LOVING ED: A Billionaire Romance (NIGHT OF THE KINGS SERIES Book 11)

by Shayne Ford

  “Hey, baby.”

  “Hey, handsome,” she says pulling up to her elbows.

  “Take it easy,” I say, rushing to help her.

  She feels lighter than she used to be, her grip strong on me.

  “Thank you,” she says as I tuck another pillow behind her back.

  Slowly, she leans back, her eyes on me.

  “Am I going home?” she asks as I take a seat next to her bed.

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  “When?”

  Her eyebrows move up as her hand connects with mine.

  “Today.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  “At the hotel.”

  A shadow slides over her face, clouding her eyes.

  “Is there anything left of that place?”

  I shake my head.

  “Samira?”

  “She’s okay. Everybody is. You were the only one in the house when it happened.”

  Tenderly, my fingers stroke her hand.

  She looks at me, waiting.

  “What exactly happened?”

  I shrug.

  “Nobody knows for sure. It must have been a lit candle, although Samira said that she checked the rooms before she left with her friends. It could’ve been an electrical malfunction that created a spark. They’ll need to investigate.”

  “My things... “ she murmurs as if she just remembered about them.

  I slide my hand into my pocket and pull out her phone.

  I set it on the bed.

  “It was next to you when I found you,” I say.

  She runs her hand over the metallic frame, her chin beginning to quiver.

  “It was a beautiful evening,” she says, her gaze tipped down. “I don’t think I left the candle lit. Did I?”

  She lifts her gaze at me.

  “I don’t remember doing it...” she says, suddenly tormented. “I lied on the bed, and I was looking at the drapes and the roses. The wind was blowing the petals, and I was checking my phone... But I don’t remember much more after that. Not about the candles or when I fell asleep. I didn’t feel well yesterday, the whole day. I think I got a stomach virus...” she says rushed, worried.

  “Don’t think about it. Things are okay now.”

  “But the place?”

  “The place will be rebuilt. In the meantime, I rented a house for both of you,” I say. “The address and the pictures of that place are in your phone. I’ll take you there.”

  Her lips part as her eyes connect with mine, her hand squeezing mine.

  “What made you come earlier, Ed?” she asks as if she just remembered it.

  I look down for a moment.

  “What was it, Ed?” she insists as she gets a glimpse of my bittersweet smile.

  I raise my eyes.

  “I wanted to make you a surprise.”

  Her eyes fill with tears in an instant.

  “Don’t you cry, baby girl,” I mutter.

  Smiling, I bring my hand to her face, and wipe away her tears, leaning closer to her.

  She drapes her arms around my neck and hugs me tight while I stroke her hair and comfort her. Her sobs break my heart.

  “What could’ve happened had you not come?”

  I break our hug and look at her.

  “There’s no point in thinking about that right now. Besides, nothing would’ve happened,” I say as her eyes swim in tears. “Had I not come someone else would’ve found you. Trust me,” I say, doing my best to ignore the harsh reality while fighting my own emotions back. “These things always work out in the end... I would’ve never let you go,” I murmur, slowly stroking her face with my fingers. “Never,” I add, smiling, and wiping away her tears.

  Her gaze dips, her lashes soaked wet.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me...” she murmurs, her hand clutching mine. “I haven’t been myself since that night in Monte Carlo. Normally, I would’ve woken up last night before you got there. I’m not a heavy sleeper,” she says, her gaze lifting, pointing at me this time. “I could’ve stopped the fire or get out and ask for help. Call someone...”

  Her voice trails off as she looks at me distraught.

  “Instead, I had this weird dream that made no sense and kept me asleep.”

  Her eyes slant down again as more tears pool in her eyes. She runs her fingers below her eyes.

  “And these emotions are driving me crazy...” she mutters, trying to smile while brushing off more tears.

  I lift my hand and bring hers down to the bed next to the other one.

  “What dream?” I ask.

  She blinks a few times as she reads my eyes.

  “It was strange. It was one of the palaces that I visited with Samira. It was beautiful... And I looked different... Like one of those Grecian statues with a dress flowing over my body. My hair was longer... But it was not only that. I dreamed about the fire, although it wasn’t clear to me in the beginning what it was. It was hot, so hot... Of course, it was. Because everything was burning around me in reality. Yet I had no idea, so I lingered in that place. Things started to crumble around me, turning to ashes... In my dream. And then, there was this child. He called me...” she says, her eyes down, her gaze glued to our hands.

  The blood draws from my face.

  “What child?”

  She moves her gaze up.

  “He looked like me, Ed. He looked just like me.”

  Her chin starts to tremble, my jaw locking.

  “And he had the warmth of your eyes. And I was standing there,” she mumbles, tears pouring from her eyes. “Seeing his reflection in a fountain when in fact I was looking at myself.”

  She starts to sob as I tear my fingers away from hers and take her face in my hands, trying to stop her from crying and also from breaking my heart.

  “And then I saw the blood on my dress. And I don’t think I realized then, but I do now. I probably knew that what I saw in that dream was never meant to happen...” she says, her hands cuffing my wrists as her chest still rocks with sobs.

