Thorns and Forgiveness : Twisted Legacy Duet Page 19

  “Who sent the will to Jack then?” I asked.

  “I pulled every penny I had together and went to a lawyer to check the legality of this will. I wanted the law on my side so I could bring this public and still protect you and Saint. But I think the lawyer saw an opportunity to blackmail Jack. He stopped taking my calls. He had his secretary cancel my appointments. It wasn’t until the news broke out that I realized what had happened.”

  I blinked twice. “I can’t believe she sent it to you.”

  “Hamilton, I wanted to start our relationship with no secrets. I truly hope you can forgive me for not coming to you with this. My only goal was to protect the two of you.”

  I held up my hand. “Thank you for telling me. I’m just… My mom wrote this letter?” I asked once more. It didn’t matter how many times she said it, I still couldn’t make sense of it. I didn’t care about the money or the will or how Jack responded to that. I didn’t care about anything.

  “Yes, honey. Your mom wrote that letter to me.”

  I slowly opened the envelope, and Vera, God fucking love her, guided them to the table so I could read it in peace.

  Dear Gabby,

  I’m so terribly sorry.

  You must hate me, Gabby. How is it possible that I got to raise your son while you got nothing? Jack told me you wanted this, but I know that now to be untrue. My husband isn’t afraid to hurt people to maintain the status quo.

  And I can’t bring myself to care if you miss Hamilton. He’s mine—at least for now—in all the ways that count. I might not be good enough, but I love him. He has the most compassionate heart. His capacity to love and do good is so, so great. I know the only good my son has comes from you. Jack and I simply aren’t capable of it.

  Thank you for letting me love your son. I’m sure it was a heavy sacrifice to have your heart living and breathing outside of your chest, coddled and cared for by someone else. Thank you for giving me the greatest love of my life. Maybe it’s selfish of me to have favorites. I love both my children, but I feel my love for Hamilton just a little bit deeper.

  I’m writing you this letter because I won’t be on this earth much longer. You see, I’m not well, Gabby. Jack keeps grinding me down, hoping to mold the perfect wife to sit upon his shelf. He hurts me, Gabby. Did he ever hurt you? It’s wrong and debilitating. The drugs help a little, but I find myself wanting to take handfuls of them. I can sit here and count up all the reasons why I should try again, fight again. But the list doesn’t feel nearly as important as the impending doom I sense. It’s a tragic cliché to write a suicide letter to a virtual stranger, but I feel like I know you. I’ve seen your soul through the eyes of our son. And I need you to help protect him from Jack. Enclosed are details about a safety deposit box. Please go to it and follow the instructions upon my death.

  There is so much I want to teach Hamilton, but the most important message is something you can help me with. Teach him about love, Gabby—the kind of love that is limitless. Teach him about family, too. I’m afraid Jack, Joseph and I have failed him in that department. I hope my son never feels the loneliness I feel. I hope he never feels empty.

  Thank you. For everything.

  Yours,

  Nikki

  The paper was stained with my tears by the time I read the last line. I looked up to stare at the table full of people that loved me and I loved back. I wiped my nose and folded the paper while looking up at the ceiling of Mom’s favorite restaurant before moving toward Vera. She quietly stood up and took my hand. In her eyes, I saw love. “You okay?” she asked softly.

  I leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. I didn’t want to dwell on the letter or the lack of closure I still felt. My mother probably had high hopes that Gabby would step up and be the mother she was too broken to be. She wanted me to learn about love and family.

  But it wasn’t my birth mother that taught me just how limitless and healing love could be. It was the beautiful, kind, and caring girl standing in front of me. Vera softly blinked and waited patiently for me to speak.

  “I love you,” I whispered.

  “I love you too,” she replied.

  Jess whistled before stopping the heavy moment with a loud smack of her palms hitting together. “I thought we were celebrating the Wicked Witch of the East’s death?”

  Vera bit the inside of her cheek, likely trying to be polite for my sake.

  I stared at her for a minute longer before guiding her back to her seat. “I think I’m going to order the spaghetti. Mom loved spaghetti,” I began. Everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Long gone was the self-destructive asshole. I could handle remembering her. I could compartmentalize the good while still grieving the pain she felt she couldn’t escape.

  Normal chatter picked up.

  “I’m just going to deep throat some breadsticks,” Saint interjected.

  Lilah laughed so hard that she nearly choked on her own spit.

  “Have I mentioned that I like your brother, Hamilton? I really like him…” Jess added.

  And on and on it went. The banter and familiarity. I looked around the table and saw something that made my heart swell.

  Family.

  I had family.

  Epilogue

  Vera

  Four Years Later

  “I’m not fucking you in this hallway, Hamilton,” I rasped out. My boyfriend was feeling particularly horny today. He ran his hands up and down my body, pressing me against the wall and not giving a single fuck that people were walking by. I looked up at him with a smirk on my face.

