Chapter 31
ZACH
Iwoke up with a start, not surprising considering the fact that I’d slept like I’d been tranquilized. Reaching blindly for my phone on the nightstand, I expected it to read five a.m., but instead, it was two minutes after nine.
What the…
I hadn’t slept this late in, well, probably eight years.
Maybe emotional breakthroughs with the ex and incredible sex are medically significant.
Adeline shifted slightly in her sleep beside me, and when I glanced at her, every functional thought evaporated from my brain. Fuck, she’s stunning.
Morning light shone in brightly through the windows, spilling across the bed and catching her hair where it was fanned out across the pillow. It looked like it had gold dust sprinkled in it.
She was curled toward me, looking soft, warm, and relaxed. Her brow was smooth, her chest rising and falling gently beneath the sheets. My heart tripped over itself as I watched her sleep, some protective beast rising up from deep down inside me.
I’d thought I’d lost her forever, but last night, all those years had simply disappeared.
It had been the damnedest thing, but as soon as I’d slid inside her, it’d felt like no time had passed at all.
I still knew my way around her body like she was my own personal design, and she still drove me crazy in a way no one else ever had.
Physically, we were as compatible as ever. I’d thought that might’ve changed, but nope. Maybe her stomach was a bit softer now and her breasts a bit bigger, her hips a little wider, and that kind of thing, but she was still the sexiest woman I’d ever laid eyes on.
Watching her now, she felt like mine all over again, and now that I had her back, I was never letting go. I knew exactly what it felt like to lose her and that just wasn’t going to happen a second time. Not now and not ever.
As the thought struck, my phone started vibrating almost violently against the bedside table. I lunged for it before it could wake her, turning the screen to see Alex’s name.
No one called someone who was on vacation at nine in the morning unless death, a lawsuit, or a media storm was involved. Except for Alex.
A phone call from him could mean anything from a catastrophe to nothing, and it was all equally likely. I hit the side button a little too aggressively and accidentally answered instead of silencing it.
“Shit,” I hissed quietly, immediately sitting up. “Alex?”
“Whoa, are you still sleeping? Are you sick?”
“It’s early,” I whispered furiously. “What did you expect?”
“It’s nine thirteen, and more importantly, it’s you. You never sleep in.”
“Because one of you is always calling.” I carefully slipped out of bed, checking to make sure that Adeline remained asleep behind me. Then I pulled on some sweats and padded quietly across the room. “Just hold on.”
Once I made it into the hallway, I moved a little ways down from the room, but I had zero intention of going too far away from her. If she woke up, I wanted her to know I was close by.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “I thought you could cover everything that needed to be covered.”
When he paused, I suddenly knew this wasn’t about the party Theo had thrown at the Manor in my absence ending up on the news. I also had a feeling this wasn’t media related at all. Which leaves death or a lawsuit. Fuck.
My stomach bottomed out, dropping straight out of my ass when the pause lasted for so long I had to prompt him. “Alex?”
“Yeah,” he said finally. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news, Zach. Louis is contesting the divorce.”
Every muscle in my body went rigid. “What?”
“He caught wind of our arrangement. Apparently, he knows Adeline is marrying into the Westwood family and the Weatherby lawyers have been blowing up my phone and Dad’s ever since they found out.
” He sighed heavily on the other end of the line.
“They’re threatening to take the involvement of both families to court, claiming Adeline signed under duress. They want the proceedings reopened.”
I genuinely couldn’t speak for a moment, looking back at the bedroom door with fury rising so fast, it made me dizzy. “This isn’t because Louis wants her or the girls back.”
“No,” Alex agreed wholeheartedly, even scoffing a little. “Everyone knows this is about money and control. Maybe even punishment. The man abandoned his wife and daughters, publicly humiliated them, drained her finances dry, and now, he’s suddenly claiming to care. No one buys it.”
“It’s only because we stepped in to protect her.” It made me sick, physically making my stomach roll so badly that I considered dashing to the bathroom. “He doesn’t want them, Alex.”
“I know.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, but I doubted even the best masseuse in the world would’ve been able to work out the knots of tension suddenly forming there. Those girls deserved peace and so did Adeline, yet Louis Weatherby seemed intent on dragging them all through hell before allowing it.
