Liliana Prescott stared in horrified silence. Her mouth dropped open. Her cold blue eyes flashed in disbelief. Quickly, she reached for her glass of red wine and downed the glass in one gulp.

Allyson tried to avert her gaze away from Liliana’s obvious panic, but it was hard not to stare. With the wine glass now emptied, Liliana’s lovely face seemed to turn redder and redder right before Allyson’s eyes.

“You have got to be joking,” Liliana sputtered. “It’s another trick, isn’t it? Tell me this is just another hair-brained lie like the last time.”

“It’s not a lie or a trick,” Dane told his mother firmly. “I proposed a few days ago.”

Alfred smiled suddenly. “Did you? How wonderful! Congratulations, son! Finally! A daughter!”

“Alfred, don’t encourage them,” Dane’s mother gasped out. “This is absolutely ridiculous.”

Dane crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Think whatever you like, Mom, but Allyson and I are getting married.”

“Like hell you are,” his mother thundered. “If you think I’m going to stand for this—”

“I don’t care,” Dane interrupted coolly. “At all. You’re already on thin ice after the stunt you pulled trying to bribe Allyson back at Prescott Hill—”

“You did what?” Alfred turned his head sharply to face his wife.

Dane’s jaw clenched. “Never mind. Forget I said anything. I don’t want to stress you—”

“I can handle this,” Alfred said through gritted teeth. “What did you try to do to Allyson when we were in Rhode Island?”

Liliana buried her face in her hands, then she slammed them on the table. “When I thought Dane and Allyson were married, I tried to buy Allyson off.”

“But you confessed a few weeks ago that you knew all along that they were lying about being married,” Alfred murmured. “You told me the truth right before I collapsed. I remember it distinctly.”

“I did know, but for about half a day I didn’t.” Liliana’s shoulders slumped. “I thought they were really married and Allyson was just after Dane for his money. Our money. So, I tried to bribe her to leave him. She refused to take the money.”

“How could you do such a thing?” Alfred demanded. “You thought that our only son had found the love of his life and your first thought was to tear them apart? I know I’ve let some rather ruthless business decisions slide, but this is shameful, Liliana. Just shameful.”

Allyson suddenly noticed Alfred was shaking, and she reached across the table to gently pat his hand. “Please try not to stress yourself out,” she pleaded. “Clearly, it was a mistake to reveal so much with you still recovering. Why don’t we all just eat? Forget about this conversation till another day.”

“I don’t want to eat,” Liliana snapped. “I want this sham of an engagement to end. Now.”

“You’re not in charge here,” Dane said icily. “The only reason I’m still including you in my life at all, Mother, is as a courtesy to Allyson. Because, no matter how badly you treat her, she still respects you. I have no idea why, considering that your behavior continues to distress her. You’re out of line. Again.”

Lowering her eyes to stare down at her plate, Allyson felt the familiar sting of tears. She hadn’t wanted this. She had felt so much apprehension right after accepting Dane’s proposal because she knew they didn’t have many people on their side. It hurt her so much to see his mother reject them so completely.

Liliana let out a loud sigh. “I’m not reacting this way to be cruel. I’m doing this because I love you.”

“You think bribing the people I care about is love?” Dane asked tightly.

“When you have children of your own you’ll understand,” Liliana muttered. “Unless you’ve already knocked her up and that’s why you’re engaged.”

“Oh, stop,” Alfred said. “Dane is my child, too, and your behavior toward Allyson has been terribly unkind. Especially after everything she’s done for us. She’s covered up for you, Liliana, and she took care of me while I was in the hospital. You accused her of being a gold-digger without evidence—”

“She’s middle class,” Liliana retorted. “What else was I supposed to think?”

“You were supposed to think that maybe it was possible to care about your son for more than his money,” Allyson said in a small voice. “Has it ever occurred to you that Dane is a wonderful man and I’d want to be with him because of that?”

She felt Dane take her hand in his. Felt the warmth of his touch as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. No matter how hard the world tried to break them apart, he was always right beside her. Always there for her no matter what. Stubbornly, she blinked back the tears that threatened to fall.

“I can see what my son sees in you,” Liliana said harshly. “You’re just as sentimental as he is. Have you given any thought to anything other than your ridiculous feelings?”

