Unbreakable (Heart of Stone #7)

by K. M. Scott

  “Too bad it’s summer,” Gage joked as he nuzzled my neck from behind me. “I think it would be sexy to make love to you with a fire roaring.”

  I turned in his hold and looked up into his bleary blue eyes. “Aren’t you tired? You don’t want to sleep?”

  A deep moan slid from his throat, and he shook his head. “The last thing I want to do in this room is sleep right now,” he said with a grin.

  “What did you have in mind?” I teased as he slid my shirt over my head. “We are in The Big Easy, you know.”

  He looked at me like a starving man. There was a wildness in his eyes that I hadn’t seen since that night in my apartment a week before when I’d finally admitted the truth of how much I loved him and didn’t love the man I was supposed to marry.

  Gage slid his tongue down my neck to between my breasts as he unclasped my bra, ratcheting my need for him higher. Looking up at me, he flicked his tongue over my nipple and smiled. “I don’t know about easy. Right now, I’m feeling pretty hard, so get out of those jeans and meet me on that bed in about five seconds.”

  I did as he ordered as he headed to the bed, peeling his clothes off with every step. By the time I was naked, he was already lying with his arms folded behind his head like he’d been waiting hours for me to arrive.

  A quick glance at the bird’s eye view the neighbors had through the windows made me a little self-conscious. “Do you think we should close the drapes? It’s still daylight out, and even in New Orleans I’m sure people don’t expect to see people having sex in the open.”

  Looking around at the windows, Gage shrugged and then returned his attention to me standing without a stitch of clothes on in front of him. “Forget about the rest of the world, Jordan. Now it’s just you and me. I don’t care about anyone outside this room. All I care about is you and how much I want to be deep inside you.”

  If ever there was a typical Gage answer, that was it. When he said things like that, my breath caught in my chest from how sexy he could be.

  He held his hand out to take mine and pulled me on top of him in one smooth motion. Setting his hands at my hips, he grinned up at me. “I’ve been waiting way too long to feel you on my cock. Come here.”

  I lowered my head and kissed him long and deep, loving the feel of every inch of his hard body against mine. His tongue invaded my mouth, eager and demanding, as he held me to him. A tiny moan escaped my lips into his mouth when he lifted his hips off the bed to slide into me.

  Grabbing my ass, he cupped it in his hands, and with each thrust of his cock, I felt all the worry and stress of the past few days melt away. Gage was the only man who’d ever made me feel like this. I didn’t know if it was his strength or his quiet belief that no matter what happened he could protect me, but only with him could I lose myself completely and yet have more than I’d ever dreamed was possible.

  His lips slid across my cheek to my ear, and he whispered low, “I love how you feel around me.”

  Together, we rolled across the king-size bed until he was on top of me staring down into my eyes with that Gage look that made my stomach flip with how it seemed like he was staring directly into my soul. He closed his eyes and plunged into me again with enough force to push me up toward the headboard, so I pressed my palms against it and wrapped my legs around his waist.

  He was like power and need personified looming over me with desire for all of me in his eyes. Inside, I felt my body begin to surrender to his and closed my eyes to let my release wash over me.

  Digging my fingernails into his back, I raked across his smooth skin from his spine to his sides and arched into him. “Yes! Don’t stop! Yes!”

  I felt his body meet mine, and then there was nothing but pure pleasure as I came. Gage let out a noise that sounded like a growl, and with one last thrust into my body, he came.

  Lowering himself on top of me, he sighed and his breath gently skittered past my ear before he whispered, “I could live a million years and never get tired of how incredible you feel when we’re like that.”

  I cradled his face in my hands and smiled up at him. “A million years is a long time. I think you’d get bored.”

  Gage rolled off me and propped up his head with his hand. “No way. You’re not the kind of woman a man gets bored with.”

  I kissed his lips, loving just lying there with him. “What would you say if I told you I never wanted to leave this very room or this house?”

