“Is this true, Alex?” he demands. “Have you actually done something so ridiculous?”

  Sephy’s hand snakes back into mine and she gives me a reassuring look. That look alone gives me the confidence that I need to be honest with my dad for the first time in my life.

  Yes, I have. We are.” I squeeze her hand and smile. “We are in love.”

  “Oh for goodness sake.” Dad rolls his eyes, clearly exasperated with me. “Of all the people in the world, you’ve ended up with her. Are you serious? We all know what you’re like anyway, you’re one of those people who sleeps around with anyway. Now you’ve decided that this is the woman you want to stick with. It’s stupid, and only to hurt Marcus. It has to be, why else would you behave like this?”

  “No way,” I gasp stunned. “Dad, I can’t believe you would say that. Of course I love Sephy. Do you honestly believe that I would risk so much if I didn’t? She’s everything to me.”

  “Oh right sure. Except your mother saw a picture of you with another woman in your hotel room in Vegas.” He smiles smugly, pleased with himself to catch me out. “How do you explain that one if you’re so in love that you have to ruin your brother’s wedding day?”

  “Oh for goodness sake, Dad, are you for real?” Marcus interjects. “This wasn’t ever a wedding.”

  “No, but it would’ve allowed you and Benji to have a relationship. Your boy needs his dad.”

  “You’re acting like Sephy is a manipulative bitch!” Marcus raises his voice to get his point heard. “In case you’ve forgotten, she took Benji for me when I was too depressed to care for him, she’s raised him up until this point almost by herself. Her mom has been there to help, but she’s done a lot of it herself. She also brought Benji around to see Mom when she didn’t have to.” Mom looks guilty, I have a feeling that she didn’t tell Dad about this. “She agreed to this because you threatened to use the law to take him away from her. She’s acted in the right way, you are the one who hasn’t.”

  That silences Dad, and the rest of us too. None of us expected that outburst from Marcus, especially since he hasn’t spoken much for a while now. He’s regained his voice and done it well. I give him a proud nod, happy that he’s finally doing what both of us – me especially – have wanted to do forever.

  “Me and Sephy will work it out, we’ll come to some agreement. We don’t need you to control that. It’ll be fine, we don’t need lawyers and complication. We’ll do it like a family should.”

  “But we should have something in paperwork…” Dad isn’t ready to give it up yet.

  “No, Dad, I don’t want to worry about that at the moment, I just want to focus on Benji, okay? I’m his father, I’m the one who finally needs to step up, this is all on me. I appreciate your help, but this is something that needs me and me alone.”

  Marcus flicks his finger towards the waitress, indicating that we’re ready for a drink now. She looks anxious as she scurries over to us which is almost comical. This whole situation is crazy. I certainly didn’t think that I would be finally telling my family about falling in love like this!

  “What… what, erm, can I get you all?” the waitress asks. “Do you want to know the specials?”

  “Coffee all round,” I interject, trying to make this as simple as possible. “Thank you.”

  The atmosphere is thick while we wait for drinks, no one dares to say anything. Sephy looks happy, Marcus seems relaxed, my parents are ridiculously stressed, and Sephy’s mom looks confused. I think I’m more with her than anyone else. I don’t know what will happen next.

  Luckily, the silence is soon broken by Benji letting out a little whimper. His crying and begging for attention reminds us all that despite everything we still have something in common. We have this boy who needs us all to forget about our petty bullshit and to love him with everything.

  “Can I hold him?” Mom asks quietly. “It feels like forever since I’ve seen him.”

  And with that, the spell is completely shattered. We all take turns holding Benji, passing him around, and sharing drinks and small talk as we do. Liza and Marcus’s baby seems happy and contented to have us all here together, actually getting along. Even my dad softens as he gets to hold him. I watch him, with his grandson in is arms, and it hits me that he isn’t a bad guy. Maybe he doesn’t always make the right choices and he’s forceful with his opinions, but I have to assume that he does all of that with our best interests at heart. I guess he just wants us all to be happy and content. Unfortunately for him, we’ve found that without anything from him. Still, he should be pleased.

