Chapter Sixteen
Somewhere between congratulating us on our marriage, my father did exactly what I expected and turned the speech into a retirement one.
Not exactly how I pictured my father-of-the-bride speech to go.
Then again, none of what was happening was how I pictured my life going.
Maybe I should have done more to stop Laurence from leaving. I thought we were happy, that we were on track to spend the rest of our lives together. We talked about it plenty of times. We discussed our white-picket-fence lives with four or five blonde and red-haired children that he wanted more than anything else.
He used to say how excited he was to start a family with me.
The week before he ended it, he told me he wanted to start a family immediately. Maybe it was my reaction that scared him off. I told him I wasn’t quite ready for that, but I was open to discussing it again in a few years.
I believed him when he told me that he was okay with that. I believed him when he said we had all the time in the world, and he’d wait a couple years because we had forever together.
The following week, he walked through my door and handed me a box of my things.
So much for forever.
“It comes with a heavy heart to say that as of the first of September, I will be stepping down as CEO of Reynolds Regality Jewels. It’s not been an easy decision. However, I know that my company and my entire life’s work is being left in capable hands.” He was getting weaker, his breathing more unsteady. “My daughter and son will be finally doing what they were born to do.”
Born to do?
I was as much born into being a CEO of a company as I was born into being a damn koala bear.
“Flynn, my son, will step into the role as the new CEO when he graduates from NYU next year,” he kept talking. “Whereas, my darling daughter, Evie, will act as interim CEO as of Monday. She is the shining jewel of my life, and I know my legacy, ladies and gentlemen, is safe in her hands.”
Flashes of cameras went off, and bustles of energetic voices flew through one ear and out another.
And just like that, I was acting CEO of the biggest diamond and jewelry supplier.
A CEO who was married to a man who was trying to learn to simply tolerate her.
Evelyn Reynolds—no, sorry, Evelyn Dade. CEO and majorly out of her damn league.
Fuuuucccck.
Guzzling down a couple more glasses of champagne definitely helped take the sharp edges of the night away.
My father left shortly after his announcement. He simply dropped the massive bombshell on the crowd, and then left before he could lay witness to the destruction.
Flynn also vanished from sight, making him as reliable as a chocolate matchstick.
People flooded towards me, their questions knocking into me wave after wave. Some of them wanted to shake my hand, others were already trying to book meetings to discuss working together, while the searing looks of disbelief and doubt nipped at my exposed skin.
Was this how it was going to go? Me left standing alone, with neither my brother nor father there to help guide me?
In two more days, I’d be taking over the company for a year.
In two days’ time, my sole purpose in life was about keeping my father’s legacy alive.
When did it get so damn hot in here?
“Did you know he was going to do that?” Lola appeared after the last batch of faces walked away. She replaced my empty glass with a crystal glass of bourbon. “Pretty ballsy of him to do it on your ‘wedding day’ sort of thing.”
“I’m a CEO.”
“I mean, congratulations? Gosh, I can’t believe you’re going to run the company.”
My mouth went dry. The material of my dress was suddenly too tight. “I’m a CEO.”
Lola pointed to my glass. “Drink that. I’ll get you another one.”
My brows pinched together. “I’m a CEO. A CEO… what the actual fuck am I meant to do? I don’t know how to run a company… I can’t do this…”
Lola’s hand grabbed mine. “You’ve got this. Just breathe. Let me grab you another drink. Maybe that cute physiotherapist I was talking to has a secret stash of muscle relaxants on him. Those puppies will work wonders on you.”
“I can’t breathe…” I gasped for air. Reality slammed into me tenfold. I needed to get out. I needed to run. “I need... I need to get out of here. I need air…”
Run where?
Who the hell knew or cared—whatever it took to stop my mind spinning out of control. I’d been so focused on organizing the party and finding some common ground with Jaxon that I fooled myself into not thinking about my impending fate.
CEO. Father’s legacy. Married.
What if I failed? What if it all blew up in my face? What if I let everyone down?
What if…
Heat spread across the nape of my neck. “Take a deep breath in through your nose.” Jaxon’s steady voice infiltrated the chaos in my mind. “Deep breath for me, just like that. And exhale out through your mouth. Again.”
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Jaxon’s thumb rubbed slowly up and down the vertebrae of my neck. “Just like that. Once more for me… good girl.”
Unable to stop myself, I leaned back into his touch. The deepness of his voice and the praising words sent a ripple through my core. Light touches graced the side of my neck, fluttering over my uneven pulse, my nipples hardening as the words good girl fell from his lips once more.
“Thank you,” I exhaled. “I don’t know what happened. I think I’ve had too much champagne. Or maybe some bad shrimp.”
Jaxon’s breath tickled my ear. “Tell me what you need.”
To get the hell out of here. Run far away and not look back. To find a way to turn back the clock and to stop my father from getting sick. To find a way to convince him that putting me in charge was not the right answer.
I said none of that.
“Do you wish to leave?” he pushed. “Say the word, and we will walk right out those doors, douceur.”
