Total Meltdown (Hellfire Series Book 7)

by Elle James

  Tony spread his arms wide. “So, what’s the difference? I would hire you as an au pair to my children, whom you already know. I would pay your way to Costa Rica and pay you as you work taking care of Robbie and Mari.”

  “I can’t,” Lily said, her voice faint.

  Mari wrapped her arms around her neck and snuggled closer.

  Lily turned her face and deposited a kiss on the child’s cheek.

  The gesture was so natural and beautiful, it caught Tony by surprise. For a moment, he forgot what he was arguing about. When he recalled, he wanted to secure her agreement to accompany them even more. “Mari likes you. She doesn’t like everyone.”

  “If she’s starting kindergarten next fall, someone needs to work on getting her to speak in English. It will make her transition easier.”

  He waved his hand. “There you go. You’re just the person she needs. In Costa Rica, everyone there will be speaking Spanish. She will have little chance to practice her skills in English, unless you accompany her there and use your most excellent teaching practices with her. With your help, she’ll be ready for kindergarten next fall.”

  Lily’s frown deepened. “I can’t.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “Can’t or won’t?” Tony pointed toward his son, whose face was sad and pleading. “You wouldn’t disappoint a little boy, would you?”

  Lily’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not playing fair,” she whispered.

  “I like to get my way.” He lifted his chin, unapologetically. “Do you have another position as an au pair keeping you from going with us to Costa Rica?”

  She bit down on her bottom lip as if she wanted to say yes but couldn’t lie. Finally, she sighed. “No.”

  “Then, can I count on you to help me with my children by spending the summer in beautiful Costa Rica, where you will have access to sun, sand and the ocean as your playground?” he asked in front of his children, knowing it would make it even harder for her to say no.

  “We’re all going to Costa Rica?” Robbie asked and held his breath, waiting for the answer.

  Tony tilted his head, waiting for Lily to respond.

  She drew in a deep breath and let the air out before she nodded. “Yes.”

  Chapter 5

  “Miss Grayson, we’re about to land in San José,” a deep male voice sounded near her ear.

  The resonance in Tony’s voice, and the way he enunciated her name with that hint of a Spanish accent, sent shivers across Lily’s skin.

  She looked away from the window she’d been staring through since they’d crossed the Gulf of Mexico and passed over the Yucatan Peninsula, Honduras and Nicaragua. The plane slowed and came down in altitude until she could see the terrain a little better. Soon, they were flying over houses as they entered the airspace over San José.

  She had to admit the flight was one of the best she’d ever been on. The chartered jet held only Delossantos, his children and her. A pilot, co-pilot and a flight attendant completed the flight crew. They had all been so helpful getting them settled into the plush white leather seats, feeding them and getting them whatever they might want to drink. The children each had their own video display monitors and could watch whatever shows or movies they wished.

  Mari had fallen asleep soon after they’d taken off from the little airport on the outskirts of Hellfire. They were two hours into the flight before Robbie succumbed to slumber.

  As the plane circled the airport, both children woke and looked out the windows.

  Mari was excited because Robbie was excited. She was too young to really understand that they’d traveled to a foreign country, but she knew about flying in planes and hadn’t run all over the plane making a nuisance of herself.

  Lily gathered her things, and then white-knuckle-gripped the armrests as the plane touched down on the tarmac.

  The pilot was good and made the plane kiss the concrete with the wheels before coming to a full stop in front of the main aviation terminal.

  They disembarked, passed through customs relatively quickly, stopped for a bathroom break and were met outside by a driver with a black SUV.

  Their luggage was stowed in the back of the vehicle, and before she could make heads or tails of the streets of San José, they were out of the city and driving through the countryside, traveling west on a highway.

  The driver had brought with him food for them to eat on the trip to the coast.

  As she nibbled on a sandwich, Lily stared out at the hills, valleys, grasslands and forests. Soon they were headed south, paralleling the coastline. The water was so blue and inviting, Lily could hardly wait to take Robbie and Mari out to wade in the ocean.

