As the airport van approached the luxury home at the top of a cliff, Lily and Tom realized that they were about to enter the land of the rich and famous. Their eyes first focused on the immaculate grounds full of southern Italian vegetation that got most of its moisture from the sea beyond. Accompanying the lush vegetation was a scattering of several palm trees that lined the garden drive like umbrellas. The red brick chateau was spectacular and breathtaking all at the same time as it stood stately and impressively overlooking the Mediterranean as it had done since the middle of the eighteen century.
“Holy mackerel! Do you suppose the guy has a daughter I could marry?” commented Lieutenant Jackson with all the enthusiasm he could muster as his eyes popped out at the surroundings.
Lily could feel an anxious Gunner beside her as he tapped into her emotions and leaned against her leg for comfort. For some reason, she was feeling extra edgy like she should be remembering something and Gunner sensed her anxiety. She tried to put down her symptoms as nerves that were building just because she would soon be turning Gunner over to a complete stranger, something that she had been dreading since she had gotten that first call from the commander at the base last week. After all, Gunner had worked himself into her heart becoming part of the family and needing her as much as the twins. She should have known he would. She was always a sucker for animals; especially, those that were hurt or injured. That was why she’d become a veterinarian in the first place.
The van pulled up to the spectacular circular brick drive of the stately old mansion that had dark green ivy crawling all over its impressive frame. It was like it was used to such luxury and that the ivy was just an extension of the rest of the chattel on the property.
The uniformed driver didn’t bat an eyelash as he came to a stop in front of the entrance. He immediately began unloading their luggage. Lily instantly stopped the driver before he continued,
“Please wait until I am sure that I will be staying,” thinking that she didn’t want to intrude by spending the night if the owner objected to her being here.
Lieutenant Jackson jumped out of the van almost as soon as it came to a halt, “I’ll let them know that we’re here.”
Setting his hat upon his head, Tom climbed the wide steps to the veranda, which was connected stepped to the oversized brick porch surrounded with succulent flowering plants. The stately entrance was decorated above the double doors and on the surrounding sides with sparkly beveled glass that shown with a variety of prisms as the afternoon sun came shining down, making it sparkle like a rather large polished diamond. It was meant to be intimidating and make a statement. It did.
Straightening his hat and adjusting his uniform, Tom pressed the chimes indicating to the occupants that their guests had arrived. He waited until the butler with white gloves opened the door and bowed.
“You are expected, Sir, please follow me,” he indicated. “Mr. Slater is waiting in the library.” Then, the butler spared a glance outside and sort of wrinkled his nose, which made the lieutenant think that he probably wasn’t a bit happy to have an animal in the midst of what he considered his pristine domain – too bad!
Quinn stood at the large window of the luxury den leaning against the ledge with one arm. It was the same scene that overlooked the Mediterranean on one side while the front window overlooked the circular drive. He had been watching the van as it crawled up the impressive drive for the past ten minutes with his usual scowl on his face indicating that he was not one bit happy with the arrival of his guest. It made him all the more elated that he had asked for an honorable discharge from the SEALS last week, which would probably take several months as you could always count on the government to move at a snail’s pace. At least, the commander had said nothing about having to be charming, which was the only thing that would help him get through the next week before he sent the soldier on his way as soon as possible.
Quinn continued to watch as the van pulled to a stop at the front door and a young soldier hopped out who looked physically fit and healthy. That in itself annoyed Quinn as he could just see him hitting on his nurses day and night. Besides, he was expecting someone missing body parts. How did the idiot commander expect him to relate to this guy – the ass hole?
Just as Quinn was about to turn away from the window, he noticed another passenger. It was a young woman who immediately turned her back towards the vehicle. He watched in sort of fascination a she helped what he recognized as a bomb sniffing Belgium Malinois limp from the interior of the van before his attention riveted back to the young woman that was talking to the dog with deep intensity. Her hair was a deep red like Lily’s but longer, which is why she commanded his attention. Her jeans hugged her bottom and her dark purple sweater hugged her generous boobs. She was slightly rounder than he remembered his Lily being – more womanly, more stacked. He stood motionless as he watched the wind pick up the mahogany dark red locks and blow them across her face, concealing her facial features. All he could tell was that she had white creamy skin and cherry red lips. He froze when she brushed her hair out of her eyes. Shit! It was his Lily. He stood up straight at attention. What the hell was she doing here? Did she know he was in residence? Of all the people he expected to see at his door, he would never have guessed it would be Lily, the last person he ever wanted to see in this lifetime; especially, in his condition with another physically fit male hanging around.
Quinn began quickly scanning the scene unfolding before him putting the puzzle pieces together as his minded jumped from Lily, to soldier, to Ft. Riley, to injured Malinois, to wounded soldier, to Doc Lily concluding in seconds the correct scenario. The muscle of his jaw tighten as he clenched his teeth preparing his body to meet the unpleasant intruder that had once been his lover, but now belonged to someone else. This was not how he pictured their first meeting would be. He felt at a disadvantage not being completely healed and quite the buff young man he had been at their previous encounter. It was all he could do to keep from punching another hole in the wall for the third time in his life. The only thing that stopped him was a knock on the door before he acted on impulse.
