29. She Looks Like an Angel
SHE LOOKS LIKE AN ANGEL
Two weeks later
Wes
She’s nervous as hell. I can feel her little body shaking next to me. I thought getting to the airport before Lachlan and Emery would help avoid an awkward meet-and-greet before boarding the jet.
I chose the biggest one for this trip. Spencer Securities has two. Lachlan, Rory, and I bought one for personal use and ease of traveling from here to London and Scotland.
I tuck Fable under my arm and kiss her plump lips.
“What was that for?” Those big eyes can bring me to my knees.
“No reason.” I shrug and rest my head back, prouder than I’ve been in a long time.
She looks gorgeous in a pale green sweater edged in lace and cream wide-legged pants.
Turns out Fable has a boho style and likes pastel colors that make her honey skin radiant.
Her dark hair creates a beautiful contrast to the soft shades.
I love her in them, maybe even more than the red.
She looks delicate and pure, like an angel—my angel.
Getting her to buy the colors she loves was a bit of a struggle.
“I can’t wear these,” she said to the reflection of the three mirrors at the boutique I had closed for the day so she could shop.
“Why? You love them.” Each outfit she tried on after showing the personal shopper what she liked made her beam with happiness.
“What if they get stained? This type of material gets ruined easily.”
“I’ll buy you new clothes.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “That’s ridiculous. I wouldn’t want new clothes. I would want these.”
“Then I’ll buy you three of everything. I’ll buy you the damn store if you want.”
She gaped, then threw up her hands. “I don’t need any of this.”
“You’re getting it, even if I have to pick everything out. I’d prefer it if you did though. I won’t be the one wearing them, only stripping them from you.”
She blushed but remained defiant until we left and for hours after.
Stubborn in so many ways, except in the bedroom. She lets me have her however I want, and she loves it.
“What’s mine is yours,” I told her that night after I gave her three orgasms, in three different positions. The entire time I kissed her. I kiss her so much I’m shocked her lips aren’t bruised.
I told her again that everything I own is hers, and I’ll have to keep telling her until it sinks in. Perhaps once we’re married, she’ll accept her new fortune.
I play with her wavy strands, loving having her with me.
She stares at the door, her lips parted like she wants to ask if they’re coming again.
She’s convinced it will be too uncomfortable for them and they’ll back out.
She doesn’t get that because of me and what she’s done for me—saved me, loved me, and gave me hope—they’ve already accepted her.
Christ, Lachlan has been giving me shit ever since I told him about her and the baby.
“I told you this day would come.” He gloated. “Now we both have no balls.”
“They’ll be here,” I reassure Fable. “Emery is pregnant too and suffering morning sickness. It’s probably why they’re late.”
“She’s pregnant?”
“Yes.” My phone buzzes. I take it from my pocket.
Lachlan: Almost there.
I show Fable the text. “See.”
“Are you nervous?” Fable whispers, her gaze on the open jet door as if waiting for a ghost to appear.
I touch her chin and guide her to look at me. “Lachlan’s going to give me shit because he gets off on teasing me about falling in love. I used to tell him it wasn’t possible. It wasn’t at the time, but only because you weren’t in my life.”
Her citrine eyes fill with tears.
I sweep my hand along her cheek. “Emery is going to be sweet. You’ll like her.
She’s very sweet when she’s not being sassy to her husband.
He deserves it most of the time. You’ll like my sister too.
” We’re meeting her at the manor, per my request. “Tessa’s a bit reserved, but she has a good heart.
I’ve always taken care of her, as you know. ”
Once we returned to Hellfire, Fable slept better than she had in the hospital, even though the room was more like a luxurious hotel than a medical suite.
I’ll never forget the first time I woke her up with breakfast in my bed. Seeing her in it was a vision—black silk bedding, with Fable in a red satin nightgown. My heart swelled with pride like I’ve never known.
Since then, I’ve had many mornings like that.
Sometimes we do things we did when I was a Lord in disguise, and she was my secret obsession.
Sometimes we go to lunch or dinner in the city, and I force her to shop.
Sometimes I surprise her with day trips to abandoned places or gardens that are so wild it could pass for one.
Other times we talk for hours in bed, like we did the morning after I confessed what I did to her dad.
Once, it led me to share what I discovered about her grandmother and how she was funding Fable’s dad’s attempts to kill her.
I explained I had a guy interrogate Vera Farrington—left out it was in her bedroom at knife point—and that she didn’t know what her son was using the money for.
Trae believed her, or he wouldn’t have left her alive.
Then I added that I’d happily kill her grandmother if she so desired, though I’d hope to put that side of me to rest now that I’m to be a father.
