The Price of Love

by Cassy Roop

  Tristan had come over several times to keep check on me while Cassie was gone. We have had dinner a few times, watched a movie or two and talked. Nothing intimate, just getting to know each other again. He explained everything to me in detail about Brett and keeping tabs over me all these years. I knew he still blames himself for my parents’ death, but there was no way he could have known what Brett was going to do. In my heart I had already forgiven him for keeping me in the dark, but my head still told me to be cautious. I had been finding out a lot lately that my head and heart were in constant battle with each other.

  Chapter 27

  Tristan

  (2 months later)

  Several months have gone by since Kendall’s incident with Brett. We had been getting along quite well. We spent time together talking, laughing and genuinely enjoying each other’s company. I guess you could say that we have developed a rather strong friendship. The problem with that was I wanted more than just a friendship with her. I wanted her heart, body, and soul. I wanted to marry this girl and build a forever with her and our child.

  I was in my office when I heard a knock at the door. “Come in,” I command.

  “Mr. Price, the journalist from Lively is here for your interview,” my assistant informs me.

  “Send her in. Thank you.”

  In walked a short blonde with black framed glasses. She was dressed impressionably in a light blue pant suit. She looked around my age and very nervous. I was hoping that Kendall was still going to do the interview, but Laura gave her permission to back out of the project. That was when I came up with the idea for my next plan to let Kendall know just how much I felt about her. I was going to use this interview to tell her and the whole world how she had captured me so completely. I was going to lay my heart out on the line in hopes that Kendall reached out to catch it.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Price. I am Penelope with Lively. I am here to do your interview for the final issue of the Luxe project for the magazine.”

  She reached out her hand to shake mine and I comply. “Please have a seat,” I tell her as I gestured her toward the couch area of my office.

  She sets down a bag on the floor and pulled out a notebook, pen, and a tape recorder. “Mr. Price, I am going to ask you some questions and it will be up to you whether you would like to answer them. Laura has instructed me to make this interview as interesting as possible for our readers since they are so anxious to know more about you. Is there any specific direction you envision this interview going?” she asked me as she clicked her pen.

  “It is funny that you ask that Penelope. As a matter of fact I do know exactly how I want this interview to go,” I said with a smile. I begin to tell her my intent of the interview and she had the biggest grin on her face. I knew she liked the idea.

  “I’m all ears Mr. Price.” she said with a smile as she pressed record on the machine.

  Kendall

  “Ugg, nothing fits me anymore!” I yelled out. I looked down at my ever growing belly and smiled. “You keep growing at this rate, Spud, and mommy is going to be as big as a house.”

  Cassie came walking into my bedroom and laughed as she rubbed my belly.

  “You leave my Godchild alone. He can grow as much as he wants. Besides I am jealous. You get to eat anything you want because you are going to gain weight anyway.”

  “Har har funny, Cass.” I said with a sarcastic smile “Besides how do you know it is a boy? It could very well be a girl.”

  “Seriously Kendall? Look at his daddy. All that strapping male hotness and testosterone. There is no way he made a girl.” She giggled.

  My heart swelled at hearing Cassie call Tristan daddy. I felt like in the last few months we had connected on an entirely different level. We had developed a friendship that we never had before. However, I missed the intimacy between us, I was just not sure whether I was ready to let go again.

  “Tristan’s interview comes out today doesn’t it?” Cassie asked me as I slipped on the stretchiest pants I owned.

  “Yes. Laura said I had to wait until it went to print. Although I do not know why.”

  Cassie tried to suppress a smile but I caught it.

  “You know don’t you? You little hussy! You know why!”

  “My lips are sealed,” she said as she mimicked locking her lips with a key.

  “I thought we were best friends?”

  “Oh you are going to throw that card out there aren’t you.” she laughed.

  “Well I guess I better get to work. I have a secretive interview to read don’t I?”

  When I arrived at work I was met with tons of stares. Everyone knew what happened when Brett kidnapped me. They also now knew I was pregnant with Tristan’s child. When I returned back to work after I was shot, I was met with stares of pity. These stares are much different. There was awe and happiness in them. Some of the women look to have been crying.

  I wandered over to my cubicle and found a copy of the issue already laying on my desk. There was a post it note attached to it from Laura my boss.

  Read this. Then come see me.

  Laura

  I peeled off the post it note to reveal Tristan’s beautiful face staring back at me. Cassie really did a good job with his cover shoot. The beautifully fierce green eyes of Tristan Stone stared back at me from the page and I smiled. He really was gorgeous.

  I skimmed through the pages until I found Tristan’s interview. I settled in at my desk and begin reading.

  Lively Magazine: Thank you Tristan for doing this interview with us.

  Tristan Price: My pleasure. I hope your readers enjoy an insight into my life.

  Lively: So tell us a little about Tristan Price.

  TP: (ha ha) There isn’t much to tell. I am a pretty normal guy. I took over my father’s company when I was 26 and he passed away. I work a lot and I love what I do. Opening the Luxe chain of hotels has been an adventure.

