Page 59 of Heart Like Yours
“We’re bumping up that security meeting to Monday.”
Despite everything, I laugh. “Sounds good to me.”
My mother calls after me, shouting demands and nonsensical profanities after us, but I refuse to give her another second of my time. Paige clings to me like a koala bear as I beeline toward the ambulance.
“Thank you for coming for me,” she mumbles, burrowing impossibly closer.
“I’m sorry you were caught in the middle of this.”
She shakes her head, pulling back so she can look down at me.
“Brandon was just as involved as your mom and he was out for me. Apparently, I shouldn’t have fired him.” She rolls her eyes before glancing over my shoulder and sighing. “Theburning building isn’t my fault, right? Like I don’t have to do anything or?—”
“The only thing you need to do is get checked over by an EMT. I can pay someone to repair any and all damages done. But the one thing all the money in the world can’t replace is you.” I bend down, brushing a gentle kiss against her forehead. “I will never find another heart like yours, so if the cost of having you safe and in my arms is an abandoned building burning to ash, then I’ll happily throw the match. However this time, Parker started it. He can deal with it.”
She huffs a laugh and my breath catches in my throat as I pause a few feet away from the ambulance to take her in. She has a couple scrapes, and a bruise is already starting to form on her jaw. But she’s beautiful.
Paige watches me with a small smile and gently cups my cheek in her small hand.
“I don’t think anyone has ever loved me to the point of hiring a psychopath for me.” Her cheeks stain pink and she shakes her head, stuttering as she continues. “Not that—I mean, I’m not saying that you, ya know, love me or anything. I just meant?—”
I silence her with a kiss, being mindful of the cut on the side of her lip. When I pull away, I wait until her eyes open and she looks at me.
“I love you,” I tell her. “I’ve loved you for longer than either of us knew, but it’s been obvious to me for a while now. I would hire a squad of psychopaths if it meant keeping you safe.”
Tears line her eyes and she dives down to kiss me again.
“I love you too,” she mumbles against my lips.
With literal smoke and flames behind us, I know at this moment that I want to spend the rest of my life with Paige and will do anything to keep earning her love.
GARRETT
“You’re hovering again,” Paige says without looking up from her computer screen.
“I’m admiring.” I push off the doorframe and cross her office. She rolls her eyes but can’t hide the smile that spreads across her lips.
It’s been three weeks since she was taken, and she’s not wrong. I have been hovering.
She didn’t say anything at first, letting me be a worrywart and wait on her hand and foot. But now that most of her cuts have healed and her bruises are fading, she’s started pointing it out. I tried convincing her to take more time off, but after a week of resting up in my penthouse, she was getting antsy.
My mom was taken back into custody, trying to claim she did nothing wrong and that it was all Brandon. The moment she tried placing all the blame on him, Brandon flipped and told the police her entire plan. It was basic; take Paige, get the money, and go into hiding. He spilled all their plans, everything she convinced him to do. What no one was expecting was that when my mom found out, she actually admitted she was just using Brandon.
Then it came to light that she planned to ditch him after she got the money so she could go back to Colorado and pay to get my dad out of jail.
Needless to say, both of them are serving out their sentences in prison. Since my mom broke parole in another state, on top of her previous convictions and kidnapping in the state of Florida, the chances of her getting out during my lifetime are extremely low.
I round Paige’s desk, place a hand on the back of her chair, and force her to turn.
“Please tell me you’re finished with work so we can get out of here.” I lean down and gently nip at her bottom lip. “I have been thinking about tearing that skirt off and fucking you all day.”
She snorts, dropping her head back to quirk a brow up at me. “Since when does my workload or the fact that we’re in the office stop you from doing that?”
I grin. “Fair point.”
Placing my hands on the armrests of her chair, I trap her in the seat. Dropping to my knees, I stare up at her pretty face, once again wondering how the hell I got this lucky to be here.
“What?” she asks when I don’t move after a few moments, quickly looking at her closed door.