Page 72 of Axton
“I like her a lot, Koty, and I will treat her the way I hope the right man for Kayla treats her. I know we are legally married tomorrow, but I want you to know that I will take this marriage seriously. I will take care of your sister, no matter if it works out for us or not. I don’t want to take her freedom, and I won’t sleep with her without the vows made in front of God. Believe it or not,a spiritual marriage would mean something to me. You already know we are dating, but you haven’t given me your blessing as her older brother to start a serious relationship with her.”
“Let me ask you something I haven’t asked yet. Are you going to make her sign a contract before you go to the courthouse?” He took another swig of his beer.
“No, neither one of us are signing a contract. I’ll be inheriting your father’s estate, giving you each a portion before I donate the rest to help the survivors of your dad’s cult and the indigenous women. Yes, I have earned very good money, but even if we don’t work out I will take care of her. She wants to take my name and keep it as well. She doesn’t want the last name Ashford anymore.”
He tilted his head. “You have that much faith in Belle?”
“Without question.” I answered swiftly.
“Then you have my blessing.” He held out his mug to tap mine then we both took a swig.
My phone dinged with a text, so I looked down at it.
Faye: Next month can’t come fast enough. I miss your cock.
Shit…
Me: We need to talk.
Faye: Video call? I could use a little de-stressing tonight.
Me: I will call you in a few days, but I’ll need to cancel the trip.
Faye: You mean reschedule?
Me: No, I’ll call you in a few days when I get some time.
If I couldn’t talk to her in person a phone call would have to work. I heard Magnus coming down the stairs.
Faye: Should I be concerned about you?
Me: Gotta go, talk soon.
Thirty minutes later, Magnus and Koty were gone, and I was finally crawling into my bed. It was going on two in the morning, and I was exhausted. I wasn’t there but five minutes before I heard feet quietly patting around my bed and I felt it dip before a warm body curled into me. “It’s about time.” She whispered.
I chuckled and kissed her forehead before pulling her in tighter and drifting off to sleep.
The next morning, Creed paced the conference room as I sat at the table. We just had our daily Originals meeting, and he asked everyone to leave. He stopped and pointed at the paper on the table in front of me. “Sign that thing.”
“I already told you no, Creed.”
He rested his hands on the table and leaned closer. “Sign that fucking contract. You have shares in Creed’s Lake and you’re not behaving like the man I know.”
“No.” I pushed it away from me. “I’m marrying her to date her and I will not sign a fucking contract that screams that I don’t trust her.”
He slid the other paper at me. “Explain why your name was flagged by our systems in a fucking West Virginia newspaper for a wrongful death suit. Does she know about this? I thought I fucking knew you, we are best friends and business partners. We couldn’t be closer if we were brothers. So, please do explain why I had to hack into a county sheriff database to learn you knocked some girl up that killed herself and your child.”
I crossed my arms. “This is private.”
“Private? For God’s sake, Axton. You’re marrying a woman today that doesn’t know you’ve lost a child to a murder suicide. I’mstruggling between grabbing you to choke you or grabbing you to fucking hug you. My God, I can’t imagine what you’ve struggled with all these years. But that doesn’t excuse you knowing they opened the case again and you didn’t tell me or anyone else about a wrongful death lawsuit. We deserve to know about all legal matters that concerns you.”
“What did you learn by hacking into their database?”
He pulled a chair out and took a seat. “That they aren’t investigating you. You were cleared of any wrongdoing years ago. They’re investigating some car salesman and the girl’s family. They saved DNA from the baby and they’re waiting on the results since they didn’t run a paternity test after it happened. Was that baby yours or not? You’re listed as her father on both her birth and death certificates. Fuck, Axton. You named her Hope.” His chin quivered as he fought his tears. “You named her what I think you lost that day.” He sniffled. “I’m a dad, Axton. My twins haven’t been born yet, but if we lost one before I ever got a chance to hold it, I don’t know if I could go on. How the hell did this not come out during your psych exam with Bolton? You have commanded how many missions with not just us but Delta Force with this kind of shit laying on you? After a girl does that to you at such a young age, you’re now willing to jump into a legal marriage with someone that might as well be a stranger without a prenuptial? Make it make sense.”
Belle
“I believe the goal is not to stand out.” I reminded Kayla.
