Chapter 16
C onnor spent hours on that laptop. As soon as his fingers hit the keyboard, he was lost in whatever it was people like him did.
Every time I looked at the screen, all I saw was a bunch of random code.
I have no idea what he was doing. But I trust him.
If he says he has it under control, then he does.
“I’m going to find Kyla and get her to do some online shopping for us,” I tell Connor.
“We don’t need their money, Aurora,” he grunts.
“I know that, but what are you going to do? Have a ton of shit turn up here? How are we going to explain how we did that? Where the money came from? How did we even get online to order it?” I ask him.
“You’re right. Order the bare minimum, cheap shit. We don’t need to go overboard,” he says.
My brows draw down. Did he just tell me not to go overboard on shopping? I feel like he doesn’t know me at all. “I’ll order what we need,” I reply cryptically. I bend over the laptop screen to press my lips to his. “I love you.”
“Mmm, I love you,” he says.
“You know, I used to think about what it would be like if we weren’t secret anymore. If everyone knew you were mine,” I admit.
“Yeah? Did those thoughts include us being on the run?”
“Sometimes. But I was worried it would die off. That all the attraction was just because we weren’t supposed to be together.”
“We were always supposed to be together. To hell with anyone who doesn’t want that to happen.”
“We’ll burn them all to the ground together.” I smile.
“We will.” He nods his head and goes back to typing on the computer.
I find Kyla in the living room a few minutes later. I really do need supplies, clothes, underwear, shoes. I can’t walk around in my brother’s shit forever.
“Hey, you busy?” I ask, falling into the seat next to her.
“Never too busy for you.” Kyla smiles at me. “What do you need and how much trouble is it going to get us in?”
“Are you bored in this ivory tower?” I lift an eyebrow at her.
“Bored? No. If I were bored, I’d just go find your brother and he’d entertain me in ways only he can.” She gets that dreamy look on her face.
“Gross.” I shake my head before continuing. “I need to buy some things. Can you grab a computer so we can do some online shopping?”
“ That I can do.” She nods as she stands.
“I’ll go get Lorenzo’s credit card,” I tell her.
“I’ve already got it. Although I’ve never actually used it, which only pisses him off.” She laughs. “I don’t want him to think I’m giving in, so you go get his card. That way, you’re using it, not me.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her to just use his money. Even if it’s for a coffee. The men in my family like to provide. They need to feel like they’re providing for their wives and children. I don’t agree with it, but it’s their thing.
As independent as I am, I would never tell Connor I didn’t want his money. I’ll joke about it but I’m never serious. I wouldn’t want him to feel like he can’t provide for us. We both know I don’t need anything from him, but that’s not the point.
I was shocked when Connor told me how much cash he has hidden away. I was thinking it was more like tens of thousands, not millions. Sometimes, I think he forgets he’s only eighteen. Dante has that problem too. Maybe it’s a smart kid thing.
Walking straight into Lorenzo’s office without knocking, I’m met by a glare. “Are you purposely trying to get yourself killed?” he asks me, dropping something into his desk drawer—something I’m assuming is a gun.
“Not purposely, no.” I smile at him. “I need your credit card.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m doing some online shopping with Kyla. I can’t use my own, not that I have any with me. So, I need yours.” I hold out a hand.
“Kyla has a card with my name on it,” he tells me.
“I’m aware. She doesn’t want to use it.”
“Of course she doesn’t.” He rolls his eyes, reaches into his drawer again, and retrieves his wallet.
“You shouldn’t let the fact that she’s an independent woman bother you,” I tell my brother.
“Independent is living off the money you and your husband make, not the money your father hands you,” Lorenzo grunts.
Guess it’s a touchy subject.
“You knew she was a billionaire when you married her. She’s literally an heir to two different empires.”
“I’m aware of who my wife is, Aurora,” Lorenzo snaps while holding out a black credit card.
“Just making sure.” I take the card from his hand.
Kyla’s parents, Lucy and Dominic, belong to the two most prominent families in Australia.