“Again with that name.” I offered an attempt at a smile. “You really need to stop calling me that.”
“Evelyn.” His jaw twitched. The pressure of his fingers on my neck tightened. “You don’t have to stay here if you don’t want to.”
“Yes, I do. I can’t just leave.”
He exhaled heavily through his nose. “Why the hell not?”
“It’s rude for the hostess to abandon her party. We’re the bride and groom.” Amazing how those two little words felt so detached from reality. “We can’t just walk out on our event. It’s not the proper thing to do. Think about what everyone will say.”
“Fuck proper,” Jaxon said with a devilish smile. The two dimples forming in his cheeks caught me by surprise. “Just for once, in this one moment, do something for yourself. Screw what everyone else thinks, fuck what anyone else will say. Do what you want, not what is expected of you.”
Rules were invented for a reason. They kept the world in order, prevented chaos, and created boundaries. Breaking the rules was a thrill for sure. Most of my days in university were spent pushing the limits of the rules and teetering on the line of rebellion.
But I never crossed the line.
Dad always called me perfect. His perfect daughter. His perfect easy-going child. He raised me to appreciate the life he fought tooth and nail to build for us.
I followed the rules and social norms of our lives because I feared being a disappointment, of no longer being perfect in my father’s eyes. He’d given me so much my entire life, it felt only right to do whatever I could to keep his life stress-free.
Be the perfect daughter, no matter what.
Until now.
“I don’t want to be here.” I turned to fully face Jaxon. “I want to leave right now.”
“Your wish is my command.” His arm snaked around my waist, and before I knew what was happening, my feet were no longer on the ground. Scrambling to smooth my dress, I quickly flung my arms around Jaxon’s neck as he carried me across the gallery. My lips were inches from his neck. A black-inked line peeked out from his collar, daring me to follow it and explore below his shirt.
From an outsider looking in, the act was solely innocent. The way he carried me resembled the moment a groom carried his bride across the threshold. A couple guests laughed, a few whistled suggestively, while the oh-so-familiar feeling of judgmental eyes followed us out the gallery door.
Oxygen expanded in my lungs, and the uncertainty of making the right decision snuck up like an unwelcome visitor. I hoped, despite Jaxon’s face of sheer indifference and my beaming warm cheeks, that those watching on thought we were just two people in love who couldn’t wait to leave and be alone together.
Inside the gallery was a whole other tropical climate compared to outside. Cold air nipped my naked arms. When my feet finally touched the ground, Jaxon’s hands lingered on my hips. A strap of my dress fell from my shoulder and his hurricane hues flashed as if struck by lightning.
“Thank you.” I fixed the strap, noting the way his pupils widened, tracking the movement. “I’ll ring Saunders. He said he’d be on standby to take us home.”
“No need. I had Benny drive over the bike.” Jaxon began to walk around the back of the gallery. “Told him to park it back here for whenever I needed an escape route.”
“You were planning on escaping?”
“Like I said, I don’t like crowds.”
There, just like he said, was his motorcycle waiting to whisk him away.
What a complete asshole. He was planning on leaving me and I bet a hundred freaking dollars he would have done it without saying a single word.
He took two helmets out of the seat compartment.
“You brought a spare helmet.”
He handed me the spare while he pulled his own over his head. “Do you think I would have left without you? What kind of husband do you take me for?”
The fake kind.
As if he could read my thoughts, he took the helmet back from me. Tucking my hair behind my ears, my breath faltered when warmth traced the shells of my ears. The softness of his touch compared to the darkness swirling around him was polarizing. He finally placed the helmet over my head. “Friends, remember? Last time I checked, douceur, friends don’t leave each other behind, non?”
I nodded, unable to form any coherent words, when he pulled on his leather gloves and straddled the bike. His suit, the black helmet, the gloves, and his thick, strong legs—damn.
He was pure and utter devastation.
“Fancy a ride, or do you still want to call Saunders?” His eyes creased with amusement before slipping down his visor.
Practically throwing myself onto the bike, I hiked my dress up and slipped down to wrap my arms around his waist.
I was intoxicated with his scent—coffee, midnight, and spiced musk.
The rumbles of the bike sent a delightful shudder through my core. Jaxon pulled my bare legs forward, hitching my dress up further. My chest pressed flat against his back, making the material of my dress rub against my pebbling nipples. His back stiffened when my barely covered pussy pushed into him and coaxed a moan from me.
He kicked off, one hand steering and the other resting on my knee pressing into his side. “I was wrong.” Jaxon’s voice sounded through my helmet. “Turns out, there is a more divine sound than your singing. You’re even more beautiful when you moan, ma douceur.”
Of course he heard me, because why would the world suddenly start giving me a freaking break all of a sudden?
I gasped. “Pay attention to the road, you pervert.”
A dark, sultry chuckle echoed through my ears.
Maybe it was the thrills of the vibrations or being this close to Jaxon and feeling him touch me, or possibly it was the way he calmed me down and asked what I wanted for once—whatever the reason, for the first time, I felt like we stood a chance at making the one year together work.