Russell’s eyes dropped from hers. He took a step back. Ashiya’s heart jumped into her throat. She’d been too quiet for too long. He turned away, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. His body was stiff. Tight with tension and probably disappointment.
“Do you really want all of me?” she asked in a trembling voice.
His hand rested on her forearm. “Ashiya, that’s all I’ve ever wanted from you.”
She loosened her hold on him and shifted around to his front. “Then I’m yours. No games. No manipulation. Just me.”
Her heart beat hard and fast, but she pushed aside all the worries. All the beliefs that no one would want to stick with her without incentive or coercion. She shoved out the fear that the reason he hadn’t said he loved her too was that he still wasn’t sure. That he was waiting to see if he could love her as she was.
Instead she focused on the happiness in the sexy brown-and-green swirl of his eyes. The way his hands gripped her hips tight. The way the tension seeped out of his body with each quick breath he took. She’d brought that joy to him, and that was more than enough for now.
Russell’s head lowered, and she lifted on her toes. Their kiss was slow and deep. His lips and tongue gliding over hers in such a thoroughly decadent fashion, there was no more room for any thoughts. Only the taste of him. Filling her and drugging her with need.
Though they’d just made love, she felt more naked, more exposed now. This wasn’t sex to distract, sex to deflect, or sex just for quick pleasure. He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. Each kiss felt as if it were the start of something new.
His hands swept over and across her breasts as he led her back to the bed. His fingers gently stroking, then lightly tugging the hard tip of her nipple sent a shot of desire straight to her toes. His eyes kept coming back to hers. Checking in. Making sure she was still there with him. Witnessing the raw and open pleasure his body invoked in hers.
His fingers and sweet lips caressed, touched, and kissed every inch of her body as if he were rebranding her as his. Pleasure grew and expanded through every nerve and vein until her body trembled and she begged him for more.
By the time he settled between her legs, her sex ached for him. Russell’s fingers slid across her wet, swollen folds before pressing against her clit. Ashiya’s back arched, and her legs spread further.
“Please, Russell,” she begged.
He didn’t make her wait longer. He slid into her strong and sure. His hand pushed the hair back from her face. He rested his forehead on hers and locked eyes with her. His hips circled, and he took her body with bone-melting steady strokes. The entire time, he watched her. His demanding gaze dared her to look away.
She was open and exposed. A part of her wanted to look away. Tighten her legs around him. Pinch his nipple and take him over the edge first. Do anything to break the hold of his gaze, but she didn’t. She let him see. Let him watch her own pleasure. Let him watch as he broke her down and brought her back again. He wanted her all, and Ashiya knew there was no other person she’d rather give her all to.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
RUSSELL EXPECTED THE phone calls the next day which was why he cut off his cell phone after he’d woken up in the middle of the night with Ashiya in his arms. He didn’t want a ringing phone with someone’s unsolicited opinion or weak attempt to get the latest gossip about them on the other end to wake them early and break the magic of the night.
He drove her home right before noon. They both needed to pack and prepare to go back to Hilton Head later that day. After the week of interviews, they were beginning to get an idea of how the money was being embezzled which would bring them closer to finding the person stealing, and the plan was to push hard on Monday morning to flush out the thief.
He didn’t turn his phone back on until after he’d dropped her off, showered, eaten, and finished packing the clothes he would need for the week. Immediately, the chimes and dings of text messages and voice mails assaulted his ears. The phone rang again as he pressed the button to check the messages. His cousin Isaac’s number.
Russell sighed and pressed a hand to his temple. He might as well get this over with sooner rather than later. Isaac was the last person he wanted to know about him and Ashiya, but he was also his closest friend and the one person who might give him shit for his decision but eventually would accept it.
Russell took the call and brought the phone to his ear with a weary sigh. “What, man?”
“What, man? What, man?” Isaac repeated in a mocking tone. “Don’t ‘what, man ‘me. What was that about last night? I knew you were still fucking with her. Why, man, why? Why did you go back to her? You know she’s not right for you. Remember how she did you last time. What the hell is wrong with you—”
“Isaac, chill!” Russell snapped, his voice hard and laced with irritation.
“Chill? You want me to chill? Remember when I had to drag your ass upstairs and leave a bucket by your bed because you got so drunk after she went back to that guy? Remember how I had to take your phone away from you so you wouldn’t call her ass and curse her out for playing you? Remember how you swore you would never talk to her again, and just the sound of her name made you punch a damn hole in your wall? Because I remember all of that, man. All of it.”
“I remember,” Russell shot back. He remembered every single thing. Every single second of pain after realizing the woman he’d fallen in love with hadn’t loved him back.
“Oh really?” Isaac’s dubious voice came through the receiver. “Because from the way her ass kissed you last night and then you damn near carried her out of there like a knight in shining armor all because her lower lip wobbled said you don’t remember. All of that shit said you were back with her and were ready to make the same mistakes again.”
“It’s different this time.” He tried to make his voice strong, confident, but Isaac’s prodding of his old wounds tried to stir up some of the doubt he’d let go of the night before, when Ashiya looked him in the eyes and asked him to have all of her.
