Not that it would’ve changed Malia’s mind about them, but she was a special circumstance.
The door to the conference room opened. Malia looked up, hoping to see Robert, but instead it was Jensen, one of the concierges who’d been put in charge of answering any and all of her questions and making sure she was comfortable.
“Is there anything I can get you, Ms. Martin?” Jensen was a younger guy. He had the build and tan of a surfer under his gray button-up that was the uniform of the concierge staff.
Malia rubbed at her eyes. “I’m okay for now. Do you know if Robert is planning on coming back soon?” He neglected to tell her when he was going to be done for the day, and she wanted to at least know when she should start wrapping up.
“No, ma’am. He doesn’t share that with me. Sorry about that. Did you want me to find him?”
“No. I can call him and leave a message.” He started to leave and Malia stopped him. “Hold up, Jensen. Are you a local?”
“Huh?” It almost took him a moment to realize she was asking him a personal question. “Oh, no. I worked at the Farrell Suites in San Francisco for a few years before I requested a transfer.”
“San Francisco? I’ve heard it’s beautiful over there.”
“It is. I just went through a messy break-up and this seemed like a clean break.”
Malia could understand the need for that. She started to ask him something else, but Robert appeared in the doorway behind Jensen. “Am I interrupting something?”
Jensen jumped at the sudden appearance of his boss’s boss’s boss. “Just checking on Ms. Martin like you asked, sir.”
“Thanks. I’ll take it from here.”
The helpful concierge skittered away, and Malia crossed her arms over her chest. “You scared him.”
He rolled his eyes. “I was perfectly nice. How was your day?”
“Good. I’m laying out some plans and the hotel manager is helping me. She really knows what she’s doing, so it makes my input easy. We’re going to start getting estimates from the tour companies and maybe we can time it during the off-season to get better prices.”
“And did you hear from the fire department?”
Malia glanced down. Ahh, yes. The part of her day she’d rather forget. “Yep. They determined the cause of the fire. About a gallon of gasoline spread around my room.”
Robert leaned against the table right in front of her. “I stressed to the police department how important this investigation is to me.”
Malia looked up to meet his gaze. “You already knew?”
“Well, I suspected arson from the beginning. I made sure I was kept informed of the investigation. Considering what happened with Jean yesterday and the fact that they got no prints, there’s no usable surveillance, and not one fucking lead, I’ve made my opinion of their...usefulness more than known.”
“This might not be about us, you know. My roommate, who actually owned the house, might have had some enemies.”
“Do you really believe that?”
Not that she wanted someone to want Rachel dead, but she hated the idea of someone actively targeting her. “I just really wished Rachel had left her hair straightener on.”
“Can I ask you something?”
Great. Whenever someone asked permission to ask a question, it was never a good thing. “Can I stop you?”
“Come back to New York with me.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Umm...I barely know you.”
“You barely know me but somehow in that short amount of time, I’ve put your life in danger. And I’ve come to care about your life and would hate for you to die because of me. Jean and Colin are leaving today.”
Malia picked at her nails, a nervous habit she could never seem to kick. “I agreed to help you with this fundraiser here. I can’t just get up and leave.”
“You can do everything you need to do from New York.”
She let out a laugh. “Your hotel manager could do everything I’m doing from here. We both know this was just a token job for me to feel like I’m not your charity case or your—”
“You’re not. I just want—” He sighed. “Two first-class plane tickets for tonight. You and me. I’ll take you to Broadway, the hottest clubs, the best restaurants that are booked for months in advance. Don’t say no to me.”
Malia gently shut the loaner laptop Robert had supplied her with and stood. “I’m not saying no. I’m saying yes. Yes to a wonderful week with you here, at your resort in this fancy room with an amazing man in my bed.” She rested a hand against his chest and smiled up at him, trying to convey calm and confidence. “Just take that for what it is. Now, are you going to make a thing out of this or do you want to do something fun tonight?” She’d already pushed herself so much further than she ever expected to go. He was going to have to be happy with what she was willing to give him.
“I’m sure I can come up with something to impress you tonight.”
The corner of her mouth ticked up. “I’m hard to impress, you know.”
“Trust me, I’ve realized. But I like a challenge.”
She tried to make a joke about it, but the way he looked at her as he spoke reminded her that he wasn’t joking at all. He really was going to work his ass off to try to impress her. It was a strange mix of flattering and disconcerting at the same time. But she forced herself to stop worrying about it.
There was so much to worry about, but she was finally starting to believe that Robert wasn’t all bad. He seemed to honestly care about her safety, even if he did verge on the edge of control freak half the time. So for the rest of the week, she’d keep her compulsive second thoughts and concerns focused on finding a new house and making sure she didn’t have a stalker following her.
But no more worrying about Robert. What had happened between her and the Farrells was long in the past, and Robert had made his opinion about his father clear. He was leaving in a few days, so there was no reason to dredge up the past and ruin whatever they had. Not that she knew what the hell they had, but for the next few days, she wasn’t questioning it.
