“How are you, Rory?” Richard asked.

“I’m okay. How are you?”

He pursed his lips together and gave me a small smile. “I’m sick, Rory, and I don’t want you telling Ian about this.”

I frowned at him and shook my head. “What do you mean, you’re sick?”

“You need to promise me that you won’t mention any of this to Ian. I’m not ready to tell him.”

“Then why are you telling me, Richard?”

“Because you saw the paper from John Hopkins.”

“I suspected something was wrong because of the way you reacted when I picked up the paper.”

“You didn’t say anything to Ian, did you?”

“No,” I replied as I shook my head. “What’s wrong with you?”

He pick up his glass of scotch and took a drink before answering me. “I have pancreatic cancer, stage four, and it has spread.”

Instantly, that sickening feeling in my stomach appeared. “Richard,” I said as I placed my hand on his. “My God, are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure and so is every doctor at John Hopkins.”

“You’re getting treatments, though, so you’ll be fine,” I said.

“No, Rory. There’s nothing they can do for me. It’s too far spread at this point.”

Tears started to fill my eyes. “No, Richard. There’s got to be something. You’re not going to die. Ian needs you.”

He placed his other hand on mine. “Rory, I need you to listen to me. I know we got off to a rough start and I’m so sorry about that. There are things about me you don’t know, so I don’t expect you to understand. What I do know is that you’re the best thing that has ever happened to my son. I’ve never seen him happy like he is. At first, I thought you were just another woman after his money, but you’re not. You’re a kind and warm woman. You’re selfless and you’re genuine. My son is one lucky man to have found you. To be honest, I knew right away you were the one because I saw it every time Ian looked at you and it scared me. I didn’t want his heart broken like mine had been.”

I didn’t know if Richard was talking about Ian’s mother with that remark, but I felt incredibly bad for him. I just wanted to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, but I had the feeling it wasn’t going to be.

“When are you going to tell Ian about this? And how can you expect me to keep this secret from him?”

“You’ll do it for me. I trust you. Ian will never know that you knew. I’ll tell him when all my affairs are in order.”

“But—”

“No buts, Rory. I’ve made peace with it and I need you to as well. Ian is going to need you in a way he’s never needed anyone before.”

Richard went on to eat his lunch. He had put me in an awful position and I hated it. I couldn’t lie to Ian and now I was forced with a decision I didn’t want to make.

Ian & Rory

I set down my briefcase and walked upstairs to see if Rory was getting ready to go out to the club. When I walked into the bedroom, she had just gotten out of the shower and she was standing naked in the closet, looking through her clothes.

“Hot damn, that’s what I like to see when I come home after a long hard day at the office.”

She turned her head and looked at me with a smile splashed across her face. “How long and hard is it? I mean, did you have a nice day?”

I smirked and walked up behind her, placing my hands on her breasts and gently giving them a squeeze. “I like your first line better, sweetheart, and I’ll show you how long and hard it is.”

She gasped, and I knew in that moment that I had her. She could never resist me, just like I could never resist her. My fingers made their way down to the area that she told me constantly ached for me. Feeling how wet she already was turned me on even more. As my tongue began to explore her neck, she reached behind and stroked my hard cock through the fabric of my pants. My finger made its way inside her, causing her to let out a sexy moan. As I turned her around, I passionately kissed her lips before they trailed down to her breasts, torso, and then finally her pussy. She brought her leg up over my shoulder as I had a tight grip on her hips. She ran her fingers through my hair as her body tightened and she yelled my name. Her legs shook as she came. I stood up, tore off my shirt, and took down my pants as fast as I could. There was no waiting. I wanted her and I needed her now. I kissed her lips as I led her to the bed. After I laid her on her stomach, I took her from behind. I clutched her tight beautiful ass as I thrust in and out of her rapidly. I could feel her swelling again and preparing to come.

“Come again, sweetheart. I need you to come one more time for me.”

“Please don’t stop, baby. I’m so close.”

Her moans grew louder and I felt her coming. I gave one final thrust as the buildup in me released and pure bliss took over. As I collapsed on top of her, I reached under her and softly held her breasts while we tried to catch our breath.

“I love you,” I whispered and kissed the side of her face.

“I love you too. More than you’ll ever know.”

While I was in the shower, Rory was putting on her makeup.

“How did lunch go with my dad?” I asked.

“It was nice. I think he really likes me now,” she replied.

“I know he likes you, Rory. What did you talk about?”

“Nothing much. Just small talk.”

“About what?” I asked as I turned off the water and slid the glass door open.

“He was just asking me about my childhood.”

She was lying and I knew it. I wrapped the towel around my waist and walked over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist and looking straight at her through the mirror.

“You would never lie to me, right?” I asked.

“Of course not, Ian,” she said with nervousness. She stared at me and I could see the sadness in her eyes. She turned around, looked at me, and then started to walk away. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this.”

“Do what, Rory?”

“Lie to you. I can’t. I love you too much to lie to you,” she said as she turned around and looked at me. “Ian, your dad is really sick.”

I cocked my head as I looked at her from across the bathroom. “What? What do you mean?”

“He told me not to tell you because he’s going to tell you when he has everything in order. He has stage four pancreatic cancer and it spread. I’m so sorry.”

I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her. “I already know, sweetheart.”

She pushed back. “What? How?”

“I just found out a couple of days ago. He’d been acting strange lately and he wasn’t looking well, so I had someone find out what was going on.” I put my hands on her face. “Thank you for telling me the truth when I asked you. You have no idea how much that meant to me,” I said as I kissed her warm lips.

She broke our kiss and looked at me with knitted eyebrows. “What the fuck, Ian? You knew and you didn’t even bother to share it with me?”

“Sweetheart, listen to me. I just found out the night he came over. I was going to tell you about it that night, but I saw the look on your face when you picked up the piece of paper from the floor.”

“You saw that?”

“Yes. I was on my way back into the room and I saw his reaction when you went to pick it up. Then, when he asked you to lunch, I found it odd and that was when I suspected he was going to tell you.”

“So basically, you waited to see if I’d lie to you or not?” she asked with an attitude.

“No, not really. But I did want to see if you’d tell me.”

Rory sighed and walked to the bedroom. “You really suck, Ian.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

“Do you have any idea how much it’s bothered me all day that your father put me in that position?”

I walked over to her and grabbed both her hands. “I’m sure it did bother you and he was wrong, but I’m so proud of you for telling me. I love you so much, Rory,” I said as I pulled her into me.