Divinely Living (Surviving Series) (27 page)

“Maggie,” I said loudly. “Maggie was your sister.”

“You remember her?” Mason’s brows rose in surprise.

“I do now. You’ve felt so familiar the whole day and now I know why. Maggie worked in the kitchen in the main house. She was always so good to me, so kind, and she made the best apple pie and vanilla ice cream I’ve ever tasted.”

Jonah stirred beside me. “So your sister took a job with Matthews so she could watch over Ava?”

“Yes. After Gina died, I wanted to know that Ava was taken care of. She was my eyes and ears, because I couldn’t be.”

Jonah offered a curt nod in response and out of respect. The warm glow inside me began to grow and seep through my veins. My affection for Mason was growing by the second and the fact he sent someone to watch over me only intensified the growth.

“I stayed close to Alex and let Maggie do the same with you, Ava. For ten years I stood by and let another man raise you, but Maggie made me feel as though I was with you the entire time. I sought advice from the best legal brains in the States and every single one of them told me the same. Until you turned eighteen there was nothing I could do. Once you turned eighteen, Alex’s legal rights ended and you were free of him. There were so many times when I wanted to scream, to hell with it, and take you, but you deserved more than a life on the run with a man you didn’t know.”

“Anything would have been better than living with that man,” I said bitterly. “You have no idea what he put me through.”

“I know everything, Ava.” Mason’s face was twisted, his body practically humming with fury. “Why do you think the fuckers dead?”

My jaw dropped again. “You killed him?”

He shook his head. “Not directly. But I made sure everything was in place, that you were far away and safe and that enough time had passed to deflect any suspicion that his death was in anyway connected with what he did to you. All the staff knew what happened. He swore them to secrecy with massive payoffs in return for their silence. He silenced all but one.”

“Maggie,” I whispered.

“Yes. Maggie refused the money but did agree to her silence. I needed her to stay on the inside, to keep me updated about you, even though you were no longer living there. She reluctantly agreed. The deal was, she kept track of you as much as she could, gained any information to your health and whereabouts, while I dealt with Alex. The only thing I could think of back then was revenge. And I did deal with him eventually.”

“I confronted him the day Maggie told me what happened. He swore he did nothing until I began beating the shit out of him. I had the fucker’s neck in my bare hands and that’s when he said the only thing that could stop me from killing him.”

“He threatened Ava,” Jonah cursed, his hand gripping mine again as if his life depended on it.

“He laughed in my face and told me that a bunch of heavies he employed were instructed to finish Ava if anything were to happen to him. I knew the bastard was bluffing but I just couldn’t take the risk that he wasn’t. He admitted everything. The rape, abusing Gina, he admitted every last sick thing he did and sat back to watch my reaction. It tore me apart. And that’s when the plan to eradicate the scum for good, hit me. I brokered a deal with him. I had enough dirt to bury him legally and he knew it. In return for keeping my mouth shut, he made you the heiress to everything he owned which he did immediately. After I got sight of the proof, life resumed and I continued to work at A.M Enterprises until enough time had passed to make sure his death was treated as an accident with no suspicious circumstances. I saw my chance and took it. Alex’s money, the money he paid me, was used to serve justice on the guilty fucker. Let’s just say he had enough enemies from deals that went wrong who for the right price were only too happy to see him six feet under.”

“I can’t believe you did that for me.” Tears began to fall down my cheeks with unstoppable force. “You risked so much.”

“I risked nothing. He got what he deserved. The only thing I regret is not being able to squeeze the life out of his body myself.”

“But why force him to leave me everything? Surely you would know after everything he put me through that I would want absolutely nothing from that man.”

He stood slowly, his tall frame towering above me as he walked towards me. Crouching to my height, he took both my hands in his and gazed at me sincerely.

