Back To The Start Box Set: Five Full-Length Novels

by Aly Martinez

Rhion jerked in my arms as a strangled “No!” hit my chest.

  “Shhh,” I soothed. “I’ve got this.”

  A sinister grin tipped the woman’s lips. “I bet you do, Jude.”

  I didn’t have a chance to react before Rhion erupted, spinning to face her.

  “Shut up! Don’t say another goddamn word. You do not get to do this. Showing up to my house. Acting like a bitch. Threatening me with Apollo?”

  Who the fuck is Apollo?

  Alarm flooded me as Alex went rock solid.

  “Rhion,” I said, attempting to calm her, but she fought against me. Securing her with an arm around the middle, I held her back to my chest. She leaned toward the woman as much as I would allow.

  “I don’t ever want to see your face again, Margaret,” she spat. “And, before you even think about it, you will never see another penny from me. I don’t care if Katie has to take up a job panhandling to pay for your funeral. We. Are. Done.” She sucked in a deep breath and looked to Alex. “Pat her down and get my key back, and then get her the hell out of my apartment!”

  Folding a hand over Margaret’s mouth, he slipped behind her, stating, “Let’s go.”

  Muffled curses came from around his hand as he carted her out the door.

  He paused as he waited for the elevator. “I’ll take her upstairs and wait for the cops. The alarm probably pinged on Johnson’s end. I’ll call him and get an ETA. You good with Levitt?” he asked Rhion.

  “She’s fine,” I confirmed. “You gonna tell me what the fuck is going on here?”

  He shook his head. “Take care of her. Johnson’ll be down shortly.”

  Fuck that. I didn’t need Johnson to come down and take care of whatever the hell problem had Rhion shaking with anger in my arms. And I feared my head would explode if he tried. I needed someone to open their mouth and fill me the fuck in. Swear to God, when it came to Rhion Park, I was always in the dark.

  “Her necklace!” Val called out. “That lady still has it.”

  Alex heard her and pulled up short, releasing his hand over the woman’s mouth only long enough to snatch the necklace from her hand.

  “How dare you!” was all the old broad got out before he tossed the necklace my way and pushed her into the elevator.

  I caught it and shoved it into my pocket.

  My mind was reeling with a million questions, and as I was finally able to take in the rest of the apartment, they only multiplied. Shopping bags from numerous stores covered the floor while makeup and hair shit did the same on the counter. And then, on the small coffee table, I clocked four plates with what appeared to be the remnants of several different meals. Beside them were four champagne flutes each with a different kind of fruit floating in a clear liquid.

  I was under the assumption that it had only been the two of them at Rhion’s that day. Not to mention that I’d given Rhion specific instructions not to leave the apartment with Val.

  Yet…clearly, they had.

  I was sure there was an explanation. My only problem was that Rhion wasn’t exactly known for being forthcoming with me.

  That was about to change.

  After releasing her with one arm, I caught the door and swung it shut. “All right. Calm down,” I stated, dipping down and catching her at the back of her knees.

  She squeaked as I lifted her, but her arms folded around my neck.

  I made my way through the maze of bags and settled on the couch. Rhion attempted to move to the cushion beside me, but with a hand at her bare thigh, I kept her securely on my lap.

  “Let’s start with who the hell that woman was,” I said.

  When she didn’t answer, I swung my gaze to Val, and for the first time since I’d arrived, I actually saw her. Her hair was no longer pulled back in a ratty ponytail, and she sure as hell wasn’t wearing that baggy tracksuit. Instead, she had on a combination of reds and blacks that made her look like an older version of the little girl I’d always known. I wasn’t big on the idea of my eleven-year-old wearing makeup, but I wasn’t going to make a fuss over the gloss at her lips and the natural tint of color at her cheeks.

  Val must have followed my gaze, because she looked down at her clothes and asked, “What do you think?”

  “You look beautiful,” I replied.

  She shifted a hand into her hair and smiled at the ground. “Rhion picked them out.”

  “They’re nice,” I said. “But those clothes are only beautiful because you’re the one wearing them.”

