Gabe enters the office and looks between us. “Jesus is right. Both of you need to get the lipstick back on her lips before the press conference. It’s all over both of your faces and for the record, Reid, I need more than a minute to finish.” He looks at me. “Sorry, Carrie. He’ll get better I’m sure.”
It’s in that moment that Cat walks in the door. “Reid, damn it. Why can’t you answer your phone?”
Reid, Gabe, and I all look at each other and burst into laughter, and I don’t know all that Reid will share with us all now but I know this: These people are now family, the family I’ve always wanted.
CHAPTER FORTY
Carrie
The press conference starts at noon on the dot in the lobby of the building, and no matter how completely Reid has assured us all that Elijah has been leashed, I’m terrified about some sort of bombshell. The three of us—me, Reid, and Gabe—take the podium, and as we all discussed and agreed upon, Gabe takes the microphone and announces the merger.
He goes through the financial details and data, keeping it short and sweet. “Now,” Gabe says, “if you have questions directly related to the merger—”
“Reid!” A reporter shouts. “Did you kill your girlfriend?!”
I can feel Reid stiffen next to me and I grab his arm. From there the shouts begin, one after another, all directed at Reid and the scandal. Reid squeezes my hand and then looks at Gabe, giving him a nod before kissing me and then taking the lead spot at the podium.
“Let me just cut to the chase,” Reid says in the microphone, his voice strong, unwavering. “Yes, my college girlfriend died in a shooting. Yes, I was there. Yes, she took a bullet meant for me. I knew the shooter was going to shoot the store attendant. I saw it in his eyes and felt it in his energy. I taunted him to get him to point the gun at me, giving the clerk time to call for help. The minute that happened, Kelli panicked and bravely flung herself in front of me and the shooter reacted by pulling the trigger. Kelli’s parents are now deceased, but in the days after their daughter’s death, I got to know them over the years. I stayed in touch with them and I can tell you, they wouldn’t want her used as a weapon against me or anyone.”
He stayed in touch with her family? He hadn’t told me, but I love him all the more for this new detail.
“Are you seeing Carrie West?” A reporter shouts. “Is that how you managed to pull off this merger?”
Anger flares inside me and I step next to Reid and speak. “I’m his fiancée, and for the record, I asked him to consider the merger. We as people, and companies, balance each other out with the kind of perfection that is magic, which is exactly why our first deal together was record-breaking for both companies.”
From there, the questions come hard and fast, darting back and forth between business and personal, but we let them at us because as Reid said before this event, the sooner they get tired of us, the better. After forty-five minutes of pounding questions, Reid calls it to a halt and Blake’s team intervenes to get us out of the lobby. Reid, Gabe and I all end up on an elevator alone.
We all stand there in the moving car in silence, that speech Reid gave between us, and I don’t hug him the way I want to. I know him. That’s not what he needs or wants right now. He needs to move on. He needs to deal with it later when we’re alone, but Gabe hasn’t had the opportunity to ask him the questions I have and he’s living this with us right now. “You kept in touch with her family?”
“I did,” he says. “And every time I talked to them I felt like I was the one who killed their daughter.”
“Did they blame you?” he asks.
“No. Never. But I did. I blamed me.”
Gabe scrubs his jaw. “Fuck, man. You should have told me.”
“We both know you had shit of your own to deal with,” Reid says. “We both know you still do.”
Gabe’s jaw hardens and he cuts his stare, obviously hiding his reaction, and it’s then that the elevator dings. He glances our direction again. “As soon as Walker clears the reporters, I’ll go deal with pops. You two just plan a wedding or get drunk, or both. I damn sure have a date with a bottle of vodka.”
The doors open and he exits the car without waiting on a reply. Reid takes my hand and we share a moment of understanding. Reid is okay. He really is, but Gabe is carrying a boulder on his back and we can only hope he now knows that we’ll help him carry it. We exit the car side by side, and random staff members stop to speak to Reid on the way to his office. Suddenly, the asshole they’d all feared is human and what I see in each person’s eyes isn’t sympathy for Reid, but rather respect. They respect him for his humanity, and for his courage to face this today. The truth is he tried to take a bullet to save a life that day. He was courageous then, too, but it just wasn’t his time.
When we’re finally inside his office with the door shut, I lean against it while he walks to the bar in the corner. “Vodka, wine, or whiskey?” he asks. “Gabe recommends the vodka.”
I push off the door and walk toward him. “Wine,” I say, but he’s already pouring it. He knows me. I love that he knows me.
He hands me the glass. “Let’s drink and talk until we can do exactly what Gabe suggested and get out of here.” He pours himself a whiskey. “We have a dog and a cat waiting on us.”
“Are you really okay or are you banking it all until you can explode later?”
“I’m better than I’ve been in a long time,” he assures me, motioning to the couch.
“Why is that?” I ask, as we sit down and I kick my shoes off and curl my feet onto the cushion. “I mean, you told the world what you wanted to tell no one.”
“And by doing so I used it as a weapon I armed myself.”
“Your father armed that weapon,” I say. “He made you feel like you had something to be ashamed of.”
