“What’s...all of it?”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t be right and I wanted you to be right.” He focused on the juice bottle and launched a slow pace of the kitchen.
“I’ve been in love with security in one way or another for as long as I can remember. Think it was since my mom first took me to the bank and I met a real live security guard up close.” He smiled on the memory. “Back then, my folks thought I was so infatuated because those guys got to carry guns, but that wasn’t even close to being it. Their job was to observe, to figure who needed to be watched and who was okay.
“I was fascinated by that and I tried to get as good at figuring that out as I could.” His steps around the kitchen slowed. “I did get good at it. I got damn good at it. I got so good scoping things far off, it got hard to see what was right under my nose.” He sighed, buried his face in his hands and then folded his arms across the burgundy shirt he wore.
“I never saw Murray coming. When he left the company and took you with him—” he raked Viva’s face and body several times beneath his bright eyes “—it felt like a rock through my stomach and then the rage came and that...that was worse because it just sat there festering like some oozing sore. Hearing about you and Vossler was the lance that sent it all spewing.
“To know I was that wrong about someone that close to me...it was a devastation that had me second-guessing everything. My career was all I had. It was the only thing that made me keep getting up once you were gone. It was a half existence most of the time with the possibility of poor judgment always hanging over my head.”
He turned to take another look out the window, his expression unreadable. “This morning I discovered I hadn’t misjudged him. Yes, he let himself be blinded and swayed by dazzle, but he stuck when it counted. He recognized you were in line to destroy yourself and he helped to prevent it. If I’d been wrong about him and who he was at the core, he wouldn’t have told you what he did at that party. He wouldn’t have given a damn about you. It’s why I gave you hell every time you defended him.” He smiled her way then. “I didn’t want to let myself...I don’t know...hope?”
Rook studied the juice bottle as if it were helping him to test the validity of the word and then he nodded. “Yeah, I—I didn’t want to let myself hope and be wrong, knowing this time a misjudgment like that could’ve meant your life.”
Viva came up behind him, smoothed her hands between his shoulder blades. “Murray betrayed you in business and friendship. It’s not something you’re expected to get past overnight, no matter how many names he gives Soap for that recording she’s making out there.”
Rook turned then, gathering Viva tightly against him. “What was it you said about us growing up? Maybe you had something there.”
“Told you,” Viva said, going to her toes to brush a kiss to his jaw until he lifted her higher for something more substantial.
Chapter 15
The day ended quietly enough. There was talk about putting Murray in the guest cottage half a mile away from the chalet, but Sophia opted for another plan. At Rook’s suggestion, she decided the loft bedroom would be a better fit. Rook had been playing with the idea of turning the area into an office. It would be better suited to Murray Dean for the remainder of his stay, which was slated to be no more than another forty-eight hours at best. Time enough for Murray’s official travel companions to arrive from the States to assist in his return.
The tensions of the day had leveled out as feelings of closure started to edge in. By late afternoon into early evening, the nice vibes that had permeated everyone at the onset of their visit were back on track. That had a great deal to do with the host and hostess. There was no denying that love was vibrating powerfully between Rook and Viva.
The two had bowed out of the movie night, and early morning found them engaged in a sensual scene on the enclosed, heated veranda outside Rook’s room. Snow pelted the tinted glass. The quiet tapping created a hypnotic melody that mingled nicely with the uninhibited sounds of passion filling the space. The erotic session, playing out on an oversize armchair beneath a blanket of white fleece, showed no sighs of an immediate cooldown.
When release crested in unison, Viva all but collapsed onto Rook’s stunning chest. Laughter mounted in a wave of emotion consisting of satisfaction, happiness and hope.
“I wish we could stay here forever.” She sighed, feeling no unease about making the admission. The words were true ones.
“Guess we’ll all be following Murray’s lead after the wedding.” Rook placed a kiss on the top of her head.
During the previous night’s dinner, Tigo and Sophia clued everyone in to what was in store for the second leg of their trip. The couple had decided to return to the States as newlyweds. Once the bride’s official business was finished, the party would hit the road once again. The destination—Mexico. A private strip of beach would be the setting for the nuptials and home to the wedding party for at least a week.
“Think Sophia will kill me if I miss the wedding?” Viva curved her body tighter into Rook’s chest.
“I believe your sister would take great pleasure in the chance to kick your ass for a thing like that.”
Viva sighed. “Everything’s such a mess, Rook.”
“Not as much of a mess as it’s been.”
“You’re in Philadelphia and I’m still in LA. Correction—I’m still in LA and you’re a new home owner in Italy. And now there’s filming for the show and with all the other projects I’ve got going...” A haunted look cooled her warm gaze. “We were busted up by our careers before and that was before we even got our careers started.”
“Hey?” He cupped a hand to her cheek, waited for her to look at him. “Put the blame where it belongs, okay? Not on our careers, but on us.” Resting back, he tugged her closer. “Truth is, we didn’t bother to work hard enough to keep it together. We could’ve been fry cooks and not had a better outcome.”
