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“Well, I’ve come here to say something and I’m going to say it, whether you want to hear it or not.” I give it a moment to see if she’s going to answer and when she doesn’t, I go on regardless. “Look Em, your father was a lot of things, we both know that. Yes, I can take the blame of knowing about some of it, but not others. Obviously, I knew about his financial status, but If I hadn’t helped Mitch when he asked me to, the debts would have gone right to you.” She turns her face up slightly and looks at me through her lashes. “He was knee deep in debt, so deep in fact that you would have had to sell your gallery to get yourself of it. Out of his debts. So, by doing what he did, I don’t know if he was saving you, or himself, but he asked me if I’d take over everything so he could claim bankruptcy. He didn’t want to lose everything, If I took everything over, he’d still have something, he still had his fingers in all the pies. Everything but the house would’ve gone. There were only four people that knew what was going on, me, Mitch, Noah, and Henry. I was sworn to secrecy and was assured that you would never find out. We did this after his first heart attack.”
“First one?” She lifts her head up, a cute frown creasing her forehead.
“Yes, the first one. He had another one before he reached out to you and started putting wheels in motion to make up for a little of the heart ache that he caused you. They put him on blood thinners but in the end the stress was just too much. His arteries were clogged. The stress and his love of work, alcohol and bad food helped towards it all. Although everything was changed legally, we were still getting around to making it official. On legal paperwork it was my name, but where companies were concerned, they knew us as Lancaster still.”
“What about the gallery?” Her voice shakes as she asks.
“It’s yours. All yours.” Fixing my gaze on Emily, I move from one side of the couch to the other, sitting nearest to her, I just need to be near her. “I promise you that is one tidbit of information I didn’t know. I was just as shocked as you when I found out. I tried everything I could to put it right but there was nothing I could do, not without telling you first anyway.”Her hands fidget and all I want to do is reach across and hold them. “Do you have any idea how hard that was? Either way it was going to hurt you.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” She lifts her chin, meeting my gaze. Unshed tears swim in her eyes. I want to take her in my arms and hold her so tight. Tell her everything is going to be fine but I’m not sure she’ll let me.
“Because I have it all here in black and white.” Leaning cross and grabbing the handle of my briefcase I pull it onto my lap and click the locks. I take out everything I need and hand them over. “The top one is the gallery. Lancaster Galleries will stay how it is. You are the sole owner of it, like you always thought you were. Lancaster Incorporation is now changed to Parker Estates Limited, but, if you want a piece of the business, I can make that happen. There’s a contract in there, you just have to read it through and sign it. We’ll be fifty—fifty right down the middle.”
She stares at the paperwork in front of her and slowly flicks through the pages, she looks like she wants to say something, flicking her gaze between me and the contract, but nothing comes out right away. “How? How have you done that? You’ve just said there was nothing you could do.”
“Nothing that I could do on the sly, no. If I changed the gallery contract, I’d have to speak with Henry. I’m not the dodgy one, Em. Mitch was the sly one. I’ve donated my quarter of the business to you. That way you don’t have to pay me a penny to buy me out.”
“Why would you do that?” She asks timidly, a confused look floating around in her tear-filled eyes.I don’t want to her to cry; it hurts my heart so much. It breaks me to see her so sad.
“Because it’s yours. Mitch should never have taken advantage of you or got involved like that. I have some morals, Em.” I say sharper than I mean as I blow out a ragged breath. My head shakes, I’m hurt that she thinks I would.“I can’t believe you think I would do that.”
A long sigh blows through her lips. “Troy, this really isn’t about the business. I didn’t want it then and I don’t want it now,” she sighs looking up at me. “I get why it was hidden from me, even though I’m a bloody adult and I should’ve been trusted with the truth. Maybe not him, because well, we both know he never did that, but you? Out of all this, you have hurt me the most. I don’t know if I can trust you?”She holds my gaze, “I just want my gallery.”
“It’s yours.” I drop to my knees in front of her taking her hands, holding them loosely in mine, just needing to touch her. “Look into your heart, Em. What’s your heart telling you? I ask solemnly. “I just need a second chance to show you. God, I love you, Emily.” I declare, emotion flooding my tone.“I love you so fucking much, my chest feels like it’s been obliterated with a sledgehammer.”
