Dylan POV
Yesterday was the most insane day of my life, one moment I was getting ready to break up with Savannah so I could be with Jo, and now… look at me, standing in Tiffany’s searching for the perfect engagement ring to propose to Savannah.
“Mr. Ashford, how can I help you?” The salesman greets me. I smile as I can’t remember his name for the life of me. I shake his hand and he follows my gaze to the diamond rings in front of us.
“You’re popping the question?” He asks and I give him a single nod while I focus on a ring with a diamond so big it will shine on Savannah’s hand. It’s in a snowflake shape. “Can I see that one, please?” I ask, and I receive a nod.
He grabs his keys and opens the window where the ring is kept. He puts on a white glove and grabs a small cushion for the ring before placing it in front of me on the counter. I lean forward, looki
Dylan POV Today is the day of the party, and I am not happy about this. This pregnancy is becoming a spectacle. I haven’t even done a paternity test yet. I shake my head as I remember the full blowout that Savannah had when I requested the test. “How can you ask for something like that? I wasn’t the one sleeping around lately, was I?” She shouted at me, and I felt guilty as fuck, but the small mention of Jo makes my heart beat faster. “I wasn’t sleeping around, I slept with one person” I fight back, and I can tell immediately that I should’ve kept my mouth shut because immediately Savannah’s eyes pool with water. Shit. “Shit, I’m sorry” I let out pulling her into a tight hug, she starts crying on my shoulder. I freaking love Jo, but I shouldn’t have slept with her while I was still with Savannah. I understa
Jo POV “Are you sure you’re okay to go with me?” I ask Layla as she finishes her coffee. She nods her head dabbing the napkin on her lips. “Don’t be stupid, of course. I am going with you,” Layla says as she rubs her bump. I stand up walking around the table to help her up, but she waves me off. “I can do it,” she tells me with a wink. Layla is so big it’s unbelievable, but if you see her from behind, you would never think she is pregnant. She is five months pregnant now. I am organizing a Gender reveal party for her. She asked me to do it as I am about to be the baby’s godmother. I couldn’t be more excited. I watch as she waddles to the living room where her shoes are. I sit in front of her, helping with the shoes. She looks like she is around eight months. This is a wicked big baby for her tiny body, so she has a scheduled c-section.
Jo POV “See, I told you she was the best,” Layla says enthusiastically as we walk out of the clinic. I hold on tightly to the papers I am bringing home to read about hormone therapy and all the treatments I have available right now. “Yeah, I know,” I tell her. I am not matching her enthusiasm, but this is very scary. Everything is going to fast, my engagement ending, finding out who Leo really is, falling for the worst person in the world, and now this… “Do you want to go shopping? I need to buy some clothes,” Layla says, and I look at her. Who is this and what has she done with my best friend? My best friend hated shopping. “I know, don’t look at me like that, but none of my clothes fit… I look like a whale,” she says and I can’t help but laugh out loud. “As if that was even possible, you eat more than me
Jo POV Layla went home after leaving me alone in my own apartment. I sit on the couch holding the papers with an insane amount of shopping bags around me. I look around, shaking my head. I might go return most of it. I don’t have anywhere to wear those kinds of clothes. I might keep the shoes. Can’t really say no to some Manolo Blahnik can I? They are beautiful, and I will never wear them just because I will be too scared of ruining them. I might wear them in the house. Don’t get me wrong. I have a Dolce, and one Gucci dress, but they were bought in thrift stores. They were findings that I still can’t believe I found. I don’t know how people can get rid of their dresses like that. They had the tags on, so they were never worn. I hold the papers up as I start reading the treatment, and how it works. There are a lot of injections and scans, not to mention blood tests and all sorts. I will find out everything abou
Jo POVI smile, placing the dress down, and my doorbell rings. I frown. I look around, checking if Layla forgot anything, but no, there are only the thousands of bags she got for me. I stand and walk to the door phone and when the screen lights up; I take one step back, covering my mouth with my hand.“Open the door, Jo. I know you’re home.” I hear and see Greg say. I hold my breath as if he could hear me and I shake my head. He found me. How did he find me?“I am only going to say this once. Open the Goddamn door, Jo,” he says with the most threatening tone of voice I have ever heard. I walk to the door phone and press the opening button. As if I got electrocuted, I take one step back and look around the room, gathering everything quickly and shoving it inside the wardrobe at the entrance. I don’t want him to see all of this designer stuff and think I went shopping instead of p
