The Redemption
Page 34
“What about his career? You wanted this to be his steppingstone.”
“He will be fine, and this,” he set his hand on mine, “was more important.” He hesitated for a moment. “I’ve spent too much time interfering with my sons’ lives and have decided I won’t be doing that anymore.”
“You mean, other than getting Vance to give Ian my number?” A smile warmed my face. “Did he also encourage him to bring me tonight as a guest?”
“Vance merely pointed out how beneficial it’d be to the campaign if you posted your support of it.”
My expression told him I wasn’t convinced. “Uh-uh. What else did you do to make sure your plan worked?”
His eyebrows pulled together. “I sometimes struggle to express myself when dealing with emotion. I’d like you to know the things I said tonight were my words, but . . . I had some help drafting them.”
I didn’t understand why he was cautious about telling me this. Was he worried I’d be upset someone else knew he was in love with me before revealing it to me? I teased him. “You had a speech writer?”
He was serious. “She didn’t know it was going to be a speech. I told her it was a letter.”
The pieces clicked into place. “You had Marist help you write a love letter . . . to me?”
“I hope that doesn’t upset you. She’s the most competent person in the family when it comes to feelings.”
For some strange reason, I found it both amusing and touching. He’d once given her a speech to woo her and failed, and now she’d helped him write another. This time, he’d succeeded.
“No,” I whispered. “It doesn’t bother me. It’s actually kind of nice.”
He exhaled with relief. “I also paid Ian to make sure you didn’t arrive too early. I knew if I could get you to agree to my wager, you’d be competitive about it.”
I grinned. “I was going to be. Did you pay him extra to be so douche-y?”
Amusement flared in his pale eyes. “Was he?” But he sobered. “I had unease about using him. I remember how he was around you at Damon’s birthday party.”
I wanted to laugh at how ridiculous the idea was. “You weren’t honestly worried I’d be into him.”
We weren’t in the garage anymore, and downtown Boston flew by, streaking lights across his unsure expression. “He’s a much younger man than I am, Sophia.”
I set my pointed look on him. “I’ve made it pretty fucking clear I’m not into younger men.”
Enjoyment coated his expression, followed by a playful look, right before he leaned over and swept his lips across mine. “Language.”
Now he delivered the kiss he’d wanted to earlier, holding nothing back. He conquered with his mouth and his tongue, both taking and giving pleasure. My heart fluttered in my chest at the way he kissed me with passion, but also did his best to be delicate. He’d hurt me and was intent on not doing it again.
When the kiss ended, it felt like I had to come up for air, and my hands were fisted on the lapels of his suit, holding on. He wasn’t faring much better. His hair was wild from my fingers and he was short of breath, and as we recovered, we grinned at our frantic state.
“Can I ask a favor?” I released my grip and dragged my palms down his chest.
Desire thickened between us at my touch. “Of course.”
“I’m starving.” I’d been too nervous most of the day, and dinner at the party had been canceled. “Could you text your chef and have him make us something?”
“No. We’ll have dinner on the plane.”
I blinked, and excitement stirred at his meaning. I hadn’t been on the Hales’ private jet before, and a getaway—anywhere with him—sounded amazing. My phone continued to buzz in my purse like thunder in an electronic storm. We’d need to escape. “Are we going somewhere?”
“My home in Aspen.”
I bit down on my lip to keep from squealing, but I tried to play it cool. “I don’t have anything with me. What am I supposed to wear?”
He’d anticipated this question, and his smile was sinister. “Do you still have on the jewelry I gave you?”
I swallowed hard as goosebumps burst down my legs. “I couldn’t get it unscrewed by myself.”
He was beyond pleased with this answer. “Good. You will wear that and nothing else.”
EPILOGUE
MACALISTER
I didn’t consider myself a gambler because the outcome was often left to chance and I preferred strategy, but I didn’t shy away from taking risks. None had been bigger than the night seven weeks ago when I’d declared my love for Sophia Alby to the world, unsure if she felt the same, and not knowing what it would do to my reputation.
But I had learned, as Damon Lynch was still trying to, that facing a scandal head-on could decrease its fallout. By making myself vulnerable and putting my emotions out there for everyone to see, it made me human to the people of Cape Hill.
It also helped that they were distracted by DuBois’s book and Damon’s secret daughter and were discovering that no one in our perfect little town was, in fact, perfect. Everyone had a secret to hide or something that filled them with shame. Exposing the dark underside forced people to recognize their social mortality. They couldn’t live as gods above consequence anymore.
I sat in my office at the end of the workday, watching snow as it floated past my window, and eagerly awaited the arrival of the girl I loved. Sophia now worked three floors down in the marketing department, and when she had finished her work, she’d come to me and we’d ride home together.
