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“He tried.” My hand was at my mouth as I remembered the pain on his face at our argument. “I wouldn’t let him talk. I kept yelling at him for trying to help me. I just wanted to do it on my own, and he was trying…he mentioned Thomas. He was going to call. He said it was time. I thought—” The broken breath cut off my words.
Aimon pulled me into his arms, holding me as I tried to process what all of this meant. He was going to tell me. He was so close, and I lost him before he had his chance. I was so mean. So hateful to him, and he’d changed his entire life to protect me. He’d been the cause, sure, but he didn’t have to give it up. He could have taken his chances like Charles did, but he didn’t. He knew he’d put us in harm’s way if he did.
“Shhh. It’s okay. I’m here.”
“I’m sorry.” I wiped my tears, taking the handkerchief Aimon handed over. “I’m emotional. I just…I regret the way I treated him. He was going to tell me the truth, and I shut him down. It’s my fault. Please.” I turned to Charles, nodding to Aimon as I lowered back to my chair. “Please, I’d like to know. What was he going to tell me? What does all this mean?”
“Wait. I have to ask. The accident.” Aimon looked between me and Charles. “It was an accident? It wasn’t anything from his past?”
“No.” Charles shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of, and we checked thoroughly.”
“And my parents’ plane crash?”
Charles’s head lowered through the pain. “Not an accident. My fault. I can’t prove it, but there were threats beforehand. Ones I should have taken seriously. I wasn’t much better than George back then. We were best friends. We fed off of each other. It quickly caught up with us, and we paid. I’m sorry, Aimon. I’m so sorry for taking that out on you. You were a kid, and it wasn’t fair for you to have me so angry all the time. I hurt you, a lot, and I don’t forgive myself for that. I know you don’t forgive me either and that’s okay. Losing Lucia.” Master Charles paused, wiping a tear. “She was my world. I loved her more than I loved anything. It killed me knowing I was the reason she was gone. I lost my daughter because of my bad decisions. And then I lost my grandson because of my anger and grief. I should have been there for you. You needed me, and I let you down. I lost you too.”
Aimon’s hands ran over his face as he choked back emotions. “We have each other now, and that’s what’s important. Is there a reason I should worry about anything from either of your pasts? Are we safe now?”
“I believe so, but I never wanted to take the risk and find out. We protect what’s ours, Aimon. Even if it’s suffocating, like it was to you. Keep guards with each of you at all times. Even when you were banished, you were never alone. I made sure of that. Keep the staff. Stay out of the public sector as much as you can. Hire the best. Earn their loyalty. Love the hell out of them as if they’re your family because they are.”
Nodding, Aimon grabbed my hand as Charles reached into a pocket on the inside of his robe, pulling out a piece of paper. When he slid it across the table, I could barely pick it up. My hands were trembling.
“This is what belongs to you, Fay.”
Swallowing back the emotions, I opened the paper, not sure what to expect. What I saw had the entire room rocking underneath me.
“Son of a…” Aimon’s hand flattened on my back while the letters and numbers blurred before me. Three bank accounts with so many zeroes it made my head spin. Four well-known corporations. Three, I knew of. One, I had already fixed. “Lenstrum belongs to Fay?”
“It does.” Charles nodded.
“How?” My voice was weak. I cleared it, forcing myself to sit straighter.
“Technically, I bought it from George while he was going under, but it was in name only. It belongs to you now. They all do. Between you and Aimon, you’ll both have your hands full. George and I, we’re finished with what we started. It’s up to the two of you to decide what keeps going. I have great faith in what you’ll accomplish together. My only advice…” He stared at me, moving to stop on his grandson. “Don’t forget love comes first. Before money. Before deals or travels. Nothing is more important than each other. Family is everything. Don’t be hardheaded like me and realize it a little too late. Life changes by the second. Cherish each one. Take nothing for granted. Not your wife, and not your fortune. Both can disappear in a flash. Love her, Aimon. Put everything you have into Fayette and she will do the same. Your life will be what I always wanted for you.”
Aimon stood, walking over and hugging his grandfather. French poured from his mouth. Beautiful. Heartbreaking. When he straightened and wiped his eyes, I couldn’t stop my own tears.
“I’m afraid you both exhausted me. This is your honeymoon, not mine. I do believe I’ll be leaving you now.”
“We’ll see you at breakfast?” Aimon took his seat as Charles grinned, nodding.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
But he had. With Charles’s confessions, came his own passing in the middle of the night. Peaceful. Sleeping. Tears were shed, but the unbearable grief I thought was coming turned out to be blanketed with the love I felt for him. Aimon and I made it through the services in one piece, holding to each other. Leaning on one another as we prepared for the weight of the world to come crashing down around us. It didn’t. Charles had made arrangements, and Aimon never left my side. We were unstoppable in love, and we took Charles’s advice to heart.
Love over money. Family over everything.
Epilogue
Aimon
There had always been something about driving fast that sent my adrenaline soaring. The blur in my peripheral. The hard thumps slamming into my chest as the speedometer climbed to dangerous speeds. Before Fay or Lucia, nothing compared to the way cars could make me feel. Then, my girls came along.
Watching Fay give birth topped the charts on unforgettable experiences. Her strength. The pure will to keep going after so much pain. She astounded me. Amazed me. But we couldn’t pretend we didn’t feel the missing part of us when Lucia came into the world. We missed my grandfather. I hated that I hadn’t gotten closer with him sooner. Like I told Fay, we couldn’t change the past. He was never separate from me in spirit, and I had Parker and Thomas now. In a way, with them still close, I felt Charles around. And the two of them, well, they weren’t as tough as they appeared once my daughter got ahold of them. She and Fay were my heart. My very soul. I didn’t think I could hold an ounce more…until now. With every breath, the emotion grew. And with every sob and cry from my wife, I was unimaginably more hers.
“It’s okay, baby. Breathe. Slow. Deep.”
“I’m trying.”
“I know. You’re doing great.”
