Bending the Rules: Breaking the Rules #2 (17 page)

Chapter 16

Adrian

“What the hell just happened?” Alina asks. She and I stand together
stunned as we watch Drake run out of the hotel in the same direction as Morgan.

“I think it’s safe to say our plan has failed,” I say.

“Failed? Don’t you want to catch up to them? We can try to
convince Morgan that I’m here with Drake? This plan can still be salvaged you
know,” Alina says.

“No it can’t. I saw the way they were looking at each other.
Morgan doesn’t love me like that and never will. I’m not one to go down without
a fight, but this is one I will never win. Plus, I’m totally fucked if I lose
my contract with Baylor Industries, so I should just walk away,” I say,
realizing that the idea of getting Morgan back was never something that was
going to happen. I saw the way they looked at each other in Vegas. True love
like that never really dies.

“So what are you going to do now?” Alina asks.

“I’ll go back to my room and crash. I’ll head out on the
first flight tomorrow morning and try to do some damage control with Drake
Baylor Sr. before Jr. contacts him and totally kills the deal my company has
with them.”

“So you’re saying you have a few more hours before you take
off? I may have a few ideas for how you can
lick
your wounds…” Alina
says with a wink.

“Let me get back to my room and start packing Morgan’s
stuff. I’m sure once Drake finds her she’ll be crashing with him tonight and I
want our goodbye to be as painless as possible. When we are done I’ll call your
room and you can show me just how you might help someone lick their wounds,” I
say with a grin, and head to the elevator.

When I get back to the room, I take a deep breath, then call
Lana to update her. This is not going to be pretty, but I need to get it over
with and I might as well do it with a little alcohol in my system. It’ll take
the sting off the verbal bitch slap I know I’m in for.

“Adrian, it’s just past midnight over there, are you calling
with good news?” Lana asks as she picks up the phone.

“Actually, no. I’ve had a setback.”

“A setback? You are in one of the most beautiful places in
the world, how could you have a setback? Did you forget where your balls are?”

“No, Lana, I have intimate knowledge of the location of my
balls, thank you very much. Drake has been living in Switzerland for the past
few months. His father sent him here after he found out about his relationship
with Morgan. I formulated a plan with Drake’s assistant to have Morgan catch
them here together enjoying a lover’s holiday weekend. I figured once Morgan
could see that Drake has moved on with a new beautiful girl and is off ringing
in the New Year with her instead, it would steer her straight into my arms.
Unfortunately Drake found Morgan before our plan could be properly executed and
Morgan took off with Drake hot on her tail.”

“So what are you doing talking to me? Go find her and
convince her that Drake has been off playing playboy while you’ve been drying
her tears. We had a deal, Adrian, now go keep your end of it up.”

“It’s over, Lana. You need to deal with the fact that your
daughter belongs with Drake and I need to deal with it too. What might have
started as a game for you to get your daughter away from Drake Baylor and for
me to score a hot trophy wife has not ended well for us, now it’s time to move
on. I’ll no longer be your little errand boy either, find someone else to
manipulate. Goodbye, Lana,” I say before I hang up.

I finish packing Morgan’s stuff as I contemplate what I want
to say to her when she gets back to the room to get her things. I’m tempted
tell her everything; her mom’s plan, my involvement in sending Drake away…my
actions have not been admirable and my intentions have not exactly been pure,
but I do love Morgan and always will. I think it’s just best for now to say
goodbye then go find Alina. I still have a few hours before my flight leaves
and I don’t want this night to be a total loss after all.

Drake

I will never forget what it feels like to be in this moment
with Morgan. To kiss her at midnight on New Year’s in one of the most beautiful
places I’ve ever been. I don’t know what I did right to deserve this moment but
I will be forever thankful. My love is back. Now I just have to get her back to
my room so I can explain everything to her then take her to bed. I know it’s a
little presumptuous to think about sex tonight but I don’t think my body will
stay away from hers for that long. She has never looked as beautiful as she
does tonight. I pull away from her and stare into her gorgeous hazel eyes.

“You have never looked so beautiful, Morgan. Happy New Year,
my love,” I say as I wrap my arm around her shoulder again and continue back
towards the Ritz.

Morgan leans her head into my shoulder and echoes, “Happy
New Year, my love.” We spend the rest of the walk to the hotel in blissful
silence, both understanding that the vast amount of talking that needs to be
done tonight can wait until we get back to my room.

