Griffin shot a scathing look at Reese, and then turned back to Maylee. He took a swig of his champagne, then set the glass down. He took her hand in his and noticed it was trembling. “Maylee, I am going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone else.” He paused, then exhaled slowly. “I’m . . . in a secret society. All of us are.”
Her brows wrinkled together. “Um, okay.”
He waited.
“Is that all?”
“It’s very secret,” he stressed. “It could ruin us financially if it got out. Six billionaires working together would mean we’d be investigated by every tax auditor in this country.”
“Okay,” she said, still giving him a puzzled look. “I won’t tell anyone. I thought this was something bad. As long as you guys don’t sacrifice kittens, I think I can handle it.”
“Only on holidays,” Gretchen joked, but Audrey shushed her.
He squeezed Maylee’s hand. “That information cannot leave this room. Do you understand what I’m trusting you with?”
She nodded. “I do. Thank you.”
Griffin smiled at her. “But that wasn’t what I asked you here for.”
Her brows drew down again. “It’s not?”
“No.” He looked over at Audrey.
She smiled and hurried forward, her loose blouse just barely hinting at her rounded pregnant stomach. She disappeared down the hall and returned with a small silver tray and a man at her side, who held a camera.
Griffin watched Maylee try to figure it out, frowning to herself. He took the box from Audrey, and then turned to Maylee. The box was velvet and oblong and she’d probably recognize the shape—inside it were the Verdi Emeralds. “You wore these once before, at the ball in Bellissime.”
Maylee’s smile was small, puzzled. “I remember. Big honking earrings and a necklace.”
He chuckled. “Those are the ones. There’s another piece that goes with this set, though, and I want you to have it.”
And he opened the box and pulled out a ring.
It wasn’t the most elegant or dainty of rings. Like the rest of the Verdi Emeralds, it was very old, square cut, and surrounded by tiny diamonds. It was a hideous beast of a ring.
Maylee’s eyes widened into saucers, just as the camera flashed in her face.
“I . . .” She stared at the ring. “What is this, Griffin?”
“That,” he said, gesturing at the photographer, “is a man working on a news article to send home to Bellissime about you and I.” He looked back at her, and then dropped to one knee. “Maylee . . .”
“Oh,” she breathed, frozen in place in front of him.
“I know I’ve been a right prat,” he began.
“Glad to hear him admit it,” he heard Gretchen mutter in the background.
He ignored her. “And I know you worry that I think you’re not good enough for me. So I wanted you to know how much I value you. These people in this room are the only family that have ever mattered to me. I stay in the States not because I don’t love my country, but because my family—my real family—is here. And now, you’re here.” He held the ring out to her. “And you’re the most beautiful, most worthy woman I have ever met and I never considered offering anyone this ring until I met you. Will you marry me?”
She hesitated, looking at the photographer. “Why is he here again?”
Griffin leaned in and mock-whispered, “Because your face is going to be splashed on a dozen Bellissime papers as the American who captured a viscount. I do hope you don’t mind the invasion of privacy, but I wanted people to know that we were getting married, because I’m rather proud of my woman.”
Her face blossomed into a beautiful smile. She crooked a finger at him in that sexy way that made his heart flip and his c**k ache.
As he stepped forward, she gave an undignified squeal and jumped into his arms.
Epilogue
That evening in bed, after all the celebrations wound down, Maylee curled her fingers in Griffin’s happy trail and felt incredibly content. The rock on her finger was weighing her entire hand down, and it was a rather ugly cuss of a ring, but it meant that she belonged to Griffin and so she loved it.
He’d chosen her above everyone else. Her. Simple, country girl Maylee. And she hadn’t even been dressed up all fancy. She’d been wearing jeans and a summery short-sleeved sweater, her hair its usual corkscrew mess of curls.
But Griffin hadn’t cared. He’d stared down at her with such love in his eyes as he’d draped the jewelry on her and put the ring on her finger, and the photographer had taken so many photos and asked so many questions that her head had been spinning.
And he’d done it in front of his closest friends. He was trying to show her what she meant to him, and she got it now. She really, really got it.
Her hand slid down to his cock, feathering her fingers over it. They’d just had sex a few minutes ago, but she bet she could get him erect again in no time. “Hey, Griff?”
“Hmmm?” His voice was deliciously sleepy, his hand stroking through her hair as she rested her cheek on his stomach.
Her hand stroked his c**k again, and she was pleased to see it stir and begin to harden once more. Such a delicious sight. She continued to stroke it, enjoying that Griffin groaned and began to pump into her hand.
“Remember how I told you that I wanted to be your employee until I trusted you? Really trusted you?”
He stilled under her, despite the fact that she was still working him with her hand. “I remember.”
“Okay. Well, I quit.”
A second later, Maylee found herself flipped onto her back in the bed, and she giggled as Griffin pinned her to the mattress, a wild grin on his face. It was so unlike his normal reserved expression. “You do?”
“I do, I quit. I totally, totally quit.” She couldn’t stop smiling.
He leaned in and kissed her so fiercely that her lips felt bruised, but she didn’t care. “That’s wonderful.”
She grinned at him. “I think since I’m unemployed, I might eventually see about opening up a yarn shop somewhere around here.”
“You can,” he agreed. “But can it wait? I’d love to take you to Spain next month so we can spend more time in Cadiz. And then maybe head to Greece afterward to stop at a few sites mentioned in Homer’s works.”
More travel? “That sounds wonderful.”
His eyes lit up. “You don’t mind traveling? I do quite a bit of it, but I can hold off if you’d rather stay here and create a business.”
“I can wait on the yarn shop.” She snuggled close to him. “I’d rather spend time with you.”
“I love you, Maylee. I really do.”
“I know you do,” she said softly, and her fingers stroked down his cheek. He said he didn’t know how to show affection, but God, he was a fast learner.
He kissed her hand and then reached over her to grab another condom off the side of the bed. Then, he leaned in and kissed her fiercely once more as he slipped it on, and she spread her legs underneath him, waiting in anticipation.
When he thrust inside her, she cried out his name with pleasure.
The sex was quick and brutal. Maylee bit and scratched at Griffin’s skin as he thrust roughly into her, and his fingers sought her cl*t to bring her to orgasm just before he came a few moments later. Then, panting, they went back to kissing.
“I love you,” she said softly into his ear.
“I love you, too,” he murmured. “I’m sorry I was such a prat to you all those times.”
She grinned and bit his earlobe. “You’ll just have to make it up to me.”
“Mmm, I can think of a few ways.” He began to move slowly inside her again.
She could, too. She could think of a million ways.