Allyson frowned. “I—”

“Who’s going to be in charge of the purse strings?” Liliana demanded. “You’re a working woman, while my son’s wealth could keep you in comfort for ten thousand lifetimes.”

“You work. So does Dad.”

Liliana continued as if she hadn’t heard her son speak. “What will you do, Allyson? Continue to work as an assistant while you’re married to my son?”

“You didn’t seem to have a problem with Allyson working when you thought we had gotten married,” Dane cut in.

“That’s because I thought you’d already gotten married,” Liliana said. “This is an engagement. Nothing is written on paper yet. There’s still time for you two to come to your senses.”

“We’ve made up our minds,” Dane said firmly.

“Where will you two even live?” Liliana asked. “You’re not going to live in the hovel she lives in. And that bachelor pad of yours, Dane, isn’t fit for a family.”

Alfred narrowed his eyes. “Liliana, that’s enough—”

“And speaking of family,” Liliana rushed on, ignoring her husband, “do you even know how many children you want? Does Allyson even want children?”

Heat crept up her face. Allyson knew that even though Liliana was deliberately trying to drive a wedge between them, her questions made sense. They hadn’t discussed the concrete details of getting married. They’d been so focused on standing up to whoever got in their way, so focused on fighting the world, that they had never really talked about their future together. She and Dane had never discussed things like assets, or living arrangements, or how they wanted to raise their children.

“Allyson wants children,” Dane ground out. “She’s always wanted children. I know this because we’ve worked together for years. We know each other inside out.”

Liliana gave a lazy smile. “How many children does she want?”

He frowned. “More than one I suppose.”

“The more children you have, the more you’ll have to divide their inheritance,” Liliana said. “Or do you plan on not giving your children an inheritance? Some of these new-money people simply love to deprive their children in order to prove a point to the plebs. I’ll never understand it.”

“I want more than one, and less than five,” Allyson said gently.

“That’s right,” Dane said. “I’m the same.”

“The point is, you haven’t discussed anything important,” Liliana said. “You’ve been too busy having a romance to think of the practicalities. And who’s always there when it all comes crashing down? Mother.”

“We’re leaving,” Dane said suddenly.

Allyson gasped. “What? We can’t.”

Dane’s father turned to her. “I think it’s best, dear. Dane’s mother and I have acted horrendously in front of you. I apologize for our behavior.”

His warm brown eyes looked so sad that all Allyson could do was nod. She silently got up from the table and grabbed her plate and Dane’s. “I’ll leave the rest of the food out for you, Mr. and Mrs. Prescott. Please try to eat some of it. You’ll need it to regain your strength.” She wanted to run out of their house and never come back. Go somewhere far away from the Prescotts... and take Dane with her.

***

After helping Allyson clear the table, Dane escorted her to his car and got behind the wheel.

She got in beside him and buckled her seatbelt. She said nothing, her face expressionless, as if she was fighting hard to keep her emotions under control. Hidden.

He started the ignition and pulled down to the front gate. His parents’ townhouse was in a gated community, so he had to wait for the security guard to let them out. As he drove down the street he kept silent, waiting for Allyson to reveal her feelings.

“That didn’t go very well, did it?” she asked finally.

That was an understatement. “My mother is usually a very cool customer. But whenever she’s around you she turns into a very angry woman.”

“It’s my fault,” she said. “I bring that out in her.”

“No, you don’t,” he said firmly. “She’s choosing to be unreasonable and that isn’t your fault.”

His mother had badgered Allyson without any thought of propriety. It was clear that she was never going to give his fiancée a chance, and her line of questioning had been totally unacceptable. His father had been right to apologize for his mother’s behavior.

She sighed loudly. “She’s right, though.”

He furrowed his brow. “Right about what?”

“We’ve never talked about the details of our marriage. It isn’t romantic or easy to talk about our future children’s inheritance, but maybe we should,” she said.

“Well, I want kids. And you want kids,” he said. “I have money and they’ll inherit it. What more is there?”

“This isn’t about inheritance. Why does everything have to be about money with your family?” She shook her head and blew her bangs away from her forehead. “Dane, don’t you think we’re being a bit hasty? A bit reckless?”

“You don’t want to do this?” Fear needled at his heart at the thought of her ending things between them. Especially now that they were so close to being together forever.

