Chapter 47
47
brIAR
T he only thing I was told about today was that I had to look nice. The Spring air has been a little chilly in the last few days, and I’m rummaging through my closet trying to find anything I can wear.
“That’s a lot of clothes,” Elara says as she walks into the room, plopping herself onto my bed. I turn, finding her decked out in a long blue dress.
“Where are you going?” I ask her.
She shrugs her little shoulders, her curled blonde hair falling over them. “Aunt Isla just told me I had to dress nice. It has pockets!”
Pursing my lips, my brows furrow. What the hell is going on?
It has to be some kind of family photos for PR, but then again, we agreed that we would keep Elara out of any photos if at all possible.
“Okay, well do you want to help me pick something out?”
She nods vigorously before hopping off the bed. “You look good in anything, mom.”
I nearly snort. If her shit eating grin means anything at all, she’s buttering me up for something. “What do you want, Bub?”
“Nothing!” she throws her hands in the air, her eyes widening.
I’m not convinced.
Deciding to give up on my quest for a dress until after I do my hair and makeup, I get ready quickly, not wanting to put this off any longer. I was given a specific time I need to be in the car headed to wherever I’m going, and if there’s one thing I am not, it’s someone who isn’t punctual.
Pulling a comb through my curls, I head back to my closet, picking the first dress I see. A mid-thigh length light blue dress that happens to do wonders for my curves while also still covering everything it needs to. If this is for any type of PR, I need to be careful with what I wear. Not that Leo would object to something else, but I know his publicist would.
“Are you ready, Bub?” I call to Elara, and a second later her head pops around the corner, a huge smile on her face.
The two of us make our way down to the garage, where there’s a car waiting. We climb in, and I ask the driver where we’re going.
“I’m not allowed to disclose, ma’am,” he says politely, his eyes never leaving the road.
Sitting back into the cool leather of the seats, I grab Elara’s hand, a knot of anxiety growing in my stomach. I have no idea what’s happening. If it’s something involving our deal, I would assume he’d have told me, right? We’ve always been open about these things. When it comes to our contractual obligations, we’ve always had perfect communication. So why have I heard nothing today?
Sighing, I close my eyes, leaning my head back.
The trip takes about ten minutes, if that. The traffic is light since it’s the middle of the day. Our only hangup was a couple school buses trying to turn into the aquarium .
When we finally pull up in front of the library, I’m a little confused.
When Isla and Owen are standing outside, huge smiles on their faces, I’m fully perplexed.
“What in the world?” I mumble, my hands shaking as I reach for the handle of the door. The driver beats me to it, though, hopping out and swinging the door open for me.
Stepping out, I scowl at my brother. “What the hell is going on?” I nearly growl, my annoyance clear.
He shrugs with a smile. “Not sure, was just told to be here and be dressed nice,” he tells me, gesturing to Isla and her shit-eating grin.
Elara walks past me, her hand slipping into mine as she pulls me along. “Are you in on this?” I hiss.
She doesn’t answer.
We walk in through the doors, and the smell of flowers instantly overwhelms me. Two large, gold urns stand in the middle of the room, overflowing with the most beautiful blue hydrangeas. Petals scatter the ground leading up to them, and at the very end of the path, between the urns, stands Leo fucking Warner.
And he’s never looked so god damn handsome.
Dressed in a black suit and white dress shirt, Leo shoots me the most dazzling smile I’ve ever seen, his hands fidgeting in front of him before he stuffs them into his pants, his head dipping just a little. His hair is messy, but in a way that makes it clear it was tousled by someone who knew what they were doing, because if Leo Warner is anything, it’s messy.
He’s nervous.
Why is he nervous?
“This is an elaborate setup for a new story,” I tell him.
His smile falters just a little as we reach him. He takes my hands as Elara moves off to the side.
“I want to start off by making sure you know that this isn’t actually at the request of the publicist,” he tells me seriously, his voice deep and echoing through the large space. “They actually don’t even know this is happening.”
I’m even more confused.
“Are you okay?” he asks, squeezing my hands as my chest heaves with anxiety.
I nod, swallowing my nerves.
