“Why don’t you get dressed?” I whispered. “Danny was nice enough to give of us some time alone. And I hate to see him on edge.”
Peter grunted his agreement and moved back to his pile of clothes. I watched with a sad sigh as he pulled his body back into his clothing. His fingers were still working on the buttons of his shirt when Danny seized my arm.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a hushed tone. “He didn’t try…”
“It’s alright, Danny,” I assured him as I brought my hand to his face. “Not one thing happened here that I didn’t want to happen.”
Leaning closer to his ear, my whisper was soft, my hand light against his. “Little secret? I want so much more. And I think I’m going to have it. I think that I’m going to have everything I ever wanted.”
As I pushed back, I saw Danny seemingly convinced, and he nodded his approval as he kissed the top of my head and stepped back into the loft. Keeping close to his side, I led him back to Peter, my free hand clutching the sheet as Peter gave me a quick wink before turning his gaze back to Danny.
“Thank you for the privacy,” Peter started. “It was just what we needed.”
Peter caressed my hair as his eyes moved back to sheet clinging to my body.
“Think you should follow my lead, Gypsy,” he said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Danny’s face scrunch in confusion. Quick to put his worries at ease, I lightly touched his arm and gave him a smile.
“I really should get dressed,” I assured Danny.
Patting his back, I moved towards the bedroom. As soon as I was hidden behind the walls, I let the sheet fall. Part of me hoped that Peter might still charge forward at any moment, and I would have offered no resistance. But he didn’t return, and I could hear him talking to Danny. I dressed quickly, eager to just get back to his side and see where we were going next. Nothing and everything seemed certain in the space of the same breath, and after I had tied my hair back and glanced at my flushed face in the mirror, I headed back to the sea of canvases.
“Since you were so partial to my most favorite version of Caroline,” Danny was saying, “what do you think of this?”
I gasped at the sight of a small sketch that never made its way to the world of oils. As soon as I saw the scratches on the faded page, I remembered how I had not really posed for it. Just a friendly night of pizza and beer, but Danny still picked up his pencil and drew quickly. He had claimed that the light was too good to pass up, and I let him do his thing. Now, seeing the finished product for the first time in ages, I blushed. Not because Danny’s work was subpar; it never could be. But the sketch was too good, too real. What if Peter liked me better bathed in colors or compared the drawing to the girl standing before him now. Was I still worth the risk or the sacrifice?
“There’s definite variety in your work,” Peter admitted as he handed the sketch back to Danny. I started to shake where I stood when he pulled out his wallet and pressed a stack of crisp bills into Danny’s waiting palm.
“How about you catalog everything else Caroline and send it my way,” he continued. “Then we’ll talk about your next exhibition.”
“I… well I was sort of focused on this new series, Sir.”
“A piece of friendly advice? Hang Caroline on any gallery’s walls, and the dollars will just roll in.”
It seemed to take Danny less than a second to nod his head in complete agreement. As he counted the bills, Peter turned back to face me with a warm smile and a sweeter touch.
“But the real deal is mine,” he said. “For keeps this time.”
Falling into his arms, I melted into his embrace. Peering over Peter’s shoulder, I smiled as Danny gave me a wink, and I returned the expression before shifting my gaze back to Peter.
“Ready to go home?” he asked.
After so many weeks of wandering and worrying that the bottom could fall out from under me at any moment, I sighed in relief at the thought of a permanent place to rest my head. A place that was his. And mine. Ours.
“I am,” I said. “More than ready.”
Peter offered his arm. I quickly kissed Danny’s cheek and patted his neck as we left the loft. Once we were on the street, I saw Brett scanning his phone as he leaned against his car. Peter cleared his throat, and Brett shot to attention, doffing his cap as soon as he saw me.
“Sorry, Boss!” Peter cried. “I was just checking…”
“Checking in on Penny?” I asked.
Brett seemed stunned that I still had that bit of intel at the forefront of my mind. Even Peter tilted his head in wonder, and he let me leave his side as I stepped closer to Brett and held his hand.
“Thanks for bringing the flowers around,” I said. “They really were lovely.”
The driver started to accept my gratitude when Peter moved between us.
“Hold on a sec!” he said.
Brett backed off and scampered for the driver’s seat. But I stayed with Peter and his hard stare.
“Yes?” I asked as I folded my arms around my chest.
“The flowers were from me,” he said. “Where’s my thank you?”
“Haven’t I already showed you my total appreciation?” I teased.
“I could always do with a little more,” he said, his face softening.
His kiss started light, and I felt his arms surrounding my waist as he lifted me off the ground. As I floated in his embrace, I barely registered the traffic, the horns, and the blaring sirens all around us. We were drowning together, and nothing was going to spoil our plans for the future.
“Then what are we waiting for?” I asked as soon as he released me.
Not needing another question from my lips, Peter pressed me into the leather. And Brett barely had the car away from the curb when his hands were everywhere, and my heart grew lighter with every inch of his tender touch.
Chapter Eight
“It’s too much,” I started. “Peter, I don’t need any more…”
“It’s never enough. Nothing is ever enough for my Gypsy,” he said kissing me lightly on the lips.
