Giving Her My Baby(18)
“Why?” I ask. “Why did you do all of this?”
“I knew Vick was a piece of shit the moment my mom came home with him,” Brooks says, and I see the honesty in his eyes.
“Brooks!” his mom yells, and my mom snorts with laughter.
“A piece of shit,” he says again with emphasis as he stares at his mom before turning his attention back to me. “I started digging into him to give my mother the hard evidence she was ignoring, and I found you: his daughter.” His hands come to my face, and he holds me so I can’t look away.
“You have a daughter?” Brooks’s mom shouts again, but this time at Vick. I ignore them. This is more drama than I’ve ever been in.
“I told you I wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you. I set up that meeting and pretended I needed to hire you. Then there you were. You were in my office and I knew if I wanted to, I could get you into my home that very day.” He drops his forehead down to mine. “And I wanted that more than anything. I’d never felt so much all at once, Beautiful. You have to believe me. I was in love on the very spot and I didn’t want to chance losing you. Once I got you here I knew I never wanted you to leave. I was worried that when you would find out about my lies you’d try to leave me.” His voice is thick with emotion.
He’s gone so far to get me. Maybe he did it the wrong way, but I know he would always do whatever he could to have me by his side. To make me happy and keep me safe. It’s written all over his face right now. He loves me with every inch of his heart. If I thought for a second that he didn’t, then I wouldn’t have agreed to this in the first place. But I’ve known somewhere in my soul from the moment we met that this thing between us is the real deal.
“Maybe we should go.” I glance over to see my mom standing right next to us. Brooks pulls back and looks at her.
“I’m in love with your daughter. If you give me a chance, I’ll prove that,” he tells her.
My mom smiles at him, then reaches out and places her hand on his arm.
“All right. I’ll be back again tomorrow. Let’s try to do dinner again.” She gives his arm a small squeeze before turning to look at me. “Call me tomorrow,” she says, kissing me on the cheek. “Whatever makes you happy makes me happy. I give no shits about Vick. I got you because of him, so it’s hard to hate him,” she whispers in my ear. “But Brooks is right, he’s a piece of shit.”
I fight a smile. She didn't have to tell me that. My mom always wants what’s best for me and whatever makes me happy.
My mom walks over to Brooks’s mom and introduces herself as she completely ignores Vick. Brooks’s mom looks like she wants to murder Vick. I’m guessing like all the women in his life, he hasn't been honest with her either.
My mom gives me one last smile before she leaves, and then Brooks wraps his arms around me.
I glance over to see Brooks’s mom and Vick, who seem to be in a whisper argument that’s getting hotter by the second. I can’t hear what they’re saying from over here, but Vick’s face grows hard and I have a feeling things are about to change between them.
13
Brooks
“Are you okay to handle this, Mom?” I ask as I step away from Ella and stand in front of her. I want to make sure she’s protected from anything he might try. Just keeping them apart in general is a good idea.
“Yes,” she says and squares her shoulders.
She might make poor decisions, but she’s a tough little bird. I watch as she pulls out her cellphone and types out something on it.
“You can get your things from the house. My security will make sure you’re not taking anything that doesn’t belong to you. And my attorney is going to file for an annulment.” She looks up and gives Vick a death glare. “You’d be smart not to fight it, or I’ll drag your ass through court until you’ve got nothing left.”
“He’s already got nothing,” I say, and Vick narrows his eyes at me.
For a second he looks like he’s going to challenge me, but then he looks beyond me and his eyes soften. I can see his wheels already beginning to turn. If he can’t get a hold of my mom’s fortune, maybe he can somehow weasel his way into Ella’s life and get at mine.
“Eleanor, darling—” he starts, but she steps out around me and cuts him off.
“You don’t get to say my name. You don’t get to know anything about me. You gave up that right the day you told my mother to get rid of me. Then you continued to make that choice with every moment that passed from them to now. You made your decision to live your life the way you wanted, and that’s okay by me. But I made the decision to live without you, and I’m not going back on that. Ever.”
I place my hand at Ella’s back, offering support. This is her decision, but I won’t allow a leech to be in her life and take all that is good and pure out of her.
“I love Brooks,” she says, and I feel my chest grow with pride. She turns to look me in the eyes and smiles. “I do. I love you so much. You’re the one.”
It’s so simple and so perfect.
“I love you, too,” I say as she smiles softly at me.
“Brooks keeps telling me that this is our house, the home where we’re going to raise our children. With no disrespect to you, Mrs. Renshaw,” she says and nods to my mother. “I’d like you to leave my house, Vick, and I’d like you to never come back.”