AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He doesn’t even bat an eye, rolling with my change easily. “Yes. It’s rather understated for a Huntington-Ward, but she doesn’t like anything flashy or that will get in the way when she’s busy.”
Smart man to take her desires into consideration. “Does she know you plan on proposing to her?”
For once, King genuinely smiles when he looks at me. “She does, but she has no idea when it will happen. I’ve been trying to talk her into eloping, but she won’t have any of it. My mother would drop dead if I went to the courthouse and her mother would probably throw food at me.”
A startled laugh escapes. What the hell? “Hermom?” I gape at him.
King nods with all the seriousness of his usual manner. “Yes, her mother. She’s much like your grandmother from what I’ve heard.”
Oh, his poor soul. If Emilia’s mother is anything like Nana Noel, King is going to need a lot of prayers when he marries into that family. “Her family didn’t try to run you off?”
“I’m sure they wanted to at times,” King shrugs. “It made no difference to me. Emilia is mine. They have an idea of the lengths I’ll go to make sure she is happy and safe. All they want for her is the same thing your father wants for you: to be loved unconditionally.”
“Thorin doesn’t love me.” We’re still too new of a couple to be using such a large, meaningful word between us.
King rolls his eyes. “Yes, he does. He may not say it at the moment, but his actions are of someone who wants the world for you. In time, I’m sure he’ll express it as easily as his actions do.” His neon blue eyes narrow at me before he smirks. “You’re not fooling anybody either, Bex. You’re in love with him as well. No one needs you to say it to know it’s true.”
I don’t bother responding to him. There’s little point in denying it, but I refuse to acknowledge his words until Thorin and I are in agreement about where our feelings lie with one another. The last thing I want to do is tell King before I tell the person the words are actually meant for.
“Just do me a favor,” King says quietly. “I know I have no right to ask you for a favor, but I’m going to regardless. This media shitstorm will blow over. I know better than anyone else how much of a blip this will be in a few weeks time. I’ll ensure every charity that’s currently pulling away from you is aware of the media moving on so that you can be welcomed back. But I need you to stand strong against these allegations and the uncertainty. Thorin needs you by his side just as much as you need him. This isn’t about the contract, but about the emotional support you two need from each other. So try not to run away when it seems like everything is falling apart.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” After everything happened this weekend, I thought my anxiety would run away with my heart, determined to shelter me so I wouldn’t have to face the feelings everything in my life is causing. Being overstimulated typically makes me lash out, but I’ve found I cling tighter to Thorin when I get that way. And he remains a rock, unmoving in my life. Even now, my immediate reaction isn’t to distance myself from him, but to get a hug to feel better. The only thing I want to distance myself to is the media.
“You are,” King nods. “I hope you stay.”
The office door pushes slightly open, Detrick poking his head in but blocking the rest of the bullpen with his body. “Thorin is on his way up.”
King rises, reaching out to shake my hand across my desk table. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with us this morning. I know it was a bit of a shock to walk into your office being overrun by everyone you don’t like, sans your assistant of course.” King smirks at me as he skirts around my desk towards my door. He pauses with his hand on the handle, half turning towards me again. “Be patient with Thorin if you can be. It’ll be worth it.” With that parting comment, he swans out of my office and into the bullpen, scaring everyone back to their duties with a glare.
A few moments slip by before Thorin is ushered into my office, Detrick making a grand entrance with his arms as he opens the door for him. I barely get the chance to roll my eyes before Thorin and I are left alone.
I lean back in my seat, taking him in as he shuffles towards the same seat King just vacated. Thorin looks a little tired, his hair slightly unkempt, but I’d bet money it’s the wind howling outside’s doing and not the stress. He’s in a crisp black suit today, looking far more attractive than he should for the way our lives just got turned upside down.
“Are you alright?” Thorin’s soft voice asks as he leans forward to brace his elbows on his knees.
“I’m alright,” I nod. “I’m a little bit still in a daze, but I’ll be fine by this afternoon. How about you?”
He blows out a massive breath. “This entire thing is turning into an even bigger shitshow. It started at four this morning, which is unfortunately why you had to be ambushed,” he explains. “I know we spoke on the phone when you were getting ready, but I was already on my way to the office to do the interview and didn’t want you to be stressed about it.”
“I seem to be a magnet for stress recently.” A week ago none of this felt like a possibility of what my life might turn into. A media circus is one thing, but the way it’s affecting my life is absolutely crazy. Knowing that we have support from everyone makes it easier to deal with and breathe, even if it is a bit overwhelming.
“I wish this didn’t have to happen all at once,” Thorin grunts. “Believe me, if I knew this was going to explode in the way it did, I would have met with your father later on to avoid overwhelming you.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s better this way. Dad and I are acting as a team right now and I need that with everything else going on.” Of everything to happen in the past five days, this is by far the best outcome I could ask for knowing now what all would be happening. “You brought us together, Thorin. I’m really appreciative of you for that.”
“Of course,” he says immediately. “I still wish this wasn’t happening though.”
“Me too,” I mutter. Raising my voice back to normal level, I ask, “So what happens now that you outed us to the media as an actual couple?”
He stares at me for a beat before he chuckles. “I take it no one showed you the news footage from this morning?”
“News footage?”
“I was live,” he smirks.
Oh. No, I definitely wasn’t aware of that. “Why were you live?”
“Because it makes things easier in some regards,” Thorin shrugs. “Sometimes being live means you can’t have someone take what you’re saying and twist it to fit their narrative of events. I explained that while Jessica and I did date a very long time ago, I have no contact with her now and have had her removed on several occasions from Ravenscroft Hotel properties. I also mentioned she was blackballed from all of Aillard’s properties as well, simply because it felt good to say it, which Aillard is now implementing and thinks it was a fucking riot to have said aloud. I did mention that she’s been harassing you since we began seeing each other again, and that while we would have preferred to keep our lives private, unfortunately something needed to be said regarding the issues being put out in the media.”
