Ryker gestures for us to leave the kitchen, leading us back through the maze to get to the living area my family is in. “Gia isn’t a part of any of your business. She can stay here and see her family. I’ll send you back in the limo if you want.”
Damien’s grip tightens to the point I have to let him know he’s hurting me. “Ow,” I hiss at him as I shake my hand.
He eases his grip then says, “Would you want to do that, Gia? Would you want to stay here, without me?”
With a shrug, I say, “I’ll be alone in the hotel most of the time anyway. I can stay here and bunk with my sisters. Like a slumber party. It’ll be fun. You go ahead if you have business to see to. Although, with it being the weekend, I don’t see who you’re going to meet with.”
“That’s not the kind of business I was talking about,” Damien says as we enter the living area. “My friend was feeling worried with me leaving town.”
“So, you want to go back for this friend?” I ask him then pull him with me to a remote corner of the large room, so everyone doesn’t hear us talking. “This friend keeps taking precedence over me for some reason. Damien, is this friend of yours a woman?”
When he glances to the side, I have my answer and walk around him, angrier than I’ve been in quite some time. He grabs me by my arm, pulling me back. “It’s nothing you can imagine, I promise you.”
Glaring at his hand on my arm, I jerk out of his firm grasp. “Then what the hell is it?”
He looks down as he whispers, “She’s the mother of my only child.”
It feels like a brick wall has caved in on me. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. He has a child!
“You and I need to talk, alone, Damien,” I say then turn away from him and see Ryker, talking to my sisters. As I walk to him, Damien follows me closely. “Ryker, we’re going to our room to freshen up. You all feel free to start eating without us. We’ll catch up.”
Ryker stands up and looks me over. “Are you feeling alright? Do you need anything? Medicine of some sort?”
Shaking my head, I walk away from him. “No, I just need to freshen up, that’s all.”
I can feel his eyes on me as Damien and I leave the room. Neither of us say a word until we’re in the guestroom and he closes the door behind us. “Now you can understand things better, Gia.”
I hold up my hand to stop him from going any further. “How old is this child?”
“Two,” he says and I stumble to sit on the bed.
“That means you were with someone when we first got together,” I say as I think about the timeline. “And you’ve been hiding this for three years. Why?” I look up to find him looking worried. The man never looks worried!
“I have my reasons for hiding this from everyone. You see, my family would never allow her in their midst. She was a common prostitute. I had hired her for the night. I knew the chance I was taking when I did it. It was two days before I met you, Gia. It was a horrible mistake and I will pay for it forever. I don’t take care of her for her sake but for my son’s I do.” He sits on the bed next to me and runs his hands over the tops of his legs.
“They are from Russia, right?” I ask as I’m not sure how much of what he told me about this old friend is true.
“They are. I keep them in a small home not far from our estate. At home, I have to keep my visits limited to the night hours when most people are sleeping,” he tells me and now I know why I’d wake up so many nights to find him gone. He’d tell me he couldn’t sleep and went to work early but he lied about that, I see now.
“In Orlando, you can go to them more often,” I say. “And you have spent the majority of your time with them since we’ve been here. I get why you can’t tell your family but I don’t understand why you couldn’t tell me. She happened before us. I can understand that. I’m not a monster. I’d have accepted the fact you had a child and I would’ve encouraged you to know and care for the kid.”
“I just thought it would be best if no one knew about her and the boy. I have more I should tell you, so it doesn’t hurt you when the time comes.”
I hold up my hand to stop him, I know what he’s going to say, so I say it first, “The reason you aren’t taking me to Mars is because you will be taking them.”
“Yes,” he says, sending me into a spasm of pain. “But I need you with me until that day comes. Otherwise, my family will be on me to marry a Russian woman, the way they were all over me to do before I met you.”
“I am merely a distraction for your family. I get it now.”
“And you will be greatly rewarded, Gia. I take care of you very well, do I not? And your family, as well. I am giving you a future of wealth. And all I am asking is for you to stay with me until I leave for Mars, taking my little secret family with me.”
“This is beyond hard to take, Damien. Do you have sex with this woman?” I look at him to try to see the truth in his eyes.
“Once a week,” he tells me and I double over with a pain in my gut. “It would be cruel to leave her sexually frustrated. Don’t you agree? I don’t love her. But I am going to have her in my life forever. I will not see another man raise my son. Surely, you can understand that, Gia. I take good care of her but I take excellent care of you.”
“Damien, this is too much for me to handle. I can’t…”
His hands on my shoulders, stop the words from coming out as he pushes me back on the bed and kisses me with a hot passion. I press my hands against his wide chest to make him get off me but he won’t.
When his mouth leaves mine, his hot breath on my face makes me feel even sicker than I did before. “I love you, Gia. I will marry you. I will make you a Markov by name. I will give you all you want. Just allow me to keep my little family, my love. Please, I am begging you.”
“You never had any intention of taking me to Mars,” I say as I glare at him.
“You never had any intention of going,” he says with a cocked brow. “Don’t act like you did. And I cannot leave my son behind. And children need their mothers, Gia. What else would you have me do?”
