by Sienna Snow
“Dammit, Kiana, leave her alone. I can’t wait until Ani gets here so she can kick your ass,” Cora admonished, referring to my other sister-in-law, Ani, the Kiana-tamer.
Kiana cocked a hand on her hip. “My wife will take my side. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you get married.”
Cora set a hand on my shoulder. “Ignore the comedian over there, take a deep breath, and go say hello.”
I followed Cora’s instructions, pushed the shock of seeing Jax away, and walked toward him.
I offered him my hand. “Welcome to Bora Bora, Jax.”
Good, my voice hadn’t quivered.
“Kai.” He slipped his palm over mine and pulled me gently toward him, in the way he’d done with me hundreds of times. But instead of kissing my lips, he kissed my cheek.
Goose bumps pricked down my spine, and I had to resist the instinct to nuzzle into him. My body ached for him.
This was going to be a very long four weeks.
He smelled so good, of bergamot and sandalwood. The scent of the cologne I’d given him.
“Did you miss me, Little Bird?” He pulled back without releasing my hand.
My stomach clenched, hearing him use the pet name he’d given me. The one I hadn’t heard in years, and reminded me of the last time we’d made love.
I tried to tug free but his grip tightened.
“Jax. Let me go.”
“Don’t you think I deserve answers?”
“This isn’t the time or place.”
“I agree—that was two years ago in Vegas. Before I came home to an empty house and a broken heart.”
Tears burned the backs of my eyes. It wasn’t as simple as he made it sound.
“Don’t I get a hello?” Thad came up behind Jax, smacking his back and breaking the standoff between Jax and me. “Step aside, old man. I need to hug my girl.”
Jax narrowed his gaze, telling me we’d talk, and then released my hand, moving out of Thad’s way.
Thad wrapped an arm around my shoulder, squeezing me and then guiding me toward the walkway into the airport terminal. “Good to see you again, Boss Lady.”
“Same goes,” I said, rolling my eyes and trying to act calm and unfazed by the man walking right behind us.
That’s when I realized Kevin was nowhere in sight. “Where’s Kevin?”
“Taking a work call. He’ll be down in a few minutes. Come on, let’s wait for him in the van. In the meantime, you can fill me in on all the ways you’re going to boss us around so my future wife gets the wedding of her dreams.”
Chapter Three
Jax
I stepped out onto the wraparound lanai of the Lykaios Bora Bora two days after arriving on the island and watched Kai on the beach below, directing her staff in something or another. She’d avoided me like the plague, finding something to keep her busy every time I was in the vicinity.
It had taken all my strength not to throw her petite body over my shoulder and find a spot to get the answers I’d waited over two years for. Trying to force her to do anything would have her shutting down, though. And I’d learned long ago, rushing her never worked. She would need to work through it in her head. In any other situation, watching her process, going back and forth in her mind on a problem until she came to a decision, would have been a turn-on. However, something told me I’d have to give her a nudge to get her alone or she’d stall any conversation until it was time for me to leave.
Kai gathered her hair, tying it back into a low ponytail, and caught me looking in her direction.
God, she was beautiful. Big brown eyes a man could stare into for hours, golden skin that she’d inherited from her parents that gave her a kissed-by-the-sun glow whether it was winter or summer. The woman could go barefaced, void of makeup, and still look as if she were ready to star in a movie in the same way Lina had charmed Hollywood. Then there was the body with curves a man could hold on to and was kept in shape from early-morning sessions of power yoga. She was so tiny, barely five-foot-two, but it never took away from the impact she had on people. She was a force that refused to let anyone push her around.
Even when she was in her bossy all-business persona, there was a sensuality about her that drew a man to want to break down her walls.
I’d thought I was that man.
I had no doubt her leaving me had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. She had this impulsive yet decisive nature that made it easy for her to jump feet first and follow through on a new plan.
What I had to find out was exactly the circumstance that had pushed her into moving thousands of miles away to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. One minute I was planning a future with the love of my life and the next, I was left to pick up the pieces of my soul that had been ripped to shreds.
She’d been my everything.
What the fuck had I done to destroy it? I’d all but turned my back on my family for how they’d treated her. She’d always been my priority. How many nights had I stayed up trying to keep the evil of my parents from her? Hell, I’d gone as far as telling my mother she couldn’t step foot near Kai if she couldn’t be civil.
One way or another, I would get my answers.
“Have you tried to talk to her?” Thad came up behind me.
Thad and I had been friends since we met as ten-year-olds during a summer basketball camp. We’d come from similar Hollywood backgrounds. His parents being the legendary Oliver Studios heads, Justine and Kristy Oliver. And my parents being multi-Oscar-winning movie royalty turned production financiers, Christopher and Jennine Burton. The one difference we had was that he adored his family and wanted to follow in his parents’ footsteps. Whereas I wanted nothing to do with the exhaustion and drama that came with mine.
Thankfully the Olivers had adopted me into their fold, otherwise I’d have turned out like every other clichéd rich, over-pampered, and complete fuck-up Hollywood kid.
“It’s kind of hard to when she runs away anytime I’m within a few feet of her.”
