When I emerge from her room, clean and dressed, I head back into the kitchen where Evelyn is currently preparing a meal for dinner later. But her mood has changed. Well, toward me at least.
Elijah can do no wrong in her eyes.
It must be nice to be a kid whose mum adores him so.
Trying not to be jealous of a twelve year old kid who has no clue how good he's got it, I make my way over to Evelyn, wrap my arms around her waist, and press kisses into her neck.
"Stop." She wriggles out of my grasp. Like she doesn't want me touching her.
"Is something wrong?" I ask. Turning her around to face me.
"Why didn't you tell me you didn't want kids?" She asks. Choosing now to confront me on this.
Lie to her, the devil on my shoulder tells me. But she deserves my honesty.
"Evelyn, all my life I've been told what to do, how to act, and who to be for the sake of the family. So, when my mum told me I would need to have a child to carry on the family name, it was yet another decision that was taken away from me. Another choice forced upon me that wasn't mine, because if it were, I would never have children." I explain as best I can.
"Never?"
"Never." I nod.
The mental struggle that plays out on her face makes me feel like a wanker. But the more I think about it, the more I know with certainty I can't bring myself to do it.
Not even to make her happy.
"So, why did you marry me?" She asks.
"I married you because at the time, I had no choice. My dad was insistent upon it, and he left no room for argument. Now that he's passed..."
"You have a choice..." she reads my mind. Her sad gaze slowly meeting mine.
"But one gift did come from agreeing to his terms. I got you in exchange, and Evelyn... I can't imagine my life without you. You're an amazing woman. My equal in every way and my better half in others."
"You married me because you knew I wouldn't care about your fortune. You wanted an equal." She connects the dots I was hoping she would. "And because the sex is-"
"Amazing." I finish her sentence for her. "Undoubtedly the best I've ever had."
"But do you love me?" She asks.
"More than the air I breathe." I assure her. Even though I can't say those three little words to save my life. "And then some."
"Then say it." She demands.
Fuck.
I open my mouth several times to spit the words out, but they won't come. And the look she gives me when I fail to put her at ease makes me feel like even more of a wanker.
Evelyn tries brushing past me, but I grip her by the arm to stop her. And surprisingly, she doesn't fight me as I force her to face me. Resting my head against hers.
"I'm a complicated man, Evelyn." I try to find the words to explain myself to her.
"And my life is already complicated enough." She slips free from my grasp to place a roast in the fridge for later.
Sighing, I tell her the only thing I can in the hopes that she won't give up on me. "The last person I said I love you to hurt me beyond measure."
"I am not Stephanie, Alexander. Nor am I interested in hurting you. I just want to know you love me as much as I love you." She tells me.
"I do."
"Then why can't you say it?"
Because if I say the words out loud it would make them real and your ability to hurt me far greater than I wish to give anyone the power to.
"We are married, are we not?" I point out. "And not because of an inheritance or anything of the sort. This is what I want." I assure her.
Her shoulders slacken. Releasing the tension she's been clinging to since this conversation began. And I take that moment to crush my lips to hers. Hoisting her onto the countertop behind her and positioning myself between her legs.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Evelyn Graham." I kiss along her collarbone to the valley between her breasts where I take my time. "Tasting you..." I lick my tongue between her breasts. "Kissing you..." I bring my mouth back to hers and slip my tongue into her mouth. "And fucking you on counters." I lift her skirt, slide her panties to the side, and pull her hips off the counter until she slowly sinks onto my burgeoning erection.
Elijah is within earshot. Mere feet away from us in the next room playing games on his PS5 now. If she utters one sound, he'll come in and find his mother spread eagle with me between her legs.
Which doesn't deter me in the slightest.
I slowly, quietly, fuck her into oblivion with Elijah none the wiser. And I don't know if it's the fear of being caught, or how skilled I am at fucking her, but she's so wet she's practically dripping down her legs.
"If you keep gripping me like that, I'm going to cum." I whisper into her ear before nipping her lobe with my teeth.
She explodes all over me, dripping wet, and I clamp my hand over her mouth to stifle her moan. Only, she's not the only one losing control. And she cups her hand over my mouth too while we watch each other come.
I retract my length and her eyes immediately go to my todger. Disappointed to see I'm wearing a condom.
I learned my lesson in Surrey.
"I need to go get cleaned up." I smile down at her. "So do you. I have movers showing up any moment now to help you pack your things and move you into our new home."
