The Final Chapter
Fire began to rage up in her and she furrowed her brows and pushed her lips out in anger. “I just sat in there and lied to one of the best men I’ve ever known to hide your… our secret! I’ve never felt so bad in my life! Here I am living in his home, lying to him and to every other member of your family, being the worst person, I have ever been and probably ever will be, and as long as I’m doing all that, I might as well be doing something good and useful while I have the chance!” She shot back at him.
“You don’t have time! You’re leaving!” He argued, feeling the anger in him building and giving way to something else much stronger.
“I can arrange it so that it continues whether I’m here or not! I can’t do nothing, Ryder, I can’t live here in this house day in and day out and do nothing at all and cheat and lie to your family so that I can have a million dollars and leave everyone else with nothing! I can’t do that! It’s not who I am! I am not going to use them that way, not as long as I can do them and everyone else some kind of good!
Ryder, this is difficult enough for me! Here I am, falling in love with your family, while simultaneously using them and lying to them, and then I’m going to have to leave them all, and I know it and I’m doing it anyway!” She shouted at him, her heart racing and her face blushing. Everything in her was in turmoil, and she hated it.
He shook his head and moved closer to her. “You can let yourself fall in love with all of them but not with me?!” He fumed at her. It was almost more than he could take.
She gasped and stared at him, speechless. There was nothing that she could say.
He reached for her, grabbing her shoulders. “Damn it, Regina, I hate what’s happening between us! It’s horrible! We don’t speak to each other, we don’t have fun… we just, coexist. I miss you! I miss the feisty, sexy, smart, beautiful woman you were before… before you turned away from me, and I’ve done my best to push you and all of my feelings for you out of my head and out of my heart, but I can’t! I am running out of reasons to not fall in love with you, and there is nothing I can do about it!”
Regina could not speak, everything in her felt as if it was frozen in place. He stared at her, waiting, and then he was done waiting. He was done with the walls and the reasons and the rules. He pulled her to him and kissed her hard on the lips, wrapping his strong arms around her and weaving his fingers into her hair.
Where she had been frozen a moment before, it was suddenly gone. Everything in her caught fire, and a blaze like she had never felt began at her core and with every passing second, it grew wild and uncontrollable, consuming her as she gave in, kissing him in return, losing the grip she had on every reason why she had pushed him away as best she could.
Her breath coming short and shallow, she let go of her inhibitions, and reached her hands up along his arms, feeling every hard knot in them as they held her, until her hands were encircled around his neck and she was holding on tightly to him.
Their kiss deepened as passion burned hotly through them, and a long, soft moan escaped her as she closed her eyes and tasted him ravenously. At the sound of her moan, he lost his last hold on their purpose, and gave in to everything that he wanted with her.
Stepping back only slightly, he held her eyes with his as he reached for her towel. With the slightest tug, it fell to her feet at the floor, and she stood before him, bare, wet, shining with a few bubbles still along her skin. He groaned as he slowly lowered his eyes over her, taking in every part of her before him, lifting his hands to trace her curves and lines.
She could barely breathe as he touched her, and she felt the same pull to him that she had felt as she walked down the aisle toward him. She wanted him. She wanted him more than she had ever wanted or needed any man in her life.
“Don’t tell me no this time…” he spoke in a hoarse voice as he closed his hands over her hips and pulled her close to him, his eyes locked on her. “Don’t stop this. Not this time.” He kissed her hard again and then held her face in his hands as he gazed fully into her eyes. “Make love with me… now. Give yourself to me… all of you, right now.”
She couldn’t answer him at first. Tears stung at her eyes and she knew that she was heading straight into the worst heartache she was ever going to know, but there was no stopping what was happening between them. “Yes.” She finally managed to say in a soft voice as she paused in her kissing to look up into his clear blue eyes. “Yes.”
There were no other words. He lifted her onto the bed and stripped his own clothes off in seconds, meeting her on their sheets and gazing down at her form beneath him, incredulous of her in every aspect. His hands canvassed her light skin, touching the soft red hair between her legs, the valley of her belly, the curve of her full breasts, and the hardness of her light pink nipples. He brushed his fingertips over her lips, discovering her with them as he learned all of her for the first time.
His mouth soon followed his fingers, tasting nearly every inch of her, making her cling to him and lose her breath as he savored her nipples and wound his way down between her legs, pushing her thighs apart before thrusting his tongue into the depths of her. She cried out as he tasted her, drinking her in and making her writhe against him with intense pleasure. She shuddered as her orgasms came, first one and then another right after it, and then he could wait no longer.
Rolling onto his back, he pulled her up onto his hips and guided her slowly over his erection, pushing it into her inch by inch, loving every moment of the excruciating ecstasy of finally feeling himself inside of her, and when he had filled her, they began to move. The rocked slowly at first, in unison together, both of them overwhelmed at the dizzying bliss, the powerful waves of electric satisfaction that burned through them.
As their passions grew stronger and everything within them raced faster and hotter, they could not hold back, and with cries of release, they clung to one another, shivering together as their orgasms overtook them, leaving them breathless and weakened in one another’s arms.
They laid back together against the pillows, her nestled against his arm and chest, gazing at one another, and sharing a few kisses.
“You’re beyond anything I’ve ever known.” He pushed her hair back away from her face gently with his fingertips. “I never knew anyone like you existed, and I can’t believe you’re here with me.”
She was shocked for a moment, and then lowered one brow as she laughed a little. “With all the women who come after you, nothing like this has happened?” She wondered momentarily if she could believe him, but she saw in his eyes that he meant it.
“No one, not once, has ever made me feel the way that you do. Admittedly, there have been a fair number of other women, but this… this with you, is a first for me. I’ve never had this, and I want more of it.” He grinned at her and she blushed, giggling softly as he kissed her.
He slid his hand over her thigh and rolled her onto her back, moving himself between her legs again as he kissed her more sensually. “Already?” She asked in amazement, looking at him with wide eyes.
“Oh, there’s not going to be much wait time. I’ve already waited long enough. I want you now.” And true to his word, it was only a minute more before he was siding into her again, filling her and holding her close to him, loving her more passionately than he ever imagined he could.
Regina had let go of her worries and concerns, of all of her inhibitions and responsible reasons for holding back from him. There was nothing more that she could hold back from him. She could not ache for him, desire him, need him any longer and deny herself what she wanted so desperately. Especially not when he matched her desire, and would not let her go.
They made love all afternoon, and into the night, stopping only long enough to have dinner delivered to their room. When they had eaten their fill of food, they returned to fulfilling their need for one another, and so the bar was set.
She fell asleep in his arms in the wee hours, blissfully exhausted, and he held her close to him in the middle of their bed, kissing the top of her head. He gazed at her and watched her sleeping in his arms, trusting him fully, having given all of herself to him in entirety.