Sighing slowly, I sat on the edge of his bed as he whipped out a long box, and I immediately cocked my eyebrow. Up until this point, all of his gifts were wrapped in shiny paper with ribbons fashioned by professional hands, but not this one. Sometimes I wondered if it was just one more tool in Brett’s arsenal, his go-to jack of all trades. Between the trips to private candlelit dinners and the seemingly endless deliveries of flowers and diamonds, I had to wonder what the girl he called Penny had to make of his near constant absence. Did she stay with him because there was no question that Peter Barton relied on him for nearly everything, thus a steady salary to pay their rent? Or was the man as good to her as he was to his employer?
Every time I saw Brett smile, I couldn’t help but think that Penny was a lucky girl if even half of that was true. Wanting him to have his own happy night, I begged Peter to give him the day off. It took some convincing and a few soft kisses before Peter finally nodded as his hand was light on my back. But he ultimately honored my request. I thanked him with my body at dawn before falling back into a happy sleep. As soon as I woke, he was right there at my side with another package.
“Did you wrap this?” I asked as I started to pull at the paper.
“That obvious, huh? Just trying to get by without my man Friday,” he chuckled.
“It wouldn’t hurt to give him a few Saturdays and Sundays to himself you know,” I said as I looked at the box with its clumsy wrapping.
“If I can spare him,” Peter said. “He is essential.”
“I won’t argue with that.”
Cocking his head, Peter pulled the package from my hands and pressed his fingers to my knees.
“But I’ll do without him if it gets me more of this,” he said huskily.
Stretching closer to my body, his arms surround my waist, and he moved close to my mouth. I paused for all of a second before parting my lips. My finger traced the space aro
und his eyes, and I watched him wait. He hadn’t pushed me. Not since he had me back in his home, in his bed. When Sabrina heard through Danny that I was back at his side, she railed at me through her phone. Calling him everything from stalker to psycho, she warned me that I was making a mistake. Taking the call in Peter’s arms, I let Sabrina go on for several long minutes. Peter kept kissing my back until Sabrina tired herself like a hungry puppy, and as soon as I was able to get a word in edgewise, as she had to stop to draw a fresh breath, I took my chance and ran with it.
But I’m happy with him, Bree. Isn’t that the most important thing?
Sabrina struggled to argue against my bold assertion when I could take no more, when I just wanted to return to Peter’s kiss and think of nothing else. Promising Sabrina that I would keep in touch and see her when I had a chance, I ended the call and tossed my phone aside. The last thing that I wanted was to see a friend of mine in distress. But Peter’s hold beckoned, and I fell into his arms and sighed at the feel of him returning to my body with a gentle thrust.
And now he was on top of me again, pressing my body into the sheets as his lips ran up my sides. Stopping at my mouth, I left his kiss with a smile and patted his cheek.
“You don’t have to worry about me going anywhere,” I promised. “It’s just not happening.”
The fact that no man wielding a knife had busted through our door again was only enhancing my desire to stay, but sometimes he still seemed scared, like he didn’t believe that he had me.
“Peter…” I sighed.
Turning his body to his side, I brushed my fingers across his chest and kissed his arms as I snuggled closer.
“I want to be with you,” I whispered. “Just you. You don’t have to buy me.”
Feeling him push away from me, I saw his body stretch to the side of the bed. The expression on his face was suddenly unreadable, and I nearly leapt forward to take his face in my hands and kiss him back to my side. But I lingered about the sheets and just watched him as his eyes moved back to the fallen box.
“I know that,” he started. “But…”
Peter left the bed and picked up his gift. Bringing the package back to my side, his fingers barely touched my hair as his free hand fingered the ribbon with a playful smirk.
“But I still like to spoil you,” he said. “I like giving you things.”
“You give me everything just by being here,” I murmured. “I just need you with me.”
Kissing me lightly, he shook his head with a smile and sat up, his hand on my arm bringing me along for the short ride.
“Indulge me,” he said with a wink. “I want to see you open it.”
Sighing in resignation, I unwound the awkward ribbon and started to tear away the clumpy paper.
“When did you do this?” I asked.
“Just now,” Peter confessed. “While you slept.”
His hand stopped mine before the white box was fully revealed.
“Kind of obvious, no?” he said.
I bowed my head and felt his lips on my brow as he pressed his hands against my back.
“But I love the effort,” I said. “I love…”
I stopped mid-sentence. I couldn’t go there. Not just yet. The words felt real, sounded right in my heart. But I stopped short and went back to ripping the paper away. Glancing up at him, I thought I saw Peter disappointed by my failure to finish the thought. But he shook it off and returned his smile to his face. He watched my face as I opened the box and peeled through the copious sheets of tissue paper.
“Making me for work for it, aren’t you?” I said.
“I think you’ll find it well worth the effort,” he said cryptically.
Returning my attention back to the package, my hands fell around two distinct items. Pulling them forth, I held an envelope in one hand and a square velvet square in the other. Not sure which one I should open first, Peter took the lead and pointed to the velvet.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “Open it right now.”
Honoring his request, I flipped open the lid and gasped.
“Oh my god,” I murmured. “You shouldn’t have…”
“Yes I should,” he countered. “Here, let me.”
