Eli’s frowned kicked up into a smile. “Is this the Natalie I know?”
Now was not the time to debate how much she’d changed and why. She still hadn’t worked that out in her own head. Running through it with these two would not bring clarity.
She jumped to the real reason for their visit. Not about her agreement or her safety. About Gabe. “I need you to get a DNA test done. Quiet. No one can know. Not Bast and not any of the MacIntosh men.”
“This is starting to sound more like the Natalie I know,” Wade mumbled under his breath.
Eli skipped right to the point. “What are you doing?”
She just didn’t know what point he was trying to make. “Meaning?”
“Gabe is a good guy,” Wade said, moving in closer as the double-team began in earnest.
She thought about stepping back but didn’t bother. They’d be on her and rapid-firing questions in a second. She’d trained Eli, and Wade had innate skills of persuasion that impressed even her. “I agree.”
“Then why are you setting him up?” Bigger than most guys, tall and broad, Wade loomed over her as he asked the question.
She shot one back. “For what?”
“I have no idea.”
They’d gotten off track. Somehow they’d gone from her risky idea to something she didn’t even want to know. “This isn’t about my case or even about me. This is a personal favor.”
“Sounds like you might be in the middle of something it would be better for you to step out of,” Eli said, drilling right down to the point that pulled at her.
“I can’t.”
Wade shook his head. “Won’t.”
Time to bring out the big guns. Make this a bit more personal. She turned to Eli. “How many times have I asked you for a favor?”
His shoulders fell. “Never.”
“That should tell you how important this is.” She was calling in a favor she never expected to use. The only thing that made it tenable was that she made this choice for Gabe.
Eli blew out a long, slow breath. “Shit.”
“Okay, but be sure,” Wade said, as he stepped directly in front of her. “Because whatever this is, you can’t undo it.”
A breeze blew over her and the trees swayed as she tried to think of the right words to explain. “You ever hide from something so long that it twists up everything else in your life?”
Eli glanced at Wade then back to her. “I spent months doing that and most of my relationship with him trying to un-fuck it.”
Wade moved in closer beside Eli. “You succeeded.”
Then she saw it. What everyone else who knew them described. The closeness. How in sync they were. The former CIA agent and the crime gang enforcer. Two of the toughest and most lethal guys she knew, next to Gabe. They’d fought, gone after each other until they ripped emotional wounds in each other. But they’d found a way through it. That made her happy for them. “You two look good together.”
Wade winked at her. “Thanks.”
In her rush to get down to what she needed, she’d messed up . . . again. She looked at Eli. “I didn’t mean to throw you and Andy together to get you up here.”
She tried to keep the wording neutral in case Eli watched how much he shared with Wade. She had no idea how normal people handled their secrets. She’d spilled her biggest one to Gabe. He’d shared his biggest fear with her. Things that should have made her feel vulnerable while she plotted for a way to use Gabe’s weakness, but neither happened.
“You don’t need to be careful,” Eli said. “Wade knows about our past, mine and Andy’s.”
Wade frowned at her. “Why do you think I’m here?”
That sounded ridiculous in light of what she could see, right there, so obvious in front of her. “Oh, please. Anyone looking at you or who is with you two for ten seconds can see that Eli belongs with you.”
Wade slapped the back of his hand against Eli’s chest. “Grant her the favor. Whatever it is.”
She held out the file to Eli. “I need to know if these two people are parent and child or child and uncle.”
“I think that’s two different tests.”
“If the paternity test fails, I’ll have my answer.” Or Gabe would. Her feelings for him, as complex and confused as they were, would not change, no matter the outcome. She’d witnessed his love for Brandon. Let it color and support everything she’d figured out about the man on her own. The real question is what Gabe would do when he found out. How he would feel about her . . . after. But she had to push that aside. This was what she did. She solved problems and this was a huge problem, whether Gabe wanted to deal with it or not. “I have some contacts—”
“This one is on me.” Eli tucked it under his arm. “I’ll handle it. I probably need two days.”
A mix of relief and dread fell over her. “Thank you.”
Eli looked thoughtful. “I don’t think you’ve ever said that before.”
“There’s a lot of things I’ve never done before.” Including getting tied to a man and not wanting to undo the knots again.
Wade smiled at her. “Like sneaking around to get paternity tests.”
The answer was so much broader than that. “Like caring what the answer is.”
• • •
Andy sat on the stool in front of the kitchen island. Gabe stood on the other side. Every now and then, one or the other would take a peek out the matching sets of double glass doors to the backyard. Watch Wade and Eli and Natalie as they huddled in conversation. Something intense had them drawn close and had them ignoring the cool air.
“It’s not like you to give away the location of your house to anyone.” Andy decided if he couldn’t know about the outside conversation he could at least ask a few of the questions sitting on his mind. “I’m just saying first Natalie and now Wade and Eli. Seems like you have a new habit.”
Gabe grabbed the pot of coffee and poured each of them a fresh cup. “Is there something you want to ask me?”
“I don’t need to.” Andy settled for holding the mug instead.
“This conversation is annoying as shit.”
“Try being the youngest brother in this family.”
