CUZ: Billionaire Stepbrother Romance (10 page)

“Why don’t I just get you a lawyer,” she said suddenly.

“A lawyer?”

“Yeah, to fight the Knights. I don’t have my money yet, but I bet we could get an attorney to help us if we promised to pay him when I get my inheritance.”

“You would do that for me?” I asked.

“Of course, Josh. I love you too.”

I smiled at her. We both heard a knock at her front door.

“Are you expecting someone?” I asked.

“No.”

She got up and headed to the living room. I followed close behind. When she opened the door, I saw the private investigator. He still had on the ridiculous black trench coat.

“What do you want?” Ashley asked him.

“Can I come in?”

I walked over. “We’d rather you didn’t. Why are you here?”

“Look, kid. Your time is running out. Are you going to sign the contract or not?”

Ashley glared at me silently.

“Go now before I call the cops,” I said, shutting the door in his face.

“What was that about?” she asked me.

“I told you. They want me to sign papers saying to never see you again.”

“I thought you told them no already.”

“Not yet. I didn’t have time.”

“What about right after he asked you?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I like to keep my options open. You know that.”

“Oh, so I’m just an option for you, huh?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

“Then what’s it like?”

“I love you, Ash.”

She stared into my eyes as if trying to decide whether she should trust me.

“Let’s just be on our own until we get to court, okay? I need some time alone.”

“But, Ash. Last night was wonderful. We make a good team. Why are you doing this?”

“Do you know how long I waited for you, Josh? Do you even realize?”

“That’s not fair, Ash.”

“Life isn’t fair, Josh. You need to leave for now, please.”

I shook my head and frowned before I left.

“I’ll call you,” she said as I closed the door behind me.

A string of emotions ran through my mind, all hitting me at the same time. My stomach knotted up.
I need a fucking drink
.
No, that’s not going to help
, I thought as I remembered my last binge drinking session. Outside on the street, I hailed a cab. All I had in the world was a few thousand dollars and a motel room for another week. That and a decision to make.

Should I take the money and forget about Ashley? Did I get what I wanted? Are we over now that we’ve fucked?
The questions piled up in my mind without answers. Back at the motel, I laid on the old, spring mattress. One of the coils pressed against my hip. I sighed, wondering if my world could get any worse.
What should I do?

Seventeen

Ashley

A month after getting him an attorney, we were in front of a judge for arbitration. All of us had signed an agreement saying the ruling would be binding without having to wait for months for it to go through the normal court system. Josh looked sexy as hell in a black suit and tie. Even I was dressed up, literally in a dress – a little black one.

Mr. and Mrs. Knight sat next to each other at one end of the table. Mr. Goshen, the attorney I’d hired, Josh, and I sat across from them. The judge was in between us, looking over a folder of papers in front of him. I held Josh’s hand under the table, running my thumb over his rough skin. Finally, the old man looked up.

“Are we ready to begin?”

“Yes, your honor,” Mr. Goshen said.

“Yes, sir,” Mr. Knight said, apparently representing himself.

“Good. As you know, my ruling will be binding and final. Neither party may pursue this matter after today’s date.” He cleared his throat. “Now, what we have is a trust fund issue. Mr. and Mrs. Knight want to revoke Josh’s access to the money unless he agrees not to have contact with a Ms. Knight?”

“It’s confusing, your honor,” I said. “We were adopted by them, but we’re not related.”

“And why do you not want these two young people together?” he bluntly asked Mr. Knight.

“We believe she’s a bad influence on our son, your honey,” he said.

The judge pursed his lips together and furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

“Can you explain further?”

“Yes, your honor. We adopted both of them and wanted nothing but the best for them. After spending countless resources on both of them, our daughter Ashley rebelled, determined to make us look back in public and tarnish our family name.”

“I just want to live my own life,” I said.

Mr. Goshen reached out and touched my arm.

“No more outbursts, young lady,” the judge said, stroking his gray beard.

“Your honey, if I may, I’d like to point out Josh signed a contract with us before getting access to his trust fund. In that document, a clause is laid out for situations such as this one where his money might be revoked.”

The judge nodded his head. “I’m aware of the document.”

Fuck
, I thought.
This is it. What the fuck is our lawyer doing?

“However, as Mr. Goshen has pointed out, you had him sign it before he was eighteen, which means it’s not a legally binding document.”

“What?”

I loved to see Mr. Knight’s face turn ghost-white.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” he said.

After he finished lecturing them, he frowned and turned to our side of the table.

“Unfortunately, since you haven’t filed the proper paperwork, I’m afraid I can’t give you access to the trust fund set up for you.”

“What?” I said, moving to the edge of my chair.

“I’m sorry, but…”

“How can you two do this?” I asked the Knights, staring into their cold eyes. “You’re never going to be grandparents.”

“We are okay with that, dear,” Mr. Knight said.

“No, you don’t understand. I’m carrying Josh’s baby.”

Their eyes opened wide. Mrs. Knight’s lower jaw actually dropped.

“What are you talking about?” Josh asked me.

“I’ll tell you later,” I said quietly.

