by Sam Crescent
His grip on her hand tightened. “You love me?”
“I love you more than anything. It kind of scares me, how much I love you. I’ve never felt this way about everyone. I thought I was going a little crazy actually.”
Suddenly he stood up, pulled her to her feet, cupped her face, and stared down at her.
“We’re in a room full of people,” she said.
“I don’t give a fuck. They can stare because I’m going to do this.”
He slammed his lips down on hers, and everything else faded as the pleasure of his kiss took over.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she closed her eyes, feeling so much warmth. She had fallen in love with this man, and it had nothing to do with his wealth or anything else. It was all about him.
Slowly, hearing the round of applause greet them around the café, she opened her eyes, and saw him smiling down at her. “Marry me.”
“I’m already married to you, Rafe.”
“No, I want a real wedding. With a church, and you walking toward me dressed all in white, and smiling at me. I want the real thing, and you deserve the real thing. A fresh start for the both of us.”
“You love me?” she asked.
“Yes, more than anything in the world.”
“Then yes, Rafe, I will marry you for a second time.”
He kissed her again, and she didn’t care that they were the center of attention. Just a few hours ago, her world had been crumbling all around her, and now it was like everything had fallen back into place.
Rafe loved her.
She loved him.
Nothing else would ever come between them.
Epilogue
Six years later
“So you love Mommy more than anything in the world?” Lucy asked.
Rafe laughed. Wrapping his arms around his daughter, he blew a raspberry on her cheek. “Yes, more than anything in the world.”
“Even more than chocolate?” Drew, his son, asked.
“Yes, way more than chocolate.” He hugged his son and smiled over at his wife, who had their baby girl nestled against her breast. They were sitting out in the long grass of their country home, and just seeing his wife nurse their child filled Rafe with so much love.
They’d overcome the potential damage that his mother could have caused, and were now stronger than ever before.
“Mommy, you’re loved a lot.”
“And I feel it, sweetheart,” she said.
“Go on then, kids. Go and play while I help your mother.”
Their twins ran off, and he watched them playing on the slide he had installed a few years ago.
Moving up behind his wife, he rested against a tree and pulled her back against him.
“We’re at six years now, baby,” he said, kissing her shoulder.
“We are.”
Their contract deadline was for five years, but that had been before they fell in love. After he proposed for a second time, while they’d been organizing their second wedding, they’d discovered she was pregnant with twins. Their wedding had become a rushed affair but perfect as he didn’t want to put too much stress on Ellis the further she got into her pregnancy. Whenever he got the chance, he always told her how much he loved her. The only downfall to having kids was he had to leave her at home, and the separation was more than he could bear.
Once he missed the twins walking for the first time, that was it. He’d set up an office at his home, and unless it was absolutely necessary, he worked from home, and also made sure there was plenty of room to watch his woman and kids grow up.
“I love you, Rafe.” She reached out, stroking his cheek.
He smiled down at her. Taking hold of her hand, he pressed a kiss to her lips and held their child’s head against her breast. “You’re the only woman for me, Ellis.”
They sat together, watching their twins, and he knew he’d won much more than his father’s business. He’d won the family that his father had always wanted, and that was the best thing in the world.
The End
www.samcrescent.com
Other Books by Sam Crescent:
www.evernightpublishing.com/sam-crescent
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BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER
HER BEAST
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2017
Chapter One
“Come on, Hope. I need you,” Dwayne Carson said.
Staring into her locker, Hope Miller wondered if there was any way that she could get out of helping the most popular guy in school. If it wasn’t for her college applications, she’d have told him no, but tutoring always looked good. Tucking some hair behind her ear, she took a breath and finally turned toward him.
“What do you need?” she asked.
Even though he’d bullied her when they were younger, and they never, ever moved in the same crowds, she couldn’t bring herself to be a bitch. Rubbing at her temple, she waited for him to answer.
“Math, English, and also history. I really, really need to get these right, as otherwise my ass is on the line.”
She rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.
“Fine, fine. I’ve got to work at seven, but I can help you for a couple of hours after school.” She closed her locker.
“Great. You’re okay to come by my place, right?”
She paused, not really liking the whole idea of being around his place. She’d heard a lot of rumors about the Carsons. Most of them she’d put down to being bullshit. She didn’t like gossip, especially as a lot of it had been about her in recent months. All she wanted to do was keep her head down, use whatever of her trust fund she was allowed to, go to college, and put all of her family’s mess behind her.
Living with her aunt wasn’t what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She knew Aunt Tay only put up with her because of the small amount of money she got paid to look after her. Her mother had known something bad was going to happen, so she’d put all of her money in a trust for Hope.
“Can’t we go to the library or something?”