  Val’s grin widened at the praise, and Rhion’s tight body finally relaxed in my arms.

  At that, my anger and frustration began to ebb away.

  “Hey, baby, can you give me a minute with Rhion? We’ve got a few things to discuss.”

  She nodded. “I’ll go watch TV in the ocean room.”

  That. Fucking. Ocean room. I was hopeless to hide my smile.

  After Val had disappeared down the hall, I gave Rhion’s leg a squeeze and announced, “I need you to start talking. And I need paragraphs, sweetheart.”

  Her head slowly tipped back, but her mouth didn’t open.

  I brushed the hair off her neck and murmured, “Why is it, when I need you to talk, you have nothing to say, but when I need you to be quiet, you can’t shut up?”

  Her gaze cut away.

  I growled and shifted her in my lap so I could get a better read on her. “I’m really gonna need you to give talking your best shot right now. Because, currently, I can’t decide how to react.”

  “Jude,” she whispered.

  “My name is not an answer, Butterfly.”

  “I’m sorry I cussed in front of Val.”

  “Trust me. She’s heard far worse. And you know good and damn well that is not what I’m asking you to talk about.”

  “But—”

  “And, before you finish that thought, you should be fully informed about what I’m wavering between when it comes to the crazy woman Alex just hauled out of your apartment. Either I’m gonna march up to Guardian and raise immortal hell until someone gives me the answers or I’m gonna sit here on the couch and listen to you give me some answers. Either way is fine with me. But make no mistake. Answers will be had.”

  “Jude,” she whined.

  “Still not an answer, Rhion. But I’m not done yet. So you got a few more seconds to mentally prepare your words.” I glided my thumb across her lips, my chest swelling when she parted them for me. “When it comes to Val, I’m also on the fence.” I moved my hand to her thigh and teased my fingers up until I stopped under the hem of her dress. “See, part of me wants to slide my hand between your legs and show you exactly how much I appreciate you buyin’ her that outfit and putting that smile on her face.”

  Her breath caught and her eyes flashed wide as she squirmed in my lap. She wasn’t moving away—she was opening her legs. At that, more than just my chest swelled.

  “But see,” I said, “the other part of me wants to turn your ass red for taking her out shopping when I specifically told you I didn’t want you two leaving the apartment today.”

  “Jude!” she exclaimed, clearly affronted.

  But I’d like to note: Her legs. Did. Not. Close.

  “So, what’s it gonna be?” I asked, allowing my fingers to glide a few inches higher on her thigh.

  She sucked in a sharp breath and then finally opened her mouth. Only, in true Rhion Park fashion, it wasn’t to answer my question.

  “Could we clarify what turning my ass red would entail?”

  I shot her a pointed scowl. “I could show you.”

  She pushed out of my lap and started pacing.

  “Rhion,” I prompted.

  She groaned loudly and stared up at the ceiling before finally relenting. “Okay. Fine. She’s my ex-stepmother. Satan himself created her. Up until tonight, she didn’t know where I lived. As far as I can tell, she and my stepsister are in town and she must have stolen Katie’s key to come see if she could con me out of money.” She scrunched h
er nose. “Well…more money.”

  I reclined casually on the couch and crossed my legs knee to ankle. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it? How about you keep that streak alive and answer another one: Why did she keep repeating my name?”

  Her body locked up tight, and she changed the subject. “Val and I didn’t leave the apartment. I have a personal shopper. We picked out stuff online. She brought it over.”

  “A personal shopper?” I asked, feeling mildly better even though she was avoiding my question.

  She nodded. “And my stylist came and did our hair, and she brought a girl to do our makeup.”

  Mildly better turned into a hell of a lot better.

  That is until I thought about it.

  “Shit,” I said. “That must have cost a fortune.”

  “Not really. I’m a good client. They come to my house once a month. I just asked if we could move up the date. Well, not the chef. He was new. But he taught us how to cook healthy recipes that Val actually liked.”

  My eyebrows nearly hit my hairline. “The chef?”

