28. Twenty-Eight

I panicked.

Deep down, I knew I did the right thing by leaving Zach to talk with his father. Once I was away from him, though, the things Ryder had said to me sat heavy in my soul.

They were looking for a new wife for Zach? Just like that?

Taking the information I’d uncovered to Ryder was the right move. I didn’t want to involve Zach because I figured it would be too hard for him to accept. By going straight to his father, I’d hoped—fruitlessly of course—that Ryder would do the right thing. Instead, I found them plotting against me.

Zach wouldn’t do that.

My inner voice told me over and over again that Zach wouldn’t do what his father was suggesting. We’d been getting along so well that I was debating telling Zach that I wanted to stay married. I’d thought—was that a mistake?—that he’d been thinking the same thing. What if I’d been wrong, though? What if this had all been a way for Zach to move up in his father’s estimation and I was about to be left in the dust?

I had to get out. That’s all I could think about. I couldn’t be here when Zach returned because hearing that he’d decided to move on was going to crush me.

That fear had me throwing a few things in a small suitcase—I would have Rex collect the rest of it at a later date—and racing toward the door, my suitcase rolling behind me. I was quick when throwing open the door and I hurried through it, only to smack into Rex, who was apparently coming to check on me.

My brother went low, catching me around the waist, and threw me over his shoulder. He was athletic, so he deftly caught the handle of the suitcase and pulled it behind him as he carried me back inside the penthouse.

“I don’t think so,” he said as I fought against him.

My fists on his back were inefficient, and when he dumped me on the couch and fixed me with an “are you kidding me” look, my face was flushed and I was terrified that I was near tears.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I looked up at him, debating, then I did the one thing he wasn’t prepared for, and burst into tears.

“Oh, crap!” Rex’s face went ashen. It was one thing to fight with me—we’d done that our whole lives—but tears he couldn’t deal with. “Livvie, no.” He held his hands out at his sides, helpless in the face of my tears.

“I need to go,” I said as I swiped at my cheeks. “I can’t be here when he tells me.”

Rex’s voice was gentle as he sat on the couch next to me. “Tells you what?”

“That he’s going with his father’s plan and he wants a divorce.”

“What’s his father’s plan?”

“There’s some woman he thinks will be a better match for Zach. Her name is Dawber. I really hope that’s her last name because I don’t want to feel sorry for her when she steals my husband.” Had I just said that out loud? Good grief, I was pathetic. Just the worst of the worst.

“Um…” Rex scratched his cheek. “If you’re talking about Lisa Dawber, I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

“Ryder said?—”

“Ryder says a lot of things,” Rex snapped. “Very few of them come to pass. Just … take a breath.”

I stared at him, annoyance bubbling up. I did what he said, however, and sucked in a calming breath. My entire chest rattled when I exhaled. “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” I said in a low voice. “I didn’t think… I didn’t know…”

“That you would fall in love with him?” Rex asked. His eyes were kind now.

I pressed my lips together and shook my head. I didn’t want to start crying again, but it felt like an inevitability.

“I knew,” Rex offered. “I mean… I didn’t know at the start,” he added when I shot him an incredulous look. “I knew fairly quickly, though. I saw the way you guys were acting with one another.”

“We were acting like children.”

“What’s that saying? There’s a thin line between love and hate? You guys were acting like that because you were fighting your feelings. I thought maybe you would get through it, that maybe it was just mutual crushes getting in the way. It was obvious it was way more than that at a certain point, though.”

“It was just supposed to be sex,” I sputtered.

Rex cringed. “Oh, see, I’m not equipped for this part of the conversation. I don’t want to hear that.”

“I didn’t mean to catch feelings,” I continued. “Now I’m going to be crushed for the rest of my life. I’m never going to want to get out of bed again. I’m going to turn into one of those mean spinsters who looks at people in love and spits on them.”

“And there she is.” Rex’s smile was back, and this time it lit up his entire face.

“What?” I swiped at the fresh round of tears cascading down my cheeks.

“You’ve always been dramatic,” Rex supplied. “Like … ridiculously so. Even when you got older, I still saw flashes of it. I’m glad to know you’re still in there.” He tapped the end of my nose, which only served to frustrate me more.

“Now you listen to me.” He adjusted himself so he was leaning in front of me and I had no choice but to look into his eyes. “You’re not getting replaced. I’m not sure what’s going on in Ryder’s office, but I guarantee they’re not talking about replacing you with Lisa Dawber.”