  The entire time, I feel acutely aware that Sephy is beside me and that there’s a chance we might be able to be together at long last. Of course I’m going to have to get her alone to find out for sure, but now she’s free, she isn’t with Marcus, she isn’t a wife which gives me hope.

  As it’s time to leave, Marcus stands up and he makes another surprising request. “Sephy, do you think I could have Benji for a few hours tonight? Mom and Dad will be with me…”

  “Of course you can…” She turns to her mom who instantly agrees. “You can have him overnight if you want? Don’t worry if that’s too much, but if you want to I’m happy. I’ll always be on call…”

  “We would love that.” Mom lights up. Benji has brought out a side of her that I don’t think any of us knew was there before. “I don’t mind sitting up all night long to watch him.” A blush fills her cheeks as she confesses the next part. “I brought a crib for our home when Liza was pregnant, hoping that I might be able to babysit at some point. I have some clothes and things too, so we’re all set.”

  Sephy nods. I can see this is hard for her, I’m sure she doesn’t like to be far from Benji, she couldn’t even cope being away from him for half an hour before, but if today is going to be a turning point for us all then I suppose we all need to get out of our comfort zones and change things up.

  “Will you call me though if you need to? I’m going to struggle to relax.”

  Mom chuckles knowingly. “Of course we will, but I’m sure we’ll be fine. I’ll go through some things with Marcus and make sure he finally gets to know the basics. Save you a job.”

  It seems pleasant, everyone is getting along for the very first time and it’s a wonderful moment, which only gets better when Sephy tugs me closer to her and she whispers into my ear for only me to hear. “Come to my apartment with me tonight, so we can talk?”

  Of course I agree right away, I can’t wait to see what she has to say to me. “Yes, of course.”

  We leave that café hand in hand with barely a care in the world. Dad isn’t interested in us anymore, he has someone new to focus on, which means we might be able to do this without anyone bothering us. Finally I can get back to the happiest place of my life again, where it was just me and Sephy against the world.

  Being in love is the best feeling in the world, and I hope I can reclaim it.

  31

  Persephone

  I almost skip through the doors to my apartment, I’m so happy to be back. I should be at Marcus’s now, ready to start my life as his wife, but thankfully that hasn’t happened. The dream I didn’t even dare to hope for has happened, and I’m here with Alex, the man I love, instead.

  “I can’t believe I thought I was going to have to get rid of this place,” I say with a chuckle. “I honestly thought that I would never come back here and oh my God I love it here.” I run my fingers playfully along the walls. “It’s so small and cozy, all mine. I’m so glad that I’m back.”

  Alex laughs at me as he watches me skip and dance about the place like a fool. I just feel so happy and carefree that I need to let some of it out, even if it makes me look insane.

  “Well, I’m glad today that I took a left turn as well. At least everyone can be happy now.”

  With that I fling my arms around Alex’s neck and I kiss him hard. None of us know what’s going to happen next, but I do know that I’m in love and Alex is too, I do know that finally we can be together. Properly together. Even our families know about us now, so it’s perfect.

  “Come on.” I link my fingers through hers and drag him towards my bedroom. It’s a place that we’ve spent a whole lot of time but not for a while and I want to get back there.

  “Are you sure?” Alex stops dead still and spins me around to look at him. “I don’t want to rush things. Don’t you think we have stuff that we should talk about first?”

  I giggle madly. “When did you get to be so serious?” I gasp playfully. “Aren’t you the carefree traveller who goes wherever the wind takes you without worrying about anything?”

  “I’m dead serious when it comes to you,” Alex replies seriously. “You are the only thing in my life that I have been serious about and I don’t want to do anything to screw this up.” His heavy words touch me deeply. “It’s been really hard for me and you to get here and I want to do it right.”

