Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
“Talk to us,” Judd demanded. “Right now.”
“She’s okay, aren’t you, Freckles? She’s just processing.”
She leaned back, wiping at her cheeks and looking around at them all, at the love on their faces. “I want to marry you all.”
Shocked looks filled their faces. Then Owen gave her a smug grin. “I knew it.” He kissed her. Hard. Dirty and possessive.
“Of course you do,” Hux said. “We’re awesome. Especially me.” His kiss was light and gentle. Loving.
She huffed out a laugh.
“You’re sure?” Judd asked. “We’re not easy.”
“I know. I’ll just keep a supply of tutus and make-up close by.”
Judd rolled his eyes before kissing her with so much protective intensity it stole her breath.
Then there was Beck. Steady. Loving. Hers.
“You’re ours. Always.” His kiss was perfection.
They all were.
“What do you want to do once our Marjarsom is over?” Judd asked.
“If you don’t want to go back to Escana, you don’t have to,” Hux told her. “But you should know that no one thinks you had anything to do with Jonathan’s plans.”
“No one blames you,” Beck added.
“And if anyone does say anything, you tell me,” Owen said. “I’ll take care of them.”
“I’ll . . . I’ll think on it. The truth is that anywhere I am with the four of you is home. And that you’re all I’ll ever need.”
They all hugged her tight, holding her.
This was perfection.
EPILOGUE
Chloe sat nervously in front of the computer screen.
She didn’t want to do this.
At the same time, she knew she had to. She glanced over at Beck and he sent her a reassuring look. All of her guys wanted to be here, but she knew that Owen and Judd wouldn’t handle it well.
And someone needed to make sure that they stayed out of this room. So Hux was with them, and Beck was with her.
“Right, he’ll show up in about a minute,” Salem said. He was an MI6 agent who was also Alina’s brother. He’d been trying to capture Pinky for a long time and was eager to get any information he could out of Jonathan.
Which is where she came in.
He was hoping Jonathan would let something spill. Her guys had refused to let her see him in person, so they were doing this by video conference.
The screen flickered to life. And there he sat. He looked . . . terrible.
Exhausted and gaunt.
“Jonathan?”
“Ahh, there she is. My darling daughter. How are you? Fornicating wildly with those men of yours? Or are you whoring yourself off to someone else? Like mother like daughter, huh? She was a whore too.”
Instead of feeling angry, a rush of sadness filled her. Things could have been different for them. They could have had some sort of relationship. Instead, he seemed to have all this bitterness toward her.
“My mother?”
“Yes, your mother. I loved her once. I wanted to marry her. But my father wouldn’t hear of it. Marry a commoner? And an American at that? We met while I was on business in Florida. She was a waitress in the bar of the hotel I was staying in. I got her details and every time I came back to that hotel we’d meet up. Then you came along. I thought about taking you from her. But really . . . an illegitimate bastard and a girl at that? No, my father would have cut me off. So I left you with her.”
Did he expect her to thank him? She wasn’t sure.
“Do not look at me like that. I gave her money for your upkeep.”
“You did? But we lived in poverty. You know that! You still visited her! I remember you.”
“Yes, well, she stopped working and started taking drugs.” He shrugged. “What was I supposed to do? I wasn’t giving her more money to throw away on drugs and gambling.”
But he hadn’t thought to try and help her?
“You were okay with me living like that?”
“Okay? Not exactly. But there was nothing I could have done.”
There was plenty he could have done, but she decided not to get into that.
“Why did you rescue me from the gang?” It had never made sense to her why he would buy her like that. And that one time she’d asked him had gone disastrously bad.
“You’d rather I left you there?”
“No.” She wouldn’t have survived. She knew that. It was part of the reason she felt so indebted to him. Christ, her relationship with him was a mess. “But I never understood why you’d spend all that money to free me.”
“My father’s fault. Old bastard always hated me. Always going on about how I wasn’t good enough, powerful or smart enough. On his freaking deathbed, he tells me he’s changed his fucking will. Told me that my inheritance wouldn’t be released until I produce an heir. Well . . . it was the one time I was ahead of him.”