Chapter 44
Will hauled his favorite leather sofa across the billiard room and placed it near the windows where I’d started to paint again. The room’s traffic created a lot of distractions, but it had the best north-facing windows in the house.
Before leaving the bedroom that morning, we’d had some heavy conversations.
He told me how the Green brothers had been paid by Jack Lewis to spy on us.
We agreed to focus on connecting our individual lives to move forward together. No shutting the other one out. No secrets. No holding back. No looking back.
Will and I might never be free, but we could create our own family legacy and put an end to the pain and loss our fathers left behind. And we would do it in the UK.
Living in England suited me, and Lissie totally loved it.
I put down my paint brush for a minute.
“Will, what’s the status of John’s education?”
He answered without looking up from The Wall Street Journal.
“He’s taking his gap year before university. We accepted an offer for him to attend Loughborough and play on their football team.”
“Wow. He must be pretty good.”
He lowered the paper enough for me to see his smirky grin.
“Of course.”
“I think it’s time to get Lissie enrolled in school,” I said.
“I agree. I’ll tell my mother to take care of it. She’s familiar with the process.”
As he went back to his stack of newspapers, I couldn’t help but think how any space we shared would have its own unique scent, one created by his newspaper ink and the spike lavender I used with my paints.
I picked up my brush and started blending shades of green.
“Football is John’s way out. He’ll never have to fight outside the gym.”
“We’ll have to guide him. He’ll still want to fight.”
“I hope not, Will.”
Green paint smudged into some white, and I cursed at it.
“What’s the matter, baby?”
“It’s nothing. Neptune is being a little difficult, that’s all.”
“Neptune?”
“Remember the old green fishing boat back in Stonington?”
He took a drink of his coffee and then came over to stand behind me.
“I remember it well. You sketched it quite a lot. Christ, it’s perfect.”
Will’s eyes burned with an idea.
“We’ll gift it to the owner of the seafood house,” he added.
I sucked in a nervous gasp.
“But I don’t do that with my art. None of my works have ever been displayed.”
He grinned and put a soft kiss on my lips, making my heart race just a little.
“Your talent is remarkable, Elle. It will be displayed. We’ll put our mark on the place.”
Our mark. That was him taking back my freedom.
“We’ll see. Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask…when will Thomas start working with you?”
“Soon. He’s preparing now.”
I looked up at him and smiled.
“I’m glad you’ll have his help, because if you dare leave me alone all the time, I’ll definitely hunt you down.”
“You would, I do believe that. We’ll figure it out, baby. You are my priority. And Lissie.”
“What if she’s not Ethan’s, Will? Then what happens?”
That morning we had decided to get Lissie’s paternity tested using Will’s DNA. He shared enough common markers with Ethan to help confirm it.
“You have nothing to worry about,” he said.
In my heart, I knew that.
“Elle, just look at her. Watch how my mum looks at her. She’s a Hastings.”
“Your mother knows?”
“It’s rather hard to miss, and Ethan did talk to her. With my mother involved and the nanny, we’ll have quite a lot of help. I don’t want us managing Lissie round the clock, Elle. I understand she needs you, but she now has a whole family, and she’ll want for nothing. I want you with me.”
Will stared down at me, waiting for an obedient response, for me to agree with him, but I couldn’t think it through so quickly.
“Don’t fuck with me, Elle.”
But really, I had nothing to think about, because I was just as obsessed with him. I lifted my chin and gave him my approval.
“I love Lissie, and I can see you do too. I know this family will surround her with so much love, so yes…you come first, Will. Our relationship needs to be our priority.”
He exhaled, his broad shoulders relaxing.
“Lissie’s your family, and she should have your name,” I added.
In a flash, Will had me on my feet, and I crashed into him. He pressed my head against his chest, keeping his hand on my head to hold me there.
“You are my family. She’s our niece, and it’s Ethan’s name she’ll have, not mine.”
Deep down, I’d known my choice of words would trigger him.
“It’s you and me, Elle. I want to hear you say it right now.”
As I listened to his heart beating, I remembered how coastal thunderstorms in the night had soothed me when I was a child. Being in his arms, hearing his strong heartbeat, it made me feel that way again.
“It’s you and me,” I whispered.
“You lock down on that, baby. It’s all that matters…without it, there’s no family, there’s nothing at all. Understand?”
“Yes.”
He pulled my face up to his and kissed me. A soft kiss, one meant for reassurance, but it quickly bloomed with desire. He pushed his growing erection against my stomach, and then broke the kiss, leaving me breathless. One corner of his mouth twitched before a striking grin lit up his face.
“I have something to show you,” he said.
I wiggled against him.
“I’ve seen that before, you know.”
His throat rumbled, and he kissed me again.
My body absorbed his touch and soaked in his taste, his scent, even the sound of his voice. It all produced a high that made me so desperate for more of him…like some damn junkie.
“Come with me,” he said.
He led me through the great hall and up the staircase. When we got to his bedroom, he pulled me past the door, but I tugged on his arm.
“Will, just take me to your room.”
He grinned and swept me up into his arms. As I was about to complain, he shut my mouth with a kiss. At the end of the corridor, he pushed open a door I’d never noticed and stepped into a main suite I had no idea existed.
