by Rush, Olivia
I hadn’t thought about it so directly before, but he was right—it was odd.
“And didn’t you say you’d seen Hunter and Becca and Walsh together more than a few times?”
“…Yeah, I had. What are you getting at?”
“This all seems like too much of a coincidence to me. Hunter’s furious about the social division, and your other founders are just as mad about you moving up in the company. And everyone knows that the company expanding is all contingent on securing investment. A scandal like this could take care of all those problems at once.”
It sounded plausible.
“And how do I know this isn’t just you lying again?”
“You don’t,” he said. “But this is the best I can do. All I can ask is that you trust me.”
I didn’t know what to say. Bryce stood up and took a seat next to me. I was surprised at how my first instinct was to feel relief that he was by my side.
“Chelsea, this all started as a stupid plan that I cooked up—get a woman to pretend to be my fiancée, secure the funding, and that’d be that. Sounded so good in my head, like it’d be the easiest thing in the world. But deep down, I think I knew it wasn’t going to be easy the moment I laid eyes on you.”
A small voice inside of me wanted to tell him to save his sweet words. Part of me still wanted to be mad.
But I said nothing, letting him go on.
“I knew there was something special about you from that first moment in the elevator. I told myself that you were nothing more than the perfect woman for the plan, but deep down I knew that there was something more to you, something special.” He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes and took a deep breath, turned his eyes back to me. “And over the next few weeks I learned just how right I was. You’re beautiful as hell, sure. But you’re also strong and brilliant and kind and loving. Over time, I learned that you weren’t just the woman I wanted for a fake marriage, but the woman I wanted for real love.”
He took my hands into his.
“I love you, Chelsea,” he said. “I’ve known it for a long time, but I was just too scared to tell you. Too scared about what it all meant. But seeing you here in front of me, knowing that you’re carrying my child, there’s nothing I’ve been more certain about in my life. And I’d leave behind everything I had to convince you how I feel.”
I didn’t say a word—there was nothing I could say.
“What we have has all been built on a lie. But the love I feel for you is anything but that. And the baby inside of you is about as real as it gets. So, I want to make our love real to the world.”
I watched as he took his hand from mine and slipped it into his pants pocket. He took something out and I gasped when I saw what it was.
It was a gorgeous, antique diamond ring.
“I bought the ring you had thinking the bigger the better,” he said, the slightest hint of a smile tugging on one corner of his mouth. “My mom set me straight, though.”
He held the ring in front of me.
“I’m ready to be here for you,” he said. “I’m ready to be the husband you deserve, and the father to our baby. I’m ready to be your lover and your partner and everything else. No more lies, never again. And the rest is up to you, baby. What do you say? Will you marry me? For real?”
I didn’t want to be mad any longer. Listening to his words, I knew, just knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was telling me the truth. I knew that he loved me, and I knew that he wanted me.
And I felt the same way.
I threw my arms around him, nearly knocking the ring out of his hand.
“Yes!” I shouted out, throwing my arms around Bryce and pulling him close.
I was ready to leave the lies behind. At that moment, all I wanted was Bryce.
He reached down and took the first ring, the one that had started this whole lie off, from my finger. Then he replaced it with the new one. It fit my finger perfectly.
Bryce placed his hand on my chin and brought me in for a close kiss, my heart soaring as he did.
“You have no idea how happy you’ve made me,” he said. “And I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you how true my words are.”
I was overjoyed. But then, the matter of the lie that had nearly torn us apart returned to my thoughts.
“Before we start the wedding planning,” I said, “we’ve got some other matters to deal with.”
He nodded, a sly smile forming on his lips. “Something tells me you’ve got a plan,” he said.
“Sure do,” I said. “I’d bet you anything that if Hunter and the rest hacked your phone that they didn’t cover their tracks very well. And they didn’t count on having the best tech woman in the company coming after them.”
“You think you’ll be able to pull it off?” he asked.
“I think I can make something happen,” I said with a smile. “Just as long as you’re ready to do it together.”
He took my hands.
“Ready if you are.”
Chapter 41
Bryce
One month later
I couldn’t believe how fast the time had gone by. One day I’d woken up to the pictures leaked onto the internet, learning over the course of a few minutes that my life as I knew it could very well be over.
And then I’d learned that I was going to be a father.
Now, I was getting married. That afternoon. I woke up to Chelsea nuzzling into the crook of my arm in that way I loved, the bedroom bathed in morning light.
“Morning, baby,” she said, a sleepy, lovely smile on her face.
“Morning, wife,” I said, slipping my hand under her head.
She raised her hand and waggled a finger at me in a jokingly chiding way.
“Not so fast,” she said. “Still got a full day ahead of us before you can call me that.”
“I know, I know,” I said. “Just trying it on for size.”
“And how does it feel?” she asked.
“Feels very, very nice.”
“Glad to hear, husband,” she said. Then her eyebrows raised in mild surprise. “Wow,” she said. “I do like the sound of that.”
I leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. “You ready for the insanity ahead?” I asked.
“I think so,” she said. “Still can’t believe we’re going with the enormous wedding instead of the private affair.”
“Wasn’t it your idea to have one last bash before we spend the next year hunkered down and focused on work and the baby?”
She chuckled. “May very well have been,” she said with a smile before coming in for another kiss.
“Having any regrets?” I asked.
“Nope,” she said. “But part of me is eager to get you back into bed tonight.”
I smirked.
“I’m in bed with you now, you know,” I said.
She rested her hand on my bare chest, letting it drift down the solid plane of my torso.
“That’s a good point,” she said. “But isn’t there some rule about sleeping with the groom before you get married?”
I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of her soft hand against my skin.
“I think that’s just about seeing the bride in the wedding dress. Nothing about fucking first thing in the morning.”
“Then I don’t think there’s anything stopping us,” she said.
My cock pulsed solid, tugging at the sheets that covered my lower body. I took hold of the covers and tossed them down, revealing both my solid prick and Chelsea’s body.
A smile crossed my lips when I laid eyes on her stomach. Her body was still slim and curvy and clad in nothing but a pair of skimpy white panties, but I loved imagining the baby growing in there. She was getting close to the end of her first trimester, and looked as gorgeous as ever.
Her hand continued down, over my abs and across the notches of my hips. Finally, it came to rest on the stiff thickness of my cock. She stroked it slowly, her beautiful eyes locked o
nto mine.
“That feel good, baby?” she asked.
“So fucking good,” I said. “But I need more than your hand.”
“Oh?” she asked. “And what is it that you need?”
“I need to be inside you so fucking badly.”
She took her hand from my cock, the end of my prick glistening with precum. I didn’t waste any time. I rolled over until I was on top of her, Chelsea’s legs spread open wide around me. I took a quick look down at her gorgeous pussy, wet and ready for me.
Chelsea put her hands onto my ass, pressing down hard and guiding me toward her. I lowered my hips, the head of my prick pressing against her wet lips and spreading them apart. With a slow downward motion, I entered her, Chelsea’s velvet pussy gripping me hard as I did.
“Baby,” she said as I began thrusting, “you feel so damn good. It’s like you’re right where you belong.”
I moved in and out of her, the pleasure tight against my cock.
“We’re meant to be, darling,” I said, bucking faster. “I love you so much.”
“And I love you.”
I drove into her harder and harder, my cock pulsing more and more with each thrust. I positioned my head near her neck, covering Chelsea’s skin with kisses as I listened to her soft exhalations.
It didn’t take much before her pussy tightened with orgasm. She moaned and bucked underneath me, rocking her hips in time with my thrusts.
My own orgasm came soon after and with a hard grunt I let it loose, draining myself deep inside of her as she pressed down on my ass. The pleasure exploded through my body, and it was all I could do to stay propped up on my arms.
Once I was done, I withdrew my cock, the cum warm on my prick. I fell onto my back at her side, and Chelsea quickly placed her head on my chest, and for a time I watched her rise and fall with each breath.
Minutes passed, and I began to feel like I could pass the whole day just lying here in bed with Chelsea, the wedding and everything else simply passing us by.
The buzzing of my phone on the nightstand, however, made it clear that wasn’t going to happen. I rolled over and picked up my phone, checking the screen. Sure enough, it was Mom, letting me know she was coming over to make breakfast for the two of us.
“I hope you’re hungry,” I said. “Mom’s on the way over.”
She smiled. “My parents doted on us last night, only fitting that yours would take over the duties today.”
I placed my feet on the ground and got up. “Speaking of which,” I said, “you think I made a good first impression?”
“Are you kidding?” she asked, getting up. “They loved you. And when my dad got a look at that Aston Martin in the garage, I was pretty sure he wanted you to marry him instead of me.”
I laughed.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get to it. Race you to the shower.”
The two of us hurried into the bathroom and into the shower, taking our time getting good and clean. When we were all done, we got dressed just in time to see my phone buzz again with a text from my mom, letting us know she was here.
The elevator doors opened as we stepped into the living room, Mom hurrying into the place like she was outrunning a fire.
“Someone’s excited about the wedding,” I said.
“Morning, morning,” she said, hurriedly putting her purse down and taking out her laptop. “You two hear the news?”
Chelsea and I shared a look. We knew this could only mean one thing.
“Did they—?” Chelsea asked.
“They did,” said Mom, powering up the laptop. “Take a look.”
She turned the screen toward us, which was open to one of the local gossip websites.
The headline read, “Sentencing in Celebrity Phone-Hacking Trial.”
“This I have to see,” said Chelsea, sliding into the seat in front of the laptop and leaning close to the screen.
I stood over her shoulder and watched as she clicked the link and scanned through the story.
“Holy shit,” she said after a time. “Two years of probation for Hunter and Becca and Walsh. Not a single one of them got off.”
