My stomach dropped. Was that what this was all about? Was he going to ruin our lives in court?
“But I’m not going to do that.”
The fear vanished and was replaced by confusion. Then what did he want?
“I’m glad to hear that, Edward,” said Adam.
“I’m sure you are,” he said. “Do you want to know why?”
“Yes!” I said, exclaiming the word in a way that made me immediately embarrassed.
But Edward only smiled.
“Because, Adam,” he said, “when I decided to bring you on as CEO, well, I knew what I was getting myself into. You had a reputation—not only for your ways with women, but also as someone who always did the right thing, at any cost. And, it just so happened that the right thing often turned out to be the profitable one as well.”
He went on.
“So, I’m not surprised that you pulled something like this. I don’t appreciate one bit that you went behind my back and put me up against the wall with the press, but I consider your termination to be adequate punishment, as I’m sure you do.”
Adam nodded.
“Thank you, Edward.”
Edward responded by slowly drawing a breath through his nose and letting it out.
“And hell,” he said. “I’m a family man, too. Wouldn’t exactly sit right with me to put you in the poorhouse over a vendetta like this.”
He waved his hand through the air.
“It’s over and done, and I’m just hoping that the profits make it all worth it.”
“They will,” said Adam. “The data—”
“We all know you didn’t do this because of the data,” he said. “You did it because it was the right thing to do. Hell, I knew it was the right thing to do—something we should’ve done a long time ago. Maybe me sending you down there was my way of letting you do what needed to be done.”
He raised his finger.
“Adam, let me tell you what I brought you here to tell you. I know the kind of man you are, and I know you’re going to be back on your feet soon. But take your time about it. It’s clear that helping people is important to you—so find some way to do that. Don’t chase profits if what you’re really after is making the world a better place.”
He nodded toward me.
“And if she’s anything like you, she’ll be right there at your side.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.
“I should hold a grudge over this, Adam,” Edward said. “Maybe I’m too reasonable for my own good. But I’ve got some empathy, believe it or not. And I’m prepared to end things amicably between us. Bernard, on the other hand, might be another story. I’d stay clear of him.”
Adam approached Edward and offered his hand. Edward eyed it with hesitation and then…took it. The men shook, a smile spreading across my face as they did.
“Now,” he said. “Take this beautiful young lady home and take some time with your babies. You’ve just become parents for the first time—there’s nothing else in the world like it.”
He gave me a small smile, the first I’d seen since I’d met him.
“Thank you, Edward,” said Adam.
“Thank you,” I said.
He nodded, and the two of us turned to leave.
“Mhmm,” he said. “And one more thing.”
We glanced over our shoulders.
“Congratulations.”
Chapter 32
Adam
December
The numbers in front of my eyes began to blur as I tried to focus. Looking for some excuse to take my eyes off the screen, I glanced at my watch.
Damn—I’d been at it seven hours straight with no breaks. The pitfalls of starting your own international philanthropic organization, I suppose.
I stood up, the late-afternoon sunlight pouring into the office. It was too quiet for my liking. There was some soft piano music playing on the stereo to help me think, but other than that it was dead silent. Normally, this would be nice. But when you had two babies, silence was suspicious.
Sure, they weren’t exactly old enough to move around and get into trouble, but they could cause some mischief if you turned your back to them for too long. After a little pacing around in the apartment, I decided it was just the excuse I needed to take a break.
My footsteps echoed through the penthouse, no other noises around. As I reached the living room, I realized why. On the couch was about the sweetest, most wonderful sight I’d ever seen in my life. Isla was there sleeping, Noelle and Natalie snoozing in their bassinet.
I leaned against the wall, watching them for a time. The sight was hypnotic, like something I could watch forever and never become bored. It was still hard for me to process that those two gorgeous baby girls were mine.
Ours.
Isla let out a yawn, slowly opening her eyes and laying them on me.
“Hey,” she said with a smile, her voice thick with sleep. “Been wondering when I’d see you.”
“Sorry,” I said. “Still working on the odds and ends for opening next year.”
She blinked a few more times, slowly coming out of her nap, the girls still sleeping.
“I can’t believe it’s almost time,” she said. “You excited?”
“Excited and…a little nervous, to tell the truth.”
I stepped away and headed into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of coffee.
“Adam Forde, nervous?” she asked. “I don’t believe it.”
“Well,” I said. “Nervous in an excited sort of way. You know I’m not scared of anything.”
I flashed her an ironic smile over the kitchen counter.
“Dangerous attitude to have, buddy,” she said, matching my grin with one of her own.
“What can I say?” I said. “I like to live dangerously.”
I sipped my coffee, hearing the soft sounds of the girls coming awake.