Dylan POVI sit on the edge of the bed as I put my black shoes on as Savannah looks at her reflection in the mirror. Her bump is showing. I can see is peeking through her tight dress. I can’t help but smile. I know I wasn’t thrilled about it in the beginning, but the kid is growing on me.“What do you think? The red or the purple?” She asks, raising her large earrings. I frown, looking at the two options, and take a deep breath.“Don’t you have anything smaller? That won’t get everyone looking at your ears?” I ask, and when she spins around and looks at me, I realize I fucked up. I raise both of my hands up in an apology. “But what do I know? The purple?” I ask with a small smile on my lips.Savannah looks back in the mirror, holding both earrings clos
Dylan POVRobert opens the door so I can get out of the car and I immediately regret coming. The flashes from the photographs are blinding me. I take my sunglasses from the pocket inside my suit jacket and put them on as I flash the reporters a smile.I walk around the car as Robert opens the door for Savannah. I offer her my hand and when her ring is visible getting out of the car; the noise is mind-blowing. There are hundreds of people behind the security barricades shouting for Savannah’s name.She waves at everyone, blowing some kisses with her right hand while she wraps her left arm around mine as we walk down the red carpet into the National Library. The stairs are covered with red carpet while the reporters shout our names, trying to get to ask some questions.I look around, trying to find one of o
Jo POVToday is the freaking event. I look inside my closet trying to find something I can wear and I find my Gucci dress. I pull it out and smile. It really is beautiful, and I only wore it once. A knock on the door makes me jump and my heart beats fast. It’s too early to be Greg picking me up.I look through the magic eye and it’s a delivery man with a massive white box. I frown as I open the door and he smiles. “Miss Jo Thompson?” He asks and I nod. “This is for you,” he says, passing me the box. He puts a paper on top for me to sign and I smile.“Let me just put the box down,” I say as I put it on the floor. I can’t really take my eyes off of it. He gives me his pen and I sign the paper.“Have a good day,” he tells me.“You too,” I reply before I close the door and get on my knees, undoing the big gold bow that covers t
Dylan POV “Come on sleepyhead, it’s time to get up,” Jo says as she pulls the covers from my body. “Argh,” I let out, rolling onto my stomach and burying my head on my pillow as Jo opens the curtains. “What are you doing? It’s Saturday,” I let out with my head still on my pillow. “Come on, I need you to get up,” she says, but I groan again, closing my eyes harder, shaking my head. “Nope,” I say, popping the P. Jo screamed for help and I jumped out of bed, disoriented. I saw her in the doorway, already dressed and showered. I shake my head, regretting standing up so fast. “What the fuck was that for? I almost had a fucking heart attack,” I say, going back to bed, but she runs, grabbing my wrist, stopping me. I turn around to face her and she is smiling. She looks way too excited. “Okay, what’s with that face? That’s terrifying,” I say as I move my finger in circles, pointing at her face. Jo smacks my finger away as she pulls me
Jo POV Dylan pulls me closer to him. I keep my eyes closed, my brain is tired that I can’t even open my eyes. I can feel Dylan’s lips move up and down my neck and move to my shoulder. I take a deep breath as he helps me to roll onto the bed to face him. I smile slightly as he kisses me and then kisses my face, my nose, and my eyes. “Good morning,” he whispers, and I smile again. I open my eyes to be faced with those beautiful ocean-blue eyes that take my breath away every time he smiles at me. “Good morning, husband,” I say and he chuckles as I move, resting my head on his chest. Dylan hugs me tightly against his body as I keep my eyes closed, moving my hands slowly up and down his stomach, feeling his rock-hard abs. This man feels like the Gods have carved him just for me. I lick my lips as I open my eyes to look at him. He looks lost in thought, and I can’t blame him. Our lives had turned upside down since we got together and we got married. I don’t
Dylan POV “Are you sure you want to do that?” I ask Fred, while he takes his glass to his lips. He shrugs and I can’t help but smile. “I don’t know, but it seems like a good idea,” he says, and I take a deep breath. “Just because it seems like a good idea, it doesn’t mean that it will be a successful business,” I tell him. He nods and I can hear Jo’s voice in my ear. “I am going to the bathroom, husband,” she says and I look back at her while she smiles, with Layla standing next to her. I nod while I smile. She called me husband, the best word in the world right now. I think I have never loved this woman more than I love right now, and I don’t even know if I will ever love her more than right now. Layla wraps one arm around Jo’s arm as they walk slowly toward the bathroom. They get stopped so many times and I can tell Jo is not loving it. Archie starts crying and Richard immediately goes into panic mode. He looks around, and Layla is nowhere to be seen. He picks up the little one
