Tears well in my eyes. “You are so good to me.”
“You’re good to me too. You helped keep me together. Now it’s my turn.”
“What if I never get to see him again?” I ask, peering deep into his eyes. “What if Saturday was the last time I ever saw him and he dies and I never got to tell him again I love him. This is what keeps going round and round in my head all the time. I feel ill.” I palm my queasy stomach. “Why does she hate me so much to do this to me?” Sobs rip from my throat, and I bury my face in his shirt.
“This isn’t about you, honey,” he says in a soothing deep voice. “This is all about her insecurity. She could see how much Garrick loves you, and I bet she feels threatened by it. I’d put money on that being the crux of it. It’s not really about Pepper though it would suit her for Garrick to be with the governor’s daughter for the political kudos. But I think it’s because she knows he would never love her like he loves you. Pepper is the safe predictable choice. You are anything but.”
“Do you really think that’s what it is?”
Beck nods, shifting to an upright position and taking me with him. “She’s still a snob, and no doubt that is part of it, but mostly it’s because she feels threatened by you. I’m sure of it.” We lie back against the headboard, and he takes my hands in his. “I need to tell you something. I hope you won’t feel I have overstepped the mark, but I couldn’t sit back and do nothing. I heard you crying the past two nights and it’s killing me, Stevie. I want to make this better, but I don’t know how.”
“You make it better just by being here for me.” I smile through my sniffles. “I can’t believe we have only known one another four months when it feels like you have been in my life forever.”
“I feel the same, sweet girl.” Beck presses a lingering kiss to my brow before fixing me with a serious expression. “Which is why I couldn’t let Ivy cuntface get away with it.”
I tilt my head to one side. “What did you do?”
“I recruited a trusted contact to help, and we spent the morning making calls. The bitch is blacklisted all over town. She’s being thrown off charity committees and kicked out of the country club as we speak. Her charity and dinner invites will dry up, and she’ll be a social pariah. I even got her personal trainer and her hairdresser to ditch her as clients.”
My jaw slackens as I stare at him in amazement. “You did? How?”
“My family name carries a lot of clout in this town. We are influential in a way she is not. Ivy is small fry compared to the Colberts.”
“But she has the governor in her pocket. He’ll probably find a way to fix everything.”
He shakes his head as a devious grin blooms on his face. “Her name is mud, and Paul won’t intervene. I made sure of it. Dad recently agreed to fund his future presidential campaign. I reminded the governor I would be succeeding my father as CEO at some point in the near future. He doesn’t need to know it’s a lie to believe it as it’s how things work in family businesses. I made it clear if he made any attempt to help Ivy he could kiss that funding goodbye. He got the message loud and clear. Ivy is on her own.”
I stare at him in a bit of a daze, blown away he would go to this much trouble for me.
“Are you mad?” he asks, misinterpreting my shell-shocked expression.
I shake my head. “Not a bit. She had it coming, and she deserves to suffer in a way she understands.”
“I called her,” he adds, and my eyes pop wide. “I wanted her to know who did this to her and for her to understand you had no knowledge of it. That it was all on me.” His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat. “I told her I’d retract it all if she permitted you to visit. She told me to go fuck myself. That the only way you’d see her son was if she was dead.”
“Maybe she’ll get hit by a bus.” I swipe at the dampness on my cheeks. I can’t believe the lengths Beck has gone to. He has pulled out all the stops to get me in to see Garrick, and I don’t know how I can ever repay him. “Wouldn’t that be karma?”
“I thought she’d agree to it.”
“She probably thinks the governor will handle it.”
“Most likely. Perhaps she’ll come crawling back then.”
“I doubt it. You didn’t see how vicious she was on Saturday night. She’s not going to back down.”
“Perhaps I was wrong to give her an ultimatum. I might have made it worse,” he adds, loosening his tie and tossing it to the end of the bed.
I twist around so I can see his face. “She isn’t gonna change her mind. Appearances matter to her, but she’s stubborn. She hates me, and she’s made it her mission to get me away from her son. You didn’t make it worse. You did the only thing that might work. If she doesn’t go for it, she won’t go for anything.” I lean over and hug him. “Thank you so much for this. I love how you went to bat for me. You’re amazing, Beck. I don’t know how I can ever repay you. That you would do something like this means the world to me.”
“I had another idea.” A smirk plays across his lips.
“Okay.” I drag out the word, waiting for him to elaborate.
“Let’s make her a villain in my new book. You can help me to plot her character.”
A giggle sneaks from between my lips. “Oh, that would be so fun. We’ll make her really nasty and ensure she meets a gruesome fate.” I rub my hands together as ideas flit through my mind. “Let’s do it.” I fling my arms around him again. “You’re the absolute best, Beck.” I peer deep into his warm brown eyes, only now realizing how I’m pressed all up against him with our faces so close our noses are almost touching.
As I pull back to create space between us, the doorbell chimes. Beck looks at me with a slight frown. “Are you expecting Hadley or anyone else?”