  I tiptoe over to him and take his cheek in my hand before rising up to kiss him gently. “Alex, I love you,” I mutter against his mouth with my eyes still closed from the seriously amazing kiss that we just shared. “And you love me. We can be a couple now. What do we need to talk about?”

  “I don’t know.” Alex shrugs helplessly. “I guess I’m just scared that I’ll lose you again. I want to be with you so badly but I’ve already lost you too many times. I need to know that you’re sure.”

  “You aren’t going to lose me,” I reassure him while wrapping my arms tightly around him. “I’m yours, I have been from the very first time since I saw you. That hasn’t changed through all of this.”

  Alex rests his forehead against mine and he stares into my eyes. I can see a deep love there, a passion that I’ve missed so desperately. I never ever would’ve been able to find a chemistry like this with anyone else for as long as I live. Especially not with Marcus, all we could’ve hoped for is friendship. Luckily, that’s something we can still have even now, and I’m sure it’ll be better.

  Then he crashes his mouth into mine and we share a much more passionate kiss. His familiar, warm tongue darts in and out of my mouth, sparking and igniting the deep passionate fire inside of me. The pit of my stomach inflames as a heady lust flows between us. It’s been too long, far too long.

  Alex moves his mouth off mine and he pushes me backwards until my back hits the cold wall behind me. His mouth moves over my hyper sensitive neck, my tingling collar bone, and right down over my torso. The thin material from my dress is still between us, but it feels like nothing. I’m naked with Alex, exposed and vulnerable in the best way possible even when I’m dressed.

  He falls to the floor with a thud and runs his hands up my thighs. I smack my sweaty palms against the walls, trying to find something to cling onto as I glance down to see the very sexy image of him there. His mouth is all over the top of my legs. He kisses and flicks his tongue all over the top of my legs, getting close to, but never quite reaching, where I’m pulsating desperately for him.

  I roll my hips, bucking off the walls in desperation, but that only causes Alex to chuckle happily. He likes driving me wild, I know that about him, but tonight I need speed, I need him inside me, all over me quickly. I need that powerful connection between our bodies once more.

  I grab the bottom of my dress, needing to get the message across, and I tug it up over my head. Underneath I have plain, white cotton underwear on. It might be my wedding day, but I wasn’t expecting anything to happen. But Alex pants at me as if I’m the sexiest woman alive.

  God, I’ve missed that feeling. He always knows how to make me feel good about myself.

  Alex pushes himself up into a standing position. He places one hand on the wall behind my head and uses the other to rub me on the outside of my underwear. The material presses against my clit in an incredible feeling way, making my head fall back with sheer ecstasy. I can feel my hair tickling my back, sending a shiver up and down my spine. All of me is on fire with lust.

  I unhook my bra and feel it flutter to the ground. I want to tease Alex, to lure him in, and thankfully it works. His mouth connects with my breast in a heartbeat, his lips wrap around my hard nipple and he sucks while sliding those velvety fingers of his inside me. My panties are shoved to the side while he explores me in a way that sends me spiralling into a deep screaming pleasure.

  “Oh God, Alex,” I groan as the hot bliss bubbles. “Alex, that feels so wonderful.”

  “I’ve missed you,” he hisses against me, tickling my nub with his tongue. “So damn much.”

  I can’t hold back anymore, I need him too, so I reach down and I fiddle as best I can with his trousers. It’s hard for me to yank the buttons apart with such trembling fingers, but somehow I manage it. I tug them down just enough for his thick, throbbing erection to burst free and I wrap my hand around him. His shaft is warm, it’s pulsing, it’s desperate with need. He’s as turned on as me.

  As I run my hand up and down him, causing him to grip onto my shoulder hard, my pulse flies out of control. Despite the cool wall behind me, my entire body is flaming and on fire. I’m burning hot, my skin is boiling. He has me hot, just like he always used to. I’m so glad I have him back.

  “I need you,” I whimper once I feel myself falling dangerously close to losing it. I barely even know where I am anymore. “I want to feel you. I want you inside of me now, Alex.”