"What are you talking about?" She frowns.
"I bought us a house."
"You what?"
"Bought. Us. A house." I repeat.
"Why?" She begins to panic.
"To live in it." I deadpan. Staring at her like she's crazy.
"I know that, but why would you buy a house for us to live in for three years?"
Three years?
Anger takes hold of me that she only views our marriage as temporary and I back away from her. Needing to put some distance between us for a second. Because I meant it when I said this was forever for me.
"Alexander, I-"
Before she can finish backtracking, I head into her bedroom to shower. Except, she follows me into the shower and again I stare at her trying to make sense of her words. But rather than back down from me, she holds my gaze until I look away.
Then we both get dressed in silence.
"What if we stayed married for longer than three years?" I finally speak.
Hope like a wild thing inside my heart.
"Are you serious?" She asks. Unable to stop the smile spreading across her face.
And a part of me is finally able to relax.
"I mean, I did buy us a house to live in."
Jumping into my arms, she wraps her legs around my waist and kisses me deeply.
I allow everything I've been holding back to pour into my kiss. To show her how much this means to me. And she kisses me back with equal fervor.
"Okay, but... I'm not getting rid of my house." She tells me.
"We have a bigger one." I frown.
"Which is great, but... I want to keep something of my own. You know, just in case."
"In case what?" I level her with a look.
"I'm just... I'm not giving up my house. So, have your movers move our clothes and shoes, but leave everything else." She stands her ground.
My jaw flexes as I clench my teeth hoping to stifle my anger. I know exactly why she wants to keep her house, and as much as maybe it shouldn't bother me, it does. Because this house resembles a life without me. A life she's clinging to for reasons I don't understand.
The doorbell rings and Elijah calls out to us. Pulling me from my anger.
"Well, just so you know, our new home has a wait staff who will get the doors for us." I swallow my anger and plant a kiss on her forehead.
"I bet." She smirks. Heading downstairs to get the door.
Twenty movers I hired come piling into the house with boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap, and other various items with another member of my security team in tow. I put them in charge of watching over the movers, then I escort Elijah and Evelyn outside.
"Give your keys to Benji," I instruct. And for once Evelyn does as I ask.
Then we climb into my car, and I take us to our new home. Which is in Bel Air. And Elijah's eyes practically pop out of his skull when we pull up to it.
The exterior is a cream color with white trim and black wrought iron railing on each side of the porch stairs leading up to the front door. There are arched glass French doors with black trim that open inward making up the front doors. And above the front door is a black wrought iron balcony belonging to one of the bedrooms.
"Cool!" He exclaims.
Even Evelyn is smiling.
I hand Evelyn the keys and watch as she watches Elijah run around like a crazy person losing his mind. Pointing out every cool feature of the house he comes across.
"Wait until he sees his room," I whisper to her. "His head is going to explode."
Laughing, she slides her hand into mine and follow me up to the front door.
"I can't believe you did this." Evelyn regards me with warm eyes.
Hopefully it means she's rethinking keeping her home.
"Welcome to your new home, Mrs. King."
Sliding the key into the keyhole, she gives it a twist and the front door quietly opens to a beautiful foyer. Just beyond the foyer is a dining area. And to the right is a large marble staircase that takes you to the second floor and a hallway leading to rooms for a home office.
"What do you think?" I ask. Watching her closely.
"I think its breathtaking." She smiles. Tears in her eyes. "When did you do this?"
"The day we were married. I just needed to have a few things done before it was fully ready."
Evelyn pulls me into a passionate kiss that lasts for at least a minute before wiping her eyes and venturing further into the house to check it out.
***
Alexander has really outdone himself. The house he bought for us, it's... it's beautiful. It's everything I've wanted to for Elijah and me and more. And I would've bought it myself if living in a home like this wouldn't have raised my family's suspicions. It's bad enough his presence in my life has my mom sniffing around like a blood hound trained to follow the money. But at least with Alexander footing the bill, all eyes are on him instead of me.
"You continue to surprise me." I say to Alexander as he and I both stand at the back door watching Elijah weave his way through the garden.
"You and Elijah deserve this. And not because you agreed to be my wife for the next three years." His intense gaze meets mine.
"It doesn't have to be for three years." I reply. Meeting his hopeful gaze.