“Finally.” He smiled, kissing her softly again before sleep took him.
***
She was sitting at breakfast with Carter a few days later, both of them eating alone in the breakfast nook. The rest of the family were off doing their own thing, and Regina had discovered that if she went early enough, she could eat with him and they could talk about many things. She enjoyed it, and had begun looking forward to it.
He had a rule that dinner was to be attended in the dining room together every evening if possible, but for breakfast there were no rules, and Regina liked it that way. They were free to be comfortable, just the two of them, visiting about whatever they liked.
Carter looked over at her as she lifted her glass of orange juice for a drink. “Are you and Ryder thinking of having children right away?” he queried simply, asking in the most nonchalant voice.
She choked on her juice and brought her napkin to her mouth as she set the glass down and struggled to regain her composure. Blinking swiftly, she looked over at him in surprise.
“Well, I’d really love to see some grandchildren sometime very soon,” he said with a growing smile and the hint of a blush as he looked over at her.
She had no idea what to tell him. It was completely unexpected of him to bring it up, and much more personal than he had gotten with her.
“We uh…” She began uncertainly, “we haven’t actually discussed it yet. I guess.” She tried to give him a smile as she glanced at him and then quickly looked away, feeling her cheeks burn.
“There’s no time like the present.” Carter said as he lifted his coffee cup to his mouth and sipped silently. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at her with a knowing look and the edge of a smile.
She felt her heart pounding. Children. New guilt made its way through her as she thought about how she would be leaving and he would be terribly disappointed in her. Struggling to push the thoughts aside, she brought up the foundation that they were working on and changed the subject completely. He was gracious and he let her do it, glad and willing to talk about anything she cared to discuss with him.
Regina went to their bathroom to shower after breakfast, and she had barely gotten the hot water turned on when she felt Ryder behind her, his form pressing against hers, his hands reaching around to cup her breasts as he kissed her neck and mumbled softly against her skin.
“Good morning, beautiful.” he smiled as he kissed her. “You left the bed before I could have you again.” He said only slightly plaintively. “That’s alright, I’ll take you here and now. I just can’t seem to stop touching you… needing you.”
“This isn’t too often?” She asked as she began to lose her breath, knowing just how much pleasure was about to sweep through her. He stepped into the large shower with her and hot steaming water cascaded all over their bodies.
“I can’t get enough of you. I can’t even conceive getting enough of you.” He spoke against her skin as he pressed her back to the wall and pulling her leg up to his waist. A moment later he entered her, and their conversation was lost in the waterfall that washed down over them and the intense ecstasy that rushed through them as they clung to one another.
She had just finished dressing after their shower when he slid her clothes off her and pulled her into their bed, making love with her again before he let her go. He teased her, somewhat, asking her to not be gone too long, and hinting that he would be waiting anxiously for her return.
Regina laughed and kissed him softly, long and slow, forcing herself to let go of him as he reached to fondle her breasts again. She managed to get out of the bedroom before he talked her out of her clothes once more.
She drove into town and met up with Marie, who was beyond thrilled to see her. “It’s been ages since the wedding! I didn’t know if I was going to see you again! You look incredible! How was it?” she asked, hugging Regina tightly.
Regina hugged her in return and sat down opposite her at the table in a quiet corner of the restaurant where they met. “It was amazing.” She grinned, and then held her hand up. “But, before we get to that, I want to give you this.” She held up a bag of gifts that she had brought back from the trip for Marie. “You got spoiled, and you deserve it.” She gave her best friend a wink.
She had brought back gifts for everyone, and though she had wanted to see Marie sooner, Marie’s schedule hadn’t been open until then. They went through the gifts and Regina told her all about the island and the house, about the villages and the ocean, the coastline, the hills and hikes and waterfalls.
Marie finally looked at her seriously and lowered a brow.
“What about the actual honeymoon. Did you two… consecrate your marriage?” she asked, getting to the heart of it.
Regina blushed and Marie gasped. “Well, not at the island, actually. We decided to wait. I mean, we kissed a few times, and it was hot, but it just seemed like it would cause too many problems, and we agreed to keep this just a business arrangement.”
Marie lowered a brow and gave her a suspicious look. “What happened?”
Regina sighed and her shoulders slouched a little. “We held out as long as we could, I guess, but there’s serious chemistry, and neither of us could hold it back. Actually, the tension was getting really bad, and then we got into this big fight, and then…” She trailed off and her cheeks turned pink.
Marie giggled. “And then you made up right away.” Regina nodded.
“We did, and it was amazing. It’s never been like that for me before. He said the same thing. Now we just can’t seem to get enough of each other, and we’re together all of the time. Just can’t keep our hands off of each other.” She gave a half smile and Marie frowned slightly.
“Yeah, but what about what’s coming? I mean, you have a divorce coming up as soon as he gets that money, and so then what?” Marie asked, looking at her intently. “Because you look like you’re crushing on him or worse, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“That’s why I held off so long at the beginning. I didn’t want to get hurt either, but we’re there, and it’s strong. I guess I will just have to do my best when the time comes to leave. I’ll have to deal with it then for sure, but for now, I guess I’m just going to enjoy the passion. I know I’ll have to pay the piper before it’s over, and I wasn’t willing to take that chance before, but now it’s just going to have to be the price that I pay, and I have to say, I’m beginning to think that whatever pain this causes, it’s going to be worth it.” She offered a smile to her friend and Marie grumbled a little.
“I hope so. I love you and I don’t want you getting hurt.”
***
Ryder went to Tyler’s house while Regina was gone. He hadn’t seen is best friend since the wedding, and though he was enjoying himself at home, he did want some time with his buddy.
Tyler cuffed his shoulder and hugged him when he walked through the door. “Hey! The old ball and chain let you out of the house finally, huh?” He asked, laughing a bit. “How’s married life going for you, anyway?”
Ryder handed him a bottle of spiced rum. “It’s different.” He answered with a smile and wink.
Taylor glanced at the rum and set it on a table, picking up his tennis racket. “Different? I bet.”
They walked out onto the tennis court behind Taylor’s extensive home, and began a game of tennis. Ryder launched the tennis ball to him and Taylor swung, sending it flying back over the net to Ryder.
“We had a good time on the island, and it took a while, but things finally changed between us. It’s hot.” He gave his head a shake, thinking of her and feeling himself warm.
“She finally gave in to you, did she? Took ya long enough. So now what, are you going to go back to your old wild ways? Going to bed every woman who looks like a good time and gives you her number?” he teased.
“I didn’t bed every woman who gave me her number.” Ryder frowned at him slightly as he whacked the ball back over the net.
“More than half of them.” Taylor laughed. “So, wild man again now that you’ve had your wedding cake and eaten it too?”
