Chapter 106 Important Documents
Greyson
"My Father sent through important documents it has to do with me acquiring a board seat in your company."
" After last night the last thing I want to do is discuss business . "
I set the documents from Hunter Maritime aside without opening them, my hands trembling slightly as I placed the manila envelope on Cassie's counter. Whatever corporate business our families were orchestrating could wait. Right now, the only thing that mattered was the woman beside me, the way her dark eyes searched my face for reassurance.
" Okay . "
The morning light streaming through her floor-to-ceiling windows painted everything in soft gold, transforming her minimalist bedroom into something ethereal. Cassie sat cross-legged on the rumpled sheets, wearing nothing but a thin black tank top that clung to her curves, the soft cotton falling to her mid-thigh. Her hair was tousled from sleep and our earlier conversation, and there was a vulnerability in her expression that made my chest tight with emotion.
"You're staring," she said softly, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
"I'm memorizing," I replied, reaching out to tuck a strand of her curly hair behind her ear. "In case this is all a dream and I wake up alone in some hotel room."
She caught my hand and pressed it against her cheek. "It's not a dream, Grey. I'm here. We're here."
The simple words carried so much weight. After everything we'd been through my mother's interference, the lies, the revelations about Vivian,we were still here, still choosing each other despite the odds stacked against us.
I leaned forward and kissed her, soft and reverent, tasting the coffee I made earlier and something indefinably sweet that was purely Cassie. She melted against me, her arms winding around my neck, and for a moment the world outside her bedroom ceased to exist.
When we broke apart, she rested her forehead against mine. "Tell me what you're thinking."
"I'm thinking that I've been an idiot," I said honestly. "Running away every time things got complicated instead of fighting for what I wanted. Fighting for you... For us "
"You're here now."
"I am. I'm not going anywhere again." I cupped her face in my hands, thumbs brushing across her cheekbones. "Cassie, I need you to know that whatever my family has done, whatever schemes they've cooked up,I'm not part of it. My feelings for you, what's between us,it's real. It's the most real thing in my life."
Tears gathered in her eyes. "I know. I can see it when you look at me."
"What do you see?"
"Everything," she whispered. "I see a man who's been hurt, who's learned to protect himself by keeping people at arm's length. I also see someone who's brave enough to love despite the risk."
Her words undid something inside me. I pulled her closer, needing the contact, needing the reassurance of her warmth against me. We moved together slowly, tenderly, like we had all the time in the world instead of borrowed moments before reality intruded again.
Her fingers traced the thick, ropy scar that marred my shoulder a permanent reminder of the warehouse fire that should have killed me. "Tell me about this scar again ..."
"The warehouse fire ," I said, my voice dropping. "I was trapped under a fallen beam, couldn't move. The smoke was so thick I couldn't breathe." I caught her hand and brought it to my lips. "Your father kicked through a burning wall to get to me. Carried me out over his shoulder while the ceiling collapsed behind us."
She went still beneath my touch. "He never told me that part. I only knew he saved you when you were disobedient to your Father . You were also in a state."
"He wouldn't. That's not the kind of man he is." I traced the line of her jaw. "He saved my life that day, Cass. I've carried this scar as a reminder that sometimes second chances are possible. I'm still with you . "
Her hand stilled on my chest. "I'm sorry you went through that."
"It changed me. Made me realize how fragile everything is. How quickly it can all be taken away." I shrugged. "Maybe that's why I became a doctor. To fix what I could, while I could."
"You didn't fail, Grey. You can't save everyone."
"I couldn't save anyone," I said bitterly. "Not Vivian, not Emma, not even myself for the longest time."
She shifted, moving to straddle my lap, her hands framing my face. "You saved me."
"What?"
"That night at Isabella's birthday party, when you found me crying in the garden. I was drowning, Grey. My marriage to Dante had just ended, I was with Jake just for show.I felt humiliated and used, and I was starting to believe that maybe I was unlovable. Then you sat with me, and you listened, and you made me laugh despite everything." Her voice was soft but certain. "You saved me from giving up on love entirely even though I was taken it felt good to talk . Then you built a wall. I understood why."
I stared at her, overwhelmed by the generosity of her words. "Cassie..."
