With a hand on his jaw, Ginger took Shane’s attention from the dog up to her. “Will you check on Cam? I mean, will you keep checking on him?”
“I swear it, baby. I’ll keep him safe,” Shane said and she lowered her mouth to nuzzle her lips on his knuckles over the monitor before turning to follow the path that circled the water with her fur baby leading the way.
Damn, he was hard again, and in the company of his brother and hers. Picking up pillow from the swing, Shane tried to be discreet in moving it to his lap, but the guys were already jeering.
“Man, you need to get some!” Murphy said, shoving him.
Shane didn’t need to be told. He’d been waiting sixteen months for some and the some he wanted was just disappearing into the tree line, so he groaned. “I swear she’s doing it on purpose.”
“Trying to break your dick?” Murphy asked and gulped his beer. “Your Ginger would totally tease you like that.”
His Ginger. “Something… I don’t know, something’s happening,” he said, watching the spot where she’d disappeared into the trees.
He and Murphy were on the swing with Owen on the wicker chair opposite, in the positions that had become their norm. “What about you?” Murphy asked, giving Owen a light kick. “You spent all night in the hospital with her. You’ve been quiet.”
“Nothing to tell,” Owen shrugged and drank his beer.
Drawing his eyes away from the path, Shane was suspicious when he spied his brother-in-law. “When I came back in with that bed, you were pretty damn cozy on the couch,” Shane said. “What were you talking about?”
“Nothing,” Owen said.
But he knew his brother-in-law’s tells, and he groaned when Owen drank his beer and averted his eyes again. “You fucker! You bonded, didn’t you?” he said. “You’re back to that brother-sister privilege stuff, aren’t you?”
Owen could barely contain his joy when he grinned. “Yes!”
“Well I’m happy for you,” Shane muttered. As much as he tried to sound like he was annoyed, he wasn’t. Any return to her previous self was progress as far as he was concerned.
No one was in the mood for therapy today and they were happy to spend the day settling Cameron in. For once there was a kind of truce, for the sake of the baby, and everyone was going out of their way not to get in each other’s faces.
Though it would be temporary, Ginger appeared more relaxed. She’d already told him they wouldn’t be using the babysitting services of the lodge anymore too, so he’d been in the manager’s office that morning and it was nice to play daddy in an official capacity.
“So, changing the subject, do you want me to file papers?” Owen asked.
“We’re not suing the resort,” Shane said. Though he’d have thrown the book at them, Ginger accepted it as an accident. She didn’t want the tearful college kid nanny to have this on her conscience when it was clear she felt bad enough. The babysitter had come over to the cabin as soon as Cam was back and she’d had a conversation with a surprisingly stern Ginger… it was kind of a turn on to see her play mommy. But who was he kidding? Everything was a turn on to him with her right now. “Ginger’s decision.”
“God, it’s weird,” Murphy said. “You’ve had the company for years and I’ve seen you act all grown up, but… seeing you and Gin play parents, it’s like you’re really an adult now.”
“Well I’m going into town tomorrow anyway,” Owen said. “So if you change your mind…”
That idea just pissed him off. “You’re not going into town,” Shane said. Ginger needed them here and no one was abandoning her, especially not after Cam’s accident. “You’re not going fucking anywhere.”
“Yes, I am,” Owen said, leaning forward and sticking out his tongue.
“Does that argument work in court?” Murphy joked and they all smiled.
“I have a note from mommy, I’m allowed,” Owen said.
“Your mom?” Shane said. It would be his worst nightmare for something to happen to Ginger’s mom while they were so far away. She’d never had to cope on her own for this long before. “Is she ok?”
“Not my mommy,” Owen said. “Cam’s mommy.”
He did the math, but that just led to more confusion. “You’re going into town for Ginger?” Shane asked, and Owen nodded. “What for? I can go and get her whatever she needs now.”
“Ah, ah,” Owen said and nodded at the monitor. “You’re on daddy duty.”
