The front door opens and my mother steps out onto the porch. My heart leaps into my throat – I don’t want my father turning on her, too. But she walks out holding her head high. When she sees me with Damien, she smiles.
“Get back in the house, Ramona!” My father yells angrily. “This doesn’t concern you!”
“If it has to do with Emma then yes, it actually does concern me,” Mom replies calmly.
My father is clearly stunned. Mom has never spoken back to him before.
“I’ll give you one last warning,” my father growls. “Get the fuck inside, or I’ll make you sorry!”
“Oh, shut up, Jason,” Mom says. She turns to me. “I hope you didn’t let him upset you.”
I shake my head. My father lifts a hand in the air as if he’s about to slap my mother, but she catches his wrist and drops it before stepping back. For a long second, my father stares at Mom with hatred in his eyes. Then he turns his attention to me and Damien.
“You two are ungrateful bitches! You don’t appreciate a single fucking thing I’ve done for this family!”
My eyes widen and I look at my Mom as Dad continues ranting.
“I put a roof over your heads! I fed you! I gave you the clothes on your backs and all of this!” My father gesticulates wildly as he yells. “All of this is yours because of me! And yeah, you’re fucking right – of course I framed that asshole to get this. You really think we could have been rich if I hadn’t sent Damien to prison?”
My jaw drops and I turn to Damien. He looks equally shocked, but he doesn’t speak. My father, however, doesn’t notice. Mom gives me one last look before taking my father by the shoulders and guiding him inside.
Damien and I are left standing in silence.
“Did that … really just happen?” I ask in disbelief.
When I turn to look at Damien, there’s a strange smile on his face as he pulls his phone from his pocket. The light shows red for recording, and slowly, he turns it off.
“Yeah,” he says slowly. “It did. Holy shit, baby girl. Our lives just changed big time.”
Grabbing my hand, we make our way back to the car. Because did my dad just admit to committing a crime? Did Jason know what he was saying? Or did he just dig his own grave?
Chapter Eighteen
Damien
“Mr. Evercore! Mr. Evercore! How does it feel to be a cleared man?”
As I step out into the bright sunshine with Emma on my arm, I can hardly believe this is real life. My appeals process has just ended, and my conviction has been overturned.
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” Emma says. I can hardly hear her soft voice over the din of the crowd. The courthouse stairs are packed with reporters and I have to elbow a man out of my way to make sure Emma can squeeze through.
I laugh drily. “Me, too,” I admit. “I had no idea this would happen.”
Emma nods. “I guess my dad going crazy was definitely for the best,” she says quietly. “Ever since that last time we saw him, Mom said that he hasn’t been right.”
“Well, the fact that he confessed was a huge help,” I reply. “Without that recording, I’m not sure how things would have played out.”
Emma nods again. She’s deep in thought. “I’m going to forgive him,” she announces.
I narrow my eyes at her. “Surely you’re kidding,” I say. “After all that?”
Emma takes a deep breath. “Not like that,” she amends. “I mean, I’m going to forgive Jason … and then I’m going to forget him. He’s not worth wasting any mental energy on.”
I nod in agreement. “I admire you,” I say honestly. “That’s very mature.”
Emma bats her eyelashes at me. “And you think I’m just a kid,” she says in a teasing voice.
Before I can reply, there’s another tug on my arm and I look to see Jed standing there with a huge grin on his face. He pulls me into a tight bear-hug and for once, I don’t resist. It feels so good to have this weight lifted off my shoulders.
“Man, I knew we could do it,” Jed says heartily. “We had an airtight case!”
“We had a taped confession,” I say as I extract myself from his strong grip. “And of course, all of the evidence that you found.”
“Well, you can never have too much,” Jed replies. He looks at my face and smirks. “Definitely an improvement without the beard.”
“Well, I had to look the part,” I mutter under my breath, too low for him to hear. “Now that I’m a freed man, I’m going to grow it back out.”
“Not just a freed man,” Jed says. “But a rich one too. All of your shares have been restored just in time for the IPO. You’re going to be filthy fucking rich! I should definitely increase my retainer,” he continues. “You could probably send all three of my kids to school.”
I roll my eyes. “Never change, Jed,” I tell him. “By the way, I’d like you to meet Emma. Jed, Emma. Emma, Jed.”
Jed raises an eyebrow as he drinks in Emma’s curvy figure. In a designer suit and heels, she doesn’t look like a little girl at all. She’s transformed into a mature, confident woman who knows how to carry herself.
“Nice to meet you,” Jed says. He’s practically salivating as he reaches for Emma’s hand and I feel a hot flash of possessive jealousy. As they shake hands, I slide a hand down her back and squeeze her ass as if to tell her that she belongs to me and me alone.
“Nice to meet you,” Emma says. She flushes and gives me a seductive look. “Thank you for all of your hard work.”
