“That makes me so happy,” Elizabeth said, accepting a tissue from Nancy and dabbing her eyes. “For so long I’ve worried that I’m never doing the right thing and that I’m failing her in some way. My parents always seemed to understand Gretchen better than me.”
“She loves you,” Nancy assured Elizabeth. “Would you like to have a few of these?”
Elizabeth nodded. “Thank you so much.”
Nancy smiled. “All right then. Now, onto the dry details.”
They spent the next hour going over the financials, which were easy considering Sutton had already paid the bill for the year.
Elizabeth had enough money to pay for the next five years without breaking a sweat, thanks to Sutton’s first allotment.
Finished, Elizabeth went to find Gretchen.
Clutching the paperwork to her breast, Elizabeth found her sister with a sketchpad, doodling.
“Hi, Gretch.” Elizabeth wanted to hug her but Gretchen didn’t like physical contact and reacted adversely so Elizabeth contented herself with just sitting near her. “I saw your art. It’s beautiful. You’re so talented.”
Gretchen’s gaze flicked to Elizabeth and there was a flash of something that Elizabeth recognized as warmth and she smiled with joy.
Before Rising Dawn, Gretchen had been almost unmanageable. Now, she was creating art and almost smiling.
No matter what the cost, Elizabeth realized she’d made the right decision. She’d do it again.
Removing her own sketchpad from her bag, she settled into the chair and began sketching alongside Gretchen.
For the longest time, the fact that Gretchen was nonverbal was a stumbling block but sketching alongside her sister, Elizabeth realized words had never been necessary.
That realization was a gift Sutton would never know he’d given her.
***
Sutton watched from a discreet vantage point Elizabeth and Gretchen together, two sisters, sketching together without exchanging a single word and he was struck by the bond between them.
A bond he’d never known with his own siblings.
He saw the tenderness in Elizabeth’s gaze, the absolute joy and acceptance, and he realized Elizabeth was the kind of woman he’d never known — selfless.
She’d given herself in exchange for her sister, who could not care for herself, and she’d done it in spite of being afraid, in spite of his demands, and in spite of the moral boundaries he’d required her to cross.
Because Elizabeth was that kind of person.
He’d treated her as he treated all women — disposable — but that’d been his biggest folly.
Elizabeth was anything but disposable.
She was…everything to him.
Sutton swallowed the lump in his throat as a formerly unknown emotion swamped him, threatening to capsize his soul in its wake.
He loved her.
Somehow, somewhere…he’d fallen in love with Elizabeth Downing.
The realization was almost too overwhelming; it threw everything he’d ever known or believed into a tailspin.
Love was a chemical reaction in the brain — if so, he was already addicted.
Love fades so don’t waste your time — every moment with Elizabeth would be worth it.
Love is for people who have to settle — love is for the lucky few who can recognize it.
His cousins had it — they cherished it.
Sutton finally understood that look in Vince’s eyes when Vince saw his wife, Emma — complete and utter adoration.
If Sutton had a mirror right now, he’d see the same expression on his own face.
He fucking adored Elizabeth and everything she was.
And he had from the very beginning.
He’d just been too blind to see what his heart had already known.
But could Elizabeth love him?
He’d done so much damage, created so much pain.
One way to find out, he realized and quietly left Rising Dawn before Elizabeth saw him.
He had work to do.
***
Elizabeth was puzzled by Sutton’s cryptic text message.
However, seeing as his last mysterious message had put her on a private jet to Spain, she wasn’t averse to finding out what the man had up his sleeve this time.
Dressed in her favorite Chantal dress, she took a little extra time with her make up and when the car pulled up to shuttle her to wherever Sutton had arranged, she felt beautiful and confident — two things she never thought would ever be in her wheelhouse.
The car pulled up to Swank and her cheeks flared with the memory of what they’d done in the restroom of this fancy restaurant.
The old Elizabeth would’ve been mortified to show her face, the new Elizabeth just smiled at the exciting memory.
