CHAPTER TWENTY
“Cole? Cole?” came the whispered voice.
“Hala? Sorry, Layla. Are you alright?” he asked jumping up from his bed in the guest room. She was standing in the hallway at a respectful distance.
“I can’t sleep. I’m scared, Cole.”
“Come on, honey,” he said taking her hand and walking back into the master bedroom. She laid back down and he turned headed toward the door. Layla’s heart sank. He was leaving her. When he closed the door and turned back toward her, she let out a sigh of relief.
“I’ll stay on my side of the bed,” he smiled. She nodded, staring up at the ceiling. It felt like hours of lying there wide awake when he finally reached over, grabbing her hand.
“I’m here, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
Layla turned and nodded, then did the unthinkable. She rolled into his side, curling into his arms. Cole kissed her forehead, pulling her tightly to his own body. She smelled like vanilla and magnolia. That damn bath shit that Avery made. He could feel his cock hardening and cursed himself.
Sitting up, she stripped off the nightgown and turned to him.
“Make love to me, Cole. Please.”
“Hala…”
“Layla,” she smiled. “As of today, I’m Layla.”
“Okay,” he grinned, “Layla. Be sure, baby. In my world once we do this, there is no going back. None. You belong to me and I belong to you.”
“It means the same, only in a much worse way, in my world. I want to be yours, Cole. I want to be a part of your world, this family. Your father explained that I would be safe and so would everyone else here.”
“You will always be safe, Layla. Always. You will be my wife and I will be your husband. Partners in this life.”
“And, and we’ll have babies?” she blushed.
“As many as you want, maybe all at once,” he laughed.
She kissed him and he rolled on top of her, shoving his shorts to his ankles and onto the floor. Layla opened her legs, welcoming Cole. He knew that he would be her first but she was a doctor who understood what was happening.
“Slowly,” she smiled. “I might be a virgin but I also know that the average man isn’t as large as you.”
“Slow, baby,” he grinned, kissing her neck, then her lips. “Open.”
She opened wider and felt the sting of his first invasion. As he kissed her more deeply, each movement caused him to thrust further and further until it was done. Hala, Layla was a virgin no more.
They both laughed, holding one another, understanding the significance of the moment.
“Have I told you that you have the most beautiful breasts I’ve ever seen,” he said, moving in and out, in and out.
“No,” she smiled, running a finger down his abdomen, reaching to squeeze his balls, gently. “Have I told you that you have a beautiful penis?”
“No,” he said kissing her again. “Shit, Layla, I don’t think I can last baby. You’re fucking killing me.”
“Wait,” she said lifting one leg over he ass cheeks. She thrust upward and realized he’d hit the spot. “Oh, wow. Now, Cole, now!”
Cole didn’t need to be told twice. As her body convulsed beneath him, he unloaded inside of her then stilled.
“Layla? I didn’t use a condom,” he said staring at her.
“I’m a doctor, Cole. I know. I guess that means you have to marry me, right?”
“Baby, I was going to marry you no matter what. But what it could mean is that you’re already pregnant.”
“That fast?” she laughed. “Isn’t that thinking a lot of yourself?”
“Nope. Family history, honey. Family history.”
By the morning, neither could move very well. Hot showers, hot baths, and more love making had kept them up all night. But the others were expecting them at breakfast and they showed up.
“If we marry, it will serve a lot of purposes, but the most important is that your grandfather won’t dare to touch you,” said Cole. “So, let’s announce this. Let’s get married. Today.”
“Cole, we have to get my name legally changed, we have to plan for flowers, a dress…”
“You can stop there,” he laughed. “Watch what happens when we announce this. Are you good?”
“I’m better than good,” she smiled. She followed him into the cafeteria and looked around at the smiling faces.
“Everyone, Hala, now hoping to be Layla, and I would like to get married. Today.”
“Oh! Can Angus and I get married with you?” asked Bailey.
