The Merger: The Ryan Family Books One-Three

by Loni Ree

  He looks around and points at the walls. “This room is for your baby. I hope to be the father of your baby, but I know I have a lot of work to do to prove my sincerity to you.” He finishes, and I am so shocked I have no response for him.

  I look around the room and fall in love with it. I can picture our baby in this room, but Drew has hurt me so many times. I don’t think I can allow myself to believe in his promises anymore.

  “I don’t know,” I whisper sadly.

  Drew kneels at my feet, and when he lifts my chin and stares into my eyes, I see the fear in his eyes.

  “Please don’t refuse. I’m giving you the house. You and the furball can move in whenever you want. I only ask that you give me a chance to spend some time with you, anywhere you want, so I can prove myself.” His eyes beg me to agree.

  “I have to think about all of this. I’ll call you later this week and let you know.” I get up to flee the room before the tears gathering in my eyes have a chance to fall.

  I rush down the stairs and call for Madison and Roger as I head straight to the front door. They come quickly, and I can barely get the words past my clogged throat, so I point at the front door and they immediately follow me. As I’m rushing out the door, I turn and see Drew standing at the top of stairs with tears on his cheeks.

  Roger gently takes the keys from my shaking hand, and I gladly let him since I know I am in no condition to drive. Madison rubs my arm and whispers words of encouragement to me, but I cry the whole way to Madison and Lukas’ uncontrollably. When we get there, Lukas is incensed after Madison hesitantly tells him the entire story. Aiden arrives at the perfect time to help control the situation.

  “Wait, they were only trying to help. Please don’t be mad at them. They didn’t try to cause trouble. I’m glad they did this, but I need to be alone to think about everything.” My plea seems to cool Lukas down a little.

  Aiden turns and looks at me with narrowed eyes. “You aren’t seriously considering giving the stupid fucker another chance, are you?”

  “Aiden, you need to leave her alone and let her figure this out on her own.” Lukas cuts in and Aiden turns on him with an appalled look on his face.

  “You think she should give that asshole another chance? You saw what he has done several times. Have you lost your mind?” Aiden rushes up and gets right in Lukas’ face, and Brayden runs in and steps between them.

  “Let’s all calm down. Annie is a grown woman. She can make her own decisions,” Brayden insists as he holds Aiden back. Aiden growls at Lukas and Brayden then stomps out of the room.

  “Annie girl, I’m here for you,” Brayden states and then follows Aiden from the room.

  Lukas says, “I’m here for you, too. I hate to say this, but I think you have so much to think about. Take your time and think long and hard. You are obviously in love with Drew, even though he is a complete asshole. Look at me. Assholes can change.” Lukas walks over and envelops me in a hug. I stand there and cry while my big brother holds me, running his hands up and down my back soothingly.

  “I’m going to lock myself in my old room and think for a while.” I sniffle when the crying fit is over. Before I leave the room, I walk over to Madison, who has been quietly sitting on the sofa, and lean down and kiss her cheek.

  I whisper, “Thanks for trying to help.” Then I head straight to my room to try to wrap my mind around all the events of the day.

  35

  Drew

  Living in this fucking apartment alone sucks. I've lived alone my entire adult life, but somehow, I realize now how miserable it makes me. I had dinner with Blake and Lucy earlier, and I left their house depressed as shit. I used to give Blake shit about Lucy dragging him around by the shorts, but the truth is, I would kill to have Annie drag me around. When I see them with Lily, envy charges through me. I've been waiting for Annie's call for a week, and my patience is gone. I'm fighting thoughts of kidnapping her and keeping her all to myself.

  When I get out of the shower, I hear my phone beep with a message, so I rush into my room and check to see who called. I'm stunned and elated to see Annie's name on the screen. I don't even take the time to dry off or dress before I dial her number.

  "Hello," she answers, and I am so relieved to hear her voice. My heart wakes up, and I pray she is going to give me a shot to show her my true intentions.