She was directed to the bar where her favorite drink awaited her but Sutton was nowhere to be seen.
Frowning with mild confusion, she accepted the drink and took a fortifying sip.
Suddenly, strong hands encircled her waist and she smiled above the rim of her glass.
“I thought I was being stood up,” she teased and he growled in her ear.
“Never.”
She turned and her smile faltered as her breath hitched.
The man was far too handsome for his own good.
He took her breath away and put her at a disadvantage every time.
But then, Elizabeth was pretty sure he knew that, too.
The cheeky bastard.
“Come.” He offered his arm and she accepted it with a happy smile, delighted by this newly chivalrous version of Sutton.
She sank into the chair with Sutton’s help and he took his place opposite her at the intimate table.
It was then she noticed the sheaf of paper.
“What’s this?” she asked, confused.
Sutton held her gaze for a long moment, then answered, “Your dissolution papers. I’m releasing you.”
A shockwave traveled through her as hurt and confusion replaced her happy feelings. “W-what?”
“I need you to sign here,” he pointed out with a pen “and here. Afterward, I will have the rest of the money wired to your account. Following that…you are no longer…my property.”
She should be happy. This should be news that made her sing with joy.
But instead, a lump of something awful was lodged in her belly.
Tears blinded her but she accepted the pen and quickly scrawled her name in the appropriate places.
“So is this your goodbye dinner?” she asked stiffly, no longer feeling pretty or confident. She’d just been dumped. He chuckled and her gaze flew to his, wounded. “Why are you laughing?”
“The irony, I suppose.”
“Yeah, I guess there’s that,” she admitted glumly.
“I would’ve thought you would be happy to be free of me,” he said.
“Me too.”
“But you’re not?”
She wiped at her eyes. “No,” she murmured, her heart aching.
“And why is that?”
He was going to make her spell it out for him? That was just cruel. A spurt of spirit returned as she answered hotly,
“Because I did the stupidest thing imaginable and fell in love with you!”
Was that relief in his expression? She didn’t have time to question.
“Good.”
The sudden shine in his eyes took her aback. Was Sutton…struggling with something? He pulled a ring case and put it on the table.
“Open it.”
All she could do was stare. What was happening? She reached for the ring box and opened it with shaking fingers.
The biggest fucking diamond she’d ever seen winked at her, nearly blinding with its brilliance and all she could do was stare.
“What is this? I don’t understand…”
Now it was Sutton’s turn to be nervous.
“I’ve done things all wrong with you from the start. I bullied you into an arrangement that I thought I wanted until I realized I didn’t want a puppet, I wanted you. But then, I was lost, trying to make sense of the messages I was getting from my heart when they didn’t mesh with what was in my head. The thing is, Elizabeth, until you, I had no reason to trust women. All my life women have burned me, starting with my own mother, who abandoned all of her children for a better deal. I learned at a young age not to trust. I didn’t realize until I’d already fucked things up that you were cut from a different cloth than the rest of the women I’ve known. You deserved better than I gave you and I’m so sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you. You were right, I took the coward’s way out, pushing you away because I was struggling with what my heart was telling me. I…was an unbelievable asshole when I…”
Pain lanced through her at his admission. She shook her head.
“No details,” she managed to whisper, swallowing hard. God, she couldn’t fucking breathe at the very thought of Sutton being with someone else.
Sutton understood and solemnly promised, “Never again.”
Elizabeth was dumbfounded by his confession.
She was dangerously close to melting in a puddle of her own tears. She’d never seen Sutton so bare, so vulnerable — and it made her fall all the harder.
Sutton was prostrating himself before her, seeking her forgiveness?
Should she admit that she’d already forgiven him, even before this moment? She couldn’t manage the words, her throat had closed.
Her gaze returned to the ring. What was he saying?
“I don’t understand,” she repeated, shaking her head, trying to put things in order in her mind but everything was in beautiful chaos.
He helped remove the ring and gently slid it on her finger.
“You are no longer my property but I would be honored if…” he drew a deep breath “you would be my wife.”