Page 24

Six months later

“I guess it’s safe to say you’re not marrying me for my money.”

Weston grinned as he carried another box of Kayleigh’s things from the moving truck into his house.

She’d been living here since the day after Beau had almost killed them. She hadn’t wanted to go back to her house since the people Beau and Gwendolyn had hired to look for her camera had destroyed so much of her living space.

That had suited Weston just fine. He wanted Kayleigh next to him every day for the rest of forever.

“I won’t be surprised when your dad makes another fortune. Maybe not as big as the one he had, but he’s too shrewd of a businessman to stay broke for long.”

Leo hadn’t been lying about the toll buying Brighton Pharmaceuticals had taken on his finances. He may have gotten proof that Beau Kesler was a killer, but it had come at a cost.

The Delacruz fortune was no more. At least, not to the extent it had been. Nearly all of Leo’s properties and assets had been sold to cover what he’d spent to take down Brighton Pharmaceuticals.

He still had a couple million dollars—which Weston could’ve lived on for the rest of his life—but for Leo it was quite the change.

But he seemed...happy. He and Kayleigh had lunch together three or four times a week. They talked all the time.

He’d even come over to Weston’s parents’ house to have dinner a few times.

Leo Delacruz may no longer be a financial giant, but he was going to be just fine.

Kayleigh, who’d never wanted much to do with her father’s money, didn’t care that it was mostly gone. She’d replaced her destroyed cameras with the insurance money and had spent the last few months working on her passion project.

Plants that survive in circumstances that they shouldn’t. She could also add a few people to that study if she wanted to. Him. Her.

Them together. And they weren’t just surviving, they were thriving .

Beau was in prison awaiting trial for attempted murder, assault and battery, arson, and kidnapping. And that didn’t even touch the charges that would be brought against him once the FDA finished sorting through his company.

He would never walk around a free man again.

The court had been a little more lenient with Gwendolyn. Leo, Kayleigh and Weston had all testified that they did not believe Gwendolyn intended or would’ve gone through with murder. She’d been caught up in the lies Beau had fed her.

She’d been charged with kidnapping and would spend time behind bars, but not the rest of her life.

Kayleigh was unpacking boxes as Weston brought them in. She smiled up at him and he couldn’t resist plucking her up off the ground and backing her against the wall.

“I’m glad you’re moving in here with me permanently,” he said against her lips.

“I love you, Patterson, and I can’t wait until I’m a Patterson too.”

“Just a few more months.” He worked his lips down the side of her neck. He would never get tired of the breathy little moans she made.

“We have to be over at your parents’ in an hour,” she said. But her hands clutched him closer, definitely didn’t push him away.

“Plenty of time. I want to take you back out to the greenhouse to make love.”

She straightened, leaning away from him. “That reminds me. I have something to show you.”

He pressed his lips against hers. “Later.”

She smiled. “Come on. You’ll like it. We have to go out toward the greenhouse to see it.”

She grabbed his hand and led him out the door—not unlike how she used to do as kids. He grinned as he followed. He hoped she’d be leading him around like this when they were in their eighties.

When they got to the greenhouse, she turned and went around to the side, staying outside. “I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure it would work, but I think it’s pretty safe now.”

She was leading them to the part of the property he hadn’t done much with yet. There were so many plant and flora options, he wasn’t sure what direction to go.

It was something they could plan together.

Near the corner of the property line, she stopped and knelt down. Weston knelt next to her, looking at the little plant peeking up through the soil.

His eyes widened. “Is that a jacaranda cutting?”

She smiled. “Yes. Isn’t it beautiful?”

He looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “We’ll have our very own here, just like we did when we were kids.”

“Even better? This is from the one at Dad’s house. I asked the new owners if I could get a stem cutting and I nursed it in a jar, then as it got a little bigger, in a pot. I planted it out here a couple weeks’ ago.”

“This is part of our tree?” Weston could barely get the words past the emotion in his throat. “God, woman. I love you.”

She beamed at him. “This tree will develop deep roots and grow huge here. And every time we look at it, we’ll know that our roots are deep too. And each year we’ll bring our kids out here and take a family picture.”

Family .

He’d been blessed beyond measure as a teenager to have found a family with Sheila and Clinton and his brothers.

Now he was even more blessed to start a family of his own with the woman he’d loved his whole life.

He couldn’t wait to get started.