by Kenya Wright
David’s phone rang. He backed away from the doorway and went deeper into my bedroom. I leaned back, spying on his conversation and hoped it dealt with Simone. We’d discovered that she’d made her flight to Salt Lake City, landing there early in the evening. Later, she rented a car.
I checked my watch. It was after midnight.
She should’ve already been here.
I must’ve called her thousands of times while Ru harassed my line, going delirious with worry.
I’d had the police out on the roads searching for her between Salt Lake City and here. Two hours of roads. I owed the cops everything as they left the warmth of their homes to find her. I’d donated a million to their department, stressing I would be in the generous mood to double the total if she was found safely. Had it not been a holiday or a snowy tonight, I could’ve had the fucking National Guard out there. Sometimes money had no limit, and with my desperation to see Simone, I would spend it all. I would go poor just to have her in front of me and safe.
Guilt sank in my core.
Ru was right. I should’ve invited her next week. Of course, she was excited. I would’ve been if I’d got this contract back in the day. I knew she was hungry. I played into it because I was so alone. I didn’t know it, but that’s the truth.
“Okay. I’ll let him know.” David rushed out onto the balcony. “Sir, security said the front gate buzzed open and a small car drove through. We think it’s your guest.”
I jumped up from my seat, knocking the hot chocolate onto the snow-covered wood. “It has to be.”
David hurried to me like I was an old, dying man. “Sir, would you like to come in? I can clean that up and—”
“No, leave it for now. Let’s go on the road and make sure she gets up fine.”
“On the road, sir?”
“Yeah. If it took her this long, then something must be wrong or—”
A boom and then screech sounded off in the distance.
“You heard that?” I asked.
Worry creased over David’s face. “Yes, sir.”
“Let’s go.” I raced away, not really knowing what I would do. “Get everyone. That’s her.”
David ran after me, barely keeping my pace. “Sir, I can have the grounds crew check while we stay here.”
“No, I’m going with them.” I ran down the stairs.
“Sir, I think it would be better for you to not be on the road.”
“I’m not the goddamn King of France, David. I can leave the house and go out into the snow.”
“I can get your coat and—”
“No time.” I hit the first floor fast, opened my heavy door, and hurried outside.
It was crazy walking out into the front. I hadn’t been out this way in months. The house was big enough for me to walk through it and never feel like I was locked in a box. It was my safe little world.
Now, I braved the storm to find Simone. Adrenaline pulsed through me.
Five of my men had already warmed their big trucks and was putting on their coats. When they spotted me, shock hit their faces. The biggest one walked up to me with an uncomfortable expression. “Hello, Mr. Ferraro.”
“Call me, Gio, if that’s okay.”
“Uh...yes...it is.” Smoke left his lips. He gestured to the vehicles behind him. “We heard a crash a mile and a half up on your road. We think she might’ve hit a tree or something. We’re hoping not, but better safe than sorry.”
“Yeah.” I walked over to the first truck. “I’m coming.”
His heavy voice screeched. “You’re...you’re coming?”
“Yes.”
“It could be dangerous. The roads are slippery. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. My wife and daughters would kill me.” He got to my side. “Seriously, they would never let me back into the house.”
I laughed and climbed into the truck. “Where’s your wife and daughters now?”
“At home.”
“Where’s that?”
“Barely, ten minutes from here.”
“Once we get Simone, you should go home, if you feel it’s safe.”
His face brightened. “Thank you.”
“And make sure you all come by for dinner in a few days. It was good of you to stay here all night after work.”
“Uh.” He started his car and pulled his hat further down on his head. “If I told them they could meet you, they would be here as soon as the sun showed. It would be a memory that they would never forget.”
“Then, if we get down there safely and Simone is fine, bring them over. I’ll let my chef know.”
He turned my way with an open mouth.
I pointed to the ignition. “But, we actually have to get her.”
“Oh yes.” He rushed to start his truck.
“What’s your name?” I asked as we drove onto my private road.
“Chucky, like the doll from those horror movies.”
“Yeah. Those films kept me up all night.”
Chucky picked up his radio, pressed the button, and talked into it. “Okay. Follow me. I think I see some light up ahead near that hill in the center.”
Another man on the other line answered. “Got it.”
I sighed. “Thanks.”
Although several feet of snow covered the road, the truck rode forward like we were out on a Sunday morning drive.
I squinted up ahead and spotted what he was talking about. Far off in front of us, a car’s turn signal blinked off and on like a beacon in the dark trees. I pressed the button on the side of the car. The window slid down. Cold air rushed in, carrying the scent of oil, gas, and perfume.
Or maybe it was all in my mind.
Panic shot up my spine. My heart began to break, but I made it stop. I couldn’t think the worse. I was too close. She had to be okay.
Besides, I can’t bury any more people right now. Three funerals were enough. Jason and his twins had taken enough out of me.
“This is a dangerous time of year to be on the roads.” Chucky sped up. “I hope she’s okay.”
“Me too.”
It barely took us five minutes to get to her. And when we did, all hope crumbled. Her little rental car had pretty much wrapped around the tree.