“Like I said. A weapon I armed myself. He only had the power I gave him, and for far too long. He didn’t deserve the power or respect we gave him as a family. If you ever write a letter to our daughter about me like my mother did my father, I want it read like I’m an example of what she wants in a man, not what she should avoid.” He downs his whiskey and sets his glass down.
I sit up straight and set my glass next to his. “Daughter?” I ask, my heart racing. He wants to have a daughter?
He laces his fingers with mine. “Today has my head going all kinds of places. We’d make beautiful babies.”
“Yes. Yes, we would but—”
He leans in and kisses me. “You don’t have to finish that sentence. No pressure, baby.”
“I want to finish. I was just going to say the idea scares me. What if I suck at being a mom like my mom did?”
“You won’t. You’re all heart and perfection, baby, and you’d need those qualities to manage how fucking insanely protective I’d be.” He laughs. “Maybe we better stick to the cat and dog, at least for now.”
“For now,” I say, and he brushes his lips over mine.
“Let’s just say for us anything is possible.”
“I like that. I like that a lot.”
“Good. Then how about this? Marry me in Rockefeller Center on the 27th.”
I blanch. “As in ten days from now?”
“Yes. Ten days from now. I called Grayson. He called a friend. He made it happen, baby.”
I stand up, adrenaline shooting through my body. “I—that’s incredible, but I—a dress. And—I have nothing. We have no plans.”
He stands up and turns me to face him, his hands settling on my shoulders. “Grayson’s back with his ex-fiancée and they’re getting married in March. She has a dress and a well-known designer, and Mia, that’s his fiancée, called that designer. Grayson and Mia are gifting you a custom dress, but you have to go tomorrow for the fitting. I already talked to Cat and she is working on everything else. If you want to do this. There’s no pressure, but you said you wanted this and—”
I push to my toes and kiss him. “You’re incredible. This is incredible. And ye
s, to everything. I love this. I want this. It’s everything. We’re everything.”
He kisses me and then stares down at me. “Ten days.”
“Ten days,” I whisper, my heart swelling with all that we have become, and soon will be, but my eyes go wide with a sudden thought. “You need a ring. And we have to go get the dog and—”
He kisses me again. “Relax, baby. I promise you, when we go home tonight we’ll have a ring, and a dog to play with our cat.”
I take his hand. “Then we need to leave now.” I tug him toward the door.
“What about the press?”
“Just another reason to get a dog,” I say, and we’re laughing as we get on the elevator on our way to complete our little family in all kinds of special ways.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Carrie
Thanks to Blake, Reid and I sneak out of the building through a garage exit without ever being seen by the press. We head home to check on Kesha and change into casual clothes, in hopes we won’t be recognized from the press conference today. I’ve just finished pulling on black jeans and a turtleneck when Cat calls, and we end up planning a get together for tomorrow to discuss the wedding plans. She’s excited and this just feeds my excitement. By the time I hang up, Reid’s on the phone and dressed in jeans and a navy sweater that stretches deliciously over his hard chest, and yes, I do indeed approve of the hotness level of my future husband.
He ends his call and slides his cell into his pocket. “That was Grayson. Mia’s going to text you the address for a fitting she set up for eight tomorrow morning. She’ll be there. She said it’s the only time the designer could do it.”
Excitement and nerves take over. “That’s fast but great and so nice of her. Cat wants to go, too, and my God, I can’t believe we’re doing this. You need a tux and I need to lose five pounds before the wedding.”
He snags my hips and walks me to him. “You do not need to lose five pounds. You’re perfect.”
“Thank you, but every bride loses weight so she can look back at photos and say, ‘if I was only that weight once in my life, at least it was on my wedding day.’ It’s practically tradition.”
He laughs, a warm rich laugh that I feel clear to my toes, his blue eyes alight.
My gaze settles on his face, warmth spreading through me. “You never used to laugh like that.”
“You changed me, baby, and for the better, which is why I’m marrying you before you get away. Let’s go get our dog.” Kesha gives a wicked meow at our feet and now we both laugh.
“Is that approval or objection?” Reid asks.
“Probably objection,” I say. “But Nikki will give her a big ol’ wagging tale to pounce on and all will be well.”
He scoops up Kesha and looks her in her eyes. “You heard your mommy. All will be well.” He kisses her then and that tenderness in him that I’d once believed him incapable of squeezes my heart, but so does that word “mommy” after our baby talk.
The more I think about a child, the more I think that we’ve gravitated toward fur babies because we both need family, and a need to not only create a family but to be responsible for how we define its meaning. For now, though, I think about the wedding and the fact that Reid’s phone is buzzing again. He grabs it and looks at his messages. “The foster for the dog is confirming the time. We’re meeting our potential new family member at six here in the city. That gives us time for lunch and some shopping.”
“Which is great, but should we worry about the office? Do they need us? I think they need us.”
“We will worry often at work,” he says. “But not now. Now we just made a small fortune we’re still celebrating. Gabe and Connie will let us know if there are problems.”
“Problems,” I say. “I hate that word, but I have this sense that ours have passed and it feels good.”
