Alex set a hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”
“You really check your emails all the time?”
“Pretty much. Maybe it was luck that I saw it right when it came in.”
Malia tried to imagine a shot and bleeding Robert sneaking into his downstairs office to message Alex. “What did his message say?”
“You know Robert. Even on a good day, he’s a man of few words. It said ‘shot call help.’ No punctuation at all. Terrifying stuff.”
“Robert’s a grammar freak?” There was still so much she didn’t know about him.
“The whole office had a party the first time he didn’t fully spell out ‘Laugh Out Loud.’”
She’d never texted Robert. What a strange thought. She wanted to text him. To get used to how he joked over the phone. She wanted to know that side of him. To have a real, honest-to-goodness relationship.
“Alex Farrell?” asked someone. They both turned to see the middle-aged brunette nurse in the hall. “He’s awake if you want to see him.”
Alex gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. “Let’s say hi.”
Robert had his own room, and the morning sun streamed through the window, making the place seem more cheery than a hospital had any right to be.
Malia hung back as Alex crossed to Robert’s side. “You almost had me worried there.”
Robert winced. “Talk quieter. I have the hangover from hell right now.”
“I can tell. You look like you got hit by a truck.”
“You look pretty good to me.” Malia stepped up. He had bruises all along one side of his face, and his eyes were still shadowed with the effects of the drugs he was coming off of. But he was there. Alive. He was okay, and that made him the best sight she’d seen in forever.
“You’re here.” He pushed himself up before wincing with the pain.
She shifted her weight as she tried to figure out how she was supposed to act. “Of course I’m here. You fought off a crazy guy with a gun. I think that entitles you to—” She stopped herself from finishing the dirty joke, suddenly remembering that Alex was in the room.
“I’m glad you’re here,” said Robert, immediately calming all of her nerves.
Alex cocked his head as he looked between the two of them. Great. She was being weird. This was so much easier when she hated both of them. Now that she actually wanted Alex to like her, she had no idea what to do.
“Do you want coffee? I need coffee.” She pointed to Robert. “You probably can’t have any. I’ll be right back.” Malia started to exit to the hallway, but immediately ducked back inside and slammed the door shut. “Wh-Wh-Why is my mother here?” she stuttered out.
Alex’s smile answered before he even spoke. “I invited her.”
“I repeat. Why is my mother here? Did you think my day wasn’t stressful enough already?”
“You know I can’t defend myself right now, right?” asked Robert from the bed.
“Hey, you just took a bullet for Malia. If she was ever going to warm up to the idea of you two dating, it’s right now. And you look like shit. She’ll like that. Trust me.”
Malia ran her hands over her eyes and through her hair. “Alex, when we get out of here, I’m going— There are going to be words.”
“Maybe. Now hold my brother’s hand like you love him and try to keep your mother from pulling the life support.”
Malia ran to the other side of the bed and took Robert’s hand in hers, smiling down at him as he squeezed her palm. “Can you handle this?” she asked softly.
He gazed up at her with love in his eyes. Or maybe it was the morphine. But she was telling herself it was love. “You’re here. We can handle anything together.”
Robert smiled as he saw Malia at the table with Maeve, Jean and Colin’s daughter, bouncing on her lap. It was strange to see her holding a child, but not really all that unwelcome. He didn’t think that kids were on their radar in the near future, but it was an interesting possibility to look forward to.
He took a sip of his drink as he swerved through the tables until he reached her and bent down, pressing a kiss to the curve of her neck. “Hey, gorgeous.”
She tilted her head back and smiled up at him. “I assume you’re talking about me and not Maeve.”
“I’m talking to both of you.” He reached over, giving Maeve a little boop on the nose, causing her to smile and giggle.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Malia warned. “We still have years.”
“Noted.” He took the seat next to her and grabbed his fork to take a piece of cake off her plate.
“What the hell are you doing?” she whispered.
“You weren’t eating it.”
“I’ll have you know, I was saving that.”
“Well, I’ll grab you another. Promise.”
“You better,” she muttered before she turned back to Maeve and bounced her on her leg, making a few smiley faces at her.
“Besides, what’s yours is mine, right?”
“You have to be married for that,” she reminded him.
Robert looked around the room. Everyone seemed so...happy. The very idea of it was foreign. All of his brothers, and even the sister he didn’t know he had, were in the same place and all smiling. The moment just seemed so perfect. “Maybe we should then.”
Malia glanced over at him. A smile tugged at her lips. “That better not be a proposal.”
Robert was taken aback. “I thought that you were—”
“Oh, no. I’m totally going to marry you. But you’re not allowed to propose at a wedding. It’s against the rules.”
“Must’ve missed my copy of the rule book.”
“This is your brother’s day. During weddings, you’re not allowed to propose or announce pregnancies.”
“See. This is why I need you. To keep me on the straight and narrow.”
Right then, Jean came from the dance floor with Colin close behind. “Hey, baby girl,” she said with over-exaggerated happiness that made her daughter’s face light up.
Colin tilted his glass toward Robert and he nodded in response. They weren’t exactly brotherly, but there had definitely been progress.
