by Bella Andre
“Good. Everyone should know you’re mine. Ours,” he amended as Oscar licked her cheek in a nonverbal echo of his owner’s statement. Before she could respond, he said, “We’re here.”
The driveway to his father’s house was long, at least a quarter mile, and Rosa gasped when they got to the end. “It’s so beautiful.” She’d never seen water so blue or that looked so pure and soothing as it lapped against the golden sand. A couple of ducks swam near the shore.
Drake turned off the engine, but stayed behind the wheel. “It is.”
She reached for his hand, sensing the tension thrumming through those two little words—and knowing that this time it stemmed from his wariness over seeing his father. “I think you’re right.”
“About what?” he asked.
“Do you remember asking me why I thought starting over had to be hard?”
She was glad when his mouth quirked up a little at the corner, even though he obviously knew she was talking about him and his father.
“Turns out it’s a hell of a lot easier to dish out advice than to take it,” he said.
It felt good to laugh. Felt even better to pull him in for a kiss. “Thank you for bringing me here, Drake, and for being so great during my freak-out this morning. In fact, I think I’d probably better thank you in advance for my next one. I have a feeling things may keep being messy and complicated for a while.”
“I love you.” He kissed her again. “It’s as simple as that.”
* * *
“It’s so great to meet you!” Suzanne Sullivan threw her arms around Rosa the moment they walked through the door.
Drake’s sister had looked beautiful in the photograph hanging in his cabin, but in person it was like staring straight into the sun. Suzanne’s eyes were so bright and intelligent and full of laughter that Rosa promptly fell in love with her second Sullivan. Third, actually, since she was head over heels for Smith after the way he’d gone out on a limb for her.
Drake pulled his sister in for a hug, then asked, “Is Dad here?”
“He had to go take care of a foundation problem at one of the properties he and Jean are working on.”
Drake took Rosa’s hand and brought her close, tucking her safely beneath his arm. Suzanne beamed at them as he explained, “After Dad built this house and moved permanently from the city, he started working with a couple of local builders—Jean and her son Henry.”
As Rosa took a few moments to appreciate the contemporary yet rustic-style house, she wasn’t surprised by the career he’d switched to. “This house is incredible. And it fits so well with the natural surroundings.”
The proportions of the home were big all the way around, with ceilings that she figured must vault up at least sixteen feet, and plenty of space. Room enough to hold four kids easily. Which, to her way of thinking, meant that Drake’s father had planned—hoped—that his children would one day come and feel welcome. Whether he’d actually done a good job of expressing that to his kids was another question entirely, but it made Rosa feel more hopeful for Drake than ever.
Suzanne spent a good minute or so giving Oscar some love before standing and saying, “I’ve got coffee on if either of you wants some.”
Rosa’s coffee need roared to the surface. “You’re a lifesaver.” Just like Suzanne’s brother.
With Drake still holding her hand, Rosa followed Suzanne into the kitchen—a perfect rustic kitchen built entirely of knotty pine, with green granite counters—where a steaming mug was soon pressed into her free hand. She barely kept herself from taking a too-greedy gulp of it and scalding off the top layer of her tongue.
“I’ll take our bags into the bedroom I usually use.” He kissed her before leaving the room.
Unable to stand letting the thousand-pound elephant in the room crush everyone, Rosa decided to be as direct as possible. “I know you’re probably really worried about your brother being with me.”
“I’m not.”
These Sullivans kept flooring her with how steady, how strong-willed and confident they were. Then again, she remembered being confident like this once. Before she’d let the show change her. Then the horrible pictures had been released, and shame had taken over absolutely everything.
It was that very shame, in fact, that had her saying, “You should be.”
“Why? He’s happy. Happier than I can ever remember him being. Both as a man and a painter, judging by the paintings he did of you. And even though I know none of this can be easy for you, it seems like he’s making you happy too.”
“He is.” Rosa couldn’t hold back from his sister what she felt. “I never thought I’d find anyone like Drake. He’s been amazing. The calm in the storm. The light in the dark. But...” She needed his sister to understand. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t still a huge mess to deal with. It doesn’t mean I’m not still a huge mess. This morning, when I found out there were more pictures, I kind of lost it. I wanted to run again, needed a better hiding place than the Hamptons. So here we are.”
Suzanne moved closer and reached out to take Rosa’s hand. “Who wouldn’t have lost it? Who wouldn’t have wanted to run and hide, at least for a little while? Drake was right to bring you here, to bring you home.”
Rosa was struck by the way his sister said the word home—and how, after only a few minutes here, it resonated with her too.
“Have you seen this?” Suzanne picked up the paper on the counter and handed it to Rosa. It had Smith’s face on it, and a quick scan confirmed it was what she’d read on Drake’s phone in the car.
“I’ll never be able to thank Smith enough for this. He doesn’t even know me.”
Drake’s sister grinned. “You’ve got us on your team now. In fact, I wanted you to know that I’ve been thinking more and more about your situation. Especially about the fact that it isn’t just your situation. So many women, and men, are finding themselves in a similar position, with pictures being stolen or taken against their wishes and ending up on the Internet.”
