Close Up: Exposure Book Three

by Jocoby, Annie

  So, when I got to the hospital, my heart was racing. Asher noticed that I was nervous, and he squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry, your mother will welcome you with open arms.”

  “I know,” I said, but I really didn’t know. I hoped that he was right, but it was far from certain that my mom would be kind to me this time.

  We got there, and Stella was already there in the tiny ICU waiting room. It had a single window, but the walls were hospital cream with no pretty pictures. The floor was hospital tile. It was a sterile, ugly room, and not necessarily a place where I felt comfortable in.

  Regardless, Asher and I had a seat. He got up and got me a cup of water out of the water dispenser, and also handed one to Stella.

  “Good to see you,” she said. She seemed nervous, for some reason.

  “What’s going on? What do we do?”

  “We need to go to the phone in the hallway and call before we can see her. We can only go in there two by two.”

  “Okay, then let’s get on in there.” I turned to Asher. “I’m sorry, but I guess you have to stay out there.”

  “Of course,” he said. “Go see your mom.”

  We went down the hallways and called on the phone. The nurse in attendant answered and came and got us. We followed her into a corridor of rooms. In each of these rooms, there was a man or a woman who was hooked up to some machines. Some had tubes in their mouth, others appeared to have tubes hooked up their arms. It was quite scary being in there, and I hated to think that my mother was also hooked up to some type of machine.

  We got to her room, and she was resting with her eyes closed. She had a blood pressure monitor that made little beeping sounds from time to time, but, other than that, she didn’t seem to be hooked into any kind of tubes.

  Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at me and smiled. “CJ,” she said, in a weak voice, spreading her arms. “Come here.”

  I felt tears in my eyes at the gesture, and the fact that she was finally calling me “CJ,” not “Cordelia.” I went over to the bed, and she wrapped her arms around me. “Mom, I’m so happy to see you. I’m so relieved that you made it through surgery okay.”

  “Of course I did,” she said. “A bullet can’t keep me down.” Then she winced, as if she was in pain.

  Stella stepped forward. “Mom, are you in pain? Can I get the nurse for you?”

  “No, no, I’m okay.” Then she shut her eyes. “But I’m very tired.”

  “Maybe we need to leave?” she said.

  I personally hoped that I could stay at least a little bit longer, as Asher was chomping at the bit to leave. I knew that, if I left, I might not be able come back until Asher and I were back from London.

  “No, please stay a little while.” Then she looked at me, and motioned for me to sit down on the bed next to her. I did, and leaned down a little bit so that I was next to her. I wasn’t sure if I should have been doing this, but it felt right.

  She stroked my hair, something that she always did when she was comforting me growing up. I felt tears coming to my eyes, and then I was bawling. All my emotions about all that had happened with Nathaniel was coming out of me. “Mom, I’m so sorry for everything. You know that I loved that little boy so much. I wish I could trade places with him.” I felt bad saying all this while my mom was recovering, but, just knowing that she was being so nice to me, I felt that I had to get it out.

  “Shhhhh, CJ, don’t cry. Don’t cry. I loved him too. But you made a mistake, CJ, and that’s all it was. That’s all it was.” She stroked my hair a bit more while I cried. “CJ, I almost died, and as I was going down on the ground, I thought of you. It was only a second before I was unconscious, but it seemed like a long time, and I only thought of you. How I might die before I could get a chance to make things right with you, CJ. And now I have that chance.”

  I was still crying. “Mom, I love you. I love you, and I’m so happy that you’re forgiving me.”

  She smiled weakly. “There’s nothing to forgive. You’re right. I left him in the car many times, just like you. You were just incredibly unlucky, and I was looking for somebody to blame for him dying. I blamed the two pieces of pond scum who took the car, of course, but I also blamed you. Now I only blame the two of them.”

  I felt relieved, but still ineffectual. My mother forgiving me was wonderful, but it didn’t bring Nathaniel back. “I wish I could change things, mom. I wish I could bring him back. It’s so unfair that he never got the chance to realize what he was going to be.”

