Beauty and the Billionaire

He said he never had a plan to kill Kennedy. That had been all Eve and her jealousy. He still had it in his mind that Kennedy was beneath us. He gave that as his reasoning for trying to scare her off. He actually had the nerve to act as though he was looking out for me.

When I entered the hotel room and saw what was happening, I went straight to the bathroom to grab her inhaler, almost running into Ryan. He’d found it after the reality of what was happening kicked in. I’d snatched it out of his hand.

“Mr. Osborne,” the realtor says, meeting me out front of the hotel. “Everything has been handled. It was a mad dash, but we pulled it off.” He hands the key over.

They better have pulled it off with the amount of money I threw at them. New Hope is now going to be our permanent home. Kennedy still wants to be a part of the shelter. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy.

“I appreciate it.” He really has worked his ass off to get it done.

“If you want to build something eventually, I have a few pieces of land in mind.”

“I’ll keep you posted,” I say before heading for the SUV and getting inside.

“Can we know the surprise now?” Faith asks from the back seat. She’s bouncing with excitement. I don’t think anyone has ever done anything special for her. That is going to change. I can see a lot of my wife in her eyes. Her gentle soul shines through.

“Almost time.” I manage to keep the secret to myself. Even though I’m dying to tell her.

“You’re killing me here.” She throws up her hands, making Kennedy laugh.

I pull out of the parking lot. Kennedy reaches over, taking my hand, our fingers tangling together. I enjoy the feel of her wedding ring against my skin. Ryan actually told me where to find it. He looked like a kicked puppy in the end. For now I’m done with him.

“It won’t be long,” I promise Faith.

“Fine.” She picks up the book she has with her and starts reading. She always has one in her hand.

I’ll never forget the look on her face when Kennedy told her we were taking her home with us. It hadn't taken much to get her birth mom to sign over her rights. Having her sign off made the process go faster. Faith’s father had died of an overdose a few years back so nothing was needed on that end..

“Are we going to Ace’s house?” Faith puts her book down.

“No. Not today, but he’s not far from where we’re going.” I take a right into the driveway. The gate is already open. My security is already locking this place down like Fort Knox. I know I’m going overboard, but I don’t fucking care.

Kennedy glances over at me curiously as I pull up in front of the house. It’s a bit of overkill for what we need, but its location and the fact it has a stone wall that surrounds the property was my selling point.

“Welcome home,” I tell my girls.

“Wait, what?” Kennedy says.

“Our home?” Faith wrings her little hands together.

“Yes, sweetheart. You’re our daughter. Where we go, you go. Always.” A smile lights up her face. Kennedy wipes a tear from her cheek.

“Let’s go see what kind of room you’ve got, Faith.”

“My own room?” She unclips her seatbelt, ready to get out of the car.

“Your own room.” We all get out together. I unlock the front door, pushing the double doors open.

“Is this place a museum?” Kennedy teases, her eyes everywhere. I’d bought the place as is with the furniture. I only changed a few things so far. I replaced all the beds and stripped down one of the master bedroom closets to make it a nursery for our little jelly bean. Plus, I had Faith’s room redecorated.

“You can change anything you like.” I take her hand, looking forward to fucking my wife on our new bed.

“No. This is wonderful,” she protests.

“That might be so, but I want your input and touches in our home. We could also start building if you don’t love this place.”

“I love it.” Faith chimes in, settling that for now. I can tell my wife is fighting tears knowing her crying upsets both Faith and me.

“I say we go see Faith’s room first,” I suggest.

“I agree!” She is bouncing up and down.

“Follow me.” I take both their hands, leading them up the stairs and to Faith’s room. “It’s right here,” I tell her. She clenches her little nose in confusion, staring at a bookcase in the wide hallway. “Push here.” I show her the button.

She pushes it, causing the custom door I had installed to slide over, revealing her bedroom.

“My room is behind a bookcase!” she shouts as she runs inside. One wall is made up of a bookshelf all the way across from floor to ceiling. There is a ladder you can move back and forth in order to reach the higher books. She won’t be using that for a few years. I can get them for now or supervise her getting them.