New Beginnings (The Billionaire’s Baby #4)(39)
Author: Helen Cooper

“Frank really crushed her, huh?”

“Yes.” Max sighed. “He crushed her until there was nothing left. He never loved her. In fact, he probably loved seeing the effect he had on her, so needy and washed out.”

“He’s an evil man.” Nick sighed.

“Yes, yes he is.” He paused. “But I suppose he has his reasons as well.”

“I wonder if he knows what it is to love?” Nick questioned but Max saw him staring at Sophie. Max felt something in his body want to comfort Nick. He knew that the man genuinely loved Sophie. And it was that love that had made him help Max. But the both of them couldn’t have her and he would never let Nick have her. He would never be good enough for his Sophie, no matter what lies he had put in his letter. He was never going to just leave and let Nicholas attempt to take over her heart. They both sat there and watched Sophie as she attempted to wipe away her tears with her shirtsleeve. She looked disheveled, depressed, and achingly solitary and it made Max love her even more. She had still found it in her to take Jacob for a walk, even though she was at her lowest. He would have to spend the rest of his life trying to make up for the pain he was putting her through right now.

Max jumped up quickly as he saw Sophie walking again. “We need to leave now.” He pushed Nick and they ran to the street, terrified that she would notice them. Max reached out and shook Nick’s hand. “Good luck, Dr. Spencer.”

“Thanks Max.” Nick smiled briefly and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. Max stood there for a moment trying to absorb everything. It was done. Everything was finally done. All he needed was to get Sophie to take him back and to forgive him. And after watching her cry her eyes out, he needed to be able to forgive himself for putting her through all of that heartache.

**

Sophie dried her eyes and looked down and saw that Jacob was sleeping. She knew she should continue walking in the park but she just didn’t have the energy. She just wanted to go back home so that she could lie down and cry. She hurried back into the building and back to the apartment so that she could break down in the comfort of her own home. She laughed at the irony of her thoughts. She considered the apartment her home now, even though she hated that Max had lived there with Alexis. Somehow she forgot about that when she was there. Maybe it was because sitting on the couch or lying in the bed made her think of Max and only Max. It was his scent she smelled, his clothes she saw, his voice she heard when she closed her eyes. The apartment was her link to Max and she knew that she would never leave it, that she could never leave it if he never came back to her.

She stood by the door for a moment and rested her head before she opened it. She needed a moment before she walked into the lonely space again. Finally she opened the door and gasped as she walked in. She rubbed her eyes, not quite believing what she saw. Max was standing there with a bouquet of flowers and a worried look on his face. His hair was rumpled and he looked like he hadn’t shaved in days. His eyes bore into hers and looked defeated and weary. His clothes looked dirty and she laughed as she realized that he looked as rough as she did. She only had to look at him for a few seconds before she ran into his arms and burst into tears. They stood there for what seemed like a few hours and just held each other. She felt his chest heave beneath her and she knew that he was as emotional as her. She knew in that moment that her Max had returned to her and everything was going to be all right.

“I’m sorry, Sophie,” he whispered in her ear and she looked up at him not sure whether to laugh or cry. His eyes held unshed tears and she realized the gravity of his emotions. This man loved her as much as she loved him. She knew it in her heart, in her soul, in her bones. She wasn’t sure how she had ever doubted it.

“Don’t you ever leave me again.” She poked him in the chest. “Do you hear me? Never again.”

“Never.” He held her close and felt her heart beating in sync with his. “I love you, Sophie. Nothing will ever keep me apart from you again.”

Chapter 20

Max

He couldn’t believe that he was now a married man. That Sophie was now his wife. And that they had gotten married by a Justice of the Peace in a courthouse. It had only been a week since all the drama had gone down but they had both needed and wanted to get married right away. They had held on to each other with such devotion and tears when they had reunited and had promised each other that they would never part again, no matter what.

“Are you sure you don’t want to have a big wedding?” he whispered into her ear as they rode in the back of the limo to the airport. They hadn’t had a magazine dream wedding but they were going to have a dream honeymoon. He had made sure of that. Everything was taken care of and Jacob was in Winterside with his parents.

“I’m more than sure.” She laughed happily and held his hand. “All I wanted was to be your wife. I don’t need the rest.”

“All I wanted, all I needed was for you to be my wife, so of course I’m happy.” He grinned.

“Thanks for flying my aunt and uncle up.” Sophie stroked his hand. “It meant so much to me.”

“Of course, my love. They are family.” He picked up her hand and kissed it.

“And thank you for supporting them and me.” She sighed. “I can’t believe I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t want you to know.” Max sighed.

“Max, you paid for my college, you paid for their livelihood,” Sophie exclaimed.

“The insurance had run out, Sophie. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you or to them.”

“But you didn’t even tell them.” She looked at him with love. “You let them think that you had found another insurance policy that my parents had.”

“I didn’t want them to say no.” He looked into her eyes. “Don’t you know that I would do anything for you and your family, Sophie? I just want to make sure you are okay. That’s my whole life’s goal.”

“I don’t know how I got so lucky.” She beamed at him as his kissed her.

“I’m the lucky one, Sophie. I’ve waited for this moment my whole life. I was made for you. We were destined to be together. And now you are my beautiful wife.”

“I didn’t know if this day would ever come.” He laughed as she shook her head. He studied her face, she looked beautiful wearing her white flowing dress, with her long hair in curls and a ring of white flowers in her hair. She looked like an angel. And he supposed that she was really, she was the angel that had taken his heart and saved his life. “I’ll never forget this moment, Sophie. The moment when you became my wife. I wasn’t sure if I would ever see this day.”