Forever My Valentine

Forever My Valentine Petal Even as a little girl, Petal Prescott knew Vaughn Valentinus was her forever despite the age gap between them. But fate had other plans. In the blink of an eye, she lost her family and her link with the boy she’d always loved. Now that she's older, she's hoping the man she's loved her entire life will see her than more than the broken little girl she once was. Valen I’ve only ever had one goal in life—to give Petal Prescott the life she deserves. But she hasn’t made it easy, not when she thinks she’s flawed. To me, she is and always will be perfection. But how can I make her see herself how I see her? Maybe there’s only one way—by making her mine. The time has come, and now I’m going to stake my claim and show her just how perfect she truly is. Forever My Valentine Lucy Darling Copyright © 2023 by Lucy Darling All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. “That’s when I realized what a true friend was. Someone who would always love you—the imperfect you, the confused you, the wrong you—because that is what people are supposed to do.” —R.J.L. Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Epilogue Epilogue Her Christmas Surprise Chapter 1 About the Author Also by Lucy Darling 1 Petal “Who let you get that dress?” I spin around to see Vaughn. Or as I call him Valen. I think I’m the only one that would dare call him a nickname. The loneliness and sadness that had settled in evaporates. How can I be at a party with over fifty people and feel alone? I'll never understand, but it’s always that way when I’m back here. A house that has never been my home. “I didn’t think you were coming.” I rush over toward him. He’s in a tux but the bow tie is undone—or maybe he never tied it to begin with. To be honest, it only adds to his appeal. I launch myself into his arms. I know he told me to stop doing that a few years ago, but I don’t care. Valen catches me, the same way he always does. “I wasn’t going to.” He holds me for a long moment. His nose grazes my neck. I swear he breathes me in, or maybe it’s only me doing that to him. The smell of him is always comforting. It reminds me of home and so many other things from my childhood. “I missed you.” That is the understatement of the year. I’ve more than missed him. “I saw you a few days ago.” He had on Christmas. I always get to see Valen on the holidays. The only reason I come back for them is because I know he’ll be there. It’s the only time he comes over to my aunt and uncle's place. He and his parents. They’ve made sure to remain in my life. Valen’s parents are closer to me than my own family. I never understood why I was left in the care of my father's brother. We weren’t close to them. In fact, I can only remember seeing them a handful of times before that. I could only guess it was because my Uncle Cooper had two kids of his own, and my parents thought it would be better for me to grow up around kids my own age. Still, I know David and Judith Valentinus aren’t my blood, but they have been in my life more than anyone else. That meant Valen had been too. At first, he was like an older brother to me. That was until I grew up and started looking at him differently. Our parents owned ValenScott Corp together. Both our fathers created the telecommunication services business decades ago. I suppose now I own it with the Valentinuses. Really it’s Valen that does everything when it comes to ValenScott. He wasn't given much of a choice after the accident. He had big shoes to fill after my parents died. His own parents barely made it out alive themselves. It took David three months to wake up from his coma. It had been a miracle that anyone survived that crash. I bear my own scares from the night that changed all our lives. The only one untouched was Valen. He hadn’t been with us. He’d still been making the trip back home from college to meet us all for an event hosted by our moms. He had come home most weekends back then. His college was only an hour away. I don’t remember any of it. One second I was in a vehicle, and the next Valen was standing over me, the sounds of beeping machines all around. Valen might have come out untouched physically, but he was thrust from being some college kid to full-on adulthood in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t only us he had to think about. He was now the head of a company with over a hundred thousand employees. I don’t blame him for not wanting to be in this house. I don’t care to be around my aunt and uncle either. My Uncle Cooper's resemblance to my dad can be hard to deal with. I think if I loved my uncle, I might feel differently. He might resemble my dad, but he is nothing like him. He and his wife are always comparing me to my cousin, Tia. She’s a grade-A bitch but no one else sees that but me. She is very good at hiding it. Everyone think’s Tia is perfect. On the outside, she is. Her modeling career is proof enough of that. Too bad her inside