Seduced - Book Three - Surrender Series (26 page)

“You hated me,” Shane said. Still no inflection in his tone as he looked in her crazy, lost eyes.

“Yes, I hated you. I hated him being inside me so long. So long. He was inside me for too long. I thought it would stop, thought he would leave me, but then you were there, and then you came out, and he hated you, too.”

Betty spoke with childlike honesty, her words tearing Lia’s heart in two. She’d been so wrong to ask Shane to come here, so very wrong.

“Why didn’t you give me up for adoption? Why not let someone else raise me if you didn’t want me?” This was the one thing that Shane needed to know.

Betty looked at him in surprise and thought about the question. Maybe the idea had never crossed her mind. Maybe no one had told her that was an option.

“I was bad. I had to live with that. Live with being bad. You were my punishment. If you weren’t there, I wouldn’t be punished. I had to be made to suffer for being bad. Yes, I was bad.”

Shane sat back, looking at her with pity. This woman was gone. She’d been gone for a long time. There was no use in staying there with her any longer. There was nothing she could tell him, no answers she would be able to give. Maybe she’d been lost from the first moment she’d met the man who had raped her and caused Shane’s existence. Maybe it had been before that moment. Either way, she was just a shell, and he would never get any clear answers from her.

He rose, and Lia quickly followed.

“I won’t be back, Betty. I’m sorry you’ve had such a difficult life,” he said as he looked down at the woman, who was now rocking herself back and forth, back and forth.

“Please, Shane, please,” she pleaded, holding her legs as she rocked in the chair.

“Please, what?” Both he and Lia were puzzled.

“Please don’t hurt me anymore. I was just bad once, just once. Please set me free,” she begged, her eyes showing emotion as they teared up.

What Shane did next nearly dropped Lia to her knees.

He walked to Betty, and Lia was afraid he was going to hurt the woman, but she should have known better. This man would never hurt anyone — not even a person who had helped to ruin his early existence.

He kneeled down and put his hand on hers, which was resting on her legs. “You are free, Betty. Do you hear me? You’ve paid for your crimes. It’s time for you to be free. There won’t be any more punishment. You don’t have to be afraid anymore,” he whispered while looking in her eyes.

The rocking motion stopped, and she looked at him with wonder. The corner of her mouth turned up.

“I’m free?” she asked.

“Yes, you are free. No one will hurt you anymore. I won’t hurt you. You’ve served enough time.”

Shane stood up and moved to the door, knocking to be let out.

“Thank you,” Betty whispered as he and Lia left the room. The last sound they heard before the door shut was the sound of laughter, a tinkling noise that made Lia think of a child, a very young one.

Shane didn’t say a word as they walked from the hospital, just took the time to process what Betty had said to him.

It was good that he’d come, good that he’d spoken to her. He could no longer hate the woman who had given him birth. All he could do was feel pity toward her vacant shell, once a person, perhaps, now mentally a child locked inside a useless body.

Now, maybe she would find a measure of peace. He meant what he’d said to her — she was free to end her punishment. He didn’t love her, never could love the woman who had hurt him so badly for so many years.

He could forgive her, though.

“Thank you, Lia. It was good that I went there.”

“I was thinking it was too much,” Lia said as she faced him with tears in her eyes.

“No. I may have told her she was free, but I was also set free, Lia. How can I hold that lifeless woman responsible? She has punished herself far more than I would ever want to punish any person. She was wrong in what she did to me, but she’s more than paid the price.”

Shane pulled Lia into his arms and held on tight. Her freshness, love, and loyalty held him on the ground, kept his heartbeat steady.

With Lia, he could get through anything.

Ari

Something woke Ari far too early in the morning. A noise? She didn’t know what, but before she could open her eyes, she could smell the sweet scent of flowers. As she sleepily took in the room, she lay there with her mouth agape.

Looking around in shock, she couldn’t see a single bare place on any of the tables in the room. They were filled with vase after vase of her favorite flowers, stargazer lilies. The beautiful pink-and-white flowers were everywhere, mixed with roses, lilacs, carnations and delicate greenery.

The sight was so beautiful, Ari wished for a moment that she were a poet or a painter rather than a historian.

“Rafe?” she called, but there wasn’t an answer.

She turned to glance at the clock on the night stand and noted that it was midnight. Not morning, at all. They’d gone to bed only a couple hours before. How had he managed to decorate the room while she was there sleeping?