  "Hi, sorry I missed your call. I was in the shower."

  "That's okay, I wanted to see if you would meet me somewhere to talk, maybe for lunch tomorrow?" Annie asks, and ideas start running through my mind.

  "Why don't we meet at the house? I can get lunch on the way there. How about the Golden Dragon? Is that good with you?" I ask her, and I hear her sigh on the phone.

  "Sure, Chinese is great, but maybe we should go to the restaurant?" she suggests.

  "Let's meet at the house at eleven thirty. Is that a good time for you?" I press, and after she agrees, I hang up and make plans for our lunch.

  The next day, I arrive early, unpack the food, and wait for her. Planning ahead, I got all of her favorites, and I refuse to think too hard about the possible negative outcomes of today's talk. Time drags, but I stroll through the house, trying to envision our future if I can persuade Annie to forgive me one more time. When I hear a car door slam, I close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm my frantically beating heart.

  Standing behind the solid front door, I wait for Annie to ring the doorbell, then I open the door and drink in the sight of her. She looks tired but beautiful, and I signal for her to follow me into the sitting room for our conversation. As I follow behind her, I remind myself to take it slow and easy, so I have some hope of getting her to stay.

  "Would you like something to drink before we talk?" I ask after she sits on the sofa.

  "No, I want to get our talk over with first. Drew, tell me what has changed," Annie demands first thing, and I see the confusion in her eyes.

  "Me. I have changed. I now know that I don't have to always have the upper hand in every situation. To be completely honest, I actually never had the upper hand in our relationship at all. You have always had it. I fought your hold over me without being aware of what I was doing. That's why I was such a fucking hot and then cold dickhead toward you. But now, I realize that as long as I have your love, I don't care if I have to give up control over my life to you. Losing you and then the baby drove all of this home to me," I explain before I drop into the chair and stare at the wall.

  I turn to Annie and try to make her understand. "You came into my life and turned it upside down, and that terrified me. I never had anyone make me think about giving up my freedom then, all of a sudden, there you were. I was ready to kill any man who even looked at you. I fought the hold you have on me, maybe not consciously, but I fought it hard." I watch the tears fall from her eyes, and I know I have to convince her now, or I will never get another chance again.

  "I went to Lukas' office, weeks ago, to demand your whereabouts so I could make you listen to me. I thought our child would give me a permanent hold over you; I would never have to give up full control of my feelings. When Lukas told me you weren't ever pregnant, I realized the scariest thing that could ever happen to me wouldn't be giving you power over me, and me giving up my freedom. It would be living without you. I love you, and I need you in my life. I have realized that I want to be your husband and a father to your children. Please, give me a chance." I finish and wait for Annie to either condemn me to a life of hell or give our future a chance.

  She turns and faces the wall, and I can see her shoulders shake as silent sobs rack her body. "How do I know you won't change again? I can't take anymore back and forth with you. My heart can't take anymore."

  I get up and move toward her, pulling her into my arms. She’s stiff, but I push my nose up against the back of her neck and just breathe in the familiar scent of her. I hold her while she cries silently in my arms, and then I tell her, "Please, give me the chance to prove it to you. We can take it as s
low as you want."

  After she turns in my arms and I see hope in her eyes, my heart soars. I lean down, softly kiss her soft lips, and tell her, "Why don't you move into the house? It's a shame for it to sit empty, and we can start to slowly get to know each other again, for real this time."

  "We are going to take our relationship more slowly this time, snail's pace. I need a lot of time," Annie warns, and I am so happy for the chance that I readily agree.

  Over the next several days, we get Annie moved into the house. It kills me to go so slowly, but I leave every night with a chaste kiss on her forehead and go back to my empty apartment to jack-off and ease my raging hard-on.

  Earlier tonight, Lukas and Madison came by to drop off a few things for Annie, and Lukas couldn't contain his smirk at my expense.