  He kissed me back and smiled. “I’d say I’m right there with you. Now all we need is a couple million and to convince Tristan he should sell us this place.”

  Neither one of us had that kind of money, so that plan wasn’t going to work. “Oh well, I guess we’re going to have to settle for my apartment in Brooklyn.”

  “Does it matter where we live?” he asked, and I heard in his voice that same old fear that he wasn’t enough compared to Brock.

  I shook my head and sighed. “Nope. All that matters is that you’re there with me, Gage. That’s all.”

  He kissed me softly on the lips and pressed his forehead to mine. “Then we’re covered because I’m not going anywhere.”

  And I wasn’t going to let him go ever again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Gage

  I awoke with Jordan in my arms, just the way life was meant to be. Too bad at some point we’d have to deal with the world outside this bed. Thank God the woman had the ability to sleep when everything around us was going to hell because except for a few brief naps, I hadn’t been able to get any decent sleep since we left my parents’ house.

  My cell phone rang, so I slipped my arm from around Jordan and plodded over to my jeans to answer it. Happy to see a familiar name on the screen, I smiled and hoped the next thing I’d hear would be some answers.

  “The man, the myth, the legend. How are you, Gage?”

  It was a relief to hear my favorite PI sound so casual. At least that might mean he had something good to report.

  “Hey, Daryl. How are things?” I asked, working to keep my tone nonchalant.

  “Well, I’m not on the run with a pretty blonde, but hey, things are good,” Daryl quipped in his usual snappy fashion.

  “Yeah, it’s been a barrel of laughs.”

  For a moment I paused and became suspicious. If it hadn’t been Denise who told Hailey and Justin where we were, then it must have been someone else and Daryl was a man with a lot of information on hand. Could he have been the one to tell Hailey? The idea instantly made me sick. By all accounts, I had no reason to suspect Daryl, but the idea of it being Denise who had sold us out was still too much of a stretch for me.

  “Gage, you there?”

  I shook the feeling of suspicion and continued on in the hopes that he wasn’t the one.

  “Yeah, sorry. It’s just been hectic. I’m pretty exhausted, to be honest.” It was a good enough answer and seemed to placate Daryl.

  “I understand. Well, time to get down to brass tacks. I’ve got some news.”

  “Is it good or bad?”

  “Well, it isn’t bad so much as just information, but that’s good, right?”

  I had become accustomed to all of my recent news being bad so his answer came as both a genuine surprise and a relief.

  “Go on, Daryl. I know you’re dying to tell me.” In truth I was dying to hear it. Whatever he had to tell me, it was better than not knowing nothing.

  “Right. Enough of the feet dragging. Well, it looks like little Miss Hailey has been busy in more than just Jordan’s life but her own as well.”

  I bristled thinking about Hailey’s involvement in anything involving Jordan but pushed my anger aside for the moment. “How so?”

  “So do you remember when we discussed the wealthy guy, Dalton Spear? Well, they just announced to family and friends that they plan to wed in the next month. And I’ll tell you what. He’s one hell of a mystery himself. Like our friend, he’s got pretty savvy people working for him to keep him exactly that.”


  More interested in the part about Hailey than Spear, I said, “The girl moves fast. What’s the hurry? Is he some ninety year old with one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel?”

  “He’s dying of cancer,” Daryl responded somberly.

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. So this guy seems to be her sugar daddy, and she’s racing down the aisle before he dies of throat cancer. Or maybe it’s lung or bone. I’ve heard a few things.”

  “Okay, so he’s definitely dying of cancer,” I said. “What does that have to do with us? None of this explains why Hailey wanted Jordan to be married to Justin and why he’d be bankrolling it all.”

  It didn’t make any sense to me. Jordan was a school teacher from an upper middle class family. She didn’t come from money and that seemed to be Hailey’s main goal. And what was Dalton Spear’s part in all of this?