“You should have told me about this,” Mr. Goshen said.

“You should’ve been more prepared for this meeting,” I snapped.

“Order,” the judge called. “I don’t have a gavel, but everyone be quiet.”

Everyone in the room, including the stenographer, turned to him. Mr. Knight raised his hand. The judge sighed.

“What is it, Mr. Knight?”

“We’d like to withdraw our complaint.”

I looked at Mrs. Knight, who had a tear running down her left cheek.

“We just want you two to be happy,” she said.

“Are you positive?” the judge asked.

Mr. Knight nodded.

“Very well. I end this arbitration in favor of Josh Knight.” He turned to the Knights. “You’ll immediately give him access to his trust fund.”

“Yes. We’d like to see our grandchild…”

“We’ll talk about it,” I said.

Josh nudged me. “Don’t push it,” he hissed. “We won.”

“As your attorney, I agree,” Mr. Goshen said, finally speaking up.

“We’ll be in touch,” I said, standing up. “You ready to go Josh?”

He got to his feet. We walked out of the room holding hands. Mr. Goshen ran to catch up with us in the hallway.

“About my fee…”

“We’ll get in touch with you,” I said, waving him away.

Outside in the parking lot, I stopped and looked into Josh’s hazel eyes.

“Are you okay? You’re being really quiet.”

“I’m just in shock.”

“About getting your money back?”

“No. Our child.”

I smiled and threw my arms around him, hugging him tight. “I thought you might be mad.”

“Ash, I’ve loved you a long time. We’re going to have our own family.”

We took a cab to my apartment. A few weeks later, I got access to my money. After taxes and Mr. Goshen’s outrageous fees, I had forty-two million dollars in my bank account. I almost passed out when I called it up on the computer the first time. Josh also had access to his hundreds of millions, making us one of the richest couples in the whole country.

The wedding plans fell together magically. He agreed to everything I wanted while I let him plan the honeymoon and bachelor party with his friends. Four weeks after giving birth, we planned to wed on a Hawaiian island. Over the next few months, I fell even more in love with Josh. Our days were great, and our nights were even better.

Eighteen

Josh

I walked down the aisle toward the minister. The Knights had recommended the church for the wedding, and in a spirit of moving forward, we agreed to let them help plan some of the details. When I reached the front of the church, I turned to see the crowd gathered for our nuptials. Then she appeared – so angelic and heavenly. Mr. Knight led her down the aisle toward me.

The past and future all condensed into that one moment. I didn’t want it to ever end. She stopped next to me with a smile perched on her face under the white lace veil. Joy flowed through my body. Anything was possible. The future was bright as could be. All the problems we had faced together and apart seemed so distant as we stared at each other.

“We’re gathered here today…” the minister began.

As he spoke, I zoned out, caught up in her beauty until she opened her eyes wide. I turned to the minister, who had stopped speaking.

“Your vows,” he said.

“I promise to take care of you, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, no matter what we may face for all the years of our life.”

“I promise to take care of you, in sickness and in health,” she repeated. “No matter what happens to us in the years ahead.”

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

Applause erupted from the guests as I lifted the veil, leaned forward, and kissed her on the lips. When we broke off the kiss, we turned to all the people who had shown up for the wedding. Chloe, our beautiful baby girl was in the church’s nursery with the nanny we had hired for her. Everything went smoothly – until the reception.

* * *

While sitting at the main table next to Josh, the white haired lady who had given us a cryptic message about being destined for each other at the hotel in New Orleans. I nudged Josh with my elbow as she approached. He stood up as she made it to the front of our table.

“Sit down, sit down,” she said in her scratchy voice. “I’ve come to congratulate you two. And tell you the truth.”

Josh sat down. “What truth?”

I stared at her wrinkled face, wondering what she would say.

“You’ve been given bad information.” She paused.

“Go on,” Ashley said, impatient and about to become a Bridezilla.

“You two aren’t related,” she said.

“What do you mean? We had a test done,” I said.

“The results were changed by the Knights. They knew your parents. All four of them.”

“Why are you telling us this today?” Ashley asked.

“You married for love because you were in love. My gift to you on your wedding is the truth.”

With that, she walked away and disappeared into the crowd.

“What the hell was that all about?” Ashley whispered to me.

“I have no idea. We could have another DNA test done.”

“No,” she said, reaching out and taking me hand in hers. “I care for you, Josh. That’s all that matters to me. Cuz or no cuz, I love you just because.”

“I agree,” I said.

We raised our champagne flutes and downed the contents after toasting each other.

Nineteen

Ashley

Before the last of the guests left the reception, Josh led me through the kitchen and out the back door. Outside, we hopped into a waiting limousine. With Chloe safe at our brand new mansion on the edge of a lake, we headed to the hotel we had rented for the night. The next morning, we would head off to Southern France for a weeklong honeymoon.

When we reached our room, he picked me up and carried me across the threshold.

“I don’t think doing it in a hotel room counts,” I teased.

“It all counts in my world,” he said, unperturbed.

He set me down next to the bed.

“How are you feeling?”

“Well, six weeks after giving birth, I’m horny as fuck.”