Looking down like a scolded child, I know she’s right. “I apologize. I’ll check on how much longer dinner will be.” Getting up, I find Fancy’s hand on my arm as I pass by her and her sister.
“We have children, Ryker. What about our DNA?” she asks me.
I look at Gia, instead of answering her sister. “I will leave that up to you to share or not, Gia.” Then I leave the room and feel a weight on my shoulders for some reason.
Maybe it’s because of how Damien won’t let Gia do what’s best for herself. Maybe I feel like I should be doing more to stop the man from squashing her. But she is the one who allows it. And now that I can see how her family is about the man, I am beginning to understand it a lot better. They all are depending on him. Their financial security is all on Gia’s back and I find that unfair.
Instead of going to the kitchen, I sit at the dining table in the dark and empty formal dining room. Placing my head in my hands, I find myself feeling desperate. I desperately want Gia to find her true self and I might be pushing too hard at her to do that but I don’t know any other way to get her to see what she’s doing to herself.
The click-clack of high heels echoes through the hallway and into the room comes Gia, her eyes are searching and I know she’s looking for me. “Ryker, there you are. I have to make this quick as Damien has excused himself to freshen up.”
Getting up, I meet her in the middle of the room and place my hand on her arm. Just to touch her sends millions of tiny sparks through my body. The way her eyes move to where my hand is, tells me she feels something too. “Gia, you look lovely. I’ve wanted to tell you that. I looked forward to meeting with you this morning and when Damien came alone and gave me the news that he wouldn’t let you work for me, I nearly came unglued.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. See, he was in the hotel room when I left your room and we had a hellacious argument. He gave me the chance to walk away from him last night. He told me I could leave him and go to your room and he’d never bother with me again.”
“You should’ve done that,” I say as I move my hand up her arm until I find her soft cheek and stroke it.
She leans into my touch then looks up at me with shining eyes. “But I didn’t. I have more responsibilities than most. My entire family relies on Damien. And I do respect the man.”
My lips quiver as they ache to touch hers. Her body is close to mine and heat fills me. Taking her hand, I take her with me to go to one of the spare bedrooms on the first floor. “Can we be alone for a little while?” I ask her as I tug her along with me.
“No,” she pulls up short, stopping me. “Ryker, you have to stop this. I’m not about to go anywhere private with you. Damien and I are on shaky ground. Did you hear what I just told you?”
“I did.” I turn around to face her and see a shadow moving down the hallway. Letting her hand go, I whisper, “Someone is coming.”
She steps back and says, “So, when is dinner going to be ready? Daddy has to take his medication soon. He needs to eat.”
“Clever,” I whisper. “Soon. Come with me to the kitchen and let’s get a definite time on that. We can grab him something to eat if it’ll be much longer.”
“Ryker,” Damien calls out as he comes into the dining room. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
Great!
GIA
“I came to find out how much longer dinner will be, Damien!” I snap as he’s made me mad with his accusing tone. “And I can talk to Ryker if I want to.”
His eyes pierce me as he says, “That is all you two can do. You do recall our conversation last night, don’t you, Gia?”
Ryker huffs and turns away from us. “I’m going to the kitchen if you two care to come.”
I follow behind him and Damien takes my hand to slow my hasty retreat. “Surely, you understand why I feel I can’t trust you two together. We did talk about this,” he whispers in my ear. “You are a treasure to me. I do not wish to lose you.”
“You won’t.”
Looking ahead, I see Ryker turning a corner and a light comes on. “This place is like a maze,” Damien says. “So many twists and turns.”
“It is easy to get lost in here. Keep your phone with you at all times, so you can call me if you find yourself lost in my home.” He looks over his shoulder at me. “Or take your dog with you, she’ll make sure you find your way back.”
“Thanks for bringing my family to me, Ryker. Too bad the kids had school and had to stay home with their fathers, instead of coming. Maybe my next trip back to the states will have me seeing them too,” I say as I miss the little rug-rats.
He pushes a door open and we’re in a bustling, huge kitchen. “Connie, when will you be serving the first course?”
“Fifteen minutes,” a woman near the back of the kitchen shouts out over the noise of the ten or so people who are working like crazy.
“You keep this much kitchen staff?” I ask as it seems a bit much.
Ryker smiles as he turns to look at me. “This isn’t my staff. This is the staff from Per Se in New York. I flew them in for the weekend to cater to us all.”
“That must’ve cost you a fortune, Ryker,” I gasp.
One of the women working at a table nearby says, “It did.”
My heart swells with all he did just for me to get to spend the weekend with my family. I want to give him a hug but Damien has a death grip on my hand.
“It’s a shame we won’t get to spend more than one night here, Ryker. You really should’ve spoken to me about it. I have to be back in Orlando first thing in the morning,” Damien says, crushing me.
Ryker gestures for us to leave the kitchen, leading us back through the maze to get to the living area my family is in. “Gia isn’t a part of any of your business. She can stay here and see her family. I’ll send you back in the limo if you want.”
Damien’s grip tightens to the point I have to let him know he’s hurting me. “Ow,” I hiss at him as I shake my hand.