“Welcome home, baby.”
“What?”
“Our separate rooms are too small. We need more space to be together.”
“But Will?—”
He put me down, narrowing his eyes while staring into mine.
“—Elle, you’ll give me this,” he commanded.
I shook my head as if it would clear my stupid thoughts. God, why would I even hesitate? We already lived together. He’d already made me promise to marry him.
It caught me by surprise, I supposed, because when we ran to the UK, I told myself it was for Lissie’s sake and to bide time, to find information and get vengeance.
But the truth now slapped me in the face as I looked into his eyes. I’d fallen in love with him before coming to England, and I came because I wanted to be with him.
As clichéd as it might have been, he’d had me at hello. His gravelly, accented “hello” on the pier had unsettled the silence in my soul and changed me.
I studied his eyes. So beautiful. No fire, only love. And then determination—his ginormous ego would fight me on this until he won.
Overwhelmed by a surge of emotion, I swallowed hard.
I’d gone over it in my head more than once. My feelings for him were insane, irrevocable, and I never wanted to be without him.
Those thoughts made me smile, and I dragged my fingertips over his scruffy jawline.
“You’re right, this makes sense for us. I want to be in this room with you.”
Will smiled, taking my hand, kissing my fingers, and then he led me through the suite.
First up was a small living room with a plush sectional and a round wooden table. Built in shelving surrounded the original fireplace. A wet bar in one corner had cabinets with etched glass doors displaying shiny crystal barware. Bottles of Will’s favorite whisky and a big ass espresso machine sat on top of the marble countertop.
From there he took me into our bedroom, where the flowing, blue velvet draperies framed a view of the English Channel.
I might even see the lights in France on a clear night.
Will’s masculine desk had been moved in, and there was a king size bed covered with luxurious layers of white and blue bedding.
I stared, my jaw hanging, and looked around our dreamy bedroom.
As Will beamed with satisfaction, he opened another door and nudged me inside.
I turned and turned in awe. We were inside a posh dressing room. Not just a walk-in closet, but an entire room with its own little fireplace, antique settee, and pretty crystal chandelier. On one of the shelves sat a glass box displaying Pearl. My eyes stung with unshed tears. The old gun didn’t really mean much to me, but what he’d done with it meant everything.
He put his arms around me from behind.
“The gun is a lovely family heirloom, baby, meant to be treasured, not fired.”
“Will, I don’t even know what to say. This is all just…it’s magical.”
His breath hit my neck. His arms tightened around me.
“You’ll fill it in time.”
I spun around to see his face, lifted on my tiptoes, and nipped at his earlobe.
“So that’s your trick. You build an irresistible dressing room and temp me to fill it.”
He pulled me in with a grin on his face and squeezed my ass with both hands.
“Whatever it takes to tie you down. There’s one more space for you to see.”
Holding both my hands, he pulled me back through the first room and stopped in front of another door. He opened it, and natural light flooded the space. The north wall was mostly windows. A vintage easel with a blank canvas stood near them. A tall project table with supplies anchored the center of the room.
Hugging me from behind again, Will kept my body against his while resting his chin on my shoulder.
“It’s the lighting and the privacy you wanted.”
He’d blown my mind, leaving me speechless…the thought he’d put into that incredible little art studio…just for me.
“We’ll change anything in the suite that doesn’t suit you, Elle. I want you to be comfortable.”
I whirled around to see his eyes. At first my voice only squeaked, but then it came back.
“Will, everything is perfect. It’s everything I could ever ask for, and I’m so grateful you put it together for us. I know I’m going to be happy here with you.”
I hugged his neck.
“You deserve more,” he said.
“No, I don’t. And you were only supposed to protect me, not give me the world.”
A warm smile hit his mouth as he pushed hair off my face.
“I plan to do both.”
Then he pressed his lips to my forehead, and I shivered. The backside of his fingers brushed over my cheek.
“Elle, you did say you’ll marry me.”
And I’d meant it when I said the words to him. But we hadn’t talked about it since, not even when we were making our plans earlier that morning. It hadn’t occurred to me that he might want to get married right away. Nervousness cut into my stomach.
“It’s too soon, right? It’s too soon for us to get married.”
“No, baby, it’s not.”
His lips grazed over mine once, twice.
“I’ve loved you for so long, you know that. I need this. I want you to belong to me.”
“But I do. I’m already yours.”
“I want you to be my wife. I need to know you’re not going anywhere.”
I could hardly breathe.
“Will, it’s just that?—”
But before I could say another word, he gripped the back of my head and aggressively kissed me.
“You and me, Elle, remember? All I have, everything I’ve done…my life…it means nothing without you.”
He kissed me hard again, but then quickly calmed himself down and kissed me with tenderness.
He was intoxicating, his kisses always like velvet, even when they were rough, and when he kissed me that way, when he spoke in that soft but commanding tone, I literally forgot my senses and forgave his brutal behavior.
We stayed in that moment, letting go of everything, losing ourselves.
I moaned against his mouth. He growled into mine.
And then, after we caught our breath, he pulled out the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.