  I then looked at Stella, who had tears in her eyes as well. I put my arm out to her, and she, too, sat down on the edge of the bed. She put her arm around me, so that both she and my mom had an arm around me. “I missed you so much, CJ. I felt like I lost both Nathaniel and you. Sunday dinners just weren’t the same without you.”

  Then my mom softly teased the two of us. “Look at us, like three quacking ducks.” Then she laughed, and so did Stella and I.

  We sat there on the bed for a little while, giggling softly like old times. Then my mom said “CJ, tell me about that handsome man I met the other night.” Then she fanned herself. “CJ, I almost swooned when I saw him. Where did he come from?”

  I sighed. “I wish I could remember all of that. But…”

  At that, mom looked at me with concern. “What do you mean, you wish you could remember all that?”

  “It’s a long story, mom. Too long. And you look tired. I’ll tell you later.”

  To my surprise, she didn’t push me to tell her. She must have been really tired. “Okay, CJ.”

  I actually didn’t want to tell her how I met Asher anyhow. The story was that I passed out on the street and somehow, someway, ended up in his apartment. If I told mom that particular story, then it would have opened up a whole other can of worms. A can of worms that I had no desire to open right at that very moment.

  I drew a breath. “Mom, I love you, but I have to go. I wanted to see you, though. I should let you get your rest.”

  She hugged me, and I got up off the bed. Stella did as well, and we both kissed her on the cheek and left the room.

  Stella and I made our way back to the waiting room. “You see, CJ, that was great. Mom is pretty stubborn, but she never stopped loving you.”

  I nodded my head, unable to speak without crying. I was so happy that my mom had come around, and the emotions I was feeling about her near-death experience was choking me up.

  Asher stood up when we entered the tiny waiting room. I went to him, and he wrapped his arms around me. “How did it go?”

  “Wonderful,” I said through my tears. “She forgives me, Asher. She said that when she almost died, she could only think of me, and she knew that she had to make things right with me. I think that I have a mother again.”

  At that, I noticed Clint sitting there in the chair. I smiled at him. “Clint, it’s so good to see you.”

  He stood up, and put his hand out to me. “You too, CJ.” He looked shy. “I know that this is weird, but do you want to call me dad?”

  I laughed lightly. “Yes, if that’s okay with you. It’s so good to see you, dad.”

  He nodded. “How’s your mom?”

  “She’s hanging in there. I’m sure you can go in and see her.”

  “I will.” He kind of stood there, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Then he awkwardly put his arms around me in a hug. “I’ve always wanted a kid. Better late than never, huh?”

  I laughed a little. “Yes, better late than never. And, what a coincidence, but I’ve always wanted a dad.”

  Then Clint just as awkwardly pulled back from his embrace and then stood there again. His face was red. “Well, uh, I guess I’ll see you later, huh, CJ?”

  I nodded. “Yes, later.”

  At that, Clint, or, I guess he was now “dad,” left the room, presumably to go and see mom in the ICU.

  Stella put her arm around me. “I’m so happy that you’re around, CJ. We missed you so much.”


  At that, Asher squeezed my hand. “CJ, uh….”

  I nodded my head. “Stella, I’d love to stay and chat some more, but I have to go. I’m going to London with Asher.”

  Stella looked disappointed. “How long are you going to be gone?”

  I looked at Asher, and he said “probably a week, maybe two.”

  Stella raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing in London?”

  “I’m meeting Asher’s father.”

  “I see.” Stella looked at me skeptically. “Asher’s father. Going all the way across the pond to meet Asher’s father.”

  “What are you getting at?”

  “Nothing. I just think that you’re holding back on me. Am I going to have a brother-in-law soon or what?”

  I looked over at Asher then back at Stella. “Yes,” I said. “I think that Asher and I might be getting married.”

