by Tia Siren
“That’s exactly what my mother said. You are spending too much time with her.”
“She’s a smart woman,” he said. “And you’re a lot like her in many ways. You’re stubborn, smart, beautiful, and you know exactly what you want. You just have to unscramble it in your brain first.”
“You think my mother is beautiful? Should I leave you two alone?” I joked.
“Come back with me to New York,” he said, rushing forward and sitting next to me on the bed. “We have lost out on over ten years together, and I can’t imagine missing out on one more day. I will do anything to be with you. You’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Mason,” I said, trying to push away the excitement in my chest.
“We were meant to be together,” he said. “Like it was written in the stars or something.”
“Now you sound like Blair,” I said. “We need to get you your own family and friends.”
“The point is, I love you, Ava,” he said. “I don’t know a lot about what I want in the future, but I know one thing is for sure. Whatever it is, I want you to be by my side to go through it with me. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life pining for you, regretting everything, turning into a bitter old man, running a company and hating everyone around me. I don’t want to turn into my father.”
“You could never be your father,” I said, smiling.
“I hope not, but I don’t know what I would do without you,” he said.
“What will people think when I walk into a restaurant with the bearded, wooly man?” I asked, pulling on his beard. “You look like you’re eighteen again. What’s next? You going to grow out your hair and buy some hiking boots?”
“Maybe.” He smiled, touching his nose to mine. “I love the beard. I love turning back into the man I knew I could be. I missed myself. I’ve been miserable in that world that I just took on as my own. I didn’t even realize it until you came back into the picture. I had brainwashed myself into thinking I had no choice but to be my father’s son. The whole time, though, I was fighting it tooth and nail.”
“I missed that man too,” I said.
“You did more for me than bring love into my life,” he said. “You helped me find myself in the darkness. You were that light that showed me the way, showed me I could be whoever I wanted to be, that I wasn’t stuck being the next owner of York Hotels. I could have what I wanted and do as I pleased.”
“I think I created a monster.” I laughed. “But to be honest, you did the same thing for me. I was determined to go down a path I didn’t want to go down because I thought it was the only way. You showed me I had to let go of that. I had to stop shouldering all the blame for everything that had happened in our lives. You showed me that living someone else’s life wasn’t what was going to make me happy and that I had to find what really made me happy.”
“And have you figured that out?”
“I think so,” I said. “You make me happy. I love you, too, very much, and I’m glad you hunted me down.”
“I couldn’t leave you out here in California. Some cute rich guy might scoop you up.”
“You’re the only cute rich guy I’m interested in,” I said, smiling.
He reached up and tilted my chin toward him, leaning in and kissing my lips softly. I closed my eyes and sighed, feeling the comfort and closeness between us. Everything was falling into place, and it felt perfect. Then my stomach growled loudly. Mason pulled back and looked down at my stomach.
“Is that a monster?” he asked.
“Hey, give me a break. I haven’t eaten in, like, two days.”
“Well, what in the world are we waiting for? Let’s go get some dinner,” he said, smiling. “What would you like to eat? I’m pretty sure we can find any kind of food here in Los Angeles.”
“I don’t even care as long as it’s fit for human consumption,” I said, groaning as he pulled me up off the bed.
“I think I can handle that request.” He kissed me lightly again.
I couldn’t believe how perfectly everything had turned out.
Chapter 37
Mason
We started out the evening by going to a French bistro off the main strip in L.A. The concierge at the hotel gave it top recommendations, especially if we were looking for somewhere quiet and nice. The place was beautiful, with candles lit everywhere and the soft sound of strings in the background. We drank a bottle of wine and ate our food, talking about the future and her ideas for her own path forward. Afterward, we took a cab over to the beach and went for a walk, holding on to each other tightly. She smiled and laughed as we talked about feeling like kids again. The sun was setting outside, and it really felt like the most perfect day I had had in a long time.
I wanted her to come back to New York. There was no doubt about that, but I had to admit it felt really good to be walking along the beach with no worries about the media, our parents, or being caught. It was the first time we had been free to do whatever we wanted since we were teenagers, and even then, we’d had the overbearing, watchful eye of my father following us everywhere we went. It was an awesome thing to be with Ava with no caveats or rules. We were like a normal couple for the first time ever, and I didn’t want it to end. Just then, my phone rang, and I pulled it out, seeing my father’s name on the screen.
“Better now than later,” I said, stopping and looking at Ava who, nodded her head in agreement.
“Hello?” I said, answering the phone.
“I would sincerely like to know why you think you can just hand in a letter of resignation and think that would be the end of it,” he said. “And your mother, too, thinks she can fool me with this divorce plea. You both must have lost your minds to think I would go along with this bullshit.”
“Oh, you will go along with it,” I said. “And you will do it with a goddamned smile on your face.”
“Right,” he said in his usual smug voice. “Or what?”
“Or you will go to court for that bullshit you pulled with Ava’s dad’s company, Spencer Hotels,” I said.
“What are you talking about? Are you still listening to her incoherent ramblings?”
“You forged a document giving you the rights to break apart his company and then sold it to the lowest bidder, keeping the money,” I said. “I don’t think that’s incoherent babble.”