He took the monitor to his ear and listened to Cameron sucking on his thumb. “I can go when she gets back.”
But Owen was smug in a playful way, “You know, she has other friends now,” he said. “This is a job only Uncle Owen can do.”
Owen might think this was fun, but every comment was just intriguing Shane more. “Why?” he asked, leaning forward. He didn’t like to be out of the circle when it came to Ginger. “What can you do that I can’t?” But he was thinking out loud. “Is it something official? Something lawyery?” That Owen said nothing and drank his beer while averting his eyes told him he was right. Sometimes brother wasn’t that different to sister and he knew all of Ginger’s tells too. “What does she need a lawyer for?”
“Just be pleased she’s using yours and not his,” Murphy said, tipping his head backward to indicate Calvin.
That was true and an interesting distinction. Shane was enjoying this puzzle. “Why would she use my lawyer and not Bishop’s lawyer…? Unless it’s something that Bishop’s lawyer won’t do…” But he couldn’t figure it out. “You come back here with divorce papers and I’ll shove them so far up your ass—”
Murphy laughed. “He might like that.”
Owen crooked a brow. “I can’t tell you what it is. It’s both brother-sister privilege and attorney-client.”
Whatever she was doing, she was being proactive and that she was choosing to turn to her brother was a positive as far as he was concerned. Shane got practical. “Did she sign a retainer agreement?” he asked and Owen blinked. “I don’t think she has her own accounts here. I’ll wire the retainer now.”
Shane lifted his hips to take his phone out of his back pocket, but Owen stalled him. “She’s my sister, I don’t need a retainer.”
But it wasn’t about the money. “If she wants you to do something official, I don’t want any gray areas,” Shane said. “I don’t want Bishop coming back at her or Boyd poking holes.”
Owen scoffed. “Poking holes in my work? I’m insulted!” His brother-in-law could be dramatic. “Besides, I am the Warren family lawyer, so technically I never stopped being her lawyer.”
Shane remembered something Calvin had once said. “Wait, this isn’t a power of attorney or medical proxy thing, is it?”
“I can’t say,” Owen enunciated, but winked, which meant no.
“Speaking of which, we need to get Cam onto my insurance,” Shane said to both Owen and Murphy.
“You paid cash at the hospital,” Murphy said. “I wish I’d been there to see the doctor trip over himself when you told him how much you’d donate.” He laughed. “You know how to get things done.”
“You took care of that?” Shane asked, pointing at his brother who nodded. “I’d have bankrupted myself if it meant Cam was safe and Ginny could relax. I’ve never seen her so scared… I mean, she was amazing. She kept her cool for Cam and kept him talking. She actually managed to keep smiling at him. It was just… she’s astounding.”
“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Owen said. “You’re in love with her.”
“Did you tell her that?” Murphy asked. The words kind of slid out quickly and Shane didn’t think anything about them, not until Owen froze, halfway to taking a drink.
Shane leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “You told her I loved her?”
Full of innocence, Owen shrugged, “I thought it was a given.”
“What happened to brother-sister privilege?” Murphy asked.
“I told her that before we re-established the privilege,
” he said and finished his drink.
Shane peered at him, playing the unimpressed brother-in-law again. “Just what else was said before you re-established this special privilege?”
Owen shrugged and picked at the label on his bottle. “Nothing, she just said she was in an impossible position.”
Murphy nudged him. “That’s good, right? At least she didn’t say she wanted you to get the fuck out her life.”
“Did she?” Shane asked, intent on Owen. “Did she say that?”
But he knew Owen too well. He wasn’t going to betray his sister. Once someone betrayed Ginger, there was no going back and time was too precious now. They needed to rebuild these relationships, not help each other break them.
One thing did pop into his mind, and it wasn’t exactly betraying anything if Owen simply confirmed or denied his curiosity. Shane cleared his throat, and tried to be aloof when he asked, “Did she tell you what happened… upstairs?”
Both Owen and Murphy closed in around him. “Yes,” Owen drawled, but turned his head a fraction. “Yes, she did tell me. That was quite… interesting.”
