Dirty Little Promise

“Not true,” I shot back angrily, gripping his arm tight. “Nathan was before I ever knew you, and this—”

“This could have ended so much worse, Emma. You’re the fucking sun, and I’m nothing but a dark cloud blotting out your light.”

“Gavin, you are the light,” I said, pleading with him now, hating the sadness in his eyes. “Please, it’s over now. It’s only blue skies ahead for us. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. But there’s something else,” he said, finally meeting my gaze. “I know we said no secrets, but I haven’t been completely honest with you. I thought with everything with Sonja . . . well, I didn’t think it was a good time. Now that it’s over, though, I want you to know.”

I took a steadying breath, preparing myself for whatever came next. “Tell me.”

“Ashley’s family is suing me for ten million dollars. It will ruin me personally and the company if I lose. My attorney wants me to settle out of court, but I can’t.”

For the next fifteen minutes, the whole story poured out. How he’d wanted to tell me, how he’d told Cooper, what Ashley’s family had been like when she needed them.

He left out no detail, and when he was done, he looked up at me again, his eyes pleading for forgiveness. “I know I should have told you. I’m sorry, but damn it, it’s all too much.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about that now. What’s done is done, but from this moment forward, there are no secrets between us. No matter what.”

He nodded. “But what about everything else?”

“What about it?” I shrugged. “We’re strong. Win or lose, we’ll get through this. We just have to make sure we do it together.”

Gavin had stood by me through the worst of times, and now, I would do the same.

“Come on. Let’s go to the store. I think we need that comfort food now more than ever,” I told him.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Emma

Another week came and went as Gavin and I pushed through what we hoped would be the worst of his case. We looked for receipts, and talked to people who might be willing to testify. And, finally, Gavin told Quinn everything about the case.

It was hard for Gavin, going back through all the trials and tribulations of his time with the woman he’d loved. Although I’d expected to feel jealous or possessive, the more I learned about Ashley, the sadder I felt for both of them.

Meanwhile, I was dealing with the issues of Sonja’s upcoming sentencing. Since she’d confessed to everything, there would be no trial. She was facing three years in prison for aggravated assault.

I still couldn’t bring myself to go back to the brownstone. Despite it all, I was surprised I didn’t feel like the world was coming undone around me. Whenever I thought of my ruined house or my wasted effort, I felt so bitter that I wanted to scream and break down. But I didn’t.

And that was all because of Gavin.

No matter how bad things got, I could look to him or tell him about it, confident in the knowledge he was sharing the load with me. I wasn’t alone.

Day after day, I would look at him, either while helping him through his case or while telling him about my own heartache, and I’d find myself thinking of my conversation with my mother. He was the one for me—I knew it in my heart. We were building a foundation for something real. Something lasting.

The only question was whether he felt the same way.

I wanted to ask. My insecurities made me wonder what might happen next, but I kept my thoughts to myself. Gavin had enough to deal with without me getting all weird on him.

Instead, I focused on the library, hoping work would take my mind off the brownstone, the case, and my own concerns. When Friday came, I was working late building a book tree in the children’s section. The bell rang at the door and I turned, ready to tell the visitor the library was closed, and I caught sight of Gavin.

He was wearing the charcoal suit I loved best, the same one he’d been wearing the day I walked into his office for the first time. At the sight at him, I felt my heart bubble over with warmth, and I grinned.

“Come to help with this book tree? I can’t get to all the branches.”

He shook his head as he pushed his hands into his pockets. “Not today. We have plans.”

“We do?”

He nodded. “We do. Now, come on or we’ll be late.”

I gave my book tree a last glance, then followed him to the door and out into the street, golden with the warm glow of sunset. His limo wasn’t there, but he led me to his car and helped me inside before climbing behind the wheel.

“Where’s Ben?”

“Gave him the night off. I wanted it to just be the two of us.” He stuck the key in the ignition, but before he twisted it, he turned in his seat and handed me a gift-wrapped rectangle.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Open it.”

I peeled away the shiny white paper to reveal a beautiful leather-bound copy of the complete works of Jane Austen.

“How did you—”

“When we were watching Sense and Sensibility. You mentioned you didn’t have physical copies.”

“Thank you.” I ran my fingers over the embossed title, tears threatening my eyes.

“Open it,” he said again.

I opened the cover of the book to find the word Will scrawled in Gavin’s untidy writing.

“It’s already got the beginnings of an inscription here for someone named Will.” I frowned as I glanced at him, puzzled.

“Does it? Weird.”

Gavin started the car and pulled out onto the street while I examined the book. Before long, he pulled up to a shady patch of woods and I looked around, taking in the bluff that overlooked the city.

“This is—” I didn’t finish. He knew what I was going to say.

It was the place where we’d touched for the first time. It had been the first time he’d ever let me get close to him, and it was a night I thought about often. The night I considered the true start of it all.

Silently, he got out of the car and opened the trunk to pull out another wrapped package. Sliding back into the driver’s seat, he handed it to me.

I didn’t need instruction this time. I ripped the paper away to find a copy of Sighs, Cries, and Broken Things, one of the books from the poetry reading we’d gone to together.

Grinning, I looked up at him. “Did you read this?”

“I was hoping we could read more of it together. But right now? All I want you to do is open it.”

I did, and on a blank page inside the cover was written the word You. Nothing else.

My heart beat a little faster as I began to put two and two together, but I couldn’t get ahead of myself. I just needed to be here, in the moment with him. To enjoy whatever was happening and not expect anything more than that.

Still, I held my breath as we pulled back onto the street, the radio turned down low as we drove past a row of brownstones and stopped at one with a construction sign in front of it. I blinked.

“This is my house,” I said.

“It is. Come on.”

He got out of the car and opened my door for me, then led me up to the stoop and unlocked the beautiful new turn-of-the-century door. We stepped inside the little foyer where the floors were still scratched and gouged, but I could tell work was being done here.

“What’s all this?” I asked.

“I’m having your place renovated. I know how much it means to you.”

As happy as this made me, my heart sank a little. Gavin wasn’t asking me to marry him after all. It was just this beautiful, wonderful surprise.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“But that’s not why we’re here.”

I looked up at him. “It’s not?”

He shook his head, then pulled a gift-wrapped book from my bookshelf. I tore the paper away and opened the front cover, this time finding the word Marry written inside.

I couldn’t stop the tears from welling in my eyes. “Oh my God.”

Gavin grinned and backed away. “We’re not done yet, love. Come on.”

Overwhelmed, I followed him back to the car, my whole body trembling.