  “Yeah, and he was incredible,” she announced excitedly. Fucking cute. “We might have someone new for Thanksgiving.”

  Uncrossing my legs, I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees. “I’m sorry. Just to get this straight: You hired a chef to come to your house and cook you and a kid dinner?”

  I shouldn’t have been surprised. Rhion was loaded. But a personal chef? For an eleven-year-old?

  I hadn’t been sure how much I was paying her for babysitting, and I was quickly starting to regret not having asked that upfront. No way I’d be able to cover a personal shopper, a stylist, a makeup artist, and a personal fucking chef.

  “Babe, what exactly is your hourly babysitting rate?”

  She blinked and then laughed. “You aren’t paying me, silly.”

  “The fuck I’m not. Though, judging by these shopping bags, I might have to be put on a payment plan.”

  “You aren’t paying me,” she stated adamantly. “Today was my treat. Yes, I might have gone a little overboard, but don’t take this the wrong way.” She peeked down the hall. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she said, “Your ex-wife is a bitch.”

  “This is not news to me.”

  “Okay, well… When Val told me that her mom makes her eat nothing but dry salad and plain chicken so she can lose weight, it made me…sad.”

  I clenched my teeth and reminded myself that I needed to try to call April again. She hadn’t answered earlier.

  “I love to cook,” Rhion said, “but I’m horrible at the healthy stuff. So I hired a chef to show us some quick and easy recipes she could make on her own.” She swung a hand out to the dishes on the table. “Some of it was a hit. Some of it was not. But I did learn that, if you put water in a champagne flute and drop some fruit in, it’s a totally different experience.”

  She smiled.

  I did not.

  Because, in that moment, another PSI of pressure escaped my chest. The relief was staggering. She’d hired a personal chef to help my girl eat healthier. She’d bought her clothes and had someone come do her hair and apply makeup to make her feel beautiful.

  And that act only proved that Rhion Park was more stunning on the inside than she was on the outside.

  April should have thought of that to help pull Val out of this funk she’d been in. Shit, I should have thought of it. Yet, in the five hours Rhion had spent with her, she’d realized that something was wrong and gone about doing something to fix it.

  God, that alone was sexier than any memory I had of her.

  “Come here,” I ordered roughly.

  “What? Why?”

  I didn’t wait for her to obey—mainly because I didn’t figure she would. Rhion had more than proven herself to be stubborn.

  After standing up off the couch, I prowled toward her, muttering, “You hired a chef to teach my girl how to make healthy food.” I stopped in front of her, looming close.

  She leaned away, peering up at me through her lashes and stammering, “Are…are you mad?”

  Shaking my head, I slid a hand around her hips, resting it on the bare skin at the small of her back, and repeated, “You hired a chef to teach my girl how to make healthy food.”

  “Well, not completely for that,” she defended. “I was hungry and didn’t feel like cooking. Win-win.”

  I dipped so my lips were at her ear. “Tell me something, Butterfly. Last Friday.” A satisfied smirk hit my mouth when her body went tight in my arms. “Why’d you kiss me?”

  “Who says I kissed you?” she chirped, arching her back to create some space between us.

  But I had no intentions of allowing her to escape.

  “We both know you did. I’m just trying to figure out why,” I rasped. “For some reason, you pushed up onto your toes and brushed that sexy, rambling mouth of yours across mine.” Using my hand at her back, I guided her closer and then nipped at her earlobe.

  “Oh,” escaped her mouth on a moan, her hands sliding up my arms to my shoulders.

  Trailing my lips down to her neck, I asked, “Ring any bells?”

  She didn’t reply, so I pushed her further.

  “You barely knew me. But you still kissed me like a woman on the brink of starvation. I think I deserve to know exactly what I did to earn that.” After snaking a hand up into the back of her hair, I used it to tip her head to the side, exposing her neck to me.

  As I raked my teeth over the soft skin below her ear, her fingernails bit into my shoulders.

