Two officers take the woman who tried to kill me up and stand next to Zane. Her dark hair is falling across her face. She’s still wearing the all black clothing she had on to hide in the darkness. “I have been arrested for the attempted murder of Elizabeth Cook. I implore anyone who is looking to collect the money for this hit to cease all actions. It was a farce made by Judge Meagan Saunders. This man next to me could have killed me. His sparing my life is the reason I am asking all who can hear me to stop their plans for taking Elizabeth Cook, out.”
Zane takes everyone’s attention as he says, “I know many people in this city. If any of you have special connections to the group who has been hired to pull this crime off, I beg of you to let them know, this would be a horrible crime. It was the vengeful act of a woman who was trying to make us all believe she should be governor of this state. Our state. Don’t let her evil hurt anyone else, especially the woman I love with everything I have.”
One of the officers steps up to the microphone. “Let is also be known that if Elizabeth Cook is harmed in any way, our department will stop at nothing to make sure not only the assailant but the entire organization behind the person will be held accountable. Let’s not make this thing into a war. Let’s end this here.”
“Thank you for your help,” Zane finishes the press conference and the cameras go off and it’s back to the anchor desk.
Tristan flips off the television. “Well, I think that went well. Don’t you?”
I feel a little uneasy still but say, “I think so. Zane said we’ll be leaving today. I’m not sure we’ll be coming back to live here. He said he wants to get our life going.”
Tristan looks at me with wide eyes and opens his arms. “Hug,” I oblige him as he rocks me back and forth. “I’m going to miss you both more than you can imagine. You’ve stolen my heart, Miss Cook.”
“Tristan, you’re going to make me cry. I’m going to miss you too. I’m sure when we’re in the city, we’ll always stay here,” I tell him as he lets me out of his embrace.
“You better!” His smile makes me feel better.
“We will. Only you know how to make me feel so special. I’d never stay anywhere else.”
The door opens and Zane comes inside with a smile on his face. “I think that went perfectly.”
Tristan gets up and goes straight to him, extending his hand. “Miss Cook just told me the great news. You two are going to be finding a home. Congratulations on everything, Mr. White.”
Zane shakes his hand and pats him on the back. “Thank you, Tristan. Of course, we’ll always stay here, or where ever you find yourself working. You are one in a million.”
A tear falls over Tristan’s cheek and I find myself smiling. He really does care about us. He really is a little cherub!
Getting up, I go and hug him. “Aww, I really am going to miss you.”
“Me too,” he says then pulls out of my arms. “Now, you said you’ll be leaving today so I have so much to do.” He looks at Zane. “I’m assuming you’re taking her off to marry her and robbing us of making you the most spectacular wedding on the planet, aren’t you?”
“I am,” Zane answers him.
“Then I am forced to rush an impromptu affair to send you two off in style. I’ll have Miss Cook’s team up here right away.” Tristan looks at me. “Trust me to find you the perfect dress?”
I nod and clap my hands. “I do! The wedding is going to be on the beach in L.A.”
Zane laughs. “Get her everything she’ll need, will you, Tristan. I’d like to be on the jet about three this afternoon. I’m having her parents flown in and taken to the place we’ll be married at. I’ve already been sent the papers online and we signed them and sent them back. The wedding is scheduled for nine this evening.”
Tristan hurries out. “I’ll have it all taken care of. And the guards will stay right where they are. You’ll have them with you until you get on your jet. This is so exciting!”
Yes, it is!
Chapter 4
ZANE
“I’m really sorry about the lies, sir. You have no idea how I wish I could turn back time and change that,” I tell Elizabeth’s father.
“Well, that was damn odd, I have to admit. But everything turned out okay. My real worry is what I saw on the news in the hotel room earlier. Lizzie didn’t tell us about nearly being killed,” he says as I straighten his tie.
“She didn’t?” I ask like I had no idea. I knew she didn’t. She was hoping they never found out but the damn news traveled clear across the country, it seems. “Well, it sounds a lot worse than it really is. I mean, she was always safe.”
The lies can’t seem to stop coming out of my mouth!
I might have a problem I never knew I had before. Her father’s narrowed eyes tell me he has more to ask me. “Why was a hit called out on her in the first place? No one in the Cook family has ever gotten crossways with the mafia. How in the world did she manage to?”
“She didn’t. Did you hear the whole press conference?” I run my hand over his back to straighten out the black suit jacket.
“I did. I heard about some judge. It sounds outlandish, really,” he says.
The tall, gangly man who will be officiating the wedding, steps into the dressing room. “Are you two about ready? I have a nine-thirty wedding. We need to get this show on the road, as they say.”
I nod and we follow the man out. “We can talk more about this another time,” I tell her father. “It’s behind us now. That’s what’s really important.”
He nods but looks a little suspiciously at me. “Okay. I’ll go get Lizzie and bring her to you.”
As he walks away from me, I catch a glimpse of her mother as she dabs at her eyes and sits on the front row of chairs. The rest are all empty and I find myself wondering if Elizabeth would’ve liked to have more people here.