“I did know that, of course I did. But when I decided to have him dealt with, I needed to ensure that before I did I would have a lifeline to you in some form. Leaving you the company meant that at some point you would feel the need to return here and if you did, I would be here waiting for you. While ever you were tied to the business, as Alex’s second, you would in some way also be tied to me. For once, I did something that worked out and you have no idea how overjoyed I felt when, firstly Cameron arrived on your behalf, and then Jonah telephoned to arrange a meeting with you. I was going to see my baby girl in the flesh and I would do everything I did a million times over just to spend one hour with you in person.”

I tugged my hands from his and wrapped my arms around his neck, tightly hugging the man who risked everything to protect me and then exacted revenge on my behalf. I felt him shudder against me, his face pressing into my hair and inhaling deeply. The dampness from his eyes trickled down my neck and my tears fell onto his cheeks. He felt so right, so achingly right. He felt like home. He felt like my dad. And after years of wishing for a parent who loved me, it seemed I had had one all along. Even if he was kept from me and ripped from my life, he had always been there, searching for me and after he found me, putting right all the wrongs I had suffered.

“Forgive me, baby girl, please forgive me,” he muttered into my hair. “God, I just need you to forgive me.”

I pulled from our hold and held his face in my hands. “There is nothing to forgive. I’m not saying this isn’t hard to take in right now because it is. But where your actions are concerned, there is no forgiveness needed.” I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his clean shaven chin. “You’re my dad and you’re here. That’s all that matters to me.”

“I love you so much, Ava,” he breathed. “I always have and always will.”

I smiled through the tears. “And that makes me the luckiest woman alive. To have two men who love and protect me like you and Jonah do is more than I could have ever wished for.”

I turned to Jonah, my heart swelling with love as he swiped tears from beneath his eyes. Fisting his t-shirt, I pulled him to me and buried my face in his chest. His arms banded around me, a sob echoed in his chest and twitched against my face. He had been right there with me, experiencing every emotion that I’d experienced, and feeling the pain and loss I felt, too. Easing back, sadness cut through the overwhelming happiness within the room as I realised he had lost someone also, someone important, someone that as a child he so badly needed. As elated as I was to find that special someone I had always longed for, I also knew how hard this must be for Jonah. His special someone, his mother, was god knows where, with god knows who. How any woman could leave her child, let alone a son so beautiful, so strong and capable of so much love, was incomprehensible to me. Glancing at my stomach, the same protective surge I experienced earlier in the day swelled inside me and in an instant my mind was clear. If I were pregnant, if Jonah’s son or daughter was growing inside me, I would view it as the most precious of gifts and one that would bind us for the rest of our days. I may suck as a mother, but with Jonah as a father any child we had, would want for and lack nothing. He or she would be raised surrounded by love, guided by love and thrive on the love they would receive. That is exactly what Jonah had been doing for me since the day we met. I only hoped I would prove worthy of his love and intended to ensure he never regretted gifting his love to me for a second.

He leaned back slightly and shot me a small smile. Kissing the smile at the corner of his mouth, I rubbed my nose against his. “I know this is hard for you, baby. I wish you could have your happy ending too.”

His brows pinched in the middle. “You are my happy ending sweetheart. There’s nothing more I want or need in my life.”

“I meant your mother. We could look for her if you want to?”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” he cursed. “My mother left me behind through choice,” he glanced over at Mason who was now stood in front of the huge living room window staring out into the darkness. “He didn’t have a choice. That’s why your dad deserves forgiveness and my poor excuse for a mother doesn’t.”

“Our child will always know exactly who their parents are and that they are loved and wanted and safe. Because that’s how you make me feel, Mr Jacobson and for that reason, any child we have, will be the luckiest boy or girl in the world.”

Jonah’s eyes widened as he gestured towards my stomach. “Do you know?”

“No I don’t know, not yet, not for sure. But tomorrow we will. I don’t want to put it off any longer. A part of me is excited to know.”