Ryder shook his head. “No… I don’t think I will. She’s changing me. I know it sounds crazy, but she is. Somehow. She’s like a drug to me. I just can’t seem to get enough of her. It’s so strange. The more I have her, the more I want her. That’s never happened to me before. Usually it’s exactly the opposite.”
Taylor gave his head a shake. “Thirty love.” He spoke the score. “You’re headed for a heartbreak of massive proportions if you don’t back off right now, brother.”
He sent the ball flying over the net to Ryder. Ryder smashed it back to him. “I don’t want to back off.”
“Then you better be careful, because you’re in dangerous territory.” Taylor warned, making another point.
Later that night after they had shared dinner with the family in the dining room, Ryder was holding Regina in his arms, making love with her in their bed. They loved until the wee hours of the morning, when they were completely exhausted, and she nestled into his arms as she did every night.
He looked at her and spoke softly, touching her cheek with his fingertip. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He said, gazing into her eyes worriedly. “It’s just… I can’t keep away from you. I can’t get enough of you.”
He kissed her and she looked back at him. “I don’t want you to get enough of me,” she replied honestly. He kissed her again, and the kiss deepened, and she parted her legs for him and he slid himself into her.
“I can’t…” he breathed heavily as they moved together, “I can’t stop. I don’t want to stop. I need you.” He spoke against her lips as he kissed her, pushing himself to the very depths of her, and she clung to him as another orgasm powered through her.
*
Regina and Carter stepped out of the limousine, along with Ryder and Camille. In the limousine behind them, Pierce and Lucas stepped out onto the sidewalk, and they all joined each other. There was a crowd of people in front of the building, and there was a pool of reporters with cameras flashing, all of their lenses pointed at the Carrington family.
“I can’t believe we did this.” Regina grinned as she took Carter’s hand in hers, looking around at all of the people walking up the steps, past the marble columns and into the great building near them. He smiled adoringly at her and gave her hand a squeeze.
“I can. We both worked hard. It’s only been a month, but here we are. Your foundation is set, it’s a sold-out event, and the city loves the idea. You’ve even managed to garner the attention of all of the politicians for three states. Probably because it’s an election year, but here we all are. You’re a tremendous success, and you’ve worked very hard at making this foundation a reality. I couldn’t be prouder of you.” He beamed at her and Ryder looked away, sighing and pushing his hands into his pockets as he pursed his lips.
“It means a great deal to me that you’re all here. I never could have done it without you. This is our night, not just mine.” Regina told Carter with a grin. She turned to look at the rest of the family, who were smiling at her. “Actually, it belongs to all of us. This foundation is a Carrington Family Foundation. It might have my name on it, but it represents all of us.”
Pierce leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You’ve done very well. You’ve made this family shine, and that helps us all.” She blushed a bit and he chuckled at her.
Lucas shook his head. “You must’ve done well, you’ve managed to get Pierce here, and he’s almost always nose to business.” Lucas teased his brother as he too leaned over to kiss her cheek. Pierce rolled his eyes a little and nodded slightly in acquiescence.
Cami reached over to Regina and hugged her warmly. “Well, we’re all so very proud of you. You fit right into this family perfectly, just as I knew that you would. Now, we should be getting in. Your night is beginning!”
Regina thanked them and slid her hand into Ryder’s arm as they made their way up the steps to the massive stone and marble building in the heart of downtown Manhattan. Carter had been right; everyone had wanted to come to her fundraising gala and be part of her new project of offer educational funding to women. He was also right that part of the popularity of it was because it was an election year, but there was still substantial interest in it from a great many people.
Just as they were about halfway up the stairs, a reporter called out to them and they all turned. He asked them for a photograph and they stood together, shoulder to shoulder and arm in arm, posing for the shot with the building behind them.
The evening was a tremendous success, from the food to the entertainment, and from the caliber of all of the guests who attended to the money that was made for the foundation’s kick off, which was double what their initial goal had been. Everything had gone incredibly well.
Ryder and Regina danced a while together on the dance floor, holding one another closely as the music played, and she nestled in close to his ear and neck. “You’ve been quiet about this whole thing tonight.” She said in a soft voice, wondering what it was that he really thought about it all.
He didn’t respond right away, but was thoughtful before he spoke. “I realize I haven’t been a part of this at all, that I’ve left it all up to you and my father, but that’s to be expected, I suppose. He and I just don’t get on very well, and I’d rather not spend time with him unless it’s mandatory, but you know that. It’s strange for me that you two have gotten closer, and that you’ve worked together on this. I realize it’s all to make the family look good and to introduce you to society so that you’ll make your place among the ranks of New York’s most elite, but it’s still a tough pill to swallow that the two of you have teamed up.”
He stopped dancing then, taking her face into his hands and gazing into her eyes. “However, I might feel about my father, I want you to know that I am proud of you for doing this. You are indeed making a difference in the city and in the lives of others who aren’t so fortunate as this family. I do admire the work and time that you put into this, and I might not have said it in front of the others, but I am proud of you.”
She smiled and set her hands over his where they were on her cheeks, leaning forward to kiss him softly once. “Thank you. That means so much to me.” She sighed a little then and a sadness touched the edges of her joy. “You know, I really wish that your father and you had a better relationship. I wish that you could both talk about what happened and-”
Ryder shook his head and clenched his jaw. “I don’t want to talk about it. Not now, not ever. Don’t bring it up again.”
He let her go then, turning from her and walking away. She stood where he’d left her and watched him go, biting at her lower lip. She was worried that she might have gone too far, after all, she told herself, it wasn’t really her place to get into his family business, but she loved both him and Carter and it didn’t matter that she was leaving, she still hoped that things could be mended between them.
The evening began to come to a close and the Carrington’s filtered their way through their guests and came together at the door so that they could leave. All of them a little heady with champagne and happiness at the success of the evening, they walked out of the building, talking and sharing stories and laughs.
They made their way down the steps of the great building, but they hadn’t gone far when Carter stumbled and collapsed onto the stairs, rolling onto his chest with his face pressed against the stone steps where he lay.
Cami screamed in horror, her hands covering her mouth as she stared down at her father. Blood began to pool beneath him from a cut on his head, and the boys and Regina all knelt down, reaching for him. Pierce and Lucas gently rolled him onto his back while Regina told them not to pick him up in case he might be injured internally, they didn’t want to do further damage.
Ryder called an ambulance immediately and Cami rushed to her father, sitting on the step and carefully resting his upper back and his head on her lap. Pierce pulled his handkerchief out of his suit pocket and knelt at his father’s side, doing his best to stem the bleeding from the head wound his father had sustained. Lucas knelt at his other side, checking his vitals and holding his hand.
A medical emergency team appeared in record time and got Carter onto a board and into their ambulance swiftly. Pierce was about to get into the ambulance with him when Ryder reached out and stopped him.