He nods, holding my gaze. Licking his lips, he takes a deep breath. “I know you’re anxious so I’m going to get straight to the point. I want to marry you, Briar. For real. None of this fake shit. I know it’s been less than a year and I know that you don’t want to ever be stuck in the same situations you were stuck in before, so before you say no, I just want you to hear me out. But I also want you to know that this is completely your decision, and if you say no, I will still spend my entire life loving you, okay?”
I feel like a giant anvil is crushing me, and I can’t find the words for him, so I just nod.
“I think I’ve loved you since the very first moment I saw you, Briar. Your hair was golden, and you were wearing matching Crosby jerseys with Elara. You had the biggest smile on your face, and when you looked at me, it faded into a frown. Your eyes narrowed a bit, but at first all I could focus on was how insanely beautiful your eyes were. A second later and all I could think about was how I made you frown. It felt like a punch to the gut. You didn’t even know me, but you sure as hell heard about me. I hated that.”
He takes a breath, closing his eyes before continuing. “I hadn’t stopped thinking about you since that day. And when the time came to help you,” his eyes shift behind me, and I realize that I still haven’t told my brother everything. He’s still trying to respect my wishes.
I glance back to find Owen’s brows furrowed as he looks on.
“I won’t lie and say that I wasn’t also looking at it as an excuse to show you the real me. The me that you may actually like. What I wasn’t anticipating was,” he flinches, “the strippers. That was my bad.”
I roll my eyes. “You walked strippers to their car, Leo. I’m not sure how people do way worse with little repercussion.”
He shakes his head. “Regardless, I want you to know that I’m sorry. But if I had to be in a relationship with anyone, even fake, it was going to be you, Briar. I’m sorry I brought you into this mess. I’m sorry that things have been hard. I’m sorry that I’ve been an absolute idiot sometimes. But if there’s one thing that I know for sure I did right, it’s choose you. And I want to keep choosing you every day.”
As tears threaten to spill, Leo lets go of my hand, reaching for Elara. She grabs his with a huge smile.
“I want to choose you and Elara. I want to cook for you guys every single morning and bring you presents even though you get annoyed. I want to provide for you doing something I love so that you can focus on what you love. I want Elara to make her room in my home permanent. I want to hear Champ’s nails on my expensive floors,” he winces again, “every morning when she wants to go out. And most importantly, I want you to not have to run. To not have to feel like you’re running from your past, or that the next shoe is going to drop.”
I take a ragged breath in, my thoughts swimming in a cloudy pool.
Leo looks around him nervously. “I chose this place because it’s the first place we kissed, and it was honestly one of the best nights of my life. I know it maybe meant nothing to you at the time, Sunny, but it was everything.” Leo clears his throat. “But I also want you to go into this knowing everything, and the main reason I’m asking now and not waiting is because I happen to know that Tony is planning to let the school board know that you’re not living at your apartment, and he wants to ruin both of our images.”
Closing my eyes, my heart sinks .
“But I’ve been planning this for a long time, and that changes nothing. Full transparency, I want to marry you, and I want to pay him off so he’ll sign off on me adopting Elara as my own.”
Leo looks at me as if I’m the only person in the room. A private, intimate look that lights me on fire, and the thought of him wanting nothing more than to be the dad that Elara has been missing makes my ovaries instantly tingle.
“I don’t want you to be trapped with me, and we can sign any and all documents you want signed. But I don’t want that man anywhere near you or Elara ever again. I’ll enroll her in the best schools, where she has Juniper, and I’ll look after her like she was my own. And if down the line you want another one, I’m open to it. Whatever you want, always.”
Leo licks his lips. “So what I’m asking you right now is to marry me, Briar.”
Dropping to one knee, my breath catches in my throat as he stretches his hand out to Elara, who reaches into the pocket of her dress and pulls out a black velvet box, placing it carefully in Leo’s hand.
My jaw drops.
Leo waits a second before opening it, and I’m greeted by the most beautiful diamond ring I’ve ever laid eyes on. “Leo,” I say, tears starting to fall.
Elara nudges me in the side. “I think you should say yes, mom,” she whispers, and I feel what little control I have left crumble.
Because sure, it’s been less than a year. And sure, it’s been an even shorter time that we’ve actually admitted feelings. But there’s something about this that feels right.
I feel out of control. I feel like I’m flying.
Some of my most favorite things have happened because I’ve been out of control of my own life.
Except I am in control. Leo made sure I knew I could say no. I can say no and walk away and he would still love me .
