Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Carson
After Trevor’s latest stunt, I decided to move up the trip to Chicago to take Venus’s mind off things.
We left two days after he had the Wagon towed and stayed for a week.
Chicago was always a vibe, but it was best in the summer and fall.
Nothing topped summertime Chi. During this time, the weather was trash, but I dealt with the cooler temperatures and cloudy skies to make Venus smile, and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.
On our last day here, my paralegal told me she’d stumbled across some information that might interest me.
Before Venus and I left, me and Tristan brainstormed and decided either I needed to find something against Trevor that we could countersue for, or we’d have to settle.
I felt like him seeing me as her representation sent him over the edge.
What he thought would end with me agreeing to convince her to settle turned into me making it clear to him that she wasn’t going to pay him a fucking dime.
Venus said Trevor had offered to pay for the wedding and that her parents agreed to pay for the wedding dress.
Even if that deal was made verbally only, I was sure a judge would force him to honor that.
On the off chance they wanted to be fair and make her pay for something, it would only be half the expenses for the wedding, and I’d take care of that.
I would bet his attorney knew that too, and that’s why he was trying to get us to settle out of court for $300,000, which was the same amount he had listed that he paid for the wedding.
I gave them one week to have all receipts for the expenses sent to my office for consideration of the settlement, and I figured there was something there that Hollie wanted me to see.
Either way, I was excited to get to the office with the hope it would lead to me being able to countersue his bitch ass.
Before I did, there was one other matter of business that needed to be handled.
I could tell Venus was in her own little world as we cruised down the street.
She didn’t sit up in her seat until we turned into the Mercedes dealership.
Her head whipped in my direction, and I couldn’t help but chuckle when she gripped my arm.
“Babe,” she said, looking out of the window. “What are we doing here?”
“Did you really think I was going to let that pussy take your shit and not get you something better?”
“Ah!” she yelled, hopping in the seat and clapping her hands. “OMG! That’s literally the one I wanted. Is that mine?”
“All yours,” I confirmed, referring to the custom olive green CLE 450 Cabriolet. “I paid cash for it, so no note, and it’s in your name. No one, not even me, will ever be able to take it from you.”
She looked at me with watery eyes as we pulled in front of the car with a big, red bow on it. After unbuckling her seat belt, she came over to my side of the SUV and sat on my lap. With her arms wrapped around my neck, she kissed me with tears falling from her eyes.
“Thank you,” she muttered against my lips, “thank you,” she repeated before kissing me again. “Thank you. I love it, and I love you.”
Before I could respond, she was hopping out of the car, not even bothering to wait for me or the driver to open the door for her.
I watched her as she ran around the car hopping and cheering.
It took me a second to get out because I wasn’t expecting her to say she loved me.
Not this soon. I loved her. Shit, I loved her the moment I laid eyes on her.
If I felt like telling her so quickly wouldn’t have pushed her away, I would have said it the moment she left her wedding to be with me.
Clearing my throat, I got out and pulled my phone out so I could take some pictures and videos of her with the car.
I thanked the driver and let him know he could put our bags in the convertible while I grabbed the paperwork.
Once I was done, I gave everything to my sunshine, and she took us for a ride.
This was probably the only time I’d be okay with being in the passenger seat.
We ended up riding around the city for a little over an hour before landing at the beach.
As the sun set and beamed down on the crashing waves, I realized this was the first time I had a more beautiful sight.
It was her. Stroking her hand with my thumb, I stopped walking and wrapped my arm around her to pull her close.
Venus smiled and rested her hands against my chest.
“I love you too,” I declared, making her giggle.
“I didn’t say that for you to say it back, Carson.”
“I know, that’s why I didn’t say it back immediately, but I do love you. I never believed in love at first sight until I laid eyes on you. I tried to convince myself that wasn’t the case but…” My head shook as I stared into her eyes. “I am so in love with you.”
