His Billion-Dollar Secret:: A Taboo Forbidden Love Romance

by Kelli Walker

  I wish he’d just spit it out so we could all talk about it.

  “I want to say something,” my father said.

  Thank you, Lord.

  “What is it, Dad?” I asked.

  “I’m all ears, Clay.”

  My father wiped his mouth with his napkin and sighed. “I want to start off by saying I still don’t understand it.”

  “Understand what?” Colt asked.

  My father and I both flashed him a look at that question.

  “But,” my father sighed, “just because I don’t understand it doesn’t necessarily means it’s a bad thing.”

  My eyebrows rose on my face as my father turned his attention to me.

  “Sweetheart, when your mother was in the hospital, she knew she was dying. There came a point where even she grasped the fact that the doctors couldn't do anything else, and honestly? I think she accepted it quicker than any of us did. And she made me promise to look after you as if you were my own,” he said.

  He reached out and took my hand, and I quickly slid my palm against his.

  “There was never a question in my mind, Callie. When I got the phone call from the hospital, somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was the end. I wasn't ready to admit it, and my heart wasn’t ready to let go, but I knew something terrible had forever altered the course of our worlds. It was… the way the doctor sounded on the phone. It was somber, with a hint of urgency. And when I walked into that ICU room and saw all of those tubes, I know.”

  Tears filled my eyes as my father’s hand began to tremble.

  “I knew it was the end,” he said breathlessly, “and the first thing that hit me was how I was going to take care of you. Provide for you. Care for you, like the daughter you’d always been to me. You are my little girl, blood or not. And I’ve always tried to give you everything you could ever have, just as if we were blood related. I wanted to give you everything you could possibly have to succeed in this world. In this lifetime, Callie.”

  “You’re my Daddy, Clay,” I said, sniffling.

  My father’s thumb slid across the top of my hand. “It’s going to take some time for me to come to terms with what’s happened between you and my brother. It’s going to take time to… digest. Unpack. Accept, if this is something you really want. But there are two things I already know. Two unwavering truths that never faltered throughout the course of my relationship with your mother.”

  “And what are those?” I asked.

  “One, she loved you. More than life itself, Callie. The only thing she ever wanted for you was for you to be happy, healthy, and safe.”

  “And the other?”

  Clay brought my hand to his lips to kiss before nuzzling his cheek against it. “She trusted us with you.”

  My eyes flickered over to Colt, watching as he leaned back into his chair.

  “She trusted me and my brother with you, Callie. Myself, and Colton. And if being with him is what you want--if the man you want to be with is him--then I’ve already been given the one thing I could ever of a man who comes into your life. I already know you’re protected with him. I already know you’re provided for with him, even though you can take care of yourself.”

  I let out the breath I was holding before my eyes fluttered over to Colt again.

  “It’ll take time, Callie. And that’s the best I can do. I can’t tell you I won’t get angry at time. All of us will have many talks about this. Lots of talks, so I can try and understand it. But if Colton is who you want, I want you to know that I’m not going to stand in your way.”

  My body shuddered at the words. I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around the neck of the only man I’d ever called ‘Dad’. I sobbed into his neck. It was the best gift anyone could have given me. I didn’t know when the turnover happened. I didn’t know when I stopped loving Matthew and started loving Colton. Hell, I didn’t know if I had ever loved Matthew and ever not loved Colton. I didn’t have those answers. I didn’t have dates. I didn’t have hard lines.

  All I had was how I felt.

  And what I felt was a searing, throbbing, desperate need to call Colton ‘mine’.

  “It’s okay. I’m right here,” my father whispered.

  He kissed the top of my head before I sat back down, my hand wiping at my tears. Then, I watched my father turn to Colton and time seemed to slow down.

  “All right, Colt.”

  “Hello, Clay.”

  “I’m going to give you the same damn rundown. You ready?”

  “I’ve been ready for five years now,” Colt said.

  I saw my father’s eye twitch, but he kept good on his word. He didn’t lash out in anger and he didn’t turn his nose up at the statement. Instead, he drew in a deep breath and spoke.

  “If you hurt her, Colt--if you harm her in any way--you are done. If you abuse her in any fashion, we are done. And if you do anything that warrants her tears or breaks her heart, I will bury you with a smile on my face. You won’t have to draw up an agreement that protects your half of the business because you won’t be alive to see it through. Are we clear?” my father asked.

  I looked between my father and his brother. My stepfather, and my step-uncle. Clay, and Colt. And the two of them shared an unspoken moment with one another. I’d seen them do it a lot growing up. Twins who could communicate with just the lock of their eyes. They held one another’s gaze as the tension in the room grew, then Colt crossed his leg over his knee and nodded. With that nod, Clay got up and put his plates in the sink, which started a cascade of effects that ended with the table being cleared.

  And as I carried my glass to the sink, I felt my father press a kiss to the top of my head.

  I whipped around one last time and hugged him. Wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close. He held onto my tightly, burying his face into the crook of my neck. The way he always did when we were crossing over massive bridges that forever altered our family. He did it when I first started high school, and when I graduated. He did it when I first went off to college and when I first came home. He did it the first time I ever went out on a date and after the first time I ever got my heart broken.