I’ve rushed her from the moment I met her. I hurried her to accept a date with me and then I had her pretending to be my wife that same night. Now I have her nearly at the altar, again in a such a rush, she only has her parents here for her.
I’m an ass!
The music starts up, making me turn back to see if she’s coming. When she steps out from behind the little white wall, holding her father’s arm, my knees nearly give out.
Somehow she looks more beautiful than she did before I left her so we could change clothes. The dress Tristan picked out for her is perfect. All the way to the sand it goes in a white silky sheet that glistens in the candle light.
The sound of the waves washing along the beach adds to the ambiance of this perfect night. All of a sudden, I don’t feel as if anything has been rushed at all. She is coming to me and soon will be my wife and it feels like I’ve waited an eternity for this moment.
A strand of pearls is hanging around her neck and she’s lifted her golden hair just enough to show off her long, elegant neck. The dress is strapless and her shoulders glisten in the moonlight.
Her green eyes are shiny and bright and happiness is pouring out of them. She is the most beautiful person I have ever seen. And I get to see her every day for the rest of my life.
When they finally get to me, her father places her hand in mine and kisses her cheek. I can’t take my eyes off her as she gazes at me. “Hey,” I say.
“Hey,” she says back.
We turn to look at the man who’s about to make us a real couple, joined in holy matrimony. He speaks and we take turns repeating his words, all I can think about is our future. A home, kids, pets, first steps, first words, a hell of a lot of firsts!
The part comes where we place rings on each other’s fingers and I find tears are glistening in her eyes. I run my thumb over her cheek when one slips out. She takes my hand and holds it to her face.
I find a lump forming in my throat and have to clear it. She smiles at me as the man tells me I can kiss my bride. I look into her eyes for the longest time before I take her sweet lips.
The kiss is different than our
others. Something has changed. We are one now, like the words he had us say. We are to protect each other. We are to hold this bond sacred for the rest of our lives. We are to always be good to one another.
I’m pretty damn sure I can do all of those things. The only thing missing here, on this night, is my dad and her gramps. But I bet they’re watching us from their places in Heaven.
We end our kiss as the sound of lightning crackles through the air, followed by a huge clap of thunder. Our lips part and she looks into my eyes again. “I love you, Zane White.”
My knuckles graze her pink cheek. “I love you, Elizabeth White.”
I think I could stand here and stare into her eyes forever. But then we’d never get to the best part. The honeymoon!
So I scoop her up and carry her back down the aisle and to the waiting limousine that will take us to our hotel room. Placing her in the backseat, I slide in next to her and find her hand shaking when I take it.
“Nervous?” I ask with a chuckle. “It’s not like it’ll be our first time, baby.”
“It’s not that. It’s just that I feel a change. I feel it. It’s crazy. It’s been about two minutes since we sealed the deal and I feel the difference,” she says. “It’s overwhelming.”
“Don’t let it overwhelm you, baby. It’s just us but better. More stable. Committed. I mean, you did just become a billionaire but other than that, you’re the same woman as you were before the ceremony.”
“I’m a billionaire?” she asks then shakes her head. “No, you are.”
“What’s mine is yours,” I say then pull her in for a kiss. “And what’s yours is mine.”
“You got the shit end of the deal, didn’t you?” she asks me with a laugh.
“I got the better end of this deal. I got you and that’s better than all the money in the world.” Pulling her onto my lap, I pull the pins out of her hair and let is cascade over her bare shoulders. “Please, never think about the money as mine. It’s ours now. You want something, you get it. My wife deserves everything she wants.”
“You will spoil me,” she giggles.
“I prefer to call it, making you happy, instead of spoiling.”
“You do make me happy, Zane.”
And as I look into her eyes, I believe her words. She does look happy!
Chapter 5
ELIZABETH
“Push!” Zane says as my face has to be turning beat red.
“I am!” I shout back at him.
“You have to try harder, Elizabeth White!”
Now he’s just pissing me off!
“This is the first time you’ve let me work out with you and I can’t lift this damn heavy weight, Zane. Now take some of the weights off or I’ll never be able to do even one rep,” I tell him as I try to cool myself down with a nice deep breath.
“There’s only the ten extra pounds on top of what the bar weighs. I think we need to come at this a little slower. You have no upper body strength what so ever, baby,” he tells me.
“Well, now you’ve pissed me off,” I say and grit my teeth as I push the damn bar up until it leaves the contraption holding it above me. “One. Two, Three. Okay, three. That’s good for now.” I place it back into the grooves and look at Zane to see him beaming at me.
“Now I see how to go about this. I just need to doubt you. I got it now,” he says with a laugh. “On to the next thing.”
“No, on to the shower and then dinner. You’ve tortured me for thirty minutes. That’s long enough for me,” I get off the bench and head toward the shower in the workout room he finished yesterday.
“I’ve got to get my workout in. Get yourself gorgeous. I’ll be done in an hour and a half,” he calls out after me.
“Show off,” I shout out over my shoulder as I leave the room.