Jo POV Dylan holds my hand while we wait to be called into the ballroom. “How are you feeling?” He asks me and I look at him before I look at the double door again and smile. “Nervous, but very happy. How did you pull this off?” I ask and he looks at me. I turn around to face him and he places both his hands on my face and kisses me slowly. I close my eyes, allowing him to savor the moment. “I didn’t pull anything off. I was with you the entire time. This is all Layla,” he tells me, and I smile. The double doors open and I can hear someone announce us. “Mr. And Mrs. Ashford” My heart beats fast as we walk into the room with round tables and everyone standing while they clap. I smile as Dylan tightens his grip on my hand. “Ladies and Gentleman, the first dance,” someone says and Dylan pulls me towards him as he wraps his arms around my waist. I wrap both my arms around his neck as we sway to the sound of Extreme more than words. I smile as I rest my head against his chest. When th
Dylan POV “You need to chill,” Richard says as he helps me with my butterfly tie. I look at him and he smirks. I grab his glass from the side table and empty its content in my mouth. Argh, that was strong. I lift the glass, showing that it is empty, and Jude laughs as he grabs the bottle and pours another dose into it. “You should take it easy,” Jude says and I flip him off as I look at my reflection in the mirror. Today is the most important day of my life. I am marrying the woman of my dreams. I am finally allowing myself to be happy. A soft knock on the door brings my attention back to the room. Layla steps inside and she looks beautiful in a blush pink dress. “The bride wants you,” she says as she looks at me. I frown and she holds my hand, pulling me out of my room. “It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding,” says, and she waves me off. “You will not see her. She will be on the other side of the door and you will be back to back. She just needs to touch you for reas
Jo POV Dylan closed all the windows, not allowing me to lookout., I realised we were not in New York. The flight took longer than what it would take for new York. But I decided not to question him. He looks so lost and I feel like his heart is so broken that I wish I knew what to do. “Are you ready for this?” Dylan asks me and I nod as he holds my hand while we walk down the stairs that connect the private jet to the airport. Once outside, Dylan talks to the pilot while our things are brought out of the jet. He looks so confident when he is around other people, but when it’s the two of us, he looks broken. A minibus stops in front of us, and Dylan holds my hand, guiding towards it. The door opens and my eyes go wide and I squeal in happiness when I see Layla, Fred, Richard, and even Jude inside. “Welcome to your bachelorette party bus,” Dylan says as Jude, Fred, and Richard leave the bus, and I look around, not really understanding what is going on. “What?” I say, but I don’t even
Dylan POV “Thank you for the hospitality,” I say as I give Josie a big hug before shaking Bill’s hand. “You’re always welcome here, and hopefully next time Jo will have a ring on her finger,” Bill says, and I smile. After she said yes to my marriage proposal, I have been so happy that I hadn’t even looked at my phone. I informed my brothers that we would go under the radar for a few days to let the dust settle while Richard took care of everything for us. The only person I kept some contact with was Layla because she would kill me if I kept her best friend away from her. Besides, I needed her to help with a surprise. I open the taxi door for Jo to get in as I wait for her to come. She is still hugging her mom and dad. She hasn’t spoken to her sister since that incident and everything got worse when she had a relapse and is being treated again. Such a shame, another soul that Greg destroyed, and I can’t wait to destroy him. Jo walks towards me. She looks sad, and I know she hates
Jo POV It’s been three days since we got here and Dylan is looking a lot more relaxed and even I feel much better. It’s like everything that happens in New York doesn’t matter here. People don’t really care about the big and famous the big city. “Are you ready?” I ask as I walk back into the guest room where Dylan has been sleeping, and I have been sneaking in every night. “Almost,” he says as he puts his shoes on. He looks so good with normal clothes and not his tailored suits. Don’t get me wrong, one pair of his denim trousers probably cost more than my entire wardrobe, but he looks relaxed with his plaid shirt and dark blue denim pants. Dylan pulls me into his arms and I can’t help but squeal as he kisses my neck, making me giggle. “Stop, come on, my dad will hear us,” I say, but Dylan doesn’t seem to care, especially when he closes the door with his foot pressing my back against it. “We’re gonna get caught,” I whisper between kisses while Dylan undoes the button from my pants
Jo POVLeaving New York is the best thing that we did. After the dinner at Dylan’s house, I think we both need to be away from the city for a little while. We found out so much more stuff that his dad did that it made me sick to my stomach. Dylan has been very quiet the entire flight and drive to my parent’s house. But I can’t really blame him. It was a shit show.As soon as the car stops in front of my parent’s house, I open the door without even thinking about my own actions. I run up the front garden and open the fence before I storm up the stairs to hug my mom, that per usual, is waiting by the door.Her arms wrapped around my body give me a sense of security I didn’t know I needed. I feel safe with Dylan; I feel safe in his arms, but… this is all I need right now. I need my mommy. I’ve been hurt and I am not ashamed to admit that I need my mommy.Mom cradles my face with both her hands and kisses me on the f