Crawling slowly from his giant bed, she moved through the room, smelling the beautiful bouquets. On each one, there was a note attached. There had to be a hundred notes.

She opened the first:

Your smile is a beacon on a stormy night.

She rushed quickly to the next envelope:

My heart isn’t whole without you.

She moved through the room, opening note after note.

Your beauty is unparalleled.

You make every day a delight.

Nothing makes me happier than to have you in my arms.

Your intelligence is breathtaking.

Ari clutched note after note in her hand, collecting them all, a shy smile splitting her face. When she entered the bathroom, more flowers awaited her, along with burning candles, their scent flavoring the air.

On the mirror another note was written in what appeared to be a permanent marker. His housekeeper wouldn’t be happy, but Ari was thrilled.

Get dressed and come out the front door.

Ari didn’t hesitate; she rushed back into his room and found a stunning blue dress hanging in the closet, along with fresh lingerie and stockings, and a pair of heels she fell instantly in love with.

Dressing quickly, she then hurriedly put on a minimum of makeup, brushed out her hair and threw the bedroom door open.

Tears filled her eyes when she saw that the hallway was lined with more bouquets, all sporting notes, all in Rafe’s handwriting. She wanted to rush out the door, but she took her time gathering the notes, opening each one and cherishing the words of his heart’s confession.

Some were little quotes from texts and messages he’d sent her, some spoke of her beauty and talent, and some simply said,
I love you
. Each one she clutched in her hand, knowing she would forever hold on to them.

When she reached the stairs, she found large vases with more bouquets, and candles on every other step to guide her way down. Her collection of notes kept getting larger.

At the door, a man in a tux waited for her with a glass of champagne in his hand. She thanked him as she accepted the glass, then beamed when she saw the sparkling white limo in the driveway.

Another well-dressed man waited there. He opened the door for her, holding her glass while she got in. Expecting to see Rafe inside, she was disappointed to find herself alone. The man handed her the champagne, then gently shut the door.

When the engine started, a video began with the most tender piano solo playing in the background, and Rafe’s face appeared on the large screen.

“There aren’t enough words in the dictionary for me to express how you have changed my life for the better, Ari. I was a fool for a long time, and yet you have given me a second chance. I promise you that I will never betray your trust again. I promise never to hurt you. I promise to do everything in my power to make you supremely happy.”

He faded away, and her mother appeared on the screen, her face beaming. Ari felt as if she could reach out and touch her.

“My beautiful daughter. You have always brought me so much joy. I am so very proud of you and all that you do for those you love, and for those who love you. If more people in the world were like you, there wouldn’t be war or hunger. There wouldn’t be crime. You are gentle and kind, loving and giving. You are the child every parent dreams of having. I love you always. This is a special day, and I am so grateful to be a part of it.”

The next image was of her friends from her old job, then Lia and Rachel, Rafe’s parents, her favorite professors, a few of her students. So many people on screen telling her how wonderful she was.

Even though none of them could see her, Ari’s cheeks heated with modest embarrassment at a video that was all about her.

The car slowed, and Ari’s stomach tensed. When would Rafe appear? Was this a marriage proposal? She didn’t want to hope, but suddenly that was all she could think about. Surely a man wouldn’t do all of this just to express his love.

The door opened, and Ari stepped out onto a red carpet, one that led through a luxuriant garden. Softly glowing candles aligned the edge of the carpet to light the way. No one was around; the driver just gave her instructions to follow the path.

A few steps in, there were more vases of her favorite flowers highlighted by the glow of the candles. Suddenly a song started playing over speakers she couldn’t see. Ari stopped as tears began cascading down her face.

“Bless the Broken Road” filled the air, surrounding Ari with Rascal Flatts’s words of love, hope, and change.

Yes, Rafe had chosen the wrong path, but he was showing her in so many ways that he had finally chosen love over pain, that he had chosen her above anything else. The song finished as she went under an arch filled with stargazer lilies and finally found Rafe in the center of a large field.

Candles burned all around him; he stood there holding a single rose, looking unbelievably handsome in a sharp black tuxedo. She glided along the path toward him, not even sure whether her feet were touching the ground.

Somewhere in her brain, she registered Keith Urban’s song “Making Memories of Us.” All of it was too much, but oh, so perfect.

She reached Rafe and he kneeled before her, the dark of the night enveloping them both, all of which made Ari’s knees shake and her tears fall.

