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Maddie’s family scooped Valen up, so much so she almost disappeared underneath Maddie’s parents, sisters, and Jade.
I cleared my throat and stepped back closer to the microphone. “I’d like to thank Madeline Dunham’s family and friends for being here today. Maddie was my wife’s best friend and the inspiration and namesake for our foundation.”
When Valen questioned me that day about using my influence to do things that are bigger, better, and that encourage others to do the same, honestly, it had been something I hadn’t considered much before. I had PR teams, advisers, and people I fucking paid to help me navigate the world I lived in, and yet, Valen, on more than one occasion, had helped me to see so much more than I had before.
Not just what I should be doing with my power and influence.
But why I was here.
I’d spent a long time questioning my existence.
Fighting to prove my worth in the world.
But Valen had shown me that there were so many reasons I was here.
So many more than I could have ever imagined had I not found her all twisted up in a wedding dress on the side of the road that day.
Valen had changed the way I viewed the world and my place in it, and now, all I wanted to do was share it with her.
Technically, we weren’t married, but I had been making plans to make Valen, Mrs. Lawson—legally. And now that I was looking at her—the woman I fucking loved—I was wondering why the hell I was waiting.
Life wasn’t getting any shorter.
And I didn’t want to spend the rest of mine without her as my wife.
Chapter Thirty-Two
VALEN
Every time I thought I knew Reed, that I knew what to expect from him, he surprised me.
And honestly, I was starting to consider that maybe, surprises weren’t so bad.
Not when they were so beautiful.
So meaningful.
Reed and I had talked a lot about money, status, and influence. I’d been around it, and I’d seen both the positive and negative impacts it could have on people. My mom, for example, believed that it was everything. She thought the most significant thing in life was to be someone important, someone people admired and wanted to be like. She thrived on the attention and being revered, which was great for her fans but not so great for me and my brother, who were pushed aside and treated like a second thought.
Reed didn’t live in that world.
He understood the power he had, but for him, it wasn’t an everyday tool to get what he wanted.
He also understood me.
He knew I wasn’t exactly floored by dollar signs and expensive things, but he also wanted to be able to use the resources he had to make me happy. And I honestly wasn’t sure he could ever get it more right.
“I hate you for keeping this from me and making me all crazy and paranoid about what the hell was going on for the past twenty-four hours,” I ranted, squeezing his hand as I finally managed to get a moment alone with him. “But this is by far the most amazing, beautiful, and thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“You deserve to be acknowledged for the way you fight so hard for the people you care about.”
My throat tightened. It wasn’t the answer I was expecting, and I found myself fighting back the tears. “I don’t expect to be acknowledged for that.”
“And I think that’s the best part,” he answered with a grin as he guided me into another room down the hall. He shut the door behind us, and I immediately noticed the garment bag hanging in the corner. “Time for a costume change,” he said simply like I should have expected it. “The night is not over yet.”
We’d spent an hour or so at the banquet, watching the dollar amount rise as they auctioned off luxury holidays and dates with wealthy men, including Bronson.
“More surprises?”