We arrive back to Morgan’s room and she asks me to wait
outside while she talks to Adrian. I assume she doesn’t need me to be there
making their goodbye any harder or more awkward than it already will be, so I
give her the space she needs. She returns a few moments later with red eyes and
I take her bags from her, but before I lead her to my room I ask, “Morgan, are
you okay? Do I need to kick Adrian’s ass before we head to my room?”

“No,” she says with a sort of giggle sniffle sound, “Adrian
was pretty sweet actually. He said he would never again try to come between the
love he can see in our eyes. He wishes us well.”

“Then why have you been crying, my love?” I ask.

“Because I wasn’t sure if I’d see you again, and this has
been a very overwhelming evening,” she answers with the same little giggle
sniffle. I slip my arm back around her waist and lead her to my room.

The fact that she assumes she will be staying with me fills
my heart with hope that all will be okay between us. I’m not sure how we will
move forward and forget these past few months, but I’m sure our talk this
evening will be a good start.

“After you,” I say as I open the door to my room and let her
walk in before me. “Can I get you a drink?”

“No thanks, Drake. It’s been a long night and I feel like it
will turn into a long morning with the amount of talking we need to do.”

“I can order down for some tea if you’d like. Would you like
something to eat?” I ask.

“Sure, whatever you would like, I am a little hungry.”

“Okay. Feel free to use the bedroom or the en suite bath to
freshen up or change into something comfortable while I make a call down to the
kitchen,” I say, and Morgan gives me a shy, thankful smile as she grabs some
things from her bag and kisses my cheek softly before she walks into the
bedroom.

Morgan

I walk into Drake’s bedroom and release the breath I feel
like I’ve been holding for the last three months. I want Drake to tell me what
has really happened since we’ve been apart and what the true cause for this is.
I want to know why he cut himself off from me as completely as he did.

As he explains his actions to me, I need to explain Adrian
to him. I need Drake to know that he has always been on my mind and in my
heart. I also need to tell him about the baby. I’m not sure if I’ll tell him
tonight or tomorrow. I have to judge the situation. I won’t go back to the
States without telling him though, and I hope he’ll be going back with me too.
Either way he needs to know he’s going to be a father and I’m just so happy I
get to tell him this in person. I wash the makeup off my face and slip on a
loose sweater and some yoga pants so I can be comfortable and also hide the
bump until I tell Drake about the baby. When I’ve taken as much time as I need to
center myself and get my thoughts in order, I exit Drake’s bedroom and join him
in the sitting area.

“Room service was just delivered, can I pour you some tea?”
Drake asks, and I nod yes as I find my way to the couch and take a seat,
curling my legs behind me. Drake joins me on the couch a minute later and hands
me a cup of tea with a few scones tucked onto the saucer.

“Thank you,” I say, feeling suddenly awkward not knowing how
to start the conversation.

“You are so welcome. I have to admit I’ve been dreaming of
the moment I get to see you again for the last three months, but I never quite
figured out what I’d say when the moment comes,” Drake starts.

“Why don’t you start with telling me what happened the day
you left,” I suggest.

Drake frowns slightly as though remembering a heartbreaking
memory and takes a deep breath before he begins to explain. “When my father
excused you from the meeting with Adrian I thought we were off the hook. Adrian
said his goodbyes to my father shortly after you left and as he left the room,
he smiled at me with this weird menacing look on his face before telling my dad
he thought it was genius to send us both to Vegas to close the Scottsfield
deal. He knew exactly what he was doing, Morgan.”

“But he told me he had nothing to do with your departure. He
said he got my voicemail and didn’t say anything,” Morgan says.

“I’m sure he said that to you, Morgan, but I’m also pretty
sure he was trying to get you back. Without being able to defend myself, Adrian
could say anything to you and with your longstanding friendship there is no
reason for you not to believe him.

“After Adrian left, my father asked me how long I had been
fucking you. It disgusted me how he could speak so lowly of you. I told him we
weren’t fucking. I told him how madly in love with you I am and that I intend
on marrying you someday, and not to speak about you like that. He was obviously
pissed that we had broken the rules and I pleaded with him to keep your job.

“I told him how much you deserve your career and that I’d do
anything for you to keep it. The only choice I had for you to keep your dreams
alive was for him to send me to Zurich to save the European division of our
company. This is my last chance to become CEO. In order to do that I can’t have
any communication with you. That is why I’ve stayed away.