“Marry her,” I say. “Make a respectable woman out of her. For your son’s sake, do that.”
He shakes his head but he still won’t let me up. “I cannot do that in Russia. She is a known prostitute. My family would cut me off without a cent if they knew of her and the child. I’d be thrown out of the company too. I have no idea how to be poor. I have no idea how I’d make a life for us. I just need your help for a while longer. I foresee the first mission leaving within five years. After that, you will be free to do what you want. Until then, I need you to be with me.”
All I can do is stare at the man I’ve been with for three long years and all I see is a stranger in front of me. What the hell am I supposed to do?
RYKER
With dinner over and the hour growing late, I find everyone retreating to their bedrooms to get some sleep. More than once, I’ve caught Gia looking at me with a forlorn expression. She hasn’t been the same since she and Damien went off to their room for nearly an hour. It’s doubtful they were in the room doing anything physically stimulating!
Heading to my bedroom at the opposite end of the house from the guestrooms, I overhear Gia say, “I have to let Lady out to use the bathroom. I’ll be back inside in just a bit, Damien.”
“Okay, I’m going to take a shower anyway,” he says and then I hear the sound of the door closing.
Heading back to the entrance room, I find Gia with her dog, Lady, just like I expected to. “Hey,” I say as I step in front of her and open the door.
She nods and walks out with the dog who runs off to sniff around. “You should be in bed, don’t you think?” she asks me as she leans on a palm tree near the front door.
“I think you look troubled, Gia. I think I wouldn’t catch a wink of sleep if I did go to bed. Tell me your troubles, doll,” I say with a chuckle then lean against the tree too. Our shoulders are nearly touching and I can feel her energy from here.
&n
bsp; “On the upside, I will be staying the weekend here. And thank you again for that, Ryker. Really, thank you,” her eyes convey to me more than her words. She is thankful.
“And how did you accomplish that feat?” I ask. “How did you get Damien to decide to stay? Or dare I ask?”
She giggles and a blush fills her cheeks, turning them a light shade of pink. “He’s not staying. He will be going back to Orlando to hang with his old friend. But I got his approval to stay here. And a stern order to watch myself with you. You, my friend, are not to be trusted. Can you imagine him thinking that about you?”
“Me?” I ask with a high pitch to my voice as I press my hand against my chest and give her a devilish grin. “Oh, you can trust me.”
Her eyes hold mine for a long moment then she looks away. “I bet I can.”
The sense she has a lot on her mind is a thing that has me asking more, “So, why the long face?”
She touches her face as she answers, “Is it that obvious?”
“To me it is,” I tell her then take her hand away from her face and hold it. “You should talk about it.”
“It’s not my story to tell,” she says then looks away again.
“Did he tell you something that upset you?” I watch her closely and see her eye twitch. That answers my question but I wait to see what her response will be.
“Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. And sometimes we find ourselves in situations that benefit all while being painful for some. Do you understand what I’m saying, Ryker?” She looks at me with the need to be understood.
“You are the one who’s being caused that pain,” I say and she nods.
“But I’m okay with that. It means more to me that a certain person has someone in their life. My part in it is a bit like a martyr but I’m okay with that.” She looks at her hand, the one I am holding and adds, “Damien told me he loved me. He told me he’d marry me.” Her eyes move to mine. “What do you think about that, Ryker? The man will definitely be leaving on the first ship out of here but he wants to leave me here, carrying his name and fortune. I have but one, very simple, task.”
“And that is?” I ask her as she doesn’t look very happy about things.
“I am never to get pregnant by him and I am to remain faithful and a dutiful wife. In return, I will have myself and my entire family taken care of, forever. A cheap price to pay for such a grand thing. Don’t you think?”
“You don’t want me to tell you what I think about that.” I let her hand go and walk around the tree to come up behind her. My hand at her waist, I whisper in her ear, “And did you tell him that you loved him?” My lips graze her ear and she shivers.
“I don’t lie,” she says with a sigh.
“So, the man knows you don’t love him and yet he still asked you to marry him. That’s unusual, isn’t it, Gia?” I ask as I move my arms around to encircle her and draw her back to me. The shadows hide me, so even if anyone looks out a window, no one will see me, holding her.
She doesn’t try to get out of my hold and leans her head back to rest on my chest. “Unusual and complicated, as well, Ryker. It seems I am to live my life in limbo until a way to get to Mars is found and Damien leaves this world to go to another.”
“Seems kind of unfair,” I say then venture so far as to leave a kiss on her neck. “Seems like you should get more.”
“I’m getting plenty. I’m getting more than most have, for our deal. And that’s exactly what it is. It’s a deal and nothing more than that. But I will have to keep up the appearance of being a happy couple, a doting wife, a vision of what his family wants.”
“I could give you more, Gia. I want to give you more,” I whisper as I kiss along the length of her neck. She reaches back to run her hand through my hair as she sighs.