“All right, pops,” said Isla. “One of these ladies has your name all over her.”
She didn’t need to ask me twice. I took a sip of my coffee and set it down on the counter, hurrying over to Isla and the girls. The twins were both squirming, and I picked up Noelle, scooping her up and bringing her close. As soon as I had her against my chest, she calmed down, nuzzling her head into me.
“You know,” said Isla as she held Natalie. “Some might consider it a little unfair that you’re this handsome, this rich, and also this good with kids.”
“I guess I am a natural,” I said with another grin.
“Let’s see what you’re saying when they’re teenagers and have every guy in the city chasing after them.”
“Well, then you’ll find out that I’m also a natural at kicking the asses of teenage boys.”
She let out a bright laugh.
“Don’t know if I can say that I’d be all that impressed to see that.”
I grinned and stepped toward the window looking out over the city. Isla joined me and we said nothing for a time, simply enjoying the view. The sun was beginning to lower in the sky and everything was nice and quiet—one of the perks of being this high up.
“So,” said Isla. “We talked about moving before…”
We had, and she was right. I loved the penthouse, but it was more of a bachelor pad, and it was right in the middle of the city. I wanted the girls to grow up somewhere more peaceful, maybe somewhere with a yard
“Sorry,” Isla said. “I know you’ve got enough on your plate with the company.”
“And you’re going to be going back to work at the beginning of the year.”
“I still can’t believe Edward was cool with me coming back on.”
“The man recognizes talent when he sees it, and he’s smart enough to know not to let it go. Not to mention when the quarterly report came back and showed that every single factory was up in profit, he probably softened his view on me.”
She chuckled.
“I’m still laughing at the cover of that business magazine, the on
e with all of the board smiling with the words ‘Humanitarian Company of the Year’ in big letters.”
“I’m sure Bernard was crazy about being part of that,” I said.
We both shared a laugh.
“It’s crazy to think about,” I said. “But where we’re at is really just at the start of something.”
“You’re right. Feels like we just had this insane journey so now we should be able to cool our heels and relax for a few years at least. But it’s the opposite. We’ve got the girls, the company…”
“And things are only going to get more complicated from here on out. Once the company starts, that’ll be its own thing, and then…maybe we even have some more kids…”
She shot me an expression that was about as wide-eyed as it gets.
“You’re seriously talking about more kids right now?” she asked. “These two are barely three months old!”
“I know, I know,” I said. “But you have to admit, they’re pretty fun.”
“Easy for you to say,” she said. “You’re not the one who had to push them out of you.”
“You’re right. But you can’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about more.”
Isla hummed.
“Okay, fine. I have,” she said. “But still, I think both of us need a breather for a little while.”
“Sure,” I said. “I totally get it. Let’s shelve that discussion at least until we’re in the new house. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good to me.”
I turned my attention back to the view, something on my mind that I didn’t quite want to talk about.
“Okay,” Isla said. “Let’s hear it.”
“Hear what?”
“You don’t think I know you well enough to know when you’re thinking about something big? You get that look on your face, your brow gets knitted. It’s kind of sexy, actually.”
“All right,” I said. “Can’t hide anything from you, can I? I was thinking about how we have so much going on in the next year, it might be nice to go out of town for the holidays.”
“I could get behind that,” she said. “For Christmas?”
“For Christmas,” I said. “And I was thinking that there wouldn’t be any place better to go than the city where it all started…”
Her eyes lit up. I didn’t need to finish.
“You want to go to Rio?” she exclaimed.
“Mhmm,” I said. “Thought it’d be fitting. We met there, fell in love there, and now we’ll bring our family there. Sounds about perfect to me.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” she said.
With that, she leaned in and kissed me on the lips.
“I love you, babe,” she said.
“And I love you,” I said.
But little did she know, there was more to the plan than I was letting on. I had one more surprise in store, one I was sure she wasn’t expecting.
I couldn’t wait.
Chapter 33
Isla
Three Weeks Later
I wasn’t sure how it was possible, but Rio was even more beautiful and romantic than before.
Christmas was in full swing, and the entire city was decked out in red and green and lights and everything else. I loved it so much, and more than that I loved being able to take the girls there. Sure, they were too young to know what was going on, but judging by the looks on their little faces, they were having a great time taking it all in.
This time we decided to have a little bit of a change of pace. Instead of renting the hotel where we’d stayed the last two trips, we booked a place downtown with incredible views of the coast. From our room we could see the ocean and the bustling city center and, at night, all of the Christmas lights for miles and miles.
The trip was for a week, and we were ready to relax and have some fun. The rule was no work, and it took some doing to talk Adam out of taking a quick drive to the factory and looking around. That was someone else’s business now, I told him—his business was the girls and me.