  “But it was, Thea,” I say, smiling softly.

  She looks at me puzzled, unable to catch the meaning of my words.

  “Yes, it was, baby. And it does happen... to us.”

  Her mouth falls open, light sparkling in her blue eyes.

  “What are you talking about?” she asks, her face pale yet glowing with hope in the morning light.

  “Your dream was telling you something that was real... And that’s the reason why you feel the way you do.”

  Her eyes peel wide, glinting with questions, her gaze dipping to my mouth before it swings back up to meet my eyes.

  “What is real, Ed?” she mutters, soaking in my smile.

  “You’re having a baby, Thea... Our baby.”

  18

  THEA

  My mouth is still open as tears keep trickling down my face.

  Spellbound, I look at him, drinking the happiness in his eyes, the smile curving his lips, the hope lining his gaze.

  My mind becomes frantic.

  But... How? How could it be? Frames of the past few weeks rush in front of my eyes. Images of us, bits and pieces, snippets that now make sense.

  Vegas. That’s where it happened.

  I was late this month... Yes, I was, but I’d been late before. I thought it was the stress and anticipation, the fact that I had to travel and move overseas. And then, I started to get sick in Monte Carlo, and the past couple of weeks were not good at all.

  “But how...?” I mutter staring blankly at him. “I was using something. I just... Oh.”

  I remember the last visit to the doctor. I asked for something different, something I didn’t have to take every day and she switched me to the IUD. She discussed the probability of pregnancy with me, but statistically speaking, the chances were so small.

  “Oh... I think I know,” I say. “But it was not my fault.”

  He laughs quietly, the grin in his eyes warming up my heart.

  “It’
s no one’s fault, Thea. ”

  My grin freezes for a moment.

  “Are you okay with it?” I ask, suddenly panicked.

  His thumbs stroke my cheeks slowly.

  “Yes. Everything is fine.”

  My mind flips to another scenario that puts another swirl of panic in me.

  “So what do I do now, Ed?” I ask, my skin getting cold.

  His grin softens even more as he looks into my eyes.

  “You take it one step at the time. For now, you need to eat,” he says, pointing at my frame.

  “I wanted to eat these past days, but I couldn’t. Oh, my God...”

  I push upright as the reality hits me again.

  “What am I going to do? I have to go back home. Am I going to be able to finish this semester? The school...” I murmur.

  I never felt so emotional and on a rollercoaster of sensations in my entire life. I can’t think straight and yet I should. I need to. I’m going to have a baby.

  A baby?

  How am I supposed to do that? What about him?

  My focus shifts to him as he reads on my face every little thought and fear.

  “Do you really want our baby?” I ask with tears in my voice.

  His eyes dive into mine, heavy with emotion.

  “More than anything else,” he says, the happiness beaming in his eyes telling me the very same thing.

  “You know that I have no idea how to do this...” I say, my voice trembling as I brush my cheeks with shaky fingers.

  He peels my hand away from my face, prompting me to move my focus back to him.

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” he says with a soft voice, his eyes leaving mine only for a moment.

  The emotion in his voice makes my heart race. As if I needed that.

  “I wanted to tell you this for a while,” he says smiling bittersweet. “And it has nothing to do with what happened last night, or with the news,” he says, his eyes making love to mine.

  “I wanted to tell you this when you visited me in Monte Carlo. And it’s the reason why I came a day earlier to see you. I wanted to surprise you but I also wanted to discuss it with you.”

  He studies my face for a moment.

  “I don’t want you to give me an answer right away. I want you to think about it, and to be sure that it’s something that you want to do... As much as I want to.”

  My heart already knows.

  “What is it, Ed?”

  My voice drips in the silence of the room, drops of faltering sound.

  “I want you to be my wife.”

  My heart explodes in my chest.

  My mouth opens, his finger goes up.

  “I don’t want your answer now.”

  “Okay,” I mutter, my eyes on him, my heart dancing with joy, while my minds spins more panic.

  Good panic, this time.

  For a moment, everything looks surreal.

  Me, in this hospital bed, him sitting next to me, his hands holding mine, his gaze locked with mine... And then his words. The words that mean a life so different than everything I have imagined. A life with him. A life with him and... Our baby.

  My life––the way I used to know it with college classes, Liz and Terry, Chloe and my small apartment, seems to be pulling away from me fast.

  I get dizzy just by thinking about it.

  What would a life with him mean?

  “How are we going to do that Ed?”

  My mind goes over the options, unable to find the answers.

  “I’m still here. Your work is in Monte Carlo. Where are we going to live?” I ask.

  His lips purse into a smile as he senses my torment.

  “For now, you can finish this semester here if that’s what you want. I’ll wrap it up faster than I planned and I’ll go back home with you in a month or so. We live at my place unless you want something different and then we go house shopping.”

  “House shopping?”

  My expression puts another grin on his face.

  He purses his lips, his eyes dipping to my mouth for a moment.