Viva laughed, kissed the pec that bulged nearest her lips. “There’s a lot to be said for the simpler ways of making a living. Do you think we can handle the distance?”
“Don’t know. I know I’m ready to stop guessing and wondering it all into a watery grave.” Rook tipped her chin. “You know where I am when you decide to stop doing the same.”
Before she could speak, he silenced her with a kiss that sweetly wiped everything from her mind.
* * *
Rook left Viva sleeping, pleased to see her catching up on her rest. He knew the last several hours had been a brutal ordeal but one he hoped might be the beginning of a path rebuilding between them.
He’d meant what he had told her. He’d be ready when she was ready. Something told him that he might not have long to wait.
It seemed his guests had similar plans to sleep in that morning. Rook decided to head into Belluno and tend to what had gone undone as a result of the previous day’s upset. He took the time to stroll the house. He’d had Viva to thank for making it a home. She’d taken a construction of stone, brick and wood, and had given it life, warmth and the potential to be spectacular. She’d done it for him.
The view from the living room stopped him as it always did when the mountains, in all their snowy scope, stunned him with their majesty.
Though he’d claimed little more than a half hour earlier that he was done guessing and wondering, he couldn’t resist wondering how long he could go without Viva until need and pure want had him going after her. If it came down to that, he believed he might actually be forced to beg.
The idea had him grinning as he made his way from the living room to the kitchen. There he found Murray Dean.
Murray choked on the coffee he’d just sipped when he saw Rook in the curved brick entryway of the kitchen. The deep flush beneath his fair complexion betrayed the effects of the steaming coffee.
“Rook�
�” His voice sounded gravel laden, possibly from the hurried swallow of the hot liquid. The effects could’ve just as easily been a reaction to the unease Rook Lourdess could instill without saying a word.
“Sorry,” Murray said, his tone then a humble one as he regarded the larger man.
Rook was waving off the apology. “You’re entitled to food and water—or coffee,” he said as he gestured toward the mug Murray cradled between his hands.
A small, relieved breath slipped past Murray’s nostrils, but he didn’t appear completely at ease. “Chief of Ds gave me the go-ahead” he saw fit to share.
Smiling faintly, Rook poured himself a mug of the aromatic blend. “Wonder if the chief had to square it with her big sister first?”
Rook’s demeanor must have relaxed Murray for he grinned. “I think that’s who told her to tell me it was okay.” Murray indulged in a little more laughter, but soon the gesture was waning as concern took hold.
“Do you think she’ll forgive me, Rook?”
“I could’ve sworn I heard her say she did yesterday.” Rook toasted with his mug and then took a sip.
“Yeah.” Murray merely studied the contents remaining in his mug then. “I, um... I wasn’t talking about that exactly. By now, I’m guessing you told her you know about Vossler and that I was the one who told you.”
“You’re sure of that?” Rook gave off a sense of maddening calm while observing Murray over the rim of his mug.
“She’d planned to tell you.” Murray nodded once when he saw surprise register on Rook’s face. “It was all she could talk about and that was long before she ever went to see her family back home.”
“All she could talk about...” Rook set his mug to the counter.
“What happened with Vossler...” Murray worked the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “That drama took its toll on her. He didn’t hurt her.” Murray had looked up in time to glimpse the ferocity in Rook’s eyes. “It was how she regretted it.” He took a slow turn around the kitchen, the ripped cuffs of his jeans dragging on the glossy floor as he moved.
“She regretted doing it, but why she did it... I think that’s what really—I don’t know—what really wounded something inside her. And I—hell.” He began to rub his hands over his head. “I felt like scum for ever putting that mess in her head about Vossler being a top guy. All so I could climb the success ladder quicker.”
Rook could feel his palm tingling with a need to draw a fist. He smiled when the tingle and the accompanying upset passed. Moving to the sink, he dashed out what remained of his coffee.
“You didn’t force her to do it. She knows that, so do you.” Progress. Rook said the word silently, triumphantly.
“No, I didn’t force her, but I sure as hell didn’t try to change her mind about the prick either.” Murray came over to toss out his coffee, as well.
Rook sent his former colleague a sideways glance. “You know we could stand here all day going back and forth over who’s more at fault, right?”
Murray nodded, grinned. “You’re right.” Through the window above the sink he studied the almost blinding beauty of the sun reflecting against the sea of snow that served as Rook’s backyard. “I’d never ask your forgiveness for this mess, Rook, but I am sorry.” His tone was cautious, measuring as he spoke. “I’m sorry and that’s not me going back and forth over who’s more at fault here. That’s me owning it.”
Murray squeezed his eyes against the brilliant outdoor view as though it had in fact blinded him. He turned, leaning on the counter while massaging his hands over his head as if to clear it.
“Feeding you all that crap,” he began, “it was a punk’s move. It wasn’t even about you. Not—not completely.” Murray’s shrug betrayed a helplessness.
Rook moved from the sink. He didn’t begrudge the tingle he felt in his palm that time and accepted that, for him, certain triggers would never be totally silenced.
“You and Viva...the way you guys live, hell, the way you both grew up...” Murray’s eyes gleamed in acknowledgement of something unseen. “Hell, man, I’ve wanted that kind of life forever and a day.”
