Chapter 9
Panic wasmy friend when I came to laying on the floor of the suite’s bathroom.
I remembered opening the door to let the dress delivery woman in.
Celeste!
I’d caught a glimpse of her as she swung something at my head.
Motherfucking, whore ass, bitch!
I was going to claw her eyes out. I swear. Getting to my feet, I groaned. The room was spinning but not too bad. I could do this. I had to hope it wasn’t too late to get downstairs. I tried the bathroom door. Nothing. It was locked?
I used my fist to bang on the door. But that was useless. We were in the presidential suite. The closest neighbors were already downstairs and at that, there was no way they’d have heard me anyway.
I would get out of here, and when I did, Celeste was going down.
How could I have stopped this? Well, for one, never open the damn door. This was all a cluster of shit. Okay, think, Ella. What could we do? I looked for smoke alarms, and there wasn’t one in here. I guess that made sense as a hot shower would probably set it off. There was no phone. I had zero ideas where my cell was.
I had plenty of bobby pins on hand, but there was no lock to pick.
Someone would miss me, eventually. Right? Had they come looking for me while I was passed out?
I was pacing the floor, fighting back tears with my arms around my stomach, when a knock came to the door.
“Hello!” I rushed to it.
“Ella, it’s Gavin. Are you all right?”
“Yes, but I’m locked in.”
“Hold on, we’ll get you out.”
I could hear them jiggling the handle, but it wasn’t moving on this side.
“Gavin? Get me out of here, please.”
“Ella, I need you to step back; we are going to get you out. Someone has jammed the door handle.”
How had she done that? Fucking Celeste.
It took what felt like years for them to get that door open, but finally, success.
When it opened, I rushed out. “Celeste! Celeste did this. She came in... I’m going to gut her like a fish.”
“Whoa, you might ought to get some clothes first.”
I looked down and fuck, I was only in a slip. “Dammit.” I stormed out into the main part of the suite and found my dress tossed on the floor in a heap. I rushed to it, then back into the room.
“I’ll be right outside the door.”
“Thanks, Gavin. Do we still have time?”
“Yep. We can make a grand entrance.”
I nodded.
“You’ve got this, Ella. One step at a time.”
I got into my dress, without getting tangled up in my haste. My breathing was heavy, my nerves making me shake. I was mad, anxious, and murderous all at the same time. My adrenaline spike was going to have me hurtling down the rabbit hole of lethargy when it wore off. I stepped into my heels, making my inner clutz a promise that if she messed this up for us, I would spike her juice.
Before you say anything—yeah, I know, that made me sound like a nut, but I was working with what I had at the moment.
I opened the door, ready to face down the devil himself.
“Gavin, I’m ready, let’s go.”
“You have blood on your temple.”
“I’m fine. I want her to see it. To see what she did to me before I punch her in her stupid, over Botoxed face.”
He chuckled. Outside in the hall, three other men stood, their arms crossed over their chests. It looked like I was having a whole party with me. My stomach flipped when I got into the elevator. I gave myself a pep talk the entire walk across the lobby. The thump of my heels matched that of my heartbeat.
The ballroom doors opened enough to allow us entry. I watched as Rudy stood on the stage; two women, Celeste and another were having a bidding war. I let them go before I went in further, stepping out of the shadows. My head held high.
“Five million dollars.”
The room went silent. You could have heard a pin drop. The look on Celeste’s face. Oh, that was priceless.
“Five million, going once, going twice. Sold to Ms. Ella Edwards.”
I marched over to the table were Celeste stood, grabbing her clutch.
“Not so fast. Security is waiting on the other side of the doors for you. The cops will be here any minute.”
“Security?”
“Cops.”
“Are they fighting over Rudy Ferguson?”
“That’s his assistant girlfriend in the red dress.”
“The other is his ex. I heard she was back in town.”
I ignored the whispers around us.
“Get out of my way.” Celeste tried her best to storm past me, but my elbow caught her in the stomach.
“That’s for knocking me out. You think you can just take what you want? He loves me. He told you to fuck off. You should have listened.”
“He’s mine.”
“Wrong, bitch. He’s mine. Has been for over a year. Now, you get to go to jail, and I get to go back upstairs with him. I just bought him for a night as it is.”
“You’ll pay for—” She charged me, and I swung, putting all of my might into the hit. She fell back, tumbling over chairs to land on the floor.
Strong arms wrapped around me from behind.
“Are ye all right, love?”
I turned to face him, tears brimming my eyes. “Yes. Now I am.”
He pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “I love ye, so much.” He dropped to a knee, keeping my hand in his. “I was going to do this later, but in light of events, I think it needs to be as public as I can make it. Ella Edwards, ye came into my life when I didn’t know I needed someone. Ye have been the bright spot in my days ever since. Yer sassy, spunky, and adorably clumsy.
“Will ye do me the honor of becoming me wife? I promise before all who are gathered here to always love ye. To treat ye as a woman should be. To let you have the remote and to buy you all the flowers and small animals ye want.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his words.
“Rudy, I love you, too. So much more than I can put into words.”
“There’s only one word I need right now, love.”
He pulled out a ring box, and I gasped at the yellow diamond. The ring was small, elegant, and perfect.
“What do ye say, love?”
“Yes! Hell yes!” He slid the ring on my finger, stood, and bent me back to claim my mouth before a ballroom full of witnesses.
I didn’t care. I wanted everyone to know he was mine, always and forever.
“I was so worried.” Rudy fussed over me. We were in the big tub. The warm water covered us up. The soft scent of lavender filled the room, and for the first time in hours, I was so relaxed, I was blinking. My body wanted to sleep, but not yet. I didn’t want to move from his arms.
“Ye made me so proud tonight. The way ye handled everything. Celeste won’t be back to bother us for a while. I think she learned her lesson.”
“Yeah, I had no choice. I wasn’t going to let her win this stupid game of hers. You are mine, not hers.”
“That I am, love. Come on, yer about to fall asleep. I can’t have ye drowning, now can I? We have a wedding to plan.”
“And a honeymoon.” I grinned.
“Aye. Two weeks of just us. No work, no people. Isolating. Lots of naked isolation.”
“Why, Mr. Ferguson, you’re being mighty cheeky.”
He helped me out of the tub, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “Aye, I am, and ye love it.”
Oh, he had no idea just how much I loved that.
We moved to the bedroom, got into our night clothes, and climbed into bed. His large, warm body curled around me. I closed my eyes, yawning softly. I was so content to just stay here, never moving.
This was what I needed.
Just him.
Everything else was a happy bonus.
That night started a new path for me and Rudy. A more open, responsive relationship that I’d not trade for anything in the world.
He was slowly helping me reprogram myself. I was relearning what it was to be loved and to return that love. I was finally happy in and with my life. For that, I’d forever be grateful that he came into my life.
If you’d have said a year ago, I’d be here, married to the love of my life, I’d have said you were delusional. I’ve never been so happy to be wrong about my future.
With Rudy and his family, our family, by my side, I had all I could ever want or need.
The future held so many things. Untold stories and memories that I would be able to share with our kids, and grandkids, one day.
The rest of our lives, no matter the ups and down, were going to be a ride that I enjoyed wholeheartedly. Until my last breath.