Lucy inherited the Christianson Empire when her older brother chose his law career over running the family business, while Dominic has the McKinley Empire.
Which he manages alongside his cousin Faith.
That makes my brother’s wife the wealthiest woman in this country.
And he wants her to use his money. It’s almost laughable.
“Don’t worry, I’ll put a decent dent in this thing to make up for what Kyla isn’t spending on it.” I smirk.
“That’s not the point. I know she doesn’t need my money. It’s… never mind.” Lorenzo shakes his head.
“I get it,” I tell him. “But she loves you, like a sickeningly amount of love. It’s gross and she really needs to stop bragging to me about your abilities in the bedroom. Some things a sister does not need to know.” I make a gagging sound.
“She brags to you?” Lorenzo smiles wide now.
“Don’t look so smug. She also said she’s had better.” I laugh. But my brother only smiles wider.
“That’s impossible.”
I walk out of my brother’s office and find his wife sitting in the living room with her laptop open. “I’ve got all my favorite stores tabbed out. Oh, and my mom is bringing you some things over too. She overheard you were here when Dad and Zara were arguing.”
Kyla’s mother actually has great taste. “Tell her she doesn’t need to bring me anything, but I appreciate it,” I say, because that’s the polite thing to do. I hold up Lorenzo’s card. “Let’s do some damage.”
Kyla smiles and starts tapping at the keyboard.
Two hours later, I’m done. I have ordered enough clothes and accessories to last Connor and me a couple of weeks.
“I have an idea,” I tell Kyla.
“What?”
“You know the fact Lorenzo wants you to use his money is more about him than it is you, right? He knows you don’t need it.”
“I know,” she says.
“So, get that card. We’re using it to buy something he would never expect you to buy.”
“Like what?”
“First, a car. Then… weapons.” I smirk.
“Uh… you’re in Australia, Aurora. You can’t just buy weapons here,” Kyla says.
“You can if you know the right people,” I tell her. “But, when your husband sees the charges, he is going to be pissed. So be warned.”
“He’ll also know it wasn’t me.” She laughs. She’s right.
“Okay, so no weapons on your Valentino card. Let’s go bigger. Forget the car. Let’s buy…” I let my sentence trail off.
“A building? A house? I was planning on buying something smaller. Somewhere we can escape to and just… be us.”
“Perfect. Buy it with his money, though. That will melt his cold, dead heart,” I urge her.
It seems Kyla has been thinking about this for a long time. She pulls up a listing and shows me. “This one.”
When she said smaller, I was picturing an apartment or townhouse. Not something that has a ten-million-dollar price tag. I guess it is smaller than this palace, though.
“It’s perfect,” I say. “Call that agent and tell him you’ll take it. Do the transfer. And then wait for Lorenzo to figure out you actually used his money. Trust me, he just needs to think you need him.”
“I do need him!” she gasps. “Does he really think I don’t?” She looks horrified.
“I mean, he needs to provide. It’s in his DNA and not really his fault. It’s just how we were raised.” I shrug.
“Oh my god, I have to find him and tell him,” she says.
“Kyla, buy the house first, then tell him.” I laugh.
“Okay.” She nods and picks up her phone.
Leaving my sister-in-law with the task of spending my brother’s money, I head back to the bedroom and find Connor still tapping away on that computer.
“Miss me?” I ask him.
He looks up from the screen. “I miss you even when you’re in the same room.”
“Aw, that’s sweet. Did you do everything you needed to do?”
“Sure did, Mrs. Leighton.” He shuts the computer and stands, slowly making his way to me.
“Mrs. Leighton?” I ask him.
“Your new identity, Mrs. Briar Leighton, wife of Mr. Reid Leighton.”
“And let me guess… you’re Reid Leighton?” I lift a curious brow at him.
“Did you think I’d let you marry someone else?”
“Never. But why are we married?”
“Because fucking my wife is a hell of a lot better than fucking my sister.” Connor’s eyes roam up and down my body. Heat, lust, and need—all shining in those emerald-green orbs.