Shattered Vows (The Denton Family Legacy Book 2) (14 page)

They stopped outside of the pharmacy.

“Do you love me?”

“More than anything.”

“I love you, too,” she said. “I love you more than anything. I wish you had told me the truth at the beginning, but I understand why you didn’t.” She pressed a hand to his chest and went on her toes to kiss him. “If you ever keep something like that from me again, I will hurt you.”

He wrapped his arms around her, tugging her close. “Do you want to be pregnant?”

“I want us to be happy, and to be together.”

“We can do that.”

She took a deep breath. “Shall we go and find out?”

An hour later, Harper discovered she was pregnant, and Abel fainted in the damn bathroom.

****

He was the oldest student in his year. Landon sat in the library, glaring down at the book, adjusting his tie that was squeezed so tight around his neck. This school demanded crisp white shirts, ties, and even damn jackets.

This was just torture.

“So you’re the new kid everyone is going on about,” a girl said.

Landon looked up and … fell in love. The girl before him was chubby, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, but he saw the kindness in her eyes. She was a nice person. He just knew it.

“Hey, hello?” She waved her hand, frowning a little. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, um, I’m fine.”

“So you are American. Cool.”

“Landon Denton,” he said, offering his hand.

“Sarah Smith.” Her accent was so sweet. “You’re in year eleven, right?”

“Yeah. They had to put me in the last year.”

“You’re, like, seventeen. Doesn’t it seem odd being at high school with a bunch of young kids?” she said, taking a seat.

“How old are you?”

“Oh, I’m fifteen. I’m a year eleven as well.” She shook his hand.

“I haven’t seen you around.”

“We just got back from a holiday. Went to Cornwall. Dad got permission to take us out of school. Now I’m back, and I’ve got to play catch up.” She tilted her head, looking at him. “You know, I’ve heard some people say you’re a twat, but you seem fine to me.”

He didn’t speak to anyone else.

“Twat?”

“You’ve got to learn to pick up the lingo. Twat, I guess is a little like asshole, or knob, that’s a good one.”

Landon chuckled. “I’m getting there.”

“Oh, that accent,” she said, laughing. “So how are you finding autumn in the UK? Is it to your liking?”

“Not really. It’s wet.”

“It rains a lot.”

The librarian ordered everyone to be silent, and Sarah smiled. “We better be quiet. It’s nice to meet you, Landon.”

He was well and truly fucked.

Where was his luck?

The girl meant for him was a fifteen-year-old British girl. How was he going to go home when she was right here? In that moment, Landon wanted his parents more than anything, and it was his own fault they weren’t there.

****

Abel sat in his father’s office. Damian was collapsed in the chair opposite the main desk, and their father was pacing the office. His brothers were all there. Three babies were coming into the Denton family, two of them with matched couples. Damian had gotten a woman pregnant, and she wasn’t the woman that he loved. There was no connection.

“You want to marry her?” Stuart asked.

“It’s the right thing to do.”

“You don’t even love her.”

“You married Anita,” Damian said.

“I was in love with her, and guess what? It didn’t fucking stick,” Stuart said. “There is this pull. You marry this woman, and I promise you, you’ll live to regret it. Tell him, Maddox.”

Maddox sighed. “What he is doing is very honorable.”

“Fuck honor. In the long term, this is going to hurt everyone involved.”

“What do you expect me to do? Ask her to get rid of it?” Damian asked.

“No!” Maddox said. “Do you think we’re here discussing your upcoming baby with the intention of you trying to get rid of it? You didn’t bag your dick, so don’t you dare expect any woman to get rid of your mistake!”

Abel was really happy he wasn’t Damian right now.

“The condom broke,” Damian said. “What if this legacy thing doesn’t work for me? I could have a good life with Betty. I like her. We’re friends.”

Stuart snorted.

Maddox glared. “You’re still a boy in your own right. One day you will find the woman for you, and then what? You’ll leave Betty? I get what you’re doing, Damian. I do. Marrying Betty is something we would all consider. The problem you have. In five years, ten years, hell, even twenty years, you could meet that woman, and Betty could have fallen in love with you. Will you be willing to break her heart for it?”

Damian shook his head.

“Betty will be part of the family. She will be cared for. Her child will be cherished, as will she. If you marry her, then you marry her. But know this, when you find the woman for you, do not expect us to cut Betty off. It will not happen.”

