"I know, baby." Harrison caressed my face. "Shh. You're going to hurt yourself."
"I'm so stupid. I can't believe I didn't know. I mean how could I not know? Who moves to Dallas." I gasped. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."
"It's okay." He chuckled. "I know what you meant."
"I don't understand." My arm hurt.
Harrison wiped the tears from my face.
"We spent over ten million dollars on that house. Did we pay for it?" My brain hurt.
"All my checks cleared," he said and typed something on his phone. "I'll check with Justin."
"Let me see your phone. I want to call Paul's"—I winced—"business manager."
"Not today." Harrison touched my face. "Listen to me. Whatever it is he did or didn't do, we will take care of it, but you need to take care of yourself first. Okay?"
I nodded.
"You need a hit." Harrison held out the pain medicine button.
"Yeah." I inhaled as much as my ribs would allow and let it out slowly. "You're going to be here when I wake up?"
"Always."
I felt his lips on me, kissing me, coaxing them apart. His tongue, tentative, but satisfied with a tiny swipe against mine before my world faded.
Harrison
The shit keeps coming.
I waited two days before I allowed Brooklyn to call Paul's business manager. He knew about Paul's death and had planned to fly into town the next day.
I couldn't believe we agreed to plan a memorial service for the prick who tried to take Brooklyn away from me.
As I suspected, the accident wasn’t exactly an accident. From what Brooklyn told me about the car wreak, Paul wanted out and wanted to take Brooklyn with him.
Seth and Abbie handled the details on that project. We reserved the hospital chapel for the memorial. I asked them to plan the service for someone they liked for Brooklyn's sake.
It was hard.
Justin, with Piper's help, kept Alise in the loop, but we had no clue what to do with her once the funeral was over.
I concentrated on Brooklyn.
"Don't push yourself," I said as I walked Brooklyn down the hospital corridor. She hid her pain well, but a short walk took a lot out of her.
"I thought you were supposed to push me . . . past my limits." She giggled.
"Don't push me, pup." I ran my hands down her back.
She frowned but looked up at me.
I leaned over and kissed her. We would address her ever-present sassy mouth and her iron grip on her emotions later.
I understood it. What happened between her and Paul wasn't my business, but she wore the guilt on her like a coat.
She felt responsible for Paul's sins. She thought it would change the way I felt about her somehow. I reassured her hourly that she wasn't going to get rid of me. She would nod and settle into a state of relief, but it wouldn't last long.
What hurt me the most was I had the feeling she didn't think she was good enough for me.
She had no idea. I wasn't good enough for her.
We made it back to the room, and a man stood outside her door.
"Robert." Brooklyn greeted him.
"Hi, Brooke."
I hated the name and opened my mouth to correct him.
Brooklyn grabbed my arm.
If we wanted to find out what was going on, we needed him on our side, so I let it go for now.
"Come on in," Brooklyn said."Robert, this is Harrison."
He nodded.
"I didn't realize how badly you were hurt. How are you?" he asked Brooklyn, sneaking a glance at me.
"I'm much better,” she answered.
I stood behind Brooklyn with my hands on her hips as she shuffled toward the bed.
"I should be out of here in a few more days," Brooklyn said, easily making small talk with the guy.
"That's great." He peered at me over his glasses. "You think maybe we could go over a few things alone."
She turned in my arms and gripped my forearms. She dug her nails into my arm and hoisted herself onto the bed.
I glared at her.
A smiled crept up the side of her lips.
I opened my mouth, and she shut it with a squeeze on my arm.
She’d better say the right thing. I wasn't leaving.
"Robert. Harrison is not going anywhere. I want him to hear everything." She grunted as she reclined on the bed.
He nodded and sat in the chair and shuffled through papers.
"So I'm not sure how much of this you already know,” Robert said.
"Assume I don't know anything," Brooklyn said as she reached out for me, and I squeezed her hand and held it near my heart.
"I wasn't aware of the money Paul took from the business. It was somewhere near ten million dollars. He put it in an off-shore account in Dubai. I wasn't privy to this information. I can't even find out on record who set it up for him, but as his power of attorney, I do have access to view his finances and discuss the past few months’ transactions with the bank manager because of his death." Robert whispered the last part. He cleared his throat and continued.
"Paul had over twenty million in this account. Where the money came from, again I can't trace within the time I've looked. He gave ten million back to Phillip. The rest of the money, he took out a total of six million over the last eight to ten months for the house. There is a mortgage on the house, but he had to put three million down, and the other three million has gone into the design, decorating, and your living expenses. He was about to withdraw the final two million and put in another account in your name."
"My name?"
"This is pure speculation, but I think he was trying to save that two million for the two of you to live off."
"But we were getting a divorce." Brooklyn said.
"He said you had reconciled, and he wanted to gift it to you before someone else took it."
"Who would take it?" I asked.
"Again, I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I believe the money belongs to the people he is doing business with in Dubai.” Robert flipped open a folder. “When I checked this morning, the money was gone."
"Why didn't you set up the account?" I asked.
