In order to keep busy so I wouldn’t go motherfucking crazy, I helped in the only way I could. I tossed money at the staff and secured a private room for my father with an extra bed for my mother and a sitting room for the rest of us. I also tracked down a vascular neurologist at a clinic a couple of hours away and had him flown in.
All the while, I was in touch with my security firm, trying to get eyes on Allison. I was pissed as fuck when they only found three Allison Gleasons in the entire five boroughs of New York, and none of them was my girl. No Charlotte either. In fact, the only Gleason besides those three was an older gentleman who lived in a high-rise in Manhattan.
I needed the best on this, or I was going to lose my fucking mind. That meant the owner of the company, Jonah.
“Sanchez,” he answered dryly. “What is it with you guys scaring the shit out of my assistants? Are all billionaires assholes?”
“You tell me,” I snarked—probably not the best idea when I’d called to beg him for a favor. But I was tired and impatient, which made me grouchy.
“Touché. How can I help you?”
“I’m trying to find someone, and there seems to be no trace. Your guys haven’t been able to do it, and it’s not optional. I need to find her.” I knew how desperate I sounded, but I didn’t care. Besides, Jonah should understand. He was as possessive and deeply in love with his wife as I was with Allison.
“Her?”
“Yes,” I growled. “Her. My woman.”
“If she’s yours, how did you lose her?” He sounded as though he was trying to muffle his laughter, and it was grating on my last nerves.
“Does it matter, jackass? What would you do if you couldn’t find Penny?”
That sucked the amusement right out of him in a heartbeat. “Don’t ever—”
I cut off his warning with the one thing I knew would convince him to help. “She’s absolutely everything to me, Jonah. As much as you love your wife, that’s how much I love Allison. There is nothing I won’t do to find her, and nothing I wouldn’t do for her once she’s back where she belongs.”
Jonah sighed, then he was silent for so long, I started to worry that he might turn me down. There was no telling what I would do if he did.
Finally, he spoke up. “Give me her information. I’ll find her.”
“Her name is Allison Gleason. She’s eighteen, just graduated, and lives in Manhattan. We met at the resort I have you spec’ing for a security upgrade.”
“In Cap Cana?” he clarified. There was an off note to his tone, but I couldn’t decipher what it was.
“Yes.”
“Last week?” Again, the question didn’t sit right.
“I saw her last four days ago. She flew home on a private jet, property of—”
“K-Corp.” It was a statement, not a question.
“How did you know that?” The something that was bothering me suddenly became clear. He wasn’t telling me something. Those had been leading questions, having me fill in the blanks for a theory he’d already formed. “Jonah, I swear on every saint depicted in my mother’s church. If you know something about my woman and you don’t tell me, I will put you in the ground and shit on your grave.”
“You’re twenty years older than her, Diego.”
“If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle a cradle robber,” I grunted.
“Fair point. She really means that much to you? You want to marry her?”
“Marry her. Have a family with her. Grow old with her. I want it all.”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “This is going to be...you better be prepared to fight for her, Sanchez.”
“You need to stop talking in riddles, Carrington,” I countered.
“Allison’s last name isn’t Gleason, that’s her aunt’s maiden name. Her family booked the resort with those names to help keep it private.”
“You found her already?” I was shocked. After all the searching from his guys, he took ten seconds to track her down?
“I didn’t have to look for her, Diego. I know her. She’s practically my niece.”
Son of a bitch. I definitely hadn’t been expecting that.
“Her last name is Kendall.”
Motherfucker! I understood exactly why my friend had been warning me. Allison was going to be harder to get to than I anticipated. She wasn’t the daughter of an employee at K-Corp. She was the owner’s daughter.
“Justice?” I asked. Of the three men who owned the company, Justice would be the most difficult.
“Thatcher.”
“Shit.” I had no idea why I’d thought it would be any better for her to be the daughter of the other Kendall brother. Either one would gladly break every bone in my body for sleeping with their daughter.
“When will you be here?”
I’d walked into a small room with the vending machines for privacy. Now, I was glad I was in there because I slammed my fist into the concrete wall. “I don’t know.”
“Forget it, Diego. You’re not serious about her if—”
“My father is in the ICU, Jonah. I can’t leave my family right now. If something happens and I’m in another country…”
“Fuck, man. I’m so sorry.”
“That’s why I need your help. I can’t be here and not know where she is, that she’s okay, safe, healthy.” It seemed ludicrous, but I even wanted to know what she was eating to make sure she was staying healthy for our baby. “I’ll lose my mind and be no good to anyone.”
“I’ll check on her for you,” he said, trying to satisfy me with the small gesture.
Not fucking happening. “I need to see her, Jonah. And you know what the fuck I mean. You remember telling me about the cameras you keep everywhere so you can keep track of your wife when you were on your fifth beer at that poker game three years ago?”
No response.
“Thatcher didn’t exactly hide his obsession with his wife any better.”
