A/N: Be warned this is angst and fluff and all kinds of crazy

Chapter Fourteen

The next day Riley and Lucas were standing in the county court office waiting to testify to see if Evan would be taken back to New York or if he would be tried in Texas for trying to kidnap Riley as well as shooting her in the shoulder. Riley felt her nerves going haywire because not far from where she sat were Evan's parents and their big city lawyer. Her mother didn't have jurisdiction in Texas, something about state lines and lawyers, so of course her ex could have a lawyer who could fight for him, luckily for her Lucas knew a good lawyer and called him up to help.

"It's going to be okay," Lucas said as he held her hand. "Don't worry even if they try something they would have to deal with the lawsuit your mother would file if they take him back to New York."

"I know," she said to him giving him a small smile. Her mother had told her that if they allow him back in New York that she would sue Evan's whole family until they were drowned in so much controversy the state would force his father out of his job.

"All rise," the bailiff said and began introducing the judge overseeing the case. Riley felt bile at the back of her throat thinking of what was going to happen. There was no jury, not yet anyway, if they didn't get a plea dead from the judge towards Evan it would go to trial and Riley was willing to sue.

The judge was a woman, which Lucas smiled at. "This could be a good thing," he said squeezing her hand.

All she could do was nod at him, she felt like if she talked she would throw up in an instant. Evan looked at her and smirked and she nearly loss her breakfast all over the floor.

"I have read over this case," the judge said looking out into the room. "What do you plea Mr. Walters?"

"My client would like to plead not guilty by reason of insanity," the lawyer said but Riley only heard the not guilty part and wanted to scream.

"That's an interesting choice. It also seems as though you would like to extradite him to New York even though the crime took place in Texas is that correct."

"Yes Ma'am," the lawyer answered.

"But seeing as how his family knows about his former relationship with Ms. Matthews whom he attacked, and had recently leaked out information pertaining to her private life, it seems as though you're trying to get around the law based on an insanity plea."

"Your honor, my client is not at fault for his mental state, and should not be held in Texas without proper medical care."

"Sit down for a moment," the judge said before looking over to where Riley sat. "Ms. Matthews would you like to say a word?"

Riley stood without thinking, letting go of Lucas's hand and walking towards the podium in the center of the room. She knew that if she didn't say a word then it was a possibility that Evan would go free and he would come back to torment her, as well as her friends and family. That wasn't something she wanted.

Clearing her throat, she looked up at the judge, Evan was smirking at her as if he knew he would get away with everything and it wouldn't matter. She needed to try no matter what, "Your honor, I met Evan Walters nearly four years ago, at the time I believed him to be an honorable man, and entered into a relationship with him, a year later I was involved in an accident where he pulled on the steering wheel of my car causing the car to crash and putting me in a hospital, I lost my memories of our time together, and so he told me several stories about how we were in love," she sucked in her breath trying not to cry.

"I continued the relationship at the time because no one knew about what had occurred or had doubts about it, my memory was gone so I couldn't really testify whether it was true or not. So we stayed together, I became pregnant during this time and for a second time I tried to get away from him. The second time cost me the life of my unborn child, and put me in the hospital for several weeks," Riley could feel the hiccup in her throat but pushed it down. "The relationship ended that time, and I went on with my life, but Mr. Walters didn't stop trying to be in mine, constantly sending me gifts, which were promptly sent back, when it grew to be too much especially with the pressure of his family trying to get us back together for his sake, not mine I left New York."

She could hear Lucas gasp, she hadn't told him that part of the story, she didn't want to burden him anymore but now that they were engaged she didn't want to hold anything back.

"I received a phone call from my mother who is an attorney in New York, I had a restraining order against Mr. Walters, but because of his family's influence they never paid much attention to actually enforcing it. It's one of the reasons why the trip had been suggested, we even made sure that the order pertained to all fifty states. As you can see, instead of reigning in their son, his family sought to expose the secrets of my life, which was my identity as an author as well as my past with their son. His mental state didn't matter until I was in the hospital with a gunshot wound after he tried to kidnap me and threatened to kill me and have me stuffed like a doll."

Riley took a deep breath and looked at the judge one last time, "That's all I have to say, but remember if you let him go with them, and send him back to New York they will just use their influence to let him get away with everything he's done here, and in the end it's going to take my dead body to tell you how out of control he really is."

She sat down next to Lucas trying not to breathe too hard, taking his hand and giving him a squeeze put not taking her eyes off the judge.

"We'll recess for an hour so that I may look over every single piece of evidence," she said before standing and walking out.

Riley didn't want to be there, she wanted to leave because she knew that there was always a possibility that he would get away with it, his family had money and influence. They didn't know the judge, she wasn't sure of anything, she was only sure of one thing and that was Lucas who has given her a new life, and a reason to move forward.