He had been pacing back and forth across the stair he was standing on, alternately looking at his father and looking away, raking his hand through his dark tumble of hair. Pierce and Camille had both headed to the ambulance to go with Carter, rather than riding in the limousine with the rest of the family, but to everyone’s surprise, Ryder leapt up to the back of the ambulance first.
“I’m going with him. Please… take Regina and the rest of you follow in the car. We’ll all arrive there together, but I’m riding with him, and I’m going alone.” His blue eyes seemed to be alight with a blazing fire, and though all of his siblings were in shock, staring at him in amazement, none of them argued.
Pierce nodded and took Regina by the hand, as all of the rest of them rushed to the limousine and hurried into it, ready to go. The doors of the ambulance were closed and Ryder sat beside his father as the technicians worked swiftly around him, hooking Carter up to machines and testing him as they asked questions of Ryder and blazed off through the dark night to the hospital with the limousine right behind them.
Minutes became hours as the siblings and Regina waited in the small waiting room, sitting on uncomfortable chairs, pacing over hard old linoleum tiled floors, staring up at the buzzing fluorescent lights overhead.
Phones rang around them in unseen rooms, voices mumbled conversation now and then in hallways and behind doors. People came and went, and any time that someone walked into the room, the eyes of the Carrington’s were on them, searching silently for answers, their minds each filled with endless questions, their hearts racing.
Regina had offered to have food brought to them, but no one wanted anything to eat. Pierce and Lucas sat with paper coffee cups in their hands, filled with coffee from a machine in the corner of the waiting room. The champagne they’d all had, along with the immense joy of the evening, had faded away like a silent mist.
Regina watched them all, wondering what she could do and wishing, as they all did, that it had never happened. She looked up at Ryder, who was standing before a window that looked out onto the parking lot. He had one hand on his hip and the other was raised; his elbow propped against the glass, his thumb against his mouth as he stared off into nothing.
She rose from her chair and went to him, reaching her hand up to his back. Giving it a gentle rub, she leaned in close to him and spoke softly. “Is there anything I can get for you? Anything that I can do?” She detested feeling helpless. It only added to the misery of the night.
His head snapped around and he looked at her with cold eyes. “I need to be left alone.” He almost growled at her. She blinked in shock. He had never spoken to her so bitterly before, never been mean, and she was fully taken aback.
Realizing that he was going through a difficult time, she nodded and stepped away from him, her eyes steady on him as he turned from her once more and resumed his position of staring out of the window. She swallowed hard and went back to her chair, folding her hands together. None of the others had seen it; they were all pacing or staring at the floor and the wall and the clock that ticked on incessantly. She was relieved that none of them had seen it, though she knew that any comfort from them would have been a balm to the pain that his abruptness with her had caused.
It had cut her that he brushed her aside so callously, and she chose to push it away from her mind. He was going through a difficult experience, and she could be understanding and give him the space that he needed.
After what felt to them all like an eternity, the doctor came out to speak with them. All of them rushed to him, though Ryder was the last to join the circle, and he stood at the edge of it, watching and listening.
“Carter has had a heart attack,” the doctor began, making an effort to look into all of their eyes. “He’s alive, but he’s very weak.”
“Oh god!” Cami gasped, holding her hands to her mouth as tears began to stream down her cheeks. Lucas, Pierce, and Regina shared her sentiment, though each of them reacted to it differently. Ryder stood stock still and kept his eyes on the doctor, watching him in silence.
The doctor continued, speaking slowly and clearly to them. “He needs a great deal of rest and no stress at all. You’ll be allowed to see him in a few minutes. He’s being taken to his room. I’ll be here all night if anything happens or if he needs anything, and if any of you have questions, I am here to help.”
Pierce cleared his throat. “Is this something that he can recover from?” His usually confident and strong voice was thin and strained.
The doctor nodded and looked hopeful at best. “He can, if he is well cared for and gets the rest he needs, but there is never any guarantee of that. You have this time with him now. I’d use it well.” The doctor gave them a nod and Pierce and Lucas shook his hand before he left.
Camille wept and through her tears she thanked him quietly, and Regina did the same. Ryder closed his eyes and dropped his head, sliding his hands into his pockets. They all looked around at one another and Cami reached for Lucas, giving him a hug as much as she got one that she too needed, and Pierce reached for Regina, hugging her and then letting her go.
He and Lucas looked toward Ryder, but Ryder turned away from them and none of them said anything about it to him. A nurse came to them a few minutes later and said she would show them all to Carter’s room.
Carter was laying back in his bed, pale and weakened. He looked as if he had aged five years or more just since the party that night. The siblings all crowded around his bed, save for Ryder, who stood at the foot of it, a few feet back from the end of the bed.
Camille took her father’s hand in hers and held it as Regina stood by her side, and Lucas and Pierce stood on his other side, as Pierce held his other hand. The nurse gave them all an encouraging smile.
“He’ll be waking up soon, I think. Just remember to keep it short, he needs his rest.” She gave them a pointed but kind look and they nodded to her.
Almost as if on cue, Carter’s eyes fluttered open and he looked around the room in confusion. The nurse stayed at the edge of the room, ready if she was needed. He blinked a few times and looked at his children in horror.
“What… what’s happening?” he asked, trying to comprehend it.
Pierce sighed and closed both of his hands around his father’s hand. “You’ve had a heart attack. Just as we were leaving the gala tonight, you fell. You hit your head, too, but I think that will heal quickly.” He glanced at the bandage where Carter’s head had been cut. “We’re here,” he added, shooting a quick look at all of his siblings, “We’re all here.”
Cami tried to produce a smile for her father. “You’re going to recover from this. You will. We’re all going to make sure of it. They aren’t letting us stay long, they say you need your rest, but we’re going to come back tomorrow and we’ll be here with you until they let you come home. You’re going to be alright. You are.” She was swearing to him as much as herself, in desperate hope.
Carter sighed, opening and closing his eyes as if they were tremendously heavy and he was completely exhausted. He faded back to sleep and the siblings frowned with worry and shared looks between themselves.
Camille and Pierce moved aside so that Regina and Lucas could see him. Lucas rubbed his hand lightly over his father’s hand. “I’ll be back tomorrow, father. I promise.” Carter’s eyes fluttered open again as he looked over at his son.
“Yeah, tomorrow. I’ll be back. You get some rest and let the staff here take good care of you.” He tried to give his father a smile. Carter managed a nod. Then he turned his head slowly and looked over at Regina.
She gave him her own wide smile. “That’s no way to go down stairs, you know,” she said lightly, and Carter managed a weak smile in return. “We’re all going to look out for you. You’re in fine hands. The best of care. We’ll all be back. All of us.” She turned her head, looking at Ryder who had taken a few steps toward the foot of the bed. He was staring at Carter, and Carter saw him for a moment, meeting Ryder’s blue-eyed gaze, and then Carter slipped out of consciousness again.
