“If he’s under investigation, he will have destroyed those photos. Why the hell didn’t I take one as leverage if nothing else? Dang it.”
“You were scared.”
Sailor nodded, but she looked determined. “Let’s do it. Let’s bring that asshole down.”
“And keep you safe.”
She smiled at him. “That too.”
Bodhi leaned over to kiss her. “Are you hungry?”
“A little.” She stroked him hair, trying to force the image of him dying out of her head. “I don’t want pancakes though.”
“Eggs?”
“Perfect.”
They ate outside, balancing their plates on their knees. “It is heaven here,” Sailor said. “No television, no internet, no phone signal, just this.” She indicated the beautiful rolling hills, the regal, but rustic buildings, the olive groves.
Bodhi ate a forkful of eggs. “Could you see yourself living here?”
Sailor looked at him in surprise, then nodded. “I could. You?”
Bodhi smiled. “It’s been in the back of my mind for years, just to retire and then come back here, a simpler life. Lately, I’ve been thinking about it more. If you’ll forgive an old man’s fantasy…I could see us here, our own little kids running around, dogs, horses, us making everything we need together. Tranquility. Peace.”
“I take it back,” Sailor said, tears filling her eyes, “This isn’t heaven. That right there, what you described, that’s my heaven.”
Bodhi grinned shyly. “Yeah?”
“God, yes.”
He reached over to stroke his hand over her hair. “Sailor King…you make me so happy. I don’t want to freak you out or anything, but one day, I want to marry you. Don’t worry, I’m not asking yet, but I will ask, someday.”
Sailor reddened with pleasure. “And one day, I’ll say yes. I promise.”
Bodhi took her plate from her and set it down on the ground. He pulled her to her feet and led her down the hill. Sailor chuckled at his mischievous face.
“Where are we going?”
Bodhi laughed. “The olive grove…another fantasy of mine is to fuck you there.”
Sailor’s heart began to beat faster and she grinned. “Lead on, Mr. Creed.”
In the middle of the olive grove, he took her, laying back on the earth and moss, and grass, her legs hitched around his hips, his cock driving deep inside her.
Afterward, hand-in-hand, they made their way back to the house, talking and laughing. Sailor happened to glance around and stopped Bodhi. “Look.”
They saw a cloud of dust making its way up the hill. “Someone’s coming.” Bodhi frowned. Soleil and Claudio weren’t due back for another day.
They walked back to the house and waited for the car. Sure enough, it was Soleil and Claudio, along with Tim. Tim got out of the car and ran to hug his father and Sailor. Soleil greeted them, her usually cheerful face somber. She glanced at Claudio who nodded and took Tim back inside for something to eat.
“Hey guys,” Solly said, “I’m sorry we had to break into your time, but something’s happened back home, and I thought you should know.”
“What is it?”
Solly looked at Sailor, her face sad. “Bay Tambe was attacked in hospital. She’s in a pretty bad way.”
Sailor covered her mouth in horror. “Oh god…what happened?”
Solly drew in a deep breath. “Stuart Lawson. He attacked her with a scalpel. She was protecting the baby, oh, by the way, she had a boy a few nights ago, and thankfully the baby’s not hurt. Bay was cut, and her femoral artery was severed. They had to operate for hours and she’s in intensive care again.”
Bodhi put his arms around Sailor who was sobbing. “Did you hear it from the news?”
Solly shook her head. “The F.B.I. called me to try and get in touch with you. Stuart Lawson’s singing like a bird. Seems like Bartholomew Foy arranged his escape, hid him, gave him the opportunity to kill Bay.”
Sailor gaped at her, tears still pouring down her face. “Bart? Why the hell would he want Bay dead?”
Soleil looked at Sailor, deep sympathy in her eyes. “According to Stu…to punish you. He knew you were friends, god knows how. Bodhi…you have a spy in your team.”
“Fuck!” Bodhi was angry now. He tightened his arms around Sailor who was sobbing even harder now. Bay had been attacked because of her? No. No, she couldn’t bear it.
“Bodhi, we have to go home,” she said, trying to calm herself, but Bodhi was raging.