“I did some research,” Rosa said. “It made me sick to realize how much this kind of thing happens.”
“Not usually on your scale, but yeah, it’s happening a lot. I don’t know if Drake told you, but Internet security is my specialty.”
“He did. He’s your biggest fan. And I can see why.”
Suzanne grinned again. “It goes both ways. I’m really lucky to have such great brothers. But anyway, what I was going to say is that I’ve been looking for a new challenge, and I’m thinking this is it. Take your situation, for example. Smith has convinced most of the major media outlets to take down the pictures and not run them anymore. But most people won’t have Smith on their side, and there’s still a need for software that can actually erase them—or block them—completely, or you’d still be able to search on the pictures and find them pretty easily.”
When Rosa cringed at the reminder, Suzanne said, “Sorry, Rosa, I’m just thinking out loud. I didn’t mean to upset you. Sometimes I say more than I mean to. Especially when I get all up in my head about something.”
“Actually, it’s nice to be so straightforward about it all.” Rosa was surprised to find that it really was, especially with another woman. “Drake and I have talked about the pictures, but he always gets so upset.”
“It’s because he loves you and he hates that you’re being hurt.”
Rosa couldn’t stop her eyes from growing huge. “Did he actually say that to you?”
Suzanne cocked her head. “Of course he doesn’t want you to be hurt. Oh, wait—you mean the part where he loves you.” She smiled. “I could see it in his paintings, see exactly what he feels for you.”
Rosa was still speechless, her mouth likely hanging open in surprise, when Drake walked back into the kitchen. Maybe he could see that she was out of her depth—yet again—because he crossed straight to her, put his hands on either side of her face, and kissed her. His kisses had always been the one surefire way to ground her. And, she thought a
s she kissed him back, to send her flying.
“What’s going on here?”
Rosa pulled away from Drake at the sound of the deep male voice, her heart hammering as if she’d been caught doing something wrong. But he wouldn’t let her go too far, keeping her hand in his tightly enough that she couldn’t possibly slip away.
She recognized the two men who walked in as his brothers, Alec and Harrison. Alec was flat-out gorgeous—tall and broad-chested, with tanned skin and well-groomed dark hair. He was the kind of guy women gravitated to in droves. Polished and obviously wealthy, but still all man. She could easily imagine just how charismatic he could be when he felt like turning it on.
Harrison was as good-looking as his brothers—just as tall and broad and masculine—but that wasn’t what hit first. Rosa was struck, instead, by his academic air. The impression that he was currently working through some complicated puzzle in his head. His dark-framed glasses might have been geeky on anyone else, but on him they only seemed to up the sexiness quotient.
Of course, to her eyes, neither man held a candle to Drake. Then again, she wasn’t exactly objective where he was concerned, was she?
She should have thought this might happen, that everyone in his family would have been summoned to his father’s home to collect the paintings of their mother. But she hadn’t been able to think beyond running from discovery in Montauk—and also hoping Drake could patch things up with his father.
Suzanne had been immediately welcoming, but since she’d seen the paintings in Drake’s cabin, she hadn’t been blindsided by their relationship. His brothers, on the other hand, clearly hadn’t heard word one about her. And, judging by Alec’s expression at least, weren’t necessarily impressed with their brother’s choice of women.
“Alec, Harry, this is Rosa.”
She couldn’t miss the you’d better be nice to her or else tone of his introduction. It was clear, however, that Harry didn’t have the first clue who she was as he walked over to shake her hand. The only surprise seemed to be that Drake had a woman with him at all.
“Great to meet you, Rosa.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Harry.”
All the while, she could feel Alec’s eyes on her. Judging. Weighing. And then deciding she came up short. Way short. Suzanne might not be worried about her brother’s new girlfriend, but Alec clearly had a problem with her.
She could feel Drake stiffening beside her and desperately wished she could defuse the situation. Unfortunately, since she couldn’t change who she was or what she’d done, the only thing she had in her arsenal was to smile and say, “It’s nice to meet you, Alec.” Before he could respond, she turned to Drake. “Why don’t I take Oscar for a walk so that you all can catch up?”
She swore Oscar could understand English, because he immediately trotted over to her side with a leash in his mouth. Where he’d found the leash she had no idea, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was to get out of the tension and let the brothers settle things. And if Alec really didn’t want her there...well, she’d figure out something. Because there was no way she was going to get between Drake and his siblings on top of all the other messes she was already dragging him into.
She’d barely left the kitchen when Drake came up behind her and put a hand over hers to make her turn and face him. “Don’t go. My brother is an idiot. I’ll make him apologize for the way he just acted. He doesn’t know you yet, but once he does—”
She put a finger over his lips. “He’s not an idiot. We both know it’s got to be a heck of a shock to see me standing there kissing you. Even without the pictures, it would have been weird. And now that he’s probably seen me naked...” She fought back a shudder. “All I’m saying is that he didn’t do anything wrong by reacting the way he did. Not when it’s obvious that he loves you and wants to protect you.” She made herself smile. “It’s exactly what I’d hope your siblings would do.”
