is handled, Tennessee. You’re mine, Holden’s mine, and after this is done, the both of you will have my last name.”
“Landry?” I breathe.
His lips twitch into a smirk. “You’ll be my wife, honey. He’s already mine. I’m claiming him and you. I love you and I’m too old to fuck around much longer and sit on my ass with this.”
My entire body trembles. His words. They are… everything. Tears fill my eyes and this time when they fall, it’s out of happiness instead of misery and fear. Inhaling a deep, shaky breath, I let it out with a whoosh.
“You want to adopt Holden?” I ask on a whisper.
He snorts. “My heart already has.”
Without a word, I lift my hand and wrap my fingers around his neck, my eyes focused on his. His gaze flicks to my lips, then back to meet my eyes. His hand on the back of my head applies a bit of pressure, guiding me toward his face.
When his lips touch mine, everything disappears. All of the fear, all of the pain. The only thing left is pure bliss and hope for the future.
So much hope.
LANDRY
It’s been three days.
I’ve been watching my phone and keeping a pulse on Tennessee almost simultaneously. She’s been a nervous wreck, but attempting to hide it. We’ve had a hell of a lot of sex, and that’s saying a lot for us because we were doing a lot of that before all of this happened anyway.
My phone dances on my desk and I snatch it up, sliding my thumb across the screen as quickly as possible.
“Bash.”
“Results are in. The clinic will be calling her any second. I just wanted to let you know he is the father. Which is what we expected, right?”
I suck in a breath, nodding my head as if he can see me. “Yeah,” I croak.
My office door opens and there stands Tennessee, her face pale in the confirmation of Aaron Anderson being Holden’s biological sperm donor. Lifting my hand, I make a motion for her to come into the room. She closes the door and I watch as she walks toward the chair across from me on shaky legs.
“What happens now?” I ask Bash.
He clears his throat. “Now we play hardball. I’m having Hansen dig up every damning piece of evidence I can. I’m also having him get character statements from as many people as possible. We’re digging deep, Landry. We can’t bring charges against him for rape because the statute of limitations is up, but we can still make it very fucking obvious what he did, ruin his character. He won’t be able to climb out of this mess unscathed and Susan is going to be the one eating fucking crow for this.”
“Good,” I grunt.
“She went too far, Landry.”
“Agreed,” I snap.
There is a moment of silence and then I hear Bash let out a sigh. “Tennessee is a good kid. I saw all of Hansen’s reports. I’ve met her and although I may not agree with how you got together or your age difference, even I can admit that it’s all real and so is she.”
“She is,” I agree. Lifting my gaze to her, my eyes are focused on hers. “She’s everything, Bash.”
Ending the call with him a few moments later, Tennessee stares at me for just a beat before she speaks.
“You know.”
Nodding my head, I agree. “I know, but then again, I already knew.”
“Me too, but hearing it confirmed.”
“Yeah,” I agree.
She inhales a deep breath, then lets it out shakily. “I just want it all over. I want it done.”
Standing, I round my desk and make my way toward her. Without hesitation, I scoop her up in my arms and carry her over to the couch. Sinking down, I hold her in my lap. She buries her face in my neck and she starts to cry.
“I’m going to have to face him again,” she mumbles against my neck.
“I know, honey. I’ll be right there with you the whole time.”
She lifts her head, her eyes finding mine and then she lowers her head and touches her lips to mine. “Thank you, Landry. Thank you for everything.”
I don’t remind her that none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me, if it wasn’t for Susan.
I could have just had an affair with her, stayed married to Susan and none of this would have happened. We could have still had a content life, but we may not have ever truly been happy, because I wouldn’t have ever