Page 88 of Second Dance
“I don’t know. It’s just that I have nothing, and you have all this. Will you question whether I love you? Or the lifestyle?”
“Should I?” One of the last beams of sunlight caught his eyes, igniting amber sparks in their brown depths. He set down his wine and turned toward me fully, his hand coming up to tuck a wayward curl behind my ear. “Gillie, look at me.”
I did, and the tenderness in his expression made my throat tighten.
“I know exactly who you are,” he said softly. “I knew you when I had thirty-seven dollars in my bank account and holes inmy sneakers. You loved me then. That’s the person I see when I look at you now—not someone dazzled by houses or cars or any of this.” He gestured vaguely at the property. “You.”
“It’s strange for me to think about what it would be like to … live here with you,” I said. “I’ve been independent all these years.”
“That won’t change,” Alex said. “Not unless you want it to. But I reserve the right to spoil you as I see fit.”
I laughed, leaning close to place my cheek on his shoulder. His arm came around me immediately, holding me against him. “I would love you if you were still that broke teenager I fell in love with.”
“Fortunately for me, we don’t need to test that theory.”
“I always thought a billionaire would have private jets and eight homes,” I said.
“Are you disappointed?”
“Not at all.”
“I’d buy you as many homes as you wanted,” Alex said, his lips brushing my temple. “What do you want? I mean, if you could have anything?”
I gestured toward the kids who had now moved on to tossing a beach ball to one another, chatting about someone they all followed on TikTok. “This. This is all I need or want. Family. Happy kids. You by my side.”
His phone buzzed on the table, shattering the moment. The screen lit up with Ben’s name.
“I should take this,” Alex said quietly, regret flickering across his face.
He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead before standing. I watched him pace near the edge of the patio, one hand in his pocket, his shoulders straightening as he listened. The sunset caught in his dark hair, turning it bronze at the edges. Even fromhere, I could see the shift in his posture—tension easing, relief replacing it.
When he came back, he seemed lighter somehow, and a slow smile spread across his face.
“What is it?” I asked.
He exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “That was Ben. The police found Darren passed out behind his trailer. They took him into custody.”
The kids, who I hadn’t thought were paying any attention to us, all swam to the edge of the pool, looking at Alex, the water rippling around them.
“He’s in jail?” Bella asked.
“For now,” Alex said. “The footage at the grocery store clearly shows him shoving Grace. Ben says we could press assault charges, but …” He hesitated, glancing at me. “He thinks we should use this to our advantage. Get him to sign over his rights in exchange for not pressing charges and the payout we’d originally offered. But no contact ever again with any of us or we’ll press charges and sue him for disobeying the legally signed agreement.”
“Will that work?” Bella asked.
“I think so. He’s loved playing games with us, but I doubt he wants to go to jail,” Alex said. “And the money will be too tempting.”
“We’ll never have to see him again?” Bella asked.
“No. We won’t ever see him again,” Alex said.
Bella gripped the side of the pool and pressed her forehead against the tile, shoulders shaking. It took me a second to realize she was crying. Grace and I locked gazes for a split second—a wordless understanding passing between us—as she drew closer to Bella, their shoulders touching. Peter did the same on Bella’s other side.
Alex reached for my hand, squeezing tight as we both moved to kneel at the edge of the pool. The shared purpose, the unity of it—my heart swelled watching him be the father these kids needed.
I lifted Bella’s chin upward so I could look into her eyes. “It’s over now, honey. We’re all safe now.”
Alex joined me, his shoulder warm against mine. “Bella, sweetheart, why are you crying?”