“She still has feelings for you. It’s obvious to everyone. Plus, the fact she hasn’t mentioned anything about what happened to her sisters says it all.”
“How’s that?”
“You know those three tell each other everything, not to mention adding Ani and Cora into the mix. Hell, I’ve heard enough conversations to know when all of them will start their monthly cycles.”
The sad part was that I knew Thad was right. During the four years Kai and I had been together, I’d heard every detail about the women in her family’s sex lives.
“Are you saying they have no idea why she left me?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. You, my man, need to find out what the fuck happened before you make this move to the South Pacific permanent.”
I winced and looked around, making sure no one had heard Thad’s words. As far as anyone knew, I still lived in Las Vegas. Hell, I’d flown to Hawaii just so I could join the flight coming back to Bora Bora. Thad, as my best friend, was the only person aware of my living arrangement.
“Relax. It’s just us here. By the way, you owe me. I keep no secrets from my girl, and this one is a doozy.”
I felt a pang of jealousy. Thad and Lina actually had what I’d believed Kai and I once shared.
“How is my living arrangement important to your relationship with Lina?”
“Well, it does look a bit stalkerish to live on your mega-yacht offshore while you build a house on the very island your ex lives on, in hopes of getting her to fall back in love with you.”
“Whatever. I can work remotely from anywhere around the world. I’m the lucky asshole who can afford his dreams of living in French Polynesia without being a bum.”
That excuse seemed lame even to me. First, I’d have to figure out what the future held for Kai and me, and then I’d make the final decision on whether to reveal my residential situation.
“Keep telling yourself that.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I have to g
et her to forgive me. It’s been torture spending two years without her in my life.”
“So no beach beauties to help escape the lonely nights of being a reclusive billionaire?”
I glared at Thad. I knew he was kidding but even suggesting anyone to replace Kai made me want to punch him. I’d had the house built with Kai in mind. It had every minor detail she’d told me she wanted in a home. I’d burn the place down before I let anyone other than Kai live in it.
God, I was such a fucking wimp. Kai had no clue she had me by the balls.
“The only beauty I want is that bossy woman over there trying to give you and her sister the perfect wedding. I only wish I knew what I did so I could fix it. I’m open to any suggestions.”
“You could always seduce her and then work backward.”
“She isn’t the casual-sex kind of woman. It took me over two months to go out with her in the first place. And another year after that to get her to even consider moving in with me.”
“I want to ask you a question that I’ve held on to for a while now.”
I glanced at Thad. It was rare for him to keep his thoughts from me. “Go ahead. I promise not to punch you.”
“Were you really going to ask her to marry you the week she left?”
I closed my eyes for a brief moment, remembering my trip to my parents’ house to get my grandmother’s engagement ring and the over-the-top way I’d planned to propose.
“Yeah, I was.” I gripped the back of my neck. “One minute I was getting approval to marry Kai from her father and the next, she’d moved to Tahiti without a backward glance.”
“I know the answer already but it’s better to ask and hear it from your lips.”
I waited for Thad to continue.
“Are you still in love with her?”
I watched the breeze pick up and blow pieces of Kai’s hair into the air.
“I never stopped.”
“Then find out what you did to fuck it up and don’t do it again. She isn’t any happier than you are.”
“That’s the plan, man. But first I have to get her to spend even a second alone with me.”
“I have faith in you.” He smacked me on the back. “Plus, you could always seduce her with that kinky shit the two of you were into and then go from there.”
If only it was that easy.
Chapter Four
Kailani
I released a sigh, adjusting the cooling eye mask on my face as I enjoyed the aftercare following my deep-tissue massage. Lina, Kiana, Cora and I were two hours into our sisters-only spa morning.
The spa at the LB had a five-star rating and usually booked out months in advance. Luckily for us girls, Thad reserving the entire resort gave us unlimited access to services without anyone to interrupt us.
The four of us relaxed on loungers under an open-air gazebo, with a cooling water mister to keep us from overheating and an unending supply of fun beverages to provide hydration.
I couldn’t remember the last time we’d had a chance to just veg together. I should have felt guilty for pushing some of my morning duties onto Raquel but I couldn’t. Especially not with the way she’d gone to so much trouble to arrange this day with the girls.
I was seriously lucky to have Raquel in my life. Well, except for her need to tell me my daily horoscope. Today’s said something about love waiting for me and not to let my fear rule my actions.
As if. It wasn’t fear, it was self-preservation.
I’d loved so hard that it had destroyed me fraction by fraction until I realized how little I mattered. It was better to be alone than to be second to a family who’d never accept me.
Me having parents who weren’t part of the Hollywood elite and who didn’t come from money had always been a sticking point with Jax’s parents. Well, more his mother than his father. From the first moment I met Tinsel Town diva Jennine Burton, I knew she hated me. She’d looked me up and down and treated me as if I were nothing more than the help. All she saw was that I was the daughter of a no-name Air Force colonel and a military nurse who worked for the people with real money. It hadn’t mattered that I’d worked my ass off to be where I was.
