Page 71

“I’m so proud of you, darling,” Steven whispers into my ear as we stand in front of the glass double doors to the rooftop bar at The Orchid, where the rest of my family and friends await us.

The deep timbre of his voice sends jolts of awareness to my core as he used the same tone on me this morning at the crack of dawn when he woke me up with his cock between my legs, his rumbly voice in my ear and my body already half-starved and throbbing around him.

I bite my lip as the inconvenient images play like a slideshow in my mind.

“Good morning, darling,” he rasps as my eyes flutter awake to the sharp sensations gathering on my clit and wetness leaking down my thighs. “You sleep so soundly. I was wondering when you’d wake up.”

I gasp, my eyes fluttering open as my body arches up, my breasts already swollen and aching, my legs already wrapped tightly around his back as my hips are gyrating against him, his hard shaft buried deep inside me.

“Fuck,” he grunts. “Your pussy needs me even when you sleep, my naughty girl. She wants to wring out all my cum.”

His hips piston deeper as the fire builds and my mind, still woozy from sleep, is now drunk with pleasure and I claw his back, desperate to get him deeper inside me.

“You fuck me so good,” I whimper, our pace quickening.

Steven hisses and smashes his mouth on mine as he reaches one hand between us and pinches my swollen clit. “Come for me, darling.”

“Steven!” I cry as I burst into a million pieces, my legs trembling.

He lets out a tortured groan before he rasps, “Fuuuck,” and floods my insides with his heat.

We lay satiated in bed, the soft glow of the morning light streaming through the windows. At this rate, I may as well move in with him since I spend most of my nights here instead of at the apartment.

“Good morning, Grace.” He presses a kiss on the outer shell of my ear as he gathers me into his arms.

Steven chuckles like he’s aware of my thoughts before kissing the sensitive spot where my ear meets my neck and a frustrated whimper escapes my lips.

“Why, I think you’re insatiable for me,” he murmurs, his arms curling around my waist as he hugs me from the back. I feel his hardening bulge pressing into the cleft of my ass through our clothing.

I elbow him softly. “Stop distracting me. How did you function the last thirty years?”

“I was asleep…until you.”

A flood of warmth spreads from my heart to my fingers and toes, and I feel myself melting against him.

My fingers trace his arm, landing on his watch, and I smile. He’s wearing his father’s watch again. Their relationship has mended and has been improving in the last few months. I see more smiles on his face after he talks to his parents on the phone now.

Steven slowly unclasps his watch and turns it over. My eyes widen at the additional inscription there.

Mind over matter. Heart above all.

I look up at him, finding him smiling at me. “You taught me that. Take the leap, follow our hearts, even when times get tough.”

Gnawing on my lip, I rise to my tiptoes and place a soft kiss on his jaw. I love this man so much.

“Come on,” he whispers as he puts back on his watch. “Let’s go inside. They’re waiting for us.”

I bite back a grin as I step into the double doors and see Taylor and Belle rushing up to me, their lips tilted up in bright smiles .

“You’re here!” Tay pulls me into a hug and gives me a hearty slap on my back. “I’m so fucking proud of you, opening your own consulting business.”

She pulls back and grins, her nose piercing, a red crystal heart today, glimmers from the waning sunlight and pendant lighting hanging from the enclosed glass ceiling.

A wet sheen appears in her eyes, but she blinks it away before whispering, “Mom would be so damn proud of you. I know she’s looking down and watching you kick ass.”

My heart squeezes and I nod, a burning sensation creeping behind my nose.

Today marks the first day of Peyton-Anderson Financial Consulting opening its doors to the public.

I’m the owner and sole employee right now, but between my experience in assisting Elias Kent with his investment analysis and working on the high-profile TransAmerica takeover case at Pietra Capital, calls and emails requesting consulting services have been coming in from others in the business community.

I’m sure the Anderson name on the header doesn’t hurt either.

“Like I said, I’d hate you if I didn’t love you.” Belle arches her brow, her eyes taking on a teasing grin as she pulls me into a hug. “Why are you so smart?”

Laughing, I give her a nudge. “I’d say you’re the smart one, Belle, when you sat next to me in criminal psychology and declared us to be the best of friends.”

She takes a sip of her Long Island Iced Tea and grins. “Of course, I always have impeccable taste. I mean, did you see what your sister is wearing? I got her to actually dress up for this occasion.”

My eyes swivel back to Taylor and find her face souring as she rolls her eyes.

