To stroke tendrils of hair out of my face as he thrust up into me with animal grunts.
“Promise me…promise me…promise me…” he chanted.
I promised. With no idea of what I was agreeing to, but I didn’t care. These four months without him had been the worst of my life. And now that he was back, I couldn’t see myself ever letting him go again.
I promised him, and I loved him as wild and crazy as he demanded. Then I exploded, and so did he, his hips punching into mine as he ground out one last, “You’re mine.”
Yes, yes, I was his. Utterly and completely, no matter what. I didn’t understand that before when I thought my sacrifice was the only thing that could save him.
But I understood now.
We fell back onto the bed, panting and complete. Committed to each other in ways that went way beyond a marriage ceremony.
“I love you, and I’m sorry,” I told him, my entire body radiating with promises and epiphanies. “I should have told you. I should have visited you in jail for the next decade rather than give another man what belongs to you. We belong to each other. And I swear to you, I’ll never forget that again.”
He let out a long sigh at my words. “Just so you know, all this psycho inside of me is fully unleashed now. We’re getting married. Soon as fucking possible. And good luck ever getting a divorce off of me. I’m going to treasure you until the day I fucking die. And if you want it any other way, you’re going to have to learn to keep those opinions to yourself. Because us not being together is no longer an option available to you. That shit ended tonight.”
His voice was hard as he told me all of this, but then he rolled over to face me, his shark eyes soft and tender.
“I love you.” He stroked my swollen belly. “And I love her too. Already.”
My heart swelled. He felt the same way about our baby that I had from the moment I got back the positive pregnancy test. “I love you too. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry ….”
I wondered if I’d ever be able to say it enough. But he cut off my apology stream with another kiss. This one was sweet. No punishment, all welcome home.
Then he said, “Now, here’s what we’re going to do….”
30
PHANTOM
Friday’s wedding rehearsal would be an all-day affair to ensure that the ceremony went off seamlessly. Every single hour of Garrett’s and Olivia’s day had been planned down to the quarter-hour from the wake-up time of eight a.m. to breakfast served in the formal dining room promptly at nine.
So Phantom could just imagine the surprise that popped off inside Garrett’s mind when he came downstairs a few minutes before the appointed hour and found his bride-to-be already sitting at the long dining table.
Across from Phantom.
To the guy’s credit, he remained outwardly calm, even as his eyes flicked over the table which sported not the continental breakfast he’d been expecting but one single iPad.
After a moment of calculation, he smoothed his hands down the front of his pressed khakis and chose to sit down in the seat next to Olivia.
“Darling, what is this?” he asked, his tone as carefully tuned as the grand piano in the castle’s sitting room.
“I can’t marry you,” she answered with new steel in her molasses and flower petal voice. “I won’t marry you. I love Hak-kan, and he’s the only one I want to be with.”
Garrett coldly blinked at her declaration. Then turned to address Phantom directly, as if deciding that women should be left out of this conversation altogether.
“I’m sure you have some brutish plan to intimidate me. Did Olivia make you aware of the consequences of threatening me or harming me in any way?”
“She did. She did do that,” Phantom answered with an impressed nod. “Real smart. I’ve got no interest in going to jail.”
“So then, it appears we're at a stalemate.” Garrett smirked. “You want Olivia, but I can’t let you have her.”
Phantom could have bashed his perfect white teeth in right then, just for daring to claim that he had any ownership over his woman. Instead, he flashed Garrett a genial smile. “Actually, we figured out a third option.”
He nodded toward Olivia, bringing her back into the conversation whether Garrett wanted her there or not. “O, you want to explain this part?”
Olivia twisted in her seat to address Garrett.
“You were right about my father having a soft spot for me,” she confessed, her voice stiff. Phantom could tell acknowledging that made her uncomfortable as hell.
But she soldiered on. “I spoke with my dad late last night and explained the situation. And he said if it would make me happy, he’d sign over the company to Easton Whiskey—even if that meant not keeping it in the family. So that’s what he did early this morning.”