  He doesn’t need to be asked twice because he’s so desperate too. He lifts me from the ground and carries with me with my legs wrapped around him all the way to the bedroom, then we fall onto the bed together with our limbs still firmly intertwined with one another as if we can’t let go.

  Twisting until we’re side by side, Alex angles himself into me and he thrusts gently and slowly. It isn’t a position that I’ve ever experienced before but it feels surprisingly good. It gives me and Alex equal control over the speed despite the fact that I’m in between his legs, but still we’re moving sensually and slowly. The hurry has gone, now this is a moment for us to just enjoy each other.

  Alex’s hands run over my body and I do the same to him. I’ve felt all of him before, but now this is new. It feels more open and honest. It’s more real than anything has been before. This is the first time I feel the gravity of his words before. This is more serious, we are together now, and that’s lovely.

  “Oh, Alex,” I moan while sliding my eyes closed. “You have no idea what you mean to me.”

  Each thrust makes my heart heat up, my chest swell, and my womb ache with love. With his arms wrapped around me and his breath all over me, with the heat and stickiness of his body, I feel incredible. I feel myself giving myself over to Alex wholly without a care in the world.

  “I… I love you,” he pants back, while kissing my cheeks and neck. “I love you so much, Sephy.”

  “I love you too,” I murmur breathlessly as a reply. “I really love you so much.”

  Eventually the blissful heat gets too much and I can feel myself becoming overwhelmed by the pleasure. I close my eyes, buck my hips a bit harder, and I fall into the sensations entirely. The orgasm crashes, then rolls over and over in waves, trickling all the way from my toes up to my brain, consuming and swallowing up every single inch of my body. I love it, it feels phenomenal.

  “Oh, Sephy.” I grip tightly onto Alex, building our bond as the pleasure gets from him too. “Oh God, you feel so good, you’re so incredible. I love you so much…”

  Afterwards we crash next to each other on the bed panting breathlessly. Alex keeps his arms wrapped around me as we regain our normality, and that romantic gesture reminds me of how good it feels to be with him. And now I get to keep that feeling forever. I’m the luckiest woman alive.

  I honestly don’t know if me and Alex would’ve been able to keep away from one another forever. I would like to think that we could’ve for the sake of Marcus, but the chemistry and love between us is too strong. I honestly don’t know if I would be able keep my distance.

  “You are staying here tonight, aren’t you?” I turn and beg him. “Please don’t leave me now.”

  “Oh Sephy.” He embraces me fully, holding my had against his chest. I can hear his racing heart beat which comforts me greatly. “I don’t think you understand, I’m never leaving you again.”

  Thank goodness, I’m so glad he’s said that. That means he’s serious.

  “Do you think your family will ever forgive us?” I ask Alex, needing to know. “I’m sure my mom will be fine, but will your dad?”

  His mom will be too, all she really cares about is Benji. It’s his over controlling father that we need to be concerned about. I don’t want it to be awkward forever. We all have to be in each other’s lives.

  “I think he’ll be fine,” Alex reassures me. “He’ll get used to it and all will be okay. I’m sure he’ll get used to me not working for the company too. It’s all changing, but not in a bad way.”

  I prop myself up onto my elbow and I look at Alex intently. “Have you decided what you’re going to do yet? It sounds like you do.”

  “I do actually.” He taps his nose cheekily. “But I’m not telling you yet. It’s going to be a surprise.”

  32

  Alex

  “So, what do you think?” I ask as Marcus finishes reading my business plan. I’ve been working on it for ages and I really need his opinion since my big brother is better at this stuff. “You like it?”

  He nods carefully. “I do actually, it’s better thought out than I thought it would be, I’m impressed.” He hands the document back to me with a grin. “When you first came to me with this plan I thought it would be a spur of the moment plan, but I can see you know what you’re doing. You can do this.”

  “What do you think Dad will think?” I bite my lip nervously. “You think he’s going to invest?”