Sarah froze. “What?”
There was a pause. “You heard me.”
“Are you asking…?”
Isaac sighed. “No. Not yet. Not like this. But I will ask you that someday. Someday that’s happy and without all this stress. Some day when you’ll believe it’s out of love and not out of sympathy.”
She smiled daily. “You know me so well already.”
Isaac reached for her. “We’re meant to be together, I know that.”
She tilted her head up to kiss him. “I know that too and later, I’m going to show you how much.”
He grinned. “You bet your cute little butt you will. Now, before my trousers become something “tent-like”, let’s go meet my family.”
Molly sidled up to Isaac as he sat back, relaxed in the porch swing. The party had died down, the sun was beginning to set. His brother and his family had left ten minutes previously, hugging their new friends. Saul had taken Isaac aside. “Sarah’s lovely, bro. I’m so happy for you.”
Isaac was grateful to his brother for not holding the earlier drama against Sarah, but he knew he’d have to explain it to him Monday morning at the office. He smiled at Molly now as she slunk into the chair next to him. “So…”
She grinned. “I may have a huge girl crush on your sister-in-law.”
Isaac laughed. “Fair enough, but don’t tell Sarah you’re cheating on her.”
Molly mimed zipping her mouth then her smile faded. “She okay?”
She nodded towards Sarah – who admitted was being corralled by Becky and Mike Jr, who were clambering all over her.
Isaac nodded. “I think so.”
“She tell you about her mom? Crazy, huh?”
Isaac nodded grimly. “I can’t even imagine.”
She studied him. “You get the picket fence?”
Isaac shrugged. “Not always but a lifetime better than what Sarah got. Our parents pretty much hated each other but they both loved us. I cannot imagine why a parent would do that to a child.”
“Not every parent loves their kids, but no, me either. How far she’s come is amazing to me.”
“How far who’s come?” A breathless Sarah staggered up to the porch, carrying a child under each arm. They collapsed in a giggling pile on the porch.
“Hillary Clinton,” said Molly smoothly. She got up and dragged her kids of Sarah. “Right you monsters, go wash your hands and find your dad. George?” She called over to the older man who was tidying the food table. “Can we give you a ride into town?”
George hesitated but Sarah waved him over. “Pops, leave that, I’ll clear up.”
An hour later, Sarah and Isaac were alone and lazing in her tub. Sarah lay back against his solid chest and closed her eyes as Isaac’s fingertips drifted lazily up and down her stomach.
“Did you have a good time today?” Isaac’s deep voice, low and sexy, rumbled through his chest, his lips at her ear. Sarah nodded slowly.
“Despite everything, yes. I really liked Saul and Maika and the kids are adorable.”
“They thought the same of you. We’ll get together with them again soon.”
“Good.”
They lay in silence for a long time before Sarah sat up and turned around in the bath, managing to straddle him. Isaac slid his hands around her waist and smiled at her.
“Hey, beautiful.”
She searched his eyes for a second. “Isaac, I want you to be honest with me. If everything that’s been going on with me is more than you signed up for, I’ll understand.”
He frowned. “Are you kidding me? Do you honestly think that little of me that I’d run at the slightest hint of baggage?”
She shook her head. “No, I didn’t mean that. At all. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I just don’t want you to feel obligated to deal with my shit.”
He kissed her fiercely. “I’m all in, Sarah, whatever comes our way.”
She relaxed. “Thank you.” She slid her hands down between his legs and cupped his cock but he grabbed her hands, made her look at him.
“Is anything scaring you? About the story, about the letters? Because you can tell me, no matter what it is.”
Sarah considered. “Actually, all I’m concerned with is how this affects you. Now that I know it was Caroline who sold the story, I’m convinced she’s the one sending the letters. Yeah, it’s upsetting but no, I’m not scared.
He released her hands and pulled her to him, his fingers sliding under her hair at the nape of her neck, as he kissed her slowly this time, deeply, savoring the feel of her. Sarah sighed into the kiss. Isaac nuzzled her neck, then with his lips to her ear, he whispered.
