Chapter 137 Percy

Chapter 137 Percy

Percy’s POV

The morning sun hit the penthouse in a way that brightened my mood. I usually preferred the way the house looked when there was no sun, but not today. It made me appreciate the scene in front of me.

I stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching the two women who had, in the span of forty-eight hours, reorganized my life from the way I was familiar with.

Sloane was sitting at the breakfast bar, hunched over a textbook for her master's program. She looked happier and different without our mother here to bring her down.

Adeline was standing by the espresso machine in one of my oversized dress shirts. She was on the phone, talking to one of the other partners in the office.

"Yes, Charles. The SEC has already confirmed the source of the Vane hack. The firm is completely insulated. In fact, our internal security is being cited as the standard for the quarter." She paused and laughed. "No, I’ll be in at noon. I have a family matter to attend to first."

When she hung up, she had a smile on her face. It was the kind of smile that endeared her to me because she knew she was the only one that could go against me and live to tell the story.

Adeline walked over to me. "Your father-in-law is ecstatic, by the way. He thinks I’m a genius. He has no idea you provided the bait."

"He doesn't need to know," I said, pulling her into my space and ignoring Sloane’s amused stare. "The narrative is set now. No one would dare mess with our families anymore."

"Whitmore-Akilov, I like it."

"You know what this means, baby. It means we don't need to keep things from each other in the name of protection."

She smiled, but I was dead serious. "I can live with that." She risked everything to save my name; that was the least I could do for her.

I released her and sat next to Sloane. She jumped slightly, still not entirely used to my presence, but she didn't pull back.

"I talked to the admissions office at NYU this morning." I said, sliding a folder toward her. "Your credits are transferring. You start in the fall. I’ve also set up a trust for your living expenses." She opened her mouth, but I quickly stopped her. "You deserve it, Sloane."

Sloane opened the folder with tears in her eyes. "Why are you doing this, Percy?" she whispered. "After everything… after what my mother did?"

"Because you chose me first. You didn't give up on me, Sloane. That's someone I want to keep in my corner."

The rest of the morning passed in a way I hadn't thought possible for someone like me. There were no alarms, no frantic calls from Silas, and I had Helen hold all my calls from the office. I wanted a full day off.

Rayna and the others were gone. Their chapter in my life was closed now that they had returned to Boston.

As I stood on the balcony later that afternoon, looking out at the city, Adeline came up behind me. She didn't say anything, just leaned her head against my shoulder in a way that grounded me.

"You're thinking about her," Adeline stated. I was indeed thinking of the woman that had bought me to life.

"I'm thinking about how much time I wasted being angry at a ghost," I said, turning to pull her into my arms. "She thought she could go against me. She thought creating a scandal around me could reduce my power in the corporate world. How naive can she be? She forgot the one thing she never had."

"And what’s that?"

"You," I said, kissing her with a ferocity that spoke of every battle we’d won and every one we had yet to face. "I don't need the world, Adeline. I just need you."

Two days later, Adeline and I were back to our old routine. This morning, I had left her in bed to go for a run. She probably needed to sleep in today because since the week started, she had been hurrying to the office before me. Now that she was on the way to being a senior partner in the firm, her work had increased while I was staying back to deal with my men.

I looked over at the breakfast bar where Sloane could now be found at any time of the day with her nose buried in a syllabus for her first semester at NYU. She looked small in one of Adeline’s silk robes. But the way she reached for the orange juice without asking made me feel better. It told me she was finally starting to believe she belonged here with Adeline and me.

"You're staring again, big brother," Sloane said without looking up from her tablet. "It’s creepy. Stop it."

"I'm not staring," I lied, leaning against the counter and taking a slow sip of my coffee. "I'm staring at the mess you're leaving on the island."

Sloane finally looked up, a mischievous glint in her eyes that was far too similar to my own. She picked up a crumb and flicked it at my chest. "I’m a delight, and you know it."

I felt a smile tug at my lips. A week ago, I didn't have a sister. Now, I had a permanent houseguest who wasn't afraid of my persona.

"Where's Adeline?" I asked.

"In the bathroom. She said she felt a bit off this morning. Probably the stress of the gala finally catching up to her." Sloane said, her expression softening. "You two were pretty intense that night, Percy. I thought the museum was going to spontaneously combust."

I didn't answer because she was right. Adeline had been magical that night, and I had never been more in love with her.

I set my coffee down and headed toward the bedroom. I found Adeline sitting on the edge of the bed, her face a shade paler than usual and her hand resting lightly on her stomach.

"Hey," I said carefully since I was not sure what was going on. I knelt between her knees and took her hands in mine. They were cold. "Sloane said you’re feeling off. Do I need to call the doctor? Or should I just go find Marcus Vane and punch him again for causing you stress?"

Adeline let out a small, breathless laugh, but she didn't meet my eyes. She looked down at our joined hands. "It's not Marcus Vane, Percy," she whispered.

"Then what is it? Talk to me, baby."

She finally looked up to me, and I saw a mixture of terror and awe in her eyes that I’d never seen before. She took my hand and pressed my palm flat against the silk of her robe, right over her womb.

"I... I think we might be starting our own legacy, too."

It took me a full minute to piece together what was happening. I looked from her eyes to my palm on her stomach.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying, baby?"

"I still need to confirm from the doctor, but yes, you're going to be a father, Percy."