“You two should go out and dance,” said Jean.
Malia handed Maeve over to Jean even as she shook her head. “I’m so tired. I don’t think—”
“Nope.” Robert stood and held a hand out to her. “It’s a wedding and we’re dancing.”
Before she could protest any more, Colin motioned with his head to the dance floor. “Do it. Jean made me and it was much more fun than I expected.”
Malia narrowed her eyes. “You don’t seem like the dancing type.”
“The trick is you have to find the right partner.”
She bit her lip as she stood, setting her hand in Robert’s. “I’ve been sufficiently convinced.”
As soon as they were on the floor, Robert set one hand on the small of her back and led her into the slow tempo of the song. “So you really don’t like dancing? I feel like you would be the type to get naked in the moonlight. In fact, I’ve had a number of fantasies that involve you dancing on a beach wearing very few clothes.”
Malia rested her head on his chest as he led her through the steps. “Oh, no. That dancing I can do. It’s this...more structured stuff. I guess I underestimated your ability to lead.”
“Controlling is what I do best.”
“But you’ve been holding off on the kidnapping lately. That’s a plus.”
“No more kidnapping. I’ll even write it into my vows.”
“That’s assuming there’s a wedding. And, since you haven’t proposed yet, we can’t say that will happen, now can we?”
“Okay. Then I’ll write it into my hypothetical vows.”
“There you go.” She tilted her head back to look at him. “When are you coming home again?”
Home. It was so nice to hear her say it. Even though it had been hard, he’d been passing more of his duties onto his brothe
rs, and even a bit to Jean, as he transitioned to his new home office on Hawaii. After a few months of trial and error, Malia had been able to find a nice place for them on the beach of the North Shore where the waves were at their best. It was smaller than the homes he was used to living in, but something about always knowing Malia was just one or two rooms away made the size one of the things he liked about the house.
“I have meetings scheduled the next two days and then I’m on the first plane home.”
She smiled. “Then I guess I’ll have to make the most of the time we have here.” New York wasn’t her favorite place, but the bright side was that when she did come to the city with him, she spent most of the time in the bedroom. Hard to complain about the most beautiful woman he’d ever met waiting for him under the covers all day.
Malia leaned her head against him once more. “You know, that fundraiser went over really well.”
“The press hasn’t shut up about it. Obviously I should host parties in Hawaii more often.”
“And, hypothetically speaking, I’d be pretty capable of planning a wedding after helping to organize all that.”
“Hypothetically,” he smiled, “when would be a good time to talk about this?”
Malia frowned against his chest. “Hmmm... Well, not tonight obviously. And probably not tomorrow morning. But I suppose any time after that. You’d need a ring, though.”
“Something with flowers. You need flowers everywhere.”
Abruptly, Malia stopped dancing. “Robert, do you have a ring already?”
He looked down at her. The corners of his mouth hooked up. “Hypothetically?”
“No. Screw hypothetical. Do you actually have a ring?”
“Of course. I’ve had a ring for months. I knew the second I kidnapped you that I wanted to marry you.”
“Robert... That’s...”
He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Shh.” He started to pull her back into the dance. “You don’t have to say anything but yes. Eventually.”
“Soon.”
He held her closer as the song finished. After tonight, he’d have to ask that question sooner rather than later. He smiled at the thought. A Hawaii wedding would be beautiful. Almost as beautiful as her.
REMORSELESS
Coming in August 2nd, 2016
He wants to know who tried to kill him.
She wants to protect his family's reputation.
They both can't get what they want.
Someone tried to kill him, and now that he's freshly out of prison, Logan Farrell is determined to track down the real criminal. Hellbent on spending his family's fortune to discover who's got a hit out on him, Logan will stop at nothing until he has the answers her wants.
But the Farrell family has other plans...
Public Relations Specialist, Julie Anne h as one job: keep the Farrell name out of the tabloids. With their sketchy background, it's a harder task than she ever realized. But when Logan's quest for the truth puts the entire family in danger, Julie steps in with a plan that could destroy everything Logan's worked for. Suddenly, Logan's enemies are out for blood, and Julie's caught in the middle. Now, it's up to Logan to end the vendetta once and for all.
To be notified when REMORSELESS is released, sign up for Mallory's Mailing list at: http://www.mallorycrowe.com/
See an excerpt on the next page.
(A sneak peek at book 3 in the Fractured Farrells Series)
Copyright 2016 Mallory Crowe
CHAPTER ONE
Julie had done a lot of crazy things in her life, but this might take the cake. She rolled down the window and looked at her phone for the fifteenth time. It was ten past ten. Which meant he was ten minutes late. But when she'd talked to the warden the night before to confirm the time of the final hearing, he'd said nine-thirty. Since this final hearing was more of a formality, Julie didn't know how long she should expect it to take.
She was about to reach back for her book when the steel gates of the prison started to slide open. Since there was no one waiting to enter the first of many locked doors of the prison, it had to be someone trying to get out. Julie slid forward in her seat as she tried to get a better view of whoever was coming out. She'd seen plenty of pictures of the guy, but they were all of him ten years ago.