”Let’s get out of the tub, sweetheart, because you promised me a night of supreme fucking…”
Sarah moaned at the honey of his voice and in a flash they were tumbled from the tub, sloshing water everywhere, onto the wooden floor of the bathroom.
Isaac moved down her body, pushing her legs apart gently, and burying his face in her sex, his tongue lashing around her clit, along the soft peachy folds of her, feeling her labia swell and engorge. His teeth graze her clit before he bit down on it gently, grinning when he heard her sharp intake of breath, felt her fingers knot in his hair. He sucked, tasted, teased her until she was panting, begging him to fill her. His cock was straining painfully, so heavy it bobbed under its own weight as he climbed her body and scooped a hand under her buttocks as she wound her legs around him. His cock slid into her, filling her sweet cunt, and gratified, Isaac watched her eyes roll back with the pleasure he was giving her.
“I’m gonna fuck you so hard, baby…” Her cry of ecstasy spurred him on and he slammed into her over and over and over until they were both crying and laughing.
Sarah woke in the morning feeling so sick that she had to scramble to the bathroom to throw up. Afterward, she brushed her teeth and washed her face. Looking in the mirror, she saw the dark circles etched around her eyes, her skin yellow and sickly and the deep crease of stress between her eyebrows. Her eyes, usually so expressive, were dead and flat.
“Hey, you. Are you okay?” Isaac, just in his boxers, stood at the door frowning then, when he saw her wan face, he stepped into the room and swept a hand onto her forehead. “Jesus, you’re burning up.”
He made her get back into bed despite her protestations and brought her tea and aspirin. Despite herself, Sarah fell asleep for half an hour. When she woke, she heard Isaac on the phone.
“No, surely someone else can deal with this? I need to be at home today. Saul, yes, yes, okay.” She heard him end the call. “God.”
“Is everything okay?” She tried to sit up but Isaac pushed her gently back down.
“You need to rest, beautiful. Look, I have to go into the city for a meeting, I tried to cancel it but Saul’s being a hard-ass.”
“It’s okay, go. I’ll be fine here. I’m not working today anyway.”
Isaac hesitated then nodded. “Okay, look, I’ll be a couple of hours tops. You need anything, you call me or Molly, promise?”
After he’d left, Sarah fell back asleep, her head pounding. She was so soundly asleep that she didn’t even hear the front door open and the creak of the stairs outside her bedroom.
He looked down at her, so still, so beautiful. Her skin looked damp, a flush of heat in her cheeks. Fever. He smiled. An easy reaction to manufacture if you knew the right drugs to hide in her vitamin supplements. Now, though, he needed to make sure she stayed unconscious. He flicked the plastic cover of the syringe he had in his pocket and eased the needle into the vein in her neck. She stirred at the quick pain but then settled. He waited five minutes before drawing back the covers. It all took less than a minute to snap the photos of her glorious body, so vulnerable. He smiled to himself. Let them know that they couldn’t stop him, that he would get to her whatever they did. He pulled the covers back over her body and left the bedroom. His next task would take a lot longer.
Sarah woke just after three,
just as Isaac’s helicopter landed outside. She heard him taking the stairs two at a time and then he was there. She smiled at him. Isaac sat next to her.
“How are you feeling?”
She sat up in bed. “Much better, although pretty sweaty and gross.”
“Are you hungry?” Isaac started to take his tie off. “I’ll make you some eggs if you like?”
Suddenly she was starving. “God, yes, please. I’m just going to take a shower, change the bedsheets.”
He leaned over to kiss her. “See you downstairs.”
After a blissful shower, she pulled the bedsheets from the bed and gathered them into a ball to take downstairs. She heard something fall from the comforter and bent to see what it was. She frowned as she picked up the small plastic cap. A syringe cover? She scanned her memory. She didn’t think she’d ever used a syringe in her life.
“Yo, sexy, your meal awaits.”
She grinned at Isaac yelling up the stairs, then, shrugging, she threw the cap into the trash and went downstairs.