“He’s out again.” Lucas said, looking at the rest of them. “He’s so tired.”
The nurse came out of her corner in the room. “He needs his rest now. It’s time to go.” She held the door for them and one by one they filed out. Cami, Pierce, and the Lucas. Regina was about to go after Lucas, but she saw Ryder leave his place at the foot of the bed and walk to the side of it, so she shook her head at the nurse and the nurse nodded and left, holding up a single finger to indicate that they only had a minute before they should leave.
Ryder stood at the side of the bed, staring down at his father. Regina had taken his place at the foot of the bed, watching Ryder. “He will be alright, Ryder. The doctor’s said that if he got some rest-”
He jerked his head up and glared at her. “I know what he said! I was standing right there!” He shot at her venomously.
She’d had enough of his anger. “Look, I know you’re afraid; we all are. None of us wants to see him go through this, we’re all worried. You’re not alone! I’m just trying to help you! Stop being so angry! We’re going to get him home and he’s going to be fine! We’ll look after him, and we’ll be here tomorrow and every day until he can come home!”
He narrowed his eyes at her and raised his voice slightly. “We will be, but it should just be us… the real family. You shouldn’t even be here! You’re not family!”
Regina felt a fire blaze up inside of her and she lifted her chin defiantly. “What are you talking about! Carter is my family now! He told me to call him father! He thinks of me and treats me as a daughter! I am family!”
“You’re not!” Ryder raised his voice again. “The only reason that he treats you the way that he does is because he doesn’t know the truth! But you and I both know it! You and I are lying to him, and we’ve been lying to him this whole time!” He raised his hand and pointed his finger sharply at her. “You are not family!”
Regina couldn’t say a word. His words had shot at her like a cannon ball from a cannon, hitting her hard in the chest and bringing her to her knees. Tears filled her eyes instantly and she was blinded by them. Her lips trembling as she tried to hold in all of her emotion, she turned on her heel and ran for the door, disappearing from the room like a shadow in the wind.
Ryder’s eyes filled with tears as well, though his were born of anger. He sank down into a nearby chair and dropped his head into his hands, weeping uncontrollably.
Carter turned his head from looking at the door that Regina had rushed out of, and he stared at Ryder, comprehension written in his eyes.
It was late that night when Ryder walked into their room in the mansion. He was bleary eyed and silent. He stopped only a few steps into the room, stunned at what was before him. Their bed was covered in suitcases and bags, and Regina was stuffing all of them with her clothes and belongings. She moved swiftly back and forth between the closet and then bed, shoving things into the depths of the bags.
He scowled and spoke sharply. “Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, walking toward her.
She turned and faced him, planting one hand on her hip. “I’m leaving, obviously.” She shot back. She wasn’t going to put up with him being hateful to her, no matter what his father was going through.
“What do you mean leaving? What are you doing?” He met her eyes with his and anger blazed in both of them.
“You told me tonight that I’m not family, and you knew that I thought I was. Since I’m not family and since we’re getting divorced anyway, I might as well leave now.” She turned and crammed a pair of jeans into one of the suitcases, and then reached for more clothes.
He shook his head in disbelief. “What? You can’t leave! This deal of ours isn’t done yet! I haven’t gotten my inheritance yet! He’ll be giving it to me anytime now, but it just hasn’t happened yet! You can’t go until I have my inheritance, or you don’t get a dime!” He shot at her.
She flipped around and faced him again, glaring hotly at him. “I don’t give a damn about the money anymore! I do give a damn about you and about this family that you say I’m not a part of! Keep your money!”
She zipped the last suitcase and yanked the bag onto her shoulder. Picking up both suitcases, she walked past him and out of their bedroom, heading for the front door of the house. She was done. If he was going to kick her out of the family that had accepted her and divorce her on top of it, there was no reason to stay and no reason to let him treat her like hell
She made it as far as the front door, but when she set one of the suitcases down and opened the door, his hand shot over her shoulder and slammed it shut again. She set the other suitcase down and turned to face him again.
“Don’t you dare try to stop me.” She snapped at him, raising her chin defiantly.
“You’re not going anywhere!” He insisted, his eyes fiery with anger. “Think about this, Regina. If you leave out of the blue like this, it’s going to cause father undue stress and he could die from it. If you leave, it may just very well kill him. Now, you say you love my father, that you care so much about him. Well, if you care so much, you’ll put his health needs above your petty temper, and you’ll consider what your thoughtless actions will do to him, and you’ll stay.”
She wanted to argue with him, but she had heard clearly what the doctor told them. No stress. She knew that he was right. Her leaving would cause great stress to Carter. She pursed her lips and drew in a deep breath as she glared at him furiously. “Fine, but if I have to stay then I’m moving to another area of the house so I don’t have to see you!”
Picking up her suitcases again, she pushed past him and headed for the staircase, going up to the second level to one of the many bedrooms on that level. She chose one at the far end of the house, settling in only a little before dissolving into tears and falling to the pillows on the big bed, weeping bitterly until she fell asleep.
Ryder stomped off to his room and slammed the door behind him. He paced around the room angrily and finally slumped down into an armchair, burying his head in his hands for the second time that night. Everything inside of him was chaos. Everything in him felt as if it was tearing him to shreds.
***
Carter was finally able to come home from the hospital, and he was put into one of the bedrooms on the main floor for ease of access both for him and for any medical staff who came to see to his care until he was well again. He wouldn’t be navigating the stairs in the house for a while, according to the doctor.
On the morning that Carter came home, Regina waited until the other siblings had all seen him, and then she went in on her own to visit him. He was sitting up in his bed with bright eyes and a warm smile for her. She went to him and hugged him carefully, kissing his cheek as he hugged her in return.
“I won’t break you know. You don’t have to hug me like I’m fine china.” He made light of it, giving her a chuckle.
“I’m just being careful.” She laughed softly. “You look good. You got your color back and you look like you’re feeling better.”
“I am feeling better.” He told her confidently. “Thank you. I’ve been resting and healing.”
She eyed the laptop that was sitting near him on the bed. “I don’t know if that’s considered resting, though…” She trailed off giving him a raised eyebrow.
He shrugged a little. “It’s business. It’s what I do. I’m just being careful to make it easy business, and I’m leaving the stressful things to Pierce.”
She nodded and his smile fell some then as he watched her carefully. “Speaking of business, what are you doing staying in another area of the house?”
Regina’s mouth fell open in surprise. She hadn’t expected anything like that to come from him. “How… how did you know?” She asked quietly.
“I know a lot more than you could imagine.”
She wasn’t entirely certain of what he meant by that, and she decided to play it safe. She didn’t want him to worry too much. “Well, newlyweds make love and war, don’t they?” She attempted a slight smile and he nodded and sighed. The disappointment on his face was obvious.