“I won’t bite, Miller. Believe me. I won’t get anything done if I go there. You may as well cave. You know you want to. You’ll get to see my pad; it’s totally the shit.”
“Great,” she said, trying to find the excitement but failing. “Call me excited.”
He chuckled. “You’re a star. See you after school.”
She watched him walk away, rolling her eyes as some of the girls nearly fainted as he winked at them. High school boys didn’t appeal to her. They were … disgusting.
Grabbing her bag from out of her locker, she made her way to calculus and put the whole Carson drama out of her mind.
All she wanted to do was focus on her work, getting the best grades that she could so that she didn’t have to stick around town anymore. She was done being “that girl.” The one that people pointed at and whispered about the crazy daddy who’d killed her mom, and also tried to kill her.
Yep, that was her secret. Her father had developed a drug addiction which made him completely paranoid, crazy, and insane. He’d believed his wife was having an affair, and that Hope wasn’t even his daughter.
He’d kept them chained up in the basement for two weeks. That’s how long it had taken for people to be alerted that something was amiss. During that time, she’d watched her father shoot her mother before he shot Hope in the stomach, and then he’d put a bullet in his brain. She’d screamed, begging for help.
Rubbing at her temple, she tried to focus on her teacher as the memory danced across her vision. She was considered a bit of a freak because she’d not broken down. The fear, the memory of it, she was able to put it in a little box and seal it away.
Her aunt sometimes
stared at her like she was weird. Not the best feeling in the world, but not a lot Hope could do about that. She could sit and cry about it, or get on with her life, and her mother had told her what she needed to do while they’d been chained together. Even when death was certain, her mother had done everything she could to take care of her.
Moving from calculus to PE, Hope drifted from one class to the other, ignoring some whispers and stares. At least they weren’t talking about her dad. Nope, these whispers were because of Dwayne, the hot guy who’d been caught talking to her.
She wished they’d grow up.
Hope didn’t bother to get changed out of her shorts and large shirt. Leaving the campus grounds, she found Dwayne sitting on the hood of his car, chatting with some of his friends. Squaring her shoulders, she made her way toward him, folding her arms as she did.
“Babe, it’s about time.”
“I’m not your babe. Do you want the classes?” she asked.
“Sure.” He opened her door, and she thanked him for it, climbing inside. Pushing some of her hair out of the way, she leaned back in the leather seat and admired the comfort of the vehicle. It had to be expensive, but Dwayne belonged to a wealthy family, so she didn’t expect anything less.
Tapping her fingers on her knees, she watched the scenery passing her by, wondering how tutoring him would be.
“I’m really grateful you’re doing this for me. I saw your name on the tutor list thingy, and I figured you’re my best bet. I know you tutored Frank last year, and he said you’re all about the focus and not about the bullshit.”
“Don’t you have your grades in the bag or something?” she asked.
“My uncle demands that I earn every single grade. He doesn’t want me flunking out of school or getting someone else to write my essays. Believe me, I’d do it, but my uncle knows this shit, and I got to impress him if I want to join the family business.”
She shrugged. “It’s fine. Do you have your grade sheets so I can take a look?” she asked.
He reached behind him, pulling out a list. “The classes I’m flunking, I got them to point out what I needed to work on.”
She opened it up, shocked the teachers would do that. Whenever she tutored before the teachers always told her the kids knew where they were going wrong or fucking up.
Scanning through the list of places that were his weaknesses, she knew where to get started. The easiest subject would be history, but seeing as he was also failing math, she figured it would be best to start at his weakest point and work up to his strongest.
Twenty minutes later they arrived at one of the largest houses she’d ever seen, especially when it came to security. Four men stood at the main gate, each wearing pristine suits without a mark on them. She was very aware of her surroundings, so she felt out of place. Her mother had a small fortune but nothing like this, and by the time Hope finished college, she wouldn’t have anything left. Her mother wanted her to be something, and she was determined to grant her wishes.
Dwayne climbed out, and she hated the way her stomach rolled. This was not a place for her. She wasn’t rich or important.
“Come on,” Dwayne said, leading the way into the house. She followed behind him, feeling like everyone was staring at her, knowing she wasn’t meant to be here. This wasn’t where she belonged.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she hiked her bag higher on her shoulder, releasing a breath as he made his way inside the house, which was far more beautiful on the inside than out. She spotted several men standing in various places, but Dwayne walked past them as if they were ghosts, completely invisible.
“I think here would be a good place to start,” he said, opening a large door, which led into a large library. She saw a couple of desks and computers set up.
Placing her very scruffy bag onto the table top, she tried to be careful not to leave a single mark. She missed the library in town where names were carved into the desks along with lewd comments.
