Chapter 54

“Stop shouting my name. I wouldn’t have married you. I thought I could love you, but it was a lie. Since I was eighteen, I loved them and never stopped.” I saw the elevator open, and Dean stepped out and walked up behind him.

“YOU BECAME THEIR FUCKING WHORE. YOU’RE FUCKING TWO MEN. YOU….”

That was all he got out because Dean grabbed him by the back of his neck. I turned and looked at him. “Why don’t you go ahead and do what you were going to do? We’ll take care of this,” I said.

“Okay, be careful. I’ll be back in a few.”

Dean

She left with Diego, saying she needed to get something. So, I let her. It was five minutes later when Diego texted and said, "Come to the garage." I thought something had happened to her. When I walked out of the elevator and heard him, I didn’t think. I grabbed him by his neck. After she left, I let go of the idiot, and he stumbled to the ground. “I’M PRESSING CHARGES!” he yelled.

“Go right ahead and see if that’ll happen. She’s about to become Mrs. Cavanaugh, one of the wealthiest women in the tri-state area,” Aleck said.
“She can’t have two husbands.”

“No, she can’t. We just need her to marry either of us. She already belongs to us. She always belonged to us. You never had a chance,” I said.
“You’re both fucking her?” He said with a look of horror on his face.

“Hey, that’s what she wants,” Aleck said, smirking.

“Now here is what is going to happen. When you leave here today, you will forget that she exists; she’s a stranger to you from this minute forward,” I said.

“Keep this shit up, and you’ll fucking disappear. We have enough money to make it happen; you’ll end up in a fucking hole in the ground, buried alive. But first, we’ll take everything you hold dear to you and destroy it,” Aleck said, walking towards him, and he started moving backwards.

“You get the idea, now scram,” I said, watching him as he ran out of the garage. I just shook my head.

We headed back up to the apartment, and he showed me the rings. “Do you know where she went?” he asked.
“Nope, she just said she needed to get something.”

She came back close to eight and headed straight to her room to get dressed. We were in the living room waiting for her and Mom. I had Aleck write his half of the proposal for her. He acted like a bitch about it but did it in the end. Mallory and Andrew showed up, and she still wasn’t finished.

“Where’s Layla?”
“You know how women are,” my father said. At the same time, I saw her coming around the corner, and my heart missed a few beats. She looked so beautiful. I found Aleck staring at her too.

“We’ll meet you in the garage,” I said, leading my parents out along with Andrew and Mallory. He would propose to her first in private. He needed that, and so did she. That was what he wanted, and I agreed. Twenty minutes later, they came down, and from her eyes, I could tell she had cried.

Layla

When they all left me and Aleck alone, I was worried. When I heard him say my name and I turned around, I couldn’t help but smile. He was on his knees with the ring box.

“Since we were five years old, we have been inseparable. We did everything together. I knew I fell in love with you; it was one of the worst days of my life. But I couldn’t stop loving you. I have loved you in secret for four years. I watched you become beautiful, smart, caring, kind, compassionate, and loving. When you left, I felt like my world fell apart. I wanted to give up, but I wanted you to be proud of me, so I worked hard. When I saw you again, you were more beautiful than I remembered. I was willing to risk everything just so you would know that I loved you and wanted you to be happy. It took us a while; we’ve had a hell of a lot to deal with, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you, Layla Tavers, always have and always will for the rest of my life and yours. Will you be my wife?”

“Yes, yes, I will,” I said through tears. He put the ring on my right finger. He stood up and looked at me. I opened my purse and took the ring out. I had ordered it too. I grabbed his hand. “I love you, Aleck. I always have and always will for the rest of my life. I may not be able to say to the world that I am yours, but I know, and you know, that my heart belongs to you,” I said, putting the ring onto his left finger.

“I love you too, baby girl; don’t cry, please.”
“I’m sorry, I just never expected a day like this, when this was possible,” I said as he wiped my tears.

“Well, it is. Please don’t cry; Mal and Mom will kill me if they see your eyes like that.”
“Okay.”

When we got down to the garage, they were waiting for us. No one said anything, but from the way Dean looked at me, he knew I was crying. On the drive to the restaurant, they both held my hand. When we got to the restaurant and were about to get out, Aleck let go of my hand, and I was instantly overwhelmed with remorse. Aleck can’t be seen touching me in public. When Dean and I get married, I’ll be known to the public as his sister-in-law. Aleck and Dean got out, but I didn’t.

“Princess, are you okay?”
“What’s wrong, baby girl?”

“Why can’t I just admit that I’m with both of you? Why do I have to do this? How do you think I will feel when I won’t be able to go anywhere with him when people know that I married you, and I’m his sister-in-law?” I said. I couldn’t help but cry.

Dean

I was waiting for it. Aleck and I were waiting for it. I told him she would get to that, and we already knew what to do. I held her hand, and he did the same.

“Baby girl, do you think I’ll be sad about that? I won’t, I promise you. If you want to go out with me, then we will, and I’ll make sure no one knows. I promise you,” he said.
“But it’s unfair,” she said through tears.

“Okay then, we’ll get married quietly and privately only with the people who we trust that way. No one will know anything about who we’re married to,” I said, wiping her cheeks.
“You would do that for me?”

“Layla, we would do anything for you. We just want you with us any way we can. Marrying you is just so you can’t ever leave us, that’s all. Nothing will change after you and Dean get married,” he said.

“You promise?” She asked.
“I promise you, princess, now stop crying, please, or Mom will kill us for making you cry,” I said.
“Okay.”

After we got her to calm down, we got out of the car and headed in. The minute Mom saw us, she looked at us. I just shook my head. After we got seated, we ordered. The three of them were busy talking about the wedding. Throughout the evening, that was all they talked about. Dad was telling us that he and Mom wanted to move down here. We told them to hold off on that for a while while we were looking at houses in a less crowded place. During dessert, I had Mallory distract her. I got the ring and pulled my chair out. I asked Mallory to record the proposal for me. There was a recording of Aleck’s proposal; only he didn’t know.

“Layla,” when she turned and saw me, I could see she was already tearing up.

“Since I was eighteen, I fell in love with you, and that has never changed. Even when you left us, we (I said quietly, only everyone at our table could hear the quiet words) still loved you. And that love hasn’t changed or withered away, and it never will. We always knew you would come back to us one day, and we kept waiting. We would have waited forever just to have you. I love you more than life itself and would do anything for you. I promise, we promise to love you, cherish you, spoil you, protect you, and make you happy for the rest of your life. Will you marry me?”

“Yes, yes, I will.”

I put the ring on her finger. I pulled her to me and kissed her. “I love you, Princess. We’ll be okay; we’ll be happy, all three of us.”

“I love you too, Dean. I love you both so much,” she said quietly. She opened the purse and took the ring out. I looked at her, and she smirked. She was sneaky. It was then that I noticed the restaurant was quiet, and Mallory wasn’t the only one with her phone out. Mom came around and hugged her.

“Thank you for loving these idiots,” she said quietly.