“Rafe!” I begged as someone tried to lead me away. “Rafe please, I need you, please.”
He tore through the police officers, and came to me, kneeling in front of me and grabbing my hand, bringing it to his lips.
“Princess,” he said, the pain obvious in his voice. “I’m so sorry… So fucking sorry for what happened. You’re the only one I want, Ella, please never believe otherwise. I’m so sorry they tried to hurt you, so fucking sorry…”
“They didn’t hurt me,” I said softly. “You stopped them just in time.”
“Why did you run, princess?” he asked, and I looked down, feeling the sadness settle over me.
“I… I saw you with that woman,” I whispered. “Martha told me I was replaced… That you’ve been sleeping with her for months—my own stepmother.”
I watched his expression change into pure fury, his hands forming fists.
“A lie,” he said simply. “A fucking lie, Ella. Believe me?”
I looked up at him.
It was still snowing, and with the beautiful nightly backdrop he looked like a prince. I was in love, and I couldn’t help it. It was too late now…
“I believe you,” I said softly.
“Ella,” he growled, as several policemen surrounded us. “Ella, please come back with me.”
I smiled wide at him and his eyes filled with hope as I kneeled next to him.
“I tried to,” I whispered. “I couldn’t get on the bus… I wanted to be with you, I didn’t want to leave, Rafael, I wanted to come back to you… always.”
He pulled me towards him, and I let him. He held me in front of all of the policemen, his hands wrapping around me and holding me close.
“You’re mine, Ella,” he said simply. “Tell me you’re fucking mine, my girl, my princess.”
“I’m yours,” I whispered, looking up into his dark eyes. “I’m yours, Rafael, I love you.”
He kissed me like he never had before, and when I felt his lips on mine and heard the people around us cheering, I knew I belonged to him completely.
Rafael Goldwyn owned every last part of me.L IFE HAD ALREADY STARTED CHANGING for the better.
Never before did I notice what had been missing. I wasn’t exactly happy with my life, dating a different woman every week, but I didn’t know how to change it, either. And now, with Ella by my side, I finally saw clearly, finally saw what had been missing all that time.
And it was her… my beautiful princess, now about to be my queen, standing by my side and making sure my kingdom was safe. My heart was in her hands, and I would let her do anything with it, because I was so in love with the woman, I wanted to place the world at her feet.
Once I’d gotten her back from the bus station, I didn’t want to waste any more time. I gathered the key players in our future and our past in front of us in the mansion, and kept Ella sitting in my lap as I told them the news. Edna, Martha, and my father stood before us, watching me deliver my news like a king telling his subjects what would happen.
“We’re getting married,” I said simply, eliciting a little gasp from Edna, whose hands flew up to cover her excited face. “As soon as possible. And I’m moving Ella in tonight.”
I couldn’t stand another night away from her, so it made perfect sense to me.
“Martha,” I turned to face her stepmother. “Since you’ve exhibited nothing but appalling behavior and mistreated my future wife, and on top of it all, fed her disgusting lies, I have no need for you anymore. You’re free to go.”
“What?” she asked, her mouth opening and closing unattractively like she was a fish out of water. “I don’t understand… I’ve done everything right! I had it all planned. How can you do this?”
“And what exactly did you have planned, Miss Monroe?” my father asked her with his eyebrows raised, holding his chin in his hand. “Your assault on the family fortune? I know what you’ve been trying to do, Martha, I’ve been onto you since the moment you started working here.”
Her face paled and she glared at Dad as Edna spoke up.
“Don’t try to deny it,” she said. “Because we all know you’ve been trying to seduce Rafael since the day you started your job.”
“Lies,” Martha hissed, but for me, the conversation was already over as far as I was concerned.
I wasn’t about to change my mind, not unless Ella spoke in her stepmother’s favor. I shifted my attention to my girl in my lap, my fingers trailing a line down her throat, gently pressing down against her neck. She smiled at me, still so shy and innocent, even though I’d already taken her virginity. I was going to have so much fucking fun with her. And I’d make her my wife, and have her knocked up before the end of the week. I was a goner now, fully committed to her. No other woman would ever cross my mind—not with Ella around.