“Ryder said?—”

He brutally cut me off. “From what I understand, Ryder isn’t in a place to say anything right now. Zach promised to fill me in later—once I got his sisters to his father’s office, which happened a lot faster than he was anticipating because you told me to get them there—and I believe right now they’re plotting the best way to deal with the fallout of Ryder being a big, fat embezzler.”

I was thrown. “But … no.” I couldn’t get my hopes up. That would only serve to crush me more. “You should’ve seen the look on Zach’s face. He was worried about hurting me. That means he’s going to go along with his father’s plan.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Rex slid his arm around my shoulders and tugged me in tightly at his side. “I need you to listen to me. Don’t get caught up in the nonsense that’s spinning around in your head right now. Just … listen. Do you think you can do that?”

I didn’t respond. I just stared.

“I’m going to take that as a yes.” He rested his cheek against my temple. “Zach loves you.”

My response was automatic. “No, he doesn’t.”

“I told you to listen.” Rex made a growling noise. “I don’t want to be talking about this because it freaks me out, but I’m a good brother, so I’m going to take one for the team.” He took a deep, cleansing breath. “Zach loves you and he wants to be with you.”

“How can you possibly think that?”

“Because it’s true,” a voice said from the doorway.

I jerked my eyes in that direction and found Zach had somehow entered the penthouse without me hearing him. I’d been so caught up in my own tears, my own terror, that he’d managed to slip under the radar.

He looked tired, I realized. If I didn’t know better, I would think he’d been up for days at this point. A soft smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he regarded me through his weariness. When his gaze strayed to the suitcase, the smile disappeared. “Were you going somewhere?”

“I caught her making a run for it.” Rex dropped a kiss on top of my head and extricated himself from me. “She’s a little worked up.”

“She should join the club.” Zach rolled the suitcase back and forth, then shoved it toward Rex. “Put this back in our bedroom, please.” When his eyes landed on me. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Rex wordlessly took the suitcase away. Zach didn’t say anything while he was gone. He just stared at me, a myriad of emotions flitting through his eyes. When Rex returned, Zach dragged his attention to my brother. “They need you in my father’s office. Some papers are being drawn up, and my father is going to have to sign them. We’re going to need you there to make sure he doesn’t try to back out.”

I was confused, but I didn’t say anything.

“What’s happening?” Rex asked.

“My father is out. It seems he knocked up one of his many conquests, and he’s been stealing money to pay her so she’ll remain quiet. It’s a whole big thing, and I still don’t have all the details.” Zach dragged a hand through his hair. “It seems my mother owns the majority of Stone Group stock, though. We’ve given my father an ultimatum. He has to resign today and use his own stock to repay the money he’s stolen.”

I was dumbfounded. “Is he going to do that?”

“It’s either that or we call the police. It’s happening today … and we will follow through.” His eyes were clear when they locked with mine. “Rex, I need you to go to my father’s office and stand firm with my mother and sisters. I’ll be there as soon as I can. The lawyers are drawing up the paperwork, and I want to be there when he signs it.”

“You’re going to need a notary,” Rex noted.

“Three,” Zach corrected. “I don’t want my father coming back complaining it wasn’t legal in three months.”

“I’ll handle it,” Rex promised. He stopped at the door and looked back at me. “Are you guys going to be okay?”

“We’re going to be fine,” Zach promised. “Livvie will be with me when I come back to the office.”

Well, that was presumptuous of him. I remained silent, though.

“Got it.” Rex winked at me before disappearing.

As soon as the door was shut, Zach moved in front of me and planted his hands on his waist. “You were just going to leave?”

I shrank in the face of his unhappiness. “It seemed the most prudent thing to do. You are getting another wife after all.”

“Why would you possibly believe that?” He looked frustrated more than worried. “I mean … have the past two months not shown you who I want to be with?”

I searched for a response. It wasn’t easy. “It was just supposed to be sex.” Even saying it felt weird. Sure, that had been the agreement, but we’d gone so far beyond that.

“Livvie, even when we said it was just sex, I knew it was more.” He opened his mouth, then shut it. He seemed determined as he dropped to his knees in front of me and gathered my hands. “I should’ve told you sooner.”

“Told me what?”

“I love you.”

My heart seized, and the tears were back, unbidden.

“Don’t. Please, don’t.” He used his thumbs to catch my tears. “We were playing a game, and I kept telling myself just to say it. In my head, I called it the Husband-and-Wife game. I wanted you to be the one to break first.”

“I wanted you to break first,” I protested.