“I’d rather die a thousand deaths than spend one more day without you in my life. You are the air that I breathe, the beat of my heart. You are the calm in a storm, and the only person who can take my pain away. I know you would flourish on your own; I know there isn’t anything that you can’t achieve for yourself. I am the one who will fail if you walk away. I would wither, crumple to the ground. You make me whole, Ari. Please say you will end my days of agony, my self-imposed prison. Marry me. Make me a better man.”

Her throat closed, making it impossible for her to speak. Rafe didn’t do anything by half measures. He loved her, really loved her, and he was showing her in the only way he knew how that it was forever.

Finally, her voice returned.

“You are wrong, Rafe. Both of us would survive without the other, but it would just be survival; it would be empty. Walking away from you once nearly destroyed me, and I don’t think I could ever do it again. Yes, I will marry you. Yes, I would be honored to stay by your side. You have given me so much, and I only hope that I can show you how much you mean to me.”

Rafe placed a sparkling diamond on her finger, the candlelight reflecting bursts of color in every direction. Yes, the ring was gorgeous, but only one thing, one thing alone, could keep her attention for long. Only the look in Rafe’s eyes.

With a laugh filled with joy, Rafe stood and swept Ari into his arms, spinning her in a circle as she registered the sound of applause.

When he set her back down, she looked around, seeing their friends and family approaching  them with large congratulatory grins and nodding in approval.

“Now, what would you have done if I had turned you down in front of all these people?” she asked with a laugh.

“I would have deserved the humiliation,” he answered.

Rafe kissed her with so much love, she felt she would burst. Then they were surrounded, and Ari accepted congratulations from those she had loved her whole life, and from those who had recently become a part of her life.

How he’d managed to keep this all from her, she had no idea, but knowing that she’d get to fall asleep every night in his arms and wake every morning in the same place filled her with so much joy, she couldn’t keep the wide smile from her face.

When there was a pause in the hugs, her head lifted and Rafe’s gaze captured hers. He simply smiled back at her and Ari lost her breath. For the rest of their lives, he was hers.

“This has got to be the world’s shortest engagement,” Ari said as Lia and Rachel danced in circles around her.

“What can we say? When Rafe decides on something, he goes forward at the speed of light,” Rachel said with a forced laugh.

“Well, I expected it to last longer than two weeks, but I am excited to marry him. I really am,” Ari told them as she tried on another gown.

Rafe had wanted one made, but Ari insisted that part of the fun of picking a wedding dress was to try on a hundred until she found the one that she couldn’t live without, so she was at the bridal shop with her mother, Lia and Rachel.

The girls had already found their bridesmaids’ gowns, and her mother picked out the perfect mother-of-the-bride gown. Now, Ari just had to find her own.

“Oh, Ari, that’s the one!” Lia gasped as she gazed at her in awe.

As Ari turned around, she was reluctant to look in the mirror, sure she would hate what she was trying on now. None of them had been what she wanted, but she couldn’t say what she wanted exactly, because she just didn’t know. When she found
the
dress, she figured there would be no hesitation.

As she slowly spun around and looked up, her breath caught. Yes, this was the one. It had a flattering cut to the top that made it modest, yet showed off her shoulders and neck, allowing her to wear jewelry. The entire gown had intricate beading that formed small flowers from the neckline all the way through the flowing skirt. Hugging her tightly on top, the gown then flared at her hips, flowing down her legs, and easily fluttering as she turned in circles on the big stage she was standing on.

She swished her hips, making the silky fabric swish and the beads sparkle in the bright lights of the bridal shop. There was a lot of fabric, but it was so light that she didn’t feel weighed down.

“Try this, darling,” Sandra said as she came up behind Ari and placed a simple tiara on her head with a delicate veil that hung down her back.

“Yes, I agree, baby. This is the dress,” Sandra said, her eyes filling with tears.

“Are you sure, Mom?”

“Very sure, Ari. You look like a royal princess.”

“I feel like one, Mom. This is all so unreal. Do you think we are moving too fast?” That was Ari’s biggest concern.

“If I thought you were making a mistake, I would tell you, Ari. You know that. I would never want you to be unhappy, not for any reason. You deserve the moon and stars, and I think Rafe will give them to you.”

Sandra stood beside her daughter, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. Ari wrapped her arms around her mother, thankful still to have her in her life. If the car wreck or the cancer had taken her mom from her, Ari had no idea what she’d be doing now. How did anyone survive the loss of one so dear?

She was strong enough now to make it through anything, but she hadn’t been ready to let her mother go two years ago. She still wasn’t ready, but few children ever were, no matter how young or old their parents were.