  As we begin to slowly rebuild our splintered relationship, my goal is to show Annie that she can depend on me to keep my promises in the future. To impress her and maybe torture the asshole cat, I buy us "family and feline massages" at the new spa in town. The four-hundred-dollar fee is well worth watching as two professional masseuses try to calm the outraged cat while we laugh too hard to enjoy our own massages.

  My next action is making peace with the furry menace. Since Annie loves the little asshole, he's going to be a part of our family for a long time, and I realize the time has come to declare a ceasefire with my rival. Mr. Whiskers is still enraged over his treatment, though, and it takes several boxes of treats and a new bed in the study for him to begin to forgive me.

  Because of all the investigations that require my attention right now, we haven't been spending as much time together as I would like, but our relationship is getting stronger every day. When we do have extra time, we spend some time with Blake and Lucy, and the baby doesn't terrify me as much as she did in the past. Annie wants babies, so I am determined to show her I can be a good father.

  I still live in the apartment, but our relationship has progressed almost to the point of me spending the night. My dick is begging me to make a move, and soon, before it shrivels up from non-use. After our dinner tonight, I plan to see if Annie is ready to give our sex life a shot again.

  Blake and Lucy are over for dinner with Lily, but I have a hard time concentrating on our guests with my zipper cutting into my bulging erection. My ardor is cooled slightly when Lily spews her dinner down the front of my shirt.

  "Oh, God, I can't believe she did that," Lucy cries and reaches for her whimpering infant.

  "It's not a big deal. She had too much excitement. I'll need to go clean up, though." The horrible smell follows me out of the room, and I wonder if Annie has any of my old shirts for me to borrow.

  Annie knocks on the bathroom door and hands me an old t-shirt of mine. "Thanks, I wasn't looking forward to smelling like curdled milk for the rest of the night. I'm going to hop in the shower to wash off the smell really quick, okay?"

  "I'll let them know." She points with her head and walks back toward the dining room.

  The hot water is running over my chest, and suddenly, cold air hits my back. I turn and find Annie stepping into the steamy enclosure behind me. My eyes roam up and down her exquisite body, taking in her pert, pink-tipped breasts, down her flat stomach to her petal-soft pussy. I drop to my knees and pull her by the hips to me.

  "Fuck, I missed you, baby," I groan as I bury my head in her slick softness.

  Annie

  After all my thinking, I realize one thing; if I don't give Drew a chance to make this right, I will regret it forever. Because of our business and family connections, he will always be in my life, so I need to take the chance.

  The house is lovely, and I fall in love with it all over again. The layout is perfect for a family, and I spend my time decorating and turning it into my home. My furry baby can be found lounging around in his new bed or sunning himself near the patio doors.

  Drew works hard to prove he isn't going to turn into a major asshole again, and over time, I begin to trust his commitment to our relationship. Watching him interact with Lily at dinner is adorable. The shock on his face when she throws up all over his chest is priceless.

  While Drew is in the bathroom getting cleaned up, Lucy decides to take Lily home in case the baby is getting sick. After I see our friends out the door, I strip off my clothes and quietly step into the steamy shower behind Drew.

  The heated look in his hungry eyes causes my legs to turn to jelly. When he drops to his knees and growls, my arousal leaks from my sex. I offer no resistance when he grabs my hips and pulls one of my legs over his shoulder before his hungry mouth latches on to my pussy. My back making contact with the cold marble wall behind me shocks me a little, but he as he works over my clit with his talented mouth, all other thoughts flee my mind. An orgasm rushes through my body when he plunges two of his fingers into my quivering pussy, and I scream.

  Before I completely recover, Drew stands, lifting me by my ass, and slams me down on his massive cock. He shouts and almost loses his grasp on me, so I wrap my legs tightly around his waist.

  "Fuck, you feel too good. I won't last," he moans and pushes me up against the marble wall. I wrap my arms around his shoulders to hold on for the wild ride while his hungry dick hammers the hell out of my pussy. Out of nowhere, I come hard and drag Drew along with me. He drops to his knees with me still wrapped tightly around him.

