The Langfield Brothers: Box Set

54. Millie

FIFTY-FOUR

MILLIE

“You sure you don’t want me to take Vivi?”

The Bolts don’t have a game tonight, and after practice this morning, Gavin came home, declaring he’d taken the rest of the day off.

If I hadn’t already made plans, I’d be up for snuggling with my two favorite people all day and soaking in the quiet time.

Gavin sets Vivi on a blanket on the floor with her toys and steps up close, placing his hands on my waist. “Nah, I like having her here.”

I frown, and my shoulders sag. “I wish I could hang with you guys, but I promised I’d meet Sara.” I pull my phone from my pocket and unlock the screen. “Better order the Uber now.”

“Take the Bugatti.”

A little shot of glee courses through me. “Your fancy Batman car?”

He laughs. “I haven’t driven it since Vivi. I should really sell her. Poor thing needs to be driven.”

I swat at his arm. “Aw, your poor baby girl isn’t getting our attention.”

Gavin rolls his eyes like the car is nothing but an afterthought. In reality, before Vivi came along, it was his obsession. I was almost jealous.

“Seriously, take it. I’m not going anywhere today. Your father will be here at three. Do you want to be here for that or …?”

My stomach knots as the words hang heavy in the air between us. “Should I?”

Gavin blows out a breath. “Honestly, I think it would help if I talked to him alone first.”

“I’m nervous he’s going to hurt you.”

Gavin’s response is a scoff and an arched brow.

“He’s very strong, you know,” I tease. “But really,” I say, sobering, “I don’t want this to ruin your relationship.”

“I don’t either,” he says, brushing a hand down my arm and circling my wrist. “But in the end, the relationship I’m most concerned about—after ours, of course—is the one you have with your dad. You and Vivi are my priority. Everyone else comes after you two.”

My heart aches at the sincerity in his voice. Eyes watering, I cling to him. “Gav.”

Cupping my cheeks, he kisses me softly. When he pulls back, he stares at me quietly, his eyes saying so much. About how deep his feelings for me run. About what he wants for us in the future. My heart beats a tattoo against my breastbone in anticipation of the words I think are on the tip of his tongue. But when he shakes his head, I release the breath I’m holding, only slightly disappointed. It’s not time yet.

But then he mutters, “Fuck it,” and a smile ghosts his lips. “Every time I’ve felt like I’m toeing the line with you—worried that I’m pushing too far but do it anyway—it’s turned out right. Those things that my mind questions but my heart wants?” He rakes a hand through his hair. “The moment I realized you were a virgin, right before I decided to take you anyway, promising myself I’d make it good, that no one else would care the way I did, no one else would deserve you. When you cried on the beach and begged for someone to see you, in my head, I questioned whether kissing you was wrong. My heart, though? It was positive that anything that ended with my lips on yours was right.”

He grasped both of my hands and squeezed, his expression so full of warmth.

“When you told me you couldn’t stop thinking about me and my mind screamed that Paris was the worst idea because I could never really have you, but my heart couldn’t imagine spending another night not beating beside you…”

Tears crest my lashes and cascade down my face unchecked.

He shakes his head and swipes at them with his thumbs. “Every moment that mattered in my life may have seemed wrong at first, but my heart knew. And right now, my heart is telling me to do this before you walk out the door. It may be anticlimactic, and it isn’t anywhere close to what I planned, but I couldn’t have planned you if I was the greatest architect in the world. You are a glorious surprise. The eighth wonder of the world. My Roman empire. The love of my life.”

He presses another kiss to my lips, chest heaving and hands trembling.

“I love you, Millie Hall. You are the greatest fuck-it moment come to life.”

I sob out a laugh. “Gavin, I?—”

He presses his mouth to mine. “After,” he rasps.

I pull back, frowning, but he clasps my hands and holds them tight.

“Tell me after I’ve gotten your father’s blessing. After I’ve shown you how much I love you. After I’ve earned your forgiveness by being honest with your father.”