  By the time they reached the hotel in Manuel Antonio, they had been traveling more than eight hours.

  The children were fussy and out of sorts, and Lily couldn’t wait to get to her room to shower and change into one of the sundresses she’d brought with her.

  The weather was warm and humid outside, but once they were inside the hotel, air conditioning chilled the rooms, making her more comfortable.

  A beautiful woman in a smart, gray suit met them as they entered the bright, breezy lobby. She had dark brown hair, brown eyes and a curvy figure that fit perfectly in her skirt suit. “Buenos días, Señor Delossantos. We’re so very pleased to see you.”

  “Good to see you, too,” he said, holding out his hand to shake the woman’s. “I trust you are well?”

  She nodded.

  Tony turned to Lily. “Bianca Reyes is the hotel manager. Bianca, this is Lily Grayson. She is here to care for Roberto and Mari. See to it that she is given anything she needs for herself and the children.”

  “Si, Señor,” Bianca said.

  “I’ll need copies of the balance sheet, profit and loss statements and stats on occupancy rates. After I get my family settled in their rooms, I’ll expect those reports to be in my office when I come down.”

  “Yes, sir,” the woman said, her brow pinched. “We weren’t aware you’d be bringing your children with you. The spare bedroom in your suite is set up with two beds. We’ll have another bed brought up for the au pair. Where would you like it to be placed?”

  Tony waved a hand, his lips pressing into a thin line. “I’ll let Miss Grayson decide.” He stepped away from the hotel manager and greeted a man dressed in a white guayabera shirt, long, baggy shorts and flipflops.

  “If there’s a couch or sofa in the living area, I can sleep on it.” Lily smiled. “I’m easy to please. But I would like a pillow and some blankets, please.”

  Bianca nodded. “As you wish. How long can we expect you and the children to be here?”

  Lily’s smile spread into a grin. “All summer.”

  By the woman’s stiff expression, she didn’t appear to share Lily’s enthusiasm. Instead, she turned, walked to the concierge desk and gave the bellhop instructions in Spanish. Soon, their luggage was removed from the back of the SUV, piled onto a rolling cart and taken to their suite at the top of the building.

  Lily took a moment to glance around the lobby at the lavish furnishings, the beautiful feature against one wall that appeared to be a curtain of water, the sound soothing to weary travelers.

  When Tony came back to where he’d left Lily standing, he brought the fair-haired man in the guayabera shirt with him. “Lily Grayson, this is Marcus Shipley, retired Navy SEAL. Marcus is in charge of security, pool maintenance and is the resident boat captain for Bahía Azul resort and spa. Lily is in charge of Roberto and Mari.”

  Marcus took Lily’s outstretched hand. Instead of shaking it, he lifted it to his lips and kissed the backs of her knuckles. “The pleasure is entirely mine. Please tell me your boss will let you have time off to enjoy the beauty and excitement of Manuel Antonio.”

  She found his familiarity with her hand slightly annoying. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Tony frowning. That he found Marcus’s greet annoying made it fine with her. She gave Marcus a wide smile. “That would be nice. I hav
e every Friday evening off and Sundays.”

  “Perfect. I’ll take you out on the Lost Cause.”

  She cocked a brow. “Lost Cause?”

  “My fishing boat. I contract it out to guests at the resort for day trips to where they can catch the bigger fish.”

  “I would love to go fishing,” Lily said, warming to the idea.

  “Then it’s a date?”

  Lily laughed. “I don’t know if it’s a date if you count bringing along two small children—”

  “—and their father,” Tony added. “If you add all that in, then it’s a date.”

  Marcus shot a wry grin toward Tony. “Name the day, and I’ll be sure not to book paying customers on the Lost Cause.”

  “Why did you name your boat Lost Cause?” Lily asked.

  “When I separated from the Navy, I was pretty much a lost cause. Then I found Costa Rica and Tony, here.”

