Chapter 34: Hidden Heir: Chapter 34

“Brooke? Brooke!” Selina’s voice drifts faintly through the house, catching my attention as I quickly slide my earring into place and adjust the backing.

“In here!” I call out.

Selina yells my name again. I guess she didn’t hear me.

I adjust my earrings and straighten my back, admiring myself in the mirror with a smile. We have a family dinner soon to celebrate the success of the past month and I’m determined to look my best. There’s nothing quite like getting dressed up for a celebratory event.

As I pass Tiffany’s bedroom, I spot her in the middle of a tea party with Rik, who sits cross-legged on the floor with a fancy hat on his head. He flashes me a smile before accepting an imaginary cup of tea from Tiff. He’s such a good sport and I am grateful for the relationship they share.

“Drink while it’s hot!” she insists. When she realizes my presence she looks up and waves her hand. “Hi Mommy!”

“Hi sweetie. Don’t eat too much cake or you’ll be too full for dinner,” I tease, walking over to her and pressing a brief kiss on her curly head.

“It’s not real, Mommy,” Tiffany says matter-of-factly before sighing dramatically. “So silly.” She rolls her eyes then returns to her party with Rik. I leave them to it, seeking out Selina.

“Brooke? Oh, there you are!” We collide in the hallway with a laugh and she grasps my arms. “You have a phone call.”

“I do? Do you know who it is?” I ask with a grin, looping my arm through Selina’s.

She leads me down the stairs toward my office and shakes her head. “Nope, but I think it’s one of your people.”

My people. She’s referring to the countless people we’ve rescued since my project with the Irish took off. Every person under Koval ownership has been set free and given new lives, just as promised. Ronan has been helping Leon and I track down every sale, starting with the most recent ones, and organizing transport for those who are overseas. A lot of the victims had no family and no home, which made them the perfect target for human trafficking. I’ve been spending most of my time trying to get them set up with homes and jobs so they can live their lives.

It’s nice to see Leon so determined to earn forgiveness and turn around the family’s reputation, much to the chagrin of his father. Despite Kreik’s agreeing to Leon’s changes, he still makes a few comments here and there about wasted opportunities.

So I decided to present a new proposal to him.

Drugs. More specifically, pharmaceutical drugs. Countless people were rescued and medical treatment was required. After forking out hundreds of thousands in hospital bills within two weeks, something clicked in my mind. I drew up a plan with my limited knowledge and presented it to Kreik. No one else in the drug business was focusing on pharmaceuticals making it an untapped market.

Kreik was silent for a long time but then by some insane stroke of luck, he agreed.

It was one of my proudest moments.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Selina says when we reach my office. “See you at dinner!” She hurries away and I wave before walking over to my desk phone flashing with the held call.

I slide into my chair. “Hello?”

“Hi,” says a small voice. “Is this Brooke?”

“Yes it is. Who is this?”

“It’s Orla.”

Orla. I run through the hundreds of people I’ve been dealing with this week and suddenly her face pops into my mind.

“Orla!”

We rescued her from a drug smuggling ring that relied on force-feeding condoms full of product into their mules and shipping them across the world. When we saved her, she was a shell of herself, but in just a few weeks she’s blossomed. “How are you? Is everything alright?” I ask as I pull up her file.

“Everything is great, actually. I wanted to call and let you know that I got the waitress job you helped me apply for.”

“Orla, that’s amazing!” I cheer. “I’m so proud of you!”

“And with my first paycheck, I was able to put down a deposit on my own apartment yesterday.”

Excitement bursts through me like a firework and I kick my legs under the desk. “Yes! Orla, this is incredible news. You need to send me pictures of your new place. I want to see everything!”

“Will do. I just wanted to say thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”

My heart swells. We’ve been transparent with every single person we’ve rescued. Each person we help must agree to sign an NDA—in exchange for our assistance they must agree not to press any charges against me or the Koval family.

Due to Leon’s influence, even the angry ones who have asked for millions have been sent away happy. There is no limit to what he will do to make up for what he and his family did. So when someone calls to thank me, I know it’s genuine.

“This is all you,” I say, unable to stop smiling. “I just gave you a nudge. Now, remember, if you ever need any help, money or otherwise, you give me a call. Promise?”

“I promise,” Orla says and I can hear the smile in her voice. “Thank you.”

“Take care, sweetie.” The call ends and I can barely sit still. Every thank you means the world to me, and I hope that wherever Hannah is, she’s proud. Every person I save is in her memory.

Unable to contain my happiness, I dart up from my seat.

I need to find Leon and tell him the good news.

It takes me several minutes to find him, and after searching the entire house, the bedroom is my last resort though probably where I should have checked first. I find him standing half-naked near the dresser, trying to work out a knot in one of his silk ties. His eyes lock onto me the moment I rush in the door, a flash of panic in them.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes!” I gasp, kicking the door shut and running toward him. “Everything is amazing!”