A few days after he had been home, he called a meeting with all of the siblings, asking them to come to his new room. They all walked in to find chairs waiting for them, lined up in a row, including one for Regina. They took their seats and gave him their attention.
He sat up in his bed and rested his hands on his lap, watching them all closely. “The time has come to give each of you your inheritance from me. I wanted to let you all know that I have made some changes to the arrangement, however. All of you will be receiving what we have discussed in the past, except for Ryder.”
They all stared at him, though Ryder looked at him more sharply than the rest. Carter met Ryder’s stare for a moment as he spoke. “Ryder’s inheritance will be going in its entirety to Regina and to any Carrington children that she gives birth to.”
All of them gasped as they gaped at their father. Ryder was horrified. Carter looked at them all. “I’d like to speak with Ryder alone, please.” Obediently, they all rose and left, though Regina paused as if she wanted to stay. One look from Carter told her that she shouldn’t, and she walked out with the others, red faced and heart pounding hard, just as confounded as they all were. The rest of the siblings left, but Regina waited outside of the room, and she was able to hear what was being said inside.
Ryder rose from his chair and walked toward his father’s bed, his eyes locked on the old man. “What do you think you’re doing?” He demanded furiously, his cheeks reddening some with his anger.
“I told you, I’m changing the inheritance arrangement.” Carter replied simply, keeping as cool and calm as he had been.
“You can’t change anything! You’ve had a major medical emergency! You shouldn’t be making any kind of big decisions at a time like this!” Ryder insisted, placing his hands on the foot of the bed and curling his fingers tightly around it.
“Ryder, my heart was hurt, not my mind. I’m just fine mentally. Never better, in fact. I know exactly what I’m doing.” He looked as sharp as he sounded and Ryder shook his head.
“And what is it exactly that you’re doing?” He asked hotly.
“I’m ensuring that the marriage you have stays true, because Regina is a good woman.” Carter spoke evenly.
Ryder had all that he could take. His temper blazed inside of him as he stood there looking at his father. He hadn’t gone through all that he had with Regina just to be denied his birthright as his father handed it over to her.
“No! She is not a good woman! You think she’s so wonderful? Well let me tell you just how good a woman she really is. She is my employee. She is a fake. She has been lying to you the whole time she has been here. I found her at a strip club working as a cocktail waitress and I hired her to pretend to be my wife and marry me just to piss you off and to make sure that I got my inheritance because you threatened to take it away from me if I didn’t get married after I screwed the senator’s wife!
You made that demand! I only married her because I had to! It was either marry her or lose my inheritance, and now here I am married to her like you ordered, and you’re giving my inheritance to her! I’m losing my birthright to her! To a cocktail waitress! This is completely unfair!” He shouted, pacing back and forth as he glared at his father.
Carter remained unruffled. He watched his son pacing, and spoke as calmly as he had been. “I’m teaching you a lesson. Money isn’t everything, Ryder. Family is. You need to learn that.”
Ryder’s mouth fell full open. “You’re telling me that? You think that’s a lesson that I need to learn? After you killed mother, you have the audacity to tell me that I need to learn that family comes first? This is ridiculous.” He shook his head and flung his hands down at his sides, turning away from Carter and heading to the door. He yanked it open as he stormed out and crashed right into Regina.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” He demanded in a scathing tone.
She seethed at him in a quiet voice. “You! You outed me! You told him everything! And how could you say any of that at all? I thought we were falling in love! I thought we were becoming a family! A real family. I thought that you were in this for love by now, and not for the money anymore. It shouldn’t matter that your inheritance is going to me if we are in love, because then we’d both have it anyway!
What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours! You’d still be getting it, but you’re not focused on me or us, and you’re not in love with me like I thought you were. You are still only thinking about the money. You’re still only focused on what you can get!” Hot tears rolled from her eyes and she balled her hands into fists.
He stared at her in disbelief. “I’m focused on what I can get? Is that what you think? Let’s talk about what you’ve gotten, shall we? You got my home, you got my family, and you got my money! You got my inheritance! My birthright! You took all of that away from me!”
Ryder gritted his teeth and shook his head as he glared at her. “You know what? Take it. Take it all and keep it. I’m done.” He walked away from her, straight out of the front door, slamming it behind him.
*
His knock was sharp on Taylor’s front door. Taylor opened it with a grin that faded quickly when he saw Ryder’s face.
“Oh god… what happened? Did your father pass away?” He asked in a worried tone.
Ryder shook his head. “No, the bastard is home and doing just fine.” He walked in as Taylor stepped aside, and he headed straight for Taylor’s bar.
“The bastard…” Taylor trailed off questioningly, following Ryder to the bar. “What’s going on?” He asked in confusion.
Ryder sighed heavily and turned to look at his best friend as he grabbed a bottle of bourbon from the shelf. “I need to beg a place to sleep. I am as of this moment, homeless and penniless. I’m a vagabond. Can I stay with you until I can get on my feet please?”
Taylor’s jaw fell and he stared at Ryder. “What are you talking about?”
“The big plan failed.” Ryder answered sullenly, pouring out two tumblers of bourbon.
“The big… you mean the fake bride plan? That plan?” Taylor’s eyes grew wide as he went to the bar and rested his hands on it, staring at Ryder. “That… failed? How?”
“My father betrayed me. Of course. What else would a man like him do?” He asked with bitter irony.
Taylor frowned as he reached for his glass of liquor. “Wait, how did it fail? I thought that you were falling in love with Regina.”
“Well, as it turns out, love is blind.” Ryder snarled as he tipped his tumbler back and gulped.
Taylor watched him as Ryder poured another shot. “We were both in it for the money at the start. Her for the million bucks, me for the inheritance. It was going to work. Then things began to change, and… I was falling in love with her. Now it’s all messed up. We broke it and there’s no way to fix it.”
Taylor frowned, turning his glass thoughtfully in his hands as he watched Ryder. “Well, if you want any of it back, you’re going to have to try to fix it.”
Ryder shook his head and then tipped it back, lifting his glass to his lips and swallowing the bourbon in it. He coughed a little and shook his head. “All I want is a bottle of bourbon. I screwed up too bad this time. Now I don’t deserve any of it. Not my family, not my inheritance, and sure as hell not my lover and wife.”
“Uh huh.” Taylor murmured, his eyes trained on Ryder. He knew there was no reasoning with him at that point. “Well then, let’s finish this bottle. I have another one when this is empty.”
Taylor poured and Ryder drank until he was drunk, and then Taylor walked him down the hallway and put him to bed in one of the guest bedrooms of the massive home were Taylor lived. Taylor sighed and shook his head as he gave his friend one last look and closed the door. He’d wait for him to sleep it all off before they talked again.
