Taming The Wild CEO novel Chapter 62

C H A P T E R 6 0 : W H E N I T A L L C O M E S D O W N

E L L A S T A N F O R D

After the meeting with Javier’s mother, Ella finally made her way to the ballroom where the party was being held. Albeit the conversation was pleasant, she felt a little tense the second she stepped inside, knowing that Maria must be here and sooner or later she would have to face her. Taking a deep breath, she approached one of the waiters who carried a tray full of drinks, and took a glass of soda. She let the drink calmed her down as she made her way towards the long serving table full of varied appetizers. She was about to grab a mini sandwich when someone knocked her back from behind.

It did not take a genius to figure out who it was because the next thing she heard from just behind her was “What do you think you are doing here, bitch?”

Ella glanced over her shoulder. “What does it look like? I am simply attending the annual party.”

“Without invitation?” Maria laughed evilly as she leaned back, the slit in her black dress raked up and showed her perfect olive skin. “Do you want me to call the security or do you actually have some dignity left to walk out of here yourself?”

Keeping her head held high, Ella walked away and tucked herself in the other side of the room. She wanted to shove Javier’s invitation to Maria’s face but she did not want to provoke her especially when she had no idea what Javier’s plan was. This whole thing was new to her. She did not usually walk into something without knowing what it was. She was not used to simply taking a leap of faith. Her nerves were all over the place and her brain was telling her to drop everything and run. The only thing that soothed her and made her stay was her trust in Javier. She knew he had something planned even though she had no idea what it was.

Then as if he knew she had been thinking about him, she watched Javier walking into the ballroom. All eyes were on him yet he kept on walking until he arrived at the front and one of the event organizers handed him a microphone. “Good evening, everyone,” he greeted.

Everyone moved to the front of the ballroom, surrounding him, and Ella found herself walking towards him as well. She walked through the crowd, making her way to the front until she was on the very first row and their eyes met. He was devastating in his formal evening clothes, his lean good looks emphasized by them. The deep blue ocean eyes looked at her lingeringly. She felt herself tremble, flushing, at the open hunger in his gaze.

“What the fuck are you still doing here?” Someone hissed at her ear but she refused to listen or even giving her a small part of her attention. Her eyes were solely on his and she did not care about the rest. “I am going to email the photos now. Do you understand me, bitch?”

“As always, I want to thank all of you for still being a part of the Summers Entertainment this year. Especially those of you who have been here since its inception ten years ago.” He gave everyone a charming smile then pointed his finger at Jeff Morgan, one of the executives. “Don’t worry, Jeff, I got you. I told you I will be sure to mention you in this speech.”

Everyone laughed while Jeff replied, “Ten years and counting, baby!”

Javier smiled at Jeff’s response then continued, “Even though, it has been ten years since I started this company, most of you have known me for longer. Some of you probably have seen me greeted you behind the receptionist desk or when I delivered mails to your desk back when I was still in high school and worked part time or full time during summer. To be honest, even I had no idea back then that I would become the CEO of Summers Entertainment. After all, knowing my late grandfather, there are no such things as certainty.” His face grew solemn and Ella knew that he was probably referring to his brother, Draven, who had been written off from their family’s will by their grandfather and had run away from home. “But here I am today,” he continued, his lips formed a small smile however sadness still lingered in his eyes. “And I could not be more grateful. I would like to thank all of you who have helped me built this company from scratch. Those of you who have believed in our ability to shine in this industry. I just received a phone call from Forbes asking for an interview as Summers Entertainment would be featured as one of the three leading companies in the entertainment industry.”

Everyone cheered and clapped. Some were patting each other’s back. Ella had tears in her eyes. This company had always been Javier’s baby and right now, seeing him finally succeeded, made her really proud and happy for him. He had worked harder than anyone else. He deserved this accomplishment.

