All or None: Wall Street Royals, Book 3

by Sue Me, Tara

  He’d been leaning down, probably preparing to kiss her, but held still at her words. “Was it? I thought she was doing some volunteer work down in the Keys?”

  “She was, but.” Damn it. She didn’t want to talk about Lillian. Not with Lance standing so close, and especially since he had the look in his eye that told her he had very naughty things planned.

  “Long story short, she’s in Miami because Ty is a dick,” she said. “I know he’s your friend and business partner, but that doesn’t exempt him from dickness.”

  Lance chuckled. “I’d have to agree with you on that. Ty never has been able to think straight around Lillian. I’d hoped with both of them being in New York they’d finally be able to work things out.”

  “Don’t give up all hope just yet,” she said. “I told her to stop running for a few days and chill in Miami.”

  Lance nodded. “Where’s she staying?”

  “I found her a suite at the Faena. Not sure that’s where she’ll end up, but it looked like her.”

  He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “Did you tell her our news?”

  Celeste palmed her left hand up against his chest, enabling her to better see the ring he’d proposed with two days ago. “No,” she said. “It didn’t feel right to share my news when she called me as upset as she was. I thought it’d be better for me to keep it to myself for now and tell her when she’s in a better mood.”

  “You’re probably right,” he said. “I doubt I’d tell Ty if he were to call me just now. It’d be too much like rubbing salt into a wound.”

  “Exactly.” She tilted her head up in order to see him better. This man, her fiancé, who would soon become her husband. It made her feel giddy, a word she rarely used and had never applied to herself before. “Since we can’t celebrate with our friends, and we’re both free, I suggest we have our own private celebration. Naked.”

  “Again?” he said. “Are you sure you’re up to another celebration?”

  “I’m not the one who needs to be up,” she egged him on. “I think that depends entirely on you. But if you feel like you can’t, you know, be up for another celebration — ”

  He placed a finger over her lips. “You better stop while you’re ahead, little girl, or you’re going to see up close and personal how up I am.”

  She tucked he fingers into the waistband of his pants. “I’m counting on it.”

  Chapter 18

  Ty

  Twenty-four hours later, Ty still didn't know where Lillian was, much less how she was doing. To say he was on the edge was to put it mildly. She had returned none of the messages he left for her or replied to a single one of the many texts he’d sent. Would it really take that much effort on her part to at least send something, so he’d know she was okay? He’d welcome anything. Even a text that simply said, “I’m fine, you asshole. Leave me alone.”

  For a moment or two he contemplated going after her, but he knew how much work the volunteers had left to do. It would be difficult enough for them to get everything done while down one person. He couldn’t in good conscious leave them down two.

  He called and spoke with Isaac, but his business partner hadn’t heard from Lillian. Nor did he seem to be overly concerned about her whereabouts.

  “Lillian is a grown woman, who is ridiculously intelligent and has been living on her own, perfectly fine I might add, without you babysitting her for a good number of years.” Isaac’s tone implied he wouldn't listen to anything Ty said. Secretly, he couldn’t help but wonder if Lillian might have called her old boss to update him on the situation and to let him know she was doing.

  Ty had called the airports, but of course, no one would give him any information because of privacy laws. Yes, he should be glad, and truthfully, he was, but couldn’t someone let it slip if she’d left the country or not?

  “You really wouldn’t want them to do that, would you?” Eric asked him forty-eight hours after she’d left. “I mean, if they slip and give the information to you, who’s to say they won’t slip and give it to anyone who calls and asks?”

  Ty knew Eric spoke the truth, but couldn’t the guy at least agree with him a little? It was six-thirty in the evening, and they had just arrived back at the resort. Since Lillian had taken the rental with her, Ty had ridden in the van with Eric to and from the job site for the last few days.

  “I know you’re right,” Ty told Eric in response to his question. “I just want to know she’s okay and to hear if from her mouth.” He wanted a lot more than that, but he wouldn't admit as much to Eric, even though he was certain the man already knew.

