Consequences of Deception (25 page)

That all just happened so fast that I’m struggling to catch my breath. Laying my head on his shoulder, I shiver as little pulses finish going off in my sex.

“Princess, look at me.”

Lifting my head, I smile up at him. “I don’t know where that just came from, but
wow
. You can take a bath with me any time.”

Cupping my face in both of his hands, he stares at me. It feels as if he is searching for something, but I have no idea what it could be.

Finally, he breaks the silence. “I love you, princess. I really fucking love you.”

My heart just about does a runner out of my chest to take a few million laps of pure joy around the room. He loves me!

Hugging him tightly, I feel like I am lit up with love. “I love you too—so, so much. I’ve always loved you, Killian, and I’m always going to love you.”

Feeling him relax a bit under me, I realize that he must have been tense because he was stressed out about saying it out loud. I hug him tighter and kiss his beard happily, letting out a sound of annoyance when he puts his hand under my chin and forces me to look at him.

“I’m always going to love you, Sloane. Will you be my wife?”

Big, fat, stupid tears immediately start pouring down my cheeks and I am crying so hard that I can’t say the one word that my brain is screaming at me to say.

“Fuck… Princess… I thought… Do you not want to marry me?”

Frantically shaking my head, I force words out of my mouth. “I do! I will! Yes!”

He crushes me to him in a hug so tight that it almost makes me gasp for air. When he pulls back, he grabs a washcloth from the side of the tub and dries my tears, all the while thanking me for saying yes and promising me that I’ll never regret it.

When he is finished with my face, he gets out of the tub before lifting me out of the water and taking me into the shower. He washes me almost reverently and I soak it up like a sponge with a big goofy grin on my face. I’m going to be Mrs. Killian Brandt. This is my dream come true, the life path that I’ve dreamt of for years. When he turns to wash himself off, I pinch my arm to make sure that I’m not dreaming.

As we come out of the shower, I look around the practically destroyed bathroom and laugh. It is an absolute mess and there’s water everywhere. After wrapping my hair and my body in towels and handing Killian one for him to dry off with, I put every other available towel on the floor to soak up the water.

Coming up behind me, Killian wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me to him. “Don’t worry about this, princess. I’ll call housekeeping and have it taken care of.”

“I feel bad…”

“Don’t feel too bad, baby. I’m about to leave a tip for whoever does this that’s equal to their salary for the month. Besides, you have no time to clean this up because you need to go get ready for the wedding.”

Whipping around, I stare at him in shock. “The
what
now?”

“You
just
said you would marry me,” he answers with a frown.

“Um, yeah… I did. I didn’t realize that you meant today. I’m not wearing a Wal-Mart beach dress to get married, Killian. You’ve got to give me some time to get a dress, call Demi, order flowers. I don’t want to get married in Las Vegas. You know how I’ve always wanted to get married at a winery like my parents did. The only reason that I don’t want to go to France the way they did is because I want to be close to where they’re buried so that I can visit them before I take my vows. That means a lot to me.”

He stares at me in silence for a minute before snapping his fingers. “I got it! We’ll get married here and at home. It’s a win/win. If you want me to marry you ever third Thursday, we can do that too.”

Taking a step back, I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not getting married without visiting my parents first. I’m not marrying you in Las Vegas and that’s that.”

Rather than respond, he rubs at his temples and begins to pace the room. I watch him silently as I wait for him to make his peace with what I just said.

“Alright. Then we’ll go home, tonight. I’ll make all of the arrangements and we can get married tomorrow.”

He’s too much sometimes, really.

“Good God, Killian! We really don’t need to have a shotgun wedding you know. I want to ask Demi to be our witness. I’ll have to go shopping with her for my dress and hers. You need to get a tuxedo and we need to get rings, plus we need flowers and a cake. Slow your roll, honey. I’m not going anywhere. We haven’t even discussed whether you want me to sign a pre-nup or not.”

Glaring down at me he snaps, “There is no fucking way we’re signing a pre-nup. There’s no need for it—if you decide that you want to leave me, you can take it all. I can’t wait, princess. I need to make you my
wife
.”

I want to hug him for saying that no pre-nup is necessary, but I stand my ground silently while he stares at me in frustration for countless seconds before he slashes his hand through the air. “Alright, alright… I’ll make you a deal. We’ll get married the day
after
tomorrow. That gives you and Demi all day tomorrow to shop for dresses. I’ll get the location, the rings, the flowers and the cake. You get one extra day to get all the things that you need. That’s as much as I’m willing to bend, princess. You’re going to be Sloane Brandt by the weekend and that’s all that there is to it.”

I have to laugh at how determined he is. Killian has always been a grab life by the throat kind of man, and apparently this situation is no different. Walking over to him, I stand on my tiptoes and link my fingers behind his neck as I pull him in for a quick kiss.

“I would love to marry you in two days. See? Compromise. It works. I’ll need to call Demi...”

“Consider it done. I’ll have it taken care of and she’ll be in the limo waiting for you tomorrow morning for your shopping trip.”

Figuring that I’ve pushed him far enough for the day, I let it go. If he wants to plan everything, that’s fine by me.

We arrive back home after midnight, and as we pull away from the airport I am surprised when Killian announces that we’re staying at the Four Seasons.

“Why aren’t we staying at your house?”