“I’ve been living every second of every day for you. For us.
To come home with a clean slate and a Fortune 500 company to run. I want for us
to run it together because there is no one else on Earth that could do a better
job at this than you. I’m so sorry I never got to say goodbye to you, my love,
and I swear I would have if I thought my father wouldn’t find out. I figured he
would talk to you and see the hurt in your eyes at my departure if I told you.
Everything I have done has been for our future,” Drake says, while wiping the
tears from my eyes.

“I understand, Drake, but you have to know that these have
been the hardest months of my entire life,” I say. “I looked for you. I
searched the world for you.”

“I know,” Drake interrupts.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I saw you in Paris. I watched you collect your bag in the
baggage claim at Charles De Gaulle.”

“You what? Drake, how could you? You must have known I was looking
for you. I wouldn’t have told anyone. I can’t believe you would let me continue
to torture myself by searching for you when you could have explained what was
going on. I knew it was you in the baggage claim. I sat there calling your name
like an idiot. I wanted to run and throw my arms around you but the soldiers
patrolling with their heavy artillery scared me and I didn’t want to cause a
scene. How could you stand there and not turn around?” I’m so hurt and so
pissed I can’t even see straight. I slam my tea down on the coffee table before
me and run to the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

 All I’ve wanted for the past three months is to have
Drake back and now that I do, I suddenly need space from him. I’ve thought
about how it would be if we were ever reunited…would we find our happy ever
after? Can we survive this separation? We love each other more than anything,
but I’ve been so hurt I don’t know how to see past this. And now we have a baby
on the way, how can we not be together? It’s getting late and I’m confused and
tired and emotional. I feel like putting this conversation on hold until the
morning when we have both rested and can think clearly.

I’m about to exit the bathroom to go crawl in bed when I
hear a light knock on the door and Drake starts speaking in a soft, almost
broken voice. “Morgan, I was torturing myself too. Don’t you have any idea how
hard it was to walk away from you? You are my breath, my life, my everything. I
would have never done this if I had another way to keep you forever. I promised
you I would always fight. I was fighting to keep your job at Baylor. To support
your dreams. I have been fighting every God damned day for the past three
months for us. If I would have talked to you in Paris it would have put us in jeopardy.
There was no way to be sure my father wouldn’t find out than to leave you
alone. That was my only certainty.

“I’ve already said there is no way for me to ever show you
just how sorry I am for everything. Please forgive me, Morgan. That’s the only
way we will be able to move on,” Drake says. I open the bathroom door and lock
eyes with Drake. I can see the hurt in his eyes and I know he’s been just as
miserable as me. I take a step towards him, and he whispers, “I love you,
Morgan. I never in a million years wanted us to have to go through these past
few months,” while reaching out to pull me into his arms.

I go willingly, curling myself into his embrace and crying
into his chest. “I believe you, Drake, and I forgive you,” I whimper into
Drake’s chest. “It’s going to be hard to forget that though.”

“I know, baby. Please just tell me you’ll try. Let’s figure
out how to move forward together,” Drake says as he showers the top of my head
with kisses.

“Drake, you know I’ll always fight for you. I promised you
that as well. I quit Baylor. Your dad told me your position had been dissolved
and that you were off someplace tropical licking your wounds in the arms of
another woman.”

“Morgan, please tell me you didn’t believe him. I’d never do
that to you. I haven’t been with anyone else.”

“I know that. When your dad told me that though, he also
told me that I could keep my job but had to earn his trust again and that I’d
be on thin ice. I could never work for someone like that. No one deserves to be
spoken to like that. I had to defend your honor and our dreams so I quit. I’m
so sorry that you’ve been working to save my job these past few months and I
had already left the position.”

“I might have left to save your job, but really I’ve been
working these past few months to save our future,” Drake says.

“I’d like to explain Adrian to you though,” I start to
explain but Drake interrupts me again.

“I got your emails, Morgan. Garrett set that account up for
you and gave me the account and password so I would know you were okay. He felt
so badly that you were so sad and didn’t know what else to do. He knew I
wouldn’t respond so he told you it was an old account that I never checked
anyway so you wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

“You’re kidding me. Why would he do that?”

“Morgan, Garrett saw the devastation in your eyes. The
hopelessness in your face when you asked him about me time and time again. He
wanted to do something for you and also help me out because I was just as
miserable as you. This was a way for us to both remain connected. For me to
still be a part of your life even though I’m a world away.”

“So if you’ve been getting my emails you knew I was here?”