“No, no way, it will be like putting you in the firing range.”
“No-one else is getting hurt because of me, Bodhi, I won’t permit it.”
“Not gonna happen, sweetheart.”
“Stop telling me how to live my life!” Sailor lost it then. “It’s my decision, Bodhi, not yours! I’m responsible for this…god, Bodhi, she’d just given birth! How do you think Tomas feels? The girls? Because of me, their mommy is…” She couldn’t get the words out.
“What’s done is done,” Bodhi’s voice was cold. “Sacrificing yourself won’t change that.”
“It’s not your choice,” Sailor snapped. “We’re going back to the States tonight. I need to be there for Bay.”
Bodhi threw his hands up in the air. “You barely know her!”
Sailor went very still. “I’ve known her only two weeks less than I’ve known you, Bodhi. Bay is my family now too. Make the arrangements. End of conversation.”
And she stalked back into the main farmhouse, barely holding it together. She found an empty bathroom and sank to the cool tile floor, burying her head in her hands and sobbing out her heartbreak.
Outside a shell-shocked Bodhi turned a pale face to Soleil. He shook his head. “This is a bad idea, Solly. A bad, bad idea.”
Soleil squeezed his arm. “But you know you have to do it, right?”
Bodhi nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. “God…if he kills her, Solly…”
“He won’t, Bodhi. Look, how about I move in with you all and we can run interference? We fire your entire team and bring in a security detail. I will personally take Tim to school and back. You and Sailor try and have a normal life together.”
Bodhi looked at his friend with gratitude. “What about your life, Sol?”
She grinned. “Hey, I’m a lot younger than you…I can wait. I can work from Los Angeles as easily as anywhere. I have some stuff going on with Grady Mallory and Maceo Bartoli, but they can handle it from where they are.”
Bodhi hugged her. “Thanks, Sol.”
“You’re welcome. Look, let me make the arrangements to fly back tonight. Go and find Sailor and make-up with her. Now is not the time for you two to be fighting.”
“Girls, when we see Mommy, don’t jump all over her,” Tomas Meir told his daughters gently. “She’s very sore, and she may be a little groggy.”
“Can we kiss her?”
Tomas looked in the rearview mirror and smiled at Esme. “I think she would like that very much.”
He turned back to the road, feeling his body easing from the tension and grief that had colored the last few days. After hours in surgery, Bay had pulled through and was now on the way to recovery, but the terror he had felt when he was told, he would never forget it.
Stuart Lawson was now in F.B.I. custody and singing like bird. His escape from prison had been orchestrated by a man called Bartholomew Foy, who Tomas had then researched and found out exactly who he was. It was the shock of discovering the #FindSailor hashtag, the thing which linked him to Bay. He had her attacked to show Sailor what he was capable of. Tomas felt murderous, and a little pissed at Sailor King, which he knew wasn’t fair, but hell, his beloved Bay had almost died, again.
Stu Lawson would have tried to kill Bay without Bartie Foy. Tom repeated it to himself, but still, the thought came that if it weren’t for Bartie Foy, Stu Lawson would never have gotten out of jail.
To his relief, Bay was awake, and overjoyed to see the twins, hugging bot
h the girls. His wife was still pale, but the life had come back into her eyes again, as she held her son and kissed her girls. Esme and Milly were obsessed with their baby brother. Bay, when she awoke from the surgery, had asked for her son to stay with her, wanting to breast-feed him even as she recovered and after some discussion with her doctor, he had given permission. She handed Buddy to his father before kissing Tom’s lips.
“Doc says I can come home this weekend, girls,” she told her daughters and they looked excited. Tom stroked a hand over Bay’s forehead.
“You sure you’re up to it, baby?”
She nodded vehemently. “God, yes. I’m counting the days.”
“How’s the thigh?”
Bay smiled at him. “The wound is healing nicely, but you should see the bruise. I’m slightly proud of it.”
Tom swallowed a lump in his throat. “You’re a warrior, baby. Not many people would have had the strength to fight back.”
Bay looked steadily at him. “Tom, honey…I have to ask. Did you know? Did you know he was out?”