“They deserve everything they get,” said Mom.
I was still in awe of how Chelsea had managed to pull it off. She hadn’t wasted any time in getting to the bottom of who’d hacked my phone, calling on the help of all of her former employees in the tech department.
They were all more than happy to assist. Together, over the course of no more than a day, they’d found evidence that linked the phone hack back to Walsh and Becca. We turned the evidence over to the police, and it wasn’t long at all before they implicated Hunter, Walsh and Becca cracking under the pressure and giving up his name as soon as they could.
Felicity had managed to stay clear of any criminal wrongdoing, but word out of Hollywood was that she was radioactive—offers were drying up. Turns out no one wanted to do business with a backstabbing schemer who’s leaked her own scandalous photos.
I still couldn’t believe it—a conspiracy at my own company. But thanks to Chelsea, we’d outsmarted them and made sure that the company stayed in my hands. Once Damien and the rest of the investors had been made aware of the plot, they were more than eager to provide whatever money I needed.
Carver was growing into one of the biggest companies in the city, Chelsea and I were getting married, and a baby was on the way. Everything was so perfect I couldn’t believe I wasn’t living in some kind of dream. I only wished my father were there to see it.
I leaned over and kissed Chelsea on the cheek. She turned, giving me a quizzical look.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
“Just had to make sure this was all real,” I said.
She smiled before coming in for another kiss.
“It’s all real,” she said. “I’m yours, and you’re mine. And all that’s left to do is turn this fake marriage into a real one.”
I smiled, my heart full of more happiness than I’d ever thought possible.
“Then let’s go get married.”
Epilogue
Chelsea
A year and a half later
The day was as beautiful as I could’ve hoped. The sky was cloudless, the weather was perfect, and the breeze was even just the right amount of warm.
A perfect California day.
A crowd of a hundred or so people had gathered on the street in front of the newly completed Winters Condominiums, all of them just as eager as I was to see the doors open and the first families get moved in.
And at my side was Bryce, a warm smile on his face and our daughter, Alice, in his arms.
She had to have been the most beautiful little thing I’d ever seen in my life. She had my curls and fair skin and her father’s striking blue eyes. It was still hard for me to believe that such a perfect angel was mine.
I scanned the crowd. Anyone who was anyone at the company was there. The investors were all gathered, talking amongst themselves and looking over the building with pride. Damien had been pleased as hell to see his name above the stately doors of the ten-story modern tower, and I was sure all of the other investors were eager to see what building I’d come up with to put their names on.
“What do you think?” asked Bryce, his eyes tracking up along the height of the tower.
Alice pointed up at the gleaming spire on top of the condos.
“Why yes, it certainly is a tall, fancy building,” said Bryce.
Then he gave Alice a kiss on one of her chubby cheeks.
“I still can’t believe it’s finally done,” I said, my hands on my hips. “But now that it’s done, it’s like a monument to all that I’ve put into it.”
“And this was all you,” said Bryce. “I wrangled the funding, but that was it. I told you it’d be a test of your entrepreneurial skills, and I think I’m OK with saying you passed with flying colors.”
I slipped my arm around Bryce’s waist and pulled him in for a kiss.
&nbs
p; “Don’t sell yourself short, Mr. Carver,” I said with a smile. “You had a pretty big part in all of this too.”
The trucks came to a stop and the families poured out. As I watched them open up the backs of the trucks and prepare to move into their new homes, I spotted Bess out of the corner of my eye.
“Hey, gorgeous married couple,” she said. “How’s it feel to be on top of the world?”
After the fallout settled with the phone-hacking situation, I’d realized the tech division of Carver Conglomerates was going to need a new lead. It was the job I’d dreamed of, but I’d found my place as the head of the nonprofit initiatives. So, as one of the first hires of Illimitable back in the day, Bess was a natural choice. And she’d been kicking butt.
“Feels pretty damn good,” I said.
“Enjoy it,” said Bess. “You’ve earned it.”
“What’s up?” I asked Bess. “You seem like you’ve got something on your mind.”
“Just wondering about the party tonight,” she said. “We’ve all been busting our butts, and a little unwinding sounds just right.”
“Don’t worry about that,” I said. “The party’s still very much on.”
“My mom’s at the apartment right now getting everything set up with the help. And don’t worry— there’s going to be an open bar.”
“All I needed to hear,” said Bess.
“What do you say we make the rounds and get back?” asked Bryce. “Some fun and relaxation does sound pretty nice.”
“What do you say, kiddo?” I asked Alice. “Ready to hit it?”
She smiled and made a thumbs-up, and it took all the resistance I had not to cover her adorable little face in kisses.
Bryce and I made our way through the crowd, thanking everyone for coming and giving our well-wishes to the families. Once we’d done our social duties, the two of us rode the limo back to the apartment.
The penthouse was a whirlwind of activity, the caterers preparing the food, the band setting up, and the decorators making everything look suitably festive for the celebratory occasion.
