Page 39 of Yours, Truly

My dad’s face lit up and he jumped up from his chair, this was the fastest I had seen him move. Mum chuckled, shaking her head. She knew how much my Dad loved cars, to the point she used to let him drone on and on about a certain make that none of us paid attention to. Now he had someone with the same passion and I knew that this was going to be the topic of most of their conversations.

“What?! He doesn't even let me drive it!” I exclaimed, holding my hand over my heart, offended.

“That's because you can't drive,” Nate and Dad said, inunison, before hugging it out. A bromance was now formed, these two were going to be inseparable.

Nate came over, placing a hand under my chin, guiding me to look into his eyes and planted a long delicate kiss as if it was a parting kiss and he wasn’t going to see me for a while. I blushed as he pulled back, “I love you,” he expressed, before another soft kiss landed on my forehead.

“I love you too,” I chuckled, as I watched him walk towards the door with my Dad and called ahead, “Dad, please be nice!” They both bustled out the door and silence replaced their chatter.

I helped my Mum clean up the kitchen, just as the Porsche roared to life, and my Dad sped out the driveway. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. I had never seen my parents so comfortable around anyone, hell I had never seen Nate this comfortable unless it was just the two of us. I kept thinking about Nate, the happiness and contentment from today. It felt good.

“You seem happy, baby. Nate is wonderful,” she boasted, as she handed me a dish to place in the dishwasher. I blushed.

“I am so happy, Mum. And he really is, isn’t he?” The meeting with my parents couldn’t have gone any better if I’m honest.

“The way he looks at you, honey. I’m just happy you have found someone who can give you unconditional love.” She gushed.Me too Mum, me too.

It was nice to be able to have some girl talk with Mum. I even opened up about him being Ivy’s brother, which took her bysurprise.It did to me when I found out too Mum don’t worry. She did lecture me a little bit about the fact we had been hiding it for months, that Barcelona was now months ago.

Then she calmed and told me about when she first met dad, that they’d had a complicated start. Mum and Dad started off as best friends, he was dating her high school best friend and nothing could happen between them, not until they were both honest with the people they loved.

So of course, Mum understood where we stood with Ivy but she also offered some advice to speak to her, to just be open. I knew she was right and I would speak to Nate later about it. I really did want to tell Ivy but selfishly, I wanted to keep Nate all to myself. I was scared that she would try to be involved in our relationship, not intentionally but she would naturally want to protect her brother and that worried me.

We were sisters by bond not blood, and at the end of the day, blood was everything.

29

SILENCE IN COURT

Things were going well with me and Nate. We practically lived together, alternating our living arrangements between the two houses and we had been for a while now. We both kept personal items at the other's place. But what became more complicated was trying to hide the truth from Ivy, as much as we could; we both made sure the main topic around Ivy when we were alone with her was the wedding.

I had gotten so good at lying to her, making excuses, that I struggled to even know the truth anymore. It was getting me down as I really missed my best friend and that was on me. I kept telling myself just a few more months and once the wedding was over, we would tell her.

After the successful visit with my parents over Easter, we realised we could spend more time with them where we could be a normal couple. Mum even called us once a week just to check in and Dad always asked when Nate would be over again, maybe to catch a game with him sometime.

When it came to work, shit was well and truly hitting the fan. My company was preparing all the final bits ready for the trial. My name had been protected, as promised by Nate, but the same couldn’t be said for the company. We were struggling to stay afloat. We had lost a lot of clients and the lawsuit was costing us a fortune but we hoped today would be the end; it was trial day.

I awoke at Nate's, laying in our bed and watching him as he changed into his business suit ready for the day. He was leaving earlier than me this morning to meet with his client and go over some final details.

He strolled into the kitchen and prepared toast for us both while I got myself up and dressed. My nerves were radiating off me as this was only one of the trials, we still had Mr Cato’s one to go.

I didn’t know what to wear so I settled on my light beige pant-suit, which was slim fitted, and paired it with a black shirt. I tied my hair into a neat bun and kept my make-up natural. I wanted to make a good impression in the courtroom to support not just the company, but also Angelina as her deputy. I popped on some white court heels and made my way into the kitchen, the penthouse offered a stunning view of the city below. When Nate noticed me he froze in place, his eyes scanning me from head to toe.

“Do I look okay?” I asked, feeling insecure. My body was shaking inside, and my tummy felt a little unsettled.

Are you kidding me? You look sexy as fuck Gi.” I blushed at his enthusiastic comment. I smiled to myself that I still made thisimpression on Nate.

Confidently, I made my way to the kitchen island and grabbed a slice of toast with jam. I just hoped my stomach would allow it as I needed to eat something. He came up behind me and placed his hands on my hips, blocking me between him and the counter. He kissed my cheek before whispering in my ear, “I want you to wear this later, sweetheart.”

It sent a shiver down my spine and he rubbed his hands over the material that sculpted my body. I could feel him getting excited. “How am I supposed to concentrate in that courtroom today?”

“I think that's ayouproblem,” I smirked, knowing my cheekiness would add some extra punishment to our session later.

“Oh sweetheart, we both know that's not true.” He planted another delicate kiss on my cheek, then on my neck before stepping away. He grabbed his briefcase from his home office and placed it on the island beside me, clicking it open. “I have a small gift for you,” he smiled.

“For me? It's not my birthday,” I teased.

“Do I need a reason to treat my girlfriend?” The word still brought butterflies to my stomach. He handed me a red velvet box and I opened it slowly. It was a key with a keyring.

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