Tom met her gaze. “I did. I didn’t want you stressed in the last few weeks of your pregnancy. I never dreamed that you wouldn’t be safe here.”
Bay sighed. “I understand why you made that decision but, please, don’t keep anything from me like that, again.”
“I won’t. Forgive me?”
Bay grinned slightly. “I’ll think about it. You’ll have to make it up to me…in about six weeks’ time.”
Tom laughed and Milly looked up. “What are you laughing about, Daddy?”
“Just your mommy being a naughty girl.”
Milly shrugged. “Okay.”
Bay slid her hand into Tom’s. “Sailor called me. They’re coming back. She was upset, kept blaming herself.” She saw Tom’s expression and gave him a stern look. “Tom, this is not her fault so I don’t want to hear otherwise. Can you imagine how that poor girl had been living?”
“What I don’t get,” Tom said, lowering his voice, “Is why you? Why, of all her friends, did he target you?”
“That’s an easy one. Sailor doesn’t have a lot of people, and most of them are under Bodhi’s protection. I’m on the periphery and no-one would suspect Bart Foy coming after me. Plus, using Stu, he had a way to deny any involvement. I have to hand it to Bart Foy, he did his research.”
Tom thought about this for a long minute, then nodded. “I guess you’re right.”
“Anyway, Sailor is coming to see me tomorrow so we can have a chat then. I’m sure the hospital will be delighted with the amount of security around them.” Bay nodded out of the door where Tom’s security team guarded her. Bay smiled. “Like a fortress.”
“You bet your sweet…butt,” Tom amended at the last minute, cutting his eyes at his children and Bay laughed.
“Nice save, Mr. Meir, nice save.”
The tension between Sailor and Bodhi hadn’t lightened as they flew home and now, two days later, breakfast was a silent thing. Soleil and Tim would glance at each other and try to start a conversation, but both Bodhi and Sailor were subdued.
Soleil took Tim to school, and the couple were left alone in the house. Sailor watched the new security team patrolling the property and felt tears come to the surface. She wiped one away with an impatient hand then felt Bodhi slide his arms around her waist and kiss the tears away.
“I’m sorry, Sails. I was insensitive. I’m just damned scared you’ll get hurt.”
Sailor leaned back into his embrace, needing to feel his strength, his big body against her own. “I’m sorry I yelled. It’s just, god, Bodhi, I feel so responsible.”
“You’re not the monster here,” he said gently, and she turned in his arms, tilting her face up for a kiss.
“I know. I just hate the thought of anyone else being hurt, because of me.” She put her hands on his face, studying him. “You look tired.”
“I missed you the last couple of days.”
She smiled gently. “I was right next to you in bed, baby.”
“I felt the distance.”
She nodded, her eyes growing serious. “Me too.”
“Let’s never do that again.” Bodhi kissed her gently. Sailor took his hand and led him back to their bedroom.
“Let’s get those times back,” she said softly, and closed the door behind her.
Soleil looked over at Tim as they sat in the heavy Los Angeles traffic on the way to his school. The boy had been quiet, picking up on the tension between his father and Sailor.
“Timbo? You okay?”
Tim looked at her with concern in his eyes. “Solly…are my dad and Sailor going to split up?”
Soleil shook her head. “No, sweetie, they’re just upset about what happened to Bay. But everything’s going to be alright again. Bay is getting better and your dad and Sailor will be okay.”
“We have new bodyguards.”
“You do.”
“Good. That’s good.”
Solly frowned. “Tim, do they ever bother you? Not the new ones, but the old ones. Did you ever notice any weird behavior?”
Tim considered. “Only Udo. He was creepy. He liked to look at Sailor all the time. I think he thought she was pretty.”
Soleil nodded, deep in thought. “Udo, huh? Yeah, he was a little creepy. Good thing he’s gone now, right?”
“Yeah. Do you think Dad will marry Sailor?”
Soleil was relieved he seemed happier. “Maybe, I don’t know. They love each other very much.”
Tim nodded. “Why hasn’t Daddy gotten married before?”
“Well, maybe he was waiting for Sailor.”
“But he didn’t know her.” Tim looked confused and Soleil grinned at him.