  “Vera, this graduation gown is better than any lingerie I’ve ever seen. Please tell me you’re wearing nothing underneath,” he teased before pressing his lips to the side of my neck. “Can I fuck you on top of your diploma? The bastard stole a majority of my girl’s attention the last four years, so it seems only fair I get the last laugh.”

  “You’re impossible,” I replied before shoving at his chest. Hamilton looked sexy, and if we weren’t running late, I might have taken him up on his offer. But we had places to be. People to see. Graduations to celebrate. “Anika would kill us if we showed up late to the party. And you know she’s been on edge trying to potty train Benjamin.”

  “Did you hear what he did?” Hamilton asked before chuckling.

  “Oh no. What now?” Our baby brother was a handful and a half, but oh so very loved.

  “He found a pair of scissors and cut his hair. Lilah had to come over and put her new cosmetology license to good use and fix it. Guess her new hobby is coming in handy.”

  I burst out laughing. “You’re kidding.”

  “He’s pretty proud of himself, the little goblin.”

  I shook my head and grinned, in awe of how perfect my life had become. I lived with my wonderful boyfriend surrounded by our unconventional family. My mom finally had her life together, or at least as together as possible for someone like her. She was still unapologetically self-centered. When Anika mentioned that she wanted to have a baby of her own, they came to the surprising open adoption arrangement. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried that Mom would try to extort money out of the Beauregard fortune because of the pregnancy. But it turned out, she wanted freedom more than she wanted to start over as a mother. Hamilton set up an iron-clad trust fund for Benjamin, but gave Mom Jack’s house to do whatever she wanted with it.

  Hamilton and I never openly discussed it, but the gift was kind of our unspoken bribe to keep Mom from trying anything. We cared about our brother and wanted him to have a better life than what we had. The home sold for twenty-seven million dollars. Mom was happy, and my baby brother was being raised by the woman who’d kind of adopted me, too.

  Hamilton stared at my lips, longing in his gaze. “We should get going,” I whispered.

  “We should.” He leaned in closer, brushing his nose against mine. I started breathing heavily. Fucking Hamilton. “Oh Vera, if these people weren’t here, you’d be on your knees with my cock i
n your mouth.”

  My heart rate spiked, and I looked around the hallway at the other students excitedly chatting with their families. Jess, Mom, Anika, Saint, and Infinity had already left to finish setting up for my party. “Oh really?” I asked before biting my lip. Hamilton loved it when I bit my lip.

  “Come on, my perfect little tease,” Hamilton whispered before wrapping his hand around my wrist and pulling me down the hall, outside, and to his car. He looked around the crowded parking lot before shoving me into the back seat and following after me. The second the door shut, I started frantically removing my gown and the dress underneath. Hamilton unbuttoned his pants.

  “So tell me,” he breathed while shoving our clothes away and pulling me onto his lap. “What’s the next step?”

  I lifted up slightly, bumping my head on the roof of his car. “I was thinking—” My words were cut off with a brash kiss from Hamilton. I gasped when he pulled away, and took a lingering moment to sink down on his cock. We both groaned at the contact. “Of borrowing a couple million dollars from my ridiculously rich boyfriend and starting a nonprofit.”

  “Oh?” he replied through clenched teeth. I bounced up and down while tossing my head back. It was cramped. It was raw. It was oh-so-perfect. Even after all this time, the passion between us was explosive. “And what kind of nonprofit do you want to start?”

  I stopped fucking him for a moment. “A support network for teen moms,” I whispered.

  Hamilton stroked my hair and smiled at me. “I love your heart, Vera Garner.”

  I knew I should probably say something sentimental, but we had our entire lives for that. “And I love your cock, Hamilton Beauregard,” I teased before resuming the beautiful work of riding him so hard that the car shook in the parking lot.

  A Note from the Author

  Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed the conclusion to the Twisted Legacy Duet.

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  Acknowledgments

  This book would not have been possible without the support and love of Christina Santos, as well as Christine Estevez .

  I would like to especially thank Katie Friend, Meggan Reed, HarleyQuinn Zaler, Savannah Richey, Lauren Campbell and Claire Jones for beta reading.

  I am grateful to all of those with whom we have had the pleasure to work with during this book. I’d like to especially recognize my editor, Helayna Trask. She always takes the time to dive into the worlds we create and make sure they are perfect for you all. I would also like to thank all the dedicated members of The Zone and Cora’s Crew. And finally, thank you again to HarleyQuinn Zaler for this drool-worthy cover.

  About the Author

  CoraLee June is an international bestselling romance writer who enjoys engaging projects and developing real, raw, and relatable characters. She is an English major from Texas State University and has had an intense interest in literature since her youth. She currently resides with her husband and two daughters in Dallas, Texas, where she enjoys long walks through the ice cream aisle at her local grocery store.

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