To our new home, a secluded estate set back from the coast and hidden in the woods, just beyond Cape Hill’s reach. It needed a lot of work, but I looked forward to the challenge of the project.
She’d moved in over the weekend at my insistence, although it hadn’t taken much convincing. We already rode to and from work together every day, so this saved time. Plus, with her mother’s adulterous past dug up, it was best for her parents to have some time to themselves, and Stephen Alby was in complete support of my plan. He’d be happy to lock up his biggest client as family.
People thought it was too soon for us to live together, and I understood that. I’d once told Marist that people who fell in love too quickly fell out of it just as fast. It had been my experience with Alice, but the way I felt about Sophia was entirely different. It used a part of my heart I was sure had died twenty years ago, not recognizing it was merely lying dormant.
If the rest of my family disliked my new living arrangement, I wasn’t made aware. Royce and I had convinced Vance to return home as he studied for his bar exams, and sometimes Sophia and I would join them for a family dinner. Marist seemed pleased to have another woman around, especially since the two of them were becoming real friends.
The Hale home was full again.
Even if it wasn’t mine anymore.
Lucifer was adjusting to his new accommodations and was happy to share our bed with Sophia. This morning when I’d awoken, I’d discovered he’d abandoned me for her. I explained loyalty to him while she was in the shower, but he used his indifference to remind me that, as a cat, he was superior to me in every way.
“Hey,” Sophia said as she came into my office and shut the door. She wore a cinnamon-colored dress, which I’d picked out for her this morning, and it made the blue in her eyes more vibrant.
I disguised my excitement at seeing her and lifted a sharp eyebrow. “Did you forget where my office is located? It’s twenty after five.”
“Sorry, I got caught up.”
“It’ll take more than an hour to get home now with the traffic and snow.”
She shrugged, which was something she’d started doing again once her rib no longer bothered her. It’d been both challenging and enjoyable in Aspen finding all the ways to make her orgasm without causing her discomfort during the process.
“Guess I won’t try so hard to be good at my job, boss.”
Hot ple
asure spiraled through my chest at her snarky comment, designed to irritate me. She wanted to play? All right. My order was dark. “Come here.”
She practically skipped over to the side of my desk, and I swiveled in my chair to face her.
“Pull your skirt up. All of it, to your waist.”
Her breath immediately went short, and she slowly complied, gathering the skirt up in her hands and exposing what she had not worn for me. I stared at her nakedness and licked my lips to let her know how pleased I was. When she’d finished dressing this morning, she’d given me attitude, claiming I was trying to rush her, and so I’d made her take her panties off and leave them at home.
She hadn’t earned them, I’d told her.
Sophia stared at me now with curiosity, perhaps wondering if I’d make her bend over, put her hands on my desk, and prepare for me to punish her. I gave a wicked smile. That was not my intent today.
I smoothed my hand up her inner thigh, deep between her legs, and touched the diamond I’d given her. My symbol of control, although it worked both ways. When I owned her, she owned me.
She moaned as I gently rubbed her soft skin and her eyes hooded, but her gaze didn’t waver from mine.
“I love you,” I said, teasing her clit. “Do you love me?”
“God, yes,” she gasped.
I rewarded her by moving faster, and she grew slick and damp. She probably wouldn’t come standing up like this, but that was all right. My goal was to go until her legs began to shake, and then I’d take her across the desk. I pressed harder and rubbed quicker still as her hands twisted the fabric of her skirt and she gulped for breath.
“Fuck,” she groaned, her shoulders slumping as she began to bend at the waist, trying to stay upright during my furious assault of pleasure. Satisfaction filled me as her knees trembled and threatened to buckle. It came from her in a desperate whine. “Macalister.”
I stood and turned her so I could ease her down on her back. In a few more weeks, I’d be rougher, but chest fractures were notoriously slow to heal, and I didn’t want her thinking about anything other than her desperation for my cock.
Her legs wrapped around my hips, and her hands went to my belt.
“Do you want children?” I demanded abruptly.
She froze, my belt half unlatched in her hands. “What?”
I clenched my jaw. “I believe you heard me, and I dislike repeating myself.”
“Uh . . .” Sophia’s disorientation was painted across her face. “I mean, yeah, I did.”
“Then I suggest you stop taking your birth control. I am not getting any younger.”
She scrambled to sit up on the desk, staring at me with her eyes wider than I’d ever seen them. “What?” she gasped. “You already have kids. I thought you wouldn’t want more.”
I latched my hands on her waist, anchoring her to me. I’d improved dramatically since she’d come into my life, but I still struggled to admit my shortcomings. “I was not a good father my first time around.”