“Ryker, were I a lesser woman, I would give into you in a heartbeat. I hold my family close to my heart. And you are a playboy with one thing on your mind. Once you’ve had me, you will lose interest and I will have lost everything. If it wasn’t for my family, I might risk it. You seem to push all the right buttons. Your touch is like fire on my flesh. Your lips feel sinfully sweet as you move them over my neck. And I am sure to fall head over heels in love with you, while you will have your taste of me. All too soon, you’ll be moving on to the next delicious female who catches your attention.”
Her idea of me pisses me off and I pull away from her. Staying in the shadows, I hiss, “Your assessment of my character isn’t a thing I like.”
“Am I wrong, Ryker?” she asks as she looks up at the night sky, full of bright and twinkling stars. “You too will leave this world and I will be right here. Am I to pine away for you when you go? At least I can honestly say, Damien’s leaving me to go to Mars won’t hurt that badly. If I allowed you to get as close as you’d like, I have a feeling your leaving would devastate me.”
“You act as if you can’t go. You can. I’ve told you, I will take you. Why do you have to be so stubborn about it?” I ask her as she’s making me furious.
“You are the one who is being stubborn. It’s you who is trying to force something. I’ve made my pact and I will stand by it.” She turns and looks at me. “That’s the kind of person I am, Ryker. If I tell you I will do something, then I will.”
“Tell me you won’t marry him,” I say as I reach out for her to come into the darkness with me. The tips of our fingers touch, I maneuver them up until I have a solid hold on her hand and pull her to me. Holding her close as I lean against the wall to stay hidden from prying eyes, I find it hard to stop myself. “I want to kiss you, Gia. I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
“But you won’t, unless I give you my permission,” she says as she looks at my lips.
Resting my forehead on hers, I say, “Give it to me, Gia.”
“I can’t. Even now, I feel my heart pounding harder than it ever has. You are my one temptation, Ryker. You are the one thing I have to learn to deny myself. For my family’s sake.”
“I can take care of them. I will take care of them,” I tell her as the need to feel her mouth is overwhelming.
“I don’t trust you,” she says then I feel the dog at my feet, bumping against our legs and yapping that she’s ready to go back inside.
“But you trust him,” I say as I graze my lips over hers. Her sweet breath is intoxicating to me and I feel light headed and want to fall into a drunken state as I taste every inch of her.
“I do. We should go inside now. I’ve been too long out here.”
Holding her tightly, I say it once more, “Tell me you won’t marry him, Gia.” I meant my voice to come out much stronger. Instead, it comes out like a plea. I’ve never pleaded with anyone!
“I’m not going to marry him. I don’t have to. He merely wanted to let me know he would if I needed that from him, which I don’t. I have no want to try to divorce a man who’s left the planet, so I can one day marry a man I love.”
Her words send me to a place of joy and hope. “Good. I’m glad you’re being smart about that. You’re an extremely smart woman, except where relationships are concerned.”
“And I’m sorry you don’t understand me. Let me go inside first, just in case Damien is waiting and watching.” With that, she leaves my arms, opens the door and she and her dog go inside, leaving me alone in the dark and feeling sick at my stomach.
My head is spinning and my world feels as if it’s coming undone. If this is love, it certainly sucks!
GIA
The touch of Damien’s hand on my stomach makes it tense. Lying in bed, next to him, I’d rather be anywhere else. But he needs me, so I stay.
With a kiss to my cheek, he moves his hand lower and I see where he’s headed and can’t believe the man. “Damien!” I hiss at him. “Do you think I actually want to have sex with you, after what you’ve told me?”
“Gia, nothing has changed, except now you know the truth. It doesn’t mean anything needs to be different between us. As
a matter of fact, you knowing what you do and still staying with me actually, makes me care even more for you.” His lips run over my shoulder as he turns over to lean his head on his hand and look down at me. “The same way I don’t expect the mother of my son to go without sex, I don’t expect you to, either. And seeing as you won’t be getting that anywhere else, per our agreement, I am here for you. Take advantage of that.”
“Look, I have no idea how you don’t understand how I’m feeling right now but you are clueless, so let me educate you,” I say as he does seem not to understand me at all. “The man I have thought was faithful to me has just told me he’s slept with another woman every week during our relationship. The kid I can get past, the sleeping with another woman, I can’t.”
“Are you telling me that you and I aren’t going to be having sex again because I can’t take that?” He looks at me with a grin on his face, as if he’s being cute. “I like your body and I like the way you make me feel.” His finger trails between my breasts. “Are you going to lie to me and tell me you don’t like it too?”
Measuring my words, as I don’t want to annihilate the guy, I tell him, “It’s a thing I find satisfying. That said, I don’t feel like doing it at this time. When my emotions are all over the place with your news and I feel like crying.”
His smile grows and I find him more than a bit insensitive. “You care about me, Gia. I can see it now. I mean, I knew you had to care about me to stay with me all this time but I wasn’t sure how much you were staying because you liked me or if you stayed so I’d take care of your family. What you’re saying now means you have real feelings for me. And that’s sweet.” He leans down and kisses me.
I don’t stop him. I should but I don’t. I can’t even explain to myself why that is. I can’t seem to do anything but give to this man. Whatever he wants, I just give it to him.
Winter Page 128