  Lively: Speaking of adventures...we hear that New York’s most eligible bachelor, Tristan Price, is off the market? Is that true?

  TP: I would say your source is correct. I have met someone.

  What? He had met someone? This is news to me. I feel uneasy with this revelation. I cannot help but feel a pang of jealousy. I keep reading.

  Lively: So tell us about her.

  TP: You guys go straight to the hard and heavy huh? (laughing)

  Lively: We are just intrigued to find out about the woman who has captured Tristan Price’s heart.

  TP: What can I say about her? She is amazing. Probably one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life.

  Lively: Sounds like someone is in love?

  TP: Without a doubt. She is the only one capable of making me feel how wonderful it is to be alive. My will in life is to make her as happy as she makes me every day, because without her, my life lacks meaning and sense.

  Lively: How sweet! Sounds like there could be wedding bells in the future.

  TP: I would be extremely honored and amazed. The desire to make her my wife grows with every second I am with her. When I look in her eyes, I can see our future. She is my forever.

  Lively: We are swooning here! You know there are going to be many hearts broken all over New York after this interview.

  TP: Sorry ladies, but there is only one heart I care about breaking and I will promise until my very last breath that I will never let that happen to her again.

  Lively: So you broke her heart?

  TP: I did. And I will regret it every day for the rest of my life.

  Lively: If you could say anything to her right now, what would it be?

  TP: I would tell her that I love her more than life itself. I would tell her that I will spend every day of forever making her completely and blissfully happy. I want a family with her. I want our family. I want to share my life, my soul and my heart with her. Angel, I know I hurt you. I cannot tell you how in agony I have been that I even put one crack in your heart, much less shattered it. If you would let
me, I promise you I will spend my life picking up those pieces and put them back together again. I love you Angel. I love you.

  Lively: Well you have read it here ladies. Tristan Price, bachelor CEO of Cashman Enterprises, in love with a woman. We wish you all the luck in the future. Hopefully she reads this and sees just how much you adore her.

  TP: I can only hope. I will hold my breath until I know she will be with me always. It is only then I will be able to breathe again.

  Holy Shit! I thought to myself as tears were pouring from my eyes. I looked up and saw everyone looking at me. Most of them were sniffling and had tears in their eyes too. Cassie approached and bent down so that she was face to face with me.

  “Kendall, if you do not give love a chance, you will regret it for the rest of your life. That man loves you beyond all edge of reason. Are you going to pass the chance for the family you have been missing for so long? You, Tristan, and this baby deserve to have your happiness.”

  I was crying even harder now. She was right. Even through the lies and deceit, I had never stopped loving Tristan. I missed him, I missed us.

  Cassie looked at me and smiled. Laura walked out of her office and came over to where Cassie and I were standing. She placed both hands on my shoulders and leaned in to speak in my ear.

  “Kendall Jones, if you don’t go after that man, I will do it in your place. That interview is the sweetest, most personal thing I have ever read. That man just poured his entire heart out to you in the presence of thousands and thousands of our readers. If that isn’t love, I do not know what is.”

  I nodded with tears still streaming down my face. I looked at Cassie for support.

  She winked at me, grabbed my purse and handed me my coat.

  “Go get him, Kendall.”

  I smiled as I grabbed my things from her and raced out of my office.

  Chapter 28

  Tristan

  I was sitting at my office behind mountains of paperwork. I could not concentrate on work right now. Had Kendall read the interview? If so what did she think? I wish I could have seen her reaction. I bled my heart out into that interview in hopes that my girl would find her way back to me.

  My intercom buzzed and my assistant came over the speaker.

  “Mr. Price, are you busy?”

  “Not any more than usual, Julia. What’s up?”

  “Good,” she squeaked out.

  What the hell?

  The next thing I knew there was a knock on the door and I saw her gorgeous face peek around the door.

  “Tristan?”

  I shot up out of my chair and made my way around my desk. She walked into the office and shut the door behind her. I could tell she had been crying and I as next to her in an instant.

  “Angel, what is wrong? Is everything ok?” I said as I looked down at her small swollen belly.

  “Did you mean it?” she asked as she held up a copy of the magazine. Tears were glistening in her beautiful blue eyes.

  “I meant every single word I said, Kendall. I love you, Angel more than you could ever know.”

  In an instant she was launching herself into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her relishing the feel of her I had missed for so long.

  “I still love you, Tristan. I never stopped. I just was upset when I found out the truth. I was scared. I am still scared, but I never once stopped loving you.”

  She pulled back and I looked into her eyes. She loved me. I never thought that I would hear those words from her mouth again. I was floating on cloud nine right now. I was so fucking happy I felt like I could combust.

  “I want it all with you Kendall, me, you and the baby. I want our family. I want us together always. I cannot and will not ever give you up Angel. You are the other piece of my soul.”

  I bent down and gently brush my lips with hers. It was not a kiss of seduction, but one filled with love and promise. She pressed into me harder and our kiss quickly escalated. God how I had missed this. How I had missed her.