  “Mmm-hmm. You just think about that perfect place that you always wanted and let me worry about the rest.”

  I slacken in my pillow.

  “You’re going to be gone a lot,” I say as I envision myself waiting for him in his big house.

  He slowly shakes his head.

  “I’ll be with you. I’m not going to leave you on your own.”

  Warmth and tenderness grow in me for him.

  “Are you sure you want to do this, Ed?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “What about the company?”

  “Don’t worry about the company.”

  My eyes stay on him for a few moments, my hand linked with his.

  A few moments of silence tick by.

  “Do you remember that night in Vegas? When you were late and I fell asleep?”

  He nods.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Do you remember how you made love to me that evening?”

  His eyes gleam with emotion.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “That’s when it happened...” I say, smiling softly. “That’s when it all began.”

  I bite my lip and smile, tears flooding my eyes.

  “I never thought that something like that would come to me... I never thought that I’d be tied to you that way.”

  A soft grin creases his lips.

  He leans toward me and kisses my lips. Gently, tenderly, warm like the wind messing with the spring outside.

  He tears his lips away, straightening his back.

  “It all came at the right moment. Never doubt that,” he says, a tender smile curving his lips.

  For a moment, my eyes stay on his face as I absorb the meaning of his words. He’s right, the revelation making me smile bittersweet as well.

  It’s so true.

  We lost our families, and we’ve both been alone for some time, and while my life was nowhere as full and rich as his was, in essence, we were not that different.

  Now that I look back, everything makes sense, every little thing and setback played a part in our story and helped it move forward.

  My failed marriage, the story of his past, the circumstances in which we met, the complicated journey that has brought us here.

  It all makes sense. Even the worst moments played a role.

  He tips his gaze down as I still observe him.

  “When do you want the answer?” I ask, prompting him to move his gaze to me.

  A small smile creases his lips.

  “You have a week...” he says. “One week from now, I’ll be back...”

  He gauges my reaction, grinning mysteriously.

  “And I’ll be waiting for you in the Maiden’s Tower, watching the sunset. If you come, I’ll know it’s a lifetime yes. If you don’t show up, I’ll know it’s a no and I won’t insist. Things will not change between us except that I won’t ask you again.”

  My lips tilt into a smile, my chest washed with warmth.

  “Okay...” I mutter, trying to stay calm and composed. “One week sounds good,” I say, unable to crush a grin.

  “I thought so,” he says amused.

  He studies me for a few seconds.

  “Okay then,” he says rising to his feet. “I’ll check with the doctors to see if I can take you home. All right?”

  “Mmm-hmm,” I say, grinning from ear to ear.

  He pivots and walks away, vanishing through the door, while I stare at that space for long moments after he’s gone, my mind playing a few words incessantly.

  This is the man I’ll be sharing my life with.

  A week later

  THEA

  “How do I look?”

  Samira swings her gaze at me.

  “You look fantastic.”

  “Should I wear a different dress?” I ask nervously.

  She takes a look of the beautiful azure knit dress with three-quarter sleeves and a cute bow
at the neck.

  “I think it’s perfect.”

  “Have you checked the weather? I hope it doesn’t rain, does it?”

  Samira lifts her phone off the table.

  “I checked it. And now I’m checking it again. Just to be sure.”

  “I don’t want to miss the sunset.”

  She starts to laugh.

  “You’re not missing it. Relax.”

  “How could I relax? I’m a nervous wreck,” I admit, unable to control my breathing, let alone my racing heart.

  She glances at me.

  “Did you eat anything today?”

  “Yes ma’am,” I say as I run my hands down my skirt. “I put on some weight as well. I checked myself this morning... Okay,” I say taking a long breath and looking at the coffee table. “Cell phone, keys, money, directions.”

  I look up.

  “Should I take a jacket or something just in case it rains.”

  “I don’t think it would, but you could sure have it with you just in case,” she says.

  “Don’t roll your eyes at me,” I say, smiling as I dash to the closet and pick up a white trench.

  I put it on.

  “That is really pretty,” she says.

  She looks down.

  “Shoes?”

  I pick up a pair.

  “Red?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  I put them on as well while she gives me a once over.

  “It looks lovely,” she says, a smile creasing her lips. “You’ve never looked better,” she mutters, taking me in. “It’s either the baby or him or the fact that you’re in love. Perhaps all of the above.”

  I grin, unable to tame my nerves.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me? To the ferry, at least?”

  She ponders for a moment.

  “Only if you need me.”

  “I need you.”

  She pulls on a floral dress and a sweater and moments later we walk out of the house and to the street where we wait for the car.

  The weather is nice, the temperature mild. Luckily, the sky is clear.

  We make it to the ferry on time just before the sun begins to dip below the line of the horizon.

  For a few moments, she tries to talk to me and calm me down, without success. I’m shaking inside.

  “Why are you so nervous?” she asks as we’re both waiting for the ferry.

  The water sprawls in front of us, the Maiden’s Tower rising not far from the shore. The lights come on, the sky exploding with a symphony of red behind it.