He was quiet for a moment and then cleared his throat. “You know about that?”
“Of course I know about that.” I laughed. “Did you think you could keep your shady dealings hidden forever? Did you think I wouldn’t find out it was because you wanted to keep Ava and me apart?”
“You never did know what was best for you, just like your mother,” he said. “So I took things into my own hands, making sure you would never make that mistake again. It seems my actions weren’t rash enough. Who else knows about this?”
“Everyone knows, Father,” I said. “Everyone knows the disgusting and despicable thing you did. Now you are going to make amends for it. You are going to sell off a part of your company per the terms in the divorce, and Mom is going to give that money to Ava’s parents, who deserve more than just that. You are going to do it, or I am going to not only take you to court but also make sure every local and national media chain gets the story. And that is not a threat. It’s a promise. I have everything lined up and ready.”
“You think you’re so smart,” he said. “You think you can actually come up against me and win? I have every top lawyer in the world on my payroll, and I have no problem deploying the troops to take care of this mess. You and your mother will be left with absolutely nothing, working in that little grocery store Ava’s father works at. You don’t know who you’re dealing with here, Son. I suggest you rethink your actions, because I’m telling you now, you can’t touch me, not even close.”
“You want to bet?”
I looked over at Ava, who could hear everything that was being said. Instead of looking angry, she looked determined.
I had never seen her like that before. A dark glow flashed over her, and she reached up and took the phone from me. She put it out in front of her and hit the speaker button. I smiled, knowing my father was really in for it now. He had underestimated Ava at every turn, and this time it would be at his own demise. She was no longer scared to stand back in the shadows and let him take advantage of her, or me for that matter. She was not going to listen to any more of his bullshit. I nodded at her and stepped back, letting her have the floor.
“Mr. York,” she said, “this is Ava Spencer speaking.”
“Lord,” he said, sighing. “Yes, Ava, what can I do for you?”
My father’s condescension was the last straw. Ava looked madder than hell, and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I couldn’t help but smile, watching the determination on her face. I had never seen her so forward, so righteous, than in that moment standing in front of the sunset on the beach. Every ounce of fear she ever had of my father drained away, washing out into the ocean with the tide. I stuck my hands in my pockets and flinched, waiting for the explosion to happen.
“I don’t know if you’ve been following my life like you’ve apparently been following my parents’, but I’m a student at NYU Law School,” she said. “In fact, I am an honors student ranked number three in my class with only two semesters left to go. I have been researching what you did to my father for the last ten years, and I have made it my life’s work. I know everything about you and your company, from the financials to the shady dealings you’re doing overseas. I know every little thing. When you breathe, I hear about it. I can tell you right now that with Mason by my side, we are more than prepared to take you down, and not in a gentle way, but in a way where your life comes tumbling down around you.”
“While your resume is both impressive and bit sad considering you spend so much time worried about what I’m doing,” he said, “apparently there is something you missed on your way to the number three ranking at your school. The money I give them is not doing justice to the education you should be receiving.”
“Is that right?” she said with her hand on her hip. “And what education am I missing here, sir?”
“Well, even as someone who didn’t go to law school, I know this.” He laughed. “You’re missing a little thing called evidence, the stuff you need to prove your bullshit theories to a judge.”
“Hmm, maybe your right,” she said. “Maybe I did overlook some things, but I can promise you, it’s not the evidence portion. It’s more like the fact that you’re a smug asshole. Oh, wait, no. I didn’t overlook that.”
“Your insults are cute, but they still aren’t proving anything.”
“Well, how about this?” she said. “What do you think a judge would think about a forged document signed by you and a magical judge who’d retired years before that granted you permission to sell off Spencer properties without my father’s approval and keep the profits? In my opinion, that is more than evidence. That is a slam dunk that will spiral your company into a full-scale federal inquiry.”
“You would be right. It would do that.” He laughed nervously. “But you’re bluffing, and I know you don’t have anything like that, seeing as my files are locked away.”
“You mean in the bottom floor archives?” I said into the speaker. “The one where you have that pretty little secretary, Mia, man the desk until you call her away in the midafternoon to run errands for you and sometimes with you?”
“You don’t make me nervous, Son,” my father said. “I still believe the two of you think you’re smarter than you really are. You don’t have a document like that because it doesn’t exist. This whole thing was cooked up by an angry young lady planning on using you to get to me.”
“The city of New York hereby grants Mr. Mark York the express legal permission to prepare and carry out all sales of Spencer Hotels, Inc., without the express written permission of partner and founder, Mr. Denis Spencer. He may withhold all earnings of the specified property under his authority until they are dispersed. The dispersing of these funds will be decided by both Mr. Mark York and Mr. James Overly at their discretion,” Ava recited into the speaker. “Signed by you, Mr. Overly as witness, and Judge Avery Thompkins. You see, Mr. York, I am a little smarter than you give me credit for, and if you had paid attention all those years ago, you would have seen that. I’m not here to negotiate with you. You do as your wife requests and quietly accept your son’s resignation, or I will come down on you with force. Not just my own force, but the force of whatever legal firm takes the number three NYU law student into their fold.”