  “And the rest is history.” Tony gave Marcus a curt nod then hooked Lily’s arm and led her and the children toward the elevators. “Let me show you to your room.”

  Lily took Mari’s hand. Tony held Robbie’s hand and her elbow. They walked to the elevators, side by side. If anyone had been watching, they would have thought they were a family.

  Something strong and poignant tugged at Lily’s heart. Was it longing? With all of her friends from high school and college marrying and having babies, Lily was feeling her biological clock ticking. Not that twenty-six was ancient, but it was four years short of thirty. Then she’d be forty, and then fifty. She didn’t want to get that far without having a family of her own. She’d love to have beautiful children like Robbie and Mari. Any woman would be proud to have those two to raise. If Tony ever remarried, they would be someone else’s children.

  Why Lily was sad just because she was thinking along those lines, she couldn’t say. She barely knew Tony. Plus, Robbie was one of twenty children in her last kindergarten class. How did that make him special?

  Because he was. He’d cared about the others in his classroom. He cared about his little sister and his father. The little boy had a certain love of life, along with a deep sadness about him. Lily always had the urge to grab him up in her arms and hug away his hurt and sorrow. Having lost his mother must have been really hard on him.

  The elevator door dinged and slid open. Inside, the car walls were lined with mirrors. The rails were a polished stainless steel.

  Lily turned to face the door. In her peripheral vision she could see Tony looking at her.

  Heat rose up her neck and into her cheeks.

  “How old are you, Miss Grayson?” he asked out of the blue.

  Lily frowned. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m twenty-six. Why do you ask?”

  He shrugged. “I was curious as to why a beautiful woman such as yourself is unmarried and caring for children not her own.”

  Lily’s frown turned upside down. “That’s easy. I haven’t met a man I care enough about to commit the rest of my life to. I like children, and I like to travel in the summertime. I don’t make a lot of money as a teacher, but I have my summers to do as I please. As an au pair, I get to see a lot of interesting places for free, and I’m being paid.”

  “Have you ever been in love?”

  Lily raised her eyebrows and stared at the man. “Again…not your business.”

  He held up his hands. “My apologies. I’m just curious.”

  The elevator bell rang, saving Lily from an immediate response. The doors opened, and they stepped out before she replied. “Once, I thought I was in love. He didn’t love me.”

  “How do you know he didn’t love you?”

  “It was all about control. He had to be in control. And he wanted me to change to accommodate his need to control.” Her lips tightened. “I believe marriage is a partnership. One person does not have the right to control the other. They go into the relationship knowing what they’re getting and willing to accept each other, faults and all.”

  Tony frowned. Lily’s ex-boyfriend sounded like a dick. “He wasn’t willing to let go of yours or admit to his own faults?”

  Lily snorted. “No.”

  Tony had no time to ponder her unsettling words. They arrived in front of a set of grand double doors.

  Using a card key, Tony unlocked and opened the doors. He threw them wide, and then stepped back. “Welcome to your home away from home while you are here in Costa Rica.”

  Lily gasped as she stepped into the penthouse suite. Everything in it was black and white, from the white sectional sofa to the black granite bar and beyond. Cathedral ceilings stretched high above them, and windows rose from the floor to the roof, displaying a stunning view of the deep blue ocean.

  “Wow,” Lily whispered. “This is gorgeous.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  “I love it.” She winced and glanced around at the white furniture and flooring. “Is it practical with children?”

  He nodded. “I made certain the furnishings and flooring were childproof. The fabric of the sofas and chairs are treated to be stain resistant. And the flooring is white marble, also stain resistant and strong.”

  Robbie ran from room to room, Mari following. He appeared in a doorway. “This room is huge, Miss Grayson. It’s got a big bed, another couch, a bathroom and a giant TV.” Running to the second room, he came out grinning. “This room has two big beds, a TV and its own bathroom, too.” His gaze shot to his father. “Is this where me and Mari will be sleeping?”

  Tony scooped Mari up into his arms. “Yes, it is,” Tony said. “It will be your room until we go back to Texas.”