  “That’s where it gets kind of weird.”

  “Are you trying to say the entire situation hasn’t been weird from the start? I’m going to have to disagree with you on that one, Daryl.”

  “Funny, but you’d be surprised at the stuff I see and hear about in this profession. Hell, you guys look like a Norman Rockwell painting compared to some of the shit I’ve waded through.”

  That was surprising. I couldn’t imagine what other more interesting people had to deal with that was worse than kidnapping, forced marriage, being on the run, and a mysterious wealthy man behind it bankrolling it all.

  “Point taken. So what is it?”

  “Well, back twenty-some years ago this guy knocked up some lady named Karen Dumond. She had the baby, a boy, in Vermont and gave it up for adoption.”

  “I still don’t see where Jordan and I are involved, Daryl.”

  “That’s the problem. I don’t either. That’s not to say I don’t think they are connected. I do, but how I’m not sure yet. I’m going to speak to this Karen woman tonight. I planned on calling you with the details.”

  He seemed calm, but I heard an edge in his voice. Daryl prided himself on always being in the know, and it was obvious that not having all the answers was bothering him. That drive was what kept him good at his job. The suspicion I’d had earlier about him faded as I’d listened to him talk about all that he’d learned. A man this invested in helping us find the truth was unlikely to be working against us. I should have known that. He’d proven himself to be someone worthy of my trust time and again.

  “Thanks, Daryl. We both really appreciate your help.”

  “Yeah, don’t get all mushy on me. It’s not a Lifetime movie. I’m just doing my job,” he joked.

  “I won’t say anything to Jordan about the woman until you let me know what’s up. I’m going to see what I can find out about Dalton Spear, but I’m guessing if you couldn’t find out much yet, I won’t get very far just by Googling him.”

  “Don’t even bother. Trust me. He’s got people just like me working around the clock to make sure all anyone finds out about him is what he wants them to find out. Of course, there’s always the possibility that there’s a chink in the armor, and I think I’ve found that. Give me a couple more days and I should be able to find out what the hell this entire fucking mess is about.”

  I didn’t want to think about what Daryl’s chink in the armor could be. Most of the time, he stayed on the right side of the law, but when it suited him and the job he had to do, he wasn’t above taking a step over the line.

  Whatever that line may be.

  “Okay, in the meantime, we’ll stay down here and lay low.”

  “Good idea,” he said with a chuckle. “Stay in that sweet house and get some rest.” He paused for a few seconds and then continued, “Or whatever you do when you’re in New Orleans with a hot blonde.”

  Daryl making a reference to my sex life meant the conversation had officially ended, so I said goodbye and headed back to bed where Jordan waited for me, still sleeping.

  The mattress dipped as I climbed back into bed. Jordan woke up and smiled at me. “Where did you go?”

  Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, I said, “Daryl called. Did I wake you up?”

  “What did he say?” Jordan sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “Did he find out anything more?”

  “Not much yet. Oh, yeah, he did find out that Hailey is supposed to be marrying that Spear guy in just a few weeks. I guess he’s dying.”

  A look of disgust settled into Jordan’s face. “She’s a real class act. If she’s not kidnapping people to force them to marry, she’s arranging a hurry-up marriage to some guy so she can get his money. That’s classy with a K.”

  I hated any part of Hailey being in our life. The sooner she was gone from it, the better. For now, at least I could change the subject and get Jordan’s mind off her. “I think we should go out tonight.”

  Jordan’s green eyes opened wide with excitement. “Really? I could have sworn I heard you just say something about laying low to Daryl. Now you want to go out on the town?”

  “Yeah. We deserve a good time.”

  “Didn’t we just have one?” she asked playfully.

  “I mean, we deserve a night out. I say we head out to one of the clubs in the French Quarter tonight.”

  I saw the excitement on her face and loved that such a simple suggestion had made her so happy.

  “That sounds fun, but are you sure?”

