Her smile bloomed into a full-blown grin. “Then go.” Addelaine lifted my red coat. “Go, child, before it’s too late.”
I sat there stunned as I came to acceptance before I shot into action. Skidding around the counter, I darted for her, taking the jacket and dropping a kiss to her wrinkled cheek. “Thank you, Addelaine. For everything. I hope you know you mean everything to me.”
She clutched my hand. “Same way as you mean everything to me. You’re a good girl. Always have been. Now it’s time for you to go get what you deserve.”
Nodding furiously, I shoved my arms into my coat, wrapped the belt around my waist, and tied it as I flew outside. Cold air slapped me in the face, the sky an icy sort of blue. I didn’t even slow. I just rushed down the sidewalk, winding through people who were on their lunch breaks, my heels clicking on the concrete as I stumbled along as fast as I could.
My heart thundered.
Heavy in my chest.
A pound, pound, pound as I let myself fully feel for the first time since I was fifteen. Without reservation. Without question.
Trust.
It was terrifying.
But freeing in the most miraculous of ways.
I moved faster, rushing across the street and heading in the direction of his hotel, praying he would be there.
That I wasn’t too late.
That he’d give me the consideration I’d refused him minutes before. That he’d stop. Listen. Let me apologize. A frantic need built up, propelling me forward.
Faster.
Needier.
Filled with a hope unlike anything I’d ever felt before.
I gasped when I collided with a big body rushing my direction.
A stunning, powerful, strong body. Those big hands went straight to my face, gripping me tight, his eyes so intense and mesmerizing.
I clutched his jacket lapels. “Broderick…oh my God…I’m so sorry. I…” I forced myself to meet his steely intensity. “I told you back there that I fell for it, when in truth, I fell for you. That terrifies me, and the second something seemed to go wrong, I immediately thought the worst of you. And I don’t want to be that person anymore. I don’t want to be cynical and filled with doubt, always searching for the worst in people. Please…forgive me.”
His thick throat bobbed. “Do you trust me, Lil’ Redd?”
I swallowed hard, clutching his jacket tighter as I offered the words. “I told you I don’t trust easily. I’m the one always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just waiting on someone to let me down, because no matter how good things might be, they’re bound to go bad. But it’s time I realized I’m not that same girl who stood abandoned in that empty house. I’m not her. I’ve found love. A family. I don’t have to be her anymore.”
His hands cinched down on either side of my face. “I made both you and Addelaine a promise, and I intend to keep it. My father sent in his men to force this deal through and make it look like Addelaine agreed, threatening her into going along with it, and forging my signature to make me look like I was the one who was responsible. It’s not the first time this has happened, but I promise you it will be the last. Tell me you trust me. That you believe I wasn’t responsible.”
My chin trembled when I nodded. “I do. Completely.”
It was the truth.
Standing there with him, I’d never trusted anyone more in all my life.
Not with my heart. Not with my body. Not with my Addelaine and everything she represented.
He wrapped me in his warmth, pressing a bunch of kisses to my forehead, to my temple, to my lips, while my spirit soared. For the first time, freed.
He leaned back to meet my stare, his expression firm and unyielding. “I told you I always get what I want, Ms. Redd. I was already coming back for you. Because I’m not leaving this town without you.”
I gazed up at him, my soul completely bared. “Then why don’t you stay?”
A chuckle spilled from his mouth, and he hugged me tighter. “I think I like where this is going.”
I breathed him in. At ease. Wholly. Completely. “I think I do, too.”
He brushed back a stray lock of hair that whipped in the cold gusts of wind then threaded his fingers through mine. He lifted our entwined hands and grazed his lips across my knuckles. “Let’s go, Ms. Redd. It’s time to set things straight.” He squeezed my hand. “Together.”
Epilogue
Broderick
“Do you think she’s going to like it?” Her hopeful whisper tickled my ears as my Lillith stared out the window of Pepper’s, a dingy old diner that just so happened to have the best pie in the entire town with a direct view of where Addelaine’s building once stood.
Her raven hair cascaded over her shoulder. Her delicious, delicious shoulder. Fuck, I loved her skin. I loved her body.
And God, how much I loved the woman.
Finding someone like her hadn’t been in the cards.
But we were never in control of the hand we’d been dealt.
I’d been dealt a straight flush.
Lucky me.
I couldn’t stop the grumble of possessiveness that filled my chest when I looked at my fiancé, who was wearing that expression of careful tenderness that was at the true root of who she was.
I reached across the table and took her hand, brushing my thumb along the back of the silky flesh, wondering how that simple action managed to stir the hunger inside me. “How could she not like it? She’s going to have primo space.”
Tindall’s Thimbles would be located on the first floor of the brand new hotel going up across the street.
She turned to look at me with a tiny smile. “You wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Of course not. You love her.”
Her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip.
So damned enticing. I wanted nothing more to be the one delivering that bite.
“And you love me,” she murmured.
“More than anything.”
I toyed with the huge diamond that glinted from her ring finger, the ring I’d given her just two weeks ago. The day we’d broken ground on the new hotel.
This woman had been instrumental in seeing to it that my father was stopped. His corrupt practices silenced in the evidence Lillith had worked nonstop to prove.
My father had resigned from the company, and I’d taken his place as CEO.
But I sure as hell wasn’t walking in his shoes.
“Did you ever think when you came here that you’d stay?” she whispered.
I leaned her direction, inhaling her distinct scent, words a growl. “Not until the first time I tasted you.”
She shifted in her seat, and a heated flush skimmed her flesh.
Affected.
Needy.
Ready.
Just the way I wanted her.
“Are you wet?” I murmured casually.
She not so casually nodded her head, a tremble raking through her body.
After pulling my money clip from the inside pocket of my suit jacket, I tossed a stack of bills onto the table.
Then I sat back with the challenge.
She clutched the table, a harsh breath parting her lips.