“Want to explain that?”
He had to be kidding. The stress between them right now bordered on back-breaking. “It should be self-evident.”
Gabe frowned. “How are the headaches?”
Andy almost reached for the base of his neck to massage the area, but he didn’t have to. The usual ticking that blurred his vision hadn’t started. Not yet, but who knew.
“Under control.” That topic could take them to a conversation about Eli, and Andy wasn’t in the mood for that. “I’ve already texted with Brandon.”
The kid was so excited about the smile on his old dad’s face. The fact his father snagged someone as pretty as Natalie seemed to be something Brandon wanted to brag about. The reaction filled Andy with relief because he knew if Brandon didn’t like Natalie Gabe would likely walk away from her. And Andy sensed that Gabe needed to stay by her side.
Gabe must have known that Brandon couldn’t talk about anything other than his dad’s new relationship at the moment because he rolled his eyes. “That’s just great.”
“He likes her. Likes you two together. Said you didn’t hide the fact you guys were having sex or that she meant something to you.” Andy took that opportunity to take a sip. He knew he could count on Gabe to make it really strong.
“I should have sent him farther away to school.”
Andy knew the truth—that Gabe hated Brandon being even an hour away. “Which brings me to the next topic—”
“Don’t bother.” Gabe’s mug hit the counter with a smack and he held up his hand to stop the flow of words. “I know Rick is trying to get Brandon to meet up. I guess Rick thinks he can just drop the DNA issue in the middle of dessert, the dumbass.”
The idea of Rick taking the choice out of Gabe’s hands made Andy sick. Gabe might need to come
around on the DNA test since Rick wasn’t giving one inch, but not this way. Not with threats or by using Brandon. “He just doesn’t stop trying to do this in the most underhanded manner.”
“Nope.”
Andy almost hated to ask. “What are you going to do?”
“Damned if I know.” Gabe put his palms against the counter and pushed back, straightening his arms. He looked down at his feet. “All of the options suck.”
“Brandon is a tough kid. You can explain it to him.” The words sounded right and the idea so easy, but Andy had to admit if he were in Gabe’s shoes he would want this all to go away, too.
“He’s already had to hear about how his mom didn’t want him.” Gabe pushed off from the counter and stood up straight again. “Not that I said it that way, of course.”
“You sure this is about him and not about you?” There really wasn’t a delicate way to ask so Andy didn’t try. His relationship with Gabe remained strong. It could survive some tough love.
Gabe exhaled. “You think I’m being selfish.”
“I think you’re worried you are going to lose the most important person in the world. Understandable, but it will never happen.” Brandon idolized his dad. And Gabe had managed to be a pretty great one. Without a strong fatherly influence of his own or the wisdom that came with age, he’d muddled through and raised a great kid.
“The idea of him not being mine . . . fuck.” Gabe started pacing. Went back and forth two times on the kitchen floor before stopping. “Natalie thinks—”
“Wait.” This time Andy dropped his mug. It slipped from his fingers and bounced. He caught it before it fell off the counter. “She knows?”
Gabe watched the moves without saying a word. “Yes. It felt right to tell her. I can’t really explain it.”
Neither could Andy. He didn’t know what to do with that information or how to assess it. The news of Gabe sharing such intimate details, with a client no less, qualified as a pretty big shock. Gabe didn’t open up much. If he did with Natalie, then whatever they had went well past sex and dating. It was more than just fun for Gabe.
“Huh.” Andy didn’t know what else to say so he went with that.
“What?”
Brandon’s excitement. Gabe’s insistence that he work Natalie’s job. Bringing her back to this house and keeping her here. All the pieces started to come together in Andy’s head. “Maybe there’s someone else who’s pretty important to you these days.”
“Well, I usually like you.”
Andy didn’t let Gabe laugh this off. Not after so many years of playing it cool with women and holding them at a distance. “Could be you more than like when it comes to her.”
Gabe’s mood sobered. “I want her safe.”
They weren’t saying the same thing, but Andy was pretty sure Gabe knew that. Felt like a pretty calculated move. “Okay.”
“She drives me insane.”
That sounded about right. “After years living with you I can say with some certainty that’s probably a mutual thing.”
“Is it so weird that I don’t want anything to change? From right now. Right here forward. I love where my relationship is with Brandon. I want Natalie here.”
Andy took that for the huge admission it was. Gabe might throw around talk about keeping Natalie safe, but he really wanted to keep her by his side. No doubt about it. Good thing Andy liked her because, unless Gabe or Natalie screwed up, she might be around for a while.
“No, but I think you should be telling her that.” Andy started to wonder what other secrets Gabe had trapped inside that head of his. “And then you need to talk to Brandon.”
“I still hate those options.”
“Being a grown-up sucks.” Andy knew from the kick-in-the-teeth drive over here with Wade and Eli in the car. Neither talked much, but when they did they finished each other’s sentences and talked almost in code, about things only they understood because they lived through them together.
The hour had amounted to pure torture. Andy made the drive in record time.