Finn had fallen into a routine of sleeping in his office at home, showering when Caroline was still asleep and then only emerging for meals and to change for work. Caroline didn’t object. They avoided each other; being together only led to rows. He could hear her watching a dumb soap in the living room.
He dressed for work and went into the kitchen. Caroline was making herself some lunch.
“Do you want some?” She indicated the sandwich fixings. He shook his head.
“No thanks.” He grabbed his keys.
“Finn?”
He turned. Caroline gave him a half-smile. “Have a good day.”
He blinked. This Caroline, he hadn’t seen for years. Conciliatory. Friendly.
“Thanks.” He returned her smile. “You too.”
She nodded and turned back to her sandwich.
Finn walked around the block to the station but changed his mind at the last moment and headed over to the coffee house, In the Varsity, Molly was on her own. She looked up, grinned, and waved him over.
““Sup sis?” He hugged her and immediately reached for the coffee pot. She rolled her eyes and pushed the plate of muffins towards him.
“An invitation. Mike and I would like to invite you and the Gorgon, I’m sorry, Caroline, to have drinks with us tonight. Nothing fancy, just at Hanks. I know Caroline does”t drink, perhaps they’ll have Virgin Mary’s – hey! She could finally, legitimately, have the blood of a virgin.”
Finn grinned. “You done?”
Molly pretended to think for a second then nodded. “I’m out. Well?”
Finn picked at a muffin. “Yeah, sure. As far as I know Caroline’s free, I’ll have to check. What’s the deal?”
“You mean apart from spending time with me, your wonderful sister? And the fact we finally have a babysitter we trust not to lead the kids down a path of devil worship and Taylor Swift fandom?”
Finn rolled his eyes at his sister. “You are certifiable, you know that?”
Molly grinned but then her expression sobered. “Look, I figure if we at least try to be pleasant to Caroline, she might lay off Sarah.”
Fin shrugged. “Worth a shot.”
Molly grimaced. “Mike’s idea. Do-gooder.” But she grinned. Finn got up, shaking his head in amusement.
“So you’ll come?” She called after him.
“Yeah, yeah what time?”
“Eight. See you there.”
Molly watched her brother cross the street to the police station. It has been the first time that she had seen him smile in quite a while. His face was drawn, his pallor pale, clammy. He looked so much older than a few months ago, she realized with a pang. Maybe tonight he’d relax, have some fun. A nub of guilt settled in her chest. She knew why Mike wanted this evening, this get-together – to make peace between them all. She’d happily gone along with it and now she questioned herself. Finn was her family and Caroline made him miserable. Still, if it helped… shrugging, Molly sighed and went back to work.
The evening sun faded and was about to drop below the horizon. After a light supper, they sat outside, talking, listening to the quiet evening, the faint lapping of water from the beach at the bottom of the garden. Sarah, her feet in Isaac’s lap as he rubbed them, studied him. At work, in his exquisite suits, he looked every inch the powerful billionaire businessman but here, sitting on her porch swing, in his artfully faded t-shirt and his long, long legs in blue jeans, he looked at home. She told him that and he smiled.
“I feel at home, babe. Anywhere with you would feel like home.”
She flushed with pleasure, stroked a finger down his cheek. “Maybe we should talk about where we go from here?” she suddenly got nervous but Isaac leaned over to kiss her.
“Sarah, would you be as kind as to move in with me?” He said in a formal English accent that made her giggle.
“Sir, I would be delighted,” she replied, waving her hand in a flourish.
“That’s the worse accent I’ve ever heard,” he teased. She stuck her tongue out at him.
“So, we’re doing this then?”
He pulled her onto his lap. “Hell yes, we are. I can’t wait any longer. We just have to work out the logistics but that can wait for later. Right now, I think we should celebrate.” And he swung her up into his arms and went inside.
He stood back from the tree line as Isaac carried Sarah into the house. He had watched them for the last few minutes, talking, being so easy and relaxed with each other. It made his rage threaten to burst out of him.