I had the door open before Chucky stopped the truck. I ran out of there, going insane with worry. “No.”
I ran to the battered car, slipping on ice. My men raced after me. The windshield had been reduced to glass pellets. Once I got close, it crunched under my feet.
“Gio!” Chucky yelled. “We have to make sure there’s no fire. It’s smoking in the front.”
“Simone! Simone!”
One of the men held me back as the others used foamy extinguishers on the hood. The smoke disappeared.
“Is she okay? Can you see her?” I shoved the guy out of my way and got to the vehicle.
Another guy tried to hand me his jacket.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Look for her.”
Chuck was peering into the driver’s side. “She’s here.”
“Alive?”
“I think so.” He turned on his flashlight and shined it inside. “Yes. Alive. Her chest is moving up and down. She’s breathing. She must’ve passed out.”
“But, not awake?” I got to his side, grabbed the handle, and couldn’t pull it open.
“The door must’ve got jammed from the accident.” Chucky yelled over his shoulder. “Grab the bars and saws. We might have to cut it open. Hurry.”
As Chucky flashed the light into the car, I bent over and peered inside.
All the air left my lungs at the sight of her. Chucky was right. She was breathing, and one couldn’t miss that with her huge breasts rising up and down. Not the most gentlemanly thing to be thinking at the time, but it did hit me first. That gorgeous face came next. Even with snowflakes dusting her soft, brown flesh and blood glittering around those lovely eyes and cute cheeks, she captivated me. Long, kinky curls fell into a mess around her shoulders, and I swore I’d n
ever seen another more beautiful woman in my life.
“Simone,” I whispered. “Please be okay.”
Now, I know how Prince Philip felt, when he saw his sleeping beauty. If only life was so easy where all I had to do was kiss those sweet lips and everything would be sunshine and happiness. Damn it. Please, be okay.
I wouldn’t forgive myself if she didn’t make it. I’d gotten over Jason’s death. I had no guilt; he’d chosen his path. I’d tried my best to save him, but he’d fought against.
But, Simone...no...nothing could happen to her.
She was on this road because of me. She’d been chasing a dream. She was hungry, starving for success, and I knew what it was like to run toward the light and not fear getting burned. There was no sanity in that voyage. She would’ve been out here if tornadoes had spun down the highway.
Chucky waved four other guys over. It took them two minutes to saw and break open the door. I yanked my sweater off, not caring about the cold. She was probably freezing to death. Another man had several blankets.
The window busted open as they ripped the door open further. I reached down, popped her seat belt, wrapped my sweater around her, and pulled her small body from the car. Chucky tried to help me.
“I’ve got her.” I carried her small frame in my arms as they placed more blankets on her and then one over my shoulders. “Grab her bags from the back and anything else. I’ll have David deal with getting this car towed later.”
It wasn’t until I carried her back to the truck that I let the reality of what happened sit in. Simone was in my arms.
We got into the truck and headed back to my property. Her incredible scent wrapped around me and filled the car, lavender and sweet cream dancing on an island breeze. She smelled like sunshine on the beach and the splashing of warm blue water.
Chucky smiled. “I see why you were worried. She’s just a little thing.”
He probably had more to say, but kept it on a respect level. My cock tried to stiffen, but I growled inside of my head and made him go down. Now was not the time for that bullshit. I had to get her back to the house and make sure she was okay.
Simone. Simone.
I drank her in, so tiny, covered in snow, and shivering.
“The wounds look superficial, scratches from the broken glass, but I’m no doctor.” Chucky turned the heat on high. “We got to get her warm though. That I know.”
I pulled her closer to me.
We returned in record time.
David and some of the maids were waiting outside. Someone must’ve radioed ahead of us. I didn’t even want to let Simone go as I carried her little body through the front door and into my massive sitting room.
“Has she said anything?” David asked.
“No.” I set her down in front of the fireplace. Logs crackled and snapped within the fire. Heat blazed out to us, warming the whole space.
My chef Judy stepped up and helped me with Simone. “We need to get these clothes off her,” Judy said. “They’re wet. She’ll freeze to death.”
“David,” I yelled over my shoulder as I yanked off Simone’s boots. “See if we can get a doctor out here. I know the weather is bad, but if he gets here, he’ll have enough money to retire.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We have to get her warm.” Judy removed the blankets and my sweater from around Simone. “When someone is freezing to death, the body instinctively protects the brain and the trunk.”
I pulled wet, almost-iced socks off Simone’s feet.
Judy continued, “The body doesn’t absolutely need legs, so they’re the first to go. Same thing with arms and ears. As the body freezes, it lets go of unnecessary functions and protects the internal organs and the brain.”
Worry hit me. “Is she in pain?”
“Frostbite absolutely sucks. Hypothermia is also very uncomfortable. Uncontrollable shaking and teeth chattering, extremities turn purple or blue and you have limited movement from them, like the inability to grasp and hold onto things. But I’ve heard that freezing to death is kind of peaceful in that you drift off to sleep and never wake up again.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen to her.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Natalie, get some new clothes from upstairs and more blankets and pillows. Throw the blankets in the dryer so they can be warm.”
