Page 72 of Beautiful Betrayal

“And she won’t have to,” Grayson says, appearing at the bottom of the stairs that lead to his office. He crosses the room to join us, standing beside me, his arm at my waist. “Mia has all the money she could ever need and so do you. Keep the money and we’ll talk about how to expand your business.”

“No,” my father says, holding up his hands. “I never asked you for anything, Grayson. I’m not going to start now.”

“But I’m offering and I had planned to offer before Mia and I broke up. We’d talked about it but you’re prideful just like your daughter. We’ll tread cautiously, but I have money, Mac. Your daughter is the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. We’re going to support your business. I want to have Eric look at your books, if you’re okay with that. He’s got a magical mind. Let him help you with a five-year plan and I’ll invest the money.”

“No, I—”

“Dad,” I say, hugging him. “Let him help.” I pull back to look at him. “He really wants to and I didn’t ask. He did this himself. Just talk to Eric. Get excited about not struggling anymore.”

He looks at Grayson. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’re going to be kinder to my football team this year.”

“Damn Patriots,” my father grumbles.

Grayson and I laugh. “That is a little kinder than normal,” Grayson says, and the two of them head to the balcony with beers in hand to talk about those damn Patriots.

I finish unpacking because I’m home to stay.

The next morning, after much debate, Grayson and I decide that his offices don’t need the press we would bring to thembut we can’t avoid their obsession with us. We agree to a press conference with law enforcement present that is held at Blake’s offices. And once again, Grayson shelters me. He takes the heat of the questions for a solid hour before he says enough. Eric takes over from there and we hurry to a car that drives us to the airport for our escape to the Hamptons with not one, but two of Blake’s men with us, just to be safe.

By the time we land in the Hamptons and we’re in Grayson’s Porsche that he’s left at the airport, we have the legal approval for us to take over my client’s case from Ri’s firm. I call my client who is relieved. Next up, is a call to Kevin, my ex-boss, who I’ve discussed with Grayson in depth. “Mia, how the hell are you?”

“I’m good. Really good. How are you?”

“Afraid for my job. It’s not good here.”

“Come to work for Bennett. Grayson is going to extend you an official offer for twenty percent higher than you’re being paid now.”

“Sold. When do I start?”

We work out the details, talk about my client, and then plan to meet at the Bennett offices Monday morning. “I’ll arrange to have her there,” Kevin promises of my client and we disconnect right as we pull up to the house. “Everything is falling into place,” I say, feeling a pinch of sadness. “I remember coming here and it being your father’s house he just never used. Now, it’s yours.”

Grayson pulls us into the garage and parks. “And he’d want me to share it with you.” He kills the engine and exits, and by the time I’m standing beside my door, he’s there kissing me. He glances at his suit and my dress we’d worn for the press conference. “Let’s change and take a walk.”

“I’d like that.”

A few minutes later, we’re both in sweats, tees, and we head to the beach where we start walking. We talk. We talk abouteverything and then we do it again and as we always do, we end up at the lighthouse. Grayson follows me up the stairs, and we reach the railing just in time to watch the sun begin to lower and streak the darkening sky in orange and red.

Grayson grabs a bottle of wine, and I don’t ask where it came from. We always kept wine here. We were always here. He fills two glasses and then offers me one. I sip and sigh. “So many times, I missed us here. So many times when we were here, I just wanted to stay and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.”

He sets our glasses down. “Then stay forever. Stay with me, Mia. Be with me. Be the mother of my children and we will have beautiful babies. You’re my best friend, you’re my other half. You’re a part of me that I can’t live without. You know I had to do this here. It didn’t feel right anywhere else and yet you feel right in every way.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out my ring and then goes down on his knee. “Will you marry me, Mia?”

Tears prickle in my eyes, and I shake my head. “Yes, a hundred times over. Can we just go do it now, so no one can stop us?”

He stands up and slides the ring on my finger. “No one is going to stop us and you’re going to have your perfect wedding, whatever you want that to be.”

“The part where we say ‘I do’ is all I want. I don’t care about the rest.”

“I do already, baby.”

“I do, too.” And this time, when he presses me against the wall and kisses me, I don’t stop him when he undresses me. I help him because this is our place, this is where I want us to get married. This is where I want our vows to be spoken. This is us.

Part Two: Love Me Forever

Chapter forty-six

Mia

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