His eyes lower to my lips, then my breasts, and then lower. As if he's imagining what spending the rest of his life with me might be like.
Or what color panties I'm wearing.
Then he closes the distance between us. Forcing me back against the cold glass of the back door while pressing his body against mine.
"Will you be mine forever? Mrs. King." He asks me. Dipping his head to plant a kiss at the base of my neck.
Smiling, I reply, "Til death do us part, Mr. King."
He crushes his mouth to mine. Taking my breath away. And then both our phones chirp to life. Pulling us from our reverie.
"Hello?" I put my phone to my ear at the same time Alexander answers his.
"Houston, we have a problem." David's panicked voice sounds through the phone.
"What kind of problem?" Alexander and I ask at the same time. Our eyes quickly meeting.
"I don't know how else to say this, but somehow your mother has gotten her hands on a controlling interest of Graham Corp. There's an emergency meeting happening in the next hour to force you and Alexander out."
What?
"How the hell did this happen?" I ask him. Lowering my voice so I won't interrupt Alexander's call. "You had one job to do, David. How the hell did you fail so miserably at it?"
"I covered all the basics like you asked, but..."
"But what?"
"Evie, I don't know how else to say this, so I'm just going to come out and say it. But please don't shoot the messenger." He sighs nervously.
"Just spit it out." I demand. Losing my patience.
"You mother got her hands on a large portion of the controlling interest in Graham Corp by buying it from your every member of your family with the loan she received from King Investments." He blurts out.
Not that this surprises me at all.
In fact, I prepared them for this. That's why I made sure the portions they retained weren't enough to stage the sort of coup she's somehow managed. Even collectively.
"Their shares combined aren't enough for her to gain control of Graham Corp." I tell him. "So, what the hell happened?"
"Alexander Graham." He finally spits out what he's afraid to tell me. And I whirl around to face the culprit who's already staring back at me with an 'oh shit' expression on his face. "He made an agreement with your mother that gave her an extra two percent controlling interest in Graham Corp, bringing her total to-"
"He did what?" I gasp. Cutting him off as disbelief washes over me.
Repeating himself, he tells me, "He made an agreement with your mother that gave her an extra two percent controlling interest in Graham Corp, bringing her total to-"
"Thirty-three percent and enough for her to stage a coup." I stare at Alexander feeling betrayed.
Why the hell would he sell my mother any percent of Graham Corp without telling me? Especially after going through the trouble of helping me wrench it from her grasp.
"Thank you for telling me. I'll be there within the hour."
I hang up the phone and turn my gaze to Alexander who already looks guilty.
"What have you done?" I ask him. Praying he's not in cahoots with my mother to bring me down. "What on God's green earth would make you think selling my mother any percentage of Graham Corp was a good idea? And what the hell did you get in return?"
"You." He answers without elaborating.
"I'm not for sale and I never have been. Do you want to try that shit again?" I reply. Narrowing my eyes at him. "Answer me, damnit. If you don't I'll just go to my mother myself and ask her. She'll have no problem telling me what you did, just so she can rub your betrayal in my face."
"I sold her two percent of the controlling interest in Graham Corp in exchange for information on you. Specifically, your business dealings." He sighs. Regret present in his eyes. "But I swear to you, had I have known what she was planning, I never would've made the offer."
"I told you never to trust her. I warned you. And now I'm going to lose my father's company a second time, just to watch her use it as her own personal ATM and run it into the ground!" I shout. Staring incredulously at him. "Do you want to know what the crazy part is?"
Alexander doesn't utter a word. So, I press on.
"The crazy part is... of all the people I expected to betray me, you were the one person who actually made me feel safe... like I could trust you."
"Says the woman who refuses to sell her home and move in with me just in case." He throws that up in my face. I knew he was going to have a problem with that because he's a control freak. "Besides, when I sold your mother those shares, I didn't think she could do anything with them."
"Well she can, and she is. No thanks to you." Opening the back door, I call out to Elijah to come back to the house so we can leave.
"Evelyn..." Alexander gently grips me by the arm to stop me from leaving. "Stay and talk to me. Let's work through this... together."
"You mean how you worked through selling shares of my company to my mother behind my back?" I glare at him. "No thank you. I'll pass."
Yanking my arm free from his grasp, I order a uber to take Elijah and me to Karen's without looking back. And after telling her everything, I head to my office to deal with the steaming pile of shit Alexander has just dropped into my lap.