Chapter 66

JASPER

" D id you miss me?" Harper asked. If she only knew how fucking badly I miss her anytime she wasn't near me. I missed her before I met her, I just didn't know it. These last few months have been perfect. Every day I fall even more madly in love with her. All her flaws and all her imperfections are what make her fucking perfect.

I got home from work today, and I looked around the house. Harper was still in her meeting. The house felt so empty. I knew it wouldn't be long before she would be back but still, there was a sadness here. That's when I knew I needed her for the rest of my life. I made some calls and had one thousand red roses delivered. and lit every damn candle I could find on such short notice. I had one thought in my head.

My cell rang as I poured her a glass of champagne, it was the front desk. I asked them to call my cell, to avoid accidentally spoiling the gift when it arrived.

"Yes," I barked down the phone.

"Mr. Whitlock, your package has arrived."

"Yes, please bring it up." I finished, before ending the call and tossing my phone to the table. I gestured for Harper to stay put, offering her the freshly poured champagne. She smiled appreciatively and took a sip as she settled onto the love seat, perfectly positioned to enjoy the cityscape, now illuminated by millions of twinkling lights. I had already placed her couch blanket outside, anticipating her desire for it, once the sun had set and the night breeze picked up.

Walking towards the elevator I realized my palms were sweating. The doorman was about to bring up the final piece of the grand gesture I was about to make. Praying it all goes well I started to rehearse in my head, when the ping of the doors pulled me from my pool of nerves I was already fucking swimming in.

The doorman Handed me a black bag and hurried back on his way before I could thank or tip him. I guess I made an impression earlier when I anxiously directed them on how to deliver it and demanded we not be disturbed more than necessary.

I walked back to where Harper was sitting, engrossed in her book on the Kindle app on her phone. She noticed me standing admiring her peaceful expression and closed the app. She patted the seat next to her calling me over but I had other plans. I shook my head with a sly smirk and gestured for her to come to me. She did as I asked. I rewarded her with a gentle kiss on her lips then turned leading her to the dining room.

The entire table was covered in bouquets of roses and petals leaving just enough room for our already-plated meal. I had it delivered just before she arrived.

Still covered by the metal bells, she couldn't see that it was her favorite meal. I ordered the same thing for her one of the first nights she was here and she ate it all and even finished mine too, I don't think she realized it and I never said anything.

The faces she made as she sucked the sauce from her shrimp cocktail and the sounds she made as she enjoyed every bite, were so satisfying. I just sat back and enjoyed the sight of her finally letting go. Things are so different now and I'm grateful for that. The trust she has instilled in me is a true fucking honor one I will never take for granted.

I pulled her chair out for her and grabbed the napkin from the table top placing it on her lap. I removed the bell revealing the delicious meal waiting for her. She eyed the plates and smiled. Her gratitude didn't stop at a simile. No, She did a happy dance in her seat. Hands up bouncing back and forth making moaning noises as she dived into the food. I never loved her more, with her mouth full and sauce dripping down her chin.

She is incredible.

My fingers gripped around the box that waited in my dress pant pocket. Just as I was about to pull it out and ask Harper one of the most important questions of my life, the house phone started to ring. I never get calls on my landline unless it's from the front desk or an emergency and that's only if I'm not reachable on my cell. My cell was still in my blazer pocket which I discarded when I got home.

Harper gave me a quick smile and a shrug when I looked at her with the same confused look she was wearing. I walked towards the receiver. When I picked it up Max's voice boomed through the line.

"Jasper, Sorry to bug you but I didn't want to wait this out just in case."

"Wait what out? What's going on?"

"I got a call just before I left the office this evening. I wasn't going to answer it, but I knew we were waiting to hear from Katrina Sheffield's legal counsel, so I took the call." Max's voice was laced with hesitation and uncertainty.

"It was a man claiming to be Harper's father."

"What the fuck? I thought her parents were dead Max." I snapped with a little more aggression than I intended.

When Max originally did a background search on Harper months ago, his paperwork said there was no information on the two of them at all after Harper's kidnapping. She said they were gone when she escaped and had been missing since. Max checked for any information in finding them because I was set on making them pay once Harper told me they had a part in what she went through as a young girl, but there was no trace of them. Leaving me to believe the Petrov brothers had taken them out when they took Harper all those years ago.

"It seems not to be the case, now. I traced the phone number they called me from. The service was in Matilda Willams' name. I did a little digging and it seems that's Harper's grandmother's name. She's been deceased for a little over nine years. If I looked a little further into it, I'm willing to bet that they've been hiding under that name, and utilizing the properties she owned all this time."

I let out a throaty growl, as I struggled to reel in my anger. I felt Harper's green eyes on me from across the penthouse, and I wasn't ready to share this information with her yet, if at all. She's already made so much progress, I didn't want anything to disrupt that, especially not grimy little cockroaches like her parents.

I smiled at her and raised a finger, hoping she would stay at the table and continue eating. With her cheeks full of Shrimp, I could see that she would do just that. I love how comfortable she's gotten with me.

"What the fuck did they want? They had to have wanted something, I'd bet my left nut they didn't want to check in on her well-being."

Max chuckled. "That's where it gets interesting. They said they saw her in a tabloid on your arm and gave me this sob story about her being kidnapped as a teenager, and they just wanted to reconnect."

I didn't need Max to finish, to know exactly what they wanted. Seeing as they sold her to those filthy pieces of shit to cover a drug debt when she was a young girl, there was no doubt in my mind what they wanted after seeing their daughter on the arm of a well-established wealthy man.

"Make contact with them and set up a proper meeting place, Harper's not going near those sorry excuses for parents."

Harper deserves so much more than she ever received from the two of them. She hasn't fully opened up about her childhood, but the few times she mentioned it, it made my blood boil. I can only imagine what Harper was like as a child but no child deserved that kind of life. A child forced to live in the shadows of her drug-addicted parents, going without proper necessities for living because the small income they had went to supplying their addictions.

How my girl became the angel she is in that kind of environment, I'll never know, I will spend my life showing her how amazing she is, and smothering her in so much fucking love she won't know what to do with it. First, I need to eliminate the trash trying to taint what she has already established for herself.

"I figured you would say that, so I arranged a place just outside of Atlanta, a secluded abandoned cheese factory, no one around for miles. Joseph will pick them up and chauffeur them there. I've cleared the schedule for tomorrow here at the office, and flights have been arranged. We will be home in time for dinner." I laughed at Max's assertiveness.

"That's why I keep you around," I said, with a nod of approval to no one.

"No. You keep me around because if you didn't you'd actually have to work." he retorted playfully before disconnecting the call.

After I called Joseph and briefed him on my expectations for security over Harper tomorrow, I hurried to join her where she was lying on the couch cuddled with her blanket, and her Kindle. When I got close enough to her, I could see her eyes were closed and her lips were parted. Her breathing was steady, she was letting out small mindless moans with her head cushioned by the armrest. Peaceful, that's how she would stay if I can help it.

I never would have thought I could find so much joy in watching someone sleep, but when I heard my name whispered through Harper's fucking perfect pouty lips, there was nothing that could have erased the grin that tugged across my face.

I sat beside her and peppered soft kisses to her forehead, nose, and chin before sliding one arm under her head and the other under her knees to carry her to bed. My question could wait for another day.