“No, I haven’t checked my computer since I’ve been here so I
didn’t get that email. It broke my heart every time you asked me to come home
though. I know I’ll always be your home, Morgan. Just like you’ll always be
mine. I still have about six months here but I’m going to call my father
tomorrow and say my time in Zurich is up. I’m coming home with you. I can’t
stand to be away from you for another moment, Morgan.”

“Drake, are you sure that’s a good idea? What if your father
takes everything away? I don’t want these last three months to be in vain.”

“He was pissed and now he’s punishing me. He is using my
love for you against me but I’m not willing to let that happen any longer. I
did my time, I fixed the problems here, and now I’m coming home and taking my
rightful place at the helm of Baylor Industries. My father wants to retire, and
I want our future. I’ve learned enough by being here that if he fires me I’ll
figure something else out. I just want to be the man you can be proud to call
yours, and I’m not sure if I can be that man if I’m not CEO of Baylor. You
deserve the world, Morgan, and you deserve a man by your side who you can work
with to work towards our future together,” Drake says as he bows his head.

“Drake, please look at me,” I say, tilting his chin to meet
my gaze. “You are the man for me. You always will be. We promised to work
together for our future. I’m doing really well at Thompson. I can provide for
us while you figure something out if need be.”

“Thank you, my love. I really appreciate that. I’m not
worried about providing for us financially though; I’m set for a very long
time. I just mean that you deserve someone who is going somewhere. Someone you
can be proud of, who your parents will be proud to call Son,” he explains.

“Drake, I’ll always be proud of you. My father adores you
and admires how far you have come almost as much as me. I just need you by my
side,” I say.

“Then that is exactly where I’ll be, forever,” Drake says as
he pulls me in for a long, sensual kiss that takes my breath away. I open my
mouth to him and Drake dips his tongue into my mouth caressing mine with his.

“Take me to bed, Drake. I need to feel your warmth inside me
again,” I say while pulling out of his embrace. Drake doesn’t waste any time
taking me by the hand to lead me to his bedroom. When we reach his bed, Drake
slowly undresses before me. I haven’t taken the time to fully admire just how
beautiful he looks in his tuxedo until I watch as he starts removing his bowtie
then works his way down. I’m practically drooling when he finally drops his
boxers, his erection springing free.

I take Drake in my hand, slowly massaging his velvety smooth
girth as I reach behind his neck with my other hand to pull him down for a
kiss. “I love you, Drake, I’ll never stop fighting for you either,” I say as I
continue to slowly stoke him.

Drake reaches for the band of my yoga pants, yanking them
down to the floor. He gives me a slow, sweet smile encouraging me to step out
of them and I do, while reaching my arms overhead so he can pull my sweater
off. Drake lays me down on the bed and suddenly his eyes go wide while he looks
me over head to toe.

“When were you going to tell me?” He asks as he pulls his
mystified gaze from my belly, meeting my eyes.

“How do you know?” I ask, bewildered that it only takes him
a moment to realize something it took me months to figure out.

“Morgan, I know your body better than anyone else. I knew
when I looked at you tonight that there was something special, more beautiful
about you but it only took one look at your gorgeous body to see how it’s
changed. Look at your breasts, your hips, this amazing little bump that is
carrying our child. How far along are you?” Drake asks with love and admiration
in his eyes.

“I’m about sixteen weeks along. I find out the sex during my
appointment next month. I haven’t told anyone yet. I decided wait until the holidays
were over so I could know when I tell my family. I’m actually surprised no one
has caught on yet.”

“But what about your drinking? You had a glass of wine in
your hand tonight when I saw you,” Drake asks.

“I’ve only taken small sips here and there, which my doctor
said would be okay. I paid John the bartender at the club a small fortune not
to question me or tell anyone but to only make soda with a splash of cranberry
when I’m at the club but I ask the server for vodka as well. So it looks like
I’ve had a few cocktails but they’ve been mocktails instead.”

“Mocktails?”

“Yeah it’s what the other ladies on the mom blogs call
them,” I explain and Drake laughs.

“I just can’t believe it. I’m going to be a father. You were
going to tell me, weren’t you?”

“Of course I was, Drake, I just didn’t know how. I wrote in
the email that I had so much to tell you but that not everything I had to say
is appropriate for email. I didn’t think you were reading them anyway. We’re
here together now which is really all that matters, right? We’re starting a
family. I still can’t believe we found each other like we did. I’ve dreamt of
sharing these moments with you and to have you in the flesh means the world to
me,” I say as I grab Drake’s hand and place it on my belly.