Redemption (The Bet) (30 page)

"I called in a few favors, are you happy?"

Ellie scoffed in disbelief, before taking hold of Devlin's face and planting a very satisfied kiss on his lips, mindless of their audience. "Does that answer your question?"

"I don't know.
I might need a little more convincing."

Ellie laughed before pulling away. She grabbed Devlin's hand and they both practically ran for the revolving door.

~*~*~*~

"What do you think of this one?" Samantha asked as she stood by Nicholas's side, taking any opportunity to get as close as impossible without being on top of him. He'd shown promptly at seven, like he said he would and graciously escorted her to the passenger seat of his sleek imported car. The trip from her house to the gallery hadn't been long and through the short ride, they'd enjoyed an amiable conversation that hadn't pertained to work. The night was turning out better than she'd expected and hopefully by the end, she and Nicholas would be having a little nightcap that would lead to---

"
“Approaching heaven”, fitting title, but I think that's pretty much all I like about this painting. He seems to be putting too much effort into this. Art should be effortless."

"You speak from experience?" he peeled his gaze away from the oil painting and gave her a feeble smile.

"I sometimes fool myself into thinking I can draw. It was hobby growing up." There was that nostalgic air again, surrounding him like a shroud, Samantha wished he would share more with her.

"Why didn't you pursue it, if you don't mind me asking?"

He shrugged. "I lost my passion for it. Come let's take a look on the other side of the room." He courteously settled a hand on the small of her back and led her away, the door to his past firmly closed.

~*~*~*~

Devlin listened attentively as
Ellie went on and on about each piece they saw, animatedly telling him which pieces were up to par and which ones lacked 'presence'. She seemed in her element here, filled with vivacity. Just being around her made Devlin content. In just a few more months he would be married to this woman, they were going to raise a family together. There wasn't much he could ask for. Devlin wasn't a complicated man and certainly having found Ellie was probably all he would ever need to be happy.

There were times though, when Devlin wondered if his diminutive lover cared about him just as deeply? He di
dn't want to doubt Ellie's love. He didn't want to think that there were unresolved issues that were keeping Ellie from committing herself fully, but one had to wonder. He wasn't a stupid man. Any fool could see that she still harbored some feeling for her ex. But the true question was, just how deep did those feelings run? Were they profound enough to unravel three years of happiness? Again, Devlin hated that he had these suspicions. He hated that every time the name Nicholas Grayson came up Ellie gave a start. She feigned indifference, but after three years, Devlin knew Ellie's mannerism.

"Hey," Ellie frowned in worry as she rested a hand against Devlin's cheek. "You Ok?"

Starring in those hazel eyes, Devlin saw the reason why he would fight until his dying breath for this woman, why he remained by Ellie's side, despite her wavering feelings. Devlin loved Ellie. It was as simple as that. Ellie was the epitome of his happiness. "Better than you know." Devlin pressed his lips against the inside of Ellie's wrist and smiled. "Come on, I think they have more pieces over there."

They made their way to the other side of the immense gallery hand in hand and just
as they cleared through a throng of people mingling around, Ellie accidentally bumped shoulders with a woman holding a champagne flute. Luckily her escort managed to grab her and the champagne flute before any embarrassing moments could happen. But all the same, Ellie’s mortification prompted to apologize. She stopped short however when she caught sight of who the woman’s escort happened to be.

"Nicholas."

"Ellie, what a pleasant surprise."

"I wish I could say the same."

“Wesport.” Nicholas coolly acknowledged the other man.

The tension in the air was as thick as fog, the animosity radiating off both men was enough to spark kindling.

"Hi, I'm Ellie Holbrook." Samantha looked down at the offered hand as though it would unleash some sort of disease on her. But she took it nevertheless and they shook hands.

"Samantha Harris." Samantha tried
hard to find something about her to hate, something to make her justify the cruelty behind her thoughts. But Samantha came away with nothing. Her imperfections made her beautiful and Samantha hated that she envied her for that. "It's finally nice to meet you, Ellie. Nicholas speaks very highly of you."

Ellie snorted, her gaze meeting Nicholas’s.
"I'm sure there are much more important things in Nicholas's life to talk about than boring old me."

"You'd be surprised." Samantha muttered wryly.

"I'm sorry?"

"You're still a fan of his works?" Nicholas's sudden inquiry saved Samantha from responding.

"Yeah, I thought you weren't a fan?"

"I've had a change of heart." When they spoke to each
other, like they were doing now, it was as if the world and the people in it ceased to exist.

"Typical, Nicholas
. You could never make up your mind on what you wanted.” The hidden innuendos where there, referencing to a past only they knew and understood.

"I have a pretty good idea now
."

Samantha couldn't stand it anymore. "There's so much to see, I'm sure we wouldn't want to miss anything. Nicholas, can we go look at landscapes?" She looped her arm through his, not allowing him the opportunity to refuse.

"Of course. Ellie, Westport, if you'll excuse us." They walked away then and were engulfed by the swarming crowd.

The remainder of their evening was spent in silence, the awkward
ness broken every now and then by Ellie's attempt at conversation. But it seemed Devlin was too wrapped up in his thoughts to respond properly and so, after a while, Ellie just shut her mouth. They arrived home around nine thirty after picking up the children from Gabe and Ronnie's home.

Ellie headed upstairs and r
eadied Bella and Dylan for bed. By the time she walked back downstairs, cleaned the kitchen and arranged the living room, it was close to eleven. Deciding that she'd done enough busy work, Ellie headed to her bedroom, maybe now Devlin would be in the mood to talk.