Warmth wraps around my heart, holding it in a precious embrace. “You already have my forgiveness.”

A loud breath escapes him. “It feels so good to hear that. But I don’t have my own. I need to make this right. With everyone. Then I want to hear you say it. I’ll need to hear it. But just—after. When I deserve it.”

This man. How can he not believe that he deserves it? He still doesn’t think he’s earned my love after the way he treated me when I came home from Paris. But love doesn’t work that way. At least mine doesn’t. It’s freely given, and it’s not based on preconditions or standards.

People make mistakes. They fail. Stumbling along the way is part of the journey. It’s okay to love them when they’re at their worst so long as I love myself enough to walk away if that love becomes toxic.

This love isn’t toxic, though. Gavin is my champion. My partner. It just took us a little time to get here.

I kiss him one more time and leave it at that. He needs to do this his way. But with my lips, through my kiss, I tell him exactly how I feel. I love him unconditionally. And I always will.

I wander the halls of Langfield Corp, in awe, as Gavin’s former secretary, Stacey, leads me to Sara’s office.

She pauses in front of a door and knocks. “I’ll leave you here, but if you need anything, stop by my office on the way out.”

“Thanks,” I reply as she strides away.

I’m still turned, surveying the hall, when the door swings open and I’m dragged into the office by a pink flash.

“What the hell?” I say as I steady myself.

“I said the same thing when this loud, bossy woman showed up here and told me she was joining us for lunch,” Sara says, pointing toward said loud, bossy woman, also known as Lennox Kennedy, who is beaming like a lunatic.

Behind her is a woman I haven’t met. She has vibrant red hair and she’s dressed in all cream. Her lips are pinched, as if she can’t quite find her bearings. She’s lovely, with keen green eyes. She’s clearly scrutinizing me silently, trying to read me without saying hello.

“Don’t lie and say you aren’t excited to see me,” Lennox teases as she pulls me in for a hug.

“Am I supposed to lie and pretend I didn’t see you yesterday?” I say, not nearly quiet enough to ensure the other women don’t hear.

She scoffs as she releases me. “No, I told Sara the truth.”

I wave at the quiet woman behind her, and she says a muted hello.

“You didn’t tell the truth,” Sara quips, but her lips are tipped up in a smile. Her blue eyes are bright when she turns to me. “Caught her walking out of my bedroom naked as the day she was born when I stopped in to pick up a couple of things.”

“Yeah, a couple of your ‘toys.’” Lennox holds up a hand, pantomiming a rather large phallic-shaped item. “Don’t let that innocent blonde persona fool ya, Millie. The girl’s a freak in the bedroom.”

Sara licks her lips and shrugs.

“Why were you naked?” the girl sitting in the corner asks in the most beautiful lilt. She’s got a raspy voice that sounds a bit like an angel.

Lennox props herself up against Sara’s desk with a humph . “I don’t like wearing clothes when I’m at home.” She runs her hands down her body, as if she’s on display. “This all takes a lot of work.”

I cough out a laugh. This girl is the opposite of modest. Lennox is bold in her personality and her wardrobe. Right now she’s dressed in a hot-pink wrap top that accentuates her breasts and shows off a strip of her stomach. She’s paired it with white-washed jeans that have more holes in them than fabric. Combine that with her hot-pink hair and glossy lipstick, and she’s one hell of a sight. The woman demands attention, and I’m happy to give it to her.

Sara snorts. “Key words being at home . That isn’t your home, it’s mine.”

“Please, you’ll be married and popping out little hockey player babies any day now. You don’t need an apartment on the singles floor.”

Sara turns a shade of rosy pink. “Don’t give Brooks any ideas.”

Lennox lifts her chin and assesses her. “Like anyone needs to put that idea into his head. He’s got googly eyes and dreams galore when it comes to you.”

A brunette in sky high heels, a black pencil skirt, and a green tapered shirt appears in the doorway, causing us all to turn.

