15. Bennett
BENNETT
Audrey is sitting across from my desk with one leg crossed over the other, flipping through a marketing report like nothing in the world has changed when in reality everything is different.
Her father is no longer a threat. My family has taken over the Sterling territory completely. Grant is safe and following the protocol of rehab, and Audrey is safe and no longer needs our protection.
I suck in a breath. I’ve put this off, but I can’t do it any longer. Audrey deserves to make her own decisions.
Knox is on the couch across the room, but I see the way he’s sitting tensely with his shoulders drawn up. He knows what’s about to happen, and he’s no happier about it than I am.
Audrey looks up from the papers. “What?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
She narrows her eyes. “You both have been staring at me for five minutes.”
Knox laughs. “What’s new? We’re always staring at you.”
Audrey smiles and sets the papers down. “Okay, seriously. What’s going on?”
I lean back in my chair and decide to just blurt it out. “The threat is over.”
She stares back at me and then slowly, her smile starts to fade. “Okay.”
I continue. “Victor can’t get to you anymore.”
She hasn’t asked about her dad, and we haven’t told her, but she has to know that we would never let him go. She nods slowly.
I bring my hands together in my lap. “Grant is getting help. Your apartment lease is handled. You have money coming in now.”
Her forehead creases. “Okay.”
I take a breath. “You’re free.”
She tilts her head and looks at me. “What does that mean? I’m free?”
I blow out a breath. I’m so tense, my shoulders hurt from it. “It means that you are safe, and you can now make your own decisions. You can live the life you want.”
She looks between Knox and me. “So you’re both just letting me go?”
My whole body tenses. “That’s not what I said.”
She nods. “It kind of is.”
I stand and walk around the desk, and Audrey gets to her feet too. I stop a few feet away from her. I want to touch her, but I know if I do, I’m going to beg her to choose us. Instead, I ask her. “What do you want, Audrey?”
She looks between us. “What do you two want?”
I almost laugh. “You know what we want.”
Her forehead creases. “Do I? I mean, from where I’m standing, you’re telling me I can leave.”
I shake my head. “I never said that. I just want you to know that the choice is yours.”
She points at the door. “So if I wanted to leave, you would just let me?”
Knox and I both shout at the same time, “No!”
We look at each other, and I shake my head.
“I mean, yes. Of course, we would let you go, but we would probably follow you. We would spend the rest of our days trying to convince you to come back.” I suck in a breath and count to five.
“Baby, you spent too long having someone else tell you what you could and couldn’t do. I won’t do that to you.”
Audrey looks down at the floor for a second, and when she raises her head again, something in her expression has changed. “So I get to choose.”
“Yes.”
She takes a step toward me and holds her hand out to Knox. He grabs it and comes with her. “I choose you. Both of you.”
I pull her to me and hold on to her like I never want to let her go. I kiss her, showing her just how much it means that she chose us. As soon as I let her go, Knox draws her into his arms and does the same.
When they break the kiss, she’s breathless and looks between Knox and me. “So what happens now?”
I look at Knox, and he grins.
Audrey looks between us suspiciously. “What?”
I smile down at her. “Now we build the life you chose.”