Ultimate Surrender: The Surrender Series, Book 2

by Jennifer Kacey

  “Because I’ll always be there to catch you.” He kissed her again before she could say anything else and then looked down into her eyes. “Why did you look sad a minute ago? I don’t like you sad any day but definitely not today.”

  “Just thinking of Jay and everything that happened at the end. Of Braden being the one to go to the cops and tell them the part my father played in all of it. And my mother. Wonder if I’ll ever be able to wrap my head around it.”

  Campbell pulled her close and swayed with her to the music as they both looked on at Starling as she painted the tray on her high chair with cake.

  Clay, Angela, and baby Wyatt were ringside to the cake massacre, making sure things didn’t get too out of control.

  Clay grinned. At the antics of the birthday girl or the fact Campbell had paid him a hundred dollars early, she didn’t know. Campbell had told her it was some kind of bet. Something about being engaged. Then he wouldn’t elaborate when she’d pressed him. She made a mental note to ask Angela since she would most definitely be able to get her the details.

  “I know I’m not supposed to like Braden on general principle of being your ex, but he really is an okay guy. Especially when he let it slip to the shareholders of your father’s company that your parents had been embezzling money for years.”

  Natalie shook her head. “They told the accountant who was cooking the books so technically they did tell someone. Unbelievable. But you know something that still doesn’t make sense to me?”

  “What?”

  The crowd awwed as Starling fed a handful of cake to baby Wyatt. Somebody yelled out, “Wyatt should have been the bachelor to catch the garter.”

  “Wyatt was the one to catch it,” another guy on the other side of the crowd called out. “Just happened to be the older version.”

  Detective Wyatt had been stunned when Campbell pegged him in the face. Talk about priceless. Natalie made a mental note to see if the photographer caught it on camera. Oh she hoped so. Taunting him that he was the next on the list was going to deal her no shortage of delight.

  “Hey, did Wyatt leave?” she asked her husband.

  Campbell nodded. “Kidnapping case he got handed this afternoon. He was pretty sure his partner had a good lead so he scrammed. Told me to tell you goodbye.” Pulling her chin back around, he whispered, “Goodbye” against her lips and kissed her.

  Sometime later when he finally lifted his head, Natalie relaxed against his chest. “That was some goodbye.”

  “Always doing something to the best of my ability is kind of a motto.”

  Natalie looked across the ballroom, finding the now familiar faces of Campbell’s parents and siblings. Amazing. Each one of them. “And I know exactly where you get that from.”

  “Hold on, our conversation was shanghai’d by the munchkin. You were going to tell me something you still couldn’t believe, understand, something.”

  “Oh, yeah. My parents. Why steal money? They blew through all their money and what was in my trust in just a handful of years. Really? And the company was profitable the whole time too? Just doesn’t make any sense. I know I just have to let it go because I won’t ever know, but Lordy I’d love to know what really happened.”

  “I can actually answer that,” came a voice from behind them.”

  Both of them turned around to find Braden standing a couple feet away.

  “Hi, Braden. Fancy meeting you here.” Natalie hugged him and then Campbell shook his hand.

  “I watched Clay walk you down the aisle a couple hours ago so I had it on good authority you’d still be hanging around.” He smiled and Natalie hugged Campbell again.

  “Thanks for doing that for me. It meant a lot.”

  “My honor. Truly. I’m so very thankful you’re happy and the fact you wanted me to be a part of it still blows me away.”

  “We’re still some kind of family I think,” Natalie told him. “We don’t all fit into some cookie cutter family tree but we really do fit together somehow.”

  “I very much like to think so and I come bearing gifts.”

  “You don’t need to do anything, Braden. I told you that.”

  He was already reaching into the pocket on his suit jacket. “I know, which makes it ever nicer that I can anyway. When I walked up you were pondering why your parents were embezzling money.”

  Natalie nodded. “Sure didn’t make any sense to me. Nor why they’d want me back in the picture at the end when I was already out of the picture. None of it made any sense.”

  Holding up a piece of paper, he handed it over. “This is why.”

  Natalie slowly took the paper and then glanced up at Campbell. His scowl told her he had no clue either.

  She opened the page and scanned it. Then scanned it again. “Okay, Braden you’re going to have to explain to me what I’m looking at. Looks like stocks or something but that means less than nothing to me.”

  “It’s a portfolio accounting of the current value of Grant Enterprises and the portion allotted to each of the main shareholders.”

  “Awesome. Still means nothing to me.”

  “Look at graph three, column one. What name is on there?”

  “Column one says Natalie Newbury…” Trailing off, she stared at the graph again. “This has to be wrong.”