And I feel safe.
And when I whisper a quiet “yes,” I feel like I’m in a freefall.
Leo smiles, taking the ring out of the box and grabbing my hand.
“But—” I say, tugging my hand back just slightly.
I can hear my brother gasp behind me like the drama queen he is.
“I want you to promise me that this is the last time you use your money to get your way. You buy him off and you’re done. You can get me presents, but not as apologies. You can spend all the money you want, but not to make up for anything, Leo. You use your money to get your way this one more time, and you promise me that it won’t be used as a crutch.”
His green eyes look up at me as understanding sets within them.
“I promise,” he whispers, taking my hand carefully in his and sliding the ring around my finger.
A gentle calmness settles around me, my shoulders relaxing for the first time in what feels like decades.
And when Elara wraps her little arms around me and Leo takes me in his arms, placing a kiss on my forehead, I feel like I’m finally home.
“So,” Owen says, kicking a rock around with his shoe. “You’re happy about this?”
I sigh, wrapping my arms around myself. “Yeah, Owen. I’m really happy.”
He nods, looking around. His fingers thread through his hair. “You know, I know that you have a lot going on that you don’t tell me. I’m sorry that I’ve never pryed.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t want you to know, Owen,” I whisper, placing my hand on his arm.
He sighs. “I know. I just want you to know that I’m here for you. You don’t always have to hide what’s happening. I knew the guy was a piece of shit, I just didn’t know everything. I could have helped.”
“I’m your big sister, I’m the one who's supposed to be helping you,” I tell him sadly.
He rolls his eyes. “That’s not true. You help when you can, no matter who. I’m just asking to be let in next time, okay?”
My heart sinks. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“If it’s any consolation,” Owen smiles. “Leo may be an idiot, and yeah what he did to Isla and I was a bit fucked, but I’ve never seen him like this. You’ve been good for him.” He takes a deep breath. “And he’s been good for you, too.”
“So you’re not upset?”
“From the very start I’ve known that you know what’s best for you. I’ve trusted you. I think the same thing now. But if you’re asking if I’m happy about it? Yes. I’m happy for you.”
“Then that’s all I can ever really ask, right?”
When we return to the apartment we find it absolutely full of people. Some I know, some I don’t know.
I shoot Leo a wary look. “How in the world did you know I was going to say yes?”
“I didn’t,” he shrugs. “If you said no they would have been here for a fake engagement party to continue our fake engagement schtick. ”
“We’ve been fake engaged for quite a while now for a party.”
“Never too late for a party, Sunny.”
I walk through the room, shaking hands and receiving hugs, when I get to Zara, who looks Leo up and down before smiling at him.
I look at her nervously, unsure about how she would react. She was never his biggest fan.
“You’re okay with this?” I ask, her opinion weighing on me.
“He called me two months ago to go over some weird plan he had, Briar. I knew it was coming.”
Shocked, I step back into him. “What?”
She shrugs. “I’ve been okay with it. We went to lunch and he showed me this paper?—”
I look up at him. “Did it happen to be titled How to Prevent a Fumble?”
She laughs and nods. “Yeah, it was.”
Stepping forward, I wrap her in a hug, her arms feeling like a warm blanket. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“I’d do anything for you,” she replies.
Taking a step back, she shoots me one of her dazzling smiles. “Now, let’s talk wedding planning. The girls are over there,” she points across the room where I see Isla, Heidi, Amara and Mila talking excitedly in a circle. “But I do think you have one more person to talk to, first.”
My brows furrow as I follow her gaze behind me, finding my mother.
Wearing a perfectly ironed pantsuit and a perfectly tight bun atop her head, my mother stands perfectly still behind us, her hands folded in front of her.
“Hey,” I tell her. I haven’t talked to my mom in months. Sure, Elara has had calls with her, but I haven’t wanted anything to do with her, and that’s for a reason.
Softening just a touch, my mother looks between Zara and Leo. “I guess a congratulations is in order,” she says stiffly, not bothering to extend her hand.
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Thank you,” I say simply.
She stares at me a little longer before nodding once, turning, and walking back into the crowd. I would ask her where my dad is, but I already know the answer. He’s on a business trip. I’d ask her why she bothered to come, but the truth is, I don’t really care.
Sometimes all you can do is meet people where they are and accept what they give you.