Page 22 of Breakout (Walker University #3)

fifteen

A s a child, I used to dream about what it would be like to have a family. To have someone pop up out of nowhere and come rescue me from the foster home.

It was always a happy thing. An old aunt or uncle would come out of the woodwork with a bright smile and open arms, begging me to come with them.

We would live in their house, and they would love me.

I would have a mother figure to help me learn how to braid my hair and do my makeup.

A father figure to throw a ball around with and threaten my first date with a shotgun.

It was such a nice fantasy. One that never came true.

I gave up on it long ago, but somewhere inside of me, I still harbored it. It had been growing its own life once more with this inheritance.

In one single afternoon, it’s been shattered to pieces.

I know the truth now. The people who share the blood running through my veins are nasty, horrible people.

“Hey, you okay over there?” Beckett asks, squeezing my hand in his.

I look over at him, admiring the way he looks in the driver’s seat.

He is so handsome. So strong. He handled everything without question. He had my back and didn’t waver even when the bitch offered him money.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Not yet,” I admit.

“I know. You want to process it. That doesn’t mean that you are okay, though. You don’t have to be. What just happened was traumatic. Take your time to work through it, but you don’t have to do it alone. I’m right here.”

“Thank you, Beck. Seriously, I don’t know what I would do without you.”

It’s the truth too. I have no idea how I would navigate this entire thing without him.

I guess I could have talked with Grace or Cora about it, but I hate feeling like I’m imposing on someone.

It’s shitty of me to think that way because I know either of them would be beyond happy to be here for me, but it’s ingrained in my head that I can’t trust them.

Years of foster care will do that to you.

I can’t tell you how many of my foster siblings would pretend to be my friend only to stab me in the back later. I learned that the only person I can ever rely on is myself.

Yet it’s natural to lean into Beckett. To let him take some of the weight off of me. It scares me as much as it’s a relief.

Beckett pulls my hand to his lips, kissing it without looking away from the road.

“You won’t ever have to find out, Pey. I’ll always be here. Till death do us part, remember,” he teases.

Only I’m starting to wish it wasn’t a tease at all. I don’t know when, but Beckett has been slowly dismantling all of my walls. I’m just now looking up to realize that they are all gone. I’m left vulnerable.

I’m falling in love with him.

I knew marrying him would be a mistake, but I didn’t expect it to feel this way because I want it to be real. I don’t want to divorce him.

“That’s right,” I say, looking back out the window.

Thankfully he doesn’t ask me anything else. We pull up to the lawyer’s office ten minutes later.

“Let’s go let him know what happened, then we can go get milkshakes or something.”

I give him a sad smile. “Are you trying to bribe me?”

“Only if it’s working.” He winks at me, getting out of the car.

I wait until he comes to open my door, helping me out. Then I step into his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist.

Without hesitation, his arms drop around my shoulders, holding me to him.

“It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I don’t. I will keep this one.”

Pulling back from him, I look into his eyes as I say, “Nothing is ever certain. You can’t promise everything will be okay because tomorrow you might get hit by a bus or drop dead from some medical mystery never to be solved. I wouldn’t be okay with that. So please don’t make that promise.”

He cups my cheek. “I will still make the promise because even if I were to die tomorrow, you wouldn’t be alone. You have our friends. It might take time, but you would be okay eventually.”

“I haven’t felt okay since my parents died,” I admit to him.

Not until you. I don’t add that last part.

He looks sorrowful as he presses a kiss to my forehead. “Then I have my work cut out for me. Let’s get inside before they close.”

I let the subject drop as he walks toward the building, his hand in my own.

When we get to the door, he holds it open for me. I thank him as I pass, finding Mary at the desk.

“Hello, Peyton. We weren’t expecting you. I’ll see if Mr. Piper is available.”

I nod, but Beckett speaks up. “Let him know Janis made contact at the estate just now.”

The older lady looks troubled as she nods, picking up the phone to dial.

Moments later, Mr. Piper walks out. “Good afternoon. Come into my office.”

We follow him down the hall into his office. Beckett helps me sit first before taking his seat.

“Tell me everything.”

So we do. We tell them how she showed up out of the blue using a key no one knew she had. How she verbally attacked us. The threats she was throwing at us. Even how it seemed like she might become physical.

After we finish, Mr. Piper sits back in his chair, not looking surprised at all.

“Your grandfather believed that Ms. Anderson had copied his key. We had no proof, of course. I advised him to change the locks, but he wanted to be sure he made the right choice. In fact, I wasn’t allowed to say until the events unfolded, but had she not shown up, he had set up an additional trust in her name with three billion dollars. ”

I gape at him. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t worry. That will be folded into your inheritance now.

Had she passed the test, he had others set in place as well, but now that she’s failed the first, she forfeits all the others.

Very sad, really. He wanted to believe your cousin wasn’t the conniving woman she is.

Your grandfather truly wanted to see the best in everyone. ”

I shake my head. “Maybe that was his problem. He allowed toxic people to taint his life. Why am I fighting for this again?”

He shoots me a sympathetic look. “You still haven’t read the letter.

I can’t tell you why you are fighting for it.

Maybe it’s all motivated by the money. I wouldn’t blame you for taking it and running.

I’m hoping it is because you feel a connection to your grandfather, though.

A connection to your past that you want to explore.

That’s what your grandfather hoped as well.

That you might take on the family name and make something of yourself with it. ”

“I can’t answer it either. I don’t even know what we are doing anymore.” I run my hand over my face, trying to peel away the stress.

If only it were that easy.

“Where do we go from here?” Beckett asks, taking the lead.

I reach out, grabbing his hand. I don’t miss the twitch of a smile on Mr. Piper’s face when he notices.

