‘I hoped you would. Sam worked out the routine, we were even practising it the morning of the wedding while you were still asleep,’ he chuckled.
‘I’ll expect some private dances, Tina Turner style,’ I advised as I kissed his smooth chest.
‘Yet more emasculating endearments, you’re lucky we’re married or I could go off you rapidly,’ he laughed as he kissed the top of my head.
‘You’re stuck with me for life Austin, I’m like a limpet, I’ve latched on and I’m never letting go.’
‘Glad to hear it,’ he whispered and kissed my hair again as I let out another contented yawn. ‘Come on baby, sleep.’
‘Love you,’ I mumbled as my eyes gave up their fight to stay open.
‘Love you too.’
Easter
‘Mum, seriously, I really need to go in a minute. Riley will be here to take us to the airport.’
‘Promise to call me when you get there, to let me know that you’ve arrived safely.’
‘I will if I can Mum, I’ve still no idea where we’re going other than it’s going to be hot and I needed lots of swim wear.’
‘You never know, you may get pregnant while you’re away, it often happens on honeymoon and then you wouldn’t need to have that second round of IVF when you get back.’
‘I wish you and Gabe would just accept that it’s never going to happen naturally,’ I sighed, shaking my head. I was sure that’s why we were having sex more than normal. He was so desperate to get me pregnant and I was scared of how much I wanted it too, and how much I’d let him down if it didn’t happen.
‘Mia, baby, we need to go, Riley’s waiting,’ he yelled from the lounge.
‘Mum, I have to go. I love you, give Gerry a big hug and we’ll come and see you at half term for a visit, ok?’
‘Ok sweetheart, have a lovely time. Love you too.’
I hung up and shoved my phone in my handbag, making sure my passport was safely stowed away and headed out to the lounge. Gabe was pacing and Lexi was sitting on the back of the sofa.
‘There you are, I thought you were never coming out,’ she smiled.
‘You know Mum, she’s more scared of me being in some kind of freak plane or holiday related accident since my abduction, I think I need to book her in with Dr. Jarvis,’ I smiled and Lexi nodded.
‘He sounds like a bloody miracle worker, I mean you and Gabe have really got your shit together since you’ve been seeing him.’
‘We have haven’t we?’ I smiled.
‘Mia, seriously, we don’t have time,’ sighed Gabe. ‘We’re not on one of Dad’s planes, this is a commercial flight and we can’t be late.’
‘O chill,’ I muttered with a roll of my eyes. ‘The airport’s like half an hour away and the flights not for another three hours and you’ve already checked in on line.’
‘Chill?’ he scowled at me. ‘I’m going to wait in the car so you can do your emotional “we can’t live without each other for more than four days” hug and cry thing. You’ve got five minutes, or I’ll come back up and carry you down over my shoulder.’
‘Got it,’ I smiled as he shoved a frustrated hand through his hair and kissed Lexi’s cheek.
‘Have a great time Gabe, look after her for me.’
‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ he muttered as he grinned and headed off down the stairs.
‘So, we can trust you and Doug running Greyson’s while we’re away?’
‘Yes, I’ve told you like a thousand times that we know what we’re doing. Cindy’s in control of the girls, Jackson the security team, and Doug and I the bar staff. We’ll be fine.’
‘Do you know where I’m going?’
‘No.’
‘Are you lying to me, Lexi Clarke?’ I fixed her with one of my best stares and folded my arms across my chest.
‘Seriously, on my life I have no idea. He hasn’t even told Doug. This was one top secret mission he organised.’
‘He does love organising,’ I smiled. ‘So come on then, before I get hauled out of here caveman style.’
‘Mia,’ she sighed and wrapped her arms around me.
‘I know,’ I nodded as I clutched her back. ‘Three and a bit weeks, it’s our longest time apart, ever.’
‘I’m gonna miss you so much.’
