Chapter Nine
Violet
“Are you sure you want to do this now?”
Walking the path down to the clubhouse, hand in hand with Reaux, she slanted him an amused look. It had been two days since the CNC scene and her subsequent breakdown; the entire dynamic of her life had shifted in those forty-eight hours. “It needs to be done.”
The barriers she’d kept erected against him were gone. The hatred, the resentment, the fury she’d used to protect herself for so long were no longer prominent, little more than raised scars left behind to remind her of the burden she’d carried.
It made life easier, she mused, being able to look at his face and not want to tear it off his skull. She certainly felt more… peaceful within herself. Once the violence simmering in her veins dissipated, she realized how much damage she’d been doing to herself, how close she’d come to severing bonds with her friends and the community by harboring all that rage. Now she no longer bowed under its weight, she felt like she could breathe again.
“I don’t want them upsetting you.” Reaux was particularly unsettled this evening, his protective instincts strong. After she’d cried all over him, he was letting his Dom run on a longer leash, marking his territory around her to keep the bad stuff at bay. “This could’ve waited until you feel better.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m tired and a little rundown, Boudreaux. Hardly at death’s door. They deserve to hear this from me; if we keep putting it off, they’re going to figure it out themselves, and that’s unfair. They took me in, made me feel welcome, brought me home into a family I love very much.”
“They lured you away from your home, away from me.”
“That’s probably a good thing, for you. I’d have been tempted to do something stupid if I remained in a citywide proximity to you.”
“Like come back to me without me having to chase you across several states?”
Violet laughed. “Like hire a hitman or murder you myself.”
“True love doesn’t exchange cash for murder; you’d have done it yourself in fine style.” Grinning, he tugged her to his side, anchoring her with an arm around her waist. “Of course, thecops would pin you as the prime suspect if anything happened to me.”
“Oh? And why would they do that?”
“They always focus on the beneficiaries of a victim’s will, Bennie, and you are my sole heiress. Well, aside from a small portion for Francoise—”
Gravel crunched as her feet slammed to a halt, her heels digging in slightly. She wobbled, fisting her hand in his shirt to keep her balance as her head went unfeasibly light. “Excuse me? I’mwhat?”
“My sole heiress,” he repeated slowly, enunciating the words with care. His head cocked, lips twitching in amusement. “Mon dieu,did that not occur to you? Violet, you are my heart; you own it. As far as I’m concerned, you are my wife in every way but on paper, and I’m planning to change that in short order. Distance and strife aside, what is mine is yours, in life and death.”
She couldn’t breathe. “You’re leaving everything to me? Are you insane?”
“Well, as I was saying, Francoise will receive half a million dollars for his loyalty and service to me. He’s been a good friend and associate over the years. The rest goes to you and, with any luck…” He trailed off, glancing lovingly at her belly, then cleared his throat. “Our children.”
“But… But your family…”
“Youaremy family, Violet. I built Amatory for you, for us. There would be no business, no empire without you. If, one day, I am no longer here, you will inherit my life’s work, the dream I created for you.” He reached out and popped her mouth shut with a fingertip under her chin. “My kin are wealthy enough without bequeathing them more. My legacy will live on with you; they’d just dismantle it and sell off the clubs to the highest bidders. This is not what I want.”
Completely stunned, she stared at him in disbelief. “H-How long…”
He tilted his dark head in question, then smiled. “How long has my entire estate been promised to you?” He tipped his hand from side to side. “Around our eighteen month anniversary, give or take a week.”
“What?”
He just shrugged off her incredulity. “Really, Violet, one would think you haven’t listened to a word I’ve told you. I’ve known you were my only from the start. Once we’d been together a year, I began thinking beyond the present into the future. If anything happened to me, I was adamant that you would be taken care of, no matter what.”
“We broke up fortwo years, Boudreaux! Did you not think to amend your will?”
His disapproval was evident as he waved that question away. “In my eyes, it was not the termination of our relationship. I remained loyal to you; you did not seek alternative company for sexual or romantic purposes. We were simply taking some time apart.”
“First thing in the morning, you call your fancy-ass lawyers and change this, Reaux.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no? I don’t want your money or your clubs. It wasn’t why I wanted to be with you before, and it sure as hell isn’t now.” She pulled away from him, throwing her hands up in frustration as she spun around. “When were you going to tell me? Were you going to let the executor drop the bombshell at your funeral?”