“Nothing. We will handle Ms. Anderson. I can get someone out there to change the locks for you. We will get this sorted. The staff have already been informed that you are the new head of household. You may want to reassure them of their jobs, but they are still being paid from the trust at this point.”

“We spoke with Mr. Jeeves. He will change the locks. Don’t worry about that. We will also reach out to the staff. Anything else you need from us?”

Why is it sexy as hell to see Beckett take control? It’s like he commands the entire room. There’s no room for argument with him. I noticed that earlier with my cousin too, only I couldn’t focus on it. Not with the way my mind was running in circles from everything she said.

“Nope. I’ll call you when I know more. Now that we have this bit of information, things should move much more smoothly.”

“Thank you for seeing us last minute,” I say, standing.

He shakes my hand, then Beckett’s. “Of course. I’m at your service anytime you need. Keep your head up, Mrs. Hayes. Everything is going the way it’s supposed to. Hang in a little longer.”

Inod, heading out of the office. We wave to Mary before heading back out to Beckett’s car.

“Where to next?” I ask.

He smiles. “I promised you a milkshake, and I always keep my promises. I know just the place.”

With that, I take his hand and trust him to lead me.

Peyton rolls her eyes when we pull up to the same diner I proposed to her in. I don’t miss the small smile either.

This place means something to her as it does to me.

I help her out of the car before escorting her inside. I smile when I see our same booth available. The hostess lets us sit there without question.

My phone rings as soon as we take a seat. It’s my father yet again. He has been calling me all day. I’ve sent him to voicemail each and every time. Today is all about my wife. My father can wait.

“Are you going down memory lane or something?” Peyton teases.

Reaching out, I grab a straw, peeling the paper off. She’s still wearing the one I gave her this morning, which makes me happy. Still, I make her another one, sliding it on with the other.

I can’t wait for the day I can finally slip on the one I bought her. She’s not ready yet, though.

“I’m a sentimental man. What can I say?” I tell her as I do.

“What am I going to do with you?”

Love me.

The words want to spill from my lips, but I choke them down.

“You married me. You knew what you were getting into,” I joke.

She smiles at me, her eyes looking lighter than they have all day. “I think you oversold yourself and underdelivered. I want a refund.”

I shake my head. “Nope. No take-backsies. You’re stuck with me. For life. Or until you decided to divorce my dumb ass.”

I add the last part in hoping she denies it. Instead, some of the light fades from her eyes.

“That was the deal after all. A fake marriage for a short period of time. God, now you are all mixed up in this family drama.”

“Hey, none of that. I’m happy to be here.”

The server comes up then, stopping our conversation. We each put in an order for some food and milkshakes. Once she hustles off, I turn back to Peyton, taking her hand in my own.

“The house is beautiful. It looks really old too.”

She brightens again. “It really was. It’s like one of those houses in some treasure hunting movie or something. I think I could look through it for years and never truly see everything.”

“What are you planning to do with it?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I haven’t thought about it. Part of me isn’t sure I will really get it. I mean, why would the court side with me? I haven’t met this man. At least, I don’t think I have. Why would he leave the place to some poor nobody like me?”

“Maybe he tells you in the letter,” I remind her.

“I know. I need to read it. I want to, but something always stops me. Now I’m scared to.

If that was my cousin, then what kind of man was my grandfather?

I mean, as it is, it seems like he is playing games from the grave.

He had all these stipulations in place as if he didn’t trust anyone.

Or maybe he wanted to control everyone. Maybe that’s why my parents left.

He wanted to control them, and they didn’t want to deal with it.

I mean, shit, what if he had them killed?

It happens in movies, so it could happen in real life too. ”

“Peyton,” I bark out, making her stop rambling.

She looks up at me, panic on her face. Leaning up, I cup her cheek, drawing her attention to me.

“Take a breath. Life isn’t like the movies.

Your parents weren’t murdered by some evil grandfather.

He didn’t leave the money to you as some game.

It sounds like to me he put stipulations in for your cousin because she seems to be a piece of work.

He wanted to believe that she wouldn’t be a spoiled bitch, but she is, and he put fail safes in to ensure that she doesn’t receive what she doesn’t deserve.

All she had to do was be nice to you. Introduce herself and back off, and she likely would have three billion dollars right now.

Instead, she showed her ass and look at her.

He only had one stipulation for you. To be married.

While I don’t agree with it, I think he wanted you to have someone by your side because he knew this wouldn’t be pretty.

He wanted to care for you the best he could.

I can’t be mad at the guy. All I want to do is protect you too. ”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve been let down so many times in my life that I don’t know how to trust when something good is happening to me,” she admits softly.

Leaning across the table, I give her a soft kiss. “It’s okay. Years of trauma takes time to work through. While you do, I’ll be by your side helping you through it. You won’t ever be alone again.”

She looks up at me, hope in her eyes. “I told you. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

I drop a kiss onto her nose before sitting back in my seat. “I told you. I don’t.”

My phone rings again. I silence it without even looking.

“You should get that. Whoever it is has been calling you all day.”

“That they have, but it’s not important. The only thing important today is you, Peyton.”

I can see the way her body reacts to my words. She relaxes into her seat, a small smile on her lips that she attempts to hide. When she speaks, her voice is lighter.

“Cheesy lines. You’ve got to get better, hubby. How’d you even land a wife like me?”

I smirk at her. “My monster cock.”

She gasps as the server comes up to the table with our food.

“Beckett Ethan Hayes,” she chastises.

“Thank you,” I tell the server, winking at Peyton.

“Eat up, Pey. We have things to do. Then you can give me my present later.”

She looks at me, confused. “What present?”

I lick my bottom lip, looking her up and down. “You.”

She blushes, looking down at her food as she starts to eat.

Yeah, I might be cheesy, but I can still make the girl blush.

I’ve still got it.