He planted a chaste kiss on my lips. “If you are pregnant I’m going to shout it from the roof tops. If you’re not,” he dipped his mouth to my throat. “I’m going to make love to you day and night until you are.” He licked the pulse point in my neck then motioned towards Mason with a nod. “I think Mason needs some more time with his daughter. As much as I want to take you to bed and start baby making, he has twenty two years of pain that needs easing. A few weeks withou
t you were a living hell for me, I can’t imagine living a whole lifetime with that level of pain.”

Rising to a stand, he kissed my forehead then walked across the room to where Mason still stood watching the world below from the window. His fluid, graceful movements were mouth watering and if it hadn’t been for the fact my newly found father was only a few feet away from him, I would have thrown myself at him, stripped him of his clothes and fucked him right there, right then. As it was, now wasn’t the time. Slapping Mason gently on the shoulder, he offered his hand to him.

“You’re a good man, Mason. Ava is lucky to have found you at last. Welcome to the family.”

They shook hands then shared a quick hug. With a wink in my direction, Jonah left the room leaving me alone with my dad. My dad, God that was going to take some getting used to. But I was so looking forward to saying it relentlessly and to a point where it rolled off my tongue with ease. Joining him at the window, he slipped a tentative arm over my shoulder, sighing deeply as I welcomed the gesture and settled contentedly at his side.

“I still can’t believe this is happening,” he said while still gazing through the window. “It seems completely surreal to be stood beside my daughter. I’ve dreamt of this moment since the day I found out Gina was pregnant with you. Now it’s happening, I’m afraid of waking up and finding this was all a wonderful dream.”

“You’re not dreaming,” I replied. “And don’t hold me on too high a pedestal. I’m cranky in the mornings, a total bitch without warning and an all round pain in the ass when the mood takes me.”

“And I will still think you’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. Do your worst baby girl. Now I have you, nothing and no one is taking you from me again.”

The feeling of contentment was surprising as we stood together. A peaceful calm hummed quietly through my body and I was exactly where I wanted to be.

“Do you want to stay over?” A glance at the chrome wall clock showed it was approaching eleven pm and although I wasn’t known for early nights, I had to admit to myself how exhausted I felt, but that didn’t mean I was willing to let go of my dad just yet. “I’d really like it if you did.”

“Whatever you want, Ava. At least if I fall asleep here, I’ll know it’s not a dream when your face is the first thing I see in the morning.”

“There is another reason why I want you to stay.”

“Oh,” his brows arched as he looked down at me.

“I want you to do something with me in the morning.” I had been fighting the urge to do something since first arriving in Chicago. It felt right now to share that urge with the one person who would benefit from it as much as I would.

“I’ll do anything you ask, baby girl. Whatever it is, consider it done.”

“I want to visit Gina.”

He smiled broadly, his brown eyes oozing love. “I want to visit Gina too,” he replied.

Scorching heat enveloped my body and a familiar male scent seeped into my nostrils rousing me from sleep. My mouth tingled as a warm, skilful tongue traced the curve of my bottom lip before dipping between the seam. With my eyes still unopened, I allowed the tongue access and a throaty, feral groan reverberated against my chest. Desire flooded my groin, my nipples hardened and my sex muscles tightened in delicious anticipation of being filled. Passion exploded across my lips as the kiss intensified. A hand fisted in my hair, angling my mouth to the correct ascent, as lips ate, nipped and sucked at my mouth and tongue. Two fingers slid across my breast, down the flat plains of my stomach, my pubic bone and sank into my sex. I moaned and opened me legs wider seeking a deeper penetration.

“Even when you’re asleep you’re ready for me, Ava. You’re always so wet and so damn willing.” Jonah’s groans coaxed open my eyes. A pair of the deepest blue ones gazed down at me, scorching hot and full of desire.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” he smiled. Dropping his head to my breast, he plumped the firm flesh in one head and ran his tongue across the hardened point before nipping at the base with his front teeth. I felt the twinge of pain pull in my groin. The soothing suck as he drew the whole of my nipple into his mouth made me groan and arch my back, pressing my breast further into his illicit mouth.