  “I assure you it is quite accurate. You asked me months ago why I stayed on working with your father. This is the reason. Right before your grandmother passed she called me to bitch me out for being a…” He looked at the ceiling for a second. “A spineless pussy I believe were her words about me staying. But I overheard your father one day talking about liquidating your trust. He’d find a way by God. I couldn’t let that happen. I just couldn’t. So I stayed to figure out how to block him from doing that. I had to find a way to keep him from demolishing it along with his portion. I’d already had a glimpse of how fast he was blowing through money. When I found out what they were doing, I couldn’t come out and say it because I didn’t have enough support of the members on the board. Thankfully your grandmother helped in the wings to get enough support in the good ole boy network. It barely worked, but it worked. And now your inheritance is yours. All of it. You’re now the number one shareholder in Grant Enterprises. Valid upon your…marriage.”

  Her mouth flopped open a few times before anything intelligible came out. “I’m so freaked out I don’t even know what to ask yet. Why didn’t you tell me this all before? We’ve been talking again for almost a year.”

  “Part of it was with the trial of your parents there was a lot I couldn’t legally talk about.” He shook his head. “But that’s not the real reason. I failed you once. Horribly. I couldn’t fail you again. If I couldn’t do anything to fix it then I would have walked away and never looked back, but your grandmother is actually the one who told me about the loophole.”

  “What loophole?” Natalie asked.

  “Marriage. All of the stipulations of the will and trust from anyone on your grandmother’s side speak of a male heir, except one tiny line in the fine print that marriage of a female heir will supersede everything else and all claims. She was a bit of a sneaky lady with a penchant for the dramatic. I wonder where someone else gets it from?” He eyed her for a second and smiled. “So your father writing you out of the will and out of your inheritance wouldn’t be valid in the slightest as soon as you married.”

  “Why didn’t she tell me that before she died?”

  “She wanted you to get married because you loved someone so much that spending the rest of your life without them wasn’t a possibility.” He nodded toward Campbell. “And I do believe she got her wish.”

  “So you stayed to block my father from finding a loophole of his own? Until I got married?”

  “Correct.” His slow smile reminded her of the boy he used to be.

  She couldn’t get her mind wrapped aro
und how wrong she’d been for so long about him. “Why?” she whispered.

  “Why what?”

  “You did all of this. Not just a good Samaritan kind of act but years and years of doing things. Why would you do all of that for me?”

  Staring at her, he took a breath. “He was my son, too.”

  Natalie took his hand and the first tear slipped free. “He most certainly was.”

  Braden brushed beneath his eyes and squeezed her hand a second before letting it go. “Which brings me to my second present. Actually our present.” He looked at Campbell.

  “Our present?” Natalie asked as Campbell moved behind her and covered her eyes with his hands.

  “Ours. We’ve been working on something for a while.”

  Clutching the paper in her hands, she took a deep breath. “I don’t know how many more surprises I can handle.”

  “You’re gonna love this one,” Campbell whispered in her ear and then he turned her around a bit so she didn’t know which way she faced. “You know how we had to use the dogs as ring bearers earlier? Epic disaster.”

  She snickered and leaned back against him. “They were cute.”

  “They were little hellions who didn’t go anywhere we wanted them and it was like a greased pig contest at a county fair to catch them to get the rings. I’m surprised they still had the rings tied on when my niece and nephew caught them.”

  “It was memorable if nothing else.”

  “Do you remember who you wanted to be the ring bearer?”

  “Cooper, of course, but he couldn’t come. The family was waiting on news of a baby girl up…for…adoption…”

  Campbell moved his hands and Natalie blinked, hoping beyond hope a family would be standing in front of her she desperately wanted to meet in person.

  She squealed and turned around to hug Campbell. “Oh my God.”

  Cooper and his mother and father, who held a little pink blanket that was probably wrapped around Cooper’s new baby sister, stood a few feet away. They’d been talking and video chatting for months and months but their schedules just hadn’t aligned for a visit.

  Then the wedding came up and they all thought it was going to be the perfect time to meet. But the little girl’s birth mother had chosen them to be the parents of her daughter.

  “Go meet him. I’ll be waiting.” He kissed her temple and then urged her forward. Didn’t take much encouragement.

  “Oh my gosh, Cooper, you’re even taller than I imagined.” She reached for him and then hesitated, glancing at his mom.

  Kathryn laughed. “Hug him up, he’s been dying to meet you.”

  Natalie opened her arms and they met in the middle. She dissolved into quiet tears and held on tight. “You’re so tall.” She laughed through her tears and then held him at arm’s length. “I can’t believe how much you’ve grown in a year.”

  “I’m twelve. I keep telling Mom pretty soon I’m going to be looking down at her saying, ‘Take out the trash.’” He laughed and it sounded just like his mom.

  His mom gave him what looked like a mock scowl, and adjusted the baby in her arms. “Not gonna be long before he’s taller than me but I’m pretty sure that allowance money is going to dry up quickly if I have to do the trash again. Understand?” She made a face at him, and he rolled his eyes.

  And he looked just like Natalie.

  Happiness gripped her chest as she hugged him again. “What happened? I thought you guys couldn’t travel with your newest.”