‘Me too. I promise if there’s Wi-Fi I’ll facetime you from my iPad and show you around and you can update me on whatever antics you and Sam have been up to while I’ve been away.’ We rocked each other as we hugged. She was doing so well these last couple of months. We’d gotten the funeral with her mum out of the way and she’d said her goodbyes and shed the last few tears she had left over her. Her dad was in regular contact and they saw each other at least once a month and she was getting on well with her step mum and her younger step brother and sister adored her, they thought she was “wicked cool” and her music and movie taste was “sic,” which made us laugh. Her counselling training was going well, she was working really hard at it and had really impressed Gabe and I with how much effort she put in at Greyson’s as well. She’d said she wanted to grow up this year and it certainly seemed like she was honouring that deal.
‘Do you have to go?’ she moaned.
‘It’s my honeymoon, Lex,’ I laughed.
‘But you already had one, that’s just being plain greedy. I mean it’s like bi-sexuals. Pick a side of the fence and stick to it, like it isn’t challenging enough finding guys out there without other guys trying to pick them up as well.’
‘I thought you and Sam were doing great?’ I let go of her and held both of her hands as I looked up at her puzzled.
‘We were, we are, sort of.’
‘Sort of?’
‘Well, he’s a bloody international sensation isn’t he? He’s starting his tour now and I’m hardly going to see him unless he fly’s me out to meet him when he’s in Europe and why would he when he’ll have thousands of screaming fans all desperate to get in his pants.’
‘But I thought you had an open relationship? I thought you were cool with that?’
‘So did I, but I’ve stopped sleeping around since the Doug debacle and he hasn’t.’
‘You want to go steady?’ I gasped.
‘Not steady as such, I’m fine only seeing him every now and then, but I’m kind of jealous to think he’s fucking other women.’
‘Have you asked him if he wants to go monogamous?’
‘You are joking, right?’ she laughed. ‘He was clear from the start and why would he want to? He can pick up a girl to shag without even clicking his fingers.’
‘I was clear from the start that I didn’t want a serious relationship, to ever get married, or consider children and look at me eighteen months on. People change Lexi, and why wouldn’t he want to give up other girls for you? You’re worth his time and attention.’
‘MIA,’ roared Gabe’s voice from the bottom of the stairs. ‘Don’t make me come up there and get you.’
‘Shit, Lexi chuckled. ‘If you were on the private jet you’d be in for a famous punishment fuck right now.’
‘I know,’ I giggled. ‘We’ll talk about this more as soon as I can get in touch, ok? Look after yourself,’ I hugged her again and wiped some tears away from my face.
‘Go on, sod off before I have a complete girly emotional breakdown on you,’ she sniffed.
‘Shit, I’m going,’ I gulped as I heard Gabe stomping up the stairs. She laughed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.
‘I’ll lock up for you, go, have an amazing time and ring me soon.’
‘Promise,’ I nodded and blew her a kiss as I ran out and down the stairs to try and make it at least part of the way down before he met me.
I stood on the jetty and flexed my hips as I looked around in awe. We’d had a long flight, Gabe had booked us on Emirates Airlines First Class with our own private sleeper cabins, which we’d made the most of on our leg from Dubai. We’d then taken a small private plane to a neighbouring island and then had just come
across to our final destination in the Seychelles by boat. I’d never seen sea such a clear turquoise blue, sand so white and sky that didn’t have a cloud in sight. I screamed with happiness as I spotted a turtle lazily swimming below me and turned to grab Gabe’s hand to point it out. He laughed and put his arm around my waist and kissed my temple. I was mesmerised by the multi-coloured fish and he had to steer me away to follow the man carrying our large cases up the jetty toward a reception building in front of us.
I called it a building, but it was tiny, with wooden posts supporting the straw roof. Gabe held onto me as we checked in and were introduced to Mus, who would be looking after us for our stay. He asked us to have a seat with a fresh rum cocktail while he took our bags away for us.
‘Gabe, I can’t believe we’re here, it’s so beautiful,’ I sighed as I sipped on my drink and looked out at the ocean and neighbouring islands in the distance. ‘Where’s the main hotel, the island looks full of palm trees.’
‘There isn’t a hotel,’ he smiled. ‘It’s a private island with a villa on stilts over the water and Mus is our personal chef and handyman. He’ll meet me each afternoon to discuss menu’s for the following day, take any orders for any items we require which will be ferried over from the main island and if you want any spa treatments, staff can be provided in our villa.’