“Anita is still part of our family,” Stuart said. “It’s painful, but she has a right to be a Denton.”

Abel saw the pain that Stuart, Anita, and Michelle went through every time they were together. It was an emotional pain, and it was one Abel had promised himself never to get involved in.

Once he had finished with the meeting, he left his father’s office, and made his way back to the apartment. Harper was curled up on the sofa, eating a large carton of vanilla ice cream. Whenever she felt sick, the ice cream was the key to easing her stomach.

“Hey, how did it go?” she asked.

He closed the door, removed his jacket, and took a seat beside her. Harper curled up against him. As strange as it sounded, the attack actually did them both good. They were more open now than ever before.

Harper trusted him, and anything she asked him, he told her the truth.

“Damian wants to marry Betty.”

“What about the legacy thing? I know they’re not in love now, but in time, she’d fall for him, and he’d break her heart,” Harper said.

“That’s what my father has warned him about. If he has any sense, he’d leave it all alone, and accept it.” He placed his hand on her stomach. “How are you doing?”

“We’re doing okay. We missed you.” She pressed the spoon to his mouth. “Are you in for the night?”

“Yep. I’m not going out.”

“That’s good, because there’s something I’d like to do.”

She wrapped her hand around his dick, and Abel groaned. “Are you sure?”

“The doctor said we’d be able to. Please, Abel, I want you.”

His woman wouldn’t beg him again. Lifting her up in his arms, he carried her through to their bedroom, where for the rest of the night, he showed her how good it was to be with a Denton.

Epilogue

Summer the following year

Abel held his baby boy in his arms at the same time he watched his wife as she carried the tray of barbecued chicken around.

“Let me hold my grandson,” Brian said.

He laughed, handing over his son to his father-in-law. Molly was there with him, and they both gasped. This was a barbeque celebration for all of the family to welcome the new additions to the family. Lou had given birth to her daughter first, followed by Betty, then by Harper. Damian hadn’t married Betty, even though he wanted to. Abel saw his brother struggle with his need to do the right thing, but also not to offer Betty a promise of a future that might not happen.

Being in the hospital, and witnessing the half an hour birth were the most horrible moments of his life. Harper had been crying out in pain. She’d been crying, and he hadn’t been able to do anything but hold her hand as she screamed through the pain. He would never forget that time.

“When I found out you were a Denton, and the warning we got, I was in shock that Harper had fallen for you. My daughter now, she is glowing in ways I’ve never seen.”

“Brian, honey, I’m going to cry,” Molly said.

An arm wrapped around his waist, and Abel held his wife to him.

“Why are you crying, Mom?” Harper asked.

“I’m a grandmother. I’m allowed to cry. My little girl is a mother herself. Family, it’s all what it’s about, right?”

Harper laughed. “It’s about more than that.”

Their son woke and started crying.

“It’s time for me to change the little guy,” Harper said.

“I did the last diaper. This one is all on you,” Abel said.

She rolled her eyes and left the garden. Brain shook his head, Molly kissed his cheek, and Abel watched them go and join the rest of the family.

“Good day,” Oliver said. “Your son knows how to use those lungs. Never going to happen to me. I’m going to beat this curse.”

“It’s not a curse.”

“Please, you, Jacob, Dad, Stuart, you’re all pussy whipped. It’s not going to happen.”

Abel didn’t bother replying. Glancing toward his father, he saw Landon standing with Rick and his wife, and their parents. Landon was different. Something had changed during his time away, and he was trying to get back to England for some reason.

Pushing all of his worries to the back of his mind, Abel went in search of his wife. He found her in the upstairs bedroom, holding their son. A fresh diaper was on him, and she sang to him.

Entering the room, he walked up behind her, and she leaned against him.

“I love you, Abel. I love our family, and I love our son.”

“You are the most precious gift a man can ask for,” Abel said, kissing her neck.

“Your mother was right. Motherhood, this is my calling.” Harper turned to look at him. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For showing me who I was supposed to me. I’ve finally found my calling, as a mother, your wife, and your partner.” She cupped his cheek, pressing a kiss to his lips. “You make me strong.”

“No, babe. It’s you that makes me strong.”

Staring down at his family, Abel knew this was his future. Harper was his life, and he would do everything in his power to make her happy. She, in turn, gave him the world, making him the happiest Denton to ever live. At least to him, he was the happiest, and Abel was always competing. Always.

The End

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Other Books by Sam Crescent:

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