Quinn limped to sit behind the mahogany desk before he signaled the butler to enter. “Your guests have arrived, Sir.”
“Send in the soldier alone,” he instructed, thinking he needed a little time to get his emotions under control before he saw Lily.
The lieutenant entered with his hat under his armpit at attention. He saluted. “Reporting to duty, Sir.”
“At ease soldier,” Quinn replied in the professional voice of a person used to being in charge.
Since Quinn couldn’t stand up very gracefully and because he didn’t like looking up, reminding him what it might have been like as a lifetime in a wheelchair, he indicated to the soldier to sit in the carved chair that sat in front of the mahogany desk. He assumed a relaxed position as he steeple his fingers together while his elbows rested on the arms of the massive chair behind the desk.
“How was your trip?”
“Uneventful, Sir.”
“The dog make it all right?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Give me some highlights about the animal.”
Quinn’s attention was not fully on the conversation. He was just stalling for time with one ear tuned into any sounds that came from the hall. His imagination told him he smelled strawberries.
After what the soldier felt like an inquisition, the sullen former SEAL dismissed Tom, letting him know that his services were no longer needed. He could go back where he came from as he was no longer needed here.
As Tom approached Lilly he whispered, “Careful, the guys a jerk I think He guycould be a real son-of-a-bitch!” Tom briefly hugged Lily after informing her that she would be spending the next week at the chateau adding softly, “Good luck. See you back at the Little Apple in a week or so. I won’t take off until tomorrow morning should you need me.” Then, he followed the stately butler who escorted him to the door where the driver of the van wa
ited patiently to take his single occupant back to Rome.
Quinn watched the lieutenant hug Lily and murmur something in her ear. It was all he could do to keep the feral beast within himself from emerging. As it was, the only one that seemed to pick up on the inner growl seemed to be the canine next to her. His ears perked up looking in his direction. He wasn’t so sure that he didn’t low growl in answering a warning of his own as Lily’s protector.
As the door shut, the butler with the typical bushy white eyebrows looked down his beak nose at Lily and Gunner doing his best to intimidate the young woman. It didn’t work. Lily was sure he was
disappointed. “Please follow me.”
As Quinn heard the butler approach, he schooled his features to show nothing of his inner struggle. “Hello, Lily,” he said in a low controlled voice with a dead pan expression and no warmth, morbidly pleased to see she appeared to be as dismayed as he felt.
Lily gasped, her hand going to her mouth in shocked surprise. The colored drained from her face. She pressed her lips tightly together trying to contain and mask her emotions. She felt disoriented and lightheaded as if she were one of the walking dead – there, but not really. It was almost as if her body had removed itself and she were floating above watching. It was alarming in its surrealism.
The man standing before her was her Quinn, but yet it wasn’t. He was wearing an immaculately trimmed goatee. She’d never seen him with facial hair, but only his face smooth and devoid of any whiskers according to the military code. It looked like him, but that was when all resemblance stopped. He was cold, distant, and unwelcoming. She began to feel like something was a little off, she just wasn’t able to get a grip on the situation as she tried to process the vibes that were emanating from Quinn with pure hatred.
Quinn’s leg was beginning to throb. “Won’t you sit down and make yourself at home,” he said in a nasty demeaning tone.
That made Gunner growl, warning Quinn that he was on guard duty protecting his precious Lily. That irked Quinn farther. He pulled his icy blue eyes from Lily’s and pierced Gunner with them instead. He studied him a moment before he commanded, “Sit!” making Lily jump and the dog sit. Not taking his eyes off Gunner, he snapped his fingers and gave a hand signal. Gunner, immediately hit the floor and put his head between his legs with only a slight yawn and whimper. He did as he was told, but obviously not because he wanted to obey.
Satisfied, Quinn turned his eyes back to Lily pinning her in silence with those cool mocking eyes again. It was all she could do to keep from squirming. She was determined that her ex-lover wasn’t about to intimidate her and raised her head a little higher, stuck out her chin, and glared back. If Quinn hadn’t been so damn angry with her, he might have laughed. But, he was angry and he was having a tough time hanging onto his temper and not going for her throat.
“So, what brings you here, Lily?” he snapped wondering if for some perverse reason she’d came to see the condition of her ex-lover.
Lily, could only stare at him in silence trying to rearrange her thoughts around the hostility that emanated from this man that she had loved and thought she knew. Determined not to grovel, squirm, and turn to mush as Gunner had done, she answered in an equally cool tone, “I am here as a favor to the commander from Fort Riley to help Gunner adjust and make a decision as to whether you are a match for him.”
Quinn laughed a hollow laugh and said, “Just what makes you think I give a damn whether we are a match or not.”
“The commander said that you might be difficult. If I’d known it were you, I could have saved us both a lot of aggravation,” Lily replied with dignity.
Well, at least he had part of his question answered. He was as much of a surprise to her as she was to him.