We found a cozy little ten-bedroom place just outside of the Hamptons. The man had to have his mansion which I don’t ever let him call our home. The last thing I want is for our kids to be pretentious and tell people they live in a mansion.
We spent the weekend at the lighthouse like we do nearly every weekend. It’s been a year since we were married, our anniversary is next week. It’s hard to believe that much time has passed.
Zane has been after me to get our family started. So I’ve bought him a dog as his first-anniversary gift. I know it’s not what he meant, but I don’t like to give the man everything he wants right when he wants it. It’s good to wait for some things after all.
The real reason I’ve held off on having kids is because Meagan’s trial has been put off as her lawyers, friends of hers from law school who are working on her case for free, which pisses us off to no end, have kept postponing it.
She’s had to sit in jail while she’s waiting but she must not hate it too badly or she’d let them have the damn trial already!
I don’t want to bring any kids into the war between she and I. I put nothing past the woman. Any child we had could be in danger if she gets out, in my opinion.
Zane doesn’t agree with me. He’s told me we could get bodyguards if she gets out for some reason. I’d accept that for us but not a poor, little, innocent child.
No, until I know for sure what will happen to her, I can’t bring a kid into this world. It would most likely make me half-crazy if I did. I’d be one of those paranoid, helicopter mom’s. No, thank you!
Turning on the water in the shower we use exclusively after the workout room, per Zane’s orders, as it has a massaging shower head on top and jets that shoot out of the walls to pummel our muscles into the perfect shape, I pull my sweaty shorts and T-shirt off and step in.
“Oh, he’s right. This does feel amazing!”
I went to a meeting with Zane the other day and found myself controlling the whole thing without even realizing it. He was so proud of me. He seems to have a wonderful influence on me, making things blossom in me.
Since he’s been in my life, I’ve learned things about myself. I’m stronger than I ever knew I was. I’m smarter too. I have more self-esteem and confidence and it’s all because he instills those things in me.
For a man who wasn’t even looking to become a husband, he is the best one I’ve ever known. On those occasions when we join other couples for lunches or dinners, I notice how the men treat their wives. Zane treats me with more respect than any of them.
Some of them put their wives on a pedal stool. They must always look gorgeous. They must always use their best manners. They must always be poised and never utter a curse word, lest they get a look of disdain from their husbands.
Zane knows I am human. He accepts me when I roll out of bed with a backache and a headache from female issues and tell him, I’ll not be getting out of my sweats all day and will not be going to the office. He always comes back home with the basic necessities. Chocolate, wine, and a funny movie.
He knows when to coddle me, when to help me, when to let me do things myself. I know he’ll make a wonderful father. There’s not a doubt in my mind.
If things were settled with the maniac woman, I’d probably be knocked up right now. But they aren’t settled and I’m not about to let myself get in that condition without knowing where the hell that woman will be.
“Hey,” I hear him say as I wash my hair.
“I thought you were working out,” I say as he takes his clothes off.
“Yeah, I’m still doing that. Only instead of weights, I’m going to lift you. Up and down and up and down until I can’t anymore.” He moves into the shower and groans with how good the water feels.
Rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, I say, “You know more accidents happen in the bathroom than anywhere in the entire world.”
His hands grip my waist as he lifts me up and presses my back to the warm tiled wall. “Well, we will just have to be really careful. Tell you what. You hold onto my shoulders so you don’t slip and fall.”
His erection slides between my thighs a few times as he teases me until I’m squirming for him to really
show me what he can do. “Are you going to use that thing or not, Zane?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” he says then pins my body to the wall, making me moan with pleasure as he moves into me. My legs go around him as I hold his shoulders. “Baby, you feel like home.”
“I am home,” I whisper. “Your home.”
As his body takes me away, all I can think about is how good he makes me feel in every way possible. At times I don’t know if I deserve him but all the time I know I’ll never let him get away from me.
With each passing day, it gets more and more obvious, I’d kill for the man. Meagan Saunders has to get what she deserves. If she’s set free I have no idea what I’ll do to her.
Chapter 6
ZANE
“I know you’ve been itching to start this family, Zane,” Elizabeth tells me as we drive back home from our first-anniversary dinner.
I look at her and ask, “Should I pull over? Are you about to make me the happiest man in the world?”
“I thought you already were,” she says with a smile. “And no, don’t pull over. We need to get home.”
“So, what do you mean by what you said then? I would take something like that to mean you’re finally ready to get over your fear and have our first baby.”
“Fear?” she asks as she looks at me with her mouth hanging open. “Fear? It’s not fear that’s been stopping me. It’s the fact that Meagan Saunders is a lunatic. We don’t know where she’ll be until the trial and I’m not about to bring a kid into this thing we have with her.”
“Yeah, because you’re afraid,” I say and know I’m hitting a soft spot in her. But when a man is ready to start a family, he sometimes will hit below the belt to make that happen.
“I wouldn’t call it being afraid. I’d call it being smart.” Her arms cross over her chest and I know I have her wheels spinning.
The Billionaire’s Lighthouse Series: A Billionaire, Bad Boy, Romance Page 29