AllFreeNovel
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“I’m not,” he assures me. “I bought The Carraway. And I bought it for you, love, so you can do whatever you want with it.”
He bought me a website. A motherfucking website. The Carraway has been a thorn in my side for over a decade—and more recently became the reason why I’m thousands of miles away from the man I love—and he bought it.
“I’ll send back the money they blackmailed your father for,” he continues, completely ignoring the dumfounded expression on my face. “I can’t believe he made such a fuss over ten million dollars.”
I snap out of my stupor. “That’s the most unrelatable thing anyone has ever said. Ever.”
“Baby, I’m rich as fuck. I’m not trying to be relatable.”
I wish I could put my hands on his cheeks and kiss him right now. “As far as birthday presents go, a man buying me an entire online publication—particularly in a day and age when print and journalism are extremely volatile—is the best gift anyone has ever given me.”
“You’re worth it. You’re worth everything to me.”
Sighing, I shake my head. “I don’t even know what to say. I can’t believe you’d go through all this trouble.”
“Jesus, Julia,” he murmurs, disgust finally rising on his face. “Are you seriously telling me no man has ever fought for you before?”
“Not like this.”
“I want to hold you right now,” he murmurs. “Look, I know it feels like we’re against all odds, but I’m not going anywhere. I’m never going anywhere.”
“But I’m trapped here.”
“So leave. The Carraway is ours now, so it’s not like he can hold the debt over you. Quit your job and go. You don’t owe anything to your father anymore. Go wherever you want.”
“But he’ll cut me off,” I remind him.
“He’ll cut you off if you come back to me,” Gus clarifies. “But you can go anywhere, and that’s what you love to do, Julia. I’m not asking you to pick between your family and me. I bought the website because I wanted you to be free.”
“Funny,” I murmur. “I don’t know how free I am if I’m not with you, August.”
He stares at me with longing clear in his blue eyes. “We’re going to figure this out. I promise.”
“Look,” I offer, “maybe…I don’t need my family.”
“No. Absolutely not. You’re not picking me over them. We both know you don’t want to.”
He’s right. I want everything. Gus and my father and brothers. I may grumble and groan about the parties and the pageantry, but at the end of the day, this is my reality. My life. I want it all.
His eyes briefly move away from the screen. “I want to talk about this, but I have to go. I’ve got a call with the President of MIT in a few minutes.”
“Sure. We can talk later.”
He hasn’t even hung up, and already the ache is building. He stares at me, his gaze serene but filled with unbridled yearning. I get it. I feel the same.
“I love you,” he says after a long pause. “I love you in ways I didn’t think I could put into words. But, I did try.”
Confused, I’m about to ask him what he’s talking about when Gus’s attention drifts away from the phone again.
“Brent is going to pop a vein if I don’t go now. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
The screen goes dark and I’m left alone in my bedroom, staring at the empty space where his face was.
As I shrug on my robe, I wander out of my bedroom and over to Peter’s room, where I’m relieved to find there are no cute French boys sharing the bed tonight. I crawl in next to him and pull the covers to my chin while he stirs and turns to face me.
“What’s up?” he asks, still half asleep.
“What would you do in this situation,” I begin. “You’ve got a brilliant, kind of broody, but doting billionaire who you’re madly in love with. He wants to be with you and you want to be with him…but if you pick him, you would be giving up your inheritance and your family, who you pretend not to like but are secretly kind of obsessed with.”
