“Can’t sleep?”
She sighs and turns to face me, her nose brushing past mine. She shakes her head, looking lost. “I can’t stop thinking about Matthew, about my father… about everything my mother told me. How could Matthew have done this? My mother raised him. Growing up, she always treated us the same. If anything, she’d treat Matthew better. She gave him everything he ever wanted, and this is how he repays her?”
I bury my hand in her hair and sigh, not knowing what to say. I don’t think Elena needs me to say anything anyway—she just needs me to listen, so I do.
“And my father? My mother saved his company, and thereby his family, from ruins. He’d be nothing without her. He should’ve been devoted to her, but instead he had an entire second family behind our backs. What kind of person does that?”
Elena grits her teeth, her eyes flashing with fury. I stroke her hair gently, wanting to make her feel better, but unsure how. “It’s beyond anything I expected, too, baby. I never liked your brother, but this isn’t something I thought he was capable of. We can’t reverse time, Elena, but what we can do is make up for lost time. We can move forward. I see how hard you’re working, and within just a few weeks, you’ll be able to give your mother back every single thing she’s lost, and more.”
She looks into my eyes and nods. There’s hatred flashing through her eyes, and I hope she won’t let it consume her. I hope this won’t change her beautiful heart. If I could, I’d take the Rousseaus down myself. If it were up to me, I’d never let her dirty her dainty hands. But I can tell that she needs to be the one to do this, and I can’t take this from her. I can’t take away her control the way so many others in her life have. So I’ll stand back. I’ll let her handle her business, and if she needs me, I’ll be right behind her.
“Alec, all I ever wanted was a family of my own, a husband that would love me. I wanted a home filled with love and laughter—I wanted what I’ve never had before. But if this is what love is, I want no part of it.”
I stroke her hair, my heart breaking for her. Elena has always been naive, and the innocence she views life with is what makes her so unique. It keeps her heart pure in this fucked-up world. I hate seeing her lose it.
“Love… it corrupts,” she says. “Looking at your mother and mine makes me see it for what it is. It’s selfishness. It reminds me of religion, you know? I lost faith in God, when no matter what I did or how much I prayed, my mother wouldn’t wake up. Love is the same way. Blind faith, when logically you know better.”
“Baby,” I murmur. “That’s not—”
I don’t even know what to say, because I agree with every single word she just said. Yet when it’s Elena uttering these words, it makes me feel horrible. It makes me want to protect her from every bit of pain she’s had to experience, every single thing she’s had to witness, everything that made her lose faith.
She pushes against me, and I fall onto my back. Elena smiles as she climbs on top of me, and I place my hand around her waist. Her long dark hair covers her shoulder and arm, and I grab the ends of it, twisting it around my fingers.
“You and I won’t be like that, Elena,” I promise her. “We won’t let waning emotions consume us. You and I… we won’t let our judgment be clouded.”
Elena and I aren’t like our parents. Our marriage isn’t built on flimsy and changing emotions. Our foundation is far stronger than that.
She nods as I thread my hand through her hair, pulling her closer. I need her in a way I never have before. I need her body close, her lips against mine. I need her locked into my arms. I want to take away the sorrow in her eyes.
Elena smiles as she leans in to kiss me. I raise my hips and turn her over. She falls back onto the bed, and before she can protest, I cover her body with mine.
I fist her hair and kiss her roughly, deeply. A moan escapes her lips as her tongue tangles with mine, but it isn’t enough. I want her panting my name. I move down, kissing her neck, marking her as mine.
“Alec,” she whispers, and I smile against her skin, satisfied.
I take my time with her, kissing as much of her body as I can reach, driving her insane. My wife isn’t very patient, but I love teasing her.
I tug on her clothes, and Elena lifts her hips, helping me get her nightgown off. She’s squirming by the time my hands wrap around the fabric of her panties, and her hands roam over my body.
“Alec, stop teasing me,” she says, and I grin. I shrug out of my boxers and settle in between her legs.
“Tell me what you want.”
Elena looks at me through lust-filled eyes. “You know what I want.”
I lean in to kiss her, capturing her full bottom lip between my teeth. “Beg for it.”
Elena laughs and pushes against me, making me roll onto my back. Before I realize what she’s doing, she’s on top of me, my cock sinking deep inside her.
I moan loudly, feeling entirely out of control, and Elena smiles. I wrap my hand right below her chest as she rides me, her breasts swaying. My thumbs brush over her nipples and her eyes fall shut.
“Alec,” she moans, and I let the edges of my fingers trail over her dark, hard buds. I twist them slightly, and her muscles contract around me.
“Fuck, Elena,” I groan.
I grab her by her hips and thrust up, moving with her, loving the way she looks, the way her body is on display for me. “What a fucking view,” I tell her.
The way she looks at me exhilarates me. When we’re in bed together, I’m all she can see. When I’m deep inside her, every single one of her worries escapes those beautiful eyes of hers. I fuck her harder, rotating my hips, eliciting a moan from her every time I do.
Watching her face as she gets closer and closer… fuck. I could come just by looking at her.
Elena gasps, and her muscles contract around me, fucking milking me. I groan as she comes, taking me right along with her.
She smiles in satisfaction and collapses on top of me. I wrap my arms around her and press a kiss to her temple. Elena sighs and repositions herself, her head on my chest, both of us still panting. I hold her tightly with one arm, stroking her back with the other.
Amazing sex and mutual trust… it’s enough. It has to be.
Chapter 49
E lena
I look into the mirror, admiring my outfit. I opted for a maroon-colored pantsuit, and even I have to admit that it makes me look… powerful .
“You look stunning,” Alec says, his eyes roaming over my body. I smile and walk up to him, fixing his matching maroon tie.
I place my palms against his chest, my heart filled with gratefulness. “None of this would be possible without you.”
He smiles and brushes my hair behind my ear. “Are you ready?” he asks.
I nod. Three months. It’s been three months since we took my mother home. It took me that long to get all legal aspects in place.
Alec holds my hand as we walk down the stairs. The entire ground floor is filled with men dressed in black suits, guns strapped to their waists. My mother stands in the middle, leaning on her cane, Sofia by her side. She still can’t walk well, and she can’t walk for long, but she’s getting there, slowly.
She looks beautiful today, and every time she smiles at me, I’m still struck with disbelief. I almost lost my mother, and what for?
Lucian nods at me from the sofa, Elliot by his side. I smile at him, and nod at Elliot in thanks. He’s gone above and beyond for me.
Alec places his hand on my lower back, and I take a deep breath to calm my nerves.
“Tonight, we’re taking the Rousseaus down,” I say, my heart at ease. It should sound strange to me to say that. Not too long ago, I was a Rousseau myself. Yet I feel nothing but excitement.
“Team Beta will be on standby at their estate, awaiting my orders. Team Alpha will be with Alec and me. We’ll be hitting the board room.”
I glance at my mother and smile. “I’ve called for an emergency shareholders’ meeting, so they’ll be on high alert. At this point, my father should be aware that someone has been buying up his shares, but he’s unable to find out who, thanks to Elliot,” I say, nodding at him.
Alec purchased all the shares under a privately held company that he gifted me, which would already make it hard to unveil who the buyer is, but Elliot has managed to hide all remaining traces of ownership. From what I understand, my father has already tried to follow the money, only to come up against a brick wall every single time.