The Billionaire Wins the Game(35)



By the time Lucas took her back to the apartment building Amy was almost asleep on her feet.

She’d been through a very full day but for the most part, it had been a good one. She would always enjoy visiting with Joseph and Katherine and nothing had been greater than seeing the ultrasound of her unborn child.

She must’ve looked at the picture a hundred times throughout the day. She’d choked up when Lucas had handed the photo to his father and she’d seen the sheen of tears in his eyes. She knew beyond any doubt her child would be loved beyond compare. She would have so much of a better childhood than most children.

“Well son, this is the greatest gift you could’ve ever given your mother and I,” was all he said as he engulfed both of them in a bear sized hug.

Amy smiled to herself as she thought about how wonderful of a man he was. Lucas put his hand on her back as they walked into the building and went straight to the elevator. She felt a tremor run down her spine at his touch. She had tried so hard to resist her attraction to him and it took everything in her to try and maintain some distance.

They stepped off of the elevator and Amy headed for her door. “Not tonight Amy, we’ll use my apartment,” Lucas startled her out of her own thoughts.

“I just want to go home alone Lucas,” she said. “It’s been a very long day and I need some time to myself,” she finished in a pleading tone, with a hint of annoyance.

Lucas sighed aloud and simply steered her past the door and down the hallway. “Amy you will be my wife in a few days. I’m not only taking you as a wife on paper. We’ll live together, sleep together and be together in every way that a husband and wife are meant to be. I will only marry once. You will be provided for very well and in turn I expect to be taken care of. You will share my bed,” he once again spoke in that voice that brooked no room for argument.

She was suddenly very alert and seething mad. She was getting really sick and tired of him throwing his weight around and just expecting her to follow along with everything that he demanded.

“Okay Lucas, I’ve accepted that we are to be married and I plan on doing my ‘wifely duties,’ but for the next few days I’m not your wife and I would like to enjoy my apartment before my jail sentence begins,” she said to him, wanting to strike out and hurt him.

She had the opposite effect of angering him. Lucas had to keep from smiling at her. If she saw that then she would think he was laughing at her, which in a way he was. He was thinking he was going to definitely enjoy his marriage. He wouldn’t have been happy with some woman who catered to his every whim. He had enough people willing to do that. He liked that his future wife had a strong personality and felt a desire to fight him. He knew that he wouldn’t get bored with her ever.

He knew he could push the issue and she would stay with him but he also knew to win the war was far more important than to win each and every battle. He’d put her through the wringer already and her health was far more important than anything else. He would let her have this one.

“Fine, we’ll do it your way. It will make the honeymoon that much better,” he said as he led her back down to her door. Just as she was about to go through the open doorway he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, long and hard. Let her think about what she would be missing out on tonight he thought as he noticed her swoon.

He walked away feeling pretty good about himself. That was until he got into his apartment, alone and in need of release. He sighed as he turned his shower faucet to cold and prepared himself for a hell of a long week.

Chapter Eight

“Breathe Amy, just breathe.” She felt like she was about to hyperventilate as she stood in the dressing room inside the huge mansion. She’d spent the morning being pampered for her wedding day.

Her hair was up in a bun with curls cascading down her neck and face. Her make-up had been expertly applied to erase the dark circles and highlight her eyes and mouth. Her nails were extended and painted. She didn’t even feel like herself. They’d just put her in the most magnificent dress she’d ever seen and she was staring in the mirror at a stranger. Who was the girl gazing back at her? They had thankfully given her a few blessed minutes to calm herself, which she was grateful for.

“It’s time Amy,” she heard Joseph say softly. That was enough to make her turn her head. She’d never heard him speak without his normal booming tenor. He looked so handsome in his tuxedo.

She definitely knew who the boys got their great looks from. He was so alike and yet so different from Lucas.

Joseph had great looks and had aged well. The biggest difference between Joseph and Lucas were their eyes. Lucas’s eyes were always so focused and determined, where Joseph’s had laugh lines around them and always seemed to sparkle. He seemed to be so much more relaxed and at ease. She wondered if he’d been that way his whole life or if there was a time he’d held that same focused look as his son.

Joseph walked up and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m so glad to finally have a daughter in the family. You’re beautiful inside and out,” he wrapped his large arms around her for a gentle hug.

Those words meant so much to her. He would never know how much she needed to be included in a loving family. She would give up any amount of money to be loved the way Joseph loved his children. She was getting just a piece of that now and didn’t ever want to let it go.

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