Give Up On Me (14 page)

“So is Mommie.” Janae stretched and yawned. As if on cue, the conference door opened. Matt strode in, silent and tense. She hurried over to him. “Everything okay?”

“No, it looks like you were right. The paramedics think it’s a heart attack.”

She nodded. “Sometimes they present without pain, but the extreme tiredness can be a giveaway.”

“How did you know?”

She shrugged “I read.”

“Come on. We’ll go back to my place.”

“Matt.”

“Please, Janae. No arguments.”

“All right. I feel like I’m just getting shuffled around. This is a family crisis for you, and you should be at the hospital.”

He didn’t respond. Rather he helped gather Nerea’s things, who had already climbed him like a little spider monkey.

Janae chewed her lip. “I’m worried about how fast she’s taken to you. I mean I know you’re her daddy, but she doesn’t know you.”

He set Nerea on the table and kissed the top of her head. “You gave her the go ahead. She trusts your judgment.” He gazed at their daughter, swinging her legs over the side of the table and humming. “But you’re right. Better to be on the safe side and talk to her about stranger danger.”

Janae smiled. “How do you know about that?”

“I read.” He winked, and they left the office to head back to his house.

“
W
hy didn’t
you trust me, Janae?”

She tensed and drew away, but he pulled her back into his embrace. They sat together on his patio, watching Nerea play on the grass. Matt had suggested he buy her a swing set and maybe get a full on playground built in the backyard. She hadn’t doused his enthusiasm because he deserved this, when he had missed out on so much already in their daughter’s life.

“You asked me that before,” she said.

“And you didn’t answer, so I’m asking again.”

“Should you be focused on me? Margaret’s condition is—”

“Not going to change if I spend time with you and Nerea.”

Janae sat straighter. “Do you hate her?”

He was quiet a minute. “I can’t say I don’t. My brother is a hardass. He’s selfish, and all he can see before him is his own goals. Yet, I sometimes see snatches of humanity in him. In Margaret, I’ve never seen it. She didn’t keep us apart because she worried about me and my future. She did it because it didn’t fit her plan and her image. Even while she was having a heart attack she tried to get me to deny my baby. I should despise her.”

“Then I don’t want to add fuel to the fire.”

He stroked a hand over her hair. “You’re too good. You should hate both of them.”

“Trust me, I do, but I also, um, care about you.” She didn’t know why she stumbled over admitting it. Maybe because the awfulness of four years seemed to crumble in a few short moments. There were times she felt like the space between Matt and her was as thick as a bank vault’s door, and just as solid.

“Tell me,” he said. “I can’t relax until I know it all. I was prepared to beat it out of Kyler, but you don’t want that.”

“Because of you not him. Okay, I’ll tell you. Margaret said if I didn’t stop seeing you, she would take away all your money. She said she would fire you, and that you don’t own anything in her company. You would be penniless. I told her I didn’t care. We would make do.”

“First of all, that’s a lie.”

Janae’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I owned considerable shares in her company. The day Kyler played that recording, I started proceedings to sell them. Even still, the cost left me with a fortune.”

She shook her head. “I can’t understand y’all.”

He grinned down at her. “Everything I have is yours and Nerea’s. What else? You said you wouldn’t leave me if I was poor.”

“I wouldn’t have.” She looked away from his smile because it set her on fire. For the last two days since Matt insisted they all stay at his house, Janae had shared a guest room with Nerea. Matt didn’t pressure her, but he’d been back and forth to the hospital. She didn’t think he hated Margaret as much as he wanted to.

“Janae?”

She stirred from her reverie. “Margaret influenced a major client of my dad’s to back out of their deal. We needed that account bad because the company was in trouble. There was also this couple who’ve been with my dad from the beginning. Margaret had a whole file on the company and its status. She said she would make sure the business crumbled.”

Matt swore. “All of those burdens were dumped on you. It’s not fair that you were made to take responsibility when your dad should have—”

“Don’t talk about my dad.”

Matt’s eyes narrowed. “He should have taken responsibility! Whether you want to acknowledge it or not. He should have run out and found a buyer for his company or filed for bankruptcy, not let you throw your life away.”