“I know.” He laughed. “I thought we had time. I was afraid if I told you how I felt that you would balk and run away. I knew you felt the same way—I saw it every time you looked at me—but I couldn’t let myself believe.”

“Why?”

“Because … you’re everything I’ve ever wanted. Like … everything. You smooth over edges I didn’t even know were rough. When you smile, you light up my entire world. You make me want to be a better man.”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. He was saying everything I’d wanted him to say and more. “You were already a good man.”

“I want to believe I was getting there, that I didn’t need you to do it. The truth is, though, before you came into my life I was searching. I didn’t know what I was searching for, but it became clear just as soon as you entered my life. You were the piece I was missing.”

“But … your father said?—”

“I don’t give a shit what my father said.” Zach turned fierce. “I care about this.” He gripped my hands again. “I care about us. There’s a lot that’s going to be happening with the Stone Group for the next few months. There’s going to be some upheaval. I’m going to have to be involved.”

“Are you taking over?”

He hesitated. “We’re coming up with a plan for that. My mother and sisters are going to be attacking the problem as a group, with me of course. We’re all going to be working together.”

“That’s good.” I meant it. “You guys have a lot to overcome. Your father pitted you against one another, and you lost a lot of time together because of him. It’s not too late to make up for that time.”

“I always thought they were out to get me,” he admitted. “My father instilled that fear in me, and I hate him for it. Weirdly, it turns out I hated him for a lot of other things all along, but I couldn’t admit it until today.”

“And why do you hate him today?”

“Because he was more than willing to hurt you even though I told him his plan was never going to happen.” He squeezed my hands, his gaze searching. “Livvie, before you showed up, I told him it didn’t matter what he thought. It only mattered what I felt. I don’t want another wife.”

I believed him. There was just one problem. “But … you might need a partnership to shore up Stone Group if he’s done more than we realize.”

“No, I don’t. You’re the only partner I need. The only one I want. You can help us go through the finances. You’ll be able to tell us what he did and if we need to fix something. You’ve already fixed my heart. You might as well fix the casino, too.”

I sucked in a breath. “You want me to stay with you?”

“Livvie, I never want you away from my side. I want you with me in the business … and this penthouse … and eventually a house. I want you to be my partner forever. I want you by my side for all of it. There’s never going to be anybody else for me.” He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you more than I ever thought possible.”

My heart felt so big I was convinced it was going to burst through my chest. “You really want that?”

“I do. I’ve wanted that since the beginning. I might not have realized it when Batman was dragging us through the vows, but I knew it by the time Robin joined the fray and asked me if I wanted a ‘Holy Matrimony, Batman’ good time.”

I didn’t want to laugh, but I couldn’t help myself. “I love you, too.” It came out in a rasp. “The thing is, I’ve always loved you. Even when I was fourteen and wearing braces I loved you. I think I knew when you proposed this idea that it was my one chance of making you love me back. I’m afraid I’ve boxed you into a corner, though. What if you decide three months from now that this isn’t the life you want?”

“Livvie, this is always the life I wanted.” He pulled me tightly against him. “Why do you think I hung around your house so much as a kid? I always knew you had a better life than me. I want to make this life together. You and me. Forever.”

A shuddering sigh escaped. “That’s what I want too.”

“Yeah?” He tapped my chin to get me to look up into his eyes. “Say it.”

“Say what? I love you? I do.”

“I know you love me. I love you too. Say the other part.”

I was confused. “What part?”

“Tell me I’m the only husband you’ll ever want and need.”

“Do you really not know that?”

He laughed. “I know it. I still want to hear it. You and I aren’t good with things that aren’t laid out for us. You’re the only wife I’m ever going to want. This is real. It has been for a long time now. Just tell me you feel the same way.”

I didn’t hesitate. He’d been vulnerable first—not that it was necessary—and I wanted to do the same for him. “You’re all I’m ever going to want.”

Now it was his turn to sigh in shaky delight. “Good.” He molded his lips to mine and sucked the oxygen out of my lungs with his kiss. It wasn’t dirty—that was still to come—but it was exactly what I needed. When he pulled back, he looked flushed and a bit annoyed. “I would like to take you to bed and shut out the world for a few days. We have to evict my father first, though.”

I smirked. “And you want me there for that?”

“Didn’t I just say I wanted you there for everything?”

“I was just checking.” I cupped his cheeks. “Forever?”

“And always,” he confirmed.

That was enough for me. I’d finally gotten everything I ever wanted.