“What’s wrong now?” I grabbed the brochure off the kitchen table and looked at it carefully.

“It has a typo.” He pointed to the C-Square logo.

I looked long at hard. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew how to spell. Everything was perfect.

“You’re a blind man. It’s perfect.”

He pulled me from my chair and lifted me to his lap. “It’s wrong. All wrong.”

I huffed out a growl of frustration. “Show me exactly where it’s wrong.” Bo rose from his favorite lounging space in front of the hearth and laid his head in my lap.

Colton pointed to the C-Square Logo again. “It supposed to be Becket and Becket.”

I tried to turn in his arms, but he pinned me in place. I knew if I looked at him now, I would have noticed the second head sprouting from his shoulders. He’d been acting strange for days, but this was the craziest thing I’d heard all week.

“Make up your mind. First, it was C and C Energy. Then it was C-Squared, and now you want Becket and Becket? Is that what your sister wants?” I picked up the brochure and tossed it aside. Beneath it sat a simple gold band with a single solitary diamond. My breath caught in my throat.

Colton turned me around to straddle his lap. “Cara’s no longer a partner.” He reached behind me for the ring and placed it on the tip of my fourth finger. “I’m asking for a partnership, Nik.” He slid the ring on and pointed to his chest. “Becket.” He pointed to my chest. “Becket. Please say yes.”

I couldn’t verbalize the words, so I nodded my head until my necked ached, and then I kissed my man silly.

We made love all afternoon. There was no place I’d rather be than in Colton’s arms. We sat on the porch watching the sunset when a cloud of dust kicked up in the distance.

“Are you expecting anyone?” I asked. I stood so I could see who was coming down the road.

“No.” Colton stood next to me.

Molly and Ten visited yesterday, but they’d been the only ones here all week. Who could be calling? It’s not like we lived on the main road. The only people who drove down our road came here with a purpose.

The rolling ball of dust turned into a black sedan. It came to a stop in front of us, and a man as thin and blond as a cornstalk exited the car.

“Are you Nikola Stone?” I looked down at my ring finger and laughed.

“For now.” I gave Colton a knowing smile, then looked back to the man. “And who are you?”

He walked to the steps where we stood and offered his hand to shake. “I’m Todd McGavitt.”

So this was it. I’d break all ties with my parents through a third party. It shouldn’t have surprised me. It was how they did everything.

“I imagine you have some papers for me to sign?”

A look of surprise flashed across his features. “Did you know I was coming?”

I shook my head. “No, but your presence doesn’t shock me.” I leaned into Colton. He wrapped his arm protectively around my shoulder.

“Your parents thought it would be better to surprise you.”

Colton laughed. “The last time I surprised her, I got a face full of pepper spray.”

Mr. McGavitt took a step back. “I have a late flight tonight so can we get started?” He dashed back to his car and pulled a briefcase from the front seat.

Colton and I welcomed him into our home. We guided him to the dining room table where he proceeded to pull several pages from his case.

“Sign here.” He pointed, and I signed.

“Here.” I did it again.

“And here.” I scribbled my name across the page.

Any other time this might have crushed me, but I didn’t need my parents’ money. I didn’t need their approval. All I needed was the man who sat across from me—the man who boosted my self-esteem and shored my courage with a look—the man who apologized no less than a hundred times for his cruel words—the man who had pledged his life to me.

“Is there anything else they want? I don’t have any family heirlooms, and the rest of my assets were in my name alone.” I’d sold my apartment to Max. It turned out he made an excellent commission from his dealings with Colton and was happy to take it off my hands. He had a lot of first dates ahead of him.

“I don’t understand what you’re asking.” The beanstalk man frowned a crease into his brow.

“I want to know if there is anything else they want before I sign off my rights, and we close this chapter?”

“Sign off your rights?” Mr. McGavitt pressed a spindly finger to the page. “I’m not here to take anything from you. I’m here because your parents wanted to turn over your inheritance.”

It was my turn to twist my face into an expression of confusion.

“My inheritance?”

“Yes, your parents wrote me and told me to turn over the entire 10.2 million. They said something about being so proud to be related to Malta. Michelle said you’d understand.”

And I did. I was still an island. I would never lose the independence I had gained through my journey here. But I was more. I was responsible. I was resourceful. I was resilient. And as of this very moment, I was rich—in wealth and love.