He eases his grip then says, “Would you want to do that, Gia? Would you want to stay here, without me?”
With a shrug, I say, “I’ll be alone in the hotel most of the time anyway. I can stay here and bunk with my sisters. Like a slumber party. It’ll be fun. You go ahead if you have business to see to. Although, with it being the weekend, I don’t see who you’re going to meet with.”
“That’s not the kind of business I was talking about,” Damien says as we enter the living area. “My friend was feeling worried with me leaving town.”
“So, you want to go back for this friend?” I ask him then pull him with me to a remote corner of the large room, so everyone doesn’t hear us talking. “This friend keeps taking precedence over me for some reason. Damien, is this friend of yours a woman?”
When he glances to the side, I have my answer and walk around him, angrier than I’ve been in quite some time. He grabs me by my arm, pulling me back. “It’s nothing you can imagine, I promise you.”
Glaring at his hand on my arm, I jerk out of his firm grasp. “Then what the hell is it?”
He looks down as he whispers, “She’s the mother of my only child.”
It feels like a brick wall has caved in on me. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. He has a child!
“You and I need to talk, alone, Damien,” I say then turn away from him and see Ryker, talking to my sisters. As I walk to him, Damien follows me closely. “Ryker, we’re going to our room to freshen up. You all feel free to start eating without us. We’ll catch up.”
Ryker stands up and looks me over. “Are you feeling alright? Do you need anything? Medicine of some sort?”
Shaking my head, I walk away from him. “No, I just need to freshen up, that’s all.”
I can feel his eyes on me as Damien and I leave the room. Neither of us say a word until we’re in the guestroom and he closes the door behind us. “Now you can understand things better, Gia.”
I hold up my hand to sto
p him from going any further. “How old is this child?”
“Two,” he says and I stumble to sit on the bed.
“That means you were with someone when we first got together,” I say as I think about the timeline. “And you’ve been hiding this for three years. Why?” I look up to find him looking worried. The man never looks worried!
“I have my reasons for hiding this from everyone. You see, my family would never allow her in their midst. She was a common prostitute. I had hired her for the night. I knew the chance I was taking when I did it. It was two days before I met you, Gia. It was a horrible mistake and I will pay for it forever. I don’t take care of her for her sake but for my son’s I do.” He sits on the bed next to me and runs his hands over the tops of his legs.
“They are from Russia, right?” I ask as I’m not sure how much of what he told me about this old friend is true.
“They are. I keep them in a small home not far from our estate. At home, I have to keep my visits limited to the night hours when most people are sleeping,” he tells me and now I know why I’d wake up so many nights to find him gone. He’d tell me he couldn’t sleep and went to work early but he lied about that, I see now.
“In Orlando, you can go to them more often,” I say. “And you have spent the majority of your time with them since we’ve been here. I get why you can’t tell your family but I don’t understand why you couldn’t tell me. She happened before us. I can understand that. I’m not a monster. I’d have accepted the fact you had a child and I would’ve encouraged you to know and care for the kid.”
“I just thought it would be best if no one knew about her and the boy. I have more I should tell you, so it doesn’t hurt you when the time comes.”
I hold up my hand to stop him, I know what he’s going to say, so I say it first, “The reason you aren’t taking me to Mars is because you will be taking them.”
“Yes,” he says, sending me into a spasm of pain. “But I need you with me until that day comes. Otherwise, my family will be on me to marry a Russian woman, the way they were all over me to do before I met you.”
“I am merely a distraction for your family. I get it now.”
“And you will be greatly rewarded, Gia. I take care of you very well, do I not? And your family, as well. I am giving you a future of wealth. And all I am asking is for you to stay with me until I leave for Mars, taking my little secret family with me.”
“This is beyond hard to take, Damien. Do you have sex with this woman?” I look at him to try to see the truth in his eyes.
“Once a week,” he tells me and I double over with a pain in my gut. “It would be cruel to leave her sexually frustrated. Don’t you agree? I don’t love her. But I am going to have her in my life forever. I will not see another man raise my son. Surely, you can understand that, Gia. I take good care of her but I take excellent care of you.”
“Damien, this is too much for me to handle. I can’t…”
His hands on my shoulders, stop the words from coming out as he pushes me back on the bed and kisses me with a hot passion. I press my hands against his wide chest to make him get off me but he won’t.
When his mouth leaves mine, his hot breath on my face makes me feel even sicker than I did before. “I love you, Gia. I will marry you. I will make you a Markov by name. I will give you all you want. Just allow me to keep my little family, my love. Please, I am begging you.”
“You never had any intention of taking me to Mars,” I say as I glare at him.
“You never had any intention of going,” he says with a cocked brow. “Don’t act like you did. And I cannot leave my son behind. And children need their mothers, Gia. What else would you have me do?”
“Marry her,” I say. “Make a respectable woman out of her. For your son’s sake, do that.”
He shakes his head but he still won’t let me up. “I cannot do that in Russia. She is a known prostitute. My family would cut me off without a cent if they knew of her and the child. I’d be thrown out of the company too. I have no idea how to be poor. I have no idea how I’d make a life for us. I just need your help for a while longer. I foresee the first mission leaving within five years. After that, you will be free to do what you want. Until then, I need you to be with me.”