A reporter pushes through the crowd and makes her way over to us. She eyes me, then turns her attention to Emma.
“Miss Hadley! Miss Hadley!”
Emma frowns, but gamely turns to face the reporter. I can tell that she’s exhausted. There are huge dark circles under her eyes, but she plasters a smile on her face anyway.
“Yes?” Emma asks. “What is it?”
The reporter smiles a wolf-like grin. “How did you do it?”
“What do you mean?” Confusion mars Emma’s features. “What are you talking about?”
The reporter cracks her gum. “How did you have the guts to betray your father like that? How could you do something like that to a member of your own family?”
The confusion vanishes from Emma’s face, replaced by a calm, icy look that I haven’t seen before.
“I didn’t betray my father,” Emma says smoothly. She tucks a loose brown curl behind her ear. “He brought this on himself, and I never made any choices for him.”
Her response makes my jaw drop. As she continues speaking to the inquisitive reporter, I have to marvel at the woman she’s become. She’s no longer the scared little girl in muddy pink sneakers. She’s really grown up and taken charge of her identity.
I’ve never loved her as much as I do in this moment. This woman has done everything for me. She forced me to open up my heart and home to her. She made me realize that not everyone in the world is heartless and cruel. She made me believe in humanity once again.
Without even thinking about it, I drop to one knee. Emma gasps.
“Damien! He’s hurt,” she says in a panicked voice as she pushes the reporter away. “Get away, give him some space!”
“I’m not hurt,” I assure her. Taking Emma’s hand in mine, I look into her soft brown eyes. “I’ve just realized something.”
Emma cries out. Her lips part and she licks them with her little kitten tongue. She’s breathing hard and I know that she can tell what’s coming.
“Emma Hadley, you’re the woman who brought me back to life,” I say in a deep voice. “I never thought that anything about the outside world would make me want to return, but I can’t live without you.”
Tears come to Emma’s eyes and she reaches up with her free hand to wipe them away.
“Oh, my god,” Emma whispers. “Damien!”
I chuckle. There’s nothing that I love more than making my beautiful baby girl smile.
“I don’t have a ring,” I say. “B
ut as soon as we’re done here, we’ll stop by Cartier and I’ll have them close the store just for us.”
Emma’s face crumples and she starts to cry in earnest. She’s smiling widely as the tears stream down her cheeks and I want nothing more than to pull her into my arms.
“But I’m getting ahead of myself,” I say smoothly. “Emma, I love you. I can’t live without you, and I want you by my side every day. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Marrying you would make me the happiest man in the world.”
Emma’s crying so hard that she can’t speak, but as soon as she nods affirmatively I get to my feet and sweep her into my arms. Her curvy frame trembles against me and I tangle my hand in her brown curls and twist her head back for a deep kiss.
I don’t care who’s watching.
I want everyone in the world to know that Emma Hadley is mine forever.
Reporters’ bulbs are flashing blindingly bright when I pull away from Emma.
“My sweet baby girl,” I whisper in her ear. “Now let’s get out of here. I want to get you a ring … and then I want to see you in nothing but that ring for the next week.”
Emma’s cheeks are bright red as she nods happily. “Yes,” she whispers. “I love you, Damien.”
“And I love you, baby girl,” I say in a low voice. “I always will.”
As I lead Emma away from the courthouse, I know that I’ve finally gotten my life back. Because with this woman at my side, we’ve defeated seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Her father. My shattered reputation. A protracted legal appeal. And yet, here we are with my ring on her finger … and the future laying before us in all its glory.
Epilogue
Emma
Six months later …
“I can’t see!” I complain playfully. “I’m going to fall in a chuckhole and sprain my ankle!”
“You’ll live,” Damien growls. The sound of his voice sends a shiver down my spine. “Just a little further. You can do it, baby girl.”
I flush. The ground underfoot is uneven and I take shy, cautious steps in the direction Damien is leading. The bandana tied around my eyes hasn’t even slipped a little bit, and I have no idea where Damien is taking me.
But I know that I’d follow him anywhere.
After the appeals process, everything seemed to happen in a rush. My father was arrested and sent to Federal prison, and now it’s very likely that he’ll rot there for all eternity. In addition to the charges pressed by Damien and Jed, several of his female employees came forward with damning sexual assault allegations. In the era of #MeToo, it was pretty much a ticket to hell.
It had all been very frightening at first. Damien took great care of me, though. He’d even helped with my mom. When my father’s assets were seized and she lost the house, Damien found Ramona the perfect condo in a luxury community. Now, Mom loves Damien too.
Well, he is awfully easy to love. He’s the perfect husband to me, and I’m sure that Mom thinks he’s a great son-in-law.
“Is it much further?” I ask.
“No,” Damien says. “I promise, Emma, we’re almost there.”
