Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 123(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
I cursed myself. Love of my life? Yes, that’s what this horrific, terrifying situation had forced on me. The moment she’d collapsed, I’d had the sudden realization that nothing else mattered except for this woman. Not the fact that she’d left me two years ago without warning; not the fact that she’d kept my son from me during the two year absence; and not the fact that our relationship was technically forbidden by rule of law. What mattered to me was that my Wildflower was alive and well, happy and content with our son in her arms.
I realized that every last barrier I’d erected had come crashing down. I’d been determined to take Georgie from her, crushing her in a custody battle with my superior resources. But now I was willing to give her anything, even if it meant taking Georgie to the far ends of the earth. I was a rich man. I’d find some way to see Georgie regularly. My boy would know his father.
But all of that seemed insignificant now. Sobs wracked my body, coming out in choked gulps as my lungs heaved for air. I clutched her hands in mine, terrified at their coolness, and how small they seemed underneath my big fingers.
“Wildflower, I’m so sorry,” I choked out. “I’m so sorry for everything …”
I caught my breath, knowing she couldn’t hear me, but my heart was so full I needed to talk just to get things out of my system. “Wildflower,” I started again. “You’re everything to me. Everything that I’ve said to you in the past two weeks is bullshit. I was wrong, I was terrified too. I know you only had my best interests at heart when you left me two years ago.”
“I was angry that you kept my son from me. But I know you did it to protect me – you were afraid of what people would say if they found out that we’re stepsiblings. But don’t you see? It’s too late. Georgie’s already here, and I love you both with all of my heart.”
“Yes, love,” I gasped, almost barking out the words. “Do you hear that Alison Johnson? I love you. I always have. I loved you the minute I saw you across the room in that waitress outfit. You were like a shining star in the middle of a boring meeting, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of you after that.”
“And it’s been like that for two years now. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. You haunt my days and nights. Every morning, I think of you as soon as I wake, and at night, I pray that I’ll dream of you. Your warmth and sweetness are what’s kept me going all this time.”
“And I’ve just found you again, you and our beloved baby boy. You can’t leave me so soon after coming back. I’ll do anything to make things right by you … whatever you need, you and Georgie will always be the ones for me, whether you stay here or go somewhere else. Please, just don’t die Wildflower, it’s too early. I can’t let you go so soon after finding you again,” I sobbed, my mea culpa barked and gritty, the outpouring of my feelings for this girl who had captured my heart two years ago and never let go.
I held her hands to my face, kissing her lifeless fingers, gripping her so hard that surely I must have cracked a few knuckles. But there was nothing on her waxen face to show that she’d felt any pain, or heard anything I’d said. She was truly in a comatose state, the panic of public shaming causing her to shut down, mentally even if her physical body was still there.
What had I done? I berated myself and buried my face in my hands. My life was over when it had just begun.
12
Alison
I could hear him sobbing through the haze that was my mind. My brain felt cloudy, as if there were cotton balls surrounding my senses, making it impossible to speak, move or give any indication of life. I could hear the beeps and hums of machines next to me, their incessant whirring a steady fade of white noise.
As I tried to clear my head, my eyelids flickered momentarily. I could see Liam with his dark head bowed against my hands. He sobbed, feverishly kissing my hands as his big shoulders heaved and hot tears coursed down his face. What was causing him to lose his self-control?
Suddenly, the events of last night came rushing back and I lapsed back into stillness, the anguish overwhelming. Liam had been so angry with me that he’d anally raped me before dragging me to a black-tie event. What I’d thought was a routine charity function was actually his parents’ twentieth anniversary. His parents being his mother and my biological father.