A Royal Pain (Montrovia Royals Book 1)
Page 24
I winced, hating hearing my suspicions confirmed. Not because I cared about what happened to my father, but because of what he’d done to others, and how many people he’d been hurting. It would soon come to light, and I couldn’t help thinking of all the devastation facing people in the coming days.
“Great.” Paxton was clearly focused on bringing down my father and not on what he’d done to others, which I understood. “How do we use that to bring him down?”
Lila grinned. “I know someone who can help.”
“Of course you do,” said Paxton with affection.
I could feel the jealousy creeping up again, but I forced it back. I’d have to find out where Lila fit into his life, but I was glad to have her help.
After she left, I turned to Paxton. “Is she your lover?”
His eyes widened. “Lila? Hell, no.”
I nodded, accepting it, but also needing to know about the past. “Was she before?”
Paxton grinned, clearly amused at the idea. “Nope. When I first met her, I thought she wanted that, but she just saw my potential to be a fighter. A few months into our arrangement, I was starting to feel I owed her, since I hadn’t won any matches yet, and she was supporting me financially. I made a play, and she let me down gently.”
I frowned, trying to hide my reaction. “I see.”
“Do you?” He touched my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “I didn’t want to sleep with her. I thought I owed her something, and it was all I had to offer. She knew that, and she didn’t want to sleep with me either. She’s a friend and a business colleague, but nothing else.”
“Okay.” In that case, I was definitely glad to have the woman in our corner.
“There’s never been someone I loved before you. I love you and only you, Mia.”
My eyes burned with tears, but I absolutely refused to cry again. I didn’t want him to think I was a big ol’ crybaby about everything. “I love you too, Paxton.”
“Thank god for that, because I can’t let you go now.” He said it in a warning fashion.
I didn’t know if he was warning me not to try to leave him, or if he was still trying to warn me away, because he thought it was the right thing to do. Either way, I snuggled closer, having no plans to go anywhere. “You’ll never get rid of me.”
“I like that idea just fine, baby.”
Epilogue
Paxton
The story broke within twenty-four hours. I tuned in with dark glee as I watched S.E.C. agents escorting a handcuffed Dirk Gaithway from his mansion. He’d been in the process of fleeing, according to the reporters, but he’d surrendered without a fight. I was of two minds on that outcome. On the one hand, I wanted him to suffer a long life in prison. Still, I would have been perfectly content to see him shot on a live news feed—though I doubt I’d have gotten to see that part.
Mia and I celebrated with a fancy dinner out before returning to my apartment to make love. It wasn’t as sweet this time, but even when we got rougher with each other, there was underlying tenderness in each act. I couldn’t imagine ever getting bored with her body. Or her heart. Or her mind.
She was my everything.
Fuck, it felt good.
***
Six months later, I won my first championship. I had the official title, and it came with a boatload of money, endorsements, and media attention. Reporters dug into my past and learned my girlfriend was also my stepsister, but most people didn’t seem to care, to my surprise.
Maybe it was because I was a UFC fighter and could kick ass, or maybe because most reporters emphasized how we’d been estranged as adults for a long time. I think I had Lila to thank for the surprising tact of the journalists, though she refused to take any credit for influencing any of her contacts.
After learning about Mia, it was inevitable my link to Dirk Gaithway, awaiting trial for the biggest corporate scandal since Enron, would come to light. I’d been undergoing regular therapy, and with Mia at my side, I made a brief announcement about being a survivor of childhood sexual abuse the day after the first article linking us appeared.
It created a stir, and it made people loath Dirk more than they already had. The scrutiny made me uncomfortable, but it was also liberating to stop hiding my secret. That bastard certainly didn’t deserve to be protected or shielded for what he’d done, and I’d come to realize I didn’t have to carry the shame around with me. I wasn’t ready to talk about it with anyone and everyone—and I’d walked out on a couple of interviews before journalists got that message and stopped asking for details—but it felt good to share my past.
With my past firmly where it belonged, I could focus on my future. It began in earnest a week after I admitted what Dirk had done to me. I proposed to Mia in a quiet, romantic restaurant, and she said yes. Of course she did. Yeah, I’m a conceited jerk, but I knew she’d say yes. She couldn’t live without me—but that goes both ways. I couldn’t live without her either.
Three months after our engagement, we got married in Bermuda and spent a month holed up in a private villa. Lost in our own world, we were among the last to hear that Dirk had been sentenced to eighteen years in prison and ordered to repay all the money he’d stolen. He’d never have those kinds of funds, but I liked the idea that he’d be haunted for the rest of his life, if he survived prison.
I was surprised by how little I cared about his fate. He was firmly in my past. The nightmares that had plagued me over the years were gone, and I slept deeply each night with Mia in my arms. I worried about how she took the news of his sentencing, because she was still his daughter, and she’d seemed upset. When I asked her about it, she said succinctly, “I’d hoped he’d get a longer sentence.”
God, I loved her.
******
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