“Then a divorce,” she bit out in a frosted tone. “I do hope you had enough brains to get a prenuptial contract signed.”
“Oh, I did. I’m not an idiot, Grandmother.”
“Good.”
“Here it is, in case you need proof.” He unlocked his new cell phone, called up a snapshot, and handed it to her. “I admit it doesn’t seem very professional written on a napkin, but it’s all done quite legally now, and the napkin’s filed with the proper documents.”
Man, if her gaze could scorch us, we would have been incinerated where we stood.
Jack continued, his tone low, hard, “You don’t get to use me to further your ambitions. If you come anywhere near Ray or threaten her family again, or even in the unlikely event we divorce—and I don’t care who interferes—all my shares in Blackstone Inc. that came to me via my father,allof them,will go to my wife. So, go ahead, try. Ray will be worth a damn sight more than the paltry million you tried to pay her off with. You see, if Ray ever leaves me, I know it will be because ofyou. So, be nice, and those shares will go to our children when it’s time…”
Margo looked as if someone had smacked her in the head. Her mouth remained a pinched, pink line, two blotches of red suffusing her cheeks.
“Mother.” With a small nod at a wide-eyed Vivienne, Jack ushered me away.
Outside in the cool breeze, we stood on the terrace. Jack rubbed his face and stared at the garden.
“You okay?” I asked him.
“Strangely, yes.” Then he glanced at me and smiled. “That was very liberating.”
“Jack—” Vivienne’s heels clicked on the tiles as she hurried toward us. Her dark eyes misty with tears, she threw her arms around Jack and hugged him. “You don’t know how happy this makes me.”
“What? Finally getting Grandmother to back off?”
“Well, yes. That, too.” She gave me a little smile, her attention shifting back to Jack. “Can I tell Marie about you and Ray?”
“Let Max leave on his honeymoon first, Mother. Tomorrow is soon enough. Don’t worry”—he cast me a tender smile, then glanced back at Vivienne—“there will be another society wedding in a year or two. Just a formality, you understand? Because of Grandmother’s money-minded vision, Ray didn’t get the wedding she deserves. And I want her to have that.”
My mouth opened, then a smile started. “Really?” I asked him.
“Why so surprised? Haven’t I’ve shown you just how much you mean to me?” he asked, his gaze soft. “Rayen Griffin, you are my heart. So, yes.” And he kissed me right there in front of his mother, a profoundly possessive kiss.
At her soft laughter, I hastily broke away from Jack’s tormenting mouth. He was too dangerous and could easily make me forget myself.
“Ray, I’m so happy for you both. Vivienne grasped me into a gentle hug. “And, congratulations.Thank you for loving him…” the last words were a whisper that stunned me.
I eased back. She did love Jack, but she just didn’t know how to show it. I saw it in her eyes. I nodded.
Maybe now, hopefully, she’d move on and live her life, too. For too long she’d been blocked by a negative force.
* * *
Afternoon sunlight cast a warm light over the courtyard, as Jack parked the Porsche behind Nigel’s Bentley at Sea Cliff. I glanced up the cream three-story mansion and inhaled an anxious breath. This would be—God, this was my home now. I rubbed my face with my cold hands.
“Nervous?” Jack asked quietly at my side.
I couldn’t stop the heaving sensation riding up to my throat. “What do you think?”
“I meant coming here as my bride.”
“I am…” I shifted my apprehensive gaze to him. “I love you, and I’m truly happythatepisode with Margo is over. But Nigel and my parents are people we care about. How will they take the news of our elopement and hushed marriage?”
“With excitement, I hope.” He smiled then. “You worry too much, wife-bug. I think they’ll be fine. C’mon, let’s go inside.”
“Must you still call me that?”
“You’ll always be my love-bug, so yeah.” And my cocky husband got out and came around to my side of the vehicle. He’d gotten rid of his coat, vest, and tie. Clad in just his white shirt and suit pants, he was damn sexy.