She blinks and the first lot of tears fall, her chin trembles. She presses her lips together to stave it off, “Is there anything else I need to know, because if there is, I suggest you tell me now.”
“There’s nothing, I swear. You know everything.” I pause waiting for her to answer, but before she can ruin my flow, I go on. “I screwed up so badly with the need to protect you. To make everything that your dad did, right. I felt like I had to make things better. I guess I thought I’d show you that you were the only one for me, then everything else would go away.” My fingers tighten around my hands,
With a shaky sigh eaves her lips as she focuses on me, “But just being with you made it better. All you had to do was tell me everything and not keep me in the dark.” She blows out a breath as a tear begins to trickle from her eye. “Even with that stupid invitation of spending six months with you for the inheritance.” Reaching up, I smooth her tears away. “Shall I tell you why I accepted?” Her hands tighten around mine as I nod, curious as to why she did, when she seemed to hate me so much. “Because I wanted to see if you’d changed. I wanted to have the chance to walk away from you without feeling like I’d had my heart ripped out. Then I could tell myself that I didn’t love you anymore.”
“And now?” I inch closer. “Do you still love me?”
“More than life itself.” She whispers pushing forward, our foreheads meeting. “My heart physically hurts because you’re not there. I didn’t have you to make me laugh or put your foot in your mouth when you tried to get out of stuff. It took me a long time to get over you the first time, Troy Parker, and these last twenty-four hours have been the worst in my life.” Brushing her tears away, I palm the side of her face as she leans into my hand. “Please don’t make me feel like this again.”
“Angel, there is no way. I can’t go through this again.” I whisper.
Rising onto my knees, I take her by the hips and slip between her parted legs before tugging her towards me. I capture her lips. They mould to mine softly, sensually, her hands closing around my face. I steal her breath until it’s so deep that all the emotions of the last day are being thrown into this kiss, creating something beautiful.
By the time we’re pulling back we’re both panting, grasping for a little air. “I love you so much. I promise I’ll never hurt you again.”I tell her truthfully. I’d rather cut off one of my arms than lose her.
“Do you promise? Can you say with your hand on your heart there’s nothing else that I need to know, because I can’t do this again, Troy.” Her eyes are a blue crystal as water coats them.
I reach inside my pocket and pull out the contents, grasping her ring between my finger and thumb. I hold it between us for a second “I promise, with all my heart, there is nothing else. I don’t want to go another day without you. My life isn’t complete without you in it. When I said those words in the kitchen the day after the showcase, I meant every single word. My heart is yours. It will only ever be yours, Em.”
Tracing my lips with her fingertips, tears spill from her eyes. “Oh God. I love you so much.”She breathes, her chest shuddering.
Gently wiping her tears away, I place small kisses to her damp skin and return to her lips, mumbling against them. “Marry me.”
“Are you asking or telling me?” She smirks, pulling back to look me in the eye.
“Decide for yourself, but I’m not leaving here until you have that ring back on your finger.” Throwing her arms around me, her fingers find my hair.
“You know when you asked me to look into my heart and listen to what it was saying?” I nod, “
“I want to sell the house.” My brows shoot up. “As much as I love it, and as much as my mum loved it, there’s old ghosts I need to exorcise to be happy. My dad is a constant reminder of the sadder times in my life. I need to move on. I want us to start our life together without him constantly hanging over us.”
“Angel, I love you.” I declare smiling,” My heart is where you are, and if that means selling up and moving somewhere else then you’ve got it.” Reaching up I find her hand bringing it back between us and slide her ring back onto her finger. The place where it belongs.
Lifting her hand to my lips I kiss her ring as she asks, “You don’t mind?” The question obviously playing on her mind.
“I don’t care where we live as long as I have you. You are all that matters in the world to me. With you by my side I can take over the world.” She lunges at me, her lips against mine as she pushes us down to the carpet.
“Make me yours again.” She gasps between kisses.
“You were always mine anyway.” I declare with the same haste, rolling her onto her back and kissing her until she’s begging for breath, making a vow to never let her go again.
I still wonder how a hasty six-month proposal plucked out of nowhere, was the best thing I ever did.
THE END
