by Sam Crescent
Kissing her hard as he fucked her, he knew this was the woman he was going to stay with for the rest of his life, and no one was going to take her from him. He’d fight to keep her. It would be the only thing he’d ever want and it would be worth fighting for.
Chapter Twenty-Five
We won
“You know, I don’t like it when they charge me a fucking fortune for going against my parents,” Drake said.
“Can you blame them? It took us two weeks to find the lawyer who’d be willing to go through the necessary channels, quietly so as not to alert anyone who may want to know if your real father’s will was attempting to be located. We got that and it did cost a fortune, but you now have your answer.”
“I do.” He squeezed Pru’s hand a little tighter as they walked down the main street toward his home. He didn’t want to drive up to his parents’ place, not when he finally had the means of being his own man. His lawyer and their private investigator had been able to find he was entitled to fifty percent of his father’s wealth as well as shares within the company. He’d made a copy of the birth certificate citing his real father’s name, and a simple blood test had helped to prove that his supposed father was, in fact, his brother and he was entitled to half of everything. The press had a field day as it had been brought to light who the new heir was who would inherit half of the fortune.
His parents, they tried to fight him, but the will was ironclad, all thanks to his real father. The one he never really got to know. The one who wanted to keep his fortune within his family.
He was now a wealthy man. Not only was he wealthy but he was also without any parents. Along with the will and getting half of the fortune, his lawyer had also set up an emancipation order for him. He had proven time and time again that he didn’t need his parents and so the judge had ruled him free. His parents had to deal with the fallout but he didn’t care.
“I couldn’t believe it was this easy,” he said.
“This easy? Drake, most of our senior year was fighting this. I’m taking a gap year so I don’t have to go hunting for colleges so I can be by your side to help you. None of this, not a single part was easy. It was, in fact, really hard.”
He pulled her close, kissing her lips. “Marry me,” he said.
Pru pulled away. “What?”
“You heard me. I want you to marry me. I don’t care about anything else right now. My parents can’t hurt me. If they do, well, the press will have a field day with that information.” When he was asked by one reporter what made him seek the emancipation order and the truth of the will, he’d told the woman straight—that his parents had told him to stop seeing the woman he loved.
To the press, it had made him a hero. The kind authors wrote about. He and Pru had also been approached as they hoped to tell their story. They believed many people would love to read about how they were once enemies and came together against all the odds, to live their happy ending.
“I expected a yes,” Drake said.
“I know and I … wow. I mean, I expected it, but I guess this is all a little new for me.” She laughed. “I can’t believe how nervous I am. Does that make me crazy?”
“You’re not crazy. Actually, that’s a lie. You are fucking crazy.
“Drake?”
“What? You stuck around with me. You didn’t give when many people would have. I know I would have. I’ve never stuck out for anything before in my life.”
“You’re a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for,” she said.
“Or you see something in me that I don’t see.”
“You’re a good guy, Drake.”
“It still doesn’t answer my question, Pru. I love you more than anything in the world. I don’t care about the company or the money, or anything else. The only person I want, the only love I have, is you. I’ll give it all up to be with you.”
Tears filled her eyes and he hated to see her cry. She didn’t deserve those tears. “Please, please, don’t cry. Don’t do that. You know I can’t stand it when you cry.”
“I know.” She sniffled. “I love you, and I know I shouldn’t.” She stopped to chuckle. “But I can’t remember when it happened that I fell in love with you.”
“And this makes you cry? Finding out you’re in love should be a happy, joyous occasion.”
“Oh, it is. I just … I can’t believe it’s finally over. It is over now, isn’t it?”
Drake sighed. “I believe so. The will is ironclad. It was probably one of the reasons they never wanted me to find out the truth. I would’ve been able to contest it long ago if I knew the truth. Their hold on me was based on my inheritance. They did it all to keep me in place.”
“And now that you’re free, how do you feel?”
“Like I can take on the world.”
She chuckled. “Do you want to take on the world?”
“No.”
“Okay, Drake Connor, tell me. What is it you’d like to do? Not what is expected of you and not what you think I want you to do. I want to know your thoughts. Your feelings. No one else’s.”
He ran his hands down her back. “I want to make love to you.”
“Get your mind out of the bedroom for one second.”
“Fine, I want to marry you, Pru. I want to make you mine and for the rest of the world to know who you belong to.”
She opened her mouth, closed it, and smiled.
“Shocked?”
“A little.”
“Why? You knew this is what I wanted.”
“I guess I knew. I just didn’t think it would be what you wanted. I mean, I’d hoped you’d still want me.”
He cupped her cheeks, tilting her head back, and ran his thumb across her full lip. “There is no one else I want or could ever wish to be with. You’re the love of my life, Pru. The money, I’d give it up in a heartbeat.”