“I do,” she said. “But maybe we’ve got things to iron out. Maybe our biggest issues aren’t your mom, or the press, or the Handels.”

“We’ll be handling the press for the rest of our lives,” he pointed out. “I’m not just wealthy, Allyson. I come from a family that the press has watched for over a hundred years. I can cut off my mother, but I can’t cut off my bloodline.”

“I know that,” she said softly. “But the press isn’t the only issue. Besides, I thought your charm would work on the press.”

He smirked. She liked his charm and thought it could stop the paparazzi? Cute. “Charm isn’t enough,” he said. “The press might like you at first because you have an everywoman quality and because you’re gorgeous. But they might also dislike you because of that. The press can be fickle. You’ve seen that first-hand.”

“I have,” she admitted. “And yet, your mother still made valid points.”

He ground his teeth in annoyance at the mention of his mother. No matter how much Allyson wanted to respect her, he still hadn’t forgiven her for trying to buy Allyson off. That had been the beginning of his resentment. Finally seeing his mother for what she was truly capable of. Finally seeing that she would destroy his happiness just so she could control him for her advantage, status, and wealth. The betrayal had cut through him like a cold, sharp knife, and no matter how hard he tried the wound simply refused to heal. Mostly because his mother kept picking at it.

“She’s trying to get into your head. Don’t you see? It’s not about making a valid point,” he said. “My mother wants an upper-class daughter-in-law she can control, and another wealthy family who can add to her coffers. She doesn’t care about me and she doesn’t care about us.”

“If it’s not her it’s the Handels, or the press,” she said bitterly. “We keep focusing on these external obstacles when maybe we need to focus on us.”

“We are focusing on us,” he insisted. “We just can’t address other issues if our families, and the press, and Prescott itself keep getting in our way. They’ve been trying to sabotage us from the very beginning. If we don’t stop them, there’s no telling what they’ll do next to try to break us up.”

She let out a shuddering sigh. “So, you don’t even want to talk about our future kids? Or a prenup?”

As Dane maneuvered through the light afternoon traffic he forced himself to focus on the road and not her unexpected suggestion. “Whoa. Who said anything about a prenup? I don’t want a prenup.”

“Are you out of your mind?” She was practically shrieking. “You can’t just marry me without a prenup. What if I was a gold-digger?”

“You’re not.”

“What if I was?” she demanded. “What if I turn into one later on and take everything?”

“The fact that you want a prenup proves that you’d never do that,” he pointed out. It was probably reckless and impulsive to marry her without an iron-clad prenup, but he trusted her completely. His mother’s attempted bribery had seen to that. He had doubted Allyson once before and he had been wrong. He had vowed to never doubt her again and he planned on sticking to that vow.

“We’re signing a prenup,” she said firmly.

“Fine,” he said tersely. “If we end up divorced, you’ll get fifty million dollars for every year we were married. If I die before you, you’ll get half of my wealth and the other half can be divided among our future kids.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her turn to him.

“Dane...” Her voice wavered with emotion. “I’m sorry. I just...didn’t realize you had thought that far.”

“I see you with me forever, Allyson,” he said. “That’s what this marriage means to me. You and me, together until the end. Even after one of us passes on. I care about you so much I want to take care of you even if it ends up that I might not be here.”

She reached over and placed her hand on his thigh. “And our kids? How many do you want?”

Over the years he had always known he wanted kids, but never truly envisioned it happening. Probably because he couldn’t ever see himself falling for any of the heiresses his mother set him up with. Dating had become like going through the motions. A monotonous exercise. Hope of marriage or kids faded away, beyond a horizon he couldn’t see. But with Allyson everything was different. He saw marriage and children. He saw a whole lifetime with her.

“As many as you want,” he answered. “The truth is, Allyson, I can’t wait to have children with you.”

Without a word she opened the glove compartment, took out a tissue, and dabbed her eyes. She sniffled loudly. “I can’t wait to have children with you, too.” When she let out a little laugh the weight on his shoulders felt a little lighter.

He placed a comforting hand on her knee. Somehow, he just had to convince Allyson that moving past their obstacles was the only way to move forward. The only way to their happiness. Dane had brought Allyson into his world and it was his duty to protect her from it. He ignored the dread churning in his gut. Tried to remind himself that, though mother might be trying to meddle in their lives right now, as long as they had each other everything would turn out right in the end.