Ellie opened her bedroom door and closed it behind her. The table lamp by her bedside dimly illuminated the room and outlined Devlin's form on the mattress.

"Dev?"

"The kids sleeping?"

"Yeah, Roan was asking for you." Ellie shrugged out of her nightgown and dropped it on the bench of her vanity."Dev, are you Ok? Is there something you want to talk about?" She crawled on the mattress, the expression on Devlin's face made her stop.

"Is marrying me something you
really want to do, or is it a way to forget about him?" he had his eyes closed, his voice thick with emotion.

"Dev…
" Devlin abruptly rose and turned to face her. He grabbed Ellie's hands and forced her to meet his desperate gaze.

"Be honest with me, Ellie. Be honest with me and yourself, tell me how you really feel. Tell me that it's me you thi
nk about when he comes near you. Tell me it's me you want to spend the rest of your life with. Tell me that I'm not just a replacement. Tell me that you're not just settling…"

"Dev…
"

"Tell me!" he shook her, his voice a roar
ing boom. "Tell me the truth, Ellie."

"Devlin,
"

"I don't want to feel this way, always doubting your feelings for me, but how can I not when I see the way y
ou act around him? The way he…"

"Nicholas means nothing to me, Devlin! I don't know what I have to do to prove that to you! There isn't anything going on and there never
will be. It's you that I want, it's you that I think about, it's you that I love. Tell me what I have to do to prove that to you?"

Devlin settled his forehead against Ellie's
own and sadly whispered. "Just…just let me be the only man in your heart. That's all I ever wanted, I can't bear to be anything else."

"You ar
e, Devlin."

Releasing her hands, Devlin cupped Ellie's face and devoured her lips. "Let me love you, Ellie?" He breathed against the side of Ellie's neck.

"You don't need to ask."

There was no longer any need for words as the sound of flesh and vocalized moans overtook the room. Ellie let Devlin love her, while she desperately fought the images of a certain silver eyed man from coming to mind. She screwed her eyes shut, dug her fingers into the sheets and chomped down on her bottom lip to keep from accidentally calling out the wrong name. She felt like such an asshole.

~*~*~*~

The scene from the prior evening with Devlin replayed over and over again in Ellie's mind. It pained her to realize what she'd done, what she was doing each time she lied to Devlin. God! But what else could she have done? Devlin's expression alone had done her in. It'd been so raw, so heart wrenchingly hopeful that Ellie couldn't have told him the truth even if she'd wanted to. So rather than honesty and sincerity, she'd chosen deceit and selfishness. How had it come to this?

How did she end up harboring these feeling? Where did they come from? It wasn't supposed to have been like this. Ellie
could say that she loved Devlin. She honestly did, but something always held her back from fully committing to him. She adored Devlin, the man who came into Ellie's life and made loving possible again. He was patient and kind, loving and attentive and there wasn't a day in the last three years since they started dating that Ellie remembered crying because of him. Devlin had always proved himself to be a gentleman, completely conscience of all her emotion. Devlin was perfect for her. Devlin...Devlin...

Devlin wasn't Nicholas.

And there laid the crux of Ellie's emotional problems. It always came back to Nicholas Grayson. It was one of the greatest jokes in the history of romance, to want the man who confused and angered the hell out of you. The man who unrepentantly took liberties with your heart and made you enjoy each moment, no matter how torturous. While the mind pleaded for the man who made life simple, who made familial bliss so easy, who wanted nothing more than to see to your everlasting joy, the mind yearned for that.

But the heart and the body craved passion.
They demanded the emotional instability, the edge-of-your-seat arguments that inevitably exploded in hot, body melting sex that had you screaming to the high heavens. The heart and the body desired the man who caressed your soul. Who thrived on spontaneity, understood your insecurities because they were a perfect match to his own. The heart and the body wanted a man who was as wild as you were tame, as idealistic as you were pragmatic. Ellie’s heart and the body wanted what she feared the most.

She d
idn't want to be with that man.  Yet every time Nicholas looked at her, every elusive brush of his fingers along her skin, every utterance of her name from his lips, was like a call to debauchery. Her heart sang for him. Her body ached like nothing else when he was near. But things were not so simple. The anger and deep emotional wounds from the past refused to allow things to be so simple. She had her pride, her dignity and the tight reign they had over her prevented Ellie from doing something foolish, like run back into the arms of the man who had decimated her heart.

There were memories that plagued her despite that she'd moved on and they wouldn't let her forget. But Ellie wanted to, with a desperation that almost burned, she wanted to forget and live the remainder of h
er days as Devlin's little wife. But the situation had become increasingly hard now and she had to make a decision. Ellie knew she was coming at a crossroad and no matter how difficult, she would need to make that decision and regardless of what she did, people were going to get hurt.

The last
thing Ellie ever wanted was to hurt Devlin. But how long could she continue this farce? How long would she continue to lead that man on without giving him all the facts? He was entitled to the truth if nothing else. Ellie would make him understand. She would tell him everything and let him know that though she cared for him deeply, she was far too unstable to remain in a relationship. Getting married only to discover years later that it'd been a mistake wasn't something Ellie wanted. Divorce wasn't an option once she said yes. To be fair and just, Ellie knew she had to let Devlin go, she couldn't possibly continue to compromise their relationship and friendship.

It hurt Ellie to know that she would let him go. But Devlin deserved happiness. He deserved to find someone who was capable of giving him the unconditional love and happiness he so effortlessly gave her.

"Ellie!" Ellie turned her head sideways so fast that she felt a twinge and while she brought her hand to the base of her skull to alleviate the pain, she smiled at the sight of Maddie making her way towards her, freshly clean from her shower.