  My tongue darted out to lave up her neck, and the odd sense of familiarity at her taste created a wicked brew of confusion and erotic exhilaration. As much as I suspected I’d always want to know what happened that Friday night, I wanted one thing more.

  Straightening, I ghosted my lips across hers before gently twisting my hand in her hair, forcing her head back. “You hired a chef to teach my girl how to cook healthy food.”

  “I’m…I’m—”

  “That’s why I’m about to kiss you, Butterfly.”

  Her eyes flashed wide, and then, seconds later, as my lips descended upon hers, they fluttered closed.

  Her hungry moan vibrated against my lips as our mouths finally connected. The world stood still like it had the first time I saw her—and then again at the bar.

  In that moment, nothing else existed.

  Not failure.

  Not regret.

  Not guilt.

  Not fear.

  There was nothing but a beautiful woman with a breathtaking smile and an even bigger heart and me, the man who was suddenly desperate to keep her from flying away. Again.

  Her mouth opened and I slanted my head, greedily swirling my tongue with hers, claiming everything her mouth had to offer.

  She swayed into me, pressing deep into the curve of my body. Her full breasts became flush against me, which incited a flood of memories of how they felt in my hands—and against my mouth.

  She pushed up onto her toes, lifting her already tall heels off the ground as if she couldn’t get close enough.

  And, as I held her against my mouth, I knew I couldn’t.

  Our tongues eagerly slid together. They weren’t dueling for control, but it was as though we both feared it was the only taste we’d ever get.

  It was…confounding. It shouldn’t have felt that way. Not with her. She lived in my nightmares, yet somehow over the last week, she’d sparked something inside me that burned so fucking strong that the flames followed me into my dreams.

  It was going to wreck me to break that kiss. My body ached to take more of her. To give her more of me. To make good on my offer and slide a hand under that little dress, not stopping until her tight heat pulsed around my fingers. But Val was in the bedroom, and if I started that with Rhion, I feared I wouldn’t quit until I was inside her.

  My cock stirred at the thought. Shifting a hand down to her ass, I groaned as she rolled her hips against mine.

  Unf
ortunately, at the same time, a man cleared his throat. Without tearing my mouth away from hers, I pried my eyes open and found Johnson standing in the doorway, his gaze aimed at the floor.

  Fan-fucking-tastic.

  “Jude,” Rhion protested on a whine as I stepped away.

  She was following me forward, her hands clinging to my shoulders, trying to regain my mouth, when I rasped, “We got company.”

  Her eyes popped open and her head swung to the side, her face morphing from sexual intoxication to flat-out anger in the span of a second.

  I couldn’t help but chuckle when she bit out, “You are not standing in my apartment right now.”

  Johnson didn’t look nearly as amused as I did as he arched an eyebrow and said, “I didn’t know I needed to knock.”

  I caught her around her shoulders and guided her to my side. “That might be a good idea from here on out.”

  Johnson glowered.

  But both of our attentions were drawn back to Rhion as she repeated on an eerie whisper, “You are not standing in my apartment right now.”

  “You hit the alarm—you better fucking believe I’m standing in your apartment right now,” he returned.

  “The alarm,” she said, her anger fading as she wilted against me. Looping an arm around my hips, she breathed, “Oh, right.”

  Johnson crossed his arms over his chest. “Though it seems like it might have been a wasted trip.”

  She rested a hand on my abs and shook her head. “No. I’m glad you came.”

  It was an act that Johnson didn’t miss. His jaw went hard, but his voice softened. “Now, tell me what’s going on in your head and I’ll get out of here.”

  “Who’s Apollo?” I asked.

  I ignored her hand spasming on my stomach and kept my sights trained on Johnson.

  His expression remained unreadable as he asked her, “You gonna handle this, or am I?”

  She groaned and reluctantly announced, “He’s my little brother. He’s crazy. My father didn’t leave him any money in his will.”

  Fucking finally, we were getting somewhere.

  “And this is why you use Guardian for protection?” I asked her but lifted my gaze to Johnson. “He a threat?”

  “He’s complicated,” he replied.

  “I’m gonna need more than that,” I told Johnson.