In the beginning, Jax had run interference with her, but then he’d caved to the pressure and would literally disappear from our life in Las Vegas to handle something or another for his family. If it had been a one-off, I would have understood, but it turned into an every-few-weeks occurrence, and I was left to wonder if he was going to come back to me. It was as if I was a sectioned-off part of his life, one that didn’t involve the part that took up most of his time or energy. He’d placed me in a tiny little compartment and would take me out when he had the time.
I’d dealt with it for far longer than I should have, and when I pushed back, he’d stared at me as if he had no idea what I was talking about. The last straw for our relationship had occurred during a particularly hard week where I was coordinating the opening of Lykaios Bora Bora while still living in Vegas. All I’d wanted was to spend a weekend in my apartment, with the man I loved. Jax had promised me time unplugged, just the two of us, no distractions, no anyone. When I’d entered our place, I found it empty. No note, no text.
He’d pulled the disappearing act again. I knew I couldn’t live my life like that anymore. I wanted something permanent, with a future, a family, not a when-it-was-convenient-to-him relationship.
The next morning, Henna Lykaios, my direct boss and the head of Lykaios International had offered me the general manager position in Bora Bora. I was already a partner in the resort with a twenty percent stake. I’d invested when the project was a concept in Henna’s eyes. It was every penny I’d saved from the time I started working at eighteen and the winnings I’d earned at the poker tables I played at in Vegas.
The investment had paid off in ways I hadn’t imagined, thirty-fold, in fact, making me a very wealthy woman.
I’d decided it was fate telling me to cut my losses and start a new life. The move would bring me back to the island lifestyle I grew up in and felt at home with, and it would also put enough distance between Jax and me to keep constant thoughts of him at bay.
Now he was here. To remind me of all that I’d lost. All that I hoped for. All that I still wanted.
“Are you going to spend the rest of the month avoiding him?” Lina said, snapping me out of my brooding.
I lifted the mask and looked in her direction.
Damn, she was every ounce the goddess movie star. Even without a stitch of makeup on, her skin glowed. She’d say we all looked the same and she was partly right—there was no mistaking we were sisters—but I knew it was happiness that gave her the extra boost. Thad loved her in a way I’d only seen with my parents.
“I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
Lina rolled her eyes and glanced at Kiana. “Is she for real? She acts as if we don’t have eyes.”
“She thinks we don’t know that her saying she and Jax fell out of love is bullshit.” Kiana sat up and cocked a hand on her hip. “We deserve to know what really happened.”
“Leave her be.” Cora reached out and took my hand in hers. “We’re here to relax. I don’t want her to feel as if she’s in an interrogation room.”
I gave Cora an appreciative but weary smile. “This is why you’re my favorite sister.”
Cora was the only one in my family who knew the whole of what happened. She had this way about her that had people spilling their guts. A week after arriving at the LB, I’d called Cora to see how she was settling in to married life only to spend the next three hours crying my eyes out and letting Cora console me. She hadn’t tried to solve my issues or tell me I shouldn’t have run from Jax. All Cora had done was listen, and it had been the one thing I’d needed. I’d made her promise not to tell anyone the truth of why Jax and I broke up, and she’d kept her word, even with my brother Kevin.
In turn, I’d been the first person Cora told after Kevin that she was pregnant. She was as much my sister
as the nutty two I grew up with.
“Fine,” Kiana huffed and lay back down.
“Well, if Jax is off the list of discussion topics, at least tell us about the reclusive billionaire who built that mansion on the cliff over there.”
I glanced in the direction of the gorgeous three-level building covered in balconies and windows. I’d watched it go up for the last two years. I’d wondered about the owner over and over. He was a mystery to the locals, always working with agents and intermediaries.
“I don’t really know anything except he has a yacht he spends most of his time on. I’ve never seen him. The only thing I do know is that he designed the house for his lost lover. But you know how people like to romanticize things. I’m of the mindset, if he wants to be left alone, then leave him the fuck alone.”
I rose from my seat and strolled to the edge of the gazebo giving the best view of the house in the distance. It almost looked like the sketch I’d made years ago on a napkin during a dinner with Jax. We’d talked about our ideal places to live and I’d come up with a house made of glass overlooking the deep blue waters of the Pacific Ocean. Back then, I’d always believed I’d return to Hawaii and Jax would be there with me.
“Maybe he’s a heartbroken billionaire in need of company. The least you can do is stop by to say hello. Maybe bring him a cup of sugar. Especially since Jax isn’t on your radar anymore.” Kiana's voice was annoyingly sweet.
“Yes,” Lina agreed. “It’s the least you can do. Maybe he can help you get over Jax.”
If only it were possible to get over Jackson Burton. Every time he was in the vicinity, my fingers itched to touch him, to stroke over his body, to relive the passion we’d once shared. Hell, he could be halfway across the world and I’d still want him.
I pressed the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. I would not break down. This was for Lina, not about me and my fucked-up relationship with my ex.
“Girls,” Cora warned. “This is supposed to be a fun day. I don’t want her upset.”
“Well then, maybe she can have a quick fling with Jax until we all leave,” Kiana suggested. “I’m sure he’ll tie you up and spank you for old times’ sake.”