I flush. “I can’t believe you’re trying to surprise me,” I say. “It’s not like you.”
Damien chuckles again. The sound is pleasant and low and a thrill of arousal shoots through my body. “Well, I like making you happy,” he replies. “And if this is the best way to do it, then, well….”
I giggle nervously. “Everything you do makes me happy,” I say honestly. “Surprises or not.”
We got married almost right after Damien’s trial. He’d asked if I wanted a big wedding, but to be honest the idea of shopping for a gown as a plus-sized girl was horrifying. And it wasn’t like I had a ton of friends or family to invite. We wound up getting married at the courthouse with Mom, Lacey, and Jed as witnesses.
Then Damien whisked me away on a whirlwind honeymoon that lasted six months. Life wasn’t easy at first after the trial. Reporters came by the cabin almost every day, and there was so much publicity that I knew it made my man sick. So we went away. Damien took me all over the globe on a world tour.
It had been incredible. Part of me was almost sad to be home, but most of me was relieved. Sometimes it’s nice to come back to New York, and now that the IPO was over and done with, the attention surrounding Damien and me had died down.
“Okay,” my husband says. His voice jolts me back to the present. “You can look now.” He reaches up and unties the bandana from my eyes, careful not to pull my hair along with the knots. “I hope you like it.”
When I open my eyes, the sunlight is so bright that I can hardly see. Everything is blinding and white. But then my eyes adjust and I see a gorgeous new log home standing where the cabin used to be.
“Oh, my gosh!” I squeal. “Damien! What is this?”
Damien smirks. In the sunlight, he looks as sexy as ever. His beard is back, but it’s neatly trimmed, and his hair is slicked back from his broad forehead.
“It’s a house fit for a princess,” he says. “You couldn’t come back home and expect to live in my cabin again, could you?”
The house is truly a work of art. There’s a huge wrap-around porch in the front and perfectly manicured flower beds. There’s an herb garden to the side, and I can see a huge satellite dish perched on the roof.
“It’s beautiful,” I say softly. “I can’t believe you did this for me.”
Damien pulls me close and nuzzles me. “Of course I did, baby girl,” he replies. “You’re my angel. I have to take care of you, don’t I?”
I flush happily. “Come on,” I say as I take his hand and lead him inside. “I’ve got a little surprise of my own for you.”
Now it’s Damien’s turn to look inquisitive. “Oh?”
I smirk. “Oh, yes,” I say. “Come with me.”
Damien follows as I lead him inside. The inside of the home is just as beautiful, with exposed wooden beams and tons of natural light. Beautiful leather furniture gleams from every angle and I grin happily at the giant kitchen.
“We’ll have a lot of good meals in here,” I promise.
An open staircase leads to a second floor. I lead Damien upstairs, peeking in each room. There’s a gorgeous master suite, but that’s not what I’m looking for. I walk down the hall until I see what looks like a guest bedroom.
“Here we are,” I say triumphantly.
Damien frowns. “Babe, our room is at the end of the hall. You like this one more? We can always move.”
I shake my head and reach into my purse. I pull out the white plastic stick in a baggie and hand it over.
“Surprise,” I say with a smile on my face. “I hope you like it.”
Damien takes the baggie from me and peers inside, squinting for a second. Then his beautiful blue eyes grow wide. “Is this …?”
I nod happily. “Yes. I’m going to have your baby!”
Damien scoops me into his arms and kisses me passionately. He drops the pregnancy test to the floor and dips me low as he slips his tongue into my mouth. Arousal grows in my lower belly and I moan softly as his hands run down my body.
“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Damien growls as we pull apart. I press my forehead to his and stare deeply into his eyes.
I feel deliriously happy, almost like I’m drunk.
“Did you like your surprise?” I ask softly.
Damien nods. “Oh, baby, yes,” he says. He looks around. “And yes, this room would be perfect for a child.” He kisses me again and I purr happily as his hands knead my ass.
When we pull away, I’m giggling and flushing with happiness. “I’ve just got one more question for you,” I say coyly.
“Oh yeah?” Damien raises an eyebrow and crosses his arms over his muscled chest. “And what would that be?”
I glance down at the pregnancy test on the floor before picking it up and slipping it back in my pocket.
“How many bedrooms are there?”
Dami
en grins. “Five,” he says. “Mrs. Evercore, are you telling me that you’d like a large brood?”
“Oh, yes,” I say happily. “As long as it’s with you, I want everything.”
Damien kisses the tip of my nose. “And I’ll give it to you, sweetheart. Anything and everything I can, is yours, baby girl.”
But as he holds me close, I know that I’ve finally gotten what I’ve always wanted.
A family.
THE END
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HATE LOVE
~A Romance Collection~
© 2018
By Katie Ford and Sarah May
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© 2018 Alpha Males on Top
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