Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 81977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81977 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
I had already set things in motion to protect her, what I was about to do will be the first major step in putting myself between her and danger. But there was still much to be done and time was of the essence. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to safeguard her.
What was the use of me having all this power if I wasn't going to use it? Especially to protect my own, which she now was, now and forever if I had my way. I sat there holding her while she slept my mind forming and discarding ideas, there was no longer any doubt in my mind that the asshole had to be destroyed.
I’d thought to spare him because of what it might do to her but he was more of a danger to her than anything else. I couldn’t let that stand. She made waking sounds and stretched in my arms.
"Ashley, do you remember when I asked you to marry me?" She nodded her head against my chest and squeezed me without moving.
"Well, it looks like we're going to be doing it a lot sooner than I thought."
"Really?" She squealed and picked her head up, asking a thousand questions at once until some of the light faded from her face.
"Your mom didn't want to do it?" Shit, I should've known she would think something like that. I didn't want to tell her the truth about why we were racing across the sky to get hitched in a quickie ceremony. But I wouldn't have her thinking that her new mother in law hated her either.
"Baby, it's not that, it's just…I gave it some thought and in order for us to get your father's name removed as your guardian and take away all his power over you, this is the best thing to do. I just don't want to wait any longer.”
“If you want to have a ceremony and celebration later then that's what we'll do, but I want us to be married as soon as possible." There that sounded feasible, though why the fuck I was protecting that asshole I don’t know. You’re not protecting him you’re protecting her heart the truth would destroy her.
"I don't need a ceremony Gideon remember, that was for your mom and your friends. I don't have anyone to invite so..." She shrugged her shoulders, having no idea that she'd just gutted me with her innocent acceptance of her fate up to this point. She'd also just sealed Cliff Sanders and Keith Stark's fate they were both fucked.
I sent her to the restroom to change into the dress I'd bought her for the occasion. It was just a simple ivory colored silk sheath with matching flats, my baby does not like heels. Her only Jewelry was her new ear studs, and later the rock I had picked out for her finger.
I hope she liked it I’d not had the time I would’ve liked to choose and since it was going to be gracing her finger for the next sixty or seventy years I needed it to be spectacular. The jeweler had assured me that it was the best of its kind.
When she came out of the room, hair brushed and flowing down her back, holding the little nosegay of flowers I'd had the presence of mind to grab, she looked simply stunning.
"Gorgeous." She blushed, smiled at me, and hid behind her hair.
"Come sit with me, we're almost there." We landed and headed for the waiting limo, which took us to the prearranged destination. For something that had been thrown together last minute things were going rather smoothly. That’s what having money and power can do, it removes obstacles, and makes shit happen.
The ceremony was short and to the point, but it got the job done. We walked out of there as husband and wife. Ashley never stopped smiling the whole time and her grip on my arm was very comforting. She was happy, that seems to be my only goal these days, making her happy and that smile alone was worth everything I’d had to do to get us here.
"We'll go have dinner and spend the night here, tomorrow we'll be back home, but when school lets out for the summer we'll go on our honeymoon okay?"
She just nodded as she gazed at her ring for the one-hundredth time. I'm glad I'd gone for the three carat round surrounded by smaller circular stones and the matching wedding band. My own ring was a plain platinum band that said all I needed it to say. I was taken.
She was back to jabbering away about everything which made me feel like a youngster again, she found such delight in everything it was impossible not to be sucked in to her pleasure.
Dinner was a simple affair. She was too excited to eat so we had tropical salads with grilled pineapple and strawberries tossed in romaine with pineapple vinaigrette, topped with blackened Mahi-Mahi. She was tired after that so it was back to the hotel for the night and then off again in the morning. My wife needed to go back to school. Fuck me.