“I tried to fight it too. From the moment our eyes locked, a part of me knew you were the one. I didn’t want to accept it because I felt like I was being disloyal if I acknowledged my feelings for you while I was with someone else, but I’m so in love with you too.
” Venus paused. “You don’t think we’re moving too fast?
” she asked, wrapping her arms around me.
“Nah. If anything, we’re not moving fast enough. I just got you. We got a lot of lost time to make up for, and the rest of our lives to do it.”
She released a soft laugh. “That’s big talk from a man who hasn’t even asked me to be his girlfriend yet.”
“I’ve been thinking about it, and it really didn’t make sense to me to ask you to be my girlfriend when you’re already my wife. If anything, I’m just going to give you an engagement ring.”
Venus sniggled until she realized I was serious, then her mouth hung open. “Carson…”
“For the sake of society’s standards, I will ask you to be my girlfriend, but I honestly planned to propose to your ass next weekend.”
“I know you fucking lying.”
Her shocked expression as her head jerked made me laugh.
“I’m dead serious. Ask your sisters. The only reason I didn’t was because they told me it would mean a lot to your father and brother if I met him first and asked for your hand in marriage.
Otherwise, yes, I was going to ask you to be my wife next weekend.
I know it’s fast and we have a lot more to learn about each other, but I know you’re the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, and I wasn’t going to waste any time. ”
When we came back from Tulum, I started thinking of ways to make us official.
Even with the drama going on, I knew she deserved a special proposal.
I kept telling myself I was planning to ask her to be my girlfriend, but the more I planned, the more I wanted to ask her to be my wife.
At first, I thought I was crazy, then I realized God had given me the desire of my heart, and I had to honor her place in it and my life.
I reached out to Paisley on social media and met up with her and Mariah.
I knew Venus wasn’t close to her brother, but I intended to honor her father’s wishes, especially because of how we’d gotten together.
Truthfully, I didn’t give a damn. She was mine, and I was hers.
I didn’t want to do anything to cause tension within her family though, just because I wanted her to cleave to me so we could eventually have our own.
“Me and my brother haven’t spoken in over a year because Trevor proposed to me without asking him.”
“Did he ask your father?”
“Yes,” she said through her laugh, but I saw the sadness in her eyes. “My daddy told him we were his responsibility and to start preparing to take care of us just as well as he did for after he transitioned. I guess my brother thought that meant Trevor had to ask him as well.”
“Damn. I mean, I know brothers are protective of their sisters, but that’s crazy. I could see if your father had already left this Earth, but if Trevor asked him for your hand in marriage, I don’t really see a problem with that.”
Venus sighed and looked out into the ocean. “Yeah. I feel like there was more to it, but since he just started ignoring me and cut me off, we never really had the chance to talk.”
“How does that make you feel?”
With a shrug, she rested her head on my chest. “I don’t care anymore.
Used to hurt a lot. I think when people lose someone that’s close to them, even if it’s not in death, you’re forced to grieve the relationship.
And when you do, you either find it very easy to let other people go or very hard.
I’ve accepted the fact that I held on to Trevor too because I lost my brother over our relationship, and I didn’t want to feel like it was a waste. ”
“Well, now that that relationship is done, do you think there’s a chance you’ll restore your relationship with your brother?”
“I’m not sure. Some days I want to. Other days, I still hate that he chose not to talk to me for all this time.”
“Taj was in a similar situation with her brother. Maybe you should talk to her about it since y’all have that in common.”
She agreed and quickly shifted the conversation, and I could tell it was to avoid ruining her mood thinking about her brother.
I was a lover at heart, so I wanted to make sure she felt loved in all ways from all people, not just from me.
It wasn’t technically my job yet since I wasn’t her husband legally, but I’d already made up in my mind to get her father’s number from Paisley so I could talk to him and her brother.
Regardless of how they felt about it, Venus would be my wife within the next year.
My goal was to bring her brother back to her as well.
The Next Morning
My eyes stared at the pictures and receipts Hollie had put in front of me. I listened intently as she explained what she’d found and how.