Isaac sucked his teeth. Russell could imagine his cousin shaking his head and looking at him as if he were a damn fool. He couldn’t blame him. If the roles were reversed, he’d be on Isaac’s case just as hard.
“Different? What makes this time different? She’s no good for you, man. You need to let it go. I’m telling you—”
“Isaac, for real. Stop.” Russell’s voice was firm. “Look, I get it. You don’t want to see me in the same situation as before. Nothing I say is going to make you believe that this time is different.”
“Hell no. Not a damn thing,” Isaac grumbled.
“But what you won’t do is talk about her while we’re together. If I’m making a mistake, time will tell, and you can call me all kinds of a fool.”
“Oh, I will call you a fool,” Isaac said.
Whether his decision to trust Ashiya again was right or wrong didn’t matter. The decision was his to make. This time they’d entered the relationship without any pretense. If he let Isaac bash Ashiya and throw doubts on their relationship every time they talked, then he might as well say he wasn’t willing to truly move on.
“Isaac, I’m serious. We’re back together. We talked it out. I know I’m taking a chance, but it’s my life and my choice. Unless you’ve got something nice to say, keep my woman’s name out of your mouth.”
“Oh, so now you’re going to let her come between us?”
“I’ll never do that. You’re my family and even more, you’re like a brother to me. I can’t make you understand, but I hope that because you are like a brother, you’ll at least respect my decision. I’ll always have your back, but I won’t stand for you talking shit about Ashiya. The past is the past. Deal with the Ashiya I’m with from this day forward.”
A tense, uncomfortable silence stretched. Russell could imagine his cousin’s disbelieving
expression. Isaac had talked so much trash about Ashiya after she’d broken Russell’s heart. Russell, angry and heartbroken, had let him. He’d felt just as angry and bitter. But if he and Ashiya were going to really try to make this work, no games and no manipulation, then they needed a clean slate on both ends.
Finally, Isaac sighed. “Fine. You want to give her another try, then more power to you. You’re better than me. I won’t disrespect her, but I’m also not going to sit around and watch her disrespect you. I’m here for you. Not her.”
“I’ll take that.” It was more than he would have expected from Isaac.
His cell phone beeped. He checked the screen and cringed. “Damn, man, I’ve got to take this call.”
“Is it her?” Isaac asked as if he couldn’t believe Russell would get off the phone with him for Ashiya.
Russell almost laughed. Isaac was not going to have an easy time getting used to Ashiya being back in his life. “No, this is Elaina. Let me see what she wants.”
“Probably to find out why the guy who tried to date her sister is now going home with her cousin,” Isaac said smugly.
“You know what, fuck you,” he said with no bite. “I’ll talk to you later.”
He switched over the call to Elaina with the sound of Isaac’s told-you-so laughter in his ear.
“Hello, Elaina,” Russell said, switching to his professional voice.
“Russell,” she said in the cool, clipped voice she used whenever she was irritated with someone. “I’m going to get straight to the point. You left with Ashiya last night. Are you using my cousin to further your own goals?”
Russell blinked and held up a hand even though Elaina wasn’t there. He paced the room. “Hold up, what? No, I’m not using her.”
“Because if you do plan to use Ashiya, then I can’t trust you as my CEO.”
Russell froze, pulled the phone away to stare at the screen, then put it back to his ear. “Wait a second. You’re the person who told me that helping her would convince you I’m on your side.”
“Helping her make the Legacy Group strong. Even if Robidoux Holdings doesn’t acquire them, it’s still a strong connection to have. But last night, I saw the way she looked at you. Ashiya is in love with you. I didn’t consider that when I first asked you to work with her. That was wrong of me. I won’t let you use her. If all of this is just to get the CEO position, then stay in Jackson Falls, and we’ll assign a consultant to help her. I’m not like my father. I don’t want to use the emotions of my family members to get ahead.”
The regret in Elaina’s voice lowered his defenses. Maybe she really had changed and softened a bit. When she’d asked him to help Ashiya, he’d assumed Elaina was only soft where her husband Alex was concerned and was still willing to be ruthless and use any means necessary to get what she wanted in business. Now, although her voice was strong and haughty like a true Robidoux, he heard the underlying plea. She didn’t want him to hurt her cousin.
“I’m not using her,” Russell said, letting conviction enter his voice. “I care about her.”
“I know what she did to you,” Elaina said. “I know she secretly dated you to make her ex jealous. I also know she went back to that jerk for a while. You hid things at work pretty well, but I could tell you didn’t realize you were on the receiving end of one of our family’s machinations. I’m not excusing what she did. It was wrong, but I do believe that afterwards, she regretted it. I also saw the way she looked at you once she realized Stephen wasn’t the right person for her. I’m not as close to Ashiya as India, so she won’t confide in me, but that doesn’t mean I won’t protect her.”
“You don’t have to protect her from me.”
