by Amy Brent
I trusted Declan, but I was planning to leave him. What the hell was wrong with me?
We had crepes for breakfast with some of the best coffee that I’d ever tasted. One of them was savory and one sweet with fruit and fresh cream, making me want to die as I ate it. We walked around afterward, holding hands, and looking in the shops and occasional gallery as Declan told me about some of the good places in the area.
I took a lot of pictures on the new phone that had a lot of storage. The filters were amazing on it, but I didn’t need them with the beauty that surrounded me. I didn’t want to take pictures of him, of us. I didn’t want the memories but I did it anyway and so did he, smiling his charming, crooked smile that I loved so much. By the time we got back to the car, I had a few small bags of souvenirs to bring home and tossed them into the nearly nonexistent back seat as we headed to Cannes. We stayed there all afternoon, wandering Le Suquet and taking pictures as well as going to some of their beaches.
Declan took me to dinner that night at Mantel, a lovely and intimate restaurant. There were pictures on the white walls that complemented them with just a hint of color, one of them being Marilyn Monroe. I ordered the lobster ravioli, and Declan asked for the rack of lamb, admitting that it was one of his favorites. We ate and sipped wine as I marveled in everything so far about this trip, from the arrival to tonight. The morning was prominent in my mind, and I faltered in my decision to end it after this. I had almost two weeks left, and I was falling for him more by the moment.
We enjoyed lemon tart for dessert with coffee, and I almost wept because it was so good. I surprised him by catching the bill and paying, to which he protested as I laughed in victory. I wanted to spoil him as well, and I saved a lot of money over the last few years.
We headed back to the hotel after that, bags in hand as he pushed the elevator to go up. Once inside, I ran back to the bedroom to look at my trinkets and gush over them all over again as he sat by me on the bed. “Thank you for dinner,” he told me, his hand on my leg.
“It was just dinner. You did everything else so far,” I indicated the room with my hand as Declan tilted his head forward.
“I have been wealthy my entire life. I have seen women expect me to pay for things and to spoil them just because they smiled at me,” he told me as I stared at him instead of the stuff on the bed. “Even Claire had a job, and she never offered to pay for dinner.” I looked at him questioningly. “She had a separate account with her money in it. I never saw her use it for something that we did together. You are the only woman that ever took the bill like that, sure of it. You left no argument about it. I respected the fuck out of you at that moment.”
“I will do it more as well, you deserve it, Dec. You’re wonderful,” I murmured as tears slid down my cheeks, feeling him take me into his arms.
“I have seen the fear and doubt in your eyes.” His words were soft as he stroked my messy hair. “I saw the questions in those moments when you’re quiet, thinking about something that you won’t reveal.” I froze as he kissed my hair with a firm press of his lips. “I know that you think that you’ll hurt me in some way, Rayna. I know that your husband scares you, but he doesn’t frighten me. Not at all.”
“He’s jealous. He’s always told me that I’ll never belong to anyone else,” I told Declan, remembering the words that had been said to me so many times. Sometimes, it was shouting or screaming in a fit of rage and others it was condescending. No matter how it was said, I would never forget them. “He doesn’t even like me. I am like a trophy to him and all of the people that we know, but he hates me.”
“Control is his thing. Dominance. You said he hurt the other girl and I am certain that he does it to all of them.” Declan calmed me as he spoke softly. “I have a team of lawyers. They can draw up divorce papers without you having to see him in that process. Your terms, though I think you deserve something after that time with…him. They will talk to him or his lawyers, and he won’t bother you. You have no ties, no kids. It is done.”
“He can have all of the money. I don’t want it. I saved my earnings and I can do this on my own.” I pulled away from him. “I wanted to leave you to protect you. I wanted to let you find someone worthy of all of your amazing love.”
“You. Are. Worthy.” His lips covered mine as a sob left me. “I love you. I want to go home with you and keep loving you. Hell, my divorce will be easy and over soon and we’ll weather the storm that could be yours. We’ll make it.”
“We will?” I asked as he growled against my mouth. He pulled me over his lap and held me tenderly as I let the emotions out. He stroked my hair and murmured words of comfort to be, calming me down slowly as I draped myself over him. “How do you know you want me to stay?”
“I have known that since the first moment that I saw you, Ray. I thought it was crazy, but it happens. That’s why I kept pushing to see you so much…to see what it was between us. I wanted to stop when I found out you were married, but it was obvious that you were miserable, unhappy. When I knew that you were scared, I pushed even harder to see if there was anything there.” He stared at me as I narrowed my eyes for a moment.
“Do you like saving people?” I asked hesitantly as he sighed.
“It’s not that, Rayna. You made me feel hope again after I’d just failed at love. I failed my wife so much that she left me for a younger man.” I smirked at him and leaned forward to kiss him softly. “I felt that for a minute, even though I knew that we weren’t the couple of the year. I also knew that I’d survive it just fine and then I saw you…and I knew what real want and desire were again.”