Peter lifted a platinum chain from the box. At the end sat a ruby encrusted with diamonds, and I started to turn away when he eased my face back to his.
“I want to see this on you,” he said. “I thought of nothing but you when I had it made.”
He nearly had the chain around my wrist when I started back and took his hand.
“Made?” I asked incredulously. “You had this made for me?”
“I didn’t want anyone else to have a carbon copy,” he said. “Wanted it unique. Just like you.”
Melting into his touch, I allowed Peter to fasten the clasp, and I sighed as the ruby fell into place. My fingers trembled as I fingered the gem. Nervously lifting it to my eyes, I saw it sparkling under my hold. Peter made no move until a single tear trickled down my cheek, and then he took me in his arms and kissed my head.
“I didn’t do it to make you cry,” he said. “I thought… I hoped you would like it.”
Meeting his eyes again, I nodded slowly and leaned close to his lips.
“I love it,” I whispered. “Thank you.”
His kiss was soft as our mouths mingled, and I only pushed back to meet his eyes and stroke his face.
“What can you possibly do to top this?” I asked.
Peter raised his eyebrows as he pushed the sealed envelope into my hands. Fighting my trembling fingers, I felt Peter’s hand on my back, steadying me where I sat as my nails started to tear through the paper.
“Please don’t tell me this is an order for a new piece of jewelry every day,” I asked with a laugh.
“I like the way you’re thinking,” he said. “I’ll have to get on that. But first…”
He pointed to the envelope again, and I sliced it open and felt two slips of cardboard slipping into my hands. Lifting them to my eyes, I read quickly, thinking of the card that accompanied his orchids and roses as my mind registered the words.
“We… you want…”
“I’m taking you on a trip, Gypsy,” he started. “New York is cold. And I want to see you on the sand.”
Aruba. I’d only been there once before. My parents dropped me off during a layover before my mother followed my father to Houston and his next appointment. I remember I had dreamily sat on the balcony, looking at the sparkling blue waters, longing to lose myself in the surf, to drown in that bright blue.
“So what do you think?” Peter asked. “A little getaway? Don’t you think that we’ve earned that and more?”
I was ready to nod when my mind moved back to my father and the home that I had abandoned. A person needed a passport to leave the country. Maybe I could get another one, but so much of my life before Peter was still under my father’s roof. It was if he was keeping me close even as I stayed far away.
“Hey?” he said. “Don’t cry, Caroline. This was meant to make you smile.”
“I… I….”
Peter folded me into his arms, and I clung to his neck as his arm tightened around my waist. I basked in the feel of his lips against my hair, my body buzzing as he whispered.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Why are you sad?”
Pushing away from him, I shared my fears of my father. Peter listened with a stony face, and when I could no longer speak, he took my face in his hands and kissed both of my cheeks.
“Brett will make it right,” he promised. “And then we’ll be off to parts unknown.”
I laughed into his chest and stroked his face.
“And does Brett get a proper vacation then?” I asked. “Hasn’t he earned that much?”
Peter turned his head from side to side and finally smiled at me again.
“Of course you’re right, he has earned a little holiday,” he said. “I’ll see that it happens.”
Chapter Nine
“How did you manage to do this?” I asked.
Brett had more of my former life in his hands than I could have ever imagined. He had wasted no time with clothes; the man was after my personal papers. Peter had given me a new wardrobe and then some. Baubles were another thing to move past. Nothing surpassed the ruby still fixed around my wrist, but before Brett took off on his mission of mercy, I told him that I wanted another bracelet, my mother’s chain of gold squares. I rarely wore it; it was far too precious to take out and risk losing. But I remembered seeing it on her wrist as my family passed through Aruba, and I wanted it back now. I told Brett where I felt sure that he could find it, still hidden under my mattress. But I warned him that if he failed in his pursuit, he should get out while he could and head back to Peter’s place.
And here he was, my passport in his hand. And the bracelet.
“Was it right where I said it would be?” I asked.
“No, I found it right out on your dresser,” Brett started. “Pocketed the thing right quick and here you go.”
As happy as I was to have my mother’s bracelet back, I had to wonder why it was so easy to find. Had my father been searching for some clue to where I was? Coming up empty, had he found himself lost in a moment of nostalgia and given in to remembering the days when he had a wife and an obedient daughter, only to toss the piece aside when he realized that I was still gone? In spite of everything else, I nearly cried at the thought of my father sad, and Brett moved fast to stop my tears.
“Come on now, Miss Winters,” he said. “Aren’t you looking forward to your trip?”
Nodding into his chest, I let Brett hold me. It was going to be good to leave the city and the days without Peter behind. Brett patted my back as he flashed a fresh smile and gave me a quick wink.
“Can I tell you a secret?” he asked releasing me from his hug. “It’s a fun one.”
“I could do with some good news,” I said.
Brett straightened his tie and lowered his cap.
“I’m getting out of town, too,” he started. “I’m taking Penny up to Maine.”
Grateful for the distraction, I resumed folding my fresh wardrobe into the luggage as Brett talked.
The Corrupt Billionaire COMPLETE Box Set Page 14