Rook frowned, the reaction more about confusion than temper. “What kind of life are you talking about?”
“To be rich.” Murray’s tone was matter-of-fact. “The kind of rich that makes people take notice when they hear your last name. The way they do with your dad and Viva’s.”
“Murray, it’s natural to want that kind of success. I want it, but when you sell your soul to get it...that’s when you’ve got trouble, that’s when you know you should be backing off.”
“Easy for you to say.” Murray failed at producing the grin he strived for. “For people who live the life and always have, there’s no mystery, no allure—”
“No attraction?” Rook recalled what the man had said the night before.
Murray nodded then in spite of himself. “Would’ve been great if I’d realized that before I went and made such an ass of myself.”
“Sounds like we’re all growing up.” Rook felt the smile at his mouth when Viva’s words came back to him.
“I pray I’ll have the chance to find out if that’s true.” Murray shed the effects of his musings and turned. “I just wanted you to know I regret my part in what happened. The one thing I pray will come out of all this is for you and V to find your way back to each other.”
Murray extended a hand and waited on Rook to decide whether he would take it. The decision didn’t take long and soon the men were equal participants in an enthusiastic shake.
Costa Alegre, Mexico
One week later
After having endured another week of snowy seclusion, Viva was more than ready for a little sun and fun. The fact that there was a wedding to go along with it all made the journey that much more unforgettable.
The group had taken the first few days to marvel at the turquoise waters of the Bay of Tenacatita. Costa Alegre boasted miles of unpopulated beach, perfect for supreme meditation. The intimate guest list resided in an exclusive resort that Viva’s connections had secured for the affair. The last-minute change in plans hadn’t been a bother for Viva. As maid of honor, she’d felt it was the least she could do.
As the bride and groom had no interest in waiting to speak the vows they had planned to utter long ago, upping their wedding date had been a joy. None of the guests had had an issue with the change. Cozy three-room cottages dotted the seaside resort and were well-stocked for the visit. The setting was as quaint as it was exotic.
Viva toyed with the idea of lingering a few more days once the wedding was over and the newlyweds set off on their honeymoon.
“Think it’s too soon for me to tell my clients I need a vacation?”
Rook’s question prompted laughter that Viva couldn’t resist giving in to. “I see our thoughts are on the same track.”
“Really?” He settled down next to where Viva sat near the fire pit nestled in the midst of low-sitting beach chairs. The sun was setting and, with the chilly breeze blowing in off the water, the fire was a welcome treat.
“I’ve been trying to talk myself out of it.”
Viva gave a curious frown. “Out of taking time off? Why?”
“Wouldn’t be any fun without you around.”
“Aw...” She took his admission for a tease. “Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t be alone for long.”
Viva’s outlook was most likely accurate. The resort hostess and the rest of her female staff had given Rook, Eli, Tigo and Linus an appraising once-over upon their arrival.
“It wouldn’t be the same,” he was saying, stretching out his long legs and moving his sandaled feet closer to the fire. “Damn sure wouldn’t be the way I’d want it. I love you too damn much, V.”
“I love you.” She reciprocated the proclamation on a gasp, emotion
swelling when he slipped an arm about her waist and scooped her from the low chair.
Once Viva was straddling his lap, Rook simply waited until her eyes were locked with his. “I love you too.” Conviction hugged the words. “I never stopped. I never want to lose you again. I never intend to.”
A sob spilled out along with Viva’s watery laugh. Then she was cupping Rook’s face and kissing him with everything she had.
“Now that we’ve traveled halfway around the world and back again, I’d say we’ve paid our dues.” For a moment, Rook let his gaze linger on the remarkable sky of iridescent colors.
Turning in his loose embrace, Viva rested back against the man she loved and drank in the view, as well. “I’d have to agree. Do you think we could skip all the other boring stuff we’re supposed to do while we work it all out and just get right to the all-is-well stage?”
“Mmm...” Rook faked a wince. “That might be tough for me. I was kinda looking forward to all the make-up sex we’re supposed to have.”
Viva laughed, fearing she would be unable to quell the desire to do so, she was so extraordinarily happy. “I was definitely not talking about the make-up sex. Do you think we could get right to that and skip all those long boring talks we’re probably supposed to have?”
“Hmm...” Again, Rook winced. “There was actually one conversation I was looking forward to.”
Confused then, Viva waited.
“Actually, it was more of a sentence.”
Carefully, she turned in his lap, abandoning the sky view to study his amazing eyes. “I guess I could handle a sentence. That’s not so—”
“Marry me.”
Her eyes widened in tandem with her gasp. “You, uh, you know that’s actually a phrase? A, um, a question phrase...”
“So it is.” He bundled her closer, his expression all serious. “Do you have an answer for me?”
“Will a ‘yes’ do?” Her response was immediate and she adored the way it caused him to blink in surprise and then glee.
Rook nodded slowly, smiled softly. “Yeah, um...” He cleared his throat in hopes of moving the emotional lump lodged there. “‘Yes’ will do just fine.”
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