“Do you want to get out of here?” She’d have to start on her long list of phone calls tomorrow, but she was at a good stopping point for the day.
“Let’s head back to the room.” Robert reached forward to take her hand.
Malia glanced down to where his skin touched hers. He was warm and solid. Yes, this wouldn’t be the worst way to spend a few days...
The investigation into who had broken into Jean’s room had kept them out until well past midnight, and she’d fallen right back asleep. Which meant it had been almost a whole twenty-four hours since they’d been together, and that was much too long. At least that was what her hormones were telling her.
In only a few minutes, she was all packed up and they rode the elevator back to Robert’s room. He held her hand; the pad of his thumb brushed over the sensitive skin over her wrist, reminding her exactly what they were going to be doing once they got to the room.
Her heart was pounding by the time they reached their floor and she bit her lip all the way until he opened the door. Except, before she could throw her bag down and show Robert exactly all the ways she’d imagined him taking her during the day, her eyes were drawn to the manila envelope on the floor.
Robert, who’d released her when he opened the door, set his hand at the small of her back. “Why don’t you head in and I’ll meet you on the bed?”
Malia shook her head. “Do you normally get nondescript deliveries under your door?” His silence answered her. “Then I want to see what this is.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, but he didn’t force her to leave. He bent down, picking up the envelope, and pushed the clips open, allowing one single sheet of paper to slide into his hand.
There was one simple line of text on the paper printed in a plain, black font.
You were warned. Now the girl will pay.
Malia let out a deep breath. Shit. A lot of serious thoughts rac
ed through her mind, but the only words that escaped were, “This probably means I’m not getting lucky.”
Robert held the door open for Malia and she tentatively stepped out of the car. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” she asked.
“Yes. You’re going to love it. Trust me.”
After the reminder that Malia wasn’t anywhere near safe, he’d at least managed to convince her to get off the island temporarily. He’d assured her that his security team was looking over video footage. Malia was more than happy to get out of the resort if there was a chance that the crazy person who’d burned down her house was hanging around. And the one other sunset cruise she’d been on had been spectacular. It hadn’t been a tough sell when Robert had brought up the idea.
Robert took her hand. “I’m sure that it’s time for you to get out of the hotel. I’m going to spend the night pampering you until you forget everything that’s happening.”
She looked out at the harbor they’d stopped at. “Hard to say no to pampering. What’s on the agenda? You said you rented a boat?”
“I hope you’re not offended that I didn’t book you as my guide.” He smiled as he led her toward the dock. “But I thought this would be special.”
“Sunset cruises are pretty amazing no matter what boat you’re on.”
“Well, this isn’t just any boat.”
They came to a stop in front of the massive yacht. Malia looked left and right, trying to determine whether she was seeing things. “Are you serious?”
“Yep. I know you’ve been through a lot, so I wanted to give you something special.”
“Special? This boat cost millions of dollars. This is crazy.”
“Well, I didn’t buy it for you.” He smirked.
She lightly tapped him on the arm. “Stop joking and get me on the boat! I’ve never even touched something this expensive.” She’d first learned about the crazy yacht business when she worked the concession stand at the boat show on the island a few years back. But she’d never actually been inside one. This was a Pershing Superyacht. It was the kind of boat that could be confused with a house with state-of-the-art everything. “How big is it?”
“And here I thought size didn’t matter.”
“The motion of the ocean can only do so much. Now give me details.”
A man appeared on the deck and secured the walkway for them to walk onto the boat. Malia eagerly explored as Robert gave her some of the statistics. “This model is ninety-two feet long, has a master suite, two guest cabins, and a state-of-the-art kitchen. And that’s pretty much all I know before I said yes.”
Malia ran to the look at the gorgeous seating area at the front of the boat with plush leather cushions overlooking the bow of the boat. “Did you really need to know more? I would’ve said yes at the word yacht.” She stopped and turned to him. “But, seriously, you’ve outdone yourself.”
Robert leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “If we have a repeat of last night, it will all be worth it. Now take a seat and hang tight. I’m going to tell the captain we’re ready to head out and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Malia watched him go before she ran to look out over the water. She’d been on the island since she was seventeen years old and she’d never done anything like this. Yeah, getting involved with Robert put her in way over her head, but she was starting to get used to the feeling.
A few minutes later, she felt the boat move and she glanced over to see the dock retreating. This must be some captain. Normally the bigger the boat, the slower everything went. As she crossed to the other side of the deck to look at the island, Robert came back with a bottle of wine and two glasses in hand.
“Don’t tell me the wine is super fancy too.” She sat back on the plush seat.
“Well, I have a small confession.”
“Oh really?”
“I know almost nothing about wine.”
