Vera pushes away from me, but she doesn’t shift off my lap. Her gaze locks on mine. Her full lips are tilted upward, and she sucks the bottom one between her teeth.
“I’m serious. Marry me,” I say once more, hoping she’s not considering refusing me. If she is, I’ll just stalk her ass again. She’s not getting rid of me that easily.
“I guess if I have to.” Her sass makes my dick hard, and I scoop her into my arms, causing her to squeal. “Where are we going?”
“To christen the bed.”
36
Vera
It’s been a week, and we still haven’t gotten answers. The police have called us back to the city, which is why we find ourselves in the station waiting for someone to tell us what the hell is going on.
“Mr. Oakridge.” The detective walks in, looking directly at Logan. He glances my way. “Miss Conried. I’m Detective Moritz.” He settles in the chair opposite us. “I wanted to talk to you directly. We found a lot of information about Mr. Herbert Oakridge where Leigh Conried had blackmailed him for several years. However, we noticed that they had been in communication about your relationship since . . .” He glances down, opening the folder he carried into the office.
Silence hangs between us as he flips through the pages, and tension twists my gut painfully. My mother didn’t only want my child. She was planning shit for longer than we anticipated.
“Here it is,” the detective says as he pushes the pages over toward us. Logan picks it up, his eyes scanning the page. He hands it to me, and I sit back to take in the information.
Vera Rose Conreid will be wed to Logan Phillip Oakridge at the age of eighteen. Should anything come between their union, we will call reinforcements to ensure they will marry before Vera Rose turns twenty-one. With Leigh Conried’s contract signed and dated, Herbert Oakridge agrees to all further points within this document.
If he breaks the agreement in any way, by warning either Logan or Vera, he will forfeit his name, company, and any possessions to Leigh Conried. Once the union takes place, Leigh will be gifted the firstborn of Logan and Vera, to eventually run both Oakridge Incorporated as well as Conried and Associates.
“My mother wanted our child to claim the companies. But why would Herbert give all that up because he got arrested?” I ask, setting the page down. I’m sure there is more where that came from, but I’m sickened by what I’ve read, and I can’t imagine the rest is any better.
“It seems that in your father’s confession, Mr. Oakridge,” the detective says to Logan, “he wanted to ensure you’re never to find each other again. When we questioned him about the contract, he told us he tried to ensure you don’t find each other again.”
“But he hurt Vera by putting her into a fucking coma,” Logan spits in anger. Rage causing his hand to vibrate, and I squeeze it in an attempt to calm him down.
“We asked about that after you mentioned it. He explained that he was trying to force you both to break up mutually. He was convinced that if that happened, you wouldn’t want to get back together.”
“I don’t believe he did anything to keep either of us safe,” Logan says, and deep down, I agree with him, but it makes sense. If Logan hurt me in any way when I was unconscious, I would’ve left him. I would’ve walked away, but what Herbert didn’t think about was that Logan was stronger than he anticipated.
“We don’t know all the details,” Moritz says as he hands Logan a few more pages. “These are his signed confessions. He’s also told us about setting up Mr. Conried, which means, Vera, your father, will be released from prison soon.”
Tears fill my eyes, but they’re not coming from a place of sadness. Instead, I’m happy, I’m relieved, and I can’t wait to hold my dad again. He always gave the best hugs, and that’s what I need. There’s a lot he needs to clear up, but now I know we have time. “Thank you for everything.”
“We need to finalize the paperwork. Herbert wants to turn over a new leaf,” he tells us. “At least, that’s what he’s telling us. I don’t know all the details because he’s been talking to my partner and his lawyer, but I needed to meet with you and give you all the news before you see it in the papers.”
“Thank you,” Logan says as we all three rise from our seats. “Will I be able to see my father before his court date?”
“I’ll see what I can do.” The promise is there, but somehow, I don’t think Herbert is going to want to see his son. There is so much bad blood, and still, I’m not sure everything makes sense.