Possessive Landlord: An Instalove Possessive Alpha Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 168)

by Flora Ferrari

  I gasp again, but only because I know he’s right. I can’t have any doubts, worries or even questions about it any longer.

  “I’m yours Kane Barret, and not just for today,” I tell him, “Even though we have a few hours left of our original agreement.”

  He looks at his wrist, the space where his watch would usually be.

  “I know you’re mine now, Trudi. There’s still plenty of daylight left too.”

  Both our minds go back to the jewelry store, Kane thinks about his watch and I consider the gems around my neck still.

  Then I remember the ring, how bad I wanted to get it for him, to say thank you, to show him how much I love him.

  “You already showed me,” he says softly, leaning down to kiss me firmly, making a sound as I hear myself start to cry.

  Not sad tears, but tears of happiness. Tears of love.

  Love for my man.

  “I love you Kane,” I tell him, holding his face in my hands.

  “And I love you more,” he says softly, kissing away my tears before letting me taste them in his kiss again.

  We lay there, only getting up to share a shower and Kane orders up some food for us both as we lounge around in our robes, which also coincides with the delivery of all the clothes I picked out.

  “Didn’t choose too many, did I?” I ask Kane, who looks at me sideways, thanking the porter, who hands him a note with a nod before leaving.

  He slaps his head with his hand, then lurches for the phone on a small table by the sofa.

  He mouths the word Ruth while he waits for it to pick up, getting the answering service, he leaves a message.

  “Ruth, it's Kane Barret. Sorry I had to dash earlier, but I think we can settle on both the pieces Trudi and I picked out. If you can have my watch sent up at some point too, I’d be grateful. The repairs, with the other pieces, just put it on my account… thanks.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Kane

  It takes me about a half hour to settle into my new life, with Trudi at my side.

  As it should be, as it should always have been, I just had to wait for her.

  After making love to her, pleasing her as she needs to be for most of the afternoon, then sleeping a little, I shower with her. I wash her hair and I let her wash me. We get through this whole ‘body’ business once and for all, and I know she understands now that I love her for her, not just her amazing body.

  We have a great sushi dinner and her clothes arrive, but once I call up Ruth and let her know I’ll take the jewels we kind of ‘borrowed,’ Trudi looks uneasy all over again.

  “That’s a lot of money, Kane… I picked that ring out because I thought it was two hundred dollars, not two hundred and fifty thousand…”

  I laugh a little, patting her hand but I can see she’s not joking. She actually looks a little ill.

  I take her hands in mine.

  “Remember how I said you had an eye for things? That we all have skills but most people just struggle to find their passion?”

  She nods.

  “Well, that ring, which I love by the way… I know someplace, a buyer in Singapore, who would pay twice that for a blue diamond with that cut, set in that style of a men’s ring.”

  I tell her, throwing my hands up in the air, closing the topic. So I think.

  “You don’t want to keep the ring then?” She asks, and I have to think for a minute.

  “I’ll keep it if you want me to, but I’m just saying, dollar for dollar, it’s already worth twice what I’ll pay, so I haven’t paid for it at all.”

  She still looks confused.

  “I’m not gonna sell the ring, Trudi,” I comfort her, “it means too much to me now, knowing you picked it out and on our first day together.”

  That’s the right answer for us both, and she smiles, clapping her hands before leaning in to give me a kiss.

  “But I still have to pay for it,” she announces, “I got it for you… I can’t have you paying for your own ring, that’s stupid. That’s not right.”

  “I’ll swap you a diamond necklace for it,” I drone, wondering how this got so complicated.

  “But I thought you bought the necklace for me?” she pouts and I really start to wonder if she’s just pulling my chain.

  But she’s serious alright.

  “Okay, okay.” I tell her, talking over whatever else she’s gonna say next, “Starting tomorrow, you’re working for me, as a real estate agent, remember?”

  She nods gravely, suddenly remembering that I’ll be putting her to work.

  Kind of.

  “Well… You can work off the ring, and keep the necklace, which I gave you because I love you so much.”

  That seems to work and she kisses me, then sits back, fondling her neck as I hold her hand in my lap.

  “I get to work your ring off… noted…” she murmurs to herself.

  “How much do I get paid?” she asks, “And what about my apartment, did you really mean I could keep it?”

  I nod a big yes to the last part, but I’m not sure about the salary. As far as I’m concerned she can have whatever she needs, wants or otherwise, forever. She doesn’t have to lift a finger again as long as she lives, under my roof anyway.

  “Trudi, the apartment’s yours. It’s my gift to you, your first piece of your own real estate portfolio, and I want you to manage the apartment block overhaul, we’ll set a meeting with the realty team and go over it, we can do that tomorrow if you want.”

  She looks edgy.

  “Or the day after tomorrow, but it should be this week,” I advise her.

  “You’re living with me from now on though,” I inform her, “no more of that place and I feel it’s only fair to warn you too…” I say dramatically, watching her eyes widen.

  “That I don’t just live in the city. I have a country house too. And a mountain house, a ski house… a beach house… and an island house… just so you know.”