Gabe nodded. “Sure as hell does.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Gabe slid his hand up the center of Natalie’s bare back to her shoulders and used his palm to press her upper body even deeper into the mattress. Her hair fell over her arms and across the sheets. With every plunge he enjoyed a front row seat to her ass. On her elbows and knees, she opened for him, and he couldn’t take much more.
His gaze shifted to the mirror that ran along the wall, parallel to the bed. In this position he could watch her body buck as he entered her then retreated. See those full breasts bounce as he ached to touch them. The lean muscles of her arms clenched in time with his thrusts. Those fingers grabbed fistfuls of his sheets.
The way she moved, so sensual and graceful. Drawn out, as if every shift was picked for his pleasure. Pure magic.
Every second pushed him closer to the edge. Not that he had far to go. He’d prolonged the tasting, touring his mouth over her until they both shook. When he finally entered her a few minutes ago he nearly sighed with relief. Now he bit back a groan as his body begged to come.
The last two days had been like this. Alone in the house, lost in a haze. They ate then they had sex. They’d watch a movie then have sex. Walk the grounds for some air then rush back inside to rip their clothes off. Talk, sex, eat. He’d check in and scan the grounds, but mostly he’d focused on her. He’d never experienced the combination of wild and comfort before.
But in this moment, as his breath clogged his throat and his rapid heartbeat threatened to knock him over, all he wanted was to feel her clamp around him one more time. One of his hands slipped down and over her hip, then lower, until he could touch her. Feel her wetness as she clung to him. Touch off the spiraling inside her.
One brush of his finger and her head flew back. He wanted to lean in and kiss her neck, but his body had other ideas. The burning inside him had taken over. He needed release and couldn’t hold back the rush one second longer.
Her tightening touched off steady thumping deep inside him. He curled around her, desperate to be closer, to push in deeper. His chest lay against her back. The heat from their bodies mixed but they kept moving.
She made a noise that sounded like a “guh” as her head finally dropped forward, and her elbows shook and her upper body collapsed into the mattress. Her hair hung around her except for the strands he’d clutched in his hand. He could feel the tiny pulses inside her as the pounding continued to hold him in its grip.
When he finally came, the release felt as if it had been ripped from him, taking every ounce of his strength along with it. The energy buzzing around the room faded and his muscles gave out. He had to balance his palms against the bed to keep from flattening her. Still, he rested against her, anchoring her underneath him. Skin against skin as the harsh breaths rocked his lungs.
With both of them spent, he eased out of her. Fell to his side and watched her. She stretched out her legs until she lay on her stomach. Her hands slid up the bed to land close to her head before slipping under the pillow. But she kept her face turned away from him.
The sex had rubbed him raw. He couldn’t even call it sex anymore. The term felt too cold and distant. The intimacy that wrapped around them reached deeper than two bodies slapping together. He’d crossed over into lovemaking, which made something twist in his gut. After a lifetime of protecting his sanity by keeping relationships with women light and away from Brandon, he’d broken both personal rules. With her. Because of her.
Conflicting emotions bombarded him. He still wanted her safe, but not as part of any job. This need to tuck her close and talk things over with her was so new he didn’t even know how to handle it. He kept mentally chalking up the change in him to a strong attraction to her, but that didn’t make much sense. He’d found other women beautiful before her and wanted to sleep with them. This didn’t feel like those. This came with thoughts about a future and a dread over the idea of her leaving the
house with that bag and never looking back.
The need to coddle her, protect her, spoil her, learn from her—every sensation hit him as he lay there. The last time he’d known love for a woman was as a teenager. Back then it came in this overwhelming burst. So dramatic and intense, but it burned out fast. A crying baby had a way of putting love to the test, and theirs failed. It actually failed before that when she said she wanted out of it all—the relationship with him and motherhood.
With Natalie he experienced the slow burn, the gentle creeping up on him. Jesus, if he loved her he truly was fucked because Natalie would not rush in with him. She’d be difficult and insist he had the flu or something and would get over it. He ran the risk of her shutting down, or worse, shutting him out. No matter what she would not give an inch. She’d make him prove it.
And he wouldn’t expect her to act any other way. That’s who she was and part of what drove his attraction to her—her strength and independence.
He reached out and ran a hand over her hair. “You okay?”
That quick, she turned around and she smiled at him. A stray strand of hair fell over her mouth and he pushed it away. Brushed his hand over her cheek and loved the smoothness under his fingers.
“You promised I’d be a panting mess by the time we were done.” Her lips were wet as she licked her tongue across the bottom one.
If he said half of the naughty things that went through his head she might just slap him. Though, maybe not. Natalie embraced her sexuality. Of the many things he found so hot about her, that was near the top.
“That wasn’t very chivalrous of me,” he said, not feeling one ounce of guilt over any of it.
“I’m not complaining.” A bit of her southern accent snuck in as she talked.
Good thing she’d worn him out or he’d be all over her again, and right now he just wanted to look at her. To memorize every inch of her stunning face.
He didn’t fight the question playing in his mind. The same one he’d been biting back since Brandon went back to school. “Any chance I can convince you to stop keeping your stuff in the extra bedroom and just move it in here with me?”
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