The judge came back into the courtroom after half an hour and she looked angry for some reason, they called her into the room and she sat down and stared out into the room.

"Let me say something as we finish up here," she said and Riley couldn't understand what could have happened to cut the time so short. "Bribery of an elected official is against the law, and fines will be levied against the Walters for attempting to do so. Secondly, bail for Evan Walters will not be set, Mr. Walters has had no regard over Ms. Matthews, he has no regard for her privacy, personal safety, or even obeying a court order. He will not be allowed extradition to New York State and will be tried in Texas as this is where the crime was committed, it has also been presented to me that once his trial is complete here, he will stand trial in New York for several other charges including stalking and breaking a non-disclosure agreement that was signed when he began dating Ms. Matthews, the fines for violating that agreement have been levied against him and currently stand at over fifty million dollars. Mr. and Mrs. Walters it has also come to my attention that there is now a suit against you both as well as your estate in regards to these matters and I suggest that before you try to bribe another judge you make due to fix your mistakes. Court is adjourned," the gavel hitting the wood brought Riley back from her trance as the whole family was taken into custody.

Evan looked at her with a smirk as though he thought he would still get away with it, but her mother would probably get licensed in Texas before the trial just so she could bury the who family for what they had done to Riley. Lucas said his goodbyes to their lawyer and pulled Riley out of the room.

"You okay there?" he asked once they had made it to the parking lot.

"Did that just happen?" she asked him looking into his familiar green eyes.

Instead of answering he brought her into a hug and kissed her forehead holding her for a good minute before speaking. "Yes it did, and for one I am glad because it means that something went right."

"Lucas a lot of things have been going right ever since I met you, and I think for one I'm glad that I fell into your arms that first day here."

Lucas drove them back to the house as their friends and family waited for them, all that was missing was Riley's parents who had to return to New York after Riley had gotten out of the hospital. They had called them just after getting out, and Riley's mother had said that she had sent every piece of evidence to the lawyer they had hired as well as the judge. Riley had been grateful that they had gotten a fair hearing but was still afraid of what was going to happen if they went to trial. They discussed plea deals and other things but when Riley had hung up she looked at him and kissed his arm.

"Thank you for putting up with all of this madness," she said after she had hung up.

"Trust me, you've put up with enough of my crazy life so this is nothing," he said taking her hand. "Remember we do this together, if my ex all of a sudden decided she wanted to come back and raise hell I know you will be there to help me."

"If that happens I hope that it's not for a very very long time."

"Yeah, me to. We've been through so much in the time we've been together, so let's hope that from now on it will be less intense."

Riley laughed and he felt as if it was the greatest sound he could hear at that time, she was free of Evan even with the possibility of him being taken back to New York, the world knew his involvement with Riley who is a high profile author.

"Did you ever think about writing about this," he said to her knowing that maybe she could help more people out there. "Think about it, maybe spin it into fiction but it could be a good thing. You could help so many people."

"I've been thinking about, but I've always been a little afraid of going too deep into my memories, but you're right it could help so many people but instead of fiction, maybe I should just write about my life. No smoke screens."

"Are you sure?"

"I think it's time to let go of the past and move towards something better," she smiled at him before resting her head on his shoulder.

Something better was in their future, maybe closer to the present if he could convince Riley on a trip to Vegas, or at least the courthouse.

As they made the turn onto his driveway he saw the smoke of the backyard barbeque going, which meant that everyone was waiting for them. When they decided on going to the hearing on their own almost everyone protested, but Riley told them that she wanted to do it on her own, it took a lot of talking before they all let her have her way. Lucas understood, he had gone because he wanted Evan to see that Riley had moved forward while he was trapped in the past. Riley needed that closure as well and now that she had it he knew that the next phase of her life would be a happier one.

"Before we go over there," he said as he pulled her close and kissed her on the lips. "We won't get the chance to have alone time today so I figured I might as well get what I can right now."

"Don't worry, if anything we could run away later for some alone time," she said smiling before pulling him into another kiss.

They walked towards the backyard and stood at the edge watching their friends and family playing around in the pool. Maya was manning the grill with Josh, as her parents played with little baby Olivia. Zay and Vanessa were in the pool with Jake and Missy, while Riley's grandparents talked to Lila by the back door. It was Liliana who spotted them and went running towards them at full speed. Lucas couldn't have been happier, but his little girl would make the world shine for the both of them if she could.

Riley picked her up and gave her a kiss before putting Lili on her back and walking towards the group. Lucas stood back and watched soaking in the moment because he couldn't have imagined it better. Riley was a part of them, she had come in like a storm and made him smile, they chipped away at each other's walls and helped creating a world where happiness was the priority.