Everyone got quiet, and Ava looked up at me and smiled. She was one hell of a woman, and I was sure glad I was on this side of her fire. We sat there for several moments, waiting for my father to talk. He was shuffling papers around on his desk, and his silence told me he was more nervous about this than he wanted us to know.
“Fine,” he finally said. “I’ll do what is asked.”
He hung up the phone, and we both stood there for a second, unable to express our feelings. Slowly, a smile crept across Ava’s face, and she jumped into my arms. I wrapped myself around her and squeezed her tightly. I couldn’t even begin to know what she was feeling, having spent the last ten years preparing herself for that fight. She was calm, collected, knowledgeable, and on point the entire time. She was the kind of lawyer I would expect to see working for my father, not against him.
“You would make a pretty good lawyer,” I said.
“Yeah,” she said, “and I would hate every minute of it.”
She wrapped her arms around me again, and I picked her up, squeezing her tightly. A wave of relief washed over me. Everything we had been running from, everything both of us had been suffering from, was finally all out in the open. It was like a ton of bricks was lifted from my chest and I could finally breathe again. We had done it. We had called my father out and were now forcing him to pay for the damage he’d done. My mother would be fine. She would get half of the entire estate, and the money from the hotel would go to Ava’s family. It was working out exactly as we’d wanted it to. I pulled my head back and kissed her lips.
“Come on. Let’s go back to the hotel,” I said, smiling.
“That sounds perfect,” Ava replied.
Chapter 38
Ava
My blood was pumping, and my adrenaline was on high. I had successfully pushed Mr. York into agreeing to all of the terms that Mason and his mother had set out for him. Justice would finally see the day, and my parents would get what they deserved. Taking on Mason’s father with him was exhilarating, and I could feel the tension between us as we rode in the taxi back to the hotel. We walked quickly through the lobby and stood quietly gripping the other’s hand as we rode the elevator up. As soon as we walked into the room and the door was shut, there was no holding back. We rushed toward each other and began kissing passionately, our hands pulling at each other’s clothes. I tore the tie from around his neck and unbuttoned his shirt as fast as I could. I wriggled free from my shorts as he pulled them down and did the same with my panties.
He pulled his shirt off his body with a growl, and I pulled my shirt over my head and took my bra off, dropping it to the floor. He unbuckled his pants, and I watched them fall to the ground before reaching forward and yanking his boxers down too. The lust was powerful, and we couldn’t get to each other fast enough. He reached forward and grabbed me by the back of the neck, pulling me forward and kissing me, his big, hard cock poking me in the stomach. He reached down and grabbed me by the ass and walked forward, pressing my back against the cold wall. He leaned his back groaned, sliding his hand between my legs. He held tightly to me as he pushed two fingers deep inside me and wiggled the tips, forcing a loud moan from me.
I screamed as he started to finger-fuck me, driving his hand upward hard and fast, over and over. He leaned his head toward mine and kissed me, muffling my erotic moans. The heat in my stomach already started to simmer, the passion ove
rwhelming me. His hand knew right where to touch me, and his tongue swirled through my mouth, arousing me further.
“You like that?” he said, pulling back.
“Yes,” I said. “God, yes.”
“You want more?”
“Mhmm,” I moaned.
He smiled and slipped another finger inside me, slowly pushing in and pulling out until his fingers were soaked in my juices. He held my back against the wall and stared deeply into my eyes as he pushed me toward my climax. He twisted his hand as he pushed in and out, rubbing his cock against my leg. I reached forward and gripped his shoulders tightly while I climaxed, screaming out in pleasure as his fingers continued to slide through my wetness. He bit his lip and watched me writhe on his hand until my body began to relax.
He stepped forward and put both hands on my ass, letting my pussy draw his long, hard cock deep inside me. I gasped, never having felt it as hard as it was now. Once the head was inside, he thrust hard, pushing me against the wall, holding his body against mine. My mouth fell open, and he sucked on my lip, a sly smirk moving across his lips. I groaned loudly as he pulled his hips back and did it again, the pictures on the wall rattling in their frames. He started to move faster, thrusting in and out of me, my juices trickling down my inner thighs. I reached my arm out and grabbed the cabinet, moaning and screaming with every thrust. His body rubbed up against my clit, sending electric pulses through my chest. I loosened my thighs and held on as he fucked me hard and fast against the hotel wall.
He groaned loudly, gritting his teeth and pushing into me, his body tensing and releasing. I looked into his eyes and smiled, my tits bouncing against his chest, and the lust between us grew even hotter. It was like we wanted release but didn’t want it to ever end. He pulled his hips back and pushed as hard as he could into me, kissing my lips as he pulled back out. I moaned into his mouth, gripping his shoulder.
Changing things up, he pulled my body toward him, turned around, and walked toward the bed. Slowly, he laid me down, stood up, and looked down at me with a smirk. Before he could move toward me, I sat up, wanting to get him worked up even more. I pushed him back and scooted to the edge of the bed. Anticipation lit his gaze. I reached forward and grabbed his shaft, smiling at the groan that escaped his lips.