Laughing, Shane shoved both men away. “She didn’t tell you shit,” he said and stood up. “I’m going upstairs to hang with my boy. You two can sit down here and speculate.”
He wasn’t going to give up secrets and he liked spending time with Cam, even when he was sleeping. Owen and Murphy would be a nightmare for a while anyway and he didn’t want to hear what whacked ideas they might come out with. So he headed upstairs to keep an eye on the boy he’d promised his wife he’d keep safe. Letting her down again wasn’t on his agenda.
9
Cameron was sleeping. Even though it was dark outside, Ginger was restless. Maybe because Shane had taken care of bath and bedtime tonight while she spoke to Calvin about the hospital and therapy, so she felt like there was something important she’d forgotten to do.
Her conversations with Calvin were becoming more and more benign. It was heart-breaking that there was this distrust growing between them, because this was the man she was supposed to be marrying. She could see he was becoming more guarded and less trusting of her. He was angry at her all the time; and she didn’t like letting him down.
She’d changed into her satin chemise for bed before she lay down a couple of hours ago. Now she considered changing and going for a walk, though she didn’t usually go out in the dark; and she was still trying to get used to leaving Cam in Shane’s care. And she’d never left Cam at night. Never.
While it was nice to have a bit more freedom during the day, after what had happened with the nanny, she doubted she’d be leaving her son with anyone except his father any time soon.
Frustrated, she threw back the covers and got out of bed to pace and wring her hands together to stop herself from pulling out her hair. Calvin hated it when she played with her hair. It was a habit she was trying to break.
All she wanted were answers. She wanted to know more about the life that Owen had alluded to and what the hell had she and Shane been arguing about the night of the sinking.
Kicking herself, she knew she’d never fall asleep pacing around and fretting, so she turned to head for bed and noticed Shane’s phone on the corner of the changing table. Grabbing it up, she spun around with intentions of returning it, but stopped before she got two steps toward the bathroom.
Clutching it in both hands, she began to tiptoe backwards toward the bed. He’d said there were images on the device. They might give her clues about her past. Ginger kept going backwards until she was sitting on the bed, then she lay down. Hooking her feet under the covers, she turned off the lamp and lay down, pressing her thumb to the home button to unlock it.
Without looking at anything else, she went into the pictures and was about to go into them when she noticed the ‘Relations’ folder. He’d told her not to, but she smiled and clicked on it. He’d said that knowing if he did she would go straight into it. She wasn’t violating any privacy when he’d really goaded her into it; and she was curious about what he was into and how wild it might be.
Opening the first picture, it took her a minute to realize she was looking at herself in her underwear and she sat up. Oh God, this was not porn this was… them. This was the folder that he said he used to get himself off and it was filled with pictures of her.
Some of them were posed in beds and rooms she didn’t recognize, wearing lingerie she didn’t recognize. Then, oh god, there were topless shots and she covered her eyes. She couldn’t look at those, it was too mortifying.
Scrolling past images of her sleeping, and random pictures of her in perfectly normal places doing what she would consider doing normal things, she froze with her thumb suspended over the screen when she saw what was next… Video.
Turning down the volume, Ginger dived under the covers to hide with the device like a naughty teenager before she pressed play, braced to hate what she was about to see.
“Come on, baby, turn around,” Shane’s voice came down the phone and she saw a silhouette of a woman standing in a long, tall window, looking out.
“Not until you tell me you’re sorry.” Ginger heard her own voice, but it was teasing, they were playing.
He snorted. “Sorry? Yes, I’m sorry you’re such a horny little fox that you couldn’t stay the fuck away from my cock for ten minutes.”
Ginger gasped. But Video-Ginger spun around and leaned back on the floor to ceiling window that showcased had an epic ocean view and amazing sunshine beyond. Her hair was different, way longer and she had thick bangs, but it was definitely her on that screen.