Now, he back-tracked through the wood to his car and drove back across the island. He had somewhere he needed to be.
The bar was crowded and noisy so Molly bent her head, her mouth next to Mike’s ear.
“I’m going kill her. I’m going to kill her with extra death. I’m going to hang her entrails from a tree and dress her corpse up like a goat. With sprinkles.”
Mike snorted with laughter. “Inventive.” He couldn’t blame Molly, he was regretting extending the drinks invitation to Caroline Jewell.
The evening had begun promising enough. Finn and Molly were a tag-team, busting each other’s chops, making Mike laugh. Soon enough, though, Caroline had tired of them hogging the spotlight and had butted in. Mike felt Molly tense beside him immediately, watched Finn’s shoulders slump. Caroline appeared oblivious, and worse, was fawning over both Finn and himself. Mike was reminded of a faded small-town pageant queen, once glossy and used to male attention. He wasn’t fooled by Caroline any more than Molly or Finn or anyone else was. Caroline was telling about her plans to have a baby.
Mike caught Molly rolling her eyes at him and he grinned. Finn shifted in his chair.
“I can see us having a whole bunch of kids,” Caroline was saying.
“Half human, half spawn of Beelzebub,” Molly muttered under her breath. Mike grinned. Finn was looking at Caroline, a strange expression on his face.
““A whole bunch”?”
Caroline smiled and patted his knee. “Of course. I want at least four.”
Finn threw back his drink. “You never mentioned four.” His voice was tired, defeated. Caroline’s face fell the tiniest amount, but then a nasty smile started to form around her mouth.
“Well, I do. I want us to be a family. You know you could be more enthusiastic, I thought we were trying.”
Finn shrugged but this time Molly couldn’t hold back. She grinned wickedly.
“You’re always trying, Caroline.”
Caroline bristled, Finn smirked and Mike put a warning hand on Molly’s knee.
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” Caroline narrowed her eyes at Molly, “but I was born to be a mother.”
“One word, couple of syllables missing from the end of that,” Molly shot back with a syrupy smile. Mike couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped him then and even Finn chuckled.
Caroline’s face set with spite and she turned back to Finn. “Anyways, my poi
nt is, you should be grateful that you’re with someone who can provide you with an heir. A legacy.”
Molly rolled her eyes then. “Yeah “cos anything getting half its DNA from you…”
“Molly.” Finn’s warning was soft and low. She grinned, shrugged.
Caroline’s nose went in the air. “Any DNA from me is surely better than the fetid gene pool that spat out that half-bred bitch.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Finn stood up suddenly, slamming his chair back. He looked down at his wife, oblivious to the alarmed looks of his sister and her husband. “You don’t say one more word about Sarah, you understand?”
Caroline laughed. “It’s not my fault you still get a hard-on for that skank.”
Mike started to stand as Finn stepped towards his wife. “You don’t get to talk about her like that. Ever. Do you understand me? She’s worth a million of you, Caroline. Don’t forget it.” His voice was rigid with anger, with contempt. Caroline made a disgusted noise, pushed her old chair back and stalked out. Finn struggled to get control of his temper. Molly stood and tried to put her hand on his arm but he shook it off. After a moment, he reached into his pockets, pulled a couple of bills out and dropped them on the table.
“I’m sorry.” He didn’t look at them again before walking out. Mike blew out a long breath and drew Molly in for a hug. He could feel her trembling.
“I’m sorry…I started that,” she muttered into his shoulder. He tightened his arms around her and stared out of the window, watching as Finn’s car disappeared from view.
‘Light the touch paper’, he thought, unease curling his stomach. He looked down at Molly, kissed her gently. “Wanna get out of here?”
At the small hotel set at the corner of the island’s golf course, he threw down his keys and looked around. Everything he owned was in this room. He smiled, he liked his compact way of living. The apartment on the island was perfect. He’d already figured out he could see into the coffee house from the large picture window; even better, that there was a network of alleyways behind both buildings that would come in handy.
The Surgeon’s Secrets Page 36