In the days leading up to Christmas, we did it all. We toured the city, ate at some of the nicest restaurants, and, of course, spent plenty of time at the beach. Adam and I even took advantage of the childcare services at the hotel to have a little “him and me” time all to ourselves. There was something about that city, something that made the sex incredible. Of course, it didn’t hurt that we were totally, madly in love.
All of a sudden it was Christmas morning, and I was surprised to open my eyes to find the other half of the bed empty, bright sunlight streaming in through the windows.
Still a little groggy, I pulled on my robe and made my way to the kitchen—a full kitchen, not a tiny hotel one.
“Morning,” Adam said brightly, already fully dressed. “And Feliz Natal.”
“And a happy Feliz Natal to you too,” I said.
“Technically, you just said ‘happy happy Christmas,’” he said. “But you’re cute, so I’ll let it slide.”
He winked and smiled warmly from his position in front of the stove. The girls were in bouncy seats on the bar chewing happily on their teething toys, and the air was rich with the scent of bacon and eggs and pancakes.
“I let you sleep in,” he said. “Figured no sense in both of us getting up at the crack of dawn.”
I stepped over to him and slipped my arms around his back, planting a kiss on his cheek.
“You’re sweet.”
“I really am, aren’t I?” he said with a coy grin.
As I held him I turned my attention to the tree. It reminded me of the one he’d brought to me last Christmas, along with some delicious eggnog. This tree was a little grander, decked out with ornaments and lights, presents packed around the bottom. But that little tree would stay in my mind forever.
“Picked up some eggnog too,” Adam said, as if reading my mind. “And I went to the liberty of getting the streaming set up on the TV, so if you’re so inclined, we can spend the whole day hanging out and watching some cornball movies.”
“Sounds like heaven,” I said. “Maybe we’ll even be able to sneak off while the girls are napping and do our, ahem, other Christmas tradition.”
“I’m counting on it,” he said with a sexy smirk.
Adam finished making breakfast and once it was set up, we dug in. Damn, it was good. Adam didn’t cook all that often, but when he did, it was always good as hell.
Once we’d eaten it was time for the presents.
“I found something for the girls,” he said, picking up a small box wrapped in colorful paper and handing it over to me. “But I thought you might appreciate it.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, taking it.
I opened it up, eager to see what he’d come up with.
And as I pulled the top open and moved away the wrapping paper, I let out a gasp at what I saw.
It was two pairs of booties, one red, one green. But they weren’t matching—each pair was two different colors.
“Figured if their mom likes to mismatch for the holidays, the girls might like it too.”
I giggled, my heart expanding at his reference to our first meeting—a moment a knew for sure now that he would never let me live down—and was quick to put the booties on our daughters’ precious little feet.
We opened the rest of our gifts, Adam loving his new watch and bottle of fancy whiskey, my eyes going wide as I opened up my gift to find the very same vintage pendant necklace I’d admired in a store window weeks before. Once we were done, he poured us both a glass of eggnog and turned up the radio, the sounds of Christmas carols filling the room.
“Care for a dance?” he asked.
“I’d love one.”
We both took sips of our eggnog before getting up, Adam taking me in his arms.
“You know,” Adam said as we swayed together in time with the music. “There’s one more present I have to give you. I was going to give it later, but now seems like the right time.”
“Another present?”
&nbs
p; He nodded.
“Something I’ve been wanting to give you to let you know that I love you more than words could say, and that nothing will ever change the way I feel about you.”
He turned his eyes to me, the greens glittering in the morning light.
“I love you, Isla Marten. And I always will.”
With that, he reached into his pocket and took out a small box. Then he dropped to his knee and opened it, revealing a gorgeous, glittering diamond ring.
“And I’m ready to make that love enteral. Will you marry me?”
I didn’t hesitate, not even for a second.
“Yes!” I exclaimed.
He smiled the warmest smile I’d ever seen before slipping the ring on and rising back up. Our girls sleeping soundly mere feet away, the city where we’d fallen in love spread out all around us, he brought me in for a deep, loving kiss.
“I love you, baby,” he said.
“And I love you, too. Always.”
And I knew it would be the first of many more to come, a kiss that sealed the promise of our future together, forever and always.
THE END
I hope you’ve enjoyed Adam and Isla’s story! Keep reading for a sneak peak at the previous book in the Scandalous series, The Baby Plan
Happy reading!
Layla x
The Baby Plan
Copyright 2019 by Layla Valentine
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the explicit written permission of the author.
All characters depicted in this fictional work are consenting adults, of at least eighteen years of age. Any resemblance to persons living or deceased, particular businesses, events, or exact locations are entirely coincidental.
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