Page 62 of Always Been You
I exhale, swirling the amber liquid in my glass. “I was always like this, you know…” The words slip out, more honest than I intended. Maybe it’s the drinks. Maybe it’s the atmosphere.
I glance across the room. Lawliss’s parents stand near the fireplace, talking quietly. It’s instinct that makes me say it, the memory creeping up before I can stop it.
“If my parents were alive, they’d be standing there,” I murmur, tilting my head toward them. “For birthdays, my mum and Andrei would duet—Mom always butchering the lyrics, Dad pretending she wasn’t.” A small chuckle escapes me. “And they’d dance. Every single year.”
Before I can say anything else, someone turns up the music, and just like that, everyone is moving.
“Welcome to the family,” I say to Josh when I catch sight of Elisa making a beeline for him. She grabs his arm, pulling him toward the makeshift dance floor with zero hesitation.
Lawliss steps in front of me, smiling in that way that makes my chest tighten.
I set my drink down and stand, reaching for her instinctively.
“You good?” I ask, hands settling at her waist.
“Haven’t been better,” she answers, pulling me closer.
We move in sync, the music melting into the background. The world shrinks to just this moment, her warmth, her scent, the way she fits against me.
“I love you, Lynx,” I say, voice low but sure.
She stills.
Just for a second.
And then she leans in, pressing her forehead against my chest.
I hope she knows. I hope she hears it for what it is.
The truth. That I’m irrevocably, immensely in love with her.
Chapter Twenty -Six
Eddie
It’s been a week since Lawliss and I officially started dating, and it’s been the best week of my life. Waking up to her beside me before heading to work, coming home to her at the end of the day, falling asleep with her in my arms—it’s the kind of peace I never thought I’d have.
But there’s tension beneath it. Subtle, unspoken. Like she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don’t blame her. After everything she’s been through, it’s understandable.
The Dua Group handled things legally after the press conference. Restraining orders were issued. Lawsuits were filed. As far as Lawliss and her family were concerned, it was over. But for me?
I couldn’t let it go.
I had invested in Derrick’s company because he was married to her. Because she had chosen him. And after everything, after faking injuries and parading himself on national television, I made sure he knew what real pain felt like. I can still remember how he squirmed and how his eyes widened with the realization that no one was coming to save him.
He deserved worse.
But I had bigger things to handle.
If the press conference did one thing, whether for better or worse, it forced me to speed up my revenge. A hostile takeover was already in motion, the first step in dismantling everything my uncle had built. My face is everywhere now, which means he knows. He knows the boy he discarded is powerful enough to pull strings.
Sixty percent of his company’s shares now sit under Montgomery Industries, and the panic is setting in. The other thirty belong to the Duas, while the remaining ten percent is owned by Hanley and other minor stakeholders. While I planned my revenge, they were planning theirs too, without even knowing where I was. Words can’t express what it means to have them at my back.
My uncle is still CEO, but with nothing. He’s making desperate mistakes, scrambling to regain control. They’ve already called for a new CEO, and with both the Duas and I holding the majority, there is nowhere left for him to run.
But that isn’t how I want him to fall.
Prison for embezzlement, tax evasion, money laundering, extortion, coercion, forced labor, and human trafficking. No, I want more. I just wish I had the one that could tie him to my parents’ murder.