"I did. Well, almost. I was just waiting for him to return your signature cards."
"That's why he wanted to get back together. He needed my signature."
What a prick.
"What about the life insurance?" Brooklyn groaned as she tried to sit up. "I signed stuff when we got married. An investment account and other financial stuff.”
“He’d liquidated them," Robert said.
"Jesus," Brooklyn said.
"How much is the mortgage?" I asked.
Robert hesitated. "Eight million dollars."
Brooklyn's eyes grew big.
"Wow." I whistled and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"How could you let him get into this mess?" Brooklyn asked.
"Let him? It wasn't my fault." Robert frowned.
"What about Alise?" Brooklyn's voice rose. I felt her pulse quicken.
"He didn't tell me why. He just told me to cut her off, so I did." Robert shook his head.
"Without looking into what kind of trouble he may have gotten himself into." Brooklyn panted, her breath shallow.
"Brooklyn, baby." I stood back up and ran my hand up and down her arm. "Calm down. You're going to hurt yourself."
"None of what he did was illegal. I wasn't under any obligation to report it." Robert took a step back.
"Except for stealing ten million dollars." Brooklyn bit her lip and rubbed her forehead.
My head hurt.
"I have an eight-million-dollar home with an eight-million-dollar mortgage. Is that what you’re telling me?" she asked.
"Yes. That's about it." Robert flipped through some papers.
Brooklyn looked up at me.
"I'm a long way from Brooklyn, New York," she said.
Her accent made me laugh.
"Paul has a few
debts, but I think we can take care of those with what's left in the household account." Robert pulled a form out of the folder and set it on the table.
He reached into his pocket to retrieve a pen.
We both turned to look at Robert.
"What?" He put the pen back in his pocket.
"What about Alise?" Brooklyn asked.
"What about the shit you don't even know about yet?" I asked. "We can't deal with this right now. Leave me your card. I'll have my business manager contact you." I stepped toward him.
Brooklyn had a grip on my arm.
I pointed at him instead. "I would suggest you stop whatever it is you're doing with their accounts until you hear from him."
The prick opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"You don't have a problem with that, do you?" I asked.
He looked at Brooklyn.
Brooklyn's gaze was on me. She had that look in her eye. The one that made me feel like a king; she got off on me taking care of shit.
"Here's my card,” Robert said.
I took the card and shoved it in my pocket.
Robert set a folder down on the table and headed toward the door.
I turned back to Brooklyn.
Her chin rested on her chest. Her faraway look didn't match the funny smile playing on her lips.
"Well, at least he didn't lie about one thing," she said, her voice wavered.
"What was that?" I asked.
"He did buy that house for me?" She blinked twice, and the tears fell.
"Fuck," I said under my breath and cupped her cheek. I wanted to smash her body into mine and take all her pain away, but I couldn't. I didn't want to hurt her; I needed to hold her, take some of the pain away.
I crawled into bed with her.
She scooted over to the other side with a grunt.
"Easy," I said as I slid one hand under the pillow and the other under her night shirt and cupped her breast. "Is this okay?"
"More than okay." She sighed and nuzzled closer as I placed my leg over hers. She clung to me, our faces inches away from each other.
The tears had stopped.
I kissed her cheek, and her nose and her lips. I pulled away.
She reached up and stopped me.
I kissed her how she needed to be kissed.
She deepened the kiss and rocked her hips against my cock.
I ran my palm over her hardened nipples.
She gave out a little whimper that made my dick ache.
It felt good, too good.
It took every bit of control left in my body, but we had to stop.
Twenty-Nine
Brooklyn
He leaned back, breaking the connection.
I followed. I needed him. My mind was in a spiral, and I needed my anchor. I wanted more. I shifted, but the pressure on my ribs was too much. I grunted in pain.
"Yeah, that's why we need to stop." Harrison pushed me back down on the bed but kept his arms around me.
I was on the verge of cracking. I didn't recognize myself.
I settled back against the bed.
"When did I become this weepy mess of a girl?" I wiped my face.
"Pup, it's a lot to take. It's okay." He cupped my chin. "You'll get your balance back."
"You promise?" I asked.
"Absolutely." He laid a soft peck on my mouth.
I smiled and studied his face. I reached up and ran my fingers over his lips.
"Is it weird that I want you so bad right now?” I asked.
"I always want you." He smirked and kissed my fingertips.
I moved my hip against his hardness.
He pulled back abruptly.
"Not now. You're too banged up, and I can only be so careful before—"
"Before what?"
His eyes narrowed in response to my challenge.
"Before I forget you're hurt and try to hurt you."
"I like it when you hurt me." I captured his bottom lip in my teeth and sucked on it. He smashed his mouth against mine for an instant and then he was gone.
"You know how many punishments you have racked up, pup." He squeezed my nipple. “Keep it up."
"More playtime, too." I moaned.
"Absolutely." He kissed my nose. "We haven't even dipped into my bag of tricks."
"Oh, tell me."