“Don’t lie to me. If you use this to get revenge on her, I will destroy you.” The cut in Elaina’s voice was as cold and precise as a surgeon’s scalpel.
“I’m not afraid of anything you would do to me.”
He wasn’t afraid. Elaina had reach, and she could destroy his career and possibly make his life a living hell, but he’d lost so much already in his life that her threats didn’t frighten him. There were things that could hurt him worse. Losing his parents, Isaac, Ashiya. If he used this opportunity to get revenge on Ashiya, he would destroy both of them in the process.
“I love her too much to hurt her like that,” he confessed.
His heart pumped. The words scared him. The truth of those words had chased him like rabid bloodhounds from the moment they’d broken up. He wanted to run from them. Escape from the emotional chains that kept him bound to her. But he’d tried that. For three years he’d ducked, dodged, and dived around how he felt. He was going to trust the look in her eye, the sincerity in her voice, and the promise in her heart.
“Do you really love her?” Elaina’s voice was skeptical.
He’d said it once but wouldn’t repeat it. Ashiya needed to hear the words out of his mouth. Not secondhand from Elaina. “Just know that I meant everything I said today. Ashiya cares about the Legacy Group. She’s going to do great running the company, but if you want to keep the ties with her, then stop trying to push her to connect with people who’ve ignored her for her entire life. Let her build her own reputation. She never wanted to ride the coattails of the Robidoux Family. She might step away from you all for a while as she starts this new venture, but believe me, she’ll be back. Trust her.”
Elaina was quiet for several seconds. “What about you? Are you planning to continue to work for her? Are you no longer interested in the CEO position?”
Russell hadn’t thought about the position in weeks. He’d hoped access to power, money and influence would give him the answers he wanted. But hiring a better private investigator hadn’t resulted in new leads, and being connected to one of the most influential families in the area where his brother disappeared hadn’t made anyone remember anything new. As much as the thought of never finding out what happened to Rodrick make his insides twist, he was starting to think no matter how much power he gained, he might never get the answers he wanted.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “If it’s offered, I’ll consider.”
“It’s offered,” Elaina said. “Ashiya mentioned you were helping her execute her new ideas, but that her cousin is stepping in to help. I’ll give you a few more weeks, but after that I need you back here. If you want the job, then be back in Jackson Falls by the end of the month.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
ASHIYA SCANNED THE finance report in front of her and compared the numbers to the invoices for the last marketing campaign. It was the fourth time she’d gone over it in the past half hour. She was about to fire someone for embezzlement and press charges. The accusation was huge, and even though all the evidence pointed to this person, she knew she couldn’t start this process unless she was entirely sure.
A hand clasped her shoulder and squeezed lightly. She put down the report and looked up into Russell’s concerned eyes. “Are you ready?”
Ashiya took a slow breath. She tried to smile as she placed her hand over his but could barely muster the enthusiasm to lift her lips. Even though it had to be done, getting rid of an employee who’d been with the company for a decade wasn’t something she was excited about doing.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said.
“You’ve looked over the evidence a dozen times this morning, not to mention meticulously following the money trail hundreds of times during week.”
“I know.” She looked back at the stack of materials they’d gathered.
All of it proved the mismatched reporting of expenses and the overpayment of refunds for products and services that were claimed to not be delivered. All of it went back to one man in the finance department. A guy who’d been with the company for years. An unassuming member of the finance team who reconciled the spending for certain marketing projects and submitted the reports to Levi for final r
eview and approval before they were given to the board of directors. He’d been steadfast, loyal, and good at his job. No one suspected he’d been the person slowly stealing money from the Legacy Group.
“What’s wrong?” Russell asked.
“I know he did it. The evidence is clear.”
“But?”
Ashiya shrugged. “I want to know why. He’d worked here for ten years. He was recognized, promoted, and according to his performance evaluations, he was a good worker and respected. Why did he start stealing from the company two years ago?”
“Who knows why people do the things they do?” Russell continued to gently massage her shoulders. “Greed comes in all forms. If there was a quick way to tell which person was most likely to be a crook, then life would be a lot easier.”
She sighed. “I guess you’re right. It just bothers me.”
“I understand. This person appeared to be loyal to the company. The reason why he chose to steal doesn’t matter. He did. The only things that matter now are making sure he no longer gets the opportunity and letting the rest of the staff know this type of behavior won’t be tolerated.”
“It won’t be tolerated,” she said in a determined voice. “Whatever the reason, my grandmother trusted this person. So did Levi. If we want to keep the Legacy Group as successful as it is, then we can’t be tolerant. Regardless of the situation.”
She closed the folder. Russell dropped his hands from her shoulders and stepped back. Ashiya immediately missed his touch. The solving of this mystery also meant the end of needing him to stick around and help her. On their drive back, he’d mentioned that Elaina wanted him back for the CEO position. Ashiya knew how much he wanted that position. It was the only reason he’d agreed to help her in the first place. She wanted him to continue to help her at the Legacy Group, but she couldn’t keep him as a consultant forever. Levi was the company CEO, and Ashiya didn’t have a reason to or want to fire him.
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