Page 72 of Knotting Hill
Storm glances up from eating her muffin. “What’s up?” she asks suspiciously.
“Do you have any questions?” I venture.
She gives me a puzzled frown. “About what?”
“The trust,” I mutter.
Josh and Russell groan, knowing I’ve just waved the red flag, but I need to hear what she has to say about it now that she knows I’m giving it up.
“Oh.” She looks down, and my heart sinks.
The silence is deafening for a moment, but then she sighs.
“I don’t expect you to give up your inheritance for me. That’s selfish, and that’s not who I am. But it does still raise the question of why you didn’t tell me before we had sex the first time.”
“I know.” I place the coffee on the kitchen counter. “I had two things to tell you that night. About the job and this. You sort of sidetracked me with your hot naked body.” I smirk so she knows I’m not gaslighting her.
She giggles. “Okay, I take full responsibility for that, butyoushould’ve made time to tell me, especially before your dick dad did.”
I press my lips together. She has his card. “I know. After we had sex, I knew I was in love with you, crazy as that sounds. I’ve never been in love before, but with you, I knew. I knew I couldn’t live without you, that I didn’t want to. I was afraid that you would think exactly what you did, but it was cowardly not to tell you straight away. Can you forgive me?”
She casts her glance at Josh and Russell, who are staring at me, utterly dumbfounded.
She drags her gaze to mine. “I can tell by these two, who look like they’ve been hit with a dead fish, that you’ve never said anything like that before. It makes me want to believe you.”
“Want doesn’t mean you do.”
“I do,” she says. “I know what I felt last night. I know you felt it too. All of you. This is fate. We are meant to be together. However, I choose to believe that you wouldn’t be here if this were just about money. All the effort, all the chasing when everyother omega in the area would drop their knickers for you, and probably have, in an instant.”
“Well, noteveryomega,” I mutter, my cheeks going unnaturally hot at the mention of my salacious behaviour.
Storm takes my hand and kisses my knuckles, reassuring me.Sheis reassuringme, which is something I have never had before. It’s not something I thought I’d ever need, but it means everything to me.
“You are the sweetest, most beautiful omega in the world, and I don’t need anyone but you. You know that, right?”
She nods. “I do. I think you have all proven yourselves.”
“Does that mean what I think it means?”
She smiles, picking up her coffee, murmuring, “We’ll see.”
I chuckle and pick up my own coffee again. “I’ll take it.”
No matter her hesitations in jumping in feet first, I feel complete and content in my own skin, and I know that I have finally found a place where I belong, just as I know the others, including Storm, do too.
Forty-Four
Storm
I lie in my nest,surrounded by my men, dressed only in JP’s ridiculous cherry tee. We haven’t moved out of my nest all day. We have been lazily making love between sleeping and eating. It’s been bliss.
Josh is next to me, his hand stroking my hair. His breath is soft on my forehead. On my other side, Russell's lips are pressed against a place on my neck just below my ear, his hand running down to rest on my hip. JP is at my feet, his fingers tracing circles around my ankles. We are happy with the silence. We’ve said all we need to for now. I know that I don’t need to go over it again. Idobelieve what JP says about the trust. I also mean with all my heart that I don’t want him to give it up. Mostly because it’s not for me to decide that for him, but just a teeny part of me wants him to stick it to his dad. I don’t even feel guilty about that. He’s not a nice man.
It is a gorgeous early spring evening, and a warm wind blows through the trees, causing the blossoms to flutter down to the pavement like petals. The world outside is quiet and peaceful. Ilook out of the window to see the sun setting, casting a gentle orange light around us.
My heart suddenly thumps wildly as I nestle back between Josh and Russell. I know this is it. I have found my true happiness. I realise in that moment that I can depend on these three men for the rest of my life and that I would never walk alone again. Their love and support enfold me like a comforting blanket. I know in my bones that this is where I belong. The sun slowly sinks below the horizon, its golden light slowly giving way to purple as it disappears. With Josh, Russell and JP by my side, I feel like I’ve stepped out of my life and into a fairy tale. The world seems more vibrant and alive.
My phone buzzes on the bedside cabinet. I reluctantly disentangle myself from the men and lean over to grab it.
