“When did you get so romantic?” she asked. “I don’t expect you to be romantic at all, and here you are saying the right things. Stuff I really want to hear.”
“I guess when I nearly lost you. It started all of this. I never expected to fall in love with you, Pru. I didn’t see any of this happening. I always figured my life would be like my parents’. I’d find the woman they wanted me to marry, have a few kids, cheat with other women. Work myself into making more money.”
“And now?”
“Now, I want to have a life with you. Just you. I don’t want to play their games. I’m a free man. They will always be part of my life, I accept that, but they’re under investigation now. The company, it falls to me, I want to do what I can to keep it going. Thousands of people rely on me to make the right decisions so they can stay in a job. All I want though, is you. You’re my life, Pru. I want to grow old with you. Have a life where I wake up seeing you.”
“You’re making me cry.”
“Please tell me for a good reason.”
“Yes, it’s all for a good reason.”
“Is that a yes, you’ll marry me?”
She nodded her head. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He pulled the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. “I’m not going to give you the chance to back out now. You know this is you and me for life.”
“I know.”
He got to his feet and pulled her into his arms. “I love you, Pru.”
“And I love you and I don’t care what is thrown at us. No matter what people say, we will always fight them together, yes?”
“Yes.” He pushed some of her hair off her shoulders and stared into her eyes.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I never thought I could be this happy.” He’d watch his parents and saw how much they hated each other, and he believed that was how life was supposed to be. There was no way he could have ever thought to have these deep feelings for anyone, at least not for the girl he’d tried to hurt so many times. All of his anger and hatred had been wasted. There was no point to his feelings. Pru never deserved his anger or his scorn. He’d watched her and hated her on sight, seeing the happiness she felt with her family. Even when her family hadn’t been rich, she’d been new and he’d been jealous of her. That was on him, not on her.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“I’m thinking about the first time I saw you.”
“When you hated me?”
“I hated how your parents seemed to love you. They were there with you that first day, kissing you. Telling you it would all be okay.”
“I was five.”
“My parents were never there.”
“I’m sure other kids’ parents were there. Why didn’t you hate them?” she asked.
“You were new and I don’t know. I was a kid and I just wanted to hate someone. I don’t hate you, Pru. I could never hate you. Can we forget the past?”
She tilted her head to the side and smiled at him. “I don’t know. I think I’d like to keep on remembering the past. Without it, we wouldn’t be here.” She took his hand and locked their fingers together. “Besides, it’s not how a story starts that matters. It’s how it ends.”
Epilogue Part One
Five years later
“So, what are your plans now?” Pru asked.
She looked up from where she’d been reading her book to see her husband of five years walking toward her. Water dripped down his body from where he’d been swimming in the ocean. This was their first-ever honeymoon.
They’d gotten married in Vegas the moment he’d been granted half of his inheritance, including his position on the board. He’d started renovating his uncle’s house, and he’d flown her to Vegas to put a ring on her finger. From there onward, her life had been a whirlwind. With his parents being investigated for murder and other business offenses including fraud, and even child entrapment, the board had turned to Drake for guidance. Being only eighteen, he had no choice but to go to college and work his ass off as fast as he could for a business degree while also taking the advice of his real father’s most trusted advisers and associates. During that time, she had also taken a business degree to help him where she could. She’d become his PA, and between the two of them, they were able to keep the Connor company up and running.
There were a lot of decisions they struggled with. Drake really felt the overwhelming pressure of being responsible for a lot of people’s livelihoods. It meant a lot of sleepless nights, studying as long and as hard as they could. They had each other.