  Pulling back she cupped my face in her delicate hands.

  “I want that too, Tristan. More than anything.”

  I released her from my grip and walked over to the drawer in my desk to get my keys. When I returned, I grabbed her by the hand and lead her towards the door.

  “What are you doing? She asked.

  “We are getting out of here of course. I cannot wait another moment for us to begin our lives together and it starts now by getting you home, naked and underneath me.”

  “I like the sound of that,” she said before we exited my office.

  We barely made it through the front door of my penthouse when we attacked each other. We peeled each other’s clothes off until we were standing in only our underwear. I scooped down to pick up Kendall and carried her off to the bedroom.

  Once there, I placed her on her feet and brought my lips to hers. I had missed this so fucking much. I moved from her mouth to her jaw and then down to her collar bone. The sexy moans coming from her were nearly my undoing.

  I placed my hands on her swollen belly. She looked shy by the fact that she had grown since the last time we were together.

  “Do not shy away from me Angel. You, this right here is the sexiest thing in the world. Knowing that our child is growing inside of you is the best thing to ever happen to me.” I said as I rubbed her growing bump. I dropped to my knee and placed gentle kisses on her belly.

  She looked down at me and smiled through glistening eyes. I kissed my way back up her body and then guided her over to the bed. I made work of releasing her bra and ridding her of her panties. I then removed my boxers and climbed into bed with her. Her breasts were fuller and more swollen. I took one nipple into my mouth and suck.

  “Oh Tristan…” she moaned.

  “Angel, I have missed you so much. I love you Kendall. I love you more than anything in this whole fucking world. You are my world Angel. You, me and our baby.”

  “I need you Tristan. I need you inside me please,” she begged breathlessly.

  I climbed on top of her and spread her legs open. Reaching down I felt the slick evidence of her arousal. I began to circle my fingers around her sensitive nub before I inserted my finger inside. She bucked against my hand and I knew if I continued like this she would be coming apart beneath my hand in moments.

  I soon replaced my hand as I guided myself inside of her. Instantly she clamped around me and I began rocking into her.

  “Oh my…” she breathed.

  We continued at a slow, leisurely pace feeling the crescendo start to build. Our hearts were beating in a simultaneous rhythm that proved of our perfection for each other. We are perfectly in sync and in tune to each other’s bodies. I looked down into the face of the woman who had changed me so completely.

  “I love you,” I told her.

  “I love you too Tristan, so much.”

  And in that exact moment we both found our release in each other consummating our love and beginning our future together.

  The next morning I stared at Kendall’s sleeping form in the bed. Her beautifully naked body was wrapped in the sheets. She was lying on her side with her hands under her cheek. I could not help but smile. Walking over to my dresser at the foot of the bed, I opened my top drawer and fingered a small velvet box that I had bought some time ago. Was it too soon to ask?

  “What are you doing?” I heard from a sleepy voice ladened Kendall.

  I grabbed the box and closed the drawer to make my way back over to Kendall. I kept the box hidden in the pocket of my pants as I sat down next to her on the bed. Leaning down I placed a sweet, gentle kiss on her lips.

  “Good morning, Angel.”

  “Good Morning, Sparky.”

  “Why are you up? Come back to bed.” She said seductively.

  “Oh I fully intend to, Angel.” I reply with a sly grin. “I want to talk to you first.”

  She sits up a little straighter in the bed, pulling the sheet around her. “Oh-kay,” she said a little
hesitantly.

  I chuckled. She had no idea what I was about to lay on her.

  “Move in with me.” I stated more as a command than a question. She looked at me with an expression that told me she was thinking about my request. Then I was awarded with her beautiful, gleaming smile.

  “Okay.”

  “Really? You’ll move in?” I said with a huge grin. She nodded her head and I crashed my lips to hers. I dipped my tongue into her hot, sweet mouth relishing in her taste. Reluctantly I pulled back, knowing that my next question may not receive the same reaction. I was nervous and sweating. This one question would determine the rest of our lives, a life that I wanted to spend with her and only her.

  Sliding off of the bed I knelt down before her. “That leads me to my next question.”

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out the velvet box.

  “Tristan? What are you doing?” She asked.

  Opening the box to reveal a ring, I grabbed her other hand and held it in mine.

  “Kendall Jones, my life was forever changed the day I met you. My life was just a meaningless walk until you became mine. My heart was filled the day you told me you loved me. Will you now complete my life by being my wife? Because, Angel, I do not want to go another day in this life without you by my side.”

  She stared at me with a blank expression. Her gaze went from me to the ring and back. She closed her eyes and lets out a long exhale. When she opened her eyes again, her eyes are wet and she dazzled me with a glorious smile.

  “Yes.”

  I froze for a moment not registering if I heard her correctly or not.

  “Yes? You will marry me? You will be Mrs. Tristan Stone?”

  “Yes, Tristan. I will marry you.” She said as she cupped my face and kissed my lips. I pulled the ring from the box and slide it on to her finger. She looked down at it and smiled through her tears and then engulfed me in a hug.