Just then, the butler appeared like he had been summoned by an invisible signal. “Show this woman and her dog to their bedroom.” Then, Quinn dismissed her by turning his back. She thought she heard him muttered to himself, “Get her out of my sight.”
Lily let her guard down the minute she slipped out of the library with relief. Whatever did she ever do to deserve that comment? She was upset, confused, and thought about having a taxi come and get her. She wanted to go home. This was not the same man that she had been in love with her entire life. This man was an angry stranger. Tears began to gather in her eyes, but before they could start strolling down her cheeks, Gunner nuzzled her hand with his cold nose bringing her back to the present. Quinn was making her emotions so muddled that she almost forgot why she was here.
When the butler closed the door to the library, Quinn continued to smell the lingering soft scent of strawberries so subtle and yet potent at the same time, which was Lily’s very own special aphrodisiac. It was one of the many things that had turned him on since he stole that first kiss in the shower at sixteen. She had turned and clung to him like he was her powerful and shining knight. He remembered that it had been a heady feeling for more reasons than one even though he didn’t want to do so.
Quinn walked over to the silver tray on the nearby coffee table and poured himself another scotch with shaky hands. What a shitty day this had turned out to be. He was furious. He was furious with his situation, with Lily not waiting for him, with the cruel joke of Lily belonging to another man, with another man holding her in his arms, making love to her, making a child, but most of all with himself for still wanting her. The minute she walked into the library his heart had lurched. She had looked at him with her big blue eyes in shock, confusion, surprise – then, defiance as she jutted out her chin reminding him of that day in his dad’s library when he had a little chat about saving one’s virginity so long ago. He gulped down the last remaining drop of smooth scotch as he watched the blue and orange flames in the fireplace jump around as though it were angry, also. Suddenly, he threw the glass into the fireplace with such force that it caused it to shatter into a thousand fragmented pieces that only matched the lining of his heart.
Lily and Gunner solemnly followed the grumpy butler to the top of the showcase stairwell surrounded by stain glass and picturesque windows of the outside surrounding colorful garden and sea. Lily was so upset that she noticed very little as she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, only vaguely aware of the postcard setting of the sun that shown down upon the evening Mediterranean. Her emotions were churning. She was barely aware of the opulent grand marble staircase that she climbed like a wooden doll following the shiny black shoes of the butler in front of her like they were a beacon in the middle of a storm as he led her to a room at the top of the stairs. Gunner must have felt her inner feelings as he leaned into her to give comfort and guidance as though she were a blind person. This time, she was the needy one and he sensed it.
Once Lily was in her bedroom and the door clicked shut softly behind her, she stood in the middle of the room trying to get her bearings as the threatened tears she had been holding back began to overflow, blurring everything in front of her as she navigated towards the beckoning white comforter that had been turned down in a welcoming jester. She climbed into bed, clothes and all. She curled into a fetal position of warmth and comfort with her faithful guard dog beside her as she escaped the animosity that seemed to follow her into the bedroom. She slept in exhaustion until morning.
CHAPTER 37
Lily slept better than she thought she was going to with the help of the time change from traveling. She woke with the sun and a cold nose that nuzzled her fingers letting her know that it was time for her morning run with Gunner. Thank goodness I had a decent nights rest, she thought, I’m really going to need all the help I can get to contend with Mr. Quinn Slater today.
It wasn’t long before she was dressed in a Kelly green sports bra, black stretch pants, and a black jacket trimmed in the same Kelly green and heading outside to do some serious exploring. She knew it would be cool, but she needed to get away from the chateau and clear her head before she dealt with Quinn. Besides, it would also give Gunner a chance to navigate
and explore his new surroundings making him comfortable before she had to leave him. At least she knew that Quinn would not abuse him, but would he love him? Was he even capable of love? She could only hope with all her heart that he would love him, if not now, eventually for Gunner’s sake.
An hour later, Lily entered the chateau to find the household fully awake and bustling. The circle drive had a couple of what appeared to be guest cars in the driveway. She followed her nose to the buffet in the dining room and helped herself to a piece of toast and coffee. Activity seemed to be happening on the lower level. With her hands around her coffee mug, she entered a double door mini gym. Large windows surrounded the room giving it a panoramic view of the Mediterranean. A few sailboats could be seen in the distance, seagulls soared above the fluffy clouds, and palm trees swayed down below with the breeze. Television was playing on three different flat screen TV’s, a maid with a cute little tush was pouring Quinn a cup of coffee like he was a sultan and a nurse was giggling as she rubbed down his leg in what looked like a sorry attempt of physical therapy. A young muscular male stood nearby observing and offering suggestions. The whole scene made Lily want to gag.
It became somewhat quiet except for the television when everyone turned to look at the newcomer. There was a small hesitation before Quinn said, “I’d like everyone to meet the newest member of our staff, Lily. She’s here to train the dog for me.”
Lily narrowed her eyes. Quinn had tried to make it sound like she was a paid member of the group. He knew it would irk her, that’s why he said it. She could hardly refute him without insulting the rest of the team.
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