Ensnared (The Accidental Billionaires #1)(65)

“What about your dad?” I questioned gently.

“I loved him. And I know he’d be proud that his company is thriving. But I just can’t grieve anymore. Even my mom has moved on. And she lost a son and a husband she loved. I need to enjoy the time I spend with her. She wants me to be happy.”

Eli’s mother was an incredible person, and I knew what he was saying was true.

“But there’s a problem,” he said.

“What?”

“I can’t be happy without you, Butterfly.”

My heart tripped as I asked, “What exactly does that mean?”

He took my hands and met my gaze. “It means how in the hell could you not know that I love you, too? I think I probably have for a long time, but I was too damn stupid to recognize it right away. The things I said in the beginning weren’t me, Butterfly. I was still a shell of a man who was trying to cope with losing his twin brother and his father so close together. But it’s no excuse. If you give me the opportunity, I’ll make it up to you for the rest of our lives.” He reached out and snatched the box from the coffee table where I’d dropped it to pick up my ice cream. “Which brings me to this.”

He held out the box, and I took it with shaky fingers. I popped the lid and found myself staring at the most gorgeous diamond I’d ever seen. “Oh, my God. Eli? What is this?”

“You know what it is,” he rasped. “Just put me out of my misery. Is it going to be a yes or a no?”

My heart was soaring as I threw myself into his arms. “Yes. Yes. God, I love you so much.”

Eli’s arms tightened around me immediately. “I love you, too, Butterfly. You fucking broke my heart today when you ran out of the office.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

He picked me up and flopped onto the couch with me. Eli held me like he was never going to let me go, and it made me cry even harder.

“I tried to tell you that I hadn’t called you because I’d been too ill to talk, and those texts had been the mindless ramblings of a man who was trying to tell you how much you meant to me, but I failed because I couldn’t form any coherent thoughts while I had a high fever. You didn’t seem to want me to talk about anything personal. At that point, I was already terrified that I’d lost you. I was willing to settle for having you as my intern for a while if it meant I’d get to see you every day.”

The text message really had been a mistake.

I threaded my hand into his hair because I had to touch him. “I was there because I wanted to be. You must have known I came to be an intern because of you.”

“I wasn’t quite sure what your motives were,” he admitted. “But I was so damn happy to see you that I didn’t want to scare you away. And then I ended up doing it anyway.”

“I couldn’t quite let you go, even after your text messages,” I admitted. “I had to make sure that we were never going to work, and that you really wanted me to go.”

He squeezed tightly. “I never wanted you to go anywhere. I always wanted you to stay, Jade. I guess I just didn’t know how to change things. I think I was fucked from the first time you walked into my office and told me off.”

“I thought you just wanted to fuck me,” I teased.

“Oh, I did,” he rumbled. “Still do. But I was a fool to think that I could just fuck you out of my system. There’s never going to be a day when my dick doesn’t get hard the second you walk into a room.”

“You say the sweetest things,” I said with a laugh.

“I’m not exactly good at saying sweet things,” he answered with a frown.

I thought about all the nice things he’d done for me in the past, and the fact that he’d outright deeded the land that he couldn’t previously let go of to me.

His actions said everything. “I was joking, Eli. The things you do matter.”

“Then tell me what the hell to do to make you happy, because it’s become a goddamn obsession for me.”

“You already did it,” I said. “But if you really want to make me happy, then take me to bed.”





CHAPTER 29

JADE



Eli didn’t waste any time. He got up and pulled me up with him.

“The ring first,” he insisted as he took the box from my hand. “I need to know that you’re going to be mine.”

He pulled the ring out and dropped the box on the coffee table.

I started to sob as he put the gorgeous ring on my finger.

“Don’t cry, Butterfly,” he said huskily as he picked me up and carried me into my bedroom. “If I had my way, you’d never fucking cry again.”

“I’m happy,” I said. “They’re happy tears this time.”

“I can think of a lot better things we can do to be happy,” he growled as he lowered me to my feet beside the bed.

“Then show me,” I requested.

My body was already on fire, and he’d barely touched me. I was still having a hard time believing that Eli was really going to be mine.

He reached for the bottom of his sweater and pulled it over his head. “You own me, Jade. You know that, right?” he asked in a deep, sincere tone of voice.