“I am guessing they must have heard about our successful expansion.” Javier chuckled. “Anyway, I invited their journalist to be here along with some folks from CNN.” He pointed at a man who stood in the same row as Ella. Next to that man was a cameraman who busied himself taking photos and recording the entire event. “Today, there are so many things to celebrate.” He regarded the crowd before focusing his eyes on her. “And I would like to add one more thing.”

Javier turned off the microphone and put it into his pocket as he walked towards her. He looked very handsome that it should not be legal. “Ella,” he greeted her then bent her back over his arm and looked down into her face. Everyone around them gasped and the crowd went wild. She could feel the light from the cameraman’s camera.

“What are you doing?” Ella gasped, her eyes widened in shock.

“I am just making sure those photos are old news,” he replied with a mischievous smile on his face. Then the next second, his mouth came down on hers and he tongue kissed her in front of everyone. In front of all their colleagues and the journalists. The kiss lingered until she was dizzy and he was sure everyone got the point.

Then as if it was not enough, he dropped to one knee. His hand slipped into his pocket and he pulled out a velveteen box. He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring she had ever beheld. “I love you, Ella.”

He smelled like sweat and champagne, and the warmth of his breath and the heat of his words crept inside her heart. Her footsteps faltered from shock and trying to balance on her high heels. She looked up into his blue eyes. “I love you too.”

Javier smiled. “I know.”

Her voice dropped into a whispering level as she added, “I love you too much to have you risking your name and reputation for me.”

“I had my heart broken years ago and since then, I have worked for most of my life to just get to this one moment. Now that I am here, I have discovered it is not enough. I want more.” His baby blues stared deeply into her eyes. “I want you in my life.”

Ella wanted that too. More than she had ever wanted anything. More than money and security and big shiny diamonds. “There has to be another way,” she whispered again so only he could hear.

He shook his head. “No, this feels right and I am doing this not because of her. I am doing this because for the first time in my life, I want someone to share my life with and I want you to be that person. So,” he cleared his throat and smiled, “the floor is quite hard and I start to lose the feeling on my legs.” Everyone laughed at his joke. “I know that I have not been a huge believer of love but things changed when I met you. My feelings have grown and it took me to get a little scolding from my brat sister to realize it.”

From a distance, Ella could hear Clarabelle yelling, “Hey!”

But her focus was solely on Javier. She could hardly believe that this day would come.

“Ella Stanford,” he paused to plant a kiss on her knuckles, “would you do me the honor of letting me be your husband?”

Ella’s ankles wobbled and her heart pounded in her chest. “Yes.”

His smile turned into a grin as he slid the ring into her ring finger and rose to his feet. He pulled the microphone from his pocket, turned it on, and regarded the crowd, “Let’s have a great party, everyone!”

The crowd was cheering on them, the camera was splashing. He handed the microphone to an event organizer and held Ella’s hand. “Come.” He led her towards the door and once they were outside, they walked towards the set of lifts at the far end. He pushed the button.

“Are you sure this is okay? Do you really mean it?” Ella asked once they were inside the lift. She still was not sure what had just happened. It was as if her brain had lost its function to process all of these.

“Yes.” He kissed the top of her head. “I love you and yes, you just agreed to marry me for real, Miss Stanford. No more backing down.”

Ella stared at the two rings in her finger. “But why did you get me a new ring? You know you could have just asked me to return the ring we used when we were doing the ruse.”

“Nah, it would not be right.” He cupped her face with his warm hand. “That ring was only for the ruse. But this ring,” he pointed at the ring he had just put on her a few minutes ago, “this belonged to my mother. This was her engagement ring. This time, we are truly engaged.”

“Oh my gosh!” She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Then she recalled Maria’s threats. “How about Maria? I know this engagement means that her photos of us are no longer valid but what about her other threats? She said she would get your previous secretaries to make a false confession.”

“You know I have been in this industry for years, right?” He lifted one brow, his lips curled into a smile. The elevator made a ding noise, informing them that they had reached their floor, then the door slid open. Both of them walked out of the elevator and Ella let him lead her to wherever he was taking her.