“Really? This coming from the guy who wanted to keep me as his dirty little secret so he could keep his money.”
“Okay, fine. I didn’t mean it like that. I knew what my parents would do, and they would go out of their way to hurt you and your family. Do you think I could ever live with myself if something was to happen to you?” He pushed some hair off her shoulder, stroking her cheek. All he wanted to do was kiss her, to hold her, and to convince himself he didn’t need to put on a show. He’d won. His parents had lost and now, there was nothing holding him back. “I would always do everything I could to protect you.”
“Pinch me.”
“I’m not going to hurt you. Ever.”
“Oh, I don’t want you to hurt me. I want to know this isn’t a dream.”
He kissed her lips and heard her moan. “It’s not a dream. You and me, Pru. You’re mine now and I’m not letting you go.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and he ran his hands down her back, gripping her ass.
“Wait,” he said to which she groaned. “I don’t have an answer.”
“An answer?”
“Will you marry me?” he asked. He let her go and slid down to one knee.
“Drake, you really don’t need to do that.”
He took her hand in his. He knew he didn’t have to do anything but he was going to. “Pru, I love you so damn much. I love you more than anything. I want to see you every single morning and night. I want to hold you and the only way for me to do that is if you agree to marry me. Please, marry me, and make me the happiest man on the planet. Don’t cry.”
“When did you get so romantic?” she asked. “I don’t expect you to be romantic at all, and here you are saying the right things. Stuff I really want to hear.”
“I guess when I nearly lost you. It started all of this. I never expected to fall in love with you, Pru. I didn’t see any of this happening. I always figured my life would be like my parents’. I’d find the woman they wanted me to marry, have a few kids, cheat with other women. Work myself into making more money.”
“And now?”
“Now, I want to hav
e a life with you. Just you. I don’t want to play their games. I’m a free man. They will always be part of my life, I accept that, but they’re under investigation now. The company, it falls to me, I want to do what I can to keep it going. Thousands of people rely on me to make the right decisions so they can stay in a job. All I want though, is you. You’re my life, Pru. I want to grow old with you. Have a life where I wake up seeing you.”
“You’re making me cry.”
“Please tell me for a good reason.”
“Yes, it’s all for a good reason.”
“Is that a yes, you’ll marry me?”
She nodded her head. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. “I’m not going to give you the chance to back out now. You know this is you and me for life.”
“I know.”
He got to his feet and pulled her into his arms. “I love you, Pru.”
“And I love you and I don’t care what is thrown at us. No matter what people say, we will always fight them together, yes?”
“Yes.” He pushed some of her hair off her shoulders and stared into her eyes.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I never thought I could be this happy.” He’d watch his parents and saw how much they hated each other, and he believed that was how life was supposed to be. There was no way he could have ever thought to have these deep feelings for anyone, at least not for the girl he’d tried to hurt so many times. All of his anger and hatred had been wasted. There was no point to his feelings. Pru never deserved his anger or his scorn. He’d watched her and hated her on sight, seeing the happiness she felt with her family. Even when her family hadn’t been rich, she’d been new and he’d been jealous of her. That was on him, not on her.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“I’m thinking about the first time I saw you.”
“When you hated me?”
“I hated how your parents seemed to love you. They were there with you that first day, kissing you. Telling you it would all be okay.”
“I was five.”
“My parents were never there.”
“I’m sure other kids’ parents were there. Why didn’t you hate them?” she asked.
“You were new and I don’t know. I was a kid and I just wanted to hate someone. I don’t hate you, Pru. I could never hate you. Can we forget the past?”
She tilted her head to the side and smiled at him. “I don’t know. I think I’d like to keep on remembering the past. Without it, we wouldn’t be here.” She took his hand and locked their fingers together. “Besides, it’s not how a story starts that matters. It’s how it ends.”
Epilogue Part One
Five years later
“So, what are your plans now?” Pru asked.
She looked up from where she’d been reading her book to see her husband of five years walking toward her. Water dripped down his body from where he’d been swimming in the ocean. This was their first-ever honeymoon.
They’d gotten married in Vegas the moment he’d been granted half of his inheritance, including his position on the board. He’d started renovating his uncle’s house, and he’d flown her to Vegas to put a ring on her finger. From there onward, her life had been a whirlwind. With his parents being investigated for murder and other business offenses including fraud, and even child entrapment, the board had turned to Drake for guidance. Being only eighteen, he had no choice but to go to college and work his ass off as fast as he could for a business degree while also taking the advice of his real father’s most trusted advisers and associates. During that time, she had also taken a business degree to help him where she could. She’d become his PA, and between the two of them, they were able to keep the Connor company up and running.
There were a lot of decisions they struggled with. Drake really felt the overwhelming pressure of being responsible for a lot of people’s livelihoods. It meant a lot of sleepless nights, studying as long and as hard as they could. They had each other.