‘You’re not serious?’ I looked at him stunned.
‘Yes.’
‘Gabe, the cost,’ I gasped.
‘Really?’ he rolled his eyes. ‘I put the wedding present donations toward it and believe me, the amount Sam deposited nearly covered the entire trip. I wanted it to be special, to have you to myself for two weeks and for you to be able to lie on the beach topless or swim naked if you want to.’ He leaned in and kissed my ear. ‘Or for us to have sex anywhere on the island without being disturbed.’
‘Sounds wonderful,’ I smiled and kissed his lips tenderly. ‘Thank you so much, I can’t wait to see where we’re staying.’
‘Me neither, we’ve both been working so hard with Uni and Greyson’s it will do us good to just kick back and relax. No TV, no telephone’s, no distractions.’
‘Wi-Fi?’
‘Nope, not on this island, we’ll have to take a day trip to the main one if we want to contact anyone back home.’
‘But what about the club? What if there’s a crisis? What if someone falls ill? What if …’ He silenced me by putting his fingers over my lips.
‘Greyson’s will be fine, if there are any major problems they know to ring Dad and he will sort them. If anyone’s ill and we need to get home, the island is part of a hotel on one of the larger islands and Dad can send a message to them and it will be brought over to us. Relax, baby. Everything’s going to be fine.’
He was right of course, everything was fine. More than fine. We’d already been here for twelve days and I felt like I never wanted to leave. We’d spent days diving off our veranda into the ocean and swimming with turtles, sunbathing, having couples massages, drinking cooling cocktails as we watched amazing sunsets and ate freshly caught and prepared fish and tropical fruit. Then there was the sex, so much sex, but we hadn’t fucked once. Gabe was in gentle, loving, nurturing mode out here. He looked amazing, his body was a deep brown, his blond hair totally bleached from the salt water and sun. I kept complaining that while I was a lovely golden colour, he tanned so much faster than me. I’d taken so many pictures with my camera and had found loads of pictures of me on there that Gabe had taken whilst I wasn’t looking. Standing in the open air shower washing my body, lying on the glass floor of the bedroom watching the fish swim underneath, ones of me sleeping with a crisp white cotton sheet draped over me. I smiled as I looked at them, and smiled even wider to see some of the pictures I’d asked Mus, pronounced “Mousse,” to take of us when he came to prepare our breakfast, lunch and dinner.
‘Can we take Mus home do you think?’ I asked as we skimmed across the water, heading to the main island to do some shopping and touch base with home.
‘I can ask him,’ Gabe laughed. ‘Though I think he’d miss the all the sun.’
‘I guess,’ I sighed and trailed my hand in the water over the edge of the boat. I didn’t want to leave here, much as I missed Lexi, Doug and Mum, as well as Robert and Sofia, I felt so free here, there were absolutely no pressures on me, on either of us.
Not long before we left home, I’d had to go over all my accounts of my abduction again for the Police who were putting together a final report. They’d confirmed that they’d linked Adam to the murders of five of the six girls with DNA, but not to the first girl, even though they were convinced it was him. They’d also discovered that his mother had been murdered and told me that the reports showed she’d been brutally assaulted over the years, her autopsy having shown old fractures, scars and burns and when she’d been killed her face had been caved in. They’d traced an ex working girl, called Jane, who’d house shared with her and confirmed that Adam’s mum had been a prostitute and had Adam when she was only eighteen, and he’d been neglected in his cot as she slept with her clients in the same room. He was finally put into the foster system when he was eleven, when Jane found her murdered with him huddled in the corner traumatised and called the police. Adam was never a suspect in her murder, but she was a pretty brunette with blue eyes. It explained a lot, though it left me feeling oddly sorry for him. He’d been let down by the one person who should have protected and loved him, but it didn’t take away the fact that he’d targeted women who reminded him of her and treated them, the way he’d probably witnessed her being treated, over and over until she was finally killed in front of him. His whispers in my ear of “you’re just like her, a pretty blue eyed whore,” had suddenly seemed so poignant.
