“Not. Gonna,” he mumbled as his veins burned again. His eyelids grew heavy quickly and he latched onto her hand. He had so much more to say. “Love. You. Always.” Three words. That’s all he managed before the pain meds took effect.
Natalie’s forehead brushed across his forearm and he wanted to hold her tight, to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.
He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.
As he drifted off again he knew two things that made him take a deeper breath and for the first time he relaxed into sleep.
He knew his girls were safe and he knew when he woke the next time Natalie was still going to be there. Anything else was just details.
* * * * *
A couple days later he still lay in his hospital bed but he knew he was finally on the mend. They’d removed the tube from his side the day before. His collapsed lung held, and being able to take a deep breath could not be overrated.
He lay there in his room with the warm weight of his little girl sleeping on his chest. Natalie had finally brought her in after being told about a million times Campbell was on the mend from the nursing staff. She’d still hesitated, but feeling much more himself he’d raised an eyebrow at her until she smiled. Watching her go soft before him did it for him in ways he couldn’t even process.
Happiness.
He thought before he knew what it was. Before he found Natalie and Starling he hadn’t known anything.
Being footloose and fancy free. No responsibilities save one. Killer.
He’d always thought it would be a burden of some kind, having people rely on him. But having them, and being faced with losing them, showed him the dumbass error of his ways.
But it was more than that.
He relied on them. Both of them. He needed to be with them, hold them, love them. The driving force to protect them and care for them was a purpose he’d been unwilling to admit he’d wanted for a very long time.
He stared at Natalie as she dozed in a chair next to him. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered to her when she opened her eyes.
She yawned and stretched. “For what?”
“Saving her.”
She frowned for a second and shook her head. “There was no other option. Her being hurt would have destroyed me. Anybody else would have done the same thing.”
“I love that you can still think that after everything that’s happened. Everything you’ve been through.”
“She’s mine to protect. Mine to love. Her getting hurt isn’t something I could live with.”
“Ours,” he told her. “Ours to protect. Ours to love. I want in on this family shindig you’re planning.”
She smiled. “You do?” her voice was soft. Happy.
“Yes, I do.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Guess that means I should probably tell you I love you, huh?”
Warmth spread through his torso and he petted Starling’s back. Admitting he teared up at her shy words was something he didn’t willingly want to own at the moment so he sniffed and pressed on. “I most definitely think that’s in order.”
“I do, you know. Love you.” She closed her eyes and when she opened them again she was serious. “I love you with all of me, and it’s terrifying.”
“The good kind of love is, I’ve been told.” He moved his hand and covered hers on the side of the hospital bed. They met in the middle where he always hoped to find her. “We’ll find our way together. Always.”
“Deal. I love you, Campbell Newbury. So much.”
“And I love you, Natalie Grant. With all of me. Forever.”
She stood and leaned down to kiss him, and another and another. Each was slower and deeper than the one before. Her hand covered his over Starling’s back and she twined her fingers with his.
Their daughter.
He very much loved the sound of that.
A knock on the door was the only reason they finally separated.
Detective Wyatt. “Am I interrupting anything?”
“No,” Natalie said out loud and looked back at Campbell. “We said what we needed to.”
“The first of many,” he assured her.
Her sweet smile drew him in a little bit further as if he could want her even more.
“I won’t take up much time. Promise.” He stepped into the room and glanced at Starling. “Just have a few more follow-up questions after we’ve gone over all the video. Alone,” he added, holding Campbell’s gaze.
Natalie positioned herself between Wyatt and Campbell with her hands planted on her hips. “He’s not totally well yet and I don’t want him upset.”
Wyatt smirked. “I promise to be gentle.” He pointed to Starling. “And it looks like he already has a pint-sized guardian protecting him.”
Campbell petted Starling’s back and smiled up at Natalie and she turned around and narrowed her gaze at him.
She turned her heated stare back on Wyatt and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll go call Greta and check on the clinic. It opened back up this morning. Won’t take me long though. You have five minutes and I’ll be back.”
Wyatt held up his hands. “More than enough time and I promise to be nice.”
With one more glare she turned her attention back to Campbell. “Do you need anything before I go? Or want me to bring something back for you?”
“Coffee?”
“You still can’t have that for another couple days.”
He growled and she smiled as she leaned down to kiss him.
“Want me to take Starling?”
He scowled at her and she laughed.
One more kiss and she turned to go. “Five minutes.” Her evil eye that pegged Wyatt was endearing.
Campbell smiled from ear to ear as Wyatt shook his head and took a seat next to him.
“You’ve picked a good one there,” Wyatt told him as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a notepad and pen.