Which was why it had taken them over five years to finally get a honeymoon together. They’d been living in married … bliss, for a long time. They argued all the time, but it was their thing. She didn’t hate him, not one bit, and after each argument, they always made it up to each other.
“Right now, I’m going to get some sunscreen and make sure my beautiful wife is completely safe from all these UV rays. I can’t have her getting ill on me now, can I?”
“It sounds very protective,” she said. “I was wondering what your plans are after our honeymoon.”
“Are you in such a rush to be done with our honeymoon already?” he asked.
She let out a moan as he massaged the sunscreen into her body. “No, I’m not done yet.”
“Good, because we took a long time to get here.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
She turned her head and smiled at him. “Can I let you in on a little secret?”
“You can let me in on anything.”
“I don’t want to leave. I’d love to stay here forever.”
She closed her eyes as he rubbed a spot on her back. He was doing a lot more than rubbing sunscreen. He was massaging her back and making her ache for more.
“You know I could make that happen. We could get a place on the beach. All we’d have to do is fly out a couple of times a week to go to the office, but we could stay here.”
“Nah, I know I don’t want to leave, but we’ve got a life back home. It took us forever to get your uncle’s place perfect.” She rolled over and his fingertips stroked over her stomach. “I want us to live there, raise a family. Don’t you want that?”
“I want to be wherever you are.” He ran his fingers up, stroking beneath her breast.
She released a little gasp. “There are people here.”
“I know. People can’t see us right now. You should know and trust me. I would never do anything to hurt you, or let anyone see what belongs to me. You know how important you are and I will never give you up.” He leaned down and kissed her.
“Pinch me,” she said.
“Now, why would I do that when I’ve just told you I don’t want to hurt you?”
“I don’t know if I can handle all of this,” she said. “I’m so happy, and I didn’t think it was possible to be this level of happy.” She cupped his cheek. “Look at us. Happily married.”
“And in business together. Let’s not forget that.” His fingers moved down to her stomach.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” she asked. “You think I don’t know when you’ve got something going on? I do and I know you’re thinking about something. Let me hear it.”
Drake didn’t speak immediately and she sat up, giving him her full attention.
“What is it, Drake?”
“You know I love you, right?”
“Yes, and I love you too. You know that?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Drake, you’re worrying me now. I don’t know what to do.”
He laughed. “I … we’ve shared a lot together. You know about my family. My past. You’ve stayed by my side when I’ve fought my parents, and of course when I got rid of my friends.”
Yes, his three friends who’d only been there because his family had paid them to keep an eye on him. Pru didn’t like to think about them as they weren’t even worth worrying about.
“Then of course there was Sean.”
She’d pushed him out of her life as well. They only had each other. Everyone else, they’d left them in some form or another. There was no reason to keep people near them when they only seemed intent on destroying them. Pru had also found it easy to do the same with her parents. They had all been too toxic in their lives. She and Drake, they wanted a clean start, and the only way to get it was to cut off everyone else. They had successfully done it. Now, they were living their life.
“I haven’t seen or heard from him in a long time,” she
said.
“He’s doing okay. I hear he got married to his college girlfriend,” Drake said.
“Good for him.” She sat up and pushed Drake to the ground. “Now it’s my turn to put sunscreen on you. Tell me more about this family you’re wanting to have.”
“I’d like a little boy or girl. Any kid to be honest. I want us to start a family, Pru. I’m ready. Are you?”
She looked down at the man she loved and smiled. Putting her hands on his body, she nodded. “Then, Drake, you better start putting a baby inside me.”
Epilogue Part Two
Another five years later
“Come on, baby, push,” Drake said.
“I’m pushing. Ow!”
“I know. I know.” He held on to his wife’s hand. This was the hardest part and he fucking hated it. The sex was always fun and he always made sure his woman was taken care of in the bedroom, but watching her suffer, this was the worst kind of torture he knew. Seeing her in pain was never a good feeling to him.
He hated this.
Their third baby in five years. They were only going to have one. No, he only wanted to have one. Their first baby was … torture.
He’d hurt and bullied Pru for years, but nothing had prepared him for seeing the pain in her eyes during birth. When she held their first-born daughter, Katie, he still hadn’t wanted any more kids, but his wife, the love of his life, she had wanted more. The pain, she had told him, meant nothing.
Pru was one of the strongest women he’d ever known, and watching her give birth, not once, not twice, but now a third time, he didn’t know how she survived.
After another push, she collapsed to the bed, and she didn’t let go of his hands. He kissed her wet cheek. She was crying and sweating. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she said.
“You can, baby. He’s being a little bastard, I know, but when this is done, you can rest. I’m here with you.” He gripped her fingers tightly even though his had no feeling. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said, sobbing.
“Are you ready?” the doctor asked.