by Hamel, B. B.
I walk to Brent and he takes my hand. We wave to them and leave the ranch. As we head back to the car, I lean against him.
“How much did you offer him?”
“Twenty million.”
I nearly choke. “That’s twice what my dad was offering.”
“I figured.”
“Can you really afford that?”
“Yes,” he says, laughing softly. “That was my first offer.”
“How… how high would you have gone?”
He just winks at me and helps me into the car.
We drive back to the airport. He’s on the phone the whole time with a local lawyer he knows, getting things straightened out. He’ll pay local people to deal with the transaction as fast as possible, and when it’s done, we’ll own every single square inch of land that my dad so desperately wants.
From there, we have leverage.
I look at Brent and I see the man I always should’ve been with.
It’s almost over.
22
Brent
I hate to admit it, but I’m nervous.
Not because I’m worried about him. No, I’m not worried about him at all.
Amber’s dad is a fucking joke. He’s a pathetic asshole trying to be a big man. He’s a little piece of shit, and he’s not worth my time or energy.
But I’m still nervous. Because I’m afraid I might actually fucking kill him.
Amber looks white as a ghost as we stand out front on Lofthouse Manor’s front porch. I put an arm around her and pull her close. “It’ll be okay.”
“What if he refuses?”
“He won’t. This is what he wants. We give him this and we move on.”
“What if it’s not enough?”
“It’ll be enough.” I kiss her cheek gently.
Johnson clears his throat. He’s standing back near the door. “He’s on the way up,” he says.
“Thank you.”
He nods and heads back inside. He’ll be nearby in case we need him, but I doubt we will.
His partner Patricks, though, he’s gone. And buried somewhere, I bet. Not dead, but he’ll never work again. My parents will make sure of it.
An enormous black truck comes rumbling up the driveway. It parks, sending dust up all around it. The door opens then shuts.
“Nobody needs a truck that big unless they’re hauling lumber,” I grumble.
“My father’s never hauled a thing in his life.”
“Compensating for something then.”
She giggles nervously.
Her father comes around the truck. He’s wearing jeans, a western shirt, and cowboy boots. He looks like a fucking asshole.
“Daughter,” he says. “Kidnapper.”
“He didn’t kidnap me,” she snaps.
He grins at her and I put a hand on her arm.
“Thanks for coming here,” I say.
“Well, you said you got what’s mine, and I’m willing to listen. I’m not an unreasonable man.”
“Come inside.”
He follows us into the great hall. He whistles and looks around. “Now, this is fancy,” he says. “This is what I want. How’d you get all this?”
“Some of these things are priceless. They were gifts to my ancestors. Money isn’t everything, Mr. Gibbins.”
“Call me Samuel,” he mumbles, looking around.
I lead him into a side room. He sits on a couch and we sit opposite him. Johnson lingers in the doorway, sunglasses on.
“Who’s the spook?” Samuel asks.
“Ignore him. Would you like anything?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Tea?”
I ring a bell. One of the staff girls comes in. I ask for tea and water. She leaves.
“Servants,” he comments. “Nice.”
“Staff,” I correct. “Now, Samuel. I want to talk about this problem we’re having.”
“I bet you do.”
“And I want to tell you that you’re a fucking asshole, Dad,” Amber says.
I laugh and put a hand on her knee. “You’re getting ahead of yourself.”
“I know. I can’t wait.” She struggles to her feet. “I’m almost crippled because of you. And this whole marriage thing was just your way of ruining my life. And then the ads and the morning shows? You’re the worst, most vile piece of shit ever to exist in this world. I never want to see you again.”
He smiles in her face. “You done?”
“I’m done. I hope you choke on your own vomit and die.”
“Nice,” he says.
She sits back down. I pat her leg.
The staff girl comes back. She places tea in front of Samuel and waters in front of me and Amber. I sip mine as she leaves and Samuel just smiles.
“Shall we talk business?” he asks.
“I own the land you want.”
He leans back, frowning.
“I don’t believe you.”
“I bet you don’t. But it’s true.” I snap my fingers and the girl returns with a folder. I pass it over to Samuel. “Go ahead.”