“So did I,” I whispered as he closed his lips over mine for a tender kiss. We moved together smoothly, our lips and tongues tangled together as I rocked against him gently. “I think that I love you. I am scared of that feeling, so scared. I know that I can’t live without you, Declan. I don’t want to live without you.” He pulled back from my lips to stare at me. “I want to talk to your lawyers. I want this divorce.”
“Good,” he said as he kissed me again, stopping all conversation as he pushed me back on the mattress. We moved together, our lips searching for one another as he slipped my dress up and stroked my bare skin. I felt him kiss my jaw slowly, nibbling softly as he dropped between my thighs.
“Declan, I need you.” He kissed me everywhere, slowly worshiping my body as he undressed me and brushed his lips against my skin. “God.”
I was weak with my releases before he slipped out of his clothes and dropped back over me. “I love this look on you…dazed from what I’ve done to you. I love that your tight and ready for me.” He kissed me softly. “I love you.”
With those words, he slid inside of me as I moaned long and low. I knew that there was always something between us, felt that from the beginning. I knew that we were both getting in deeper with each time we were together, but tonight everything around us disappeared. We made love this evening, feeling better than I ever had before. I came just as hard around his cock as I did his tongue and fingers and he roared as he stilled and jerked inside of me.
We were resting in bed together after we were done, looking at the moonlight out of the window. “Did you ever want kids?” Declan asked me, stroking my stomach as my heart beat faster in my chest.
“Not with him, no. In general, I never thought about it too much. Did you?” I asked, scared to tell him my thought from the other day.
“I wanted kids, and she seemed to at first, but that changed. Maybe she met someone else, or perhaps it was because she is a workaholic. I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter any longer.” Declan pressed his hand over my skin, stilling as he took a breath. “Would you consider having them with me?”
I laughed softly. “I was thinking that making love recently. I imagined it in my head, liking it so much that I was terrified. What if we didn’t work out? Still, I longed for the birth control to fail for a fleeting second.”
“Baby, if for some reason, we didn’t work out? I’
d always take care of my child. Always.”
CHAPTER 24
Declan
I fell asleep and had a dream about a blonde baby girl with big blue eyes, running down a beach. Rayna was pregnant with another one as she followed her, laughing at something the girl said as her loose curls bounced over her tiny shoulders. I watched as they walked ahead of me, seeing the love in Rayna’s eyes as she looked back at me with a sweet smile that melted me, just before the little girl turned to run towards me. She was beautiful, a mix between the two of us as she threw herself into my arms and I heard her calling me Daddy as an echo in my head when I woke up the following day.
I jerked to my back, staring at the high ceiling with wide eyes. That was such a vivid dream, and I pushed out of bed gently to walk over to the window. The sun was just rising as far as I could tell and I went to use the bathroom before I yawned. I could email my lawyers and get that started at least, so I went into the living room and typed up a message with the necessary information, sending it before I joined her in bed.
We got up later, making love before coffee. She pulled on a robe and joined me on the balcony with her cup, happier than she was yesterday. Now I understood that as I gazed at her. I checked my emails and saw that Todd had sent something back regarding the divorce. I laughed, and she raised an eyebrow at me. “I emailed my lawyers. They’re asking me if I know who James Masters is.”
She chuckled, but her face paled. “One of the most sought after attorneys in LA for a complicated divorce, but it isn’t as though he can represent himself. Did you say that I’m not asking for anything?”
I looked at her. “It was painful to do so, but I did. That asshole owes you for all that he’s done.”
“I just want him out of my life forever. That is enough for me,” she held my hand as she spoke, smiling weakly. “There’s no need for a court if I just want to be away from him and I’m asking for nothing.”
“I would see it that way.” I sent a message back. “I’m starting this. You okay with that?”
“I am,” she replied with a big smile before sipping the coffee and looking over the water. We showered and dressed before heading out in the car, going to another city close by.
The days were full of adventure and laughter as I watched her move past her bad marriage. I’d never seen her wear rings, to begin with, so that was nothing new, but the smile on her face was. The worry seemed to fade every day as well, even though we were in the process of getting some paperwork done for her. We weren’t serving them until he was home, which was likely when the real fight would begin.
The second week of our romantic getaway was ending, and I looked at her one morning at the table. We’d been all over the place, taking the train to Italy one day and even Switzerland. I’d gotten us a room overlooking the Eiffel Tower as well for a surprise, where we saw as much of Paris as we could fit in. “So, do you want me to buy a place here for us?”
Rayna laughed nervously. “It’s gorgeous here but probably not practical. You have your life in LA, and I imagine it’s easier to run the hotel from the central location.” She smiled. “I like my job anyway.”
“Well, do you want to move into my palace there in LA with me?” I pressed as heat flushed her cheeks. “I know that you saved for your own place, but I am spoiled now by having you here with me.”