Nothing I said scared Fable. She knows the horrors of monsters and the evil they can do.
She wanted to know the specifics about the night I made my first kill.
I’d told her enough before, though I always left out the darker details, not wanting to upset her.
But Fable is proof of the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.
” She might be dainty on the outside, but on the inside, she’s a powerhouse.
So I told her everything, including the demon that was born in me the night I bludgeoned Lord Hamilton to death to save Tessa.
Fable cried and held me.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you and your sister. So very sorry, Wes. You deserved better. And Tessa is lucky to have a brother like you. It could have been so much worse.”
We both fell silent for a while. She brushed my hair through her tiny fingers, and I was back in that garden with my angel. How such a horrible event could lead to a sweet memory and an even sweeter woman is beyond me.
I take her hand in mine and consider pulling her onto my lap, just so I can hold her and remind myself she’s real.
Her gaze drifts around the jet, taking in the cream leather seating area and tables between, the couch across the way, the large TV, the bar, the door to the bedroom in back, and the flight attendant in the galley.
“Will they think it’s weird that I used to be the help?” she asks, stirring my anger.
I hate when she talks about herself like this.
I turn on the chair and cup her cheeks. “Hear me now, Fable Farrington, soon to be Lady Fable Sarina Hale. You are my savior. I would not be here in this world if it weren’t for you.
No one will treat you as anything but the incredible person you are. And if they don’t, I’ll kill them.”
She giggles, even as more unshed tears cling to her long black lashes.
Noises stir outside the door, and footsteps sound on the metal stairs.
Fable glances over my shoulder at the door. “They’re here.”
I kiss her hard, then gently, and stand with her hand tucked in mine. Emery enters first, wearing blue pants and a matching sweater, her hair in a sleek ponytail. Her skin is paler than usual, but when she sees us, she smiles.
“Hi. Sorry, this is all my fault. Baby Ashford is torturing me with all-day sickness. Morning, afternoon, night. He’s not happy being in my belly.” She clutches ginger ale and a bag of saltines.
Lachlan appears behind her with a blanket and a big satin pillow. “Sit, love, before you get sick again.”
“I’m working on it.” She wipes her forehead, like she’s barely keeping her food down.
Fable rushes over to Emery. “Can I help you?”
Of course she would want to help. Not because she was a housekeeper but because it’s who she is.
“That’s so sweet. Thank you,” Emery says, letting Fable take her drink and crackers. She waits until Emery sits, then places the snacks on the nearby table before getting out of the way.
“Thank you.” Lachlan gives his version of a grin to Fable. He helps Emery get comfortable with her pillow and blanket.
“Should you be here?” I ask Emery. Seriously, I’ve never seen her look this rough, and Lachlan looks stressed as hell. He’s probably called every doctor in existence, wanting a cure for morning sickness.
“It doesn’t matter where I am. I’m sick regardless. And I can’t miss Rory’s birthday.”
I turn to Fable. “That’s Lachlan’s brother.” I probably explained that already.
“I have a confession,” Emery says after a sip of ginger ale. “I knew Fable meant something to you. I told him.” She points at Lachlan, who sits beside her.
“When?” I ask. How?
“I saw you look at her in the hallway back at our house. You were walking into Lachlan’s office.
Rory was there too. But when you spotted her, you got a look I’ve never seen before.
And so I knew it was love, like in a romance novel.
Boy finds girl after all these years. They live happily ever after. ”
“Except no one is a boy here,” I add, teasing her. Emery is fun to tease.
She waves her hand. “It was fate.”
“I like your version,” Fable says, and I can tell by her expression she really does.
“I read a lot of romance,” Emery says. “You should come by my bookstore sometime. I can recommend some good books with heroes just like Wes.”
I arch a defensive brow. “What does that mean?”
“Alpha male. Domineering. Possessive book boyfriend. It’s a compliment. They’re all hot.”
Lachlan growls at Emery. “Don’t make me take you to that bedroom.”
Fable’s eyes dart away, and her cheeks turn pink.
I whisper in her ear, “You’ll get used to it.”
“I’m happy Wes found you, Fable,” Lachlan says, earning a surprised yet fond grin from me. He’s trying to put her at ease, for me. You wouldn’t know he cared about much beyond Emery, with his harsh exterior. I used to operate the same way—worse.
“Now that he’s found you, he’ll never let you go,” Emery adds. “Give him a hard time every once in a while for me.”
Fable laughs, and her entire body relaxes. I wasn’t sure how this would go down, but I’m happy it’s over and that Fable feels comfortable.