  Eric said nothing in response, rather he slapped him on the shoulder. “Good work today, man. See you in a few for dinner.”

  Ty nodded, and they went their separate ways. He wasn’t hungry and didn’t feel like eating or sitting around and talking with everyone. However, experience had taught him that if he didn’t eat now, with all the manual labor he’d put in today, he’d be ravenous at midnight and unable to sleep. Dinner wouldn’t start until seven, so he had time to take a shower and place more messages to Lillian before then.

  He’d just stepped inside the empty cabin when his phone rang. Heart pounding, he pulled it from his pocket. Lillian. At last.

  His heart sank for a minute when he realized it wasn’t her, but curiosity got the best of him, and he answered because why the hell was Lance calling him at this time of night?

  “Lance?” he asked. “Is everything alright? It’s not Celeste, is it?” Ty couldn’t think of another reason he’d be calling from London so late. Wasn’t it almost midnight? He hoped nothing was wrong with Celeste. Ty had only met her a few times, but he could only imagine how devastated Lance would be if anything happened to her.

  “No,” Lance said. “She’s fine. Right here beside me, actually.”

  Ty’s mind raced. Lance sounded too calm for it to be anything bad. That meant his call probably had nothing to do with his grandmother, Barbara, being ill, either. “What’s up?”

  “First of all,” Lance started. “Celeste and I have been discussing whether we should even be having this call.”

  “Okay,” he said, not understanding at all where the man was going.

  “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Celeste and Lillian have become friends,” he said, and no, Ty had not known that little tidbit. “Anyway, Lillian called her yesterday morning —”

  “She did?” He found he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “How is she? Is she okay? Where is she?”

  Lance sighed. “See? This is why I wasn’t going to call you, but Celeste thinks differently, and I’m learning she’s usually right.”

  “What do you mean you weren’t going to call me?”

  “Because I didn’t want you taking off half-ass, and without thinking.”

  Ty was getting ready to say he never did half-ass things without thinking, but then he looked around the cabin he was currently having the conversation in and thought better of it. He took a deep breath. “I’m calm. I can handle it.”

  “Lillian’s in Miami,” Lance said. “Staying at The Faena. I’m telling you this because you and Lillian have some things to work out. I don’t know if working them out will get you back together, but I think you’ll both be a lot more… content, and at least be able to move on.”

  Ty didn’t tell him he didn’t want to be content or to move on if it meant doing so without Lillian.

  “What I think you should do,” Lance said. “What I’m asking you to do is to spend time tonight thinking about what you need to say to her, and only then go to see her.”

  Two thousand questions ran through his head. “How do I know she’ll still be there? How long is she staying? Does Celeste know?”

  “Yes,” Lance said, and damn it, if his calm attitude wasn’t obnoxious. Ty wanted to remind him what a fit he’d been in when Celeste ran off without a word, and Ty just happened to see her at a concert he attended with his sister. But he kept silent. “Celeste tal
ked with her earlier today, and Lillian indicated she’d be staying through the weekend and not leaving until Sunday or Monday at the earliest.”

  Ty breathed a sigh of relief. That gave him plenty of time to think and plan. “Thank you.”

  It was well after two o’clock in the morning before Ty could close his eyes and get some sleep. He’d followed Lance’s advice to spend the evening in thought. After ending the phone call, he picked up dinner from the main building and took it back to the cabin, needing the privacy to think and plan.

  His path forward was clear along with the steps he needed to take while on that path. Surprisingly enough, what he needed to do wasn’t what kept him up until the early hours of the morning. He figured that part out quickly. It was how he was going to do what he needed to be done.

  Chapter 19

  Lillian

  It didn’t take long for Lillian to decide she could get used to being pampered. She wasn’t sure how Celeste knew about this particular hotel, if she’d been a guest herself, or if she’d only known of it by reputation. But for whatever reason it was, Lillian was immensely grateful.