  “I’m going to get some work done on figuring out what’s going on, so why don’t you grab a shower? Then tonight, we’ll head out into the crowds of the French Quarter. I think it might be safe.”

  She leaned over and kissed my nose. “Are you doing this because I said I wanted to see the city?”

  I nodded and planted a quick kiss on her lips. “Yes, but I do think we need to relax for a night. Unless Daryl suddenly figures out what’s going on and tells me in the next few hours, I say we put our worries behind us for a night. They’ll be there when we get back.”

  “I love this idea!” she squealed and then jumped out of the bed. “By the way, have you seen this bathroom yet? Can you say marble for as far as the eye can see? I might have to take an extended bath in here.”

  As she playfully jogged toward the bathroom, I joked, “Take all the time you need, but be ready in an hour.”

  In the meantime, I’d see if I could find anything that would explain what Hailey was up to.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jordan

  Gage stood in the doorway of the bathroom with a grin on his face like he couldn’t wait to share something with me. Flicking bubbles at him, I laughed and said, “I’m guessing you found out something by the look on your face.”

  “I think you’re going to like it.”

  “Really? That good? Well, don’t keep it to yourself. What did you find?”

  He shook his head, still grinning like the cat that ate the canary. “You have to come out here to see it.”

  Since he wasn’t usually this playful, I was intrigued. Quickly, I wrapped a towel around my body as the suds from my bubble bath still clung to my skin and hurried out into the bedroom to see what he’d found.

  “What is it?” I asked as I looked around for his phone to see what he’d found.

  He pointed toward the door to the closet and took my hand. “Come see.”

  I knew Gage hadn’t left the house while I was lounging in the bathtub, so what could he have found in the closet? I nervously followed him and when he opened the door, I saw it.

  “I’m thinking Nina told Tristan to surprise us.”

  There in the middle of the walk-in closet hung a gorgeous black dress and a pair of super sexy black heels for me and black pants with a pale blue dress shirt for him. As always, Nina had great taste.

  I turned to look at Gage and threw my arms around his neck. Confused, he whispered as I clung to him, “I thought you’d be happy. Now we’ll at least get to change into fresh clothes.”

  Leaning away from him, I sniffed away my tears. “I am happy. I just wish thi
ngs were back to normal because I really want this night to be one we remember.”

  Gage pressed a gentle kiss onto my forehead and smiled. “It will be. For tonight, we’re going to forget everything else but having some laughs and a good time in The Big Easy. Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll get a shower so I can look good enough to be with the woman wearing that smoking hot red dress?”

  He took his new clothes and headed into the bathroom for a shower as I admired Nina’s perfect gift. Grabbing Gage’s phone, I quickly called her to say thanks.

  “Hey, you didn’t have to get us those clothes, but I think you’re officially the very bestest best friend of all time now,” I said into the phone when she answered.

  Nina giggled. “I knew you’d love the dress. How does Gage look in the clothes Angelo picked out for him?”

  “I don’t know. He’s still getting ready. Thank you so much, Nina.”

  She didn’t speak for a long moment, and then she said, “Well…I didn’t mean them as a bribe so you wouldn’t be angry with me, but I think they’ve turned out to be that. I did something that I’m worried you’re going to be unhappy about.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, sure nothing Nina would do could anger me.

  “I didn’t mean to, but I let it slip that you and Gage are in New Orleans. I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but Tristan said I shouldn’t have told her.”

  I couldn’t imagine why he would think that. “It’s okay, Nina. As long as she knows we’re okay, it’s fine. It’s not like she’s going to tell Hailey or Justin where we are, so we’re good. No bribes needed.”

  Nina sighed deeply. “Oh good. I told Tristan it wasn’t a big deal, but he worries about things like that. He’s way more about secrets than I ever am. Your mother sounded relieved when I told her you and Gage were there and in the house. She misses you, but I think she’s okay now that she thinks you guys aren’t in danger.”