She laced her fingers together at the back of my neck and peered at me with cautious hope. “You want to have kids . . . with me?”
“I’d like the opportunity,” I said, “to try again, to be better this time. I know it sounds crazy. We’ve only been together a short while, and I’m going to be a grandfather soon, but if you want this, I’d do my best to give it to you.”
Her gaze focused on the knot of my tie as she pondered it. “Let’s think about that some more. We have time.” She gave me a shy smile. “George Clooney was fifty-six when he first had kids.”
“I am not George Clooney.”
She sighed dramatically. “Don’t I know it.”
I grabbed her hair at the back of her head and tugged, forcing her chin up, and gave her the sharp edge of my teeth at the side of her neck. She whimpered with enjoyment, and the sound of it shot straight to my groin. I’d momentarily derailed the mood with my abrupt question about kids, but I’d been anxious about approaching the subject with her, and it had burst from me without warning. Now that we’d discussed it, it was time to get back on track.
I dropped my gaze to my half-undone belt then gave her a pointed look. “Well?”
She grinned and eagerly resumed her work.
Sophia hadn’t given me the answer I wanted quite yet, but I felt confident she would. We wanted the same thing and were both accustomed to getting our way. And there was another answer I was certain I would get from her, when the time was right.
She wasn’t really an Alby or a Lynch—her surname in Cape Hill was trapped in limbo.
I had a plan to correct that.
Thank you so much for reading THE REDEMPTION! Wondering if there will be more? Yes! I plan to write Vance’s book in the future, THE TEMPTATION, and am anticipating a spring 2021 release.
Want to discuss the Filthy Rich Americans series? Join the Spoiler Room on Facebook HERE.
While you wait, need another sexy, edgy read? Start the Nashville Neighborhood series with THE DOCTOR. It has age-gap, a lot of inappropriate sex, and of course, a hot doctor!
You can also preorder the next two books in that standalone series:
The Pool Boy
The Architect
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OTHER BOOKS BY NIKKI SLOANE
THE BLINDFOLD CLUB SERIES
It Takes Two | FREE
Three Simple Rules
Three Hard Lessons
Three Little Mistakes
Three Dirty Secrets
Three Sweet Nothings
Three Guilty Pleasures
One More Rule
The Blindfold Club Collection | Books 1-3 bundle
THE SORDID SERIES
Sordid
Torrid
The Sordid Duet
Destroy
SPORTS ROMANCE
The Rivalry
THE NASHVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD
The Doctor
The Pool Boy
The Architect
FILTHY RICH AMERICANS
The Initiation
The Obsession
The Deception
The Redemption
The Temptation
THANK YOU
This book was supposed to be 70,000 words. It finished at 110,000 and three weeks later than I wanted it to. That meant my husband Nick once again became my superhero. He supported me by brainstorming, feeding and entertaining our children, and staying up late to read the first draft, even when he had to be up early in the morning for work. I was at a writer’s retreat at the tail end of writing this (when I foolishly thought I had 10,000 words left to go and not 30,000) and when I explained how amazing my husband was, it was decided he needs to be cloned. I don’t know how I got so lucky but thank God I did. I love him so very much.
Thank you to Aubrey Bondurant for her daily messages of support and her fantastic idea that helped me get unstuck when I was in my ‘black moment, all-is-lost’ phase of writing this book. I’m sorry for feeding you the never-ending lie that I was “almost done and probably finishing tomorrow.”
Thanks to my publicist Nina Grinstead for pushing me to write this book. I was resistant and scared to try to tackle Macalister’s story, but you were absolutely right, and I’m so grateful.
Thank you to all the fantastic folks at the writer’s retreat in Orange Beach, AL for being so uplifting when I was struggling under the weight of my stress. I loved getting to witness such a positive community of strong, smart women.
And I owe a huge THANK YOU to you, reader. The Filthy Rich American series has been a joy to write, and the love you’ve shown it has literally changed my life. When THE DECEPTION hit the USA Today Bestseller list, it was the first time my work has been able to do that on its own. Thank you for reading and helping make my dreams come true!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nikki Sloane fell into graphic design after her careers as a waitress, a screenwriter, and a ballroom dance instructor fell through. For eight years she worked for a design firm in that extremely tall, black, and tiered building in Chicago that went through an unfortunate name change during her time there.
Now she lives in Kentucky, is married and has two sons. She is a three-time Romance Writers of America RITA© Finalist, also writes romantic suspense under the name Karyn Lawrence, and couldn't be any happier that people enjoy reading her sexy words.
Website: NikkiSloane.com
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COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2020 by Nikki Sloane
Cover design © Shady Creek Designs
Delinquency Edition