“It has been a day . Beckett is on the warpath because Cortney put a bucket of blue glitter above his door, and when he walked in, poof ”—she holds her hands up and flashes her fingers like a fireworks display—“the man is a walking, talking Lisa Frank art project. I need lunch, and by lunch, I mean alcohol—oh my god,” the woman says, her cheeks flaming. “There are a lot of people in here.”

Sara stands and plucks her purse off her desk. “Hannah, this is Millie, Gavin Langfield’s girlfriend and Daniel Hall’s sister?—”

The way she arches her brows and emphasizes my brother’s name piques my curiosity. Lips pressed together, I study Hannah. What’s the deal there? But then the other part of that sentence registers, and I choke on air.

“G-girlfriend?” I gape.

It’s true, yeah, but we’ve yet to use that label. Plus, I had no intention of going public with our relationship until Gavin talked to my father.

Sara shoos me out the door. “Please, everyone saw you two holding hands at the family skate yesterday. Cat’s out of the bag, Mills.”

“And you know what they say about pussy,” Lennox adds.

The redhead’s eyes bulge, and Sara hisses.

“We don’t say pussy in the office,” Sara says. Then, in a louder voice, she adds, “But yes, once you’ve let that bitch out into the wild?—”

Hannah slaps a hand over her mouth. “Can’t say bitch either.”

“Duck is an excellent replacement,” a bedazzled Beckett Langfield says as he strolls by, hands in his pockets, full of swagger, as if he isn’t reflecting the hallway lights like a blue disco ball. “Now if you’ll excuse me, ladies, I have a bun to duck with.”

“This must be a fun place to work,” Lennox sings as she loops her arm through mine.

Behind us, Sara laughs, the sound echoing down the hall. “You are not working here. Don’t get any crazy ideas.”

Lennox leans in close. “But those are my favorite kind.”

Lunch turns into an afternoon cocktail party, though I stick to club soda since I drove Gavin’s beloved car. Even without the alcohol, I laugh entirely too much as the girls tell story after story about working for Beckett and Gavin. Surprisingly, Lennox tells us a little about her history with Aiden, which even Sara seems surprised about.

The redhead, Ava Erickson, is the head of charity relations for the company. She and I chat quite a bit, since before I came into the picture, she helped Gavin with Vivi. We make plans for her to come over later in the week so she can visit with my girl.

On our way back to the office, I’m feeling lighter than I have in months. Spending my days with Vivi has been far more rewarding than I could have imagined. My relationship will be out in the open in a matter of hours. And now I’ve met a group of wonderful women who I could see becoming my true friends. Women who are kind and caring and uplifting. No more Taylors or Chrishells for me, please.

They all insist we pop into Sara’s office before parting ways, and once we’ve said goodbye, I stride down the hall toward the parking garage, anxious to get home to my family.

Halfway down the hall, I hear Beckett Langfield’s loud voice and decide to stop in to say hello. Not only is he Gavin’s brother, he’s his best friend, as well as one of my father’s, so it’s important to me that we get to know each other and get along.

“And you’re sure this is her?” he says.

Realizing he’s on the phone, I hang back in the hallway, waiting for him to finish.

“Thank you so much. My brother wanted to put his head down and ignore it all, but it’s important that we find Viviane’s mother. I appreciate your help in the matter.”

My heart lodges itself in my throat. Holy shit. He found Vivi’s mom?

“She’ll be there tomorrow?” He pauses for several seconds. “Amazing. I’ll make sure he brings her too.”

He’ll make sure Gavin brings who with him? Viviane?

“No, this is the right thing to do. Gavin wants her to be a mother to Viviane. And Viviane deserves her, not some flake who will disappear the next time things get hard.”

Beckett’s words hit like a slap, and I stagger back, tears filling my eyes.

Gavin has been so concerned that I haven’t forgiven him that neither of us considered that his family may not forgive me.

God, is that what they really think of me? I stumble down the hallway, swiping at tears as I go. I need to get out of here.

So much for being happy.