She’s wearing a black sheath dress, which looks beautiful on her slender frame and…

pearls. But of course, she kept her signature rebellious streaks in her outfit—the thick, black eyeliner, a dark mauve lipstick, her nails painted in the same color as her dress.

She looks like the black swan in Swan Lake .

“Belle said they wouldn’t let me in if I were to wear my usual getup,” Taylor mutters under her breath.

“Where’s Millie?” My eyes scan the space, not seeing my petite sweetheart of a friend.

“She’s on her way. She’s bringing a date today,” Taylor replies, her eyes widening.

“What? She’s bringing someone even though she has a crush on you-know-who?

” My eyes dart around the room until they snag on the imposing figure of my second-eldest half-brother, Ryland, standing by the bar.

Millie finally told us the other day why she was so morose lately, and it had everything to do with her professor, who, coincidentally, is Ryland.

Belle leans in and whispers, “I think she’s trying to make him jealous.”

Taylor’s lips curl into a snarl. “If I didn’t get to know Ryland in the last few weeks, and have found him to be a pretty cool person because he’s one of the few men who haven’t gotten on my nerves, I’d smack him for whatever is going on between Millie and him.

Millie is the sweetest soul alive. How dare he make her feel bad? ”

The same sentiments echo inside my mind as I think of the last few girls’ hangouts at their apartment, when Millie would curl up in her chair, her hands hugging her bowl of ice cream, but a heaviness would cloak her frame.

Whenever we’d ask, she would say it was nothing.

Seeing our sweet, normally exuberant friend losing her glimmer is worrying all of us.

Just then, a whiff of faint roses wafts through the air, and a warm voice joins our group. “Congratulations, Grace. We’re so proud of you.”

I smile at Lana, who, along with the rest of her siblings, has taken Taylor and me under their wing, embracing us as part of their family. Like her older, or our older brothers, she’s stunning, with her sleek russet strands tumbling in waves over her shoulders, her large eyes warm.

“You guys have outdone yourself.” I gesture to what looks to be hundreds of sphere lights hanging from the glass ceiling of the large rooftop space, usually cordoned off in sections with tall hedges and perennial trees, is now rearranged such that there’s a spacious central area for our gathering.

The décor is in a swath of reds, orange, yellows, and golds, the space dripping in tall floral arrangements of chrysanthemums, marigolds, and snapdragons, with bright yellow goldenrods interspersed throughout. The beautiful colors of fall.

“We like to celebrate the big and the small and you’re one of us now.” Lana winks.

Loud masculine chuckles fill the air and I glance up, finding Steven laughing with the boys congregated by the large, backlit bar, his hand slapping Ryland’s back as Rex guffaws in front of them with Ethan shaking his head, a smile tilting his lips.

Charles gestures wildly and another roar of laughter fills the space.

The lingering warmth from moments ago flares up as I see how happy Steven is, a lightness never seen before in his frame.

The dark eye circles have long disappeared, and he looks sharp and healthy in his double-breasted navy suit.

The King of Wall Street is still very much there and from what I heard, he can still be an asshole in the office, but a true exuberance emanates from his being.

He no longer looks haunted and lonely.

He no longer looks like he’s walking around with a hole in his chest.

I release a happy sigh as I stare at my soulmate, and as if he is aware of my perusal, he looks up and ensnares me with those molten eyes of his. His lips curve into a private smile, one that singes my insides, and he doles out a flirty wink.

My heart trips and tumbles and heat travels across my skin.

“You two are disgusting,” Taylor comments as Lana and Belle laugh at her no-nonsense tone.

We walk toward the men and I whisper back, “One day it’ll happen to you.”

She snorts as the men step back and make room for us. “Ladies,” the collective Anderson men greet us in unison and I quirk my brow. Those well-bred manners seem to be hammered into the Anderson blood .

Rex unleashes a shit-eating grin and pulls me in for a big hug. “I’m so glad you and Tay are part of the family now. That way, Lana doesn’t have to tag along to all our hangouts.”

“Hey! You enjoy having me around. Who picks up your messes and gets you home when you’re drunk?” Lana glowers at her brother, but amusement laces her voice.

Rex smirks and throws his arms around Tay’s and my shoulders. “You know, the clues were there all along. We should’ve known you were related to us.”

I quirk a brow. “What do you mean?”

“The ABCDEs.”

“Huh?” Tay looks as bewildered as me.