Take Cover (9 page)

The fear in Emily’s eyes made my stomach churn. I hadn’t meant for her to see my exchange with Charlette, nor had I ever expected to react in the manner I did. Never before had I raised my hand toward a woman. I felt shameful that I had done so now. Each time Charlette insisted that she had no idea what I was talking about, I grew angrier. I thought she had been lying, trying to desperately save her ass, but Emily’s confession made me halt. What did she mean when she said she did it?

Eager to get the answers I took a seat next to Emily, wanting to figure out just what was going on. I couldn’t have heard correctly. Emily couldn’t have been the one to give The Ivy our confidential information. She didn’t have the means to get a hold of Belmont International’s files. Turning my gaze on Shane, I considered him as a possible suspect, but I quickly dismissed it. He may be the lying, piece of shit that stole my woman from right under my nose, but he wouldn’t have dared to cross our father.

Shane issued me a pointed look. I took in the gashes on his face and I couldn’t help but feel satisfied. He deserved much more than what he had received and depending on what Emily had to say, it would be the deciding factor on whether or not my fist would reconnect with his face.

Turning back to Emily, I followed Emily’s stare to Charlette as she stood far off, noticeably shaken up. There was no doubt in my mind that she would hate me for what I had done to her, it was truly unforgivable. Looking back at Emily, I wondered if I had tainted her perception of me.

“Tell me what’s going on?” I finally demanded when she looked over at me, her face full of confliction.

“When she...” Emily began, taking a glance once again in Charlette’s direction, “When Charlette attacked me and I broke it off with you. I wasn’t trying to hurt you,” she continued.

She looked up at me, tears rimming the edges of her eyes. Instinctively, I reach for her, hating to see her upset. “I know, mon amour.”

She shook her head and pulled away from me, standing to her feet as she started to pace. “You don’t understand,” she blurted out in frustration.

She was right, I didn’t understand what the hell she was saying, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I gave her the time she needed to collect her thoughts.

“I wanted her out of the way; wanted to get rid of her so that we could finally be together. I had it in my head that with her around, we would never be happy and now everything is screwed up,” she sobbed out, choking on her words. “I didn’t think you would actually be with her. Now, I have lost you for good. All my planning, our planning,” she said, as she gestured to Shane, “was for nothing.”

Shane cleared his throat, “Ah, just for the motherfucking record, bro. I did not fuck your girl,” he declared with a groan. He shook his head at me, and then smiled, which caused me to smile, as well.

Realizing how silly I had behaved, believing that both Emily and Shane would betray me in such a way, Shane and I couldn’t help but laugh. Both Charlette and Emily exchanged glances and furrowed brows, confused. “Are you fucking serious?” Emily barked, when Shane and I continued laughing, often stopping for just a few seconds just to start all over again. She had placed her hands on her hips and gave each of us an ice cold glare.

“I’m sorry... I’m sorry,” I choked out, trying my best to regain my composure but failing each time. “It’s just... funny... You and him... me and...” I started, but when my eyes fell on Charlette’s sadden face, I couldn’t continue.

“It’s ok, Jules. It was pretty silly of me to try to come between you two,” she began, while taking slow steps toward Emily. “I am so sorry for everything I have put you through. I know you must hate me. I couldn’t say that I blame you.” Shane and I looked on, waiting to see if Emily would accept her apology or punch Charlette in the face. With Emily, you could never really know what would happen.

“I’m the one that should be sorry,” she began, taking Charlette’s hand into hers. “Shane and I thought that the best way to get you leave would be to make Julien and his father believe that you were stealing information from Belmont International to give to their competitor,” she confessed. I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Shane.

“This has your name written all over it.”

Shane didn’t admit it, but he hadn’t denied it either, which was a good as a yes for me.

“Well,” Charlette spoke up, pulling her hand away from Emily’s embrace. “Seems to me that we went through a lot of trouble for this man.” She smirked as she sauntered toward me, an evil grin now on her lips.

“Now that I think about it, I am not sure what I saw in him,” she proclaimed, as she gave me a once over, successfully making me feel like a piece of meat.

When Emily spoke, she gave the same snide smirk. “Yeah... Now that I think about it, I don’t remember what the hell attracted me to him, either.”

She tried desperately to remain serious, but I could see the subtle way her lips curled at the edges.

“Is that so? Will you look at that Shane? Just an hour ago, I had two women after me, and now, none. Guess you’ll have to take me to that strip club of yours again,” I jested, knowing that Emily would never allow it.

