The truth of her confession ran into me like a train. I melted at her feet, coming down to one knee, gathering her against me. The pain I felt on her behalf was only balanced by the tenderness of knowing she’d waited for me. She’d still tried to honor our connection, even when she was trapped in that awful marriage.
“Cora, I don’t even know what to say.” I kissed her belly. If this was how I reacted to news that she had lied to her husband for years in an effort to not bear his children, I didn’t know what would happen once she and I actually fucking had kids. Move over, overprotective meme dads. Axel Fairchild was coming for ya. “I hate that you had to hide this from him, but I fucking love that you even remembered me while you were with him.”
“Remembered you?” She laughed, wiping at a tear that had fallen. “Axel, I was fucking haunted by you. There was no forgetting. There’s onlyyou.”
I kissed each knuckle of hers in turn, my heart thumping with something so intense I thought it might shake me apart. I took the birth control package from her hands and tossed it aside.
“Fuck this stuff, then,” I told her. “Take birth control if you want, but not this stuff. It’s tainted. By him.”
She laughed sadly. “In the beginning, I tried a few different methods that would be easier to hide, but they all made me feel bad or too weird to function. The only type that worked was pills. When I moved out of our house, I thought I’d taken it all. But I forgot my emergency pack. Which clearly, he found.”
“Okay. But you know what?” I could see she needed reassurance. Grounding. Another eternal hug. “It’s gonna be okay.”
She nibbled on her lip again as I pressed my lips to the back of her hand. “Is it? He’s upset. No, he’s beyond upset. I’m worried about what he might do.”
“It doesn’t matter what he does,” I reminded her, coming to my feet. I wrapped my arms around her. “Because we have resources.”
She laughed slightly. “Axel. Please. Whatever resources you have, he has them too. If not more.”
“You’re wrong.” I stepped back to meet her gaze. “He doesn’t have Damian.”
She blinked a couple of times. “What do you mean?”
“I’m just saying, we have the best hacker in the world on our side. Eli should be a little fucking worried right now. Not you.”
A smile tugged at her lips, but she didn’t look convinced. “I hope you’re right.”
I was right, but she didn’t realize it yet. I’d unleashed my own personal hacktivist on Eli. Whatever dirt there was to be found on Eli, Damian would find it. He always did. I scooped her back into my arms. “We’re gonna get through this. Together. I promise you.”
She buried her face in my chest, clutching at the lapels of my jacket, nodding. “Okay. You’re right. We will.”
“You are mine and I am yours,” I whispered into her ear. “He’s not gonna take you away from me again. Himoryour father. Do you hear me?”
She nodded again.
“Look at me and say it, Cora.”
She lifted her head, her watery eyes rimmed with red. “He’s not going to take me away from you.” Her throat bobbed. “I just hope he doesn’t ruin everything else instead.”
“He won’t.” I claimed her mouth with my own. One kiss bled into two, and then a thousand. I kissed her until I’d erased every last drop of doubt. When she stood taller in my embrace, I raised my head.
“There we go.” I swiped my thumb over her cheek. “Now are you ready for our special dinner?”
Her smile was a mile wide. “I’ve been ready for years.”
I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled. The pilot looked over at us, gave me a thumbs up, and started the chopper. I led Cora by the hand across the cement pad. The wind from the helicopter blades lifted our hair when we got close. The helicopter pilot helped us inside, fitting us with earphones and seatbelts.
Moments later, we were cleared. The helicopter lifted slowly from the helipad, the small rush of adrenaline a welcome thrill as we picked up vertical speed. Soon, the majesty of the city stretched beneath us. This was my favorite moment. The hustle and grind of Manhattan was reduced to a prismatic blur, something contained and comprehensible. I reached for Cora’s hand as we vaulted through the sky. And for that moment, everything was perfectly right in the world. Her mulberry smile at my side was all I needed. All the tangles that awaited us could only be blips if Cora was in my life.
The ride to my Hamptons home was quick. The helicopter touched down on the cement helipad at the far end of the property, tucked into the sprawling yard halfway between the house and the ocean. When the blades slowed, I hopped out first, helping Cora out next. The pilot retrieved our bags and sent me another thumbs up, which meant he’d be back for us when I called.
The smells of late evening near the water were intoxicating as we trekked toward the house. Cora heaved a sigh, pausing to slip off her heels and walk barefoot through the clipped grass, foregoing the brick path that cut through the yard.
“Watch it,” I warned. “You’re turning into a country girl.”
“Thanks to you,” she said, squeezing my hand. “You were the one who turned me on to freshly laid eggs, after all.”
“But you never took to the hay baling, did you?”