The Precious Topaz (The Precious Trilogy Book 2)

by C Renee

  “Alright, let's get up and get dressed. We need to go house hunting!” I am giddy with excitement. I jump out of bed and run out of Alex’s room to the spare one. Where all my clothes are still kept, I quickly get dressed and I meet Alex in the kitchen. He is drinking a cup of coffee; yeah I need one of those too. I look down at the counter and see that Alex has already made me one. Isn’t he perfect? Yes he sure is.

  “Coffee and we will get going, I know a nice neighborhood but it’s a little bit of a drive. I hope that’s okay with you.” I don’t mind living in the middle of nowhere, it will be nice. A little piece of paradise in my own front and backyard. I’m not even sure how big the houses are going to be.

  “I’ll be quick.” I quickly drink the remainders of the coffee before putting the mug back in the sink. I don’t waste time when it comes to the things I’m truly passionate about and getting a new house is one of them.

  We have been driving for two hours now and I still don’t know where we are going, Alex won’t give up any clue. This is truly torture because I just want to find out about this last house. The first four houses were horrible, I don’t know what Alex was thinking but he doesn’t know style. The four houses were very old, like falling apart old but they all had a lot of land, which is what I am aiming for. The inside looked like it was built in the late 1950s and everything you can imagine that could go wrong in a house, went wrong. I didn’t feel safe stepping inside. After the fourth one, I threatened Alex to not bring us to another dump. He was testing my patience when we had to drive an hour to view the next house.

  Alex slows down the car and we are driving down a dirt road but on either side of the road there are very tall trees on that are bending over the road. It’s blocking out the sun and gives off a mystical feel.

  “We are here.” Alex drives slowly down the dirt road and at the end of the road is a driveway. It goes on for another mile and when we reach the end of the driveway, we are greeted with large hedges blocking the view of the house.

  Alex stopped the car and started to get out.

  “This is as far as I drive, the rest we have to walk. Come on Lou, let's go see this house.” He looks at me with a sparkle in his eye and that sexy smirk. He has something planned, I can feel it.

  I get out of the car and follow Alex until I’m walking beside him. He grabs my hand in his and brings it up to his lips to kiss the back of my hand. Those damn butterflies are back; he makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

  We walk hand in hand towards the large hedges that are hiding the house; I’m getting so nervous because I feel like this is the house for us.

  “Are you ready?” Alex asks me just before we round the hedges.

  “Yes, Alex I am more than ready.” We round the corner and I stop dead in my tracks. The house is fucking huge.

  It’s a two-story, the house was built with dark brown wood and it has a wrap-around veranda. There are two steps leading up to the porch and the front door.

  “Wow.” I whisper into the late afternoon air, this place is incredible.

  “Should we go inside and have a look?” Alex asks me but we are already walking towards the front door. I can’t believe this house is for sale, why would anyone want to leave this place?

  Alex opens the front door and leads us both in. The place is huge; we are greeted with a grand staircase that leads to the right and the left of upstairs.

  Downstairs to the left is where the large living room and kitchen are. I can’t begin to explain how amazing that kitchen looks. It’s got a marble counter with black and white cupboards. The kitchen area has white tiles and the rest of the house is covered in dark brown floorboards. We walk back out and past the front door to the right is where the office is, it’s smaller than the living room but big enough to put my gemstone cabinets in.

  We head back out and walk up the stairs to see what’s up here.

  We decide to walk down the left hallway and we are greeted with two bedrooms, they both have their own ensuite and walk in closet. We walk back to the right hallway and we find a bathroom and toilet but at the end of the hallway is the master bedroom. It has twice the size of the ensuite and walk in closet .We walk in further and at the end of the room there is a double door, which leads out to a balcony.

  Alex and I open the doors and we are shocked with the view we have. We can see the whole city of LA, it is beautiful.

  “Oh my…” I don’t finish that sentence because I can’t seem to form any words that describe what I’m seeing.

  “Do you like the house?” Alex comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist.

  “Hmm… no I don’t.” I can see Alex and I having kids here, I mean we would have to at least get married or be together for a few more years before I decide to pop out a human.

  Alex squeezes my stomach and I burst out laughing.

  “Yes… Alex, I love it. I can’t even form words to describe how amazing this house is but what about our jobs? It’s a little far to be driving to work every day.” I want to return to work but if we got this house, I’m not even sure I want to leave.

  “We will figure that out, but do you want to live here?” I don’t think he has to ask again before I’ve made up my mind.

  “Yes I want this to be my home.” I turn around and I look up at him. All I see is pure love and devotion in his eyes.

  Alex just smiles before planting a kiss on my lips.

  I squeal a little bit from all the pent up excitement and Alex just chuckles.

  “Done deal Precious, now lets head back to the apartment and start packing.” He knocks the wind out of me when he lifts me up and over his shoulder.

  This isn’t exactly what I had in mind but hey; I let the man do what he’s got to do.

