

  Connor

  I left the office early and headed home to my wife and grandson. He was the highlight of my life and I couldn’t wait to sit down and play with him. I stepped off the elevator and set my briefcase down. Walking into the kitchen, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the flowers sitting in a vase on the counter.

  “What are those?” I asked.

  Ellery turned to me and smiled. “Those are the roses you sent me. Care to explain, Connor?”

  Anger rose up inside me as I stared at the dozen black roses before me. “I can’t believe that Cara would send black roses. What the fuck is the matter with her?”

  Ellery started to laugh. “I guess they are different, aren’t they?”

  “It’s not funny, Ellery.” I took them from the vase and threw them in the garbage. “Where’s Brayden?”

  “He’s taking a nap.” She walked over to me and placed her arms around me. “Don’t stress out over the flowers. It’s not a big deal.” She reached up and kissed my lips.

  “It is. Who the fuck sends black roses? I’m firing her. I can’t take it anymore. I had to give her back some documents today because they were riddled with errors.”

  “Again?”

  “Yes. There’s no way she graduated high school. The black roses were the last straw.” I walked to the living room and over to the bar for a glass of scotch.

  “I hear our grandson cooing through the baby monitor. Why don’t you go upstairs and get him? He’ll calm you down.”

  I sighed as I set down my drink and went up to see Brayden.

  * * *

  Collin

  When I came home, Amelia was in the bedroom changing out of her scrubs. I loosened my tie as I walked over and gave her a kiss.

  “Hey, baby. How were clinical’s?”

  “They were good. How was your day?”

  “Not bad.” I stripped out of my suit and pulled a pair of khakis from the closet. I stared at my beautiful wife as she stood there, thumbing through her clothes in nothing but her bra and panties. I leaned over and brushed my lips against her soft neck.

  “You smell so good. I’m getting hard.”

  She giggled as my tongue slid up to the edge of her ear. “Down, boy. We have exactly fifteen minutes to be upstairs at your parents’ house.”

  “Well, there goes that hard-on.” I sighed.

  Amelia laughed as she turned around and placed her hand on my chest. “Are you scared?”

  “Yes. To be honest, I am.”

  “What happened to all that talk last night about them having to get over it?” she said as she pulled on a pair of black pants.

  “That was last night. Now it’s today and this is happening in fifteen minutes.”

  “Ten minutes now. You better hurry up.” She pulled a short sleeve white cotton shirt over her head.

  I grabbed a shirt from the hanger. “Let’s make it five. If we’re early, my mom will be happy. Let’s keep her happy at least for a few minutes.”

  “Okay. Sounds like a good plan.”

  We put on our shoes and took the elevator up to the penthouse. As the doors opened, my dad walked into the foyer holding Brayden.

  “Well, look at you two. You’re early.” He smiled.

  “Hey, Dad.”

  He walked over to Amelia and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Good to see you, sweetheart.”

  “Is that my sweet boy?” My mom came from the kitchen. She hugged me and kissed my cheek and then turned and did the same to Amelia.

  “How was Vegas? Did you two have fun?” she asked with excitement.

  “Vegas was great. We had an amazing time.”

  The elevator doors opened, and Julia stepped into the foyer.

  “Hi, Amelia.” She smiled and gave her a light hug. “Hey, little brother. There’s my baby boy. Mommy missed you today.” Julia walked over and tried to take him from my dad. “Daddy, give me my baby.”

  “Princess, we’re having a little bonding time. You get him all night. Let me hold him a while longer.”

  Julia frowned and I let out a chuckle.

  “Everyone in the dining room. Dinner is ready,” my mom chimed.

  I grabbed Amelia’s hand and we went into the dining room and took our seats. Julia kept smirking at me from across the table. I decided to wait until after dinner to tell my parents about our marriage. I didn’t want all the food my mom spent all day making to go to waste. Once we finished eating, Julia, Amelia, and my mom cleaned up while my dad and I took Brayden into the living room.

  “There’s something I need to talk to you about, son. Scotch?” he asked.

  “Sure, Dad. What’s wrong?”

  “I need you to fire Cara tomorrow.”

  I set Brayden down in his playpen as my dad handed me a drink.

  “What? Why?”

  “How do I put this nicely? She’s an idiot. She makes nothing but errors. She’s on her phone all day, scrolling through Facebook and Twitter, and she sent your mother black roses.”

  I couldn’t help it. I busted out into laughter. “What?! Are you serious?”

  “Yes. I asked her to call the florist and send a dozen roses to the house and she sent black roses.”

  “Did you specify a color?” I asked with a cocky attitude.

  “Anyone with a brain knows not to send black roses and I don’t find it funny.”

  “I do. But why do I have to fire her? She’s your secretary.”

  “Because you’re the one who conned me
into hiring her. So now you can fire her, and I want it done first thing in the morning. I don’t want her touching another thing in that office.”

  Shit. I couldn’t believe he was making me fire his secretary. He was in a mood because of her. Of all damn days. The women walked in the room and Julia took Brayden from his playpen.

  “So tell me what you two did in Vegas besides gamble,” my mom spoke as she sat down on the couch. “Did you see any shows, do any shopping?”

  My heart was beating at a rapid pace and I started to sweat. I could feel the beads of wetness forming on my forehead. I swallowed hard and took Amelia’s hand.

  “Actually, we did do something really amazing.” I tried to smile casually, but in reality, it was a nervous smile.

  I looked over at Julia, who was holding Brayden extra tight. She gave me a small nod.

  “Amelia and I got married!”

  “Very funny, Collin.” My mom smiled.

  “That’s not even funny, son.” My dad pointed at me.

  I looked down. “I’m serious. We got married.”

  “WHAT!” my mom screamed as she got up from the couch and Brayden started to cry.

  “You better be kidding, Collin,” my dad said with seriousness.

  “I’m not kidding. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

  My mom put her hand over her mouth as she looked at my dad. She stood there and stared at me with a look I had never seen come from her before. It was a look of hurt, deceit, and betrayal.

  “How the fuck could you do something like that without your family!” she yelled.

  “Mom, calm down,” Julia said.

  “Did you know about this?” She turned to her and snapped.

  Julia’s eyes widened as she looked at me. I softly shook my head at her.

  “No, Mom. I didn’t know. I’m just as shocked but getting upset isn’t going to change things.”

  “Collin, I have never been more disappointed in you as I am right now.” My dad turned away from me. “I can’t believe you would go and do something so stupid.” He slammed his drink down on the bar.

  As much as I loved my parents, there was no way in hell I was going to stand there and let them talk to me like that.