Page 259 of Damaged Mogul
“Thank God I don’t have to go through this alone.”
“No, you don’t. In LA, someone will always have your back.”
“What a departure from what I have with my father and half-brothers.”
Best to keep my mouth shut.
As much as I’m excited about the prospect of meeting our baby when he or she gets here, I’m not excited at the prospect of having Fisher Edgington and his four sons in my life. Thank God they live on the east coast—far away, where they belong.
A grinning Gérard saunters our way with a square-shaped black box in hand.
He drops it on the table, and claps before rubbing his hands together.
“Merci, Gérard,”I say.
“No problem.” He’s still grinning like a loon.
“What’s in the box?” Lily points.
“Bye-bye. I go.” Gérard rushes back into the house, waving over his shoulder.
She frowns. “What’s gotten into him?”
“It has to do with what’s in the box.”
Her frown deepens.
I hand it to her. “Open it.”
Blue eyes settle on me, suspicious flashing bright.
“How else are you going to know what’s in it?”
She rises perfectly shaped arched brows. “Why don’t you open it?”
“Becauseyoushould open it.”
She pulls the lid off.
Her gaze bounces from the box to me. “What are these red braided strings for?”
I grab one out of the box. “They’re more than red braided strings. They’re promise bracelets.”
I get up, and get down on one knee.
She gasps.
“You’re mine.” I place a hand on her tummy. “This baby is mine. I take care of what’s mine.” My eyes bore into hers. “I don’t want you to come back to LA with me as my girl, I want you to come back with me as my fiancée.”
“OhmyGod, Gage.”
“Since I didn’t see the baby news coming, I’m unprepared. One of the advantages of being forced to sleep in separate rooms was that I had time to do research. In other words, I made the internet my bitch last night.”
She laughs.
“Armed with a plan, this morning, I enlisted Gérard as my ally because with these big fingers”––I wiggle my digits––“I wouldn’t be able to braid shit.” I drop my eyes to the bracelet I’m holding before locking my gaze onto hers. “This is called the Red String of Fate. The legend goes a little like this. Forgive me for adlibbing. There’s an invisible red thread that connects us to the one we’re destined to meet. Regardless of the place, time, or circumstances. The thread can be stretched and sometimes tangled––as it’s been in the last few days––but it will never break. It describes us to a T. I don’t know when you went from being the woman I was supposed to watch over to the angel who holds my heart, but here we are. I can’t promise you I’ll never slip back into my grumpy-self, but I can promise you, I’ll always love you. Over the past three years, I lost myself in grief over Mom’s death. I was okay being single for years to come, but I found you. I like who I am when I’m around you, Lily.”
“Your words touch my soul. And for the record, I don’t mind a few appearances from Mr. Grumpy Pants… I know how to turn his scowls into smiles.”
