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I tried calling Celeste, but to no avail. I’m afraid to call my mom. If she’d known about my father’s plans for me after graduation, she would’ve told me. So, until I know how I want to respond, I’ll keep it to myself so I don’t terrify her. And Rena, as much as I adore her, she’s the sister of men who are not much different than the ones in this house and their close allies. I don’t think she’d share anything I said, but I’m not sure who I can trust.
So, I’m isolated from everyone, desperate for my father and his direction. Wells was right. It would’ve been different if my father had delivered this information. He had a way of cushioning everything, bathing even the harshest messages in a golden light. It’s why our house was constantly visited by men who sought guidance. Thomas Kingston always knew how to navigate even the rockiest terrain. He would have pumped me up for this, encouraged me to accept the role I was born to conquer.
Maybe that’s the most confusing part. The truth in everything Wells said was most apparent when he spoke of my father—hiswisdom, how he treated him like a son. How Wells misses him every day. The knowledge of their bond strengthens my love for Wells, and I hate myself for it because I feel like a fool.
Although, when I strip the emotions away, logic shows me Wells did the best he could with a difficult situation. It isn’t lost on me that he promised ten million in the prenup should he not keep me safe or break our arrangement—the exact amount my father had paid him to protect me. He’s been honorable, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not who I thought I was. Or that life will never be the same. Or that the relationships with the men who mean everything to me were essentially built on a secret, whether for my own safety or not.
But no matter how angry I get, Wells’s words from the last months swirl around me.
“You, Little Storm. I was waiting for you.”
“Sometimes, storms come to decimate everything we deem important. Other times, they come to clear our path.”
“You changed everything, Ivanna. Turned it all upside down. The moment I saw you, I knew I was lost to whatever path you carved for me.”
“This moment with you is worth a hundred of these, Little Storm. It’s worth every car in this garage a hundred times over. Every moment with you is.”
“Tell me you know there is nothing more important to me than you. No matter what else happens, I need you to know that.”
“Because I’m in love with you. So in love that you make me lose my goddamn mind.”
He’s been holding this secret, carrying the weight of this fucked-up world, and trying to prove how much I mean to him through it all. So have the guys—Ty asking me to let him take care of me, Liam claiming I was his family, and even Gage accepting me through each and every baked good.
My head hurts too much to think anymore, so I request a bottleof wine from Liam through a text, who delivers it with nachos prepared by Gage. Ty sneaks in as I take the goods to peck my forehead. The alcohol, the snack, and a Hallmark movie—where the heroine’s life is crumbling because she might lose the family farm, but a billionaire passing through falls in love with her and saves it all—distract me from my sulking.
I wish I had a farm. With screaming goats or fainting ones. So simple.
I climb under the covers as the wine dwindles and the next movie begins.
I must’ve passed out. My body feels heavy, pinned to the mattress. Cotton fills my mouth, and my head spins, courtesy of that bottle of wine I consumed. When I open my eyes, it’s pitch-black, and the house is still and quiet, except for a soft murmur. I glance around for the source, and as my eyes adjust, I find Wells sprawled beside me, which is also when I realize I’m in our bedroom, wearing one of his T-shirts, and his arm is draped across my waist possessively.
I smack his bicep and catapult myself upright. “What the fuck am I doing in here, Wells?” After all the liberties he’s taken, I’m not sure why this is the one ruffling me, but it is.
He boosts himself up onto his elbows. “What’s wrong, Ives?”
Irritated at his nonchalant attitude regarding this moment, I groan. “How did I get in here?”
He yawns. “I unlocked the door last night and carried you to bed.”
I bend my knees to my chest, fisting my hair on both sides of my aching head. All that sadness I was feeling has morphed into full-blown fury. And I’m too tired and worn out not to throw a tantrum. “What part of me needing time and space was confusing?”
He pops up, back ramrod straight and towering over me in only his boxers, which I suppose is a concession since he generally sleeps naked and insists on me doing the same. “Not confusing at all. I gave you the day, and I’m happy to let you wallow today andtomorrow and every day this week. But you are my wife, Ivanna. You belong in our bed.”
My jaw falls slack. “That’s your concern? Are you serious right now?”
“Deadly,” he affirms, moving to prop himself against the headboard.
I scoff, shaking my head in disbelief. “You gave mea dayto accept that I am not who I thought, that I have people attempting to end me, that I was adopted or essentially stolen, and that I am married to a man and living with men who knew who I was, watched me for five years, and murdered people on my behalf, but pretended we just met. How generous. Oh.” I sling my arms through the air. “And let’s not forget there’s a multimillion-dollar price on my head.”
“Yeah.” He sighs, scrubbing a hand over his stubble. “It’s a lot. All the more reason you needed to come to bed with me.”
“That is a fucked-up, self-serving theory, Wells.”
“No, it’s not, Ives. I told you there was nothing more important to me than you. No truer words have ever been spoken. You are entitled to be angry and sad or whatever you’re feeling, but I won’t leave you alone to deal with it. I love you too much. Hate me. I can live with that, but you’re not getting rid of me.”
“No? What if I take off?” I realize the stupidity in my question the second it flies out of my mouth.
“Really?” He laughs, a full-bodied howl, which fills me with visions of vocal-cord gouging. Yes, it’s safe to say I’m untethered. “You’re married to the best eraser and identity miner in the world. I’d chase you to the ends of the earth, Little Storm.” He tucks a hair behind my ear and opens his arms. “Stop being so stubborn and let me hold you. We’ll figure this out. Together.”