  I watch her eyelids flutter and she pretends to faint all over again, collapsing onto my lap and I stroke her hair, watching her breathe rise and fall, feeling the fluttering of her heart through my robe.

  “It’s not gonna be overwhelming, I promise. We’ll take it slow, like that time I claimed you, remember?”

  She looks up, faking a dark look.

  “We can do it however you want, Trudi. No pressure from me. Even if you don’t want to do anything, I’m okay with that too, but I think once you get a few projects of your own going, you’ll get the bug.”

  My biggest concern is once she does get going, is that I might not have as much time with her as I’d like. Which leads me to the next piece of advice I have for her.

  “Me? I delegate pretty much everything. I have people to do the legwork, I just give them the ideas and then pay them for their time and effort, plus a cut of any dividends. They like it and they work hard for it.”

  “Can I delegate to you?” she asks.

  “No.” I tell her flatly, “And I’ll never delegate to you either, we’re a team.”

  “Like king and queen?” she asks.

  “Exactly,” I tell her, and I squeeze her tight again, feeling her through her robe and she feels me becoming hard for her all over again.

  “Can you delegate that?” she asks, in her most serious voice.

  “That, has a mind of its own I’m afraid, and totally uncontrollable when you’re around.” I tell her truthfully.

  I’ve taken charge of the situation and have Trudi right where I want her again, for the third or is it fourth time today, when the phone rings again. Which is odd.

  Most of my calls are directed through my main office.

  Calls to my house are rare but not unheard of, so I pick up.

  It’s Detective Sloane, he wants to talk about Marco, the Super from Trudi’s building.

  I flex my hand at the mention of his name, making a fist and then relaxing it again as I picture his face.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Tru
di

  Hearing Kane talk to detective Sloane brings it all back for me on the one hand, but makes it all feel like so long ago on the other as well.

  Covering the phone with his hand, Kane asks me softly, “Sloane wants to know if you’re pressing charges, the whole nine yards?”

  I look awkwardly at my feet for a second, not sure how I even feel about it anymore.

  “I think we’ll get back to you on that, it’s been a traumatic day for the tenant, for the whole building really… I’ll have my team look over the evidence we have regarding the suspected abuse of funds as well, get back to you on that-”

  He stops, listening as Sloane interrupts.

  “Okay, sure, I understand that. Thanks for your time Detective, no. Not a problem. Thank you.”

  Kane breathes out through his nose, then makes a clicking sound with his tongue before he hangs up.

  “I’m not sure I want to send a guy to jail, not over something so… well. It’s not like he really hurt me or anything…”

  I feel Kane tensing up again and I know he’s reliving this morning over again in his mind, maybe not in the same way I am.

  My morning memory is filled with a huge, handsome man coming to my rescue, sweeping me off my feet and delivering me to the life of my dreams.

  “Kane?” I ask him, turning my attention to his face, which has grown dark for real this time, his jawline’s like a wire and his eyes have narrowed.

  “I’ll let you decide what you want to do, Trudi,” He says, starting out formal sounding, but then smiling, rubbing my back to reassure me everything’s alright.

  “Sorry, baby. But the thought of that guy manhandling you, it just drives me nuts… Sloane says I can expect a counter charge, but I doubt that will hold much water.

  “You mean you’ll be charged as well?” I ask.

  “Sure,” Kane says, “I can’t go around bopping people, even if they’re being assholes. It’s the law.”

  I feel myself frowning, taking a very different view of Marco the super and this morning now.

  “But…” Kane says slowly, and I look over to him again, seeing a mischievous look in his eyes, and his face.

  “But what?” I ask, feeling the suspense in my own mind becoming unbearable, wondering if it’s going to be now…

  “If I can tell a judge the man was threatening my future wife… my fiancé’…”

  I gasp, then I squeal out loud, then I cover my mouth with both my hands.

  “Wait. You mean me, right?” I ask him excitedly, and he leans back smiling.

  “I even have a ring,” he says smugly.

  “Kane Barret, are you proposing to me?” I ask him, hearing my voice crack. I can’t believe any of this is happening, but it will round out the most extreme day in my life’s history.

  Fired, assaulted and evicted, swept off feet by a millionaire, lost my virginity and now proposed to?

  Hell yeah!

  “I might be,” he says dreamily, spreading his arms out before hooking his hands behind his head, leaning back like he’s just scored the world’s biggest hole in one.

  I feel myself starting to hyperventilate.

  He can’t be… he wouldn’t. I must be hearing things…

  I start in my mind with the whole a rich older, sexy guy like him could never fall for a girl like me routine.

  Before I know what’s happening, Kane’s on one knee in front of me, having taken the large velvet box from his robe pocket. I hear myself squeak, and cover my mouth again.

  Don’t cry… I won’t cry…

  “Trudi… I’m being serious now, I really am,” he says and his voice gets deeper as he takes my hand in his.

  “I’ve only known you a day, Trudi, but what we’ve done in one day wouldn’t last most people a lifetime, so imagine how much we can achieve, how happy we can be for the rest of our lives, together?”

  I gasp again, speechless.

  “You’ve touched my soul, Trudi, and I guess now’s as good a time as any to tell you just when I knew you were the one?”