“I love it, too. Will you let me contribute to the bills?” She asked as I grinned. I got up and walked into the room, heading to the bedroom as I cursed my impulsive words. I meant to do it with the necklace that I bought her. I walked back out, clutching the box as I looked at her and sat back down.
“I bought this for you before the trip.” I set the box down as her eyes widened. “No, it’s not what you think.” I took a deep breath. “I bought this for you along with the other things, planning on asking you to move in with it on our last night here.” We’d seen each other’s other surprises, enjoying them thoroughly until they were on the floor of the bedroom. I opened the box to reveal the platinum necklace inside, a shimmering diamond in the shape of a drop hanging from the delicate chain. “This is the first part of this gift, and eventually we both know where I hope it ends. I want to start here, though. I love you, Rayna.”
“I will move in with you. I have never felt as much at home as I do there, even my childhood home. I will help with the bills, too.” She reached out for the box and took the necklace out gently as if it would break. I stood and put it on her, watching as she stood and ran inside to look in the mirror. She came back out and hugged me tightly as I spun her around the balcony.
We spent the last two days revisiting our favorite places, eating breakfast at the crepe cafe both days. Rayna loved them and swore that she’d learn how to make them at home as she tried a few different kinds. I loved watching her eat when she enjoyed food this much. I knew that she was nervous about returning home and I said little about that as we took in every moment that remained in our trip.
We were in bed the last night, packed and ready to head to the airport the following morning. I sensed that Rayna was restless as she kept initiating sex, which was something I didn’t mind. We made love three times before I wrapped my arms around her and held her still. “Baby, what is it?”
Rayna looked at me with a sigh as she snuggled close. “I emailed my parents about the divorce this morning. I wanted them to know since we’re going home and everything was going to be starting.”
“Did they respond?” I asked as she bit her lip in the dim light from the lamp across the room.
“Mom wondered why in the world I would consider leaving a man like James. I told her why and she dismissed all of it.” I pulled her closer. “She didn’t even ask if I was okay, Dec. She didn’t even care about me.” Her tears slid over my skin as I stroked her hair, allowing her to let it all out. “I knew that I might lose them in all of this, but it still hurts.”
My parents lived over in Boston, but I knew that they would love Rayna. Mom confessed after I told them about the divorce that she and Dad never cared much for Claire, making me laugh. I knew she’d welcome Rayna with open arms and I closed my eyes. “My parents will love you enough for them. They’re due to visit in a couple of months, and it will be great.”
“Are you sure?” She asked as I pushed my rage out of my mind. They were shitty people to be making her feel this way, and I longed to make it all go away. It was going to be a process, though, and I’d do anything to help her get through that.
“I am so sure,” I assured her, letting her cry herself to sleep before I let my breath out.
EPILOGUE
Rayna
Once we got home, the papers were served to James, and he lashed out at Declan’s lawyers. He was livid that I was leaving him even with the proof of his cheating that they dug up, as well as the fact that I was asking for nothing from him. I told them to persist, and they did, wearing him down in time.
I never gave my parents my new phone number, not after that last email. I never even bothered to reach out to them again, accepting that I’d lost my family. I was jealous that Claire agreed to the divorce with Declan quickly, taking what he offered her in the settlement and asking for nothing else. They could have James and his lying ways since their firm meant more to them than their daughter.
I still cried at night sometimes, though. I wanted it to be different. Declan was right about his parents. They adored me, and I was invited to Christmas this year in Boston at the airport when they were leaving, amid hugs and kisses that I never received from my own parents.
I was back at the agency, though I worked from home now. James never found out about my job that I knew of and Declan suggested working from the house in case he ever did. He did agree to the divorce six months after I asked, though grudgingly and asked for the rings back.
I told the lawyers where they were at the house. I hadn’t worn them in the last couple of years. This was taxing, and I just wanted it over, not even dealing with him face-to-face. He asked, de
manded, and threatened the lawyer, but Todd would not back down.
Some of the girls came over to see me when they had some downtime and they were all crazy about Declan. He was warm to them, knowing they were my family now, not threatened at all that I was going to go back to that side of the business.
I actually had a plan about that, something that I was going to hold onto for just a little longer.
Declan
We left for Boston a week before Christmas, flying the few hours in first class as I watched Rayna sleep. She looked so beautiful, and I stroked her hair gently before I looked out of the window. We were both free from the trappings of our former marriages now, but completely together. There was no more looking for either of us, and I thought about the ring waiting for her at my parent’s house. It was my grandmother’s, and I was going to ask her to marry me on Christmas Eve by the tree when we were alone.
It was fast, but I knew that I loved her more every day. We wanted the same future, and I saw no reason to hold off on that any longer, and neither did my mom. She loved Rayna and wanted grandchildren. It was as simple as that.