Lia and Rachel had stepped from the room to let the mother and daughter talk, but as the tailor walked in, they followed him, and they oohed and aahed some more while he put in the proper marks and promised to have the alterations ready in one week, just a few days before the wedding.

“OK. Now we have the dress and shoes. It’s time to get the lingerie!” Lia said with a wicked smile.

Ari blushed as she looked toward her mother.

“I think I will leave you young women to do this part,” Sandra said. She kissed Ari’s cheek again, then gathered up her purse.

“You don’t have to leave, Mom. We can shop for other things,” Ari said, not wanting to make her mother feel unwelcome.

“I have a date with Marco tonight. I need to go and get ready,” Sandra said with a smile.

“I’m so happy that he treats you well, Mom. Since you have been dating, you have a glow to your cheeks. When do you think I’ll be attending
your
wedding?”

Sandra blushed and looked down. But then lifting her chin with a shy confidence, she smiled. “I think he may ask me very soon. He’s been hinting a lot lately.”

“We could always have a double wedding,” Ari teased.

“Not on your life, Ari. Besides, I’m too old to have a big to-do if we do get married. It will probably just be the two of us in front of the justice of the peace,” she said.

“That won’t happen, Mama. You never got your dream wedding, and you deserve it just as much as I do,” Ari said.

“Well, you just quit worrying about it, Ari. Your special day is in only ten days. We will focus on me later. I had to hire some help to complete all the flowers. Your future husband has insisted on a lot of arrangements.”

“I should never have let him be in charge of flowers. I thought it was so romantic when he asked me if he could,” Ari said with a sigh. She was thrilled he’d asked her mom to do all the arrangements, though. It would be good for Sandra’s business, since a lot of Rafe’s contacts would be at their wedding.

The event was going to be far larger than Ari had ever envisioned, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that at the end of the night he would be her husband, and she his wife.

“You girls have a good time. I’m going to go and see my sweetie now,” Sandra said, and she left.

“I love your mom, Ari. She’s a beautiful woman, inside and out,” Lia said while helping Ari get out of her dress.

“Yes, she is pretty spectacular,” Ari remarked. She knew that some people didn’t have such a great relationship with their mom. It was just one more thing she was thankful for.

She began fiddling with the buttons on her dress, but she didn’t really want to take it off. Maybe she’d wear it for a week straight after the wedding. The thought made her giggle. But soon, it was being pulled off her, and she sighed as she began dressing in her street clothes.

“I feel kind of sad without the dress now,” she moaned as the tailor took it away.

“You will get to wear it all day long in just over a week,” Rachel told her.

“What’s the matter, Rachel? You have seemed upset for most of the day,” Ari asked, surprised when her friend blushed and looked down at her feet.

“There’s nothing the matter. Besides, this isn’t about me. The whole week is all about you, Ari,” she said, a false smile on her face.

“We aren’t leaving here until you tell us what’s wrong,” Ari insisted. Throwing on the rest of her clothes very quickly, she moved to the couch Rachel was sitting on.

“What is it, Sis?” Lia asked. “Ari’s right. You’ve seemed depressed all day. I didn’t want to say anything, but since Ari’s brought it up…”

“I shouldn’t talk about this right now,” Rachel said slowly, but they could see that she really wanted to.

“Please, Rachel. I can’t enjoy my day if I know something is upsetting you. You’ve become one of my best friends — and soon you’ll be my sister-in-law,” Ari said, leaning over and gave her a hug.

Tears filled Rachel’s eyes and spilled over, shocking both Ari and Lia. She wasn’t one to cry so easily.

“These flipping hormones are driving me nuts. Fine. I can’t hold it in any longer, but please don’t say anything to Rafe or our parents until after the wedding,” Rachel said earnestly.

“You know that you can trust us,” Lia said. Ari nodded her agreement.

“I’m pregnant.” Rachel didn’t work into it, give them time to absorb it, she just spit it out and waited for their reaction.

Ari was the first to say something, since Lia was sitting there with her mouth gaping open.

“I…uh…didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

“I’m not,” Rachel wailed, and Lia and Ari looked at each other with surprise and confusion.

“Well, it pretty much takes two people, Sis,” Lia said with a gentle smile.

“Sheesh. I know that, Lia. I had a weeklong affair with a man in Florida. It was perfect. He was perfect. Oh, my gosh, was he ever perfect! We didn’t even give each other last names, just spent the week in bed, making smoking-hot love,” Rachel said, her eyes dilating as she spoke about it.