  I look confused, my face feels as puzzled as my mind feels.

  “I was raised in foster care too, Trudi. But I had a different set of circumstances to deal with, like we all do, foster kids or not…”

  I feel the tears now. I was trying not to cry, but he’s just so sweet, so honest. So Kane.

  “I want us to have a real family, one of our own and I know we’ve already made a start, I can just feel it.”

  My hand absently starts to caress my own belly. I know what he means, I feel it too, deep inside me already. Our own family.

  My own family.

  With the man I love.

  “So I’m asking you Trudi, I’m telling it to you straight. I don’t want to live another day without knowing you’re by my side as my partner, my friend… my wife.”

  His voice breaks with emotion and I can’t stay quiet.

  “Yes!” I whisper in his ear, hugging him harder than I think I’ve ever hugged anyone. “Yes Kane Barret, I’ll be your wife and your partner, your best friend and I’ll be mommy to our kids… to our family…”

  “I love you Trudi, more than anything in the whole world,” he says, and I feel like the richest woman alive, even though I don’t have a dime.

  “And I love you Kane, the man of my dreams, my knight in shining armor… my future husband…”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Kane

  I’ve got the woman of my dreams, I’ve claimed her properly and now I’ll make her mine on paper as well.

  I’m not worried about her running off again, but just to be sure, I put a rush on the wedding plans, turning the hotel lobby into our wedding chapel for the weekend.

  I can’t do much in private, and once news of my proposal gets out, it’s a media event, with Trudi being sweet enough about the whole thing, even though she’s scared to death of being on TV.

  She’s the one that suggests using it as a way to pitch the new idea for her housing project to investors and local government. The extension she wants to add on to the apartment block she’s taken over managing.

  The new addition, which will be on the empty lot next to the building, she wants to have designated as housing for young mothers who couldn’t keep their babies, for those mothers, who through no fault of their own have to give up their babies.

  It's Trudi’s way of coming to terms with the idea of a mom who one time she thought couldn’t love her, but now she realizes it might just be that she just couldn’t keep her. Couldn’t give her the life she wanted for her child.

  There’s no real profit for investors, just a good warm feeling inside, and the local council leapt at the chance, putting up a hefty chunk of the capital needed to get the project funded.

  But I’m getting married, and I remind Trudi of the fact too. I have to peel her away from the press moments before the ceremony, which we’re keeping private, just a few close associates and some of the gang from Trudi’s old diner.

  ‘Old’ a week later, like so much of her former life, she reminds me every chance she gets.

  “Kane! Kane Barret!” I hear the one voice I’d know anywhere, and turning to see him I feel the shock of my own years staring back at me.

  I have Trudi on my arm and she’s interested to see who else might know me so well as to call out and interrupt things just to say hello.

  “Dad!” I exclaim, and after giving him a hug and fighting back a tear, I introduce him to his new, future daughter in law, Trudi.

  “Trudi, this is my dad, Will,” I tell her, proud of the fact now, but there was a time when all foster parents were just the devil.

  Trudi looks as surprised as she sounds, but she’s such a natural people person, in a few minutes they’re both talking about me as though I’m not even there.

  I keep checking the time, mindful of the proceedings, but also reminding myself that there’s no real hurry. We’re in charge here, nobody else.

  “We’ve got our whole liv
es, remember honey?” Trudi chimes in my ear when dad takes a breath, which isn’t often.

  “Kane here, he prolly hasn’t told y’all…” dad starts, “But his first foster family, well, if they weren’t the meanest, nastiest...”

  “Dad, please.” I caution him, I know the story and it’s not one I’ve told in public, but Trudi’s ears perk up, and leading her away from the herd of media and other well-wishers, I over hear him telling her that little bit about my past that I’m just not too proud of, but it made me who I am today.

  “Well,” I hear my dad continue, “They’re all in jail now, but only because of young Kane here, standing up for himself, settin’ things right and takin’ matters into his own hands. There was some dark days in that house, Trudi, and I don’t need to go into details with you on your special day… But, our boy here, he did what any man would do. He stood up and beat down the devil incarnate. He’s righted wrongs wherever he saw ‘em ever since, far as I can tell.”

  I see Trudi starting to tear up again and want to go rescue her from my dad’s stories, but she mouths the words I love you Kane, making me feel like the richest man alive. Making all that money feels like nothing when I’ve got Trudi right across the room. Waiting for me. Waiting for our family now.

  “C’mon, Dad, we’ve got a wedding to get to… who invited you anyway,” I joke and kiss him on the side of his head as he grips my hand.

  “You done us proud, boy. You always done us proud,” he wheezes, silver showing in his eyes and a tremor in his voice.

  “Would you do us the honor?” Trudi asks, suddenly taking Will by his other hand, “Would you give me away?”

  “And would you be my best man?” I ask him at the same time, making his head spin and his smile shine wider than ever.

  “I thought you’d never ask!” he exclaims, and we make our way to the little chapel in the hotel, part of the original building which I had restored for today, and for every other day that guests need the space to use.

  Some people would say their wedding day was a blur, that the week leading up to it was too. For me, for us, it’s been the most romantic, intense and exhausting week. But for all the right reasons.