“Yes I have. So are you really here to ask me stuff? I thought it was something else entirely.”
“Actually I’m here to tell you a few things but off the record.”
Campbell raised his eyebrows. “I’m listening.”
“Did Jay even know you had audio capabilities on the system?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t tell anyone. It wasn’t exactly legal because of the facility it was going into.”
Wyatt nodded and wrote something down. “I’ve reviewed all the footage. I heard everything about their father. With the audio being completely inadmissible there wasn’t much I could do with it.”
“But we heard him. Both of us. We could both testify that he—”
“It’s only the thoughts of a crazy man at that point. Won’t stick.”
“Why are you telling me this? Just to piss me off?”
Wyatt’s smile was anything but friendly. “We’ve already arrested their father. Brought him up on several charges including attempted murder.”
“But you just said—”
“I happened to find someone else who had a hell of a lot of things to tell me. He found some information a few nights ago and brought it to me. Oh the tangled webs we weave. And you were right.”
“Right about what?”
“The drunk driving wasn’t accidental.”
Campbell shook his head. “I just pulled that out of my ass to throw him off.”
“It was spot on and the program he mentioned, giving him access to Natalie’s computer?”
“Yes.”
“Guess who funded that little project? And wanted his name tied to it because he thought he was so untouchable?”
“Their father. Holy shit.”
“Eric found it buried in the OS on the computer that filtered info into Jay’s computer. Like a direct link but not tr
aceable. It would have been genius if not for the fact it violated about every privacy act in fourteen nations. It’s how he got the stuff on her computer without even being in the room.”
“But Natalie? Taking her down was the least of his worries. He already had her money. She wanted nothing to do with him. Why put so much effort into taking her down?”
“Well, it seems that taking her money was a bit more complicated than he originally thought. Especially when there was someone on the inside keeping it from happening.”
“On the inside?”
Wyatt nodded. “Braden. But he wants to be the one to talk to Natalie and I’m obliging his request with everything else he’s done in the past few weeks.”
“Braden.” His head swirled with so many more questions he didn’t know what to ask first. “Wait. With Grant being in jail, didn’t he just have his high-priced attorneys bail him out immediately?”
“Lawyers? It’s interesting how quickly they disappear when the money isn’t there to pay them.”
“That’s…shocking.”
“I thought so too.” He put his pad and pen back in his pocket. “That’s not really why I came though.” He pulled something else out of his pocket.
“Fuck.”
Wyatt handed him back the ring he’d been carrying with him since the day he bought it.
“But this was with my stuff when I got shot.”
“I knew what it was when they started pulling your stuff off. Didn’t figure you wanted your girl to see it like that.”
Campbell tucked it next to him. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
“I’ll just add it to your tab.” He stood and turned to leave just as Natalie walked back in. Holding his hands up, he edged past her. “I’m going, I’m going.”
Natalie glared at him and then back to Campbell as she walked toward him. “And what was all that about?”
He tucked the ring farther beneath him and smiled. “A little bit of this and that.”
The look on her face definitely told him she wanted some more information.
“So when do I get to go home?” he asked before she could say anything else.
“I just talked to the nurse actually. Seems they’re ready to release you.”
“Thank God.”
“They asked if you were going to have someone to take care of you after you left.”
“And you told them?”
She shrugged. “I told them you did.”
He palmed her cheek as she leaned over him. “And who would that be?” he asked against her lips.
“Me. If you’ll have me.”
Kissing her filled him with so much joy and thankfulness he had no idea how he got so lucky. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Half a dozen kisses later she pulled away and sat on the edge of the bed. “Now we just have to decide where.”
“Where what?”
“Where you want to go to? Back to your place to get better or…” The hope in her eyes made him love her more.
“I want to go home,” he told her.
“And where’s that?” Her whispered question reminded him of exactly how much he wanted a forever with her.
Starling wiggled in her sleep and settled down again as he patted her back.
Without another thought he pulled the box from beside him and opened it up. “This isn’t how I wanted to ask you. I wanted to be down on one knee and do the romantic thing, but waiting for you to be mine isn’t going to work for me anymore.”
“Me either,” she whispered.
He pulled the ring out and set the box aside. Holding her hand, he slid the ring in place. Watching it sparkle in the light made him happier than he thought possible. “I want you with me, and I want to be with you. I asked you before, telling you all the wrong reasons. Well, they weren’t wrong. They just weren’t all of the reasons. Not the most important ones. I love you. A lot. I want to be a family and have our own children or adopt. I have a feeling the right children will find their way to us.”
Tears slipped down Natalie’s cheeks and she brushed them away. “We can name them something that starts with an F. I want in on that family tradition. We can have it all. As long as we’re together.”