He takes it and goes through the documents. Then he laughs, amazed, and closes it. “Okay. This looks real.”
“I bought that property. It’s mine now.”
“How’d you manage that? Dave was a stubborn old asshole.”
“I talked to his son. Apparently, they both realized that the marriage thing was insane and backed down. Amazing what can happen when you talk to people and treat them like humans instead of like things.” Amber smiles at him.
He laughs and shrugs. “Okay. Looks like you got leverage now. What do you want?”
“I want you to do two things. First, I want you to run an ad campaign stating that you were lying about everything. I want you to spend as much as you spent on the first one.”
He snorts. “No way.”
“Second, I want you to agree to a restraining order. You’ll never be within two hundred feet of Amber again.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“No, I’m not,” she says. “I’m nothing to you now.”
He leans back and crosses his arms. “All right. Say I do those things. Then you’ll just give me that land?”
“Yes,” I say.
“No other strings? No money?”
“Aside from my two requests, no. I told you, there are things more important than money. But I want final approval over the ads, and my lawyers will draw up the restraining order.”
He eyes me for a long moment then nods. “All right. Make it happen.”
“Good.” I stand and put out my hand.
He reaches and we shake. I pull him close and lean in to whisper in his ear.
“If I ever see you in person again, Samuel, I’m going to break your leg just like you broke Amber’s. Do you understand?” I crush his hand as hard as I can.
He looks back at me. “Let go.”
I let go and smile. “Johnson there will see you out.”
He walks away, clearly shaken. He looks back.
“I get what I want,” he says. “I don’t care about anything else. I got what I wanted.”
“That’s right,” Amber says. “You got it. And I hope you die alone on that land, because you’re scum.”
He stares back for a long moment before leaving the room. Johnson escorts him out.
I turn to Amber and grab her. I pull her against me and hug her tight. She lets out one sob, a hard one. I hold her tight then kiss her. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s over. It’s over.” I kiss her hard and she looks up at me. “I love you, Amber.”
She looks surprised. But she shouldn’t be.
She’s known. I think I’ve known for a while now.
“You… you love me?”
“I love you.”
We kiss again. “I love you too.”
I hold her tight. I hold her tight against my body and smell her hair and breathe her in.
That man is gone. The nightmare is over.
“Think you can m
ove to Virginia?” I ask, laughing a little.
“Yeah,” she says and looks at me. Her face breaks out into a smile and she looks so much lighter, so free. “Yeah, I think I can.”
We kiss and I hold her hands in mine.
23
Amber
One Year Later
I turn down a long, tree-shaded lane and slow my SUV to a stop. I idle for a second next to the curb before pulling into the parking lot. I get out and walk up to the clinic’s door, taking the steps two at a time.
The receptionist gives me a warm smile. “If it isn’t my favorite Amber,” she says.
“Hi, Shaylene.” I lean against the front desk. “Is the doctor in?”
“You know he is.”
“Better question is, does the doctor ever go home?”
She laughs. “Not easy running a clinic out here.”
“And yet he still manages.”
She gives me a sly wink and I walk in the back with a wave. I smile at a couple nurses and one of the other doctors as I make it to Brent’s door. I knock once then step inside.
He turns from his computer and a smile lights up his face. “There you are. I was wondering if you wouldn’t show.”
“When my handsome, in-demand husband invites me to lunch, I have to go.”
He grins. “Handsome, in-demand, and filthy rich. Don’t forget filthy rich.”
“Right. Of course. How could I be so stupid?”
He gets up and walks over to me. He kisses me gently and I look up into his eyes.
We moved out to Virginia the moment the deal with my dad was official. He sold his old practice and opened a new one out here. We don’t live too far from Washington DC, about as far from his parents as we could get. We abide by the deal and visit them as often as we can, sometimes as often as every week for a few weeks in a row.
But we have our own life. We try and stay out of their world as much as possible, or at least I try to. He gets pulled back in no matter how hard he fights it.
I feel bad sometimes. He never asked for any of this. And yet he keeps having to fight for and defend his family, even if all he wants to do is get away.
The kiss lingers for a little while before he looks at me. “So, I have a surprise for you.”