  After getting up before dawn in order to avoid Ty and driving back to Miami in the turnip car, when she finally stepped into the lobby, she was exhausted. She’d made her reservation on-line after getting off the phone with Celeste and knew she must have looked questionable walking up to the front desk to check in. Even if the woman working the desk didn’t look put off by her appearance, Lillian felt out of place. Of course, that might have been the irrational fear she smelled like sex.

  Not that anyone said anything of the sort to her. Within minutes of arriving, she was standing in the middle of a suite with the one carryon bag she’d packed for two weeks. Though she feared her skin still smelled of sex, she couldn’t find the energy to drag herself to the spa-like shower waiting in the bathroom. Instead, she stripped down naked and climbed into the inviting bed. She was asleep within seconds.

  She couldn’t recall the last time she’d taken a nap, and when she woke up later in the afternoon, she felt revived and decadent. After a leisurely shower, she ordered a late lunch/early dinner from the room service menu and ate while wrapped up in one of the hotel’s fluffy bathrobes. It would have been an all-around wonderful day except for one thing.

  Ty.

  She realized now there was no way she could pretend as if he didn’t exist. Not with both of them in the same city. If she were honest with herself, she had to admit she didn’t want to pretend as if he didn’t exist. As the day slipped away into night, she allowed herself to imagine what it would look like if she let him back into her life.

  Late in the morning the next day, she still wasn’t sure. She was making her way back to her room following a morning at the hotel's spa. Her current plan for the rest of the day was lunch by the pool and a few hours reading the book she’d downloaded to her phone after overhearing it discussed by several ladies at the spa.

  She stepped out of the elevator, faltering when she saw him standing at her door. Damn. How had he found her so quickly?

  “Ty,” she said, like she’d been expecting him. “At least you’re outside my room this time. Better security than the last place I stayed.”

  He gave a half smile. “Yeah, but to be honest, I didn’t try to get inside this time.”

  “Progress, I suppose,” she said. “But I have to say I’m surprised they gave you my room number.” She made a mental note to chat with hotel management before leaving to give them her opinion on their shortcomings regarding guest privacy and the resulting potential security issues.

  “I didn’t get the room number from them.”

  She turned around from where she’d been unlocking the door. “You didn’t? Then who did you get it from?”

  “Lance.”

  Ah, that explained it. She went back to unlocking the door and waved him inside once she opened it. Might as well, he was already here, and if she didn’t let him in to say whatever it was he needed to get off his chest, he would keep popping up until she listened to him.

  That was the lie she told herself. Inside she was doing cartwheels he’d tracked her down and was now in her suite.

  “I should apologize for running off the way I did yesterday,” she said, walking into the living room. At his silence, she turned around to make sure he’d followed her. He had, but what was that look on his face? And why was he not saying anything? It wasn’t like him at all, and it was freaking her out a bit. “Ty?”

  At his name, he shook his head. “I can’t do this.”

  “Do what?”

  He didn’t reply, but crossed the floor to where she stood and before she could comprehend what he was doing, he’d taken her in his arms and was kissing her. It was so unexpected, so unlike him, and so….

  Everything.

  She responded without hesitation, putting her arms around him, pulling him close. Something inside her needed to feel his desire for her, needed to know how she made him feel. Ludicrous, really. Especially considering how thoroughly he’d taken her not all that long ago.

  It was at that moment, there in his arms, that everything she’d been questioning for the last twenty-four hours, or last two years to be more accurate, fell into place and made sense. Ty was it for her. There was nothing she could do to change anything.

  She couldn’t understand, but something told her she could trust him. Not that what he’d done was in any way right or okay, she would never believe there was an excuse for cheating. But somehow she knew everything would turn out to be okay. Maybe the hypnosis session would prove to be of benefit.