As she took a seat, Dwayne dropped into another and pulled out his book. She hadn’t expected him to take this so seriously, and yet here he was, grabbing books, leaning forward, and waiting.
“I wasn’t joking around or anything. I need to pass high school.”
She smiled. “Why now? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I don’t. I never took shit seriously, and let’s just say that someone I know made me very aware of the fact people don’t follow a fuck-up. They don’t like someone who can’t lead for shit. So I’m getting my head down and trying to make up for lost time.”
Nodding, she pulled out his book, finding where he was going wrong, and flipped to it. “Could you work out this algebra equation for me, please?”
He already had some paper in front of him, and she waited for him to complete it. Once he was done, she glanced over it, and saw the problem. For the next half an hour, she got him to complete the first equation, but he still didn’t seem to understand how it worked, and as she was about to go through the second one, his cell phone started to ring.
Each time she tried to show him, it would ring … and ring … and ring.
“Why don’t you pick it up?” she asked.
“It’s fine. Really. I want to learn.”
“Yeah, but it could be important, and it’s starting to drive me crazy.”
He grabbed his cell phone, turning it over. She didn’t see the name of the person flash across the screen, and he was gone, telling her he’d be back in a minute.
Standing up, she stretched out her tight muscles, raising her hands above her head, and walking toward one of the large walls.
Books were … heaven. No matter how many she read, she always found comfort in their scent, and how they were able to transport her away from her reality. The moment she entered a book, she wasn’t Hope, the daughter of a murderer. No, she wasn’t anyone.
“Who are you?”
She spun around, pressing a hand to her chest when she caught sight of a much older man. He had short, black hair with grey tips at each temple. He was tall, taller than Dwayne.
Her mouth went dry, and she looked past him toward the door. Dwayne wasn’t anywhere in sight.
“Dwayne brought me here?”
“You’re not Dwayne’s type.”
She frowned, shaking her head at the same time. “I’m not Dwayne’s girlfriend.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’m here to tutor him.”
Who was this man?
****
Beast Carson didn’t like having strangers in his house. In fact, he was really fucking pissed that not one of his men told him Dwayne had a girl over, but also that she’d been left alone in his fucking library.
He was … angry.
Clenching his hands into fists, which she couldn’t see as he had them in his pockets, he stared at her.
This woman … girl was not his nephew’s type. First, she was on the chubby side. She had a lot of curves, and even in the large-ass shirts there was no way she could hide that body. With her tits pressing against the front of her shirt and her hip cocked to the side with her hand on it, she was all woman in the right places. Again, his nephew didn’t appreciate curves, nor the luscious brown hair falling in waves down her body. It was long, and Beast liked long hair. Something to wrap around his hand as he took control.
What he found even more interesting was the look in her eyes. There was pain there, and something else. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on, which he didn’t like. At thirty-seven years old, no one had been able to hide from him. He discovered their secrets within seconds. It’s what he’d been doing for a long time, but when everyone turned to him as their leader, he didn’t have much of a choice. His father had once been the head of the family. They weren’t related to the mafia, but they had their own set of illegal dealings. Chaos and shit rolled through his life like it was natural. He made the decisions. In his world, he was the judge, jury, and executioner, which raised the question—why was she here?
&nbs
p; “You’re here to tutor?”
She nodded, moving toward the desk and pointing it out.
“You’re not here to screw my nephew?”
“Ew, no. He came to me to help him. I’m just trying to help.” She shook her head folding her arms around her body as if she was protecting herself. He didn’t know what she was trying to protect herself from, but he didn’t like it.
“I see you’re grossing out my tutor. Hope, I’d like you to meet my uncle, Beast.”
“Your name is Beast?” she asked.
“Let’s just say my mother thought it would be a joke to my father.” He shook her hand, feeling the strength within her grip. There was something alluring about her.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said.
“Likewise. I appreciate my nephew taking an interest in his education.”
“I’ll help where I can.”
He held her hand a little longer than was appropriate, but she didn’t show any nerves at the action, which he found alarming. Anyone else would have been worried. Glancing at Dwayne, with one look he let the kid know that he was going to want a word with him. No one came to the house. It was his rule.
Moving toward the back of the library, he glanced back over to see Hope lower herself into her chair and watched for a few seconds as she tutored his nephew. Dwayne’s father was six feet under, and had been for over ten years. Beast had gotten custody, dealing with the boy’s father the only way he dealt with traitors, killing them.
It hadn’t cost him anything to put a bullet in the bastard that was beating his blood. Dwayne had sported black eyes, fractured ribs, and other pains. For that, Beast had made sure his brother was made an example of. Anyone who threatened or hurt what belonged to him, what he considered his, he’d kill. Simple as that.