“Maybe, deep inside, he knew he was waiting, that someone like Sailor was out there, and so he held off getting married. Are you sad he didn’t marry your mom?”
“No. I don’t think they loved each other, not like Mom loved Evan or Dad loves Sailor.”
“What happened with your mom and Evan?”
Tim shrugged. “She used to get these moods, and yell at him. He ignored it for a while but then he got…what’s the word?”
“Angry? Depressed?”
“Depressed. He was sad. One day, he told me he couldn’t live with us anymore because Mommy asked him to leave.” Tim looked a little tearful, and Soleil hurriedly changed the subject.
“Well, if you ask me, I think your Dad will marry Sailor.”
“I hope so.” Tim was smiling again. At school, he kissed Soleil’s cheek and ran off to be with his friends. Soleil sighed. She’d never wanted kids, but there was something about this particular kid that made her heart hurt.
She glanced at her watch. Still early and she wanted to give Bodhi and Sailor some privacy. Soleil drove to her favorite L.A. coffee house and flirted with the female barista. Hedda, her date a few weeks back, hadn’t called her, for a while and Soleil decided she wasn’t that concerned. Hedda had been fun but the nurse’s hours had been inconvenient and…
Something clicked in Soleil’s head. Hedda had been a pediatric nurse. Soleil called the hospital where she said she worked. The staff there hadn’t heard of a Hedda Shaw.
Shit. Soleil grabbed her iPad and checked which hospital Bay Tambe had given birth at in Seattle and called them. After some negotiation, she was put through to the nurse’s station on Bay’s floor.
Soleil recognized Hedda’s voice immediately. She hung up the phone without speaking. Fucking bitch. So, Hedda had lied about where she worked, it couldn’t be a coincidence that she worked in the neonatal unit where Bay had been attacked.
Sailor had wanted to travel up to Seattle to see Bay, maybe she, Soleil, should take her. Maybe then she could check out Hedda, maybe freak her out enough to get some information.
It was worth a shot.
Bodhi ran his palms slowly down Sailor’s sides as she straddled him. She was stroking his cock into a state of tumescence, after they’d paused in their love m
aking. She smiled down at him as her hands caressed him, rubbing the tip of his cock along her damp sex.
“Remember our night in Tuscany?” She said, and Bodhi grinned.
“Baby, I don’t think I will ever forget that. Did you enjoy yourself?”
“God, yes.” Sailor positioned herself and guided him inside her, taking him in deep, sighing happily.
“I love the way your peachy cunt grips my cock,” Bodhi said as she rode him, and she chuckled, winding her fingers between his.
“I love it when your cock reams me into submission.”
Bodhi chuckled. “God, you have such a dirty mouth.” In one swift motion, he flipped her onto her back and pushed her knees up to her chest. “Let’s see just how deep I can go, shall we?”
Sailor gasped and cried out as he fucked her harder and harder, pushing her knees higher so he could go deeper. “That’s right, little girl, scream my name…god…your cunt feels so good, baby…”
Sailor came quickly as Bodhi shot deep inside her. Bodhi made her hold her legs apart as he went down on her, Sailor finding the way his tongue teased her already sensitive clit unbearable in the best way.
After two more orgasms and a lot of kissing, they lay panting, side by side. “God, it can’t get better than that, can it?”
Bodhi grinned. “Doubtful. But I’m up for anything, if you are.”
Sailor propped herself up on her elbow to gaze down at him. “I am…except for anything involving knives.”
“I would never consider that, Sails. Not ever. Even taking your past into consideration. Not my bag.”
Sailor grinned, relieved. “But anything else…we’ve tried whips, bondage…”
Bodhi grinned wickedly. “At this point it might be easier to just list the stuff we won’t try.”
“Ball gags. Gag being the operative word. There’s only two things going in my mouth during sex: your tongue and your cock.”
“That’s good to hear,” Bodhi was chuckling and leaning against his chest, she felt the vibration rumble through him. “I’m not into humiliation or degradation. Or adult diapers.”
They both made a face then laughed. “Yup, not for me either. What about a threesome?”
No Promises: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 56