  * * *

  Two weeks later:

  “Alex I can’t believe we just signed papers to buy that house, this is so crazy and I can’t wait to move in.” I’m bouncing up and down on the spot waiting for him to open the apartment door. I can’t wait to tell Steph the good news… oh, that’s right. I can’t tell her yet because she’s at the fundraiser tonight, I guess it’ll have to wait until tomorrow to tell her.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex just noticed my mood change, I really don’t want to ruin this perfect day with my girl drama.

  “Nothing it’s fine. I’m just going to go lay down on the bed.” Alex just nods his head and disappears into his room. I hate how my stuff isn’t in his room, that I have to resort to the spare room to get any of my stuff but soon that’s all going to change.

  I walk into the spare room and there laying on the bed is that blue gown that I tried on for Steph the other day. What the heck is it doing here?

  “Alex!” I yelled, he needs to do some explaining.

  Alex rounds the corner and is standing in my doorway wearing tux pants and no shirt.

  “What is going on?” He looks really hot like that but I won’t give in to his looks, not this time.

  “Well, I know you can’t attend the fundraiser because you don’t work at Finance Funding doesn’t mean you can’t go. If you remember back a year ago, you met my parents because my father was CEO of Knight Enterprises. Well my brother and I run that company now, so I have to attend these fundraisers. You’re going to be my date, yes by the look on your face I had this all planned out. Now go get ready.” Well played my boy, well played.

  I’m so giddy inside; I can’t believe this day is turning out to be even better.

  I quickly walk towards the bathroom and have a quick shower. I blow-dry my hair, combing every strand so I don’t get any frizziness later on in the night. I put on my blue lace lingerie.

  I style my hair in loose ringlets; my hair is long enough that it falls down past my shoulders. I’ve decided to keep my makeup light and natural.

  I head into the bedroom and sit on my bed to put on the lace-top thigh-highs; I know Alex will appreciate them later on tonight. I hope he doesn’t come in here and spoil the surprise.

&n
bsp; I put the blue gown on; I can’t believe how stunning it is. I’m standing in front of the mirror admiring the dress. It is a slim fit but it flows from the waist down. There are no straps on the dress but the back has a corset lace up.

  I choose to wear black heels that have straps going up my leg from my ankle. Tonight is going to be great.

  “Are you nearly ready Louise?” I hear Alex call from outside the bedroom door.

  “Yeah, just one more minute.” I call back, just need to put on the ruby necklace Alex gave me, I know it doesn’t match the dress but it has so much meaning to me. It would be wrong for me not to wear it.

  I open the bedroom door, all ready to go and I’m frozen in place.

  Alex… looks… fucking… delicious.

  He is just standing there, leaning against the kitchen counter with his legs crossed at the ankles and his arms are crossed with that smirk on his face. Holy shit.

  The sight of him is making my panties wet, how on earth did I score this incredibly yummy man? I honestly don’t know.

  “Precious…” Alex groans out my nickname, there is so much strength between us to not rip each other clothes off right now.

  “No… we really need to go. Let's save this for tonight.” I step towards the front door to emphasize that we are not going to do this now. Alex follows close behind and when we reach the door, he stops the door from opening up. He has caged me between him and the door.

  I feel him lean close to me, his mouth is at my ear and he inhales my perfume.

  “I’m going to marry you Precious.” He groans when he moves his hands away from the door.

  What the fuck did he just say?

  Marry me?

  What… the… fuck…

  I mean that’s what I want but I didn’t expect Alex to be thinking about it right away.

  I don’t move, I’m frozen from his words.

  I just hear Alex chuckle from behind me and that gets me out of my trance.

  I don’t say anything back, I can’t. There are no words forming in my brain for this.

  Marry him?

  We pull up outside the building where the function is being held and it’s the same place where it was held last year. It hasn’t changed since the last time I was here. It still looks old with its red bricks with gated windows on upper levels, but the ground level is done up nicely. There are bright flowers covering the balcony. There’s another red carpet with the red stanchion on either side, keeping the photographers and reporters at bay.

  I will never understand how Alex loves going to these events because of those vultures. I would rather go through the back door and not cause a scene.

  “Are you ready for this again Lou?” Alex asks me just as we are about to get out of the car. I don’t feel ready but with Alex beside me, I know I can conquer the world.

  We both get out of the car and I’m immediately blind from the flashing lights and I’m going deaf from the yelling of reporters. I will never get used to this.

  We quickly walk inside the building and I try to blink back the bright lights and I have to adjust to these lights in the room. The set up is similar to last time but there are fewer flowers, it is set out with round tables that gather around the dance floor, which is centered in the room. The tables are decorated with black tablecloths and small vases full of pink roses that are placed in the center. The whole room is decorated in black and pink, I’m not sure I feel the color scheme this time but it looks pretty.

  The stage is a step above the dance floor where it is decorated with more vases. The microphone stand is at the center of the stage, and a band is quietly playing classic jazz.

  “Lou, is everything okay?” Alex pulls me from my thoughts, just looking at the stage brings back memories from the spot where Alex first saw me, and over at the bar is where he first spoke to me. If it weren’t for that fundraiser, I wouldn’t have the love of my life on my arm now. It is crazy with how much time has passed between then and now, even more crazy with how much we have been through.