  The luggage had arrived before them and stood beside the door.

  Robbie hurried to find a superhero suitcase, rolled it into the kids’ room and unzipped it. One by one, he unpacked his superhero figurines and stood them on one of the two black lacquer dressers.

  Mari found her princess suitcase and followed Robbie into the room. She unzipped her case and pulled out several dolls dressed in outfits with ruffles and bows. She laid them on one of the beds.

  Lily laughed. “I’m glad to see they have priorities. I can store my things in their room and closet to keep them out of the way.” She tipped her head toward the giant sectional sofa. “Sleeping on the couch will be no problem. It’s plenty big enough to be comfortable.”

  Tony frowned. “You will not sleep on the couch. I will sleep on the sofa, and you can have the master bedroom to yourself.”

  This time, Lily raised her hands in protest. “I can’t do that.”

  “Can’t or won’t,” he asked.

  “Look, you’re here to conduct business. I’m here to have fun and play with the children. It makes sense to let you sleep comfortably.” When he opened his mouth to protest, Lily held up her hand again. “Please. I wish to be closer to the children should they need me in the night. If anything, I could sleep with Mari and be perfectly fine.”

  Tony shook his head. “Mari sleeps like a windmill. I know. On nights with violent storms, she crawls into bed with me and kicks me all night. At the very least, I can have them deliver a comfortable cot we can set up in the living room.”

  She nodded. “If you insist. Although the couch looks fine to me.”

  “I insist.” And the conversation was ended.

  “Now that we’ve settled the sleeping arrangements, I have business to attend. You have free reign over the premises. We have a couple pools and the beach. I would like to have dinner with my children and, afterward, we can listen to music at one of our family friendly nightclubs.”

  Lily nodded. “I’ll have the children dressed and ready for dinner. We will be eating on Texas time, right? I know a lot of Central American countries like to have late dinners.”

  “We’ll have the evening meal on Texas time.”

  She nodded. “In the meantime, we probably only have time for a quick dip in the pool.” She turned to Robbie and Mari’s room where they were happily playing with the toys
they’d brought. “What do you say, children? Wanna go swimming?”

  “Yes!” Robbie yelled.

  “Si!” Mari chimed in.

  Lily scooped her up in her arms. “Can you say yes?”

  Mari nodded. “Yes.”

  Lily laughed. “Very nice.”

  A big grin on her face, Mari repeated, “Very nice.”

  “Tell you what, you teach me more Spanish, and I’ll help you with your English. Okay?” She held up her hand for a high five.

  Mari slapped her hand against Lily’s. “Okay.”

  Tony stood with his hand on the doorknob for a long moment. Then he left the room.

  Lily’s gaze followed him until the door closed behind him.

  By the look in his eyes, he probably would rather have spent the afternoon with the kids by the pool.

  Lily helped Robbie find his suit, helped Mari into hers, and changed into her own black one-piece in record time. She threw on a sheer, colorful coverup and a pair of sandals, and she was ready. After being cooped up in a plane and car for the majority of the day, they needed to move and burn off some energy.

  The ride down the elevator took very little time. One of the front desk clerks gave her directions to the pool. Holding Mari and Robbie’s hands in hers, she strolled through the building to the courtyard where a large pool was surrounded by lounge chairs. Pool toys and inflatable water wings were available at a stand in the shade. She fit a pair of water wings over Mari’s and Robbie’s arms, though Robbie insisted he knew how to swim.

  “For the first time in this pool, I’d like you to wear them,” Lily said. “Then, as you show me how well you swim, I’ll think about letting you go without.”

  Robbie nodded. “Okay, Miss Grayson.”

  “And you don’t have to call me Miss Grayson while we’re here. You can call me Lily.”

  His brow wrinkled. “How about Mama Lily?”

  Though her heart swelled at his request, Lily couldn’t allow it. “Oh, sweetie, I’m not your mother. That wouldn’t be right.”