“You don’t know anything about my dad!” She jumped to her feet. “You don’t know what he’s been through.”

He stood to face her. “No, I know what
we’ve
been through. You and me.” He then pointed to Nerea. “And what she has. He told me you didn’t want me and that you were seeing me for the money.”

“Because I asked him to back up my story. He didn’t want to, but I pushed him.”

“How hard, Janae?” He grasped her arms and gave her a shake. “How hard did you push to get your dad to choose his fucking company over his own daughter?”

“You’re blaming my dad?” She had started to shout. “What about your blood-sucking family?”

“I’m not letting them off the hook, but you’re not going to stand there and act like your dad was just as much of a victim as you were.”

Janae spun away. “You know what, I was wrong to stay here. We’re leaving.”

“The hell you will.” His voice dropped low and dangerous. Janae glanced over her shoulder at him, startled by his tone.

She was surprised to find all the anger had drained from his face. His expression turned solemn, but the tightness in his jaw said he was determined not to let her go. “You ran away before, but I’m not letting you go again. The sooner you realize that, the better.”

“So what, am I a prisoner now?”

He walked over to her and grasped her arms. Gently, he ran his hands up and down them. “No, you’re the woman I love, and I will fight for you, Janae. I will fight with everything inside me. All I’m trying to do is make you see that you can’t take on the burdens of others in exchange for throwing away your own life. If you don’t see that, you’ll disappear again when some other threat arises. Don’t you get it?”

She suddenly did get it. Not just her, but she and her dad had been giving beyond what they could bear emotionally. All for his business and for the people who worked for him. No one wanted to let down the people who depended on them, and it would hurt to lose a company after spending years building it up. What did it matter if the company prospered when she couldn’t see her dad and she couldn’t live her life as she chose? If Matt had never been in that accident, would she have been exiled from home until her dad passed? The thought scared her, and yet, four years ago, her decision seemed like the logical one for all involved.

“I see your point, but I’m not going to blame my dad. He was hurt in all this, too.”

“We agree to disagree. I want you to stay, beautiful.”

A small body wriggled between them. “Papi, are you mad at Mommie?”

Matt bent down and lifted Nerea into his arms. “No, baby. Mommie and I had a disagreement, but we made up. Didn’t we, Mommie?”

She rolled her eyes at him behind Nerea’s back. “Yes, pumpkin. Don’t worry.”

Janae kissed her little girl’s cheek and tickled her. Nerea threw herself to Matt’s chest. “
Ayuadame, Papi
.”

“Papi can’t help you, pumpkin. I’m going to eat you up.”

Nerea screamed. Her high-pitched voice had Janae’s ears ringing, and Matt covered her mouth with his hand. “Papi will save you if you don’t burst his eardrums first.”

Nerea laughed. The little scamp knew what she’d done.

Later that evening, while Matt and Nerea played in the family room on the lower level of his house, Janae helped Maria prepare dinner. Matt had given his maid a few nights off, and he couldn’t understand why Janae would help Maria cook. She wrote him off as a spoiled rich man and helped anyway.

“Mm, I outdid myself with this
samfaina
sauce.
Esta delicioso
, Maria.”

When the maid didn’t answer, Janae turned around to see what she was doing. She started to find Matt standing behind her. “Can I have a taste?”

She pursed her lips. “You don’t look like you’re talking about my sauce.”

“I wouldn’t mind tasting your sauce, too.”

“Perv.”

He tugged her to him with a hand around her waist. “Is it perverse to love every part of your body? You’re the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with after all.”

“Matt, don’t.”

He frowned. “Why? We’ve settled things, Janae. There’s nothing to stop you from being my wife.”

“You still want me to marry you after all this time? If you think you have to because of Nerea then—”

He kissed her, cutting off her words and then raised his head to run a thumb over her lips. Her nipples tightened, and she was pretty sure her panties were on their way to being ruined. Ah well, she was at his house, and she had brought extra clothing.

“I love you,” he said, his gaze locked onto hers. “I haven’t stopped in all this time.”