“Yes it does, baby,” he says, wrapping his arm around me, and together we head out to bring a dog home to our cat and our family.
***
Reid
It’s a testament to what Carrie does to me and for me that I can walk away from the chaos of that press conference and not look back. I’m looking forward, to her and us, with my focus on marrying her. The Walker team escorts us out of the building without notice and Smith plays the role of driver and protector, but we easily tune him out and we escape without the press noticing us. Our first stop is the sandwich shop next to the jeweler who made Carrie’s ring and I swear that as I sit there across from her, watching her green eyes light with excitement over the wedding, I fall more in love. Making this woman happy makes me happy, which is one of the reasons this fast, small wedding set-up works for us. Carrie will feel the absence of family no matter what. I want this day to have her focused on a new family, not the mother who deserted her.
We’re just finishing up our meal when I dare to broach that subject and just get it over with. “The location for the wedding is in the lobby right in front of the skating rink and tree. We’ll only have room for about twenty guests.”
“I love that,” she says. “It’s intimate. It’s not about the guests but us.”
“I think so, too. Are you going to invite your father?” I ask.
“Are you going to invite yours?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “I need to think on that.”
“I’d like to invite mine, I think.” She gives me a cautious look. “If you’re okay with it?”
“I told you that I’ll make things work with your father and I will. Invite him. I believe he’ll be proud to be by your side.”
Her eyes soften and she kisses my cheek. “I know that he was horrible to you. I know how big it is that you’re willing to do that. Thank you.”
I cup her head and press my cheek to hers. “Anything for you, Carrie,” I say, my lips next to her ear. “And I do mean anything.” I pull back and stare down at her, letting her see the truth of those words in my eyes.
“Reid,” she whispers, emotion in her voice and eyes. Unspoken words are on her tongue, words I know are about what I said today at the podium. Words better spoken at home, alone.
I kiss her hand. “Let’s go get those rings.” I stand up and help her to her feet and an hour later, we’re in the jewelry store, having just picked out a temporary band for me. We sit with the jeweler in his office and discuss a permanent band of his creation. After much discussion, he leaves us to discuss options as he grabs her band for us to take home. With Carrie’s input, I settle on a slate gray band with a design of the jeweler’s creation. “You could have asshole engraved on the inside,” Carrie teases.
“Aren’t you funny,” I say, swiping a strand of hair from her face. “I’ll settle for our names. Just our names. Simple, but meaningful. Us together, conquering the world.”
Her eyes soften. “I like that. Us together, conquering the world.”
“Good. Because I’m not letting you get away.” I lean in to kiss her when my cellphone rings. I groan and she laughs as I reluctantly snake it from my pocket to eye the number on the screen, my jaw tensing with the poorly timed call.
“Why did you just go all stiff and angry?” Carrie asks, sounding worried.
I glance up at her. “Because it’s Elijah,” I say, hitting the answer button. “Elijah,” I greet.
“I watched your speech,” he says. “It sucks what happened to you, but I don’t feel bad about putting you through that today. You fucked my wife and were unapologetic about it at the time.”
“We were both far from saints back then,” I remind him.
“But we’re even now and I’m all in on making money together. When?”
“I’m getting married during the holidays. So, right after the new year.”
“That works. I’ll be rid of Tabitha and Mick by then. They’ll pay for what they did to both of us.”
I don’t ask what that means. “A new year and a new way then.”
“Agreed,” he says. “I’ll talk to you then.” And without further pream
ble, he hangs up.
I slide my phone back in my pocket and Carrie is inspecting me like she thinks I’m about to explode. “Relax, baby. I told you. I got this.”
“Meaning what? I just said the problems felt over and he called. What was that?”
“He watched me speak on the news. He said a final and proverbial ‘fuck you’ and then declared us even. We’re done with this war.”
“Really?” she asks hopefully.
“Really,” I promise, taking her hand and kissing it. “It’s all about the wedding now.”
“It’s over,” she says. “Really over?”
“It’s really over,” I assure her and I mean those words. Every obstacle we’ve faced we’ve defeated. Now is the right time to get married. Right after we pick up our dog.
***
Three hours later, I watch my future wife fall in love with a big, goofy golden retriever that tackles me when I squat next to her and Carrie. The three of us end up on the foster home’s floor, laughing and I have this surreal moment about this being my life with my future wife.
Later, while we ride home with Smith behind the wheel, the new pooch in the seat next to Carrie with her head in Carrie’s lap, I’m reminded of Carrie fretting over problems earlier today, and my promise to make everything right. I don’t like promises I can’t keep and I want everything real and honest with Carrie. Motivated by this thought, I cup her face and lean in close, my cheek to her cheek, lips at her ear. “I can’t promise there won’t ever be problems but I can promise you they won’t win. We will.” I lean back to look at her. “Because I will fight for us forever and fight to win. And no one will ever hurt you.” I kiss her and we end up with our dog licking our faces, but tonight, once we’re alone, I’m going to make sure Carrie knows how much I mean that vow.
No one will ever hurt her.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
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