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27
JASE
Once Emilia was released from the hospital, I hovered over her constantly to make sure she was okay and wasn’t pushing herself too hard. She insisted on going into the office the following week to catch up on everything, but when it had become clear to me after a couple of hours she wasn’t coping, I took her home without protest.
We worked from our office at home for two weeks while she healed and I limited her exposure to work-related matters to the mornings only. After lunch, she would take a nap. When she woke, we would stroll around our private balcony for a few laps while I caught her up on anything important. Any documents requiring our signatures were brought over by Marian daily after her workday ended, although I was sure she just used that as an excuse to check up on Emilia.
Which neither of us minded in the slightest. Marian ended up staying and joining us for dinner on several occasions, and it was lovely for Emilia to have company. Victoria also made a point of checking in on her friend daily.
Connor tried to give me his resignation the week after Emilia came home and I refused to accept it. We had a long talk in private, and I assured him that neither of us blamed him for what had happened. We both agreed to terminate Richard’s employment at Meteor for failure to do his job, and he left without a fuss.
I don’t know how Julian and his firm managed it, but Emilia’s kidnapping was never made public. She spoke to the authorities privately from home and had given them a full, detailed statement about what had happened to her. Hearing her recount how her injuries had been inflicted upon her by Helena made me glad the younger woman was dead.
We were advised Janet Edwards had warrants out for her arrest in five other states, so between all the charges now stacked against her, she wouldn’t be seeing the sunlight for a very long time. A deal would likely be made to protect Emilia from the public eye, but she’d still be going away for years.
I couldn’t bring myself to feel an ounce of sympathy for Emilia’s mother. The woman was getting exactly what she deserved.
But my heart still ached for my bride-to-be. Although she tried to hide it, I knew she felt some sadness at the way things had turned out. A small part of her had always hoped to one day form a relationship with her mother, and I knew it had crushed her to find out what a devious, conniving bitch the woman who’d birthed her truly was.
I lavished Emilia with all the love, affection, and attention she could stand in the weeks following her release. She was clingier than normal, reluctant to let me out of her sight. Her finger had been reset and splinted, but when the bandages had been removed it was a little crooked.
She was also very conscious of the large scar across her abdomen that she’d likely have for life, so I did my best to assure her it didn’t make her any less beautiful to me, placing kisses on it whenever we made love.
She threw herself into planning the two very different weddings we’d decided to have. The first one would be where we legally became husband and wife, and after chattering to Victoria about it for weeks, we decided to go to the resort the Nolans owned in the Maldives and marry there under the stars as we’d planned.
We asked Victoria and Marian to join us as our witnesses, and both women were thrilled to say yes.
The second wedding would be held a few months after the first in New York City. This ceremony would be black tie, with a guest list a thousand strong, all of whom would be asked to make a donation to our foundation instead of bringing a gift. Emilia went wedding dress shopping, taking Victoria and Marian with her. Connor also tagged along at my insistence since I wasn’t joining the ladies.
We flew to the Maldives on our private jet six weeks after Emilia had been released from hospital, with Marian in tow, arriving two days before the ceremony. Her attending physician had finally given her the all-clear to fly after Emilia had promised to rest as much as possible and not do anything to overexert herself.
I caught the small smile she’d given me when he’d said that and had grinned back at her in return.
We found out upon arrival at the Paradise Resort, owned by the Nolan Hotel Group, that we’d been allocated an exclusive private villa built over the lagoon surrounding the small island we were on. In fact, Victoria and her father owned the entire island, a fact not many people knew.
Marian had been given her own villa on the island within walking distance of ours, as she’d expressed a preference for one on land rather than water, and once we’d agreed to meet for dinner in the main restaurant in the resort, we separated and followed the porter to our accommodations for the next two weeks.
Two whole weeks on an island in a beautiful tropical location just above the equator meant the average temperature was in the eighties all year round. It also meant that the stars in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres were visible in the night sky from there, which I think is the reason it won Emilia over as the destination for our wedding.
We’d stayed in some luxurious accommodations in our time, but the villa we were led to blew everything else out of the water. It was nothing short of spectacular. Although it only contained one large bedroom, it also had a dressing room, a massage room, a study, an outdoor shower, a private pool with seats, and best of all a curved slide that delivered us straight into the lagoon.
I lost count of the number of times we used the slide during our stay.
We also made good use of the outdoor shower, washing each other between kisses after we were done swimming for the day.
Once we’d settled in and unpacked, we took a nap and then changed when we woke and met Marian for dinner. After a little encouragement by the friendly waitress, we allowed the chef to pick our meals, which resulted in us dining upon some of the most delicious seafood dishes I’d ever tasted, paired with expensive wines from all over the world.
After we were full and sated, we bid Marian goodnight and decided to take a walk along the beach. I kept hold of Emilia’s hand as we traversed the shoreline, gazing out at the ocean and looking up at the stars.
They were so bright in this part of the world, and we spent a good half hour sitting on the sand observing them. Emilia was sitting in between my legs, leaning back against me. My arms were around her waist loosely and she had her hands curled around my forearms, rubbing up and down slowly.
“It’s so beautiful here, Jase. I can’t believe how lovely it is.”
Although it was late evening, it was still humid and warm enough for her to be wearing a short summer dress, her creamy skin on display. My lips trailed kisses over her shoulder and up her neck, and she tilted her head to the side to allow me better access.
We kissed for a little while in between stargazing, and eventually she turned to look at me. “How about we go back to our villa and take off all our clothes?”
I raised an eyebrow. “And what happens then?”