  Stella shrieked so loud that everybody in the waiting room heard her and gave her a look. “Oh, my God! My baby sister is marrying a rich hunk.” She giggled and tears came to her eyes. “I just can’t believe it.” At that, she gave me an enormous hug. She then hugged Asher. “I hope you have a brother.”

  My heart sunk when she said that. She didn’t mean anything by it, of course. She was just being Stella. But that off-hand joke wasn’t funny to me, although Asher apparently tried to laugh it off.

  “I don’t have a brother, unfortunately,” he said. Then he smiled. “But if I did, I most certainly would set him up with you.”

  She blushed and smiled. “Ah, too bad. Well, anyhow, I’m really happy for the two of you.”

  We said our goodbyes, and took off. I had wanted to see my mom in the ICU, but the doctor said that we couldn’t do that just yet, and Asher was really chomping at the bit to get on the plane.

  Once we were in the car, I let out a breath. “I know that we’ve been talking about this for the past few hours, but I can’t get over how nice Clint was. I mean, I think that it might be possible that he and my mother might get together, and I’ll have an actual family.”

  Asher smiled. “I want that for you.” Then he took my hand and kissed it. “But, CJ, please don’t get your hopes up too much. Family relationships can be complicated, especially when you don’t grow up with your father, and then, out of the blue, he’s there. I speak from experience.”

  “Yeah, but your father is…” I raised my eyebrows. I didn’t want to say the word “criminal,” although that was exactly what this Sergei Pushkin was. A criminal.

  “I know.” That was all he said about that.

  A light rain began to fall, and the car started to make the familiar whooshing sound as it made its way through the slick streets. The familiar cadence of the windshield wipers helped take my mind off of what was going to happen. Namely, I was about to meet a criminal. A very, very, very powerful criminal.

  I was scared to death.

  Chapter Seventeen

  We boarded the plane and it took off into the sky. I was exceedingly nervous, even though Asher was right there, holding my hand.

  “What’s on your mind?” he asked me.

  “Just very nervous. I mean, I’m meeting somebody who is a high-level criminal. And I was kidnapped and almost forced into sex slavery, while your father is a person who deals in that kind of thing. Not to mention that you think that I’m probably not going be approved by your dad, which will leave me exactly where? In danger, that’s where.”

  He put his hand on my leg, and whispered “don’t forget about the contingency plan.” He kissed me full on the lips, and I squeezed my legs together reflexively. Then I put one leg on the leather seat, and sighed as Asher unbuckled my jeans and brought them down. As much as I was apprehensive about trying to get pregnant so that Asher’s father would bless our marriage, there was a part of me that actually really wanted that.

  He put his head between my legs, and gently stroked my clit. I screamed out immediately, as I felt that this area was on fire. There were so many tingles and sensations in his gentle stroking of the area, and I could feel the first orgasm coming on. I wrapped my legs around the back of his neck, and just lost myself in the feeling that he was giving me. Asher had a way of making me lose touch with all that was troubling me, and making my problems seem so very far away.

  He put his hands around my back and brought me up to him. He wrapped his arms around me, and looked me right in the eyes. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t really have to, for his emotions were right there behind those gorgeous blue eyes of his. Then he put my head on his shoulder and his hands in my hair. I sighed, my head on his shoulder, my hands wrapped behind his neck. I could hear his heart pounding loudly in my ears.

  He then lightly put his hands underneath my shirt and unhooked my bra. I pulled my shirt off, and both my shirt and bra fell to the floor. I was naked, but he was still fully clothed, so I unbuttoned his shirt, button by button. I removed his shirt, and rubbed my hands over his rock-hard chest. It was still amazing to me how perfect he was, how flawless.

  I bit his nipple and he sighed and reared back his head. He pulled my hair and groaned. “I want you, Asher,” I said. “I want you in the worst way.”