I let out an exasperated breath. “Thank you, Judy. I would’ve been lost if you weren’t here. Nothing can happen to her.”
“Thank you.” She appeared uncomfortable as she nodded her head and then turned back to Simone. “I don’t like the idea of moving her until a doctor gets here. It might be better to have her lay next to the fire.”
Natalie rushed off with two other women. David and the men went back outside. Simone continued to shiver in her sleep as I held her. Her full lips had turned a brownish-blue as her teeth chattered.
“We’re going to get you warm, little one,” Judy said. “Don’t you worry. You’ll be just fine. Okay, Mr. Ferraro, you have to let her go so we can take this stuff off.”
I did and looked away when Judy and the other maids began to pull off her shirt and pants. I didn’t want to, but I had to be respectful and focus.
“David, any word on a doctor?” I asked.
“Yes, sir.” David walked in with a sheet of paper, realized Simone was being undressed, and quickly turned his head my way, clearing his throat. “One can be here in an hour. He gave me some instructions that I can give to Judy.”
“I’ll take them.”
Judy hurried over and read them. I glanced over my shoulder to find that the maids had gently taken off Simone’s clothes. Shadows and firelight flickered over her bare body, hiding most of her nudity as she shivered. Instead of putting on a new set of clothes, they wrapped her in huge fur blankets and placed a pillow under her head.
I walked over to them. “Okay. I’ve got it. Thank you.”
They nodded and left.
I pulled her into my arms and brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. She looked young—early twenties. As my fingers stroked her cheek, she let out a long sigh and snuggled into the covers more deeply.
Judy hurried in. “We should wake her, if we can.”
“Okay.” I shook her a little, but she remained asleep.
Judy placed a hot cloth on her forehead. “What’s her name?”
“Simone.”
“Simone? Time to get up.” Judy rubbed the cloth around her cheeks, dabbing at the little trickle of blood. “Okay. It doesn’t look like she has any major wounds, just little scratches. That’s good. I’ll have to call the doctor back. He’s on his way and wants an update.”
David came in with a thermometer. “He wanted me to get her temperature and thinks we should put her in warm water. Not too hot. I have a bath started. If she wakes up, it should be fine to move her.”
I gently shook her. “Simone. Simone.”
Groaning, Simone blinked her eyes and then closed them.
“Good!” David yelled out of nowhere. Usually, he was a silent, professional butler, always disappearing into the shadows. “I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “No, you only yelled what I was thinking.”
I gently shook her again. “Simone? Simone?”
She garbled something. I smiled, happy that she could say anything. She wasn’t gone from me yet.
Judy came in. “The water is ready. We’ll help you move her.”
We all worked together. It was crazy. I’d been living in this house for a year with my staff and this was the most I’d ever said to all of them. I made a promise to myself to change that, to really take a moment and learn about them and who they were.
But right now, my only focus is Simone.
We carried her to one of the many guest rooms on the first level where there was a jacuzzi tub inside the bathroom. We unwrapped her out of the blanket and damn if I did my best not to look, getting glimpses of succulent flesh here and there. I tried so har
d, but a chocolate nipple flashed before my eyes and then a curvy thigh. My flesh warmed.
I hissed and got her inside of the tub before I fucking started groaning. Surely, the maid noticed how uncomfortable I was, yet still blazing with lust.
Simone continued to blink as we sank her body into the tub, holding her up by her shoulders as her lower half slipped in. When she was in the warm water completely, bubbles covered the surface, and hid her body.
“Gio,” she whispered.
Shocked, I thought she might’ve been dreaming about me, but I looked down and she was staring at me with drowsy eyelids.
“Is it really you?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s me.”
She closed her eyes again, her voice hoarse and weak. “I made it?”
“That’s one way to describe it.”
She gave me a weak smile. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She opened her eyes. “I hit something on the—”
“Yes, you ran into a tree.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry. I’m more pissed at the tree.” I ran my fingers through her curls. “Next time you come, you will take my jet.”
Her lips quivered as she closed her eyes. “Next time, I’ll take my own jet.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Simone. Oh, Simone.
Chapter 7
Simone
Music is
the emotional life of most people.
~Leonard Cohen
The next day, I woke up warm and comfortable.
It took me a few minutes to remember where I was, but it all hit me. Flashes of the accident ran through my mind. The warm bath came next. Finally, I slightly recalled a doctor checking my pulse and whispering something to other people standing around me.
I opened my eyes and took in the room. A fireplace sat on my side. The bed had been pushed closer to it, but maintained five feet between us. On the left, Gio slept in a recliner.
He watched over me?
His black hair was longer than the last time I’d seen him on TV. Usually it was short on both sides like one of those fashion mohawks hot guys wore. Now, his soft wavy hair lay past his shoulders and curled a little at the tips. His huge body took up the whole chair. While he’d been muscular before, executing dance steps on music videos and flipping around like a gymnast at concerts, he now had a bulk to his frame like he had a serious morning weight routine. He was so hulky, there was no way he’d had a comfortable rest in the tiny chair.