Who knew what was about to walk out of those doors?
Even though Julie was half convinced she wouldn't recognize Logan Farrell when she saw him, the guy who walked out was unmistakably a Farrell.
It helped that he was wearing the outfit she'd sent. He'd been originally taken in after a party. He'd been a young twenty-two years old and Julie knew exactly what he'd been wearing since she'd seen the pictures. Because getting arrested for something you didn't do wasn't bad enough, it had to happen in full view of the paparazzi. The media had always been fascinated with the Farrell family, especially with Walter Farrell's very public string of marriages and divorces, but this arrest started their obsession.
Julie supposed she should be grateful. If it weren't for the issues with the media and their fixation with the brothers, Nathan in particular, she wouldn't have her extremely comfortable savings account. Most PR specialists only dreamed about getting clients this big. But it was hard to be grateful considering the amount of headaches the Farrells had caused her over the years. Hell, at this point she should own stock in anti-acids. Lord knew she was probably increasing the profits ten-fold.
With that in mind, she popped a few more of the chewable tablets and got out of the car. She'd parked the brand new rental SUV in the middle of the parking lot. Julie didn't know much about Logan Farrell, but she knew she needed to tread carefully. This was a man who'd been born into privilege and had been screwed over time and time again. He had ten years to think about just how unfair life was and she didn't know what kind of bitterness would come out of that.
And she had a feeling he wouldn't be the type to be overwhelmed with gratefulness that his family had fought tooth and nail to get the charges of insider trading dropped. And that was why she was there. To monitor him and make sure he didn't do anything stupid.
Logan looked strongly like his brothers and extremely different at the same time. His dark, almost black, hair was long and ragged, pulled back into a short ponytail. Funny. Julie had never liked long hair on a guy, but when it was pulled back, it made his sharp cheekbones and strong jaw line stand out even more.
She couldn't see his eyes from where she was, but she knew from pictures that they were a bright ice blue. Hopefully that was one thing prison couldn't change. When Julie had first seen pictures of him, she'd had to ask Nathan if he was wearing contacts. The color just seemed so unreal. Julie had a feeling that if he hadn't been put in prison, he'd be the party boy that would've needed a personal PR rep, not Nathan.
Except now he was free and still too damned attractive for his own good. He was going to be looking to scratch a hell of a lot of itches. It was her job to keep those impulses managed.
The guy stopped outside the gates and looked around. She couldn't guess what he planned to do. He'd ignored all the calls from Robert and Alex where they'd tried to arrange a pickup for him. Hopefully he'd be willing to talk to her.
She'd had no idea what size clothes he wore, so she'd played it safe by sending Logan some XL sweatpants and a white t-shirt. Comfortable and would hold him over while they looked for some better fitting clothes.
Since he hadn't been expecting her, she didn't think she'd get his attention until she was right up on him, but Logan stared at her the second she stepped out of the car. As she weaved through the parking lot, he never looked away from her. She wasn't sure if he'd forgotten all basic manners while he was in there or if he just didn't care.
Maybe a combination of both.
Julie squared her shoulders as she approached her newest project. "Mr. Farrell?" she asked even though she already knew it was him.
His eyes, which she confirmed were the same striking blue color once she was so close, narrow
ed skeptically. "Who the fuck are you?"
Oh yeah. He was going to be a peach to work with. "Your family sent me to help with your release."
Those eyes looked up and down her body and she forced herself to remain still and not fidget. Her designer jeans and black tank top with delicately embroidered blue flowers was perfectly modest and she had no reason to feel ashamed with what he was seeing.
"You don't dress like a hooker or a lawyer. Why would my brothers send you?"
"I'll take that as a compliment. They sent me to help. You tell me what you need and I'll get it for you. Starting with a car." She held up the keys to the rental. "This is just temporary, but we can go car shopping as soon as you're ready and pick out a permanent ride for you."
Logan tentatively reached out and took the keys. "You think I still know how to drive?"
"I think I got a car with good airbags." He gripped the keys tightly in his hand and Julie didn't know if that was a good sign or bad. "Since I'm more familiar with the area, I can handle the first leg of the trip. I did some reading and it said that most people who get out after long stints in prison like to get food first. Usually some sort of meat. I have a list of the best burger joints in the area. Maybe that can be lunch and we can move onto steak for dinner?"
Logan was expressionless as he stared at her and Julie knew that no matter what he'd been expecting, it sure as hell wasn't her. Besides, it was hard to give a smartass answer when someone was offering to get you a burger. He handed the key back to her. "Lead the way."
Julie smiled her victory as she took the key from him. "Great. Come on." She lead the way across the parking lot and to the car. She didn't hear him following her, but she forced herself to keep her gaze straight ahead. It was important to pay attention to the power scales here. On one hand, he'd just gotten out of a place where he'd been vulnerable for ten years straight. She knew he'd be trying to prove himself and test limits now that he was out, which she was fine with. But he also needed to know that he couldn't push her around or force her to let him do whatever he wanted. She was there to protect him and in some cases that would mean not letting him get what he wanted.
Reckless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 2) Page 17