Billionaire's Inheritance Bride(12)

     



 

"C'mon Lacey. Let's go get Marie."

***

Marie sat in her dressing room, a frown on her face. She felt numb, even  here, where she felt the most at home. Try as she might, she couldn't  keep her mind off of the events of the last week. She sighed and combed  through her hair. "I wonder what he's doing … " She whispered to herself,  looking down at her hands.

Is he thinking of me? Was it all for nothing? Maybe it really was just a  job. She sighed, resting her head on her arms. Maybe love really  doesn't matter.

"Showtime in fifteen minutes!" The stage manager called.

Marie sighed again and got up. As she did, she was suddenly spun around.  A pair of familiar brown eyes looked into hers. Her eyes grew big as  she looked at Adam, her heart rampaging. Abruptly, she yanked herself  away.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"I came back." He was breathless, and his eyes sparkled in a way she'd  never seen. "You were right. I love you, I was just too afraid to admit  it. I didn't think I was ready for the commitment, but now I know I  can't live without you." He looked into her eyes, taking a step forward,  trying to close the distance between them.

"I heard what you said. That you love me. You can't lie and tell me you  haven't missed me too. So please, come back to our family." He pleaded  with her, his dark eyes sincere.

Marie hesitated for a moment. She wasn't sure if she could trust him  again, but as she looked down at Lacey, the girl suddenly lunged  forward, hugging her tightly. "Please come home! I miss you! We both  miss you!" She pressed her face into the woman's legs, waiting for an  answer. Marie's lips turned into a smile.

"Only on a few conditions" Marie demanded, and taking Adam by surprise.

"What conditions, Marie?" asked Adam.

"You will wake up on time every morning to have breakfast with Lacey and me. Do you agree?"

" Yes, I love that condition!" Lacey joined in as she giggled and looked at Marie.

" Are you serious? Okay, Okay! God" gasped Adam. He hated to wake up early.

"Alright one more. Every evening you're going to take Lucey and I for ice cream in the park" said Marie pointing at Adam.

"Yes!!!" screamed Lucey with a wide smile that went ear to ear.

"Are you serious? Ice cream every day? That's not even good for you?" Adam responded candidly.

" Yes or no, Adam?"

"Okay, Okay it's a yes! If that keeps both my girls happy" said Adam as he pulled Marie towards him in a tight embrace.

Marie couldn't stop herself as she leaned forward, her lips coming into  contact with Adam's, letting her emotions fly. Everything seemed to  finally fit into place.

" I love you Marie. I love you so much," said Adam looking right into  Marie's beautiful eyes and feeling each one of those words from his  heart.

Lacey looked up at them. "Does that mean you're going to live with us again?" Lacey asked, hopeful.

"Yes. Now and forever."





THE END





BONUS STORY 2 ON NEXT PAGE





2. Quarterback's Convenient Bride

The ball spun around in the air, twisting and turning. The crowds  chanted. Bodies bruised against each other in a crunching struggle for  ascendancy. Pinpoints of light flickered throughout the stadium as  journalists and fans alike photographed the drama in all its bone  crunching, sweat dripping glory.

While the noise of the opposing players shouting, and the crowds  screaming was deafening, Claudio felt a calmness inside. In his mind, as  he stood on that field, the world melted away. All that mattered was  winning the game, and nothing could stop him in his pursuit of that.

He leaped up into the air towards the ball. To Claudio it played out in  slow motion, but to the rest of the world it was fast, kinetic, and done  in the blink of an eye. With a deft touch, he caught the ball in  mid-air, with three opponents around him.



As he landed on the ground, the change began. For most receivers this  would have been a dead end. No way to outrun, or outmaneuver that many  players to make a touchdown; but Claudio wasn't any ordinary player, nor  was he any ordinary man.         

     



 

Flashes of his life entered his mind as his feet touched the ground. He  saw the city streets he was born to in his home city of Rio De Janeiro.  He remembered watching his father come home each day with the weight of  the world on his shoulders, doing any job, no matter how menial, to put  food on the table for his family. Claudio saw in his mind the day he  came home to tell his father that he'd won a scholarship to an American  college. How proud his father had seemed, how he'd reveled in his son's  successes. All the pain, all the training, all the years of living in  the shadows, now at this moment, with the game finely balanced, he had a  chance to make a name for himself and win the division for his team.

As he pushed off with his right foot, holding onto the ball tightly, it  began. He felt it deep within his calves and thighs. The tendons and  muscles grew within moments, expanding out to create thicker legs  underneath his football pants. Though they were hidden, Claudio could  feel them as the hairs grew out through the skin, coating his legs in a  blanket of black ape-like hairs.

This process was not painful, but exhilarating. The change had occurred,  and it was now time for Claudio to show his true nature.

He surged forward at a speed no normal human could muster. His explosive  power took his opponents by surprise as they attempted to grab hold of  him and stop his momentum. With a subtle feint, he moved out of the way  of one large, hulking player who dived towards Claudio; but Claudio was  just too fast, his athletic ability matched only by his intellectual  prowess - he was just as quick in his mind as he was on the field.

The large figure crashed to the ground as Claudio left him in a sea of  dust, grass and soil. The last two players who could have possibly  stopped him were running as fast as they could; but no one could keep up  with him. Even a world champion runner would have struggled to match  Claudio's speed.

Everything was floating in slow motion, and the outside world, that  place of cars and planes and financial worries melted away further into  the recesses of Claudio's mind. This was when he was most free, like an  uncaged bird, soaring above and finally unleashed on the world.



Claudio saw the goal line come into view. No one was near him now, and  as he neared his goal, he thought of his father again, and of how proud  he would be of his son. That was all Claudio wanted in the world. He'd  always been given love, but to make his family proud and lift them out  of poverty in doing so, that was the dream to which he aspired.

A wave of noise filtered through the air, as Claudio let the outside  world back into his awareness. Just for a moment. He wanted to savor  this moment, as he knew that it would change his life forever.

The anticipation was palpable. Each feverish stride pounded on the  ground as his heart answered in kind. As he crossed the goal line, he  slammed the ball onto the ground and looked up, not to the sky, but to  where his father was sitting in the stadium.



Thousands cheered Claudio's name. The final whistle sounded, and the  place went wild. His teammates ran to his side and lifted him up on  their shoulders. But none of that mattered. There was only one person's  applause that he sought.

As Claudio was carried away through a rain of confetti and to the sound  of music, he never took his eyes off of the stand where his family sat.  Finally he saw them, his father clapping and on his feet, his grey hair  ruffled by a breeze. It was a sight Claudio would never forget, one he  would turn to when times were rough.

And so Claudio was happy. Yet dark clouds were brewing ahead, and soon  those scenes of joy would be lost in an uncertain cloud of pain, loss,  and love.

***

Two years had passed almost as quickly as Claudio could run. In that  time the New York Giants had snapped him up. They'd been floundering for  the previous few years, but Claudio had taken the league by storm,  winning them the NFC and a Super Bowl in the process, almost single  handedly.

His face was known throughout the USA. Posters adorned walls, books were  being written about his rags to riches story, and legions of fans  followed his exploits as he was now generally accepted as the world's  greatest competing sports person. It was a great time for Claudio and  his family. He had been able to lift his family out of a slum and buy  them a fantastic house in a more prosperous area of Rio De Janeiro, even  a villa on the outskirts of New York. He had been able to help his  brother, Cristiano, not only by buying him and his wife a house also,  but having him work as an advisor on his training team.         

     



 



More than all of that, however, was the pride his father had in his  son's exploits. Wherever he went he wore his son's team colors it  brought him even more joy than it did Claudio.