  “Oh, God, you don’t know how much I want you too. You make me so hard, harder than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

  I kissed him, and he laid down on the seat. I tugged down his pants, and underwear, and put my lips on his rock-hard shaft. I did see that I made him incredibly hard, and it made me feel powerful. I continued to suck and lick his hardness, with one of my hands gripping his shaft tightly. My tongue explored his jewels, and I put one of them in my mouth and sucked hard. His breathing started to speed up, and he pulled on my hair. “Come here,” he said. “I need to be inside of you.”

  I crawled up and put my legs on either side of his torso, and I lowered myself down on him. He filled me up, inch by inch, and I laid down on top of him. He rolled me over, and he started to pound me rhythmically. I felt orgasm after orgasm wash over me with his every thrust. He put his hands on my breasts, and then kissed each of them lightly while biting my nipples. His lips soon made their way to my own, and we devoured each other for a long time. I was feeling as if I didn’t want to leave this place, ever. If I never disembarked from this plane, Asher and I could stay in this bubble for the rest of our lives. The world could be an ugly place, and I was so terrified of meeting his father. I didn’t want to think about any of this, so all that I wanted to concentrate on was how Asher was making me feel.

  And he was making me feel absolutely awesome. I had never in my life felt more of a woman than I did when I was with him. I had never in my life felt more desired, more powerful, more potent.

  He climaxed inside of me, and the two of us laid down on the leather seats together, clinging onto one another tightly. He stroked my hair while I listened to his heart beat. He felt incredibly warm, and his skin was so very soft. I put my fingers on his chest and played around with his nipples and skin. We were silent for the longest time, neither of us particularly wanting to break the mood.

  He finally spoke. “This is going to be a long flight. Would you like to watch a movie or something?”

  I smiled. “Sure, go ahead and put something on. I have to admit that this is still so amazing to me, flying like this. When I flew home from DC, I flew commercial and it really was not the best thing. I was next to a girl who talked about herself incessantly the entire time.”

  He smiled. “Hey, this is one of the perks of working really hard and getting lucky enough to patent some pretty amazing products. And you, my dear, are going to share in all of that.”

  I nodded. “How much of a role did your father play in your success?” It was an innocent question, but I did feel him tense up underneath my fingers. His jaw got tight as well.

  He finally just sighed. “He paid my way through Yale and Stanford. I got my undergrad at Yale and my PhD at Stanford. And he gave me the $20,000 seed money that I needed to get my products to market. T
he rest was all me, but, I have to admit, without him, I would be nowhere. It was very difficult to get things going in Russia without money, power or influence. So, I really have mixed feelings about him, and, by extension, I have mixed feelings about my own success. It does feel a little bit tainted.”

  “I can imagine your dilemma. Do you really think that you wouldn’t have made anything of yourself without him?”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t have opportunity. I was surviving, and just barely. You just don’t know how difficult it is to advance in this world without a hand up, especially if you’re in an emerging country that has little safety net. My sister….”

  At that, he stopped and shook his head.

  “Your sister what?”

  “Well, you know that I told you about what she does for my father. So, be prepared for that when you meet her. I hate her, yet I also feel sorry for her. I know that she wants the same things I have, but our father hasn’t yet released her.”

  “Released her? What does that mean?”

  He took a deep breath. “You can’t just get out of the mafia. You can’t just leave. You have to be released, and, unless you’re under the protection of some extremely powerful people, like my father, you pretty much don’t last very long out in the world. I was lucky enough that my father released me and gave me the protection that I needed to make my own way in the world. Natalia hasn’t been given that chance, so she has little choice in how she makes a living.”

  “Why hasn’t she been given the same chance that you have?”

  “I don’t know, except to say that my father is chauvinistic. I’m quite sure that’s not a surprise to you, considering how he treats women. I’ve talked to him many times about getting Natalia out of the business and into America, but he won’t hear of it. But she’s my twin, so it’s hard for me to know that she’s there and is helpless to do anything about it.”

  “That’s sad,” I said. “I feel badly for her. I guess it’s a good example of a good person being forced to do bad things.” I paused for a long time. “Like you were at one time.”