“Over my dead body,” she quickly lost character, shooting her hands back up to her waist and glaring at both Shane and me.
God, I missed this woman!

Laughter erupted through the living room, and for the first time in a while, I felt at peace. Not wanting to waste another second away from her, I made quick strides to Emily, pulling her into my arms and claiming her lips.

Electricity flew through me the second I made contact. She moaned as our kiss deepened, forgetting that we had an audience. Nothing else at that moment mattered, all that I ever wanted and needed was right before me. I would never let her go again. When we pulled away, I realized that Charlette had excused herself, making her way back to her car. Not wanting things to end things on a sour note, I looked over to Emily silently asking her for permission.

Seeming to understand what I needed to do, I gave her a quick hug and ran out to catch Charlette before she was gone. As she stepped into her car, I called after her. “Wait... Charlette.” She lifted her head and smiled at me just as I reached for her door.

“You don’t have to say anything my dear, Jules. I am going to be just fine. In fact, I haven’t felt this good in a long time,” she declared convincingly. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. “My gift to you and Emily.”

“What is it?” I asked, as I turned the envelope in my hand, curious to its contents.

She smiled as she got into her car, “It’s your freedom, Mr. Belmont, don’t fuck it up.”

“Are you ready yet, mon ange,
my angel?
”

Rushing out of the bathroom, in the gown I had picked out just two weeks ago, I groaned in frustration. “No, I am not, I am having some technical difficulties at the moment,” I scream out to Julien, who is waiting for me in the living room.

We were already late for the grand opening of Julien’s new, downtown hotel, and I couldn’t get my dress to zip up. I laid back on the bed, trying desperately to get the sparkling, black, sequence dress to zip up my hips, but no such luck.

Letting out an earth shattering scream, Julien came rushing into the room, “What’s wrong? Are you ok?” he asked, as he barged in.

Finding me on the floor with my dress half zipped, he chuckled at me.

“It’s not funny, Julien. I can’t get this dress zipped up, and we are already running late. I don’t know what happened,” I whined, as he helped me up.

“Seems to me someone has been eating too many white chocolate éclairs for breakfast,” he jested, as he took his turn to help with the zipper.

After trying for a few minutes, we both give up. “Well, I guess naked it is. Wouldn’t that be the best way to introduce me to the world,” I groaned.

I had been nervous about the opening since the moment Julien told me about it. Until now, Julien had always attended these affairs with Charlette by his side.  Now, after an amicable divorce and a very noisy media scandal, I would the one at his arm for all to see.

Talk about pressure.

Now, the dress doesn’t fit, even though I had tried it on when I purchased it. I didn’t think that it would grow small on me in that short of a time. Unable to control my disappointment, tears flowed down my face, causing Julien to be alarmed.

“Hey, don’t cry, sweetheart, I’ll find you the perfect dress,” he declared, not understanding the true problem at hand.

The dress I had picked out had been a whole size and a half too big, when I purchased it. There was no way anything in my closet was going to fit over my body, now. I couldn’t really explain to him why.

When I found out that I was pregnant, I was excited. But, with the media and Julien returning to work, I decided I would wait for the right opportunity before telling him. Three weeks later, I still hadn’t found the right opportunity.

Stepping out of our walk-in closet, Julien held up a wrap dress that I had completely forgotten about. Giving the dress a once over, I believed that it just might cover my new thick thighs.

Grinning, I grabbed the dress from him and ran to the bathroom. A few moments later, I stepped out expecting to see Julien waiting for me, but he was gone. Looking around, I spotted a note on the bed with a single rose.

Emily, I hadn’t begun living until the night you stepped into my life. Since that first night, I have known that I couldn’t spend a second without you. I love you more than anything in this world and I promise to love and cherish you always.

Will you please be my wife...?

- 
Your baby’s daddy

Tears stream down my face as I read his note, turning to find him on bended knee with the most stunning ring I had even seen.

He knew! Of course, he knew.

“How long?” I croaked out, needing to know where I had gone wrong with my plan.

He smirked and raised his eyebrow. “Only since the day you found out,” he teased. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Looking down at him, I knew that there would never be a better man for me. We had been through more than most couples go through in a lifetime, in just a few short months, and still, he was the sexiness man in the world.

“So... will you?” he asked, looking at me expectantly, as I opened my mouth to answer.

“Well, fucking answer the man already!” Suzie's voice rang through the closed bedroom door. “I don’t have all day.”

Julien and I chuckled at our dear friend, shaking our heads at her.

Returning my gaze to him, I finally answered, “I love you, Julien Belmont, Yes. I will marry you.”