“And you weren’t careful?” Lia gasped.

“Of course I was careful, Lia. We used protection every single time. One of them just must have failed. Either that, or he has some freaking smart sperm that managed to make a break for it and swam upstream.”

“So you don’t know how to get ahold of him?” Ari asked, fighting a grin that wanted to break forth at Rachel’s choice of words.

“Well, that’s the other thing…” Rachel said, with obvious reluctance.

“What’s the other thing?” Lia demanded.

“Well, apparently, he figured out who I was and he had some of his men keeping an eye out just in case a pregnancy did happen. He showed up on my doorstep a few weeks ago.”

“There is so much wrong with that statement that I can’t even figure out where to begin,” Lia gasped in outrage. “He had men watching you?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t happy about that, either. They must be really sneaky because I had no clue whatsoever,” Rachel told them, irritation in her voice. “One of them, it turned out, was a co-worker at the embassy, hired by the guy with the wonder sperm.”

“Does he want to be a dad?” Ari asked.

“Well, not exactly. He didn’t want an unplanned pregnancy, but he insists on being a dad,” Rachel told them.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Well, I’m not going to marry him like he demanded I do!” Rachel said, with the color that had washed from her face now suffusing her cheeks in her temper.

“He insisted you marry him?” Lia asked.

“You sound like a parrot, Lia. Quit repeating everything back to me. Yes. He showed up at my door, told me I was carrying the royal heir and that I had to marry him.”

At those words, both Lia and Ari just stared at her. Since Lia didn’t want to repeat herself, it was time for Ari to step in after a short pause.

“Did you just say
royal heir
?”

“Yeah, apparently my one-week stand ended up being King Adriano of Corythia, and I’m carrying the royal heir,” she said, her words thick with sarcasm.

“What if it’s not a boy?” Ari asked.

Lia and Rachel both turned to her in surprise. Of all the questions, that one wasn’t at the top of their list.

“I don’t know. There’s the queen of England, and the law of succession in England was just changed to designate the first child, male
or
female, as heir to the throne. Maybe girls can be queen there, too, or maybe she’d only be a princess, not Corythia’s head of state. I don’t know. He said future heir. The guy is arrogant and demanding. Maybe he’s so pompous, he thinks he will only produce boys,” Rachel said as she shrugged. “No blanks from King Smart Sperm the First.”

Several moments passed in which none of them said a word. Finally, Ari broke the silence.

“And I thought I had problems.”

Her words made both Lia and Rachel turn toward her. Suddenly the entire situation just seemed so absurd that the women burst out laughing. Five minutes later, when a clerk came to check on them, they were still guffawing noisily. The woman sneaked back out, assuming it was normal pre-wedding jitters.

“Well, Rachel, I will say this much. You know how to take away the nerves. I’m not even worried about the wedding anymore. I’m too busy trying to figure out what you are going to do next,” Ari said.

“I have no idea, Ari. I really don’t. I know I’m not getting married to that stuffy, self-important, arrogant, lying sack of sh—”

“Careful, Sis. You
are
speaking about a king,” Lia interrupted with a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah. Get the jokes out of the way. And get ready to curtsy, because in about six and a half months, I’ll be making you babysit,” Rachel said.

“Oh, no. I know nothing about babies,” Lia said with horror as she gazed down at Rachel’s stomach.

“Well, I don’t know anything either. I’m the baby of the family, remember?” Rachel said.

“Well, we’ll all just have to figure it out together,” Ari said.

“Please don’t say anything to Rafe. Not yet.”

“I promised I wouldn’t. Besides, I want to be far away when you tell him,” Ari said. Rafe was probably going to explode.

“Me, too. I think I’ll call him while you’re on your honeymoon, hopefully halfway around the planet.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Ari gasped.

“You’re right. I wouldn’t do that to you. I may just chicken out and let my parents tell him, though. He scares me a lot more than Dad. I’m afraid he’ll hunt the guy down and kick his ass or worse for daring to touch his baby sister.”

“Yeah, I think he wanted us to be nuns,” Lia said. “The thought of us having sex is just too much for him to handle. He even wanted to kill Shane.”

“You’re forgetting about the bigger picture, Rachel,” Ari said, looking at her fondly.

“What’s that?” Rachel waited for enlightenment.

“You’re going to have this amazing little bundle in about seven months. This perfect child that you created. You’re going to be a mother,” Ari told her as she reached out and placed her hand on Rachel’s stomach.