We shocked everyone in Thorne Haven when we walked out of the manor and didn’t turn around. My therapist tells me I’ll be okay if I focus on talking about my feelings, rather than bottling them up. I’ve been seeing her twice a week, and each time I come out of her office, I do feel stronger.
I haven’t reached for a blade in so long, and I’m proud of myself. Damien’s smile when we talk about my emotions, about my fears and dreams, makes it easier to focus on the good times and work through the bad.
It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Hurting myself was not the way to deal with my heartache. I know that now. And I finally feel like me.
After the first month of us being here, Bradford Thorne flew out to London to see his son. That’s when the offer came. When he finally relented and admitted the truth.
Marcia, who I grew up knowing as my mother, but was actually my aunt, knew about her sister marrying a Haven. She learned about the wealth Mallory had found herself living with, and she wanted it all to herself.
I recall the conversation with such clarity, it’s as if it happened just yesterday.
“She was always jealous of her sister,” Bradford tells Damien and me, as we sit in our living room in our North London apartment. His hands tremble as he holds onto the tumbler. He came to us because he’s sick, and he wanted his eldest son to step up to the head of the table. Damien will run Thorne Corporation alongside Cassian and Finn. All three brothers will be in charge of their own departments. Damien as CEO, Cassian as COO, and Finn as the CFO.
“But I don’t understand why she would marry you and want me to be with Creed,” I tell him. It’s one of the things that never made sense, but after her last conversation with me, I realized I never wanted to be near her again.
“My wife is a complicated woman. Even though she was jealous, deep down, she wanted the best for you.” He regards me with an earnest stare. “She just didn’t know how else to keep you in town, and…” His words falter for a moment, as he regards his son. “We didn’t expect you’d fall in love with Damien.”
I nod slowly, my gaze sweeping across the room to the man I love. His blue eyes hold me hostage, and the affection I find there leaves me breathless.
The cocky smirk that I’ve come to crave appears, and I know he’s not focused on the conversation right now. Shaking my head, I turn back to Bradford.
“I just don’t want to hide from her when I visit. I’m a grown woman, and she needs to accept me as I am. She raised me, gave me a home when I didn’t even know I needed one, but the hate between my mother and Marcia needs to come to an end. The past is in the past.”
Bradford nods. “I agree. And that’s why we would like you to come home for Christmas. Stay at the manor, so we can be a family.” He looks so pained when he says this. And I realize it must be difficult for him to put up with Marcia. She’s definitely hard work.
“We’ll come,” Damien answers his father, before reaching for my hand and lacing his fingers through mine.
“Good. Now let’s get some dinner, I’m starving.”
That was how we finally found our way back to the family we thought we had lost forever. That night, Bradford gave Damien the contract, which they signed at the dinner table.
When the office door opens, I glance up to see Damien saunter through. He’s taken off his tie, his light blue shirt has been tugged from his slacks, and the top three buttons are undone. He looks tired, but his smile is ever-present.
“I was thinking we should go out for dinner tonight,” he tells me, as he closes the distance between us. His lips capture mine for a sweet, chaste kiss before he straightens.
“Sure, where did you have in mind?”
“It’s a surprise, just get dressed, something… fancy, and I’ll shower and get ready.” With a wink, he turns and leaves me to finish up an email to my mother, Mallory.
Epilogue
Damien
Six Months Later
I’m nervous. I’m fucking shaking the moment I walk into the warmth of our apartment. It’s almost Christmas, and even though we were meant to fly out tonight, it’s Nesrin’s birthday, and I wanted to celebrate with a gift that I’m scared she won’t accept.
When I shut the door behind me, I take in the view from our living room, which looks out over the university where my girl is studying. The yellow, glittering lights shimmer in the distance from the student residences. Since we moved to England a year ago, things have changed considerably.