  "Goddamn, I missed you, baby," he whispers in my ear.

  "I love you," I whisper back, and I feel a tremor go through his body. He places one of his hands under my chin and forces me to look him in the eyes.

  "I love you so much. You mean more to me than anything else in this world," he professes then covers my mouth with his. We get out and dry ourselves off and make our way to the bed. As we’re cuddled up under the covers, I decide to invite him to move back into our home.

  Relief flashes across his face before he leans over and takes my lips. When he comes up for air, he places his forehead against mine and closes his eyes for a second. He soon opens them again and says on a sign, "Thank God, I'm ready to get this family going. We have a lot of knocking up to do. I'm an old man, baby doll."

  "Let's take it one thing at a time for now, but I want to have a family with you soon."

  The next day, we arrange to move Drew's things back into the house.

  Over a period of time, Aiden and Drew learn to get along and actually become friends. Drew is continually dealing with issues at Sterling-Ryan, Steele Co., and with my brothers, and even Bradley has managed to find a way to co-exist with him.

  When Madison and Lukas have their twins, we get to see how busy life gets with two children. Seeing the great Lukas Ryan disheveled and sleep-deprived brightens my day. Between the twins and Lily, Drew gets a good taste of life with little ones, yet he still insists he is ready for fatherhood. Slowly, I release my fears and learn to trust in his love and our relationship. Drew is still a possessive asshole, but he's my possessive asshole.

  Drew reacts completely different when I tell him I'm pregnant this time. Before I can think of a cute, inventive way to tell Drew, Lucy and Blake come over for lunch and bring my favorite wine. Trying to come up with an excuse to skip the alcohol fails because everyone knows how much I love it.

  When Drew pulls me into the kitchen, I can see the worry in his eyes. "Are you sick? I can tell them to leave if you need to rest."

  "Nothing is wrong with me. I'm going to lay off the liquor to lose a little weight." I try to bluff my way out of giving my secret away.

  His worry turns to anger, and he shakes his head. "Fuck no. You are perfect now. Have some goddamn wine."

  Then he takes my hand and starts dragging me toward the living room, but I dig my heels in and pull my hand out of his and blurt out, "Our baby can't have the goddamn wine."

  He stands perfectly still for about ten-seconds then drops to his knees in front of me and buries his face in my stomach. "About fucking time. I'm going to kick them out so I can show you how fucking happy I
am."

  As he stands, the tears shining in his eyes and the happiness written across his face prove to me that I made the right decision when I gave our relationship another chance. Never again will I doubt his love for me.

  Epilogue 1: Drew

  Eight Months Later

  Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. When will this shit be over? I know she wants to do this naturally, but there is no way we are going to make it through this.

  "Baby, you're doing so good. Breathe. Come on, breathe how they showed us in class. Like this hee, hee…." As I'm coaching her, Annie grips my collar, and it's like a demon has possessed my beautiful little wife.

  Her eyes are enormous and flashing, and she uses the most ferocious voice when she growls, "Shut the fuck up! You look fucking stupid, and you’re embarrassing the shit out of me."

  Then, with incredible strength, she takes the hand that is holding me by the throat and shoves me five feet across the floor.

  Luckily, a sweet, patient nurse steps in and advises us, "Drew and Annie, it's time to get Mom an epidural for relief. There is no way she is going to make it through a natural birth." I happily agree and beg Annie to consider the epidural. She finally realizes the pain is greater than she ever imagined and accepts the help. Stella, the nurse, hurries out to call for assistance.

  Peace reigns for a short time after the epidural exorcises the labor demon. Annie quickly turns back into my gorgeous wife, and the rest of her labor progresses much easier for both of us. Stella is a champion. Luckily, she notices when I almost lose my hold on consciousness right before the delivery and jumps into action. Stella pushes me into a chair and shoves my head between my knees before I give in to the black cloud invading my vision.