“What’s the play?” I asked finally.
“The lawyers are handling it. Simon is already involved too. Dad and Clark, Sr. are both furious.”
“At least that’s promising news.” God help the man stupid enough to get my father and Clark Morris united against him. “Look, let Dad and Morris know that if it starts heating up, I’ll write him a check.”
Alex snorted. “It’s going to heat up.”
“Well, then figure out what number makes him disappear. I know how extortion works, Alex. This is the cleanest, fastest way out.”
“We’re not there yet.”
I leaned a shoulder against the wall, anger settling heavily into my bones.
The thought of telling Adeline what was going on was already gnawing at the back of my mind, dread solidifying in my stomach when I imagined watching that stress creep back into her eyes after I’d finally gotten it to disappear.
“I’m not letting him do this to her again,” I said quietly. “Do whatever needs to be done.”
“We will,” he replied. “Our lawyers actually already have a solution that doesn’t involve paying him off. Do you want to hear it?”
Oh, this should be good. “Shoot. I’m listening.”
“Get married as soon as humanly possible,” he said as if it was the most logical thing in the world. “As it stands, Adeline is legally divorced and free to marry whoever she chooses.”
“Sure, okay, but is that really the best they can come up with?” I rolled my eyes. “For what we pay them, you’d think they’d be able to come up with a real solution and that isn’t one.”
“Why not?”
“Has it occurred to any of you that if Louis can’t come after Adeline, he’ll just go after the girls instead? He won’t stop just because she marries me, Alex.”
“We thought about it,” he said but almost off-handedly, like it didn’t really matter.
Which instantly put me on edge. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
“This arrangement might’ve become more than the company is willing to handle right now, Zach,” he said lightly. “Don’t get me wrong, the Morris Company is—”
“Stop.” I had never blown my top with him before.
Not ever. But these were extenuating circumstances and if I could’ve climbed through the fucking phone to throttle him, I would.
“I’m going to stop you right there. I’m not letting her go again, Alex.
If Louis pushes this too far, I’m going to become a problem for him.
Don’t put yourself right up there next to him. ”
“You say that like you aren’t a problem already,” he said with a hint of amusement in his tone. Then he flat out chuckled. “You consummated the marriage prematurely, didn’t you?”
I hung up on him, then immediately put my phone on airplane mode and went back into the bedroom. Adeline hadn’t moved, still asleep in my bed, tangled in my sheets, and wearing the shirt I’d had on last night.
Okay, well, I suppose this is technically her room for this visit, but it’s still mine.
She also looked more peaceful than I’d seen her in a long time. There was no tension lining her features and no furrow in her brow. Right now, she was just here, and she was mine. Mine to protect and maybe, if I was lucky, mine to love again.
If I didn’t screw this up.
I climbed back into bed with her carefully, pulling her against me and holding on tight. She made a sleepy sound, curling into my side and burrowing into me again. Turning my face into her hair, I buried my nose in the soft strands, and somehow, I managed to fall right back to sleep.
It was a terrible tactical error I regretted the moment I regained consciousness. Pounding was coming from downstairs, but it was rising, fast, with Bear barking like the house was under siege.
Before I’d even put two and two together, footsteps thundered down the hallway and the bedroom door burst inward seconds later. Bear launched himself straight onto the bed, seventy-five pounds of German Shepherd landing directly on my legs, but Jennifer and Lu came flying in right behind him.
“We found you!” Jennifer cried delightedly.
Lu fixed me with a suspicious look. “Why are you sleeping so late?”
Adeline jolted awake beside me with a horrified gasp just as Amber appeared in the doorway, seconds too late to stop them from finding me in bed with their mother. Thankfully, both Adeline and I had clothing on, but shit.
This is definitely not ideal.
Amber slowly covered her face with one hand, backing out of the room without saying a word, and Bear flopped across both our legs like this was the happiest day of his life. Meanwhile, Adeline just sat next to me, staring at her girls who were staring back at us, both of them clearly confused.
I had absolutely no idea how we were going to explain this, but I knew for sure not to say a single thing until Adeline gave me some kind of cue.