  “Yes, everything is perfect.” I look around the room to try and see if I remember any of the guests from last time but nothing is coming to me.

  “Mr. Knight, my condolences but congratulations on the company. Your father would be proud of you; we heard that your brother is in town. Will he be joining us tonight?” I don’t know these men talking to Alex, so I leave him and make my way to the bar. I need a drink.

  “Louise!” A female squeal comes from behind me and I know that voice anywhere. It’s Steph.

  I turn around and luckily I didn’t have a drink in my hand or else it would have dripped all over me.

  “You look smoking hot woman!” She brings me in for a hug; she is wearing that black gown she tried on. She looks good in it. Standing behind her is Reece; he looks smitten as hell when he looks at Steph. I caught him out when he looks at me and blushes. I can’t be mad at the guy because he took my best friend away from me. It happens…

  “I’ve missed you, and you’re a bitch!” I pull back from the hug and give her my best pissed off face. She could have told me about this event instead of keeping it from me.

  “I’m sorry, but Alex made me promise to keep this a secret and aren’t you a little glad that I did?” I know she is right but I still felt like an idiot on the day.

  “Well yes, but I was still hurt from that day.” I give her a tiny smile because I know I can’t stay mad at her for long.

  “Hey Reece, Alex is here somewhere. I got bored with his business talk so I lost track of him.” Reece comes up and gives me a small hug, Reece reminds me of Seth. He has this protective brother feel about him and I love that about him.

  This feeling makes me miss my own brother; I have to message him later tonight to get an update on that mystery woman.

  “So tell me Lou, what’s been happening with you lately. I am so sorry that we don’t talk often as I would like but work has me working overtime and then planning this fundraiser. Oh and my business trip that’s coming up. It’s been crazy for me.” Hearing all this is making me envious of her life right now but at the same time I’m happy for her.

  “Oh nothing much, I have one more session with the therapist, and she is going to let me know if I’m fit to go back to work. Alex and I doing perfect, it is actually amazing between us right now and the little thing that we just bought a house today.” I still can’t wrap my head around that fact, that in a few weeks I can move into my new house. It will be mine to design and decorate.

  “I’m sorry what? Did you just say that you and Alex just bought a house today?” Steph looks shocked, that’s how I felt this morning when Alex agreed to look at houses but I never expected we would buy one and it is the perfect home for us.

  “Yep, you heard me. You and Reece can come over when we are settled, and that’s another thing we have to discuss. I’m not sure if I can return to work, I mean we haven’t talked about it yet and as much as I want to go back, it’ll be too far to travel so unless there is a home job going then I will be busy with moving and unpacking in my new home.” Steph doesn’t look happy about this, I’m not even sure what she is mad about.

  “You’ve just bought a house with Alex? Don’t you ever learn from the last mistake you made about moving in with Matt so soon after you two started dating and here you are going and doing it again.” I can’t believe she is comparing Matt to Alex.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” She must be joking.

  “No Louise, I’m not happy about this. Yeah I know Alex and if I asked Reece he would feel the same with me. It’s just too fast and I wish you would have waited, I know living with him in the apartment was different because you two weren’t together but now it’s different so I think it’s a stupid mistake.” She looks at me and shakes her head. She doesn’t say anything more when she walks off.

  I can’t believe her, after everything that Alex and I have been through, I thought she at least would make things easier for Alex and I but I guess I’m wro
ng.

  “Hey Precious.” Alex comes up behind me, I’m not in the mood anymore.

  “Hey, I know we just got here but can we go home now? I’m not in the mood to be thrown around for some arm candy.” I don’t know where that came from and I feel like shit when Alex face changes from happiness to hurt in a matter of seconds but I need to get out of here.

  “Why, what’s wrong?” I have to tell him because it involves him too.

  “It’s something Steph said that made me upset. I’m sorry but I don’t want to be here anymore.” She has completely ruined tonight for me.

  “Alright, let me just make this speech in five minutes and then we can go home.” Alex leans in and gives me a quick kiss on my lips. This man is amazing.

  I walk over to the bar and order another drink. I turn around and watch people interact with one another. I should be enjoying myself but what Steph said, it completely crushed me. I thought she would at least be happy for me instead of destroying my happiness.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. Alex Knight will be making a quick speech for tonight’s fundraiser event. Please put your hands together for Alex.” The presenter steps off the stage and everyone claps for Alex. All the girls whistle and the men just look bored to be there.

  Alex steps onto the stage and the whole room stops, it turns dead silent in a matter of seconds.

  “Thank you all for coming to this event tonight, as you all may be aware that my father passed away recently and left his company to my brother and I. We felt strongly about keeping and running the business as my father did except that I will be dealing with business deals here in America and my brother would deal with the international deals. I hope you all donate to your choosing charities and that you tell your loved ones how much you care. Thank you, have a great night.” I watch Alex get off the stage and stalk towards me.

  “I care about you.” I tell Alex when he’s close enough to hear it.