I took Ellery’s hand and led her to the center of the room. I called for everyone’s attention as they gathered around us. I put my arm around her waist and smiled at her. She told me to go ahead and announce the date. I held up my glass of champagne.

“I want to thank all of you for coming tonight and celebrating Ellery’s great news. Now, we have even more news to share. I would like everyone to plan on attending our wedding and celebrating with us on June 15th!” The crowd stirred in excitement, and glasses were raised. Congratulations were said, and happiness was heard all around the room.

A couple of hours later, everyone said their goodbyes, and suddenly, the penthouse was quiet.

Ellery walked over to the couch and collapsed on it. I sat down next to her and pulled her feet on my lap. I started massaging them as she smiled at me.

“Thank you for tonight,” she said.

“You’re welcome. You deserve a party with family and friends for everything you’ve been through these last few months. It’s only the beginning of the many things I’m going to do for you, Ellery.”

“You’ve already done enough, and I can’t thank you enough.”

“I know one way you can thank me if you’re up to it,” I grinned.

Ellery got up from the couch, grabbed me by my shirt, and led me to the bedroom. She thanked me for the next hour and a half before we fell fast asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms.

Chapter 28

The next morning as I was sitting at my desk, I called the contractor to inquire about the house. “I f**king told you that the house better be done in three days!” I screamed into the phone. “You’ve had three months to get that house finished, and I paid you a lot of f**king money to see that it happened.

Now you better get off your ass and get it done, because if it’s not finished when I come there in three days to inspect, I will sue you and shut you down for good!” I threw my phone across the desk just as Phil walked in.

“We need to talk, Connor,” he said as he sat down.

“Not now, Phil; it’s not a good time.”

“Well, you’re going to want to hear this. It’s about the fire in Chicago,” he spoke seriously.

I got up from my desk and looked at him. “What? What the hell do you have to tell me?”

“They found the person responsible for the fire, and it’s someone you know,” he spoke.

“Someone I know? Who the hell would do that to me?” I started to get nervous.

“It was Ashlyn. She was the one who hired the guy to set the fire.”

I walked to the other side of my desk and paced the floor. “Are you absolutely positive about Ashlyn?”

“Yes, Connor; the police have her under arrest. The guy finally broke down and confessed everything after the police arrested him again on some other charges.”

“Alright, then it’s done. I’m getting married in a week, and I don’t need this. You are to handle everything. I don’t want to hear another word about it until after I get back from my honeymoon.”

“Aren’t you going to confront her about it?” Phil asked.

“No, what’s done is done. I’m sure I know the reason anyway. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a beautiful fiancée who’s waiting at home for me,” I said as I grabbed my briefcase and left the office.

On the way home, I thought about whether or not to tell Ellery about Ashlyn. I didn’t want to upset her, but we aren’t keeping secrets from each other, and if she found out that I didn’t tell her, there would be hell to pay. I stepped off the elevator and into the hallway and was caught off guard by a tantalizing smell, coming from the kitchen. I set my briefcase down and walked to the kitchen to find Ellery cooking dinner.

“Are you cooking, Miss Lane?” I asked as I put my hands on her h*ps and kissed her.

“Yes, and you’re going to eat it, whether you like it or not,” she smiled.

“I’ll eat anything from you,” I winked. She hit me on the arm and turned to the oven. I grabbed a couple of glasses, filled them with wine, and set them on the table. Ellery took a chicken pot pie out of the oven and set it in the middle of the table.

“My mom used to make this for my dad and me. It was his favorite. I’ve kept the recipe with me all these years. I started making it for him when I was only nine years old,” she said as she sat down across from me.

“You cooked dinner for your father at the age of nine?” I asked.

“It was either that, or he didn’t eat. I always knew that would be the one dish he would eat.”

I looked at her and shook my head. I couldn’t believe that drunken bastard would let his child cook and use the oven at the age of nine. I needed to tell her about Ashlyn, and I guess now’s as good as time as any. I decided to wait until after dinner because she started talking about the wedding. After we ate and cleaned up, I asked her to sit with me in the living room.

“I get the feeling that you have something that you need to tell me,” she said.

I took in a deep breath as she laid her head down on my lap and looked up at me. “Ashlyn was the person responsible for setting the fire in Chicago.”

She quickly sat up. “What? That bitch!” she exclaimed.

I took her and laid her head back down on my lap. “Listen to me, Ellery; I don’t want you to worry about this. I told you because we aren’t keeping keep secrets from each other. Phil is handling this for me, and I have no intentions of confronting her about this,” I told her as I stroked her hair. “In fact, you are not to see her either because I know you, and you have quite a temper.”