***
Swallowing the modicum of pride that she had left, Regina went into Carter’s room the next morning. He knew the truth, and she knew that he knew it. There was nothing left to do but go and talk with him about it and apologize.
The one tangle in her mind was that she couldn’t understand why, if he knew the truth about her, he hadn’t undone his change to the inheritance.
He looked up at her as he typed away on his laptop, the keys clicking as his fingers flew over them. When he saw her, he finished what he was typing and set the laptop aside, reaching out his hand to her. She went to the side of his bed and sat on it, taking his hand into hers gently.
Tears began to fall again and she hated that she was crying once more; it seemed like she was crying all the time as of late, but the guilt in her demanded it. “I heard you talking with Ryder yesterday. I know that he told you the truth.” She shook her head as she raised her other hand to wipe uselessly at her tears.
“I just wanted to tell you that I’m so very sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone. I lied to you. I lied to this whole family. I let you all believe that I was a Carrington and that I was going to be here forever.” She closed her eyes and as she did, she felt him give her hand a squeeze.
“Dear one, I know. I knew right from the first time that you came over for dinner in that red dress. I knew what was going on. I knew that Ryder was rebelling against me and doing his best to get at me any way that he could. I knew that he was bringing you here to fulfill that demand I made of him.” He raised his hand and tenderly placed his finger beneath her chin, lifting it so that she raised her eyes to meet his gaze.
“I didn’t welcome you into this family because you married my son. No. I welcomed you because of who you are, because I knew that you could change Ryder, and that you could heal his broken and angry heart. You are a smart, strong, loving woman. I knew that you would never back down or give in. I knew that you would stand up for what you wanted. I knew that if Ryder could fall in love with you, then he would be saved from himself and the downward spiral he’s been on since his mother died.” He gave her a smile and she pressed her lips together, struggling to hold her emotions in check.
“You are in this family and you are most certainly a Carrington, because we’ve all accepted you into our family and we all want you here. You are ours now, and we want you to stay here. I want you to stay here.” He gave her a kind look and her heart broke inside of her.
“Please forgive me. I never meant for any of it to go this way. Please… forgive me.” She begged, taking his hand into both of hers.
He nodded and smiled. “Of course. Not that there’s anything to forgive, but you are forgiven. I owe you so much gratitude. Thank you for being here, for being who you are, and for taking on a fool like my son. I hope that you decide to stay because this is your home now. Ryder’s share of all of this is yours now. Yours and your child’s.”
She bit at her lip and her cheeks blushed pink as she replied. “I don’t think there are going to be any children.”
Carter chuckled and patted her hand. “Oh, I’m certain that there will be children much sooner than you suspect.”
Regina knew that he must be wishful thinking, and she felt awful about it. After what had happened between her and Ryder, she couldn’t see a way forward for them to start a family. They were already living in different areas of the house and barely on speaking terms with each other. Still, Carter’s pleas had not fallen on a closed heart or closed ears.
She gave him a small smile. “I will stay as long as I can, and I promise you that I will take excellent care of whatever I’m given responsibility for.”
He nodded and reached for her to give her a hug. “I am so glad that you’re my daughter. Thank you.”
***
A week had passed since Ryder had stormed from the Carrington mansion. He had spent most of those seven days drunk or passed out. He had no wish to deal with any of the reality of his life. On the morning of the seventh day, he trudged from the bedroom he had been sleeping in and made his way to the bar.
“Care to join me for breakfast?” Ryder asked as he reached for the bottle of bourbon that he had been drinking the night before. He held it up, looking through the clean clear glass, and he frowned, furrowing his brow. “We’re out. Does the liquor store deliver?” He asked, glancing over at Taylor.
Taylor shook his head and stood up out of the chair he had been sitting in. “They don’t deliver, thankfully. Here’s the rule, brother. When the booze runs out, you have to go home.”
“I am home.” Ryder looked back darkly at the bourbon bottle.
“No, you’re not. Come on now. I let you stay here and drown your sorrows, but you’ve drained the bar and it’s time to snap out of it and face up to the mess you made. Now put the bottle in the recycle container and get your stinky ass in the shower. Trust me, you need it. I’ll loan you some clean clothes to wear, and you can get cleaned up and go home to fix everything.” Taylor took his arm and led him away from the bar and back down the hallway toward the bathroom.
“I’m not going back.” Ryder replied, though it was in a monotone. His anger had burned away days before, and all that was left in him was despair. “There’s nothing there for me.”
Taylor flipped on the bathroom light and walked over to the shower, giving the nozzles a twist as the water began to spray out. “Yeah, you do. You have a gorgeous wife at home who loves you and every reason in the world to try to hold on to her, and your siblings, and even your father. You were devastated when you thought you were going to lose him. You even admitted that to me the other night.”
“I was drunk.” Ryder frowned, looking over at Taylor resentfully.
Taylor smacked a thick folded towel into Ryder’s chest. “You were honest. You have a future there and you need to go back and get a hold of it so you can hold on to it. All you have to do is let go of all that bitterness and anger and resentment toward your father. It’s not his fault your mom died. That was her choice. She knew the weather was bad and she got in the car and drove off into it anyway. That’s all on her. I’m sorry she is gone, but you can’t keep blaming your dad for that. Be honest with yourself about that. I know your mom was an angel, but she made a bad choice, and everyone else had to live with it.”
Taylor walked to the door and closed it behind him, giving Ryder one last look before he left. “Think about that.” He shut the door, leaving Ryder alone in the bathroom and steam began to fill the air and frost the mirror.
Ryder got into the shower and as the hot water rolled over him, he closed his eyes and Taylor’s words took him back to the night his mother died. They had all tried to talk her out of it; all of the siblings pleaded with her not to go, telling her that the weather was too bad to drive in. They pleaded with her to stay, but in the end, it was indeed her choice to get into the car and try to make it to the city. He wept as he realized that Taylor was right. All the years of anguish and pain, all the bitterness and resentment and rage, all of the loss and grief flooded through him and he wept in the shower until the water ran cold and he finally turned it off.
He got out and dried himself off, dressing in the clothes that Taylor had lent him, and he looked at his reflection in the mirror. His face was scruffy with the beginnings of a beard; he hadn’t shaved all week. He had looked like hell all week, but the shower and the clean clothes were a start.
Taylor was right, he admitted. He did have to go back and try to find a way to fix all that he had so selfishly and thoughtlessly broken.
He drove himself Back to Carrington Manor and parked his car out in front of the house. It was going to be humbling and difficult to face the demons he’d left in his wake, but he had to take them on. He had a family and a future to try to win back and save.
He went first to his father, knocking gently on the door. When he heard his father call out to come in, he walked quietly into the room and his father blinked in surprise as he looked up over the top of the book in his hands. Setting the book down slowly, he rested his hands in his lap and regarded his son with a look of patience.