Video-Ginger’s shirt was open and she loosened her cuffs then unzipped her skirt before letting it drop to the floor and strutting toward him, slowly, one foot in front of the other. She didn’t recognize that confident vixen staring at the man behind the camera with sultry bedroom eyes.
“Did you lock the door?” Video-Ginger whispered and the camera moved to the side like the operator was more interested in something else, which might explain the kissing noises.
“I don’t give a fuck about the door, Bit. We’ve had an audience before… I need you.” The camera was tossed away and landed with a view of a ceiling.
Her laugh came down the speaker then there was the sound of someone clearing a desk and papers cascaded over the screen, obscuring the visual, but the sound played. There was more kissing, and she guessed that clothes were discarded by the sounds of fabric and fasteners.
“Boo,” her voice begged then she shrieked an exhale. “Oh, yes, sir I’ll get right on that.”
Video-Shane laughed, his mouth occupied between kisses. “That was cheesy.”
“Shut up and fuck me, Shane… Shit… Ok, yeah… Like that… Keep doing that… Oh, god, that feels good.”
“Yeah?” Video-Shane teased, his voice deep and guttural then there was a loud spanking thwack and she shrieked.
“Fuck, Boo, you need to soundproof this office,” she panted. “I want to scream for you.”
Again his mouth was muffled, but Ginger heard him when he said, “Did it the week after we started sleeping together.”
Laughing came from the speakers. It sounded like there was another kiss and then she screamed. “I knew there was a reason I loved you.”
It felt weird listening to them having sex, especially since she didn’t remember it as her, so it was like eavesdropping. Closing that video with a blush, Ginger ignored how her skin was shimmering. The chill in her limbs became weakness as her blood rushed between her thighs and to her breasts.
She meant to turn it off and forget she ever heard it. Instead, somehow, she went to the next video and saw an image of Shane lying in bed. This video didn’t seem to be from a phone camera. The feed was coming from a fixed position in a corner.
Shane was lying, face down in a massive mahogany-framed bed covered with red and black sheets. Sleeping on his own, he hugged a pillow to his chest. The sheet was draped over his hips showcasing his beautifully ton
ed back. Wondering if he had always been so particular about his physique, Ginger checked the details to read the date and she gasped. This was the week of her disappearance. In this video he was oblivious, but this was the week he was going to lose her.
Except, so far, nothing had happened.
The bed was raised on a step and there were more tall windows, but there was a different view outside them. Wooden doors without handles on the far side of the screen gave no clue about what was beyond them.
Just when Ginger was about to turn off the video, figuring nothing was going to happen, a blonde appeared at the bottom of the screen. The blonde tiptoed over to the bed like she was trying not to wake the sleeping man. Ginger was intrigued, was she about to watch Shane cheating on her, could she watch that and then not tell him she’d seen it?
The blonde got to the bottom of the bed and grabbed the sheet to yank it from the bed and her jaw fell when she saw Shane’s tan was all over, his tight butt made her jaw drop. But that wasn’t the shocking thing. He flipped to his back and she got a glimpse of his dick before the blonde leapt onto the bed on top of him. She shouldn’t but…
Ginger rewound and played the frames to see what he was packing and she almost choked just at the sight of his long, thick member, but she was even more shocked to see the line at the top seam of his thigh. Zooming in, she saw it read exactly the same as the one she had in almost the same spot.
Oh wow, they had matching tattoos… there. She’d thought ‘Bon appetite’ was risqué until she realized it was meant for both of them. What a shame that Video-Shane was about to ruin the arousal that had been heating her by enjoying this random blonde.
Playing the video, Ginger let it continue, but was feeling sick already. The blonde leapt onto Video-Shane though his eyes were still closed in apparent sleep. Climbing up his body, she rubbed her breasts on his dick and kissed his abs. “Want to play, Boo?”
He cracked open an eye and lifted his head from the bed, when he saw her, he blinked and lifted his head higher. “Don’t think my wife would like us to screw in the marital bed,” he mumbled. “If she finds blonde hairs in the sheets, she’ll figure us out.”
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