Igniting Forever

Prologue

Sophie

It’s amazing how one moment, one conversation, can both confirm and flip your entire world on its ass.

I was in search of my husband and infant daughter, Eloise, who was due for a bottle and diaper change.

I didn’t want her to get too cranky since we were at my in-laws’ for an event.

It was the weekend, so I was surprised to hear voices coming from the upstairs balcony, but I headed that way to check for Max and our daughter.

“Imagine if you and Natalia had just gotten your acts together. This would be her baby. Now, you’re stuck with that silly girl for who knows how long.” I stopped short at the sound of my mother-in-law’s voice.

“Mom, give it a rest. I have everyone where I want them to be,” my husband’s familiar voice rumbled. He spoke in a stern whisper, drawing me closer to the spot where this eye-opening meeting was occurring.

“Sophie signed the prenup, so I don’t know what you’re worried about there. We had the lawyers working nights to make sure there were no caveats for her to get any of the family’s inheritance,” Max continued. I held my breath as I crept closer, trying to hear more.

“What about Natalia? She’s just okay with this?” I had always hated Helen’s voice. Smooth and cultured, it easily hid the venom behind most of her words.

As much as I despised the woman, I was grateful for her question. I waited to hear what my husband would say, how he would defend our family. My heart was beating so fast it felt like I might pass out. Deep down, I knew that this moment would change everything.

“This is the price she has to pay for the stunt she pulled. Breaking up with me to go discover herself with some DJ in Ibiza was her decision. Was I supposed to wait for her? Let her humiliate me?” Max’s voice was infused with an emotion I had never heard before.

“No. I agree that what Nat did was reckless, but how long will she have to pay the price? How long will this charade of a marriage last? Do you even love her?”

“Love who?” I heard my husband ask. My heart dropped into my stomach as a wave of nausea ran through me.

“Sophie! You’ve kept her around this long, insisted on marrying her, and now, this … baby will tie you to her for who knows how long.” The derision in Helen’s voice as she talked about my precious Eloise had me tensing, rage running through me.

“Sophie is convenient, controllable. I love Natalia, and we will be together again. Remember, Mother, once Nat and I reconciled, we came to you first. We tried to cancel the wedding. You were the one who balked, insisting I marry Sophie so as not to embarrass the family.”

The wind was knocked out of me. Reconciled as in physically? He tried to call off the wedding? How many people are in on this? Does everyone know but me?

“Well, I didn’t expect you to knock her up on the wedding night!” My mother-in-law’s shrill voice grated down my spine. “Not to mention your grandfather adores her for reasons I cannot fathom.”

I winced. This would crush Walt—or Pops, as he insisted I call him.

He was the one member of Max’s family who had embraced me with open arms. He had been my safe haven during some of the rougher family engagements after Max and I got married.

Our daughter was named after his wife, whom I never got to meet.

I loved the way Walt spoke of Eloise, and as soon as I found out we were having a girl, I knew I wanted to pay tribute to the great woman I had heard so much about.

“Mother, I will handle it, just like I’ve always done. You and Natalia will have to be patient. The baby just gives me more leverage over Sophie.” I covered my mouth to hide the scream that wanted to come out.

“We can discuss this more later. The baby is starting to fidget. We’ve been away from the event for long enough.

Where is that fucking nanny?” The harsh tone of my husband’s voice rocked me.

The baby. Not Eloise. Not my daughter. Just “the baby.” I was horrified, humiliated, and furious beyond belief.

Acting on instinct, I hustled back toward the main room, where the luncheon my mother-in-law was throwing was in full swing.

I ran to the bar and got a glass of water, chugging it to try to steady myself.

What I had just heard, the awful words and the emotions behind them, was whirling through my head.

Eloise. That was who was most important. As soon as my husband entered the room, I rushed toward him, grabbing my baby from his arms. Max looked slightly startled, and with a calmness I couldn’t believe I managed to pull off, I smoothed my face into a neutral smile.

“There you are, darling. Eloise is due for a diaper change. Let me take her to the nursery. I’ll be back in a bit.” His face soured at the mention of the potentially dirty diaper, and I used his disgust to flee from the room.

Once in the nursery, I made sure to head for the bathroom, aware that there were nanny cams throughout the room. I closed the bathroom door and slumped to the floor, cradling Eloise—or Lou, as Pops so fondly called her—tightly to my chest. She was the light of my life.

My sole purpose was to protect her, to provide her with a life full of experiences money could never buy. Those people didn’t deserve her, and I would do whatever it took to get us away from their poison.