"You saved me again when you came back. When you chose to fight for us instead of running away." She leaned down and kissed me, sweet and sure. "So don't tell me you can't save anyone... "
Something broke open in my chest then it was not breaking apart, but breaking free. All the guilt and self-recrimination I'd carried for years seemed to crack under the weight of her faith in me. I rolled us over gently, settling between her thighs, needing to show her what her words meant to me.
We made love with a desperate tenderness, mapping each other's bodies like explorers charting new continents. Every touch was a promise, every kiss a vow. When she arched beneath me, my name on her lips like a benediction, I felt something I'd thought was lost forever—hope for a future I'd stopped believing I deserved.
Afterward, we lay tangled together, her head on my chest, my fingers combing through her curls . The morning sun had climbed higher, sending shafts of light across the hardwood floors, but neither of us seemed inclined to move.
"What happens now?" she asked quietly.
"Now I find the best divorce lawyer in the country and we track down Vivian. I don't care how long it takes or how much it costs I'm going to be free to marry you properly."
She lifted her head to look at me. "Marry me?"
"If you'll have me. I know we've got obstacles to overcome, and our families are going to fight us every step of the way, but..."
She silenced me with a kiss. When she pulled back, there were tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. "Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes, I'll marry you, Greyson O'Malley. After you're officially divorced and we figure out how to keep our families from destroying each other in the process."
I laughed, spinning her around until she was breathless and giggling. "I love you, Cassandra Hunter. I love your laugh, and your stubborn streak, and the way you make me want to be better than I am."
"I love you too," she said, settling back into my arms. "Even if you do have terrible timing and a family that makes the Borgias look functional."
"Hey, your family isn't exactly a Norman Rockwell painting either."
"True. We're quite a pair, aren't we?"
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo mixed with the lingering fragrance of our lovemaking. "We're perfect for each other."
We dozed for a while, wrapped in each other and the golden morning light. When I woke, Cassie was tracing patterns on my chest, her expression thoughtful.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"I'm thinking about Emma," she said softly. "What was she like?"
The question caught me off guard, but not painfully. Usually, talking about Emma felt like tearing open an old wound, but with Cassie's head on my chest and her finger drawing lazy circles on my skin, the memory felt... gentler somehow.
"She was fearless," I said, smiling at the recollection. "We used to joke that Emma got my stubborn streak but none of my common sense. She would climb anything, jump off anything, challenge anyone to a race.she came before Liam." My voice grew thick. "She had these enormous blue eyes bigger than mine—and she'd use them to get away with murder. One look at me with those eyes and she could talk me into extra bedtime stories or ice cream for breakfast."
"She sounds wonderful."
"She was. She used to tell people she was going to be a doctor like Daddy, but she was going to specialize in fixing broken hearts because that was the most important kind of doctor." I had to stop for a moment, overwhelmed by the sweetness of the memory. "God, I miss her."
Cassie's arms tightened around me. "She sounds like she had an amazing father."
"I tried to be. I was working so much, always at the hospital. I missed her first steps because I was delivering twins. I missed her first words because I was in surgery. I kept thinking there would be time later to be the dad she deserved."
"There's no perfect balance, Grey. Every parent struggles with that."
"Maybe. I can't help thinking that if I'd been there more, if I'd paid better attention to what Vivian was going through..." I shook my head. "The guilt is a hell of a thing."
"It is, it doesn't have to define you forever." She lifted herself up to look at me directly. "Emma knew you loved her. That's what matters."
I studied her face, seeing only compassion and understanding. "How are you so wise?"
"Years of therapy and a really good psychiatrist," she said with a wry smile. "Seriously, though losing someone you love that way, especially a child... there's no timeline for grief, there's also no rule that says you can't be happy again."
"Is that what this is? Happiness?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
I considered the question seriously. For so long, happiness had seemed like a foreign concept, something other people experienced but that was forever out of my reach. But lying here with Cassie, feeling her breath against my skin, seeing the future we might build together despite all the obstacles...
"Yeah," I said, surprised by the certainty in my voice. "I think this might be happiness."
She smiled and kissed me again, and I marveled at how something so simple could feel so revolutionary. We had a long road ahead of us,legal battles, family drama, corporate intrigue—but for the first time in years, I believed we could weather whatever storms were coming.
We had each other. And sometimes, that's enough to start rebuilding a life from the ashes of what came before.
" Other parts of me still need servicing by the way . " Cassie giggled. " You're good."
" Are you saying what I think you're saying? " She nodded
" Let's go again."