All I can do is stare at the man I’ve been with for three long years and all I see is a stranger in front of me. What the hell am I supposed to do?
RYKER
With dinner over and the hour growing late, I find everyone retreating to their bedrooms to get some sleep. More than once, I’ve caught Gia looking at me with a forlorn expression. She hasn’t been the same since she and Damien went off to their room for nearly an hour. It’s doubtful they were in the room doing anything physically stimulating!
Heading to my bedroom at the opposite end of the house from the guestrooms, I overhear Gia say, “I have to let Lady out to use the bathroom. I’ll be back inside in just a bit, Damien.”
“Okay, I’m going to take a shower anyway,” he says and then I hear the sound of the door closing.
Heading back to the entrance room, I find Gia with her dog, Lady, just like I expected to. “Hey,” I say as I step in front of her and open the door.
She nods and walks out with the dog who runs off to sniff around. “You should be in bed, don’t you think?” she asks me as she leans on a palm tree near the front door.
“I think you look troubled, Gia. I think I wouldn’t catch a wink of sleep if I did go to bed. Tell me your troubles, doll,” I say with a chuckle then lean against the tree too. Our shoulders are nearly touching and I can feel her energy from here.
“On the upside, I will be staying the weekend here. And thank you again for that, Ryker. Really, thank you,” her eyes convey to me more than her words. She is thankful.
“And how did you accomplish that feat?” I ask. “How did you get Damien to decide to stay? Or dare I ask?”
She giggles and a blush fills her cheeks, turning them a light shade of pink. “He’s not staying. He will be going back to Orlando to hang with his old friend. But I got his approval to stay here. And a stern order to watch myself with you. You, my friend, are not to be trusted. Can you imagine him thinking that about you?”
“Me?” I ask with a high pitch to my voice as I press my hand against my chest and give her a devilish grin. “Oh, you can trust me.”
Her eyes hold mine for a long moment then she looks away. “I bet I can.”
The sense she has a lot on her mind is a thing that has me asking more, “So, why the long face?”
She touches her face as she answers, “Is it that obvious?”
“To me it is,” I tell her then take her hand away from her face and hold it. “You should talk about it.”
“It’s not my story to tell,” she says then looks away again.
“Did he tell you something that upset you?” I watch her closely and see her eye twitch. That answers my question but I wait to see what her response will be.
“Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. And sometimes we find ourselves in situations that benefit all while being painful for some. Do you understand what I’m saying, Ryker?” She looks at me with the need to be understood.
“You are the one who’s being caused that pain,” I say and she nods.
“But I’m okay with that. It means more to me that a certain person has someone in their life. My part in it is a bit like a martyr but I’m okay with that.” She looks at her hand, the one I am holding and adds, “Damien told me he loved me. He told me he’d marry me.” Her eyes move to mine. “What do you think about that, Ryker? The man will definitely be leaving on the first ship out of here but he wants to leave me here, carrying his name and fortune. I have but one, very simple, task.”
“And that is?” I ask her as she doesn’t look very happy about things.
“I am never to get pregnant by him and I am to remain faithful and a dutiful wife. In return, I will have myself and my entire family take
n care of, forever. A cheap price to pay for such a grand thing. Don’t you think?”
“You don’t want me to tell you what I think about that.” I let her hand go and walk around the tree to come up behind her. My hand at her waist, I whisper in her ear, “And did you tell him that you loved him?” My lips graze her ear and she shivers.
“I don’t lie,” she says with a sigh.
“So, the man knows you don’t love him and yet he still asked you to marry him. That’s unusual, isn’t it, Gia?” I ask as I move my arms around to encircle her and draw her back to me. The shadows hide me, so even if anyone looks out a window, no one will see me, holding her.
She doesn’t try to get out of my hold and leans her head back to rest on my chest. “Unusual and complicated, as well, Ryker. It seems I am to live my life in limbo until a way to get to Mars is found and Damien leaves this world to go to another.”
“Seems kind of unfair,” I say then venture so far as to leave a kiss on her neck. “Seems like you should get more.”
“I’m getting plenty. I’m getting more than most have, for our deal. And that’s exactly what it is. It’s a deal and nothing more than that. But I will have to keep up the appearance of being a happy couple, a doting wife, a vision of what his family wants.”
“I could give you more, Gia. I want to give you more,” I whisper as I kiss along the length of her neck. She reaches back to run her hand through my hair as she sighs.
“Ryker, were I a lesser woman, I would give into you in a heartbeat. I hold my family close to my heart. And you are a playboy with one thing on your mind. Once you’ve had me, you will lose interest and I will have lost everything. If it wasn’t for my family, I might risk it. You seem to push all the right buttons. Your touch is like fire on my flesh. Your lips feel sinfully sweet as you move them over my neck. And I am sure to fall head over heels in love with you, while you will have your taste of me. All too soon, you’ll be moving on to the next delicious female who catches your attention.”
Rockstar Untamed: A Single Dad Virgin Romance Page 107