They spent the afternoon in the company of the people closest to them, and when they were all gone and Liliana was exhausted from running around Lucas sat down and thought about what could make it better. He looked over at Riley who was stroking his daughters' hair and smiled.

"You want to take a trip?" he asked smiling.

"How far do you want to go?" she said snuggling into him. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"I don't know maybe Vegas," he said looking into her brown eyes. "If we leave now we could get there by tomorrow afternoon."

"You want to get married without anyone knowing?" she said pulling away from him.

"Is that alright? We could still have the wedding in the Fall but I think I just want this for the three of us."

She smiled at him and slowly stood up, making sure not to wake the sleeping little girl that was on her lap. They packed enough for three days, putting Liliana and Daisy in the backseat together before taking off into the night. It had sounded crazy in his mind when he suggested it but for some reason it felt like the right thing to do. On the road they found a hotel that would allow them to take Daisy, and booked everything from the chapel to getting the rings and dresses, so that when they reached their destination they would be prepared.

Riley couldn't believe how fast they had gone from relaxing to being on the road on the way to Vegas, she napped while Lucas drove switching off when they were halfway towards their destination. Because it had been night when they left there were barely any cars on the road so they were able to cut out a few hours from the drive. They could have just taken a plane there but this felt so much more like a family trip than anything else. She always wanted to go on a road trip like this but her book tours had been mostly planes, and hotels. Now she was on the open road with the man she loved, and a little girl who would become her daughter.

Liliana had woken up when the sun was high enough to shine down on her face and make her squint.

"Where are we going?" she had asked the moment her eyes were open enough to realize that she wasn't in bed.

"Riley and I decided on a family trip before you went back to school in two weeks," Lucas said as Riley smiled.

They had sent out a message to Maya telling her about the spur of the moment family vacation and Maya had only replied with have fun. Liliana had talked the rest of the way, so when they finally reached the hotel the three of them had been exhausted from the ride and fell asleep in the hotel room.

When they woke up Riley's phone was alerting them to their appointment, she snuck away to get ready leaving a note with Lucas to meet them there. As she took Liliana to the hair salon to get pampered they laughed as they got their nails done, but Liliana looked at her like something magical was happening when Riley started getting her make-up done.

"Are we going to a fancy restaurant?" Liliana asked once they were done and in the dressing room.

"Nope," Riley answered with a smile. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Your daddy and I decided to get married today, just us four here no one else. You, me, Lucas and Daisy."

"So you're going to be my mom now?"

"Yes," Riley said knowing that they still had a bunch of paperwork to deal with to officially make Liliana her daughter but at that moment the papers didn't matter because they were going to be a family in their own sense of the word.

"Yay," she squealed jumping up and down.

"Come on let's get dressed and go to the chapel, we have an appointment to keep," Riley said pulling her daughter to the dressing room.

Riley's dress was a simple white dress, it was just under her knees and off the shoulder with a lace bodice but it was perfect to her. She had ordered it on the ride over from the hotel bridal store when Lucas wasn't looking. She wanted to surprise him, because he had thought she was going to wear what she had packed. She had made sure that Liliana's dress was a soft blue color, she was going to be a part of Riley's something blue along with a soft blue ribbon she had borrowed from the little girl's dress. Her something old was the engagement ring that Lila had given them when Lucas proposed, and her something new was her dress and shoes. When they were ready they handed over the bag of their clothes to someone from room service to take to their room and walked towards the chapel hand in hand. When they got there Riley heard Daisy bark as the attendant handed the two of them bouquets of Riley's favorite flowers.

A soft song played as Liliana made her way down the aisle, when the she reached the end the wedding march began and Riley stepped out to see Lucas wearing a button up suit he had brought with the collar open. He looked perfect to her and she couldn't help but smile at him as she walked down the aisle.

When he looked up as his daughter walked towards him he couldn't help but smile because she was wearing a dress he had never seen before. Riley. Was all he thought, she really was the perfect woman. Daisy was sitting next to him, as his best man with a little flower on her collar and his hand on her leash.

The wedding march started and he felt himself straighten as Riley began her walk towards him, in her eyes he saw nothing but a beautiful woman who had changed his life. She was gorgeous in her dress, almost like the sun coming towards him. For a moment he felt himself tear up, this was the woman of his dreams, the one he had spent so long waiting for. The wait had been worth it, because he knew that they had both lived their lives to get to where they are.

"Dearly beloved," were the first words he heard from anyone else but he could only focus on the woman in front of him.

I love you, he mouthed to her making her smile.

I love you too, she said back.

When the vows were spoken and the rings exchanged, Liliana jumping up and down was what made them realize that this was a family that would stick together forever.