“You thought I bribed your brother and grandmother.”

“True, but I was also fully convinced I could change your mind about taking the money and running. Had I found you.”

For a moment, she saw pain in his expression. What he must have suffered when she disappeared, it hurt thinking about. Back then she’d seen no other way out of the mess. Matt was right. She should have trusted him enough to talk to him. For so long, it had been her dad and her, and they had struggled together. On top of that, her dad was the sensitive type, and so was Matt. Often, she felt she had to take on more responsibility just to keep her dad on the right path. She’d been wrong to think Matt was as weak as her dad.

“At the very least I should have realized you’re a better businessman,” she said, lost in her thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing.” She wasn’t going to admit to him that she’d thought he was weak. In his own way, Matt was far more obsessed with her than her dad had been with her mother. That’s what led to his accident. Now, she believed it might have taken him longer, but he would have come out of his cloud of heartache if he hadn’t gotten hurt. “Matt, will you love me the rest of my life?”

“I promise I will.”

“You can’t make that promise.”

“Were you expecting another answer?”

She grinned. “No, I wasn’t, but I’m scared.”

He touched his forehead to hers. “My love, don’t be afraid. I will grow stronger and protect you.”

“You’re plenty strong now. In fact, you’re amazing. I love you, and I always will.”

He raised her off her feet and claimed her lips. Janae wrapped her arms around his neck and surrendered her mouth. She moaned as she sucked on his tongue, and he chased after hers, sending chills of delight all through her body.

Maria wandered in fussing in Spanish about the food. Janae tried to get down from Matt’s arms, but he just shuffled them aside and kept on kissing her. She let the embarrassment melt away and enjoyed every second in his embrace.

After a few moments, he set her on her feet and guided her from the kitchen holding her hand. Janae willingly followed him. Her heart raced until she felt dizzy. She couldn’t stop staring at him even if it was the back of his head, his wide shoulders, and yeah, that sexy ass. She wanted to see him naked and just look.

And look and taste and look…

They ended up in the family room where Nerea played with her toys on the carpet. Outside the double doors leading to the patio, the sun was setting. A slight chill was in the air as the season slipped into autumn. Janae shivered.

“Would you like me to start a fire?” Matt offered.

“Isn’t it too warm for that?”

“Here in the family room it gets chilly early. Just a small one.”

He moved from her side, and she wanted to call him back. At the grate in front of the fireplace, he grabbed a wand lighter from the mantel. Nerea shot to his side when he clicked the wand. Janae started to warn her to get back, but Matt was faster. He encircled her little body with a strong arm and scooted her farther away from the fire. Instead of just commanding her to move, he explained the danger of the fire, how the fireplace worked, and why it was important for him to handle lighting it.

Janae wasn’t sure Nerea understood everything he said, but tears sprung to her eyes. She tried to sniff without calling attention to herself. Matt was instinctively a good daddy. She couldn’t ask for a better husband, and she would be crazy to turn him down. Fear still gripped her that his family would do something to keep them apart, but she was no longer willing or able to handle the burden of their manipulation. If they tried anything again, she would talk to Matt, and they would figure it out together.

“Hey,” she said when he rejoined her on the couch and snuggled her to his side.

“Yeah?”

“You sure you want to marry me?” She bit her lip. Why the hell was she nervous when he had never stopped asking her?

“Absolutely. If you want, I can arrange for us to do it this week.”

“Hold your horses, pal.” She shook her head in disbelief. “On second thought, what the hell? Yeah, let’s do it this week. I’ve waited long enough for you, and you have for me.”

“Me, too, Mommie. I’m waiting,” Nerea said, loud as if she spoke through a bullhorn.

Janae laughed. “You don’t know what we’re talking about, silly.”

Nerea ran over to them and stood with her chest out. “I do. We’ve been waiting for Papi. Right, Papi?”

Matt got a dopey look on his face as he stared at their little girl. “Yes, baby. You’ve been waiting for me, and now I’m here. I won’t ever go away again.”

“Promise?” she demanded, climbing onto his lap.

“Yup, promise.”