Page 130 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

My back pocket buzzed. Without even looking I was fairly sure it was Jareth, letting me know everything was in place.

I’d been pissed to know Jareth would be the one to reach out to the Feds and leak the information to the press. The side that wanted to make my parents suffer hated that I wouldn't be the one to exact justice.

But Jareth needed this more than I did. We’d created an uneasy alliance in the past twenty-four hours.

The next time the door opened, Jareth led the Feds into the room, and they arrested both of my parents. The hatred that burned in my mother’s eyes went right through me. I’d stopped needing her approval a long time ago but knowing and seeing it still hurt.

The room was in chaos, people had no idea what to do, and I assured the board members that anyone who’d been unaware of my parents’ duplicity was safe. And not to worry.

I also made sure my fucking birthday cake didn’t get smashed. There was no way Ruby had worked that hard for me not to enjoy it. So while the rest of us answered questions and my parents were hauled off, I passed out cake.

This was the best fucking birthday ever.

James moved to my side, hugging me tight. “I’m so proud of you. I love you, Jess.”

“I love you too, James Alden.” I twined my arms around his neck. “Are you ready to become my First Gentleman and help me run this empire?”

“I’ll become anyone you need me to be.” He nuzzled the side of my neck, my panties growing wet despite the chaos surrounding us. “You don’t need my help doing it, but you’ll have my support every damn day.”

I crushed my lips to his and wondered if my grandmother hadn’t planned this epic event all along.

Epilogue

Alden

One year later...

Bahamas

I laid in bed, my hands propped behind my head as I watched Jess pace naked in our bedroom. Watching her work was the biggest turn on, naked was even better. I had a constant hard on. I had to force her to take time away from the job this week. She’d been running herself ragged since last year, and on her birthday of all days, she needed a break.

It was hard to sit there and not grab the fucking phone, tell the person on the other end to handle it, and stop bothering my wife. Well, my soon to be wife. My gaze flicked over to my suitcase where the ring I’d brought to propose to her lay inside.

“Done already?” I asked when she hung up and tossed the phone on the nearby dresser.

“Mmm, just a few things to handle.” She took one look at the tented sheet at my waist and licked her lips. “Well, good morning to you.”

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