“I can’t think of anything better,” said Cole hugging his sister. “Claudette?”
“Not me, baby. It’s Kate, Ajei, Sophia-Ann, and Gwen.” He looked toward the new senior foursome and they nodded.
“Two wedding dresses coming up,” said Gwen. “Ajei, you get the flowers. Sophia-Ann, take care of the food. Kate, you call the priest. We’re about to have a double-wedding!”
It was chaotic and everything seemed to be spinning but in the moment that the priest called them husband and wife, Layla knew it was the best decision of her life.
“I didn’t even think to ask you,” said Cole frowning at his new bride, “but do you want the marriage blessed by a religious head from your country?” Layla smiled at him, shaking her head.
“Cole, why would I do that? I wasn’t religious. My grandfather was. I secretly followed my mother’s religion. She was Presbyterian.”
“Presbyterian? What Syrian is Presbyterian?” asked Ham.
“This whole whirlwind relationship had its advantages and disadvantages,” said Layla. “We haven’t had a lot of time to speak about my parents. My father was Syrian, my grandfather’s son. My mother was English. Born in Cornwall. They met when he was attending Oxford.”
“Wait. Your grandfather allowed your father to attend Oxford?” asked Luke. “Why would he do that?”
“I’m not sure. My father was studying nuclear energy and my mother was an engineering student.”
“Shit,” muttered Cam. “Honey, your father and mother probably refused to help your grandfather. That’s why he killed them.”
“I’m not following,” she said staring at them.
“If your mother was an engineer,” said Sophia Ann, “of any discipline, and your father understood the physics of nuclear energy, he could have used them to help with creating nuclear weapons. Unless they refused.”
“Oh, my God,” she whispered. “That’s why he killed them. They refused to help him.”
“Most likely,” said Cole. “I’m sorry, honey.”
“No. No, it’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay but I feel better about all of this now. My parents weren’t helping him when they tried to escape. They didn’t want to help him.”
“He found another way, obviously,” said Eric. “But you can take great comfort in knowing your parents were trying to do the right thing. Maybe that’s why he didn’t want you to go to England. Maybe there was someone there that knew the truth.”
“I don’t know who,” said Layla. “I mean, as far as I know my father was his only child.”
“And your mother?” Layla stared at Eric. “Was your mother an only child?”
“I-I don’t know. I wasn’t old enough to ever talk about such things with them.”
“What was her name?” asked AJ.
“Jillian. Jillian Montgomery. She was born…”
“April 2nd. 1978. Oh, shit,” said AJ.
“What? Oh, shit, what?” she asked walking toward him and his computer.
“Jillian Montgomery was the only daughter of Lord and Lady Montgomery of Cornwall. They own a castle. Like a legit, towers and everything, castle. They’re both still alive.”
“I-I have grandparents?” she asked.
“You have grandparents,” smirked AJ. “Would you like me to reach out to them? Maybe they don’t know about you.”
“It’s possible, I suppose,” said Layla, feeling confused. “I mean, maybe my mother attempted to write them but my grandfather intercepted the letters. I don’t know. What if they did know about me but don’t want me?”
“It’s up to you, babe. If you want to know, we’ll find them. If not, we ignore this piece of information.”
“We’ve got a problem,” said AJ.
“AJ, why do you have to start conversations that way? What kind of fucking problem now?” asked Luke.
“Lord Montgomery is head of Great Britain’s National Nuclear Laboratory. He is a nuclear scientist.”
“You don’t think he’s helping my grandfather, do you?” asked Layla.
“I doubt it,” said Cole. “It would be more likely that he knew what your grandfather was planning and tried to stop his daughter from leaving.”
Layla looked at her new sister-in-law, then at Angus and finally, Ham. Ham reached for her hand, giving it a squeeze.
“What should I do?” she asked the older man.
“Do what you think is best for you. That’s the only thing important,” he said. Layla nodded, then looked at AJ.
“Try to find them. Please,” she said. “I have to know.”