Malia snorted at the unexpected admission. Her mind had been going to some strange family confession. This seemed so...normal. And nothing about Robert really seemed normal. “Lots of people don’t like wine.”
“No, I like it. Reds mainly. But when it comes to years or brands, I’m pretty much clueless. The concierge department recommended this one, so I think we’re in luck.”
“Well, I drink the five dollar bottles from the grocery store, so I’m sure I’ll be very impressed.”
Robert uncorked the bottle and poured. “There’s some snacks down in the kitchen if you’re hungry.”
Malia let out a laugh. “The kitchen? You’re not a boat person or a wine person. I feel like I’m learning so much about you.”
“What can I say? I’m an enigma.” He took a sip of his wine as he considered her. “You confuse the hell out of me, though. I know that your name is Malia, you look fantastic in the sun, and you work about a thousand jobs at any given time. Besides that? Nothing. Give me something I can work with. You know so much about my family.”
She scoffed at the question. She supposed she hadn’t talked much about her family, but there wasn’t much to say. Most things associated with her family weren’t happy topics and some of that unhappiness was much too intertwined with Robert’s family. “I’m really not all that interesting, Robert. What did you want to know?”
“Let’s start with parents. I’m assuming you started out with two.”
“Good assumption. Started out with two, but Dad wasn’t around for long. When I was younger, I’d see him once every other week or so and he’d pay child support, but apparently he was only coming over because his mother would hound him. Once Grandma died, he was pretty much gone.”
“Damn.”
“No. It wasn’t really that bad. I was young enough that it didn’t bother me too much.”
“Was your mom around?”
Malia thought over that answer carefully. It was such a complicated question with no easy answer. “Mom...she tried—I’ll give her that. Outside circumstances just made life difficult and sometimes trying to keep a roof over our heads had to come first to any other mothering she could do.”
“I haven’t talked to my mother in five years. She sends me a card every Christmas and birthday. Not a personal card. I think the last one said ‘Do good things and good things will happen.’ Not exactly inspiring.”
“And here I thought rich people had their shit together.”
Robert shook his head as he poured himself another glass of wine. “Sorry to disappoint. In my experience, the more money, the more fucked up.”
“Well, damn. There goes my plan to marry rich.”
Robert shrugged out of his suit jacket and set it on the seat next to him as he scooted right next to Malia. “So have you seen your mother since you moved here?”
“Yep. We moved here together. We’d been in and out of homelessness for years so she saved up enough money for a one-way flight.”
“She got a job here?”
“Not right away, but it’s not like being homeless in New York. There are no freezing winters or the constant threat of being shot. Homeless here is setting up a tent on the beach and not pissing off tourists. And then I figured out that as long as I could offer some sort of value to the tourists, I could make money. So I stuck close to the city and learned as much as I could about the island and was able to make a living. I don’t think Mom ever got used to the island life. She met some traveler on the island a few years ago and moved to LA to marry him. He seems nice enough. Knowing my mom’s taste, I was worried, but they seem to be working things out.”
“Walter had two other wives after he divorced my mother. If you want step-parent advice, I’ve got you covered.”
“We can be messed up together.” She raised her glass to his before she downed the rest of her wine. She normally didn’t drink much, but she felt so safe with Robert. Why not let down her guard a little bit? Robert would make sure she got home, or to her temporary home at least.
“You know what I think?” She leaned in close.
“What is that?” he asked softly.
“More wine.” She giggled—like, legit giggled—as she stood and ran for the stairs Robert had come from. She heard him get up to follow her and she kept laughing. She ran past the galley and to the large stateroom. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the luxurious bed, which was bigger than any bed on any boat should ever be.
Robert’s arms wrapped around her from behind, and she melted into him. He was warm and strong, and everything about this was just perfect.
She turned in his arms and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he pulled her in closer. He backed her up until her thighs hit the back of the bed and she fell onto the plush blankets.
Robert kissed her hard and deep as one of his knees pushed between hers. She opened for him even as she scooted farther on the bed. He kissed down her neck as one of his hands slid over her breasts and down her stomach to cup her between her legs.
Malia gasped as, even through her panties and the fabric of her shorts, it was enough to send little shocks of electricity through her. She rubbed against him as she arched her back and neck, the sensations almost overwhelming.
Her eyes popped open as she tried to catch her breath, but Robert wasn’t making it easy. As he kissed up her neck and then settled on her earlobe, she let out a soft moan. This was all too much. She started to close her eyes again when something on the nightstand caught her eye.
Was that her brush?
She blinked away the strange thought until she realized that the entire nightstand was covered with her stuff: her brush, the night cream that Robert’s staff had purchased for her, and a few other things she’d left back at the hotel.
Malia tapped Robert’s shoulder as she looked around the rest of the room. Sure enough, the bags of what little stuff she had sat in the corner of the room.
Robert pulled back, his chest crushing hers as he tried to catch his breath. “Is something wrong?”
Reckless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 2) Page 9