Page 18 of Jack's Devotion

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You absolutely should."

Her smile grows as she settles back in her seat, shaking her head at me.

What? Nothing I said was a lie. Drake will understand. All is fair in love and war. Thank God he's married. I'd really hate to have to kill the big bastard.

"I looked up your father today."

Madison tenses beside me.

"He's called a press conference on your birthday."

"I know," she whispers. "He's planning to announce that they're going to have me declared deceased."

I nod grimly. "That's what I thought. I assume you have a plan?"

"Yes. I plan to crash it." She peeks over at me, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. "If the whole world sees me alive and well at the conference, he can't convince a judge that I died."

"You need to preempt him, baby."

"Why?"

"Because you disappeared on your birthday. If you wait until his press conference, he may already have the paperwork filed. We'll call one for the day before," I murmur, reaching for her hand when she flinches, paling as if she hadn't thought about that. "You can announce to the world that you're very much alive and that you disappeared for your own safety."

"What if he finds out about it? If he kills me before my birthday…"

"He isn't killing you," I growl. Hell no. That isn't even an option on the goddamn menu. "And if you're really worried about default ownership of your money and company going to him, marry me."

Her eyes nearly pop out of her head. "W-what?"

"I don't need your money or your company. I've got plenty of my own. If you're married, it'll muddy the waters enough to keep ownership from automatically passing to him. And I guarantee I've got enough goddamn money to keep a legal fight going long enough to bankrupt him."

She pulls her hand from mine to fan her face. "Is this what passing out feels like? It is, isn't it?" she mumbles.

"Breathe, baby." I squeeze her neck gently. "You're okay."

"You just casually offered to marry me to protect my company, Jack," she whisper-shouts. "I am not okay! I'm not even in the same universe as okay!"

I chuckle, pulling into Drake's driveway and then stopping. We're still a good half a mile from the house, but whatever. This is important. I turn to face her, cupping her cheeks in my palms. "The offer wasn't casual, Madison. I thought about it all day. I'm dead serious. It's the best way to protect your company until he's in prison."

"And then we can get a divorce?"

"Depends," I growl, seriously contemplating the merits of unlatching her seatbelt to turn her over my knee. Would Drake and Madeline hear her screaming for mercy from here?

"On what?"

"On whether you want to find out what it's like to be haunted by a pissed off, possessive billionaire." I glower at her. "Because the only goddamn way a marriage between us ends is if I'm dead. At which point, I will be haunting you for the rest of eternity."

"I…" She stares at me with her lips slightly parted for a long moment, and then her expression softens. "You say the most disturbing things, but somehow, they're oddly sweet at the same time. That should really be a marketable skill, you know."

I growl, yanking her toward me. My lips land against hers in a hard kiss. She doesn't fight me. Instead, she melts into me with a greedy little whimper that goes straight to my cock. Her hands slide into my hair, tugging as I devour her lips.

Divorce? Fuck no. Once my ring is on her finger, it stays there. Permanently. And I'll play dirty to get it there if that's what it takes. At this point, I'm willing to do just about anything. I need her on my cock, my kid in her belly, and my ring on her finger.The fact that I don't have any of the three has me feeling a little unhinged in the worst way.

I've never been an obedient little billionaire. I've always done what the fuck I want, when I want. I drive people up the wall and don't give two shits what anyone thinks. I am who I am. If anyone doesn't like it, sucks for them. They can get fucked for all I care.

If this is too fast or insane or whatever descriptor they want to throw on it, so be it. But part of me has been missing her since she disappeared seven years ago. Part of me has regretted every goddamn minute of the last seven years. We weren't in the right place then. She was too damn young for me. I was too stupid. It's different now. Seven years different.

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