Entwined With You

then slid the prenup free and stepped out to the patio.
    Down on the beach, preparations were under way for the wedding. A flower-covered arch had been placed by the shoreline and braided white ribbon had been draped across the sand to mark an impromptu aisle.
    I chose to sit with my back to the view, because it hurt to look at it.
    I took a sip of coffee, let it soak into me, then took another. I was halfway done with my cup when I gathered enough courage to read the damn legalese. The opening few pages detailed the assets we owned separately prior to marriage. Gideon’s holdings were staggering.
When did he find time to sleep?
I thought the dollar amount attributed to me was wrong, until I considered how long the principal had been sitting in investments.
    Stanton had taken my five million and doubled it.
    It struck me then how stupid I was for just sitting on it, instead of investing it where it could help those who needed it. I’d been acting like that blood money didn’t exist when I should’ve been putting it to work. I made a mental note to tackle that project as soon as I got back to New York.
    After that, the reading got interesting.
    Gideon’s first stipulation was that I take the Cross name as my own.I could keep Tramell as an additional middle name, but with no hyphenation as a surname.
Eva Cross
—it was nonnegotiable. And so very like him. My domineering lover made no apologies for his caveman tendencies.
    His second stipulation was that I accept ten million from him upon the wedding, doubling my personal estate just for saying
I do
. Every year thereafter, he gave me more. I would receive bonuses for each child we had together, be paid for going to couples therapy with him. I agreed to counseling and mediation in the event of a divorce. I agreed to share a residence with him, bimonthly vacations, date nights …
    The more I read, the more I understood. The prenup didn’t protect Gideon’s assets at all. He gave them freely, going so far as to stipulate up front that fifty percent of everything he acquired from our marriage onward was irrefutably mine. Unless he cheated. If that happened, it cost him severely.
    The prenup was designed to protect his heart, to bind me and bribe me to stay with him no matter what. He was giving everything he had.
    He joined me on the terrace when I flipped to the last page, strolling out in a pair of partially buttoned jeans and nothing else. I knew his perfectly timed arrival wasn’t coincidental. He’d been watching me from somewhere, gauging my reaction.
    I brushed the tears from my cheeks with studied nonchalance. “Good morning, ace.”
    “Morning, angel.” He bent and pressed a kiss to my cheek before taking the chair at the end of the table to my left.
    A member of the staff came out with breakfast and coffee, arranging the place settings quickly and efficiently before disappearing as swiftly as he’d appeared.
    I looked at Gideon, at the way the tropical breeze adored him and played with that sexy mane of hair. Sitting there as he was, so virile and casual, he wasn’t at all the cut-and-dried presentation of dollar signs I’d seen in the prenup.
    Allowing the pages to flip back to the first page, I set my hand on top of it and said, “Nothing in this document can keep me married to you.”
    He took a quick, deep breath. “Then we’ll revisit and revise. Name your terms.”
    “I don’t want your money. I want this,” I gestured at him. “Especially this.” I leaned forward and placed my hand over his heart. “You’re the only thing that can hold me, Gideon.”
    “I don’t know how to do this, Eva.” He caught my hand and held it pressed flat to his chest. “I’m going to fuck up. And you’ll want to run.”
    “Not anymore,” I argued. “Haven’t you noticed?”
    “I noticed you running into the ocean last night and sinking like a damn stone!” Leaning forward, he held my gaze. “Don’t argue the prenup on principle. If there are no deal breakers for you in it, live with it. For me.”
    I sat back. “You and I have a long way to go,” I said softly. “A document can’t force us to believe in each other. I’m talking about trust, Gideon.”
    “Yeah, well—” He hesitated. “I don’t trust myself not to fuck this up, and you don’t trust that you’ve got what I need. We trust each other just fine. We can work on the rest together.”
    “Okay.” I watched his eyes light up and knew I was making the right decision,