Chapter 429
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Chapter 429:
Jocelyn’s cheeks instantly burned. She grabbed the silk duvet and pulled it up over her bare shoulders.
Gaston let out a low, dark chuckle. He stood, crossed the room in three long strides, and sat on the edge of the mattress. He grabbed the edge of the duvet and drew it down, exposing her collarbone. He leaned over and pressed a hot, lingering kiss to the sensitive skin just below her ear.
The encrypted cell phone on the nightstand vibrated sharply.
Jocelyn groaned and reached from under the covers to grab it. The caller ID read: Grandma Wolfe.
She cleared her throat and swiped to answer.
“Good morning, Grandma,” Jocelyn said, her voice still thick with sleep.
“Darling!” Grandma Wolfe’s voice boomed through the speaker, vibrating with old-money energy. “I was just looking at the property maps. Since our families are officially merged, I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the Wolfe summer estate in the Hamptons and the Collins property are separated by that bankrupt hedge fund manager’s private beach p>
𝗙o𝗅𝗹o𝘸 𝘂ѕ o𝗻
Jocelyn blinked, rubbing her eyes. “Grandma, what are you saying p>
“I am saying we should buy the beach,” Grandma Wolfe declared, without a trace of hesitation. “Knock down the fences. Connect the properties. Make it one massive, continuous compound p>
Jocelyn laughed at the sheer, unapologetic audacity of the old woman’s territorial vision. She turned her head toward Gaston, silently asking his opinion.
Gaston didn’t hesitate. He reached over, took the phone from her hand, and put it on speaker.
“Consider it done,” Gaston said smoothly. “I will have my real estate acquisitions team initiate the offer immediately. We will have the deeds signed by the end of the month p>
He hung up and tossed the phone onto the mattress.
He reached into his trouser pocket and produced a flat, dark blue velvet box, placing it gently onto Jocelyn’s bare palm.
Jocelyn sat up, clutching the silk sheet to her chest, and popped the lid open.
Her breath caught in her throat. Resting on the black satin was a necklace — a massive, twenty-carat unheated Kashmir sapphire surrounded by a halo of flawless white diamonds. The blue stone was so deep and vibrant it looked like a piece of the ocean captured in platinum.
“A morning gift,” Gaston murmured, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “For accepting every dark, twisted part of my soul last night p>
Jocelyn’s eyes filled with tears. She didn’t say a word. She simply leaned forward, lifted her chin, and offered her lips to him.
Gaston kissed her deeply, his hands moving to the back of her neck to clasp the heavy platinum chain against her skin. The massive sapphire settled perfectly against her collarbone.
Two hours later, Jocelyn and Gaston stepped off a private Collins Group helicopter onto the tarmac at Teterboro Airport. The freezing November wind whipped Jocelyn’s hair across her face.