"You think that's going to help?" Harrison kissed the pout from my lips.
I settled back on the pillow, content to study his face again. I fell into those eyes. They held the answer. In them, I'd find my balance again.
We hadn't said it to each other yet, but I felt more love from him than I had from anyone.
He adored me. He protected me. He touched me. I was the most important thing in the world to him.
He loved me.
I felt it in the way he didn't allow me to embrace any thoughts about myself that contradicted how he saw me.
"I need to tell you something," I said.
"What is it?" He rested his hand in the middle of my chest.
"I don't want you to get mad. He's gone, and there's nothing you can do to him now." I covered his hand with mine. "But I need to tell you."
Harrison looked past me and exhaled.
"Those three days when Paul came back, he didn't touch me . . ." I paused to make sure he understood what I meant.
"Okay?" He nodded.
"He tried, but I slapped him."
He smirked.
"But then he hit me."
"Brooklyn . . ." Harrison body tensed. His eyes went from amused to rage in a matter of seconds. "Where?"
"A backhand." I mimicked the movement with my own hand on Harrison's face. He captured my hand and brought it to his lips. "It was a clarifying moment. I wasn't going to let him hurt you, but I wasn't going to let him ruin me, either. Not anymore. I had a plan."
"What plan?" Harrison asked.
"I was going to go back to New York. It might have taken a little longer, but I was going to divorce him and then come back to you with nothing holding me down.” I dropped my chin. “Nothing holding me back."
His face softened. I placed my hand over his heart. It was racing. He tried not to show it on the outside.
"It was like you said in the restaurant. I needed to come to you under my own power. I needed to have all of me intact before I could hand myself over to you."
"So we were just working with different timetables." Harrison nodded; the anger made his swirling eyes darken.
"Something like that," I said. "I thought we needed some distance to be what we needed for each other."
"You still feel like that?" he asked with a grunt.
I felt his grunts in my core.
"No." I smiled. "There was one problem with my theory."
"What?"
"You gave me all of you." I peered in his eyes. "The moment we met."
"I thought I was going to save you." He closed his eyes for a second and opened them. "You didn't need saving. I was the broken one. I was in all these functioning little pieces, but you salvaged me. You put me back together. My life was a waste until I met you."
His lips brushed softly against mine.
"Thank you," he whispered and pressed harder.
He said thank you.
I heard I love you, and it was perfect. It was everything, and he was mine, and I was his.
"So what do I get?" I asked with a smirk on my face.
He blinked. "What do you mean?"
“I salvaged you from a meaningless existence of Dom/sub scenes with no sex and meaningless sex with women who couldn't embrace your dominant side." I ran my hand down his abs.
"You did all that, huh?" He nodded.
"Yep." I nodded back.
"Well, little pup, what do you want?" He placed his hand back on my chest.
"For starters"—I licked my lips—"tell me one scene you have planned for me when I'm not so banged up."
"You are a glutton for punishment, aren't you?" He grinned.
/> "Please, Sir. Tell me a story." I nuzzled up again this chest.
“Okay. You asked for it.” He ran his hand over my nipples. He captured one between his fingers and pinched.
I relaxed and moaned.
"I'm going to tie you spread-eagled on my bed, face down." He squeezed my breast.
"Uh-huh."
"Then I'll take my flogger and drag it across your body. Watch you squirm as I tease you with it.” He massaged my breast. “When you're nice and relaxed, I'll strike you."
I moaned, closed my eyes and pictured it.
"The sound of all those leather tentacles connecting with your beautiful skin and the resulting mark it will leave.” He pressed his cock into my hip. “It's getting my cock hard just thinking about it."
"More." I nodded.
"Greedy little sub. When I'm finished marking you, I'll lay tiny little kisses over every mark. I’ll tease you into another state of pleasure and then kneel between your outstretched legs and tongue fuck you while I jerk off."
"Harrison." I exhaled his name and shuddered.
"You are my little slut, aren't you?" He tweaked my other nipple.
"Yes, Sir." I ignored the pain in my ribs. The burning between my legs took over.
"Then I'll crawl under you, kissing a trail up your body, and sit with my back against the headboard and my cock in front of your beautiful face. Knowing you, your mouth will be opened and ready to service me, but you have to earn that right. You have to beg for it."
"Please," I begged.
Harrison's hand traveled down my chest and my abdomen and rested on my pelvic bone. He was so close.
I tried to move to get his fingers where I wanted them.
He wouldn't budge.
"Please, Sir." My voice raspy with lust. "Don't stop."
"Please what?"
"Please touch me."
"Broo—"
"Please." I moaned.
He slid his fingers between my folds.
I tensed.
He stroked my clit in slow, even strokes; no sudden movements.
"Baby, breathe," Harrison said.
I sucked in a breath and clung to his arm to anchor me to something.
I relaxed and let him guide my body. He teased my entrance with his fingers. He eased my body into an orgasm.
"Come for me,” he whispered.
I moaned and closed my eyes.
Salvage Him (Highland Park Chronicles Book 1) Page 23