Page 76 of Breakout
She shrugs. “I haven’t thought about it. Part of me isn’t sure I will really get it. I mean, why would the court side with me? I haven’t met this man. At least, I don’t think I have. Why would he leave the place to some poor nobody like me?”
“Maybe he tells you in the letter,” I remind her.
“I know. I need to read it. I want to, but something always stops me. Now I’m scared to. If that was my cousin, then what kind of man was my grandfather? I mean, as it is, it seems like he is playing games from the grave. He had all these stipulations in place as if he didn’t trust anyone. Or maybe he wanted to control everyone. Maybe that’s why my parents left. He wanted to control them, and they didn’t want to deal with it. I mean, shit, what if he had them killed? It happens in movies, so it could happen in real life too.”
“Peyton,” I bark out, making her stop rambling.
She looks up at me, panic on her face. Leaning up, I cup her cheek, drawing her attention to me.
“Take a breath. Life isn’t like the movies. Your parents weren’t murdered by some evil grandfather. He didn’t leave the money to you as some game. It sounds like to me he put stipulations in for your cousin because she seems to be a piece of work. He wanted to believe that she wouldn’t be a spoiled bitch, but she is, and he put fail safes in to ensure that she doesn’t receive what she doesn’t deserve. All she had to do was be nice to you. Introduce herself and back off, and she likely would have three billion dollars right now. Instead, she showed her ass and look at her. He only had one stipulation for you. To be married. While I don’t agree with it, I think he wanted you to have someone by your side because he knew this wouldn’t be pretty. He wanted to care for you the best he could. I can’t be mad at the guy. All I want to do is protect you too.”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ve been let down so many times in my life that I don’t know how to trust when something good is happening to me,” she admits softly.
Leaning across the table, I give her a soft kiss. “It’s okay. Years of trauma takes time to work through. While you do, I’llbe by your side helping you through it. You won’t ever be alone again.”
She looks up at me, hope in her eyes. “I told you. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
I drop a kiss onto her nose before sitting back in my seat. “I told you. I don’t.”
My phone rings again. I silence it without even looking.
“You should get that. Whoever it is has been calling you all day.”
“That they have, but it’s not important. The only thing important today is you, Peyton.”
I can see the way her body reacts to my words. She relaxes into her seat, a small smile on her lips that she attempts to hide. When she speaks, her voice is lighter.
“Cheesy lines. You’ve got to get better, hubby. How’d you even land a wife like me?”
I smirk at her. “My monster cock.”
She gasps as the server comes up to the table with our food.
“Beckett Ethan Hayes,” she chastises.
“Thank you,” I tell the server, winking at Peyton.
“Eat up, Pey. We have things to do. Then you can give me my present later.”
She looks at me, confused. “What present?”
I lick my bottom lip, looking her up and down. “You.”
She blushes, looking down at her food as she starts to eat.
Yeah, I might be cheesy, but I can still make the girl blush.
I’ve still got it.
sixteen
Ihave never felt so miserable in my life.
It’s a lie, of course. Every month I feel this way because Eve decided to eat that damn apple. Or whatever the real reason is.
It’s the one day a month my boss knows I will need off even if scheduled. Thankfully, I’m pretty regular, so we can usually plan it right.
It’s not that I become incapable of doing anything when I start my period. I still pull myself out of bed to go to class, but the first day is so agonizing that work would be nearly impossible with me having to stay on my feet.
