Page 107 of Broken Empire

“Neverbeen better.”

“Talkto us man, we’re here for you.”

“Justdrop it, okay?I’mperfectly fine.Ijust felt like celebrating last night.Isthat a crime?”Iask, with a roll of my eyes.

“No, it’s not, butIcan’t help but feel like something’s wrong,”

“That’sjust your overactive imagination,”Ilaugh and he just stares at me for a beat. “Nowif you two can leave me alone,Ihave a few thingsIneed to get done today.”

“Doyou need help?”

“No.I’llbe fine.Iordered some stuff while we were on the plane, it should be here today soIcan get started on my projectIhave planned.”

“Alrightman.Justremember we’re here if you need us,”Huntersays.

“Yeah.Don’tforget you’ve got us,”Graysays, before they both get up and leave me alone, finally.

Ihave such a terrible headache right now.Iwalk into the bathroom and pop two painkillers in my mouth along with some water before taking a shower.AfterI’mdone with all thatIhead down the stairs, aiming for the front door.Ialmost make it there butI’mstopped at the last minute.

“Whereare you off to?” my brother asks.

“Ineed to head downtown for like an hour or so and thenI’llbe back,”Itell him.

“Areyou sure you’re okay?Youseem a little off.”

“I’mfine.Don’tworry about me bro,”Itell him asIwalk over to him and pull him in for a hug.WhenIpull away, he stares at me for a moment andIgive him a smile. “Canyou check up on the construction workers in the backyard for me whileI’mgone?Igot a call earlier and they said they should be done with my little surprise today.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Seeyou in an hour or so,”Itell him asIleave to walk out the door.

Imake my way to the courthouse and meet with the judge who agreed to sign off on a marriage certificate forWinterand me.Ihad my lawyer set this up before leavingLondonwhenImade up my mind on whatIwould be doing.Byagreed,Imean he definitely couldn’t refuse the amount of money that was offered to him, to get the job done.

Icollect the certificate and leave.WinterandIare officially legally bound even though she doesn’t know that yet.Afterthat’s done,Ihead straight for my lawyer, handing him the document that proves she’s legally my wife.Ihave him make a will for me andIsplit everythingIown betweenWinterandGray.

Ihope my father is angry in hell right now, because she’s going to own half his company.Hewanted to take hers to build up his, but now she’s going to own part of what he held so dear.Iknow if he was still alive that would have made him furious as hell.

Oncemy lawyer andIare done, he lets me know that he’s going to file it right away andIthank him before leaving.

Bythe timeIget homeIhead straight for the backyard and see that the guys are done with the treehouse.Ihad a replica of the one she had at her old home started here just afterIleft forLondon, whichIhope she loves.Thoughwith some improvements, for instance the skylight is bigger on this one compared to the original.Ihope she loves it.I’lldecorate it later.

“I’mback,”Itell the guys whenIwalk into the kitchen and see them there.

“Everythingwent, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Bythe way, the stuff you ordered came.It’sall in the living room sinceIdidn’t know where you wanted it,”Graytells me.

“Thanks.Onceyou guys are done eating,I’mgoing to need help to take it all upstairs,”Itell them.

“We’repretty much done here so we can go now,”Hunterlets me know.

Weall move to the living room and start grabbing boxes, taking them up to the room right across from the master suite.

“Yougonna tell us what all of this stuff is?”Grayasks.

“It’sall stuff for the nursery,”Itell him just casually dropping that bomb in case he doesn’t already know.

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