Jonah sighed. “I want to help you, Diego. But Thatcher is one of my closest friends. He’s like a fucking brother. I can’t just give you an all-access pass to his baby girl.”
I was out of options. I didn’t have anything to blackmail him with, begging and pleading wasn’t working, even comparing the situation with his wife...I was screwed.
Unless… There was one more arrow in my quiver, hiding at the bottom where I hadn’t seen it. “She’s pregnant.” It was only partially a lie since the possibility did exist.
“For the love of...Don’t ever tell Thatcher you knocked up his little girl before you’ve even told him you’re together. Actually, don’t tell him at all. Tell Imogene.”
“Will you help me?”
He groaned, and I heard what sounded like his fist hitting the desk. “Yes. I’m probably signing my own damn death warrant, but I understand where you're coming from. Give me a couple of days to make it happen.”
I started to argue, but he shouted so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. “TWO FUCKING DAYS, SANCHEZ. And you’ll still owe me until the end of time.”
“Two days,” I agreed through clenched teeth.
7
Diego
I pulled my phone from my pocket and kicked my feet up onto the arm of the sofa before I laid back with a pillow under my head. It was nearly as soft as a concrete slab, but it was all I had at the moment. My father had finally been moved out of the ICU and into a private room. It had taken almost four weeks because he’d developed an infection. We’d nearly lost him, and as much as I loved my sisters, they were no help. They were more emotional than my mother, and she coddled them.
My mother was asleep in the bed next to him, and my sisters and brother had gone home to sleep and hadn’t returned yet. It was still early, and I was glad to have the privacy. Every morning and every night, I found a place to be alone with my girl. Not that I didn’t keep an eye on her throughout the day, but at these times, I gave myself permission to forget about everyone and everything except her.
There was
no time difference between New York and the Dominican Republic, so I had easily synched our schedules. Fortune was in my favor when it turned out that Allison and Charlie (not a blood relative, but still a cousin) had moved into a townhouse owned by her parents. It would have been a fuck of a lot harder to get access to her if she’d still been living under Thatcher’s roof.
I’d considered calling her and warning her that as soon as my father was on the mend, I was coming for her. But I decided against it because I’d have an easier time watching her, and then finding her, if she went about her normal routine.
Allison’s alarm went off at seven, just as it did every weekday, and she went up onto one elbow so she could grab her phone from the desk next to her bed and silence it. Phone in hand, she flopped back down onto the mattress and held it to her chest as she closed her eyes again. I didn’t like the dark circles around her eyes. She’d gone to bed early the night before, so she shouldn’t look as though she’d barely slept. A few minutes later, she opened her eyes again and yawned as she began to fiddle with her phone.
Jonah was right. I owed him the equivalent to my firstborn. I dug a second phone out of my back pocket and unlocked it before tapping on the only app. After logging in, the screen changed, and I was now looking at the real-time contents of another phone. Allison had opened Facebook and was scrolling through her feed.
I went back and forth, watching her reactions on one device and seeing what was causing them on the other. It was like our own private moments, just after she woke up and right before bed. If I let the world fall away, I could almost believe I was there with her. Being away from her was fucking killing me.
After twenty minutes, Allison hesitantly sat up as if she were expecting something to happen. When nothing occurred, she tossed off the blankets she’d been snuggled into. It was a damn good thing she lived with a female. The first time I saw her in the little shorts and tank top she wore to bed, I was both incredibly turned on and ready to murder anyone who saw her in that outfit. And I was using the word outfit generously.
All that skin, her puckered nipples, the shorts molded to her sweet ass...those belonged to me and only me. I much preferred the nights she wore my shirt to bed. I still had the panties she’d been wearing the night I popped her cherry, and I kept them near my pillow whenever I slept at my condo. I didn’t want to bring them to the hospital and chance losing them or deal with questions if one of my family members found them. People would probably think I was crazy for sleeping with a woman’s underwear so that I could smell her pussy all night. I didn’t give a fuck about what anyone thought when it came to my Ali, but I didn’t want to deal with the inquisition I would face because I wasn’t ready to share her yet.
Allison climbed out of bed and stretched her arms high above her head as she arched her back. The tight little peaks poking through her top made my mouth water. I couldn’t wait to suck on them again, especially when she was pregnant. I hadn’t seen any signs yet, but if I hadn’t done the job on our night together, she was going to spend all her time with my cock buried in her pussy until I’d remedied the situation. The idea of tying her to our bed was intriguing. I’d keep her legs wide open and practically live between her thighs. Feasting on her, drinking her juices, it was all I hungered for.
Lethargically, she made her bed, then trudged to her closet. She took out a blue sweater and a black skirt that looked like it would end at or below her knees, saving me from the possessiveness and jealousy that would have plagued me all day until she’d changed into something else. I was a bear on those days, and my sisters had given me endless grief over it.
She draped the clothes on her desk chair before digging into a drawer in her dresser and withdrawing a bra and panties. Some days, she would go straight to her bathroom and reemerge fresh and clean. On the other days, I excused myself as soon as one of my sisters or brother arrived. Then I sped home to take an arctic shower. The first time, I’d considered giving myself some relief. But the thought of anyone’s hands, even my own, giving me pleasure was repellant.