“Father…” He began, not sure where to begin. “I owe you an apology. I owe you a lot more than that, but I will start with the apology.” He paused and saw that his father was listening to him.
“I’ve hated you for most of my life because I blamed you for my mother’s death, when really it’s been mother that I’ve been angry with all this time. I never admitted it to myself. She was the one who went out in bad weather. She was the one who made the poor choice. She was the one who cost herself her own life and took herself away from her family.” He took his eyes from his father’s gaze and walked with a heavy sigh toward the window, looking out of it as he spoke and tears fell beneath his dark lashes.
“I couldn’t put all of the blame and hurt and anger I had on her because I felt guilty for being angry at her. She died… she paid the highest price for her bad choice. How could I possibly blame her for that? I couldn’t be angry with her; she was dead. So the anger fell to one who was truly innocent in the situation. It fell to you.” He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned toward Carter, taking one step after another until they were face to face at Carter’s bedside.
“All these years you’ve borne the brunt of my bitterness and hatred, and you’ve always stood by me, regardless of the terrible way that I’ve treated you. You’ve absorbed the anger and pain I had, taking it all in while still keeping me close, even though I wanted nothing to do with you.” He shook his head in disbelief as he realized just what his father had done for him. “Why did you do it?”
Carter gave him a smile. “I did it because you’re my son, and I love you.”
Ryder choked on his tears and reached his arms around his father’s neck, holding him tight as he wept until there was nothing left of the poison in him. When he let go, his father held onto his shoulders and looked him directly in the eye.
“I forgive you. Do not let the past bind us and hold us captive to its miseries. There is a future ahead for us, for all of us, including your wife, if you want it.” He gave his son an encouraging nod and Ryder heaved a great sigh.
“You know, it was probably the best thing to give my inheritance to Regina.” He laughed ironically and shook his head.
“What are you going to do?” Carter asked, eyeing him closely.
Ryder raised his brows and pushed his hands down halfway into his pockets. “Well, now that I’ve smoothed the waters over with you, I’m going to try to talk to her. I’m pretty desperate to save the love of my life, if she’ll have me back. Father, there’s no one like her.”
Carter shook his head. “No, son, there isn’t anyone like her. She is the most important challenge for you to face. Do your best to win her back, and if you do, you will find that your life will be as good as it ever possibly could be.”
Ryder nodded. “Thank you, father. For all of it. I’ll never be able to tell you how much it all means to me.”
“I know, son.” Carter gave him a nod and a smile. “Now go win your wife back.”
Ryder smiled and then headed out into the foyer, looking up the stairs with determination on his face. Taking a deep breath, he headed up the stairs and down the long hallway to the room at the end that she had taken.
He knocked. There was no answer. He opened it and found that she wasn’t there. Frowning, he wondered where she had gone and thought that perhaps she was with her friend Marie, or maybe out with Cami.
Ryder descended the stairs and headed for his own bedroom, marveling at the lightness in his heart and mind after having mended the rift with his father, and wondering how on earth he was ever going to do the same with Regina.
He opened the door and strode into his bedroom, only to stop in surprise as he looked forward. She was sitting at the edge of his bed with something in her hands. She hadn’t been expecting him and she looked up in surprise and gasped.
Taking a few steps, he went to her and fell on his knees before her. He hadn’t thought about it, he hadn’t planned it, but there was nothing else to do. He had to have her back.
“Regina,” he began as he looked up at her, “I have been horrible to you these last couple of weeks, and I don’t know how I’m ever going to fix it, but I want you to know that I’m willing to do anything to try. I spoke with my father. I mended everything with him. He forgave me and we’re okay now, he and I. If he can forgive me for a lifetime of anger, perhaps you could find a way to forgive me as well. I want you back. I need you back.” He spoke from his heart, and he saw her eyes fill up with tears.
“Ryder, how am I ever going to trust you again?” she asked weakly as she stared at him. She wanted to believe him. She wanted him back more than she could imagine, but she wasn’t going to go back to a relationship that was based on lies and saturated with bitterness. She wasn’t going to let him treat her the way that he had.
“You can trust me again because I want you. I love you, Regina, more than anyone in the world. I want a real marriage with you. I want you in my life as my wife and lover always. I want to build a family with you!” He meant it. He meant every word of it and she could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice.
“Good,” she whispered through her tears of sadness and relief. “It’s a good thing you want a family.”
He blinked in surprise and shook his head. “Why is that?”
She handed him the object in her hand. He looked down at it and stared. “What is this?”
“It’s a pregnancy test. It’s positive. We’re having a baby.” She said it quietly, hardly able to believe it herself. It certainly explained all the tears she had been shedding.
He gawked at it and slowly looked back up at her as he rose to his feet. “This is… this is…” he tried to speak, but his mind was numb for a moment as the news sank in. “We’re having a baby?” A laugh escaped him from somewhere deep and he closed his eyes and shook his head, laughing again as he opened them and looked at the test. “This is incredible! How did this happen?”
She gave him a little smile and reached her hand up to his chest, running her fingers down the front of it slowly. “You know how this happened,” she said with a soft voice and a coy gaze.
“How did you know so fast?” He asked in amazement as happiness began to bubble up in him.
Regina raised her eyebrows and gave her head a shake. “Actually, I didn’t know. Your father did… at least, he suspected it, and he hinted pretty heavily at it, so I took a test and I guess he was right.”
She laughed, and then he laughed with her, reaching for her and pulling her into his arms. He kissed her softly and sweetly and then looked at her intently.
“I love you, Mrs. Regina Carrington, and I’m so sorry that I hurt you. It will never happen again.” He meant it.
“I love you too, Mr. Carrington, and I forgive you, on the condition that you spend a lot of time over the next few weeks making it up to me in this bed.” She giggled and kissed him and he grinned at her.
“Oh, I think I owe you a lot more than a few weeks.” He pulled her clothes from her, and his from himself, laying her back into their bed as their bodies joined and loved deeply and passionately once more.
***
Carter was in the breakfast nook the next morning when Regina and Ryder joined him for breakfast. He looked up at them happy to see them sitting with him. Regina kissed his cheek and grinned at him.
“Are you two reconciled?” he asked, looking from one to the other of them.
“We are, and we have a gift for you.” Ryder told him, handing him a small box with a white bow on the top.
Carter laughed softly and looked up at them in surprise. “What’s this?” He tugged at the bow and pulled the top of the box off, peering inside and then grinning. It was a pair of tiny baby shoes.
“It’s the future.” Regina answered him with a grin.
{{**}}
Message From The Author:
Hiii
Hope you LOVED the book and if you want to check out the other books in the “Manhattan Bachelors” series then they are listed below!
Or turn the page to check out the special bonus book I included for you, it is one of my previous bestsellers!
Susan x
xx