“Fine, if you don’t want me to, then I’ll respect your wishes, but I still think you’re wrong.”

I bent down and kissed her. “Thank you, baby, I love you.”

“I love you too even though you’re wrong,” she smiled as she tapped me on the nose.

***

I walked through the newly built house. Ellery’s painting hung perfectly above the fireplace and was the focal point of the room. “How does it look, big brother?” Cassidy asked.

“It looks great, and I think Ellery’s going to like it,” I replied.

“Are you kidding? She’ll love it, Connor, every bit of it. It’s the best wedding present anyone could ever give, and I hope to find someone like you someday.”

I hugged her. “Someone’s out there waiting for you; he just hasn’t found you yet.”

“Since when did you become so poetic?” she asked with a smile.

“I guess that’s what being in love does to a man,” I replied. We left the house and I headed back to the city to meet Denny for dinner. In two days, I will be presenting the house to Ellery, on our wedding night. I was nervous she wasn’t going to like it, but she can make whatever changes she wants.

Denny and I left the restaurant and went to a local bar to meet some guys for a few drinks. I missed Ellery because we decided not to see each other for a couple days until our wedding day. I was having a good time, talking and laughing with the guys when my phone rang; it was Ellery.

“Hey, baby, is everything ok?” I asked.

“Everything’s fine; are you having fun?”

I could barely hear her because wherever she was, the background noise was really loud.

“Babe, I can barely hear you. You’re going to have to talk a lot louder.”

“Is this better?” she said as she whispered in my ear.

I turned around, and with a smile, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I missed you, Connor.”

“I missed you too, baby, more than you’ll ever know.” I looked around, and the girls Ellery went out with were gathered around the table. The guys pulled up chairs for them as I pulled Ellery on my lap. I buried my nose in her neck, taking in her scent of lilac and closed my eyes. She laughed as I nibbled on her ear.

“You smell so good; it’s killing me,” I moaned.

“Behave yourself, Connor; we agreed not to have sex until our wedding night.”

“I know,” I sighed. “It’s just that I’ve missed you, and there’s a bathroom right over there,” I motioned with my head.

“No way,” she said as she pushed me back. “Just think of how special it will be on our wedding night. It will be like our first time,” she smiled. Damn that smile.

When it was time to leave, we all left the bar together, and I walked Ellery to the cab. I wrapped my arms around her. “Are you sure you don’t want to come home with me? I miss you in our bed. You can leave in the morning and then we won’t see each other again until our wedding day.”

She took my face in her hands. “As much as I want to, babe, I can’t. Besides, I have way too much to do tomorrow, and if I wake up with you by my side, things will happen, and I’ll never get out of bed, then I’ll be behind, then I’ll stress out, then I’ll…”

I put my finger over her lips. “Ok, I get it, Ellery, please stop.” I leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. I put her in the cab, closed the door, and waved as the cab took off down the street. Denny patted me on the back. “The next time you see her, I’ll be walking her down the aisle on her way to becoming Mrs. Connor Black,” he smiled. “Now, let me drive you home.”

When I got home, I poured myself a glass of scotch and climbed into bed. I picked up my phone and stared at the picture of me and Ellery that was proudly displayed on my screen. I already missed her, so I decided to FaceTime her. I smiled as she answered on the second ring, and her face came across my screen.

“Hello, my love,” she smiled.

“Hi, baby, I just wanted to say good night.”

“Do you have a glass of scotch with you?” she asked.

I held up my glass so she could see it. “I sure do. Do you have your glass of wine?”

She held up her glass of red wine and smiled. “I sure do.”

“You need to go to sleep, babe, and get your beauty rest,” I said gently to her.

“I was going to sleep, but some hot, sexy man called me and wanted to FaceTime; I couldn’t resist.”

“I just wanted to see you one last time before our wedding day. Now, put your lips up to the screen so I can kiss you good night.” We puckered up and brought our lips together on the screen of our phones. “Goodnight, baby, and sweet dreams,” I whispered. “Good night, my love,” she softly spoke.

I ended the call, set my phone on the night stand, and slept until the alarm went off for work.

Chapter 29

The day that I’ve been waiting for had finally arrived. I looked in the mirror as I straightened my bow tie. I couldn’t believe that in just a few short hours, I’ll no longer be a bachelor. I’ll be a happily married man to the most beautiful woman. If you would’ve asked me a year ago if I thought this day would ever come, I would’ve said hell no! It’s amazing how much your life can change in just a little under a year when the most perfect woman in the world walks into your life.