It seemed today was going to be one of those days. Allison tossed her underwear on the bed, and as she walked toward the bathroom, she grabbed the hem of her tank top and pulled it over her head, tossing it in the hamper as she stopped in front of it. Then she took off her little shorts—which she wore without panties, another reason I was glad she lived with a woman—and they went into the basket as well.
Her big, heart-shaped ass was unbelievably sexy, and the flare of her hips—which oddly looked a little wider today—had my cock leaking as I thought about how they were made for large babies. Considering my size, I doubted our children would be petite when they were born.
Allison resumed her trek to the bathroom, but just as she began to walk over the threshold, her phone dinged. She pivoted on her heel, and my breath caught in my lungs. Fuck. She grew more beautiful every damn day. It almost looked like her tits had gotten a little bigger. It didn’t seem as though she’d put on weight, but Allison would be the sexiest woman on earth no matter what she weighed. And I wasn’t stupid enough to complain about her having larger tits.
Her pussy was still bare, and I licked my lips, remembering how it tasted and the way my beard had left light marks on her naked mound. I fucking loved that there had been nothing between us. I was going to insist it stay that way going forward.
I finished my perusal of her body at her dainty, pink-tipped toes. There wasn’t one spot on her that I hadn’t hand my mouth on, and the flood of memories was making things very uncomfortable. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I ground my teeth in frustration over having another fifteen minutes before my brother arrived and I could go back to my place.
My girl fetched her phone and disappeared into the bathroom. I listened to the water running and fantasized about what I would do to her in our shower at home. The water shut off after ten minutes, and she was in there for a few more before the door opened, and steam billowed out. She was wrapped in a towel, her long hair twisted and laid over one shoulder. I loved seeing her like this. Fresh-faced, smelling like the coconut shampoo she’d been using at the resort, and her skin pink from being scrubbed. She didn’t need anything to make her more beautiful. She was the most exquisite creature in all her natural glory.
Allison’s hand went to the knot between her breasts holding the towel together, but a knock sounded on the door, pissing me off because it intruded on our private time. Allison padded across the carpet and answered with a dimpled smile.
“Morning, Charlie.”
“Carpooling today?”
Since Allison and Charlie had both secured internships at K-Corp for the summer, they often shared a cab. I wasn’t particularly happy about it, but it wasn’t as if I could send her my driver. Yet.
I’d assumed it was a given, considering she was the child of one of the owners. But I’d pored over every bit of information I could find on her for the past month, and I’d stumbled across her application. It turned out, she and Charlie hadn’t been given any kind of preferential treatment. They’d more than qualified academically, applied for the position, and were interviewed and hired by a committee. If anything, I was willing to bet they’d been graded more harshly than the other candidates so that if they earned the position, it couldn't be disputed as nepotism. I was so fucking proud of my girl.
It comforted me to know she was going there each day. Jonah wouldn’t budge over allowing me access to K-Corp, so I had to be satisfied with knowing she was in her family’s care. Not that it would be for long. When I returned to New York, I was going to marry her pretty little ass immediately, then take her home and keep her on her back until I’d planted my baby inside her. She’d had such longing in her voice when she’d talked about having a family and being a mother. It had made my determination to fulfill her every wish even stronger.
“Yes,” Allison answered. “Just give me a few minutes to change and grab a cup of coffee.”
There was a pause before Charl
ie asked, “You sure you should be drinking that stuff?”
Allison sighed. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll wait until I talk to a doctor.”
8
Diego
At Allison’s mention of a doctor, I jackknifed up and swung around to plant my feet on the floor while staring intently at the screen and silently willing her to elaborate.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Charlie asked.
Hell yes, I wanted her to go with my girl. I didn’t want Allison going to see a doctor alone. I jumped to my feet and started pacing, my mind running in a million different directions.
I needed to know what was wrong with her, and the fact I wasn’t there to comfort her and protect her from whatever news she received from the doctor was eating me alive.
“No. I need to do this on my own.”
“What about asking your mom?” Charlie pressed.
Allison sighed. “I know you are trying to help, Charlie, but I’m a grown-ass woman. I don’t need my mom to explain the birds and bees, and I don’t need her to take me to the doctor.”
“You’re right. Sometimes I forget we aren’t in high school anymore.”
Allison chuckled. “Working for our fathers doesn’t make it easy. Even moving out…”
“Well, your doctor appointment will probably put it all into perspective for you. Maybe if I actually had sex—”
I blanched as Allison rolled her eyes and shut her door, cutting off Charlie’s sentence.
Something had been niggling in the back of my mind as the conversation went on, and now it was like a glaring neon sign. Allison had mentioned going to her mother if she needed birth control. And Charlie’s joke...my heart practically stopped. If Allison was planning to go on birth control so she could sleep with someone else—both of those things would happen over my dead body.
True Love Page 5