  And now, he was doing it again. After I had found the man I was really meant to spend the rest of my days with.

  “You’ve grown into the most beautiful, most intelligent, most outstanding young woman I’ve ever known, Callie.”

  Tears streamed down my cheeks as my father drew in a shaky breath.

  “And she would be so, so very proud of your choice.”

  Colton

  “Out of all the things I expected my brother to say at dinner, that was not something that crossed my mind.”

  I peered down into Callie’s eyes as she gazed up into mine.

  “Me neither,” she said, giggling.

  “What do you think about what he said?”

  “I think it’s better than what we both expected.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

  Callie shifted against my arm, rising up onto her knees. The darkness of the library shrouded us. A place that had always been a sort of safe haven for her. I watched her migrate there after dinner. After Clay’s talk with us and after cleaning up dinner. I stayed around Clay, meandering around the house until he made his way upstairs. Then, I ducked into the library in the basement of his home and found Callie curled up underneath a blanket.

  But now, she shifted against my arms, sliding to straddle my lap.

  My hands fell to her hips, keeping their position as my eyes locked with hers. There was such strength there, yet such innocence. Such intelligence, yet such naivety at the same time. Callie was a walking contradiction wrapped in a case my arms wanted to hold for the rest of my life. And when she threaded her arms around my neck, I felt her scoot forward so much that her breathing settled onto the pout of my lower lip.

  “Is this something you want?” she asked.

  “I’m asking you that question, Little Callie. Is the two
of us something you want?”

  I felt her shiver as my hands slowly worked up to her waist, my heart slamming against my chest. I wanted her to say ‘yes’. I hoped she would say ‘yes’. But, I’d also understand if she said ‘no’. I wanted, first and foremost. Her happiness. Her comfort. I wanted her to achieve her dreams and have her passions without having to compromise a damn thing. In all honesty, it would be easier if she said ‘no’. Things with my brother would be easier if she said ‘no’. But, I knew there was no other woman for me. I’d never love, never cherish, never spoil a woman the way I wanted to spoil Callie. I’d let her go if that was what she wanted, but she’d never be replaced.

  That much I knew, no matter her answer.

  After knowing what it felt like to have Callie, it was impossible to seek out anything better. Because I already knew what it felt like to have the best.

  All at once, a grin blossomed across her lips. It tucked them apart, exposing her gleaming white teeth as her eyes closed shut. I watched her face come closer. I felt her knees shuffle her further into my body. Her arms tightened around my neck as her lips pressed against mine, and my hand slid behind her back. My cock began to stiffen. Electricity stood every hair on my body up on its root as my hands pulled her closer to me. I felt the love in her kiss. Felt the happiness rushing through her veins.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  I had to hear it.

  I pulled back, hearing her huff as I cupped her cheek. I gazed into her bright amber eyes, stroking my thumb across her soft little cheek. I slid my thumb down her skin. Along her chin. Across her lower lip. I watched her pucker her pout, kissing my skin before my hand slipped behind her neck. I fisted her hair. Drew her face closer to mine and commanded her presence. Commanded her attention.

  Readied my demand.

  “I need you to say it, Callie. I need you to say that this is something you want. Because it’s something I want. I want you, Callie Roper. I’ve wanted you for damn near five years now.”

  Her giggles filled my ear as I drew her forehead to mine, resting my tired mind against hers.

  “This is something I want. I want whatever this is with you, Colt,” she whispered.

  I clenched my jaw to keep it from trembling. To keep it from giving away how absolutely weak this woman made me.

  “I want to do my life with you, Colt. I want to share moments of triumph with you, Colt. I want you to be the person I run to when life gets hard, or when things get rough, or when things don’t go as planned. I’ve always trusted you. I’ve always confided in you. I’ve always gone to you, and I don’t know why I’d try to find another person to fill what I’ve already had for so long.”

  I fisted her hair, feeling her body give way to my command. I drew in a sobering breath. I let her words dawn upon my mind. Shrouded in the darkness of the library, I whipped my eyes open and found hers. They bled sincerity. They boasted of happiness. And as I switched into business-mode and read her every twitch and assessed her every breath, I found it laced with no lie.

  Callie was telling the truth. And I could no longer contain myself.

  Crashing my lips against hers, she collapsed into my body. Her breasts fell to my chest as our tongues collided. She moaned into me. My cock rose to the occasion, seeking out the heat I’d felt pooling between my legs for damn near ten minutes. My hands slid down to her ass, fisting it as I picked her up from the couch. She wrapped her legs around me. Her fingertips gripped into my shoulders as I carried her across the room. I pressed her against the bookcase, listening as novels tumbled to the floor at our feet.

  “I love you, Little Callie.”

  My lips parted from hers just long enough for me to feel her smile against my skin.

  “I love you, too, Colton.”

  And I thanked my fucking stars we were in the basement. Because we needed all the floors we could get to mute the cries of pleasure I pulled from her that night.