“I brought you here so you could feel safe. Don’t run again, Rosa. Not from me.”
This morning she’d freaked out and talked about leaving, but she knew deep within herself that she wouldn’t have gone very far before running right back into his arms.
“It will go easier for you guys to talk about the situation with your father and the paintings without me here, at least at first. And I could do with some fresh air and a little quiet.” When it looked like he was going to argue with her, she put her hands on his bristly jaw and went on her tippy-toes to kiss him again. “All the good things you want for me with my mother, I want for you with your father. Maybe spending a little time talking things through with your brothers and sister will help get you closer to clearing them up.”
With that, she kissed him again, then headed outside with Oscar into the crisp, cool forest.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“What the hell are you doing with her?”
Drake sprang at his brother. “One more word and you’re going to leave here looking a hell of a lot worse than when you walked in.”
Just as Alec opened his mouth again to reply, Harry stepped between his brothers and caught Drake’s fist halfway to Alec’s face. Harry might spend plenty of hours poring over dusty tomes, but he’d managed to fit in martial arts training too.
“Cool down. Both of you.” Harry had stopped Drake’s punch from landing, but he knew better than to let him go just yet. “Someone had better fill me in fast.”
“I’m in love with Rosa.” Drake would shout it from the rooftops if he could. “She’s been through hell this week and just got slapped with a fresh round this morning. I’m itching to tear someone apart.” He snarled at Alec, “Perfectly happy if it’s you, bro.”
Suzanne stepped into the fray next, putting a hand on Drake’s arm. “That’s awesome that you’re in love,” she said first, and then to Harry, “Rosa is a reality TV star. I know you live in a box of dusty books, Harry, but you’ve got to have heard of the Bouchards.”
He thought about it for a few seconds. “Their name sounds familiar.”
“I swear, it sometimes seems like you actually live in medieval times, instead of just studying them,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Anyway, Rosa’s family has been on TV for the past five or so years, and they’re really, really popular. Especially her. If you ask me, it’s not just because she’s so pretty, but because when you watch, you wish she was your sister.”
“You’ve got to tell her that,” Drake urged. “She’s let too many people online and in the press convince her that she’s been making trash, but even Smith and Valentina told her they like to watch her show.”
Alec snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
By then Harry had loosened his hold on Drake’s arm enough that when he lunged again, Drake nearly landed his punch.
“Alec, shut up for once, so I can finish giving Harry the deets,” Suz said before turning back to Harry. “This week, some naked pictures of Rosa hit the press. Pictures she didn’t authorize.”
“Someone hacked her accounts?”
“Wow, so you do actually know something about modern technology. But no, it was even worse than that. One of the film crew snuck a camera into her hotel while they were filming and took pictures of her changing and getting in and out of the bath. She had no idea she’d been attacked like this until the pictures were sold and literally splattered everywhere, print and digital.”
Harry looked utterly disgusted. “That’s terrible.”
“She doesn’t deserve any of this,” Drake bit out. “Especially not the shame of feeling like the pictures were her fault. She thinks she needs to hide out forever because the world will just heap more crap on her if she resurfaces.”
“That’s bullshit.” Drake was surprised both by Alec’s comment and by how disgusted he looked. “Just because your girlfriend has made some questionable career choices, there is no way those pictures are her fault.”
“Questionable career choices.” Suz put air quotes around the words. “You’r
e so full of it, Alec. We all know the reason you immediately recognized Rosa is because you secretly mainline reality TV in your spare time.”
Alec was the one snarling this time. “Her face is everywhere. You’d have to live under a rock not to know who she is.”
“I’ll take that as an affirmative on your viewing habits,” Suz said with a snort of her own. “You’re just jealous that Drake found someone as amazing as Rosa first.”
“Stop winding him up, Suz,” Harry said in the voice of mediation that he’d been using with them for over thirty years.
“Look,” Alec said in what Drake knew was intended to be a more reasonable tone, “the last thing I expected was to walk in and see the woman who’s been all over the news this week standing in my brother’s arms. When the hell did you even start dating her? And if you’re an item, how come you aren’t coming up in any of the endless news clips about her?”
“You can let me go now,” Drake told Harry. “I’m not going to tear him apart just yet.”
Harry looked between his brothers to confirm intent on both sides before stepping away.
Drake poured himself a cup of coffee and gulped it down so that the caffeine could hit his system before he started answering his sibling’s questions. “I met her a week ago when she showed up out of the blue on my cliffs in Montauk. I was trying to paint and hadn’t been paying any attention to the news, hadn’t turned on my phone or checked the Internet, so I didn’t have a clue what the stranger on my cliffs was crying over. Then when I ran into her at the general store later that day and it was clear she was running, hiding, I still didn’t know who she was or what she was running from until I saw the headlines on the newsstand.” His hands fisted at his sides. “That day I helped her with her broken-down car, but I wished I could do more.”