  “We may have pulled a few strings,” Campbell offered up a few feet behind her as he approached with Starling, who by the looks of it had just been cleaned up after her cake extravaganza. She cuddled into him and Natalie rubbed her back.

  “And how did you guys get here so fast? Especially with that storm in South Carolina that was supposed to hit?”

  “We got to fly on a private jet,” Cooper spit out. “It was incredible. I’m totally gonna learn how to fly one day.”

  “What strings?” Natalie wanted to know. “What private jet?”

  “Classified,” Campbell and Braden answered together.

  “The world trembled when you guys became friends,” Natalie pointed out. Focusing on a part of her extended family, she hugged Cooper again and sent up a quick prayer of thanks. She smiled. “So tell me everything about the plane.”

  Cooper’s eyes lit up and he dove into every detail he could remember about the trip.

  Kathryn and she had had a rocky start but as soon as Natalie had told her she never intended to negate or jeopardize the relationship Cooper had with her she’d opened up. They became close very soon afterward when Natalie thanked her.

  She’d been blown away by her thanks especially after hearing the circumstances of her giving Cooper up for adoption so many years ago.

  Natalie had thanked her for loving him and being the mother he needed and the one he was meant to have.

  They’d cried that night and formed a very unique and amazing friendship. Especially with their similar interests in adoption.

  Klynt was amazing too, and she thanked the heavens that everything seemed to be exactly how it was meant to be.

  * * * * *

  A couple hours later when guests began to leave, Braden departed with Cooper and his family in tow so he could get them safely to their hotel.

  Natalie had wondered why Campbell fed her some bullshit reason why they needed to postpone leaving on their honeymoon for a couple days.

  Now she understood.

  He was giving her the time to spend with Cooper and his family while they were in town, especially since they’d never been to NYC before.

  As they said goodbye to the rest of the guests, including Clay and Angela and a tuckered-out Wyatt, Campbell tugged her onto the dance floor as he held a sleeping Starling against his chest and shoulder.

  Natalie held on tight. “I love you, my husband.”

  His smile lit up the already bright ballroom and he kissed her. “I love you, my wife. Did you have a wonderful wedding?”

  “Amazing,” she answered honestly. “But not nearly as good as the marriage is going to be.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” He kissed her again and stared at her. “I have a question I’ve been wondering since Braden dropped the bomb earlier.”

  “Most epic wedding present ever.”

  “No doubt,” he added, with a shake of his head.

  “What’s the question?”

  “Do you want to go work at Grant Enterprises? Take over for what your father did or what Braden does since you’re now the majority owner of the company? No limit to what you could or couldn’t do I’d say.”

  She shook her head. “No interest in that at all. Already told Braden I hoped he liked working there since my father was imprisoned because I needed him to stay and run the company.”

  “You did?” Campbell’s smile nearly took her knees out from under her.

  Damn.

  “Yes I did. The clinic has been my life for so long I don’t want to give it up. It’s important to me.”

  “It’s important to a lot of people,” Campbell added. “So what are you going to do?”

  “Learn really well how to invest and made good use of the money I’ve been gifted. More pregnancy clinics like this one around New York and then the US. Maybe adoption agencies as well?” She shrugged. “There’s a lot more people we could help and now I have funds to make it happen. Hope you’re ready to get your hands dirty, Mr. Campbell.”

  His eyelids flared for a second. “You have no idea how dirty I want to get my hands at this exact moment. And just to let you know.” He gave her a quick kiss. “You’re so powerful, take charge, kick ass, and knowing you can do anything you put your mind to is so sexy. Just thought you needed to know.”

  She grinned. “I most definitely need
ed to know.” She looked around and they were the last ones there other than the location staff and wedding planner who were trying to get everything closed down. “How about we go home and do a little bit of consummating?” She bobbed her eyebrows at him and he laughed.

  Then he got serious. “I have one request first. Something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about for months.”

  “Anything,” she answered honestly.

  “Your wall at work. Your photographic to-do life list. I want in.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I want to do everything with you. Go everywhere with you.” He wiggled Starling a bit. “Both of you. I’ve waited a long time to love you and I’m going to make the most of it.”

  Natalie gazed at the amazing man standing before her. She cupped his cheek and stood on her tiptoes for a kiss. “Nothing would made me happier than making memories with you.”

  “Together?” One more smile tilted her lips as he took her hand and led her to the door.

  “For always…”

  About the Author

  Jennifer Kacey is a writer, mother, and business owner living with her miniman in Texas. She sings in the shower, plays piano in her dreams, and has to have a different color of nail polish every week. She’s the Amazon top seller and award-winning author of the Elite Warrior Series, Members Only Series, and the Surrender Series along with an ever growing list of standalone novels and novellas. The best advice she’s ever been given? Find the real you and never settle for anything less. Connect with her on Twitter @JenniferKacey and Facebook. And don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter so you can hear about all of her new releases and giveaways!!

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