Flexing his hands on the wheel he takes a deep breath. “Because I’m going to have it torn down. You lost your home—I’m going to get rid of mine. We’re going to find something new, something that’s
our
home. We’re leaving our past behind us. I would never want you to look out the window at the empty lot and have that hurt you. I was wrong, princess, and I will owe you for that one horrible decision until the day I die.”

Reaching out, I lay my hand on his knee and rub it gently. “Thank you, Killian. I appreciate the thought, I do, but I know that living in the house where you lived with your dad and Shannon must mean something to you. I will be fine.”

Shaking his head emphatically he said, “No. We both need a fresh start. We’re leaving the ugly parts of our past behind. I want—I need—this new beginning with you. I want us to have children and bring them into a home that is filled with love and happiness. No matter how hard we try, we will always have a piece of darkness hanging over us if we move into my house. That’s not the way I want to start our lives together. Trust me, princess, I’ve thought this through.”

This man can bring my body to life with pain and pleasure, but when he loves he loves big, and that is my favorite thing about him.

Last night Killian told me that he was going into work today and after waking me up at the ass crack of dawn and making love to me, he leaves for the day. I can’t sleep after he leaves, so I get up and get ready for my shopping trip with Demi. I am so excited about seeing her and shopping for my wedding dress with her that I am going nuts waiting for Trey to come take me to the limo.

I was a little annoyed when Killian told me that the security team will be tagging along with us today, but he wouldn’t budge. Apparently I’m going to have to get used to this whole security thing, because I don’t think that they’re ever going away. I like Chord, Adam and Trey, but it’s weird to think that I’ll always have a guard with me.

The rap on the door signaling that Trey is here to take me to the limo has me flying across the suite with my handbag in hand, more than ready to go. When we get off the elevator and he gestures to the white limo outside the lobby, I run to it like a big old dork. Before I am halfway there, Demi swings the door open and jumps out, running for me with a giant smile and arms wide open.

We jump up and down like idiots and let out whoops of joy. Noticing that people around us are staring, I stop and grab Demi’s hand to pull her toward the limo. Looking over her shoulder at all the stuffy looking business types that are looking at us like we’re idiots she snaps, “Let me guess, none of you ever made a woman happy before? Take a picture boys, this is what it looks like.”

We collapse into the limo screaming with laughter before simultaneously coming together again for a big hug.

“I missed you so much, Dem! I yearned for my daily doses of crazy.”

Letting out a laugh, she pokes me in the boob. “Judging by the fact that you’re getting married tomorrow, I think it’s safe to say that you were getting a daily dose of crazy! I was so excited when Killian emailed my parents and me and told us that you two were together, and then when he called me yesterday and told me that you’re getting married, I almost shit myself! Tell me everything! Is he huge? Does he have a weird O face? Is he a silent but stealthy fucker, or is he loud? Do you come during sex, or do you have to get yourself off after he falls asleep?”

This is why I love Demi—she’s a few slices short of a full loaf. “He is enormous, his O face is normal, he makes me come every time, and he isn’t a silent weirdo, thank you very much… Wait! Killian emailed you?”

“Duh, of course! If he hadn’t, I would have called the police, no matter what bullshit he told my parents. He emailed me once to tell me that you were on vacation with him. When I didn’t hear back from him after two weeks, I sent him a message telling him that if he was making you miserable, I was going to shove a frozen squirrel up his ass. He responded by telling me his butthole didn’t do intake and that you guys were boyfriend and girlfriend. He even sent me a totes adorbs pic of you together holding a giant ugly fish. I’d have assumed that he drugged you to get you to touch that thing, but you were smiling and your eyes weren’t glazed over so I figured it was a girlfriend thing.”

Shuddering at the memory of being next to the slimy fish, I let out a groan. “Trust me, it was a total girlfriend thing. I wanted to take a photo with that thing like I would want to wear spanx into the sauna but for Killian, I did it.”

We laugh at that for a moment until she gives me a more serious look and I realize that she has something more to say.

“When he was home a few weeks ago, he came and told me everything about why he hated you for so long and he apologized to me and my parents. I can’t believe he thought your dad and Shannon… I am so glad that he finally knows the truth. That you
both
finally know the truth. You’ll never talk to Stephen again, right?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I turn and look out the window to gather my thoughts.

“I’m torn because I want to ask for an explanation, but at the same time I’m realistic enough to realize that since he’s lied about so much, he’s not going to suddenly start telling the truth. It breaks my heart to think about how upset my father would be about what Stephen has become, but nothing I do or say is going to change the reality.”

Laying her hand on my shoulder, Demi squeezes gently. “You’ll get through this, Sloane. I’m here, Killian’s here, and you’ve got my parents too. They’re over the moon about the wedding tomorrow. They can’t wait to see you all dressed up. You know how much they love Killian, how much they missed him all these years. My dad would love nothing more than to rip Stephen’s head off for keeping you two apart.”

The sadness of it washes over me but I push it down and force myself to think happier thoughts. I’m shopping for my wedding dress today and I’m not bringing negativity in with me while I do it.

I’m not a bit surprised when the owner of the bridal salon, Raquel, greets us personally and tells me that she will have seamstresses working through the night if I need alterations done on whatever gown I choose. She then spends a few minutes going on about how romantic it is that my fiancée is so anxious to be married, and I can tell that she really means it.