  Callie - Two Months Later

  “When you said a ‘fun morning’, I didn’t think it would consist of such a long car ride, Colt.”

  “What did you think was going to happen once I blindfolded you?” he asked.

  “I can hear your grin.”

  “And I can see the disappointment in what you thought was going to happen. I’ll have to keep that in mind for later.”

  “Colt. Where are we going?”

  “You really don’t like surprises, do you?”

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t. I like knowing where all the pieces fall before they go tumbling.”

  “Well, get used to them with me. Because I’ll surprise you every day for the rest of your life.

  “Please don’t do that, my heart can’t take it,” I said.

  I felt Colt’s hands leading me into an elevator. I could tell by the sound of it and by the give of the floor underneath me. His hands massaged my shoulders and I relaxed underneath his touch, but I didn’t like this. I’d been blindfolded for what seemed like hours.

  “Colton. I’m serious. What’s going on?” I asked.

  “We’re almost there. I promise. Can you give me a couple more minutes?”

  “You’ve never needed a couple minutes to finish before.”

  He reached down and pinched my behind, causing me to squeal out into the elevator. A giggle left my lips as he pressed a kiss to the crook of my neck. I heard the elevator doors open and Colt guided me out of the metal encasement. But from there, I was lost.

  “Can I open them now?” I asked.

  “No. I’ll let you know when it’s time,” he said.

  “Colton.”

  “Callie. I’m not telling you again. I’ll let you know.”

  I jutted out my lower lip, but it only caused him to chuckle. So, I started paying attention more to my surroundings. I heard the sounds of something jingling. I heard the sound of a lock turning over. I felt a cold blast of air, so I deduced that a door must have opened in front of us somewhere.

  A door that needed a key?

  “Are we not in a hotel or something?” I asked.

  “Ready to see where we are?” Colt asked.

  “Dear Lord, yes. Please. Get this damn thing off--.”

  The blindfold was ripped from my face and it took me a few seconds to get everything to come back into focus. I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed them, feeling the warmth of the sun falling against my skin. Colt’s hand fell to the small of my back and he guided me somewhere, then gripped my shirt in an effort to get me to stop moving.

  “Look around you,” he said.

  And when I did, I was shocked at what I saw.

  We stood in the middle of an apartment. There was a set of sliding glass doors behind us, leading out onto a balcony with two chairs and a table sitting between them. I turned around and took in the view. I recognized where we were. I looked over the expanse of my campus in the distance. Maybe three or four blocks away. The view was gorgeous, especially with the sun hanging high in the sky.

  My jaw dropped open as my eyes panned around the room, taking in everything there was to look at.

  The apartment was completely furnished. A caddy-cornered kitchen sat off in the corner, with small stainless steel appliances. The living room filled itself with smooth leather furniture that looked comfortable enough to sleep on. The rug underneath my feet was fuzzy, with enough give to make it seem as if I was standing on a cloud.

  “Come on. Let me show you your bedroom,” Colt said.

  “Wait a second. Did you say my bedroom?” I asked.

  But the only thing he answered my question with was a chuckle.

  He led me into the bedroom and I couldn't believe my eyes. Beside me was a four-poster queen-sized bed along with a flat-screen television that had been mounted to the wall. There was a sunken-in window on the far wall of the room. It sat on the same wall as the balcony. The view was gorgeous, and a desk had been built into the sunken-in feature. I walked over to it and ran my hand along it. The desk was fully stocked. P
ens. Pencils. A lamp. A place for my laptop. The office chair had every adjustable feature anyone could have ever needed to make themselves comfortable, and along the small walls of the window were floating shelves.

  “For your books,” Colt said.

  I looked back at him with wide eyes, and my vision grazed the bathroom. And I knew I couldn’t have seen what I thought I did. I rushed to the door and pressed it open, my jaw dropping to the floor when I took it all in.

  “No way,” I said.

  “The best feature in the entire place, if you ask me,” Colt said.

  “There’s no way this came with the apartment.”

  “Maybe it did. Maybe it didn’t.”

  But the grin on Colt’s face answered my question.

  “It has a walk-in shower and a clawfoot tub,” I said.

  “You need to take care of yourself while you’re at school, Callie. You don’t do enough of that.”

  “What the hell is all this?” I asked.

  “It’s an apartment.”

  I scoffed. “Yes, genius. I know it’s an apartment. But why are you showing it to me?”

  “I believe I answered that question earlier.”

  “This isn’t my apartment.”

  “It was as of two weeks ago.”

  “Two weeks!?”

  Colt grinned. “Yes. Two weeks. Took me some time to renovate the place. Update it a bit. But don’t worry. I got permission from management to make any changes I wanted to.”

  “But I can’t take this apartment, Colt. I’m going to be staying on campus.”

  “When you told me you were going to be staying on campus like you did the first year of your Master’s program, I honestly cringed, Callie. What kind of work can you possibly get done in a private dorm room with a bunch of eighteen-and-nineteen-year olds running around drunk and having sex on every corner of the building?”