Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
“Stop.” I looked away, knowing I was fully blushing, then looked back to introduce her to my father. “This is my father, Uri.”
“So nice to meet you, Uri.” Pilar smiled and hugged him as well.
Dad chuckled. “A hug from the princess!”
“Normally, I charge for those.” Pilar winked.
“Oh? How much?” Dad cocked his head.
“I’m just kidding.” Pilar laughed.
“Well, you should consider charging,” Dad started.
“Next thing you know, he’ll want to start taking care of your finances,” David said, pointing at Dad. “Careful with that one.”
“Nonsense.” Dad waved him off. “I’m not a financial advisor, I’m a math professor who happens to know a lot about financial stability.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Pilar said.
“Pilar, I have a new car.” Asher ran up to her with the remote-control car my parents had given him. “Do you want to play?”
“Sure.” She smiled. “After you eat your meal.”
“Aw, man.” He pouted, then smiled. “Okay, fine. I’m sitting next to you though.”
“As long as your mom is okay with that,” she said, running a hand through his hair.
I couldn’t stop watching her. She was so good with everyone, and I knew without a doubt my parents loved her already. We spent the rest of the day eating and talking and playing with Asher. The only thing missing was my brother, but I knew deep down, he’d be happy for me as well.
CHAPTER 34
Pilar
Much to our disbelief, Kayla had managed to get herself out of jail. Apparently, she had a rich boyfriend now, who paid for a great lawyer. The story was that there was no proof that she’d done what she had. There were no cameras in that area, and no witnesses. I had half a mind to pay a pretend witness, but I realized that was the kind of thing my father would have done, and the kind of thing we would spend the rest of our lives trying to clean up. Still, when I saw her walking toward me outside of the stadium, I let Amir take the lead.
“You need to stay twelve feet away from her,” he said.
“Oh, I’m not here for her.” Kayla frowned. “I’m over that. I’ve moved on.”
“Yet, here you are.” I waved in the direction of the stadium behind us.
“Only because my boyfriend owns the opposing team.”
“Chelsea?” My eyes widened. “How you manage to land these men is an absolute mystery to me.”
“I have what some call a golden vagina.”
“Well, you should probably get that checked. It sounds like a medical condition.”
“You had your moment, now you can leave,” Amir said.
“It’s fine.” I waved a hand. “Hopefully we won’t be seeing each other again anytime soon.”
“Well, you’re right about that. This is my last outing in Paris before I have to leave town for good, thanks to your brother.” She shot me a look.
“I would apologize, but I’m not sorry for it. We don’t like trash hanging around here.” As I turned around with Amir in tow, I spotted two of our security walking up to her.
“She really isn’t allowed anywhere near you,” Amir said. “I guess she’ll have to watch the game from the hotel or wait for her new boyfriend in London.”
I laughed as we walked inside.
We watched the match, and thankfully Le Bleu beat Chelsea by two points—both scored by my boyfriend. He had me sitting on the field today in the owner’s box. Generally I said no to that since I knew he hated the extra media attention, and this would definitely bring some on. Still, he’d asked, and I’d relented after telling him as much. He smiled and said that he was fine with the attention as long as I was there. At the end of the game, they had a ceremony to give out a plaque to a retired player, and Ben was front and center. I stood up and clapped and then Ben picked up the microphone and addressed the stadium, which was still a full house.
“I don’t share much about my personal life with you, not because I don’t love you, but because I didn’t want it to overshadow my skills on the field,” he said, “But today, I want to introduce my son, Asher.” The crowd clapped and roared as Asher ran onto the field wearing his father’s jersey—number four. “And as you all know, Asher and I have a very important person in our life, Princess Pilar.” The crowd roared again. My heart pounded. What was he doing? “Asher and I were wondering if she’d join us out here.”
“What?” I mouthed. I looked around everywhere, and my eyes landed on Amir, then on Elias beside him. And Aramis beside him with Adeline, Joss, Warren and Camila beside them. “What is going on?”
“Go!” they all signaled.
I saw Tamara and Jack and Ben’s parents and my mother, and I couldn’t wrap my head around it all, but my feet moved, and I walked out onto the field with the roar of the stadium driving me forward even faster. I couldn’t imagine how it must feel to concentrate on playing out here. I covered my mouth as I reached Ben and Asher, who ran up to me to hug me.