“Surprise?”
He nods. “I know I’ve been working a lot. So I guess this is like an apology.”
“You don’t need to apologize. We spend all our spare time together. And I’m not exactly sitting around at home pining for you.”
He frowns. “You’re not?”
“No. I’m not.”
“Liar.”
I laugh as he kisses me again. “Okay, what’s this surprise?”
“Come on.” He takes my hand. “I’ll show you.”
We walk back out into the hall. One of the nurses grins at Brent. “It’s ready,” she says.
He winks at her. “Thanks.”
The girl hurries away with a huge smile.
“What was that about?” I ask him.
“Come on, I’ll show you.”
He leads me down the hall. I remember a time when I needed a cane to keep up with him. But after the last year of working with him day and night, I don’t need the cane anymore. My leg aches sometimes but every day I’m a little bit stronger. He thinks I’ll be back to my old perfect self within another year.
He pauses outside of the doors that lead into the training gym. He glances back at me and smiles then pushes them open.
The room is covered in candles. There’s nobody else in there. Normally, the room would have patients and staff, but it’s empty, the lights are off, and the candles are burning.
“What is this?” I ask, breathless. It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen so many candles before, all shapes and sizes, but all perfectly white.
He takes my hand. “Come here.” He leads me into the room. “This isn’t the actual spot we met, but it’s pretty close. I thought it was important we did this here.”
“We did… what here?”
He stops and turns to me. We’re in the middle of the room, totally alone and surrounded by candles. He gets down on one knee and my heart starts racing hard.
“Brent,” I whisper.
He takes a little box out of his pocket. “Amber. The moment I met you, I knew I’d make you mine. I didn’t know our path would be so complicated and winding, but I knew it from that day. I want to make it official now.”
“Brent,” I say.
“You really are mine, Amber. I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” I choke out. “Oh, god, yes.”
He opens the ring box. He takes out a gorgeous, stunning ring. A large stone set with several smaller ones around it. I stare as he slips it onto my finger and it fits perfectly.
“There,” he says and stands. I throw my arms around him and we kiss.
The kiss lasts a lifetime. I linger there on his lips, tasting him, letting myself fall into it.
My life has been hard. My father was a tyrant and a bastard. I got lucky that I met Brent and he took me away from there. I think that if he hadn’t, I might be dead today, or worse. Forced into some marriage I didn’t want.
This is what I want though. This is what I need. This is my man, my Brent. He’s right, I am all his, body and heart and mind and soul.
He can have me. He can keep me.
“What do you think?” he asks. “This is pretty good, right?”
I laugh and kiss him. “This is perfect. I haven’t had a lot of perfect moments… maybe none. But this is perfect.”
“Yeah.” He hugs me tight. “I think it’s perfect too.”
We stand there for along moment until the staff all appears at the door. They clap and cheer for us and I blush. Brent raises his arms up and shouts with joy.
I laugh and hug him as they come and congratulate us. We have a little party right there in the training room, although the candles get blown out and removed. Everyone gets a half day off.
“You knew, didn’t you?” I ask Shaylene.
She just grins and winks at me.
When it’s over, I meet Brent back at home, in the little house he bought in town. It’s an old house but it’s beautiful. We’re working on it together. It’s become my own little personal project, actually.
“So, wife,” he says.
“Fiancée,” I correct.
“That’s right. We’ll have to make it official soon.” He hesitates. “My parents will insist on having it at Lofthouse Manor.”
“Whatever you want is good with me.”
“Let’s have a small ceremony at city hall just for the two of us. Then we’ll do the big, rich people bash.”
“Sounds good.” I kiss him and put a hand on his cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He scoops me up in his arms and I laugh as I’m lifted off my feet. “Now, shall we go try to make this family bigger.”
“If you say so.”
He grins at me. “Oh, I rather insist.”
I laugh as he carries me upstairs and I know I’ll never stop smiling.
* * *
Your next series is ready! My Boss Can’t Get Enough is the first in a series of steamy and exciting standalone full length books. Check out these alpha men that take what they want… and can’t stop taking. The first time I see that sweet thing… I know I can’t get enough. >>Click here to read!
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