  At the moment, though, all she wanted to think about or focus on was him. The urgency in him was unexpected, and she didn’t understand why he acted as if they were running against time.

  “Are you due back to the volunteer center?” She pulled back to ask.

  “I’m going back,” he said. “But not right now.”

  “Is that why you came here? To take me back to finish? Because I can’t…. I…”

  “No, that’s not it,” he said, his lips nibbled and teased the skin of her neck. “But I don’t want to talk right now. Just give me this. Just give us this.”

  It wasn’t smart. They really needed to talk before they fell into bed again. On some level she knew all she was doing was opening her heart up to more pain. At the moment, however, she didn’t care. With her recent revelation about her relationship with Ty, the only thing she wanted was him.

  She reached down and took his hand. “Come with me.”

  She didn’t tell him where they were headed. She didn’t need to.

  They only took a few steps into the bedroom before they came to a stop. Lillian reached for Ty’s shirt tail and pulled it up, needing to feel him, to prove to herself he was real.

  “Take it off.” He pulled at the casual outfit she’d worn to the spa, obviously feeling the same urges she had. “I need to see you.”

  She couldn’t agree more. Days ago, the cabin had been too dark for her to see as much of him as she’d have liked. Her fingers trembled as she worked to undress, and she couldn’t figure out why. There was no way she was fearful. They’d been together for far too long for her to fear anything he might ask of her.

  “Are you cold?” He must have picked up on her trembling.

  “I don’t think so. I’m not sure what my problem is. Probably excitement.”

  “I don’t remember making you tremble before.” He was already naked and standing by the bed. “Come here and let me hold you.”

  She walked to him without hesitation. He smiled as he put his arms around her, gathering her in his embrace. “I didn’t think it was fear of me.”

  Never. “I never fear when I’m around you.”

  “Good,” he said, and went to work undressing her. As he took each item of clothing off, he kissed the skin he revealed. She shivered when his lips brushed her shoulder. He gave a little chuckle, and when he spoke again it was with the low tone th
at always curled her toes. “Yes. That’s the reaction I’m looking for.”

  He continued his task, tracing her curves with his fingers. Under his touch, her skin came alive and need burned throughout her body. Her knees weakened, and she shifted her feet to steady her stance. A move that did not go unnoticed by Ty.

  “Hold on to me, Lillian,” he said, his mouth teasing the skin of her belly, as he eased her shorts down and over her hips. “I won’t let you fall.”

  She placed her hands on his shoulders, relishing the feel of his muscles under her fingertips. Such broad shoulders. Broad enough to carry both her and her burdens, surely. If she’d allow him the opportunity.

  He picked her up and gently placed her on the bed. Unlike their last joining, however, he moved as if he had all the time in the world. Maybe they did. With each leisurely stroke of his fingers over her skin, he awoke sensations long forgotten. She reached for him, wanting to do the same to him, but he shook his head. Never, in all the times they’d been together in years past, had he ever made love to her so tenderly.

  His tasted and touched her, and at times it seemed he did so not as if he was trying to remember, but rather ensuring he didn’t forgot. But that didn’t make any sense. All she could do was hold onto him, enjoying the pleasure his worshipful loving brought her.

  Even when he finally entered her, it was slow and sensual. At times, he almost stopped, holding still, leaving his imprint inside her.

  “Lillian,” he whispered when at last he brought them both to release, his tone almost mournful.

  All at once, she realized what he was doing.

  He was saying goodbye.

  Chapter 20

  Ty

  He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Ty believed he hated himself more for resting in Lillian’s opulent suite than he did the day of their divorce. His plan had been to come to Miami and talk with her. To put everything on the table and to be completely honest. He’d tell her about how he thought late into the night and into the early morning hours. How he’d come to understand the best things he could give her were space and freedom. It was unfair of him to hold her back from getting on with her life. She deserved to be loved by a man worthy of her. To serve a Dom worthy of her service.