I’d also been told that his wife had been cleared of having any knowledge of what he was up to and was naturally devastated at what he’d done. I hadn’t told Gabe yet, but I’d contacted the press and offered my exclusive to the highest bidder and had decided I would split the money. Half of it I was giving to Adam’s wife, with some of that portion in trust for his child. By all accounts he hadn’t left her with much, having left behind gambling debts and probably having frittered most of it away at strip clubs or on prostitutes himself. The other half I wanted to split between a memorial at Uni for Milo, and the rest to Jenny, his girlfriend. We’d not spoken since the funeral, but Dan, his friend and Lexi’s ex, had told me that she was retaking her A levels in the hope of going onto University, so I wanted to help her, as a way of saying sorry. I hoped these gestures would rid me of the remaining guilt I had over Milo’s death and finally let me put it all behind me.
‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ Gabe called over as I wiped a tear from my face.
‘I’m just so happy and I’m not looking forward to going home,’ I smiled. He slid across the bench and put his arm around me.
‘We’re not going home yet, we have a few more days here and then a week somewhere else.’
‘I know, but it’s going so fast.’
‘Why are you worrying about going back?’ he frowned as he tilted my head to make me face him.
‘We have end of year exams coming up again, I’m super busy with these new classes I’m running and … and …’
‘Are you worrying about the IVF again?’
‘Yes,’ I whispered and dropped my eyes from his.
‘Why?’
‘What if they don’t get as many eggs and they don’t fertilise or take?’
‘Then they don’t, we still have some frozen ones to fall back on. Baby, we’re on honeymoon, we don’t need to think that far ahead. Let’s just be in the now, ok? You can catch up with your Mum, Sofia and Lexi as soon as we get to the hotel and then we can go shopping and have a lunch and a few drinks before heading back for dinner, ok?’
‘Ok,’ I smiled and reached up and ran my hand through his hair as it flickered in the breeze.
I pulled off my sarong and got up and stretched. Mus had cooked us a delic
ious final meal on our last night and had sprinkled rose petals everywhere, including in bed and there were tea lights burning everywhere. I smiled as I watch Gabe’s eyes travel over my body. I was in my little white crochet bikini and whilst it was dark, it was still incredibly hot. He sat in his white three quarter linen trousers and pushed his hair back off his forehead as he watched me walk down the boardwalk and dive into the cool water below us and I turned back to watch him drop his trousers and dive in after me.
I screamed as I was startled out of a peaceful slumber by a loud shriek and the bed bouncing violently.
‘You’re back, why didn’t you come and see me straightaway,’ chastised Lexi as she threw herself on top of me.
‘Jesus Christ, Lexi, you just gave me a heart attack,’ I laughed, trying to rub my eyes as she hugged me tightly. ‘Where’s Gabe?’
‘No idea, I got fed up of waiting and let myself in to see what was going on.’
‘I was fast asleep, that was what was going on. We didn’t get in from Hong Kong until four a.m.’ I replied.
‘So? You should have woken me up. Don’t I even get a hug? Your best friend in the whole world doesn’t deserve a hug?’
‘You do,’ I sighed and wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her tightly. ‘Missed me then?’
‘Yeah. I’ve been kind of lonely. I’ve not seen Sam in four weeks, Doug is always with bloody Sarah and great as Cindy and Max are, I always feel like a third wheel.’
‘You’re a third wheel with Gabe and I,’ I reminded her and she rolled off me and lay on her side and looked at me hurt. ‘A wanted third wheel, like a tricycle. O, you’re a Lexicycle,’ I giggled.
‘O sod off, I know when I’m not wanted.’
‘You’re always wanted, except when Gabe and I want to get hot and steamy.’
‘Well, that’s all the bloody time. Can you walk after three weeks of non-stop shagging?’
‘I had trouble after the first night on the beach and in the sea, fric.tion,’ I laughed.
‘Ewwww, TMI. So have you had an amazing time? It looks like you have. You’re so brown and you have no bags under your eyes.’
Infinite Love (The Austin Series) Page 21