“I want to spend my life making you happy and I’m determined to teach you how to take a compliment. Have a feeling it might take me a while so I think this is a good step in the right direction.”
She laughed as he hoped she would.
“I love you,” he continued. “I think I always have. Pretty sure that’s why I fought it so hard. Helping you. Working with you. Protecting you. You were the only person who could bring me to my knees. And you did it. With one little roll of your eyes I was a goner.”
“And what about our nights?” she whispered. “I don’t want to lose that.”
“Me dominating you isn’t something I ever want to lose. Not with marriage or other children. Nothing.”
“I don’t either. It’s incredibly special.”
“Yes you are.”
She looked into his eyes and bit her bottom lip.
“You are. You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met and I’m not letting you go. Not ever. And you should know a collar is going to be my next purchase when I get out of here. I want it all with you. Vanilla, kinky, and everything in between.”
“A collar?”
He nodded. “Two actually. One for you to wear all the time. It can be something as simple as a necklace or a bracelet. Something everyone else just sees as pretty but we’ll know the difference. And then another collar. Our private collar. One for you to wear at night and when we play. Something that there is no question that it declares you as mine and mine alone. So, Natalie Swan Grant, will you do me the honor of marrying me and submitting to me? For life. To have and to hold. Sickness, health, rich, poor. All of it. I want it all with you.”
She nodded and more tears fell. “Yes. For always, Campbell. Forever and always. Yes.”
He pulled her down and kissed her. “Then my answer is, with you.”
Rubbing beneath her eyes, she blew out an unsteady breath. Fuck, he loved affecting her like no one else did. “You’ve thrown me so hard I don’t even remember what I asked you.”
“You asked me where home is. My home’s with you. Wherever that may take us.”
Natalie smiled and kissed him again. “Then let’s get you out of here. Maybe we can even get you a cup of coffee on the way home.”
“I love it when you’re a rebel.”
“Just wait until you get your strength back.” She bobbed her eyebrows at him. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Epilogue
Natalie
On Starling’s first birthday a huge crowd gathered around her to watch her dig into her cake.
To begin with she’d been hesitant and didn’t know what to do with it. That lasted until Natalie got some on her finger and had her taste it.
After that she went at it Tasmanian Devil style.
Natalie stood there in a bright white dress, watching their adopted daughter AKA the flower girl, devour her cake. Happiness and thankfulness bubbled inside her as she glanced at her left hand again.
A platinum wedding band circled her finger and sat next to her engagement ring.
She and Campbell had been married for approximately two hours and thirteen minutes. There was no way she could hide the smile lifting the corners of her lips.
It had actually been Campbell’s suggestion to do it on Starling’s birthday. He’d made a joke that it would be easier for him to remember one date instead of two, but she knew the real reason.
He was the most amazing father she’d ever seen. Never failed to be right there where his girls needed him. Never failed to be a part of every step of their journey as a family. And Starling was a huge reason why the
y’d found each other and knew any challenges they had were worth working through. Worth fighting for.
So becoming an honest-to-God family on her birthday was special and wonderful, and she stared at their daughter again as she shoveled more cake into her little mouth. When Starling was older they’d tell her Natalie was actually her aunt, but for now all she needed to know was that she was safe. And loved more than any little girl ever.
Natalie’s hand went to her throat as she caught Campbell’s gaze from across the ballroom.
The simple silver chain went perfectly with her dress and her hair and her fancy sparkly shoes. But it also went with the woman she was when all of that was stripped away. The necklace was thin and looked just like the rope Campbell used to tie her up with. To seduce her with. Bind her with.
To everyone else he was Campbell.
Security extraordinaire, father, son, brother, now husband.
To her?
He was so much more.
Everything. He was everything.
That description was closer but yet still not enough.
The necklace couldn’t be more perfect as her day collar, which Campbell had given to her within days of getting home after being shot.
Her eyebrows pulled low as she thought of that time and the half-brother she’d had for less than a handful of minutes before he’d died. She still struggled with it sometimes. Losing him. Playing the what-if game didn’t help her any, but it was hard not to do it.
Campbell shook hands with Detective Wyatt who then turned around and gave her a small smile and wave before walking out of the reception hall.
Her husband strode up to her and pulled her into a hug with a bone-melting kiss to top it off.
“Please. Please. I’m married now. What will people say?” She couldn’t resist giving him a hard time.
“That I’m the luckiest man alive to be married to a knockout like you.”
She didn’t even try to contain the sigh slipping through her lips. “How am I supposed to remain standing when you make me so weak in the knees?”
“You don’t have to.”
“And why is that?”
Ultimate Surrender: The Surrender Series, Book 2 Page 35