The tie slips from his fingers as I launch myself into his arms and our lips collide in a messy, happy kiss. Leon’s visible concern melts away and he laughs, taking me in his arms.

“Care to share why things are amazing?”

As the kiss breaks, I settle on my tiptoes and cradle his face. “Everything this past month has been so intense, and we’ve been working so hard. Today, I got a phone call from one of the people we helped. It was so nice to hear a success story, and I know we have others, but she wanted to call us personally. I just…” Slightly breathless, I set my feet flat on the ground. “It just feels really good to be doing something so worthwhile.”

“I’m proud of you,” Leon says, his arms remaining around my waist. “You haven’t backed down from a single thing since we started this.”

He’s right. Even the clients that Leon’s family once worked with, despite their anger at losing product or their desire to push back, have all been put in their place either with Ronan’s help or my own demands. They are all just another Paul and I refuse to let people like that have any kind of power in this world.

“I couldn’t do it without you,” I say softly.

“Because we caused it?” He lifts a teasing brow.

“You know we’ve saved people who never even crossed your path, so no, it’s not because of that. All it took was one person to change and you did that,” I remind him. “You’re putting an end to generations of cruelty. That can’t go unrewarded.”

“Rewarded?” Leon wiggles his brows. “Care to share?”

“I mean, I want to celebrate and you’re already undressing for me.”

“We have a family dinner in twenty minutes.” Leon smirks then scoops me up as I squeal with delight.

“Twenty minutes is more than enough for you,” I tease.

He deposits me on the bed and I land with a bounce. When climbs over top of me, my world narrows to just Leon. His lips press sweetly against mine as his hands roam my body, being careful of my dress. He slides his knee between my thighs.

“You look beautiful,” he murmurs. “I don’t want to mess it all up.”

“So you’re just teasing?” I gasp as he massages a handful of my breasts through my dress. “That’s worse.”

“Not teasing, just tasting.”

Before I can ask what he means, Leon vanishes from sight. I prop myself up on my elbows as he grabs my hips and pulls me to the edge of the bed, kneeling before me. He pushes my dress up my thighs then hooks one finger around my panties.

“Unless you mess yourself up while I devour you.”

“You really think you can make me feel that good?” I challenge with a smirk. “You’ve got some ego, mister.”

Leon leans down and lightly kisses my knee, then his lips trail a hot path up the inside of my thigh. He only pauses to remove my panties, then he drapes my legs over his shoulders and buries his face against my pussy with a growl. I fall back on the bed with a laugh that quickly dissolves into a moan as his tongue presses through my lips and teases my inner folds.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe I will mess myself up.

Leon wraps his arms around my legs, my thighs resting in the crook of his elbows. It makes movement impossible and I’m suddenly pinned, completely at the mercy of his tongue. Within seconds, my fluttering heart races and warmth blooms across my skin. My body instantly becomes hot, almost too hot. Sweat prickles at the back of my neck and pleasure curls in my belly with each firm stroke of his tongue. Back and forth he licks, pausing to seal his lips around my clit and suckle for a few seconds, then he’s back to licking and kissing every wet inch of me.

My body grows hotter and hotter. My skin burns while my heart races. Closing my eyes, I focus on the sensation of his tongue rippling across my folds, flicking at my clit, and suckling hard enough to bring stars bursting across my closed lids.

“Fuck,” I gasp, writhing in his hold. My pinned hair loosens with each toss of my head, and I can feel the sweat on my face, probably causing my makeup to smear. Desire builds like a knot just below my navel as Leon begins to hum. The subtle vibration is intense against my clit and I squeal, arching upward. His grip tightens around my thighs and he delves his tongue inside me once more.

“Leon,” I gasp. My hands shoot down to his hair, gripping tightly. He moans and hums against me once more and I come with the force of a punch. My orgasm is so powerful that I jolt up from the bed, my hoarse cries quickly consumed by trembling, panting breaths as wave after wave of ecstasy consumes me. Leon continues to lavish me in attention through every rippling wave of pleasure, leaving me a panting mess on the bed. He kisses my center once more then kisses the inside of my thigh.

“Does that count as celebrating?” he asks as he braces himself above me on one arm placed next to my head. He gazes down at me with such adoration and my heart swells with love. I smile up at him as I cup his face.

“It so does,” I say. “Leon?”

“Yes, darling?”

“I love you.”

Leon’s face freezes for a moment. When he first told me he loved me, saying it back had been far too terrifying. We’d been through so much that I wasn’t sure I was capable of such a feeling, so I didn’t say it back. But our time together has shown me that I’m not as cold as I feared I was. I do love him. I was just scared that admitting it would open me up to a world of pain. But in his arms, my body tingling from pleasure, the truth is so easy to see.

“Really?” Leon asks softly.

“Truly.”

He leans down and kisses me sweetly, nudging our noses together when we part. “I love you too,” he says, then his loving smile turns cheeky. “Think I can make you come again before dinner?”