“Shut up, Frieda!”
“Molly didn’t love Clayton. She just wanted his money. I was right! She took all the jewels.” Lucrezia heard the quiver in her own voice. She hated it when Miguel got upset. His attitude became belligerent. She glared at Frieda, but her daughter just looked away.
Miguel had been the only man who paid attention to Frieda and she didn’t mind if Miguel never treated her right. The man only loved Frieda’s purse.
Once this whole thing with Alex was over, she’d make sure he wouldn’t be able to dangle the key to her jail anymore.
The bastard.
Miguel stood in front of Lucrezia. “I don’t care about the whys, Lucrezia. I didn’t care then and I don’t care now. About this fuck-ass threatening you, I don’t know what he knows. As far as I know, we are clear.”
Unable to stand being close to Miguel’s striking distance, Lucrezia moved to stand by the window. “I’d like to think that, too. But Luke seemed surprised when I said we didn’t know anything about a man. Do you think I gave us away?”
“You worry too much.” Miguel shook his head.
“Any idea why Alex didn’t come to us?”
“It has been eleven years, Lucrezia. Maybe she’s been communicating with this man she’s staying with right now. Come on. No evidence, whatsoever, has come up about what happened with Molly at the house.”
“You’re right.” Frieda who had been sitting on a chair flipping pages of the x-rated Asian magazine piped in. “But Luke threatened us. Aside from he knows where Alex is staying, he is also holding something. We need to find out what it is. If we don’t, we’ll lose sleep over this.”
“Not me,” Miguel scoffed.
“Also,” Lucrezia continued. “We’ll keep wondering if cops will show up at our door or he’ll keep asking for money. I say, pay him a visit, Miguel. Find out where Alex is and make him cough up what he knows. And then decide what you should do with him. If we don’t do this, we might as well find a place to live somewhere. Worse, we have to find a job.”
Frieda screamed.
Chapter Fifteen
Alex stood in front of the large mirror. She turned to the left and then to the right. Same. Her boobs were way too big. Why did she agree with Kirsten to buy this bathing suit? The color she loved. Pale pink—or Primrose, as Kirsten called it. She’d never had anything in this color. Still, she thought a one-piece bathing suit would have had been nice.
Kirsten insisted that the two-piece had been the rave for years. Alex sighed. Only athletes wore one-piece bathing suits now. Okay, she accepted that logic, but she wished they would have listened to hers—she’d never worn a bathing suit since she was nine. She felt—for the lack of a word—naked. And nervous. What if her boobs came out of this tiny top?
Maybe she could cover herself with the tank top.
She tried to reach for her white tank, but someone grabbed it first.
“Nope. Can’t use this.” Kirsten tossed the garment into the far corner of the room. “We didn’t spend hours searching for the perfect bathing suit so you could cover it with a tank top. Look at you. Even a man who vowed to join the church would change his mind if he sees you.”
“Maybe you. You’re perfection. I’m disproportionate.”
“What do you mean?”
“I look like…an ice cream cone. Large up here.” She tried to adjust her top to hide more cleavage.
“Dear, that means men would want to lick you.” Julie, also wearing a two-piece and looking striking with no sign that she had already delivered a baby, wrapped her arm around Alex. “I like to get licked.”
Taylor joined them. She, too, looked in the mirror. “I’m sure Tristan knows that.”
“And Bors doesn’t know you like to get licked, too?”
“Heck, he knows more than just to lick.”
“Ew, stop! You’re talking about my brothers, ladies.”
Alex smiled and didn’t really know what to say. Gawain had done a lot of licking for the past few days, but she would never tell anyone about that.
“It’s a sin to cover such beauty, Alex. You have to flaunt it whenever you get the chance.” Addie rose from the chair and joined them. She also wore a two-piece suit, but her top had a sheer white material that covered her rounded belly.
They all formed a line like beauty pageant contestants inspecting their reflection in the mirror.
Addie placed her hands on her stomach protectively. “I think we’re ready. Should we go see the boys?”
Everyone except for Alex said yes.
“Give me another minute or two, please. I just need to get used to seeing myself wearing this.”
“Alex, you are beautiful.” Kirsten gave her a tight hug.
“Thank you.”
“Dear, remember this. Being a respectable lady doesn’t always mean wearing a buttoned up gown with only the tip of your slippers showing. Only a stupid fool would think that way. And the characters in my book, of course. They’d be scandalized if they see a woman wearing her unmentionables.”
“Julie writes historical romance novels,” Kirsten explained.
Taylor touched her arm. “We’ll see you outside.”
“I’ll be there.” Alex smiled at the women. Their endearment, friendship and warmth had touched her heart. Not even once had she felt she wasn’t a part of their tight circle. They didn’t judge or turn up their noses when she told them about her mom. In fact, all shed a tear when she told them the story about her mom dying.
She had friends on the island, but sometimes she still felt like an outsider who didn’t quite fit in. Here, with the Knight women, a sense of belongingness wrapped around her. Sadly, they’d met in a different time. She would have to leave them, too, as soon as Baskerville, Uncle Arthur, and Bors found out what truly happened in their house. Alex closed her eyes. Whenever she thought about leaving, her heart turned as heavy as an anvil.
Sighing, she looked at her reflection one more time and then left the room.
* * * *
Leaning against the picnic table, Gawain twisted the cap off his beer bottle and then took a long swig. “Damn, that felt good.”
“Even better if we swim. I need to cool off.” Bors touched his beer bottle to his forehead.
Percival grabbed a handful of popcorn from the plastic bowl. “Hey, agent. What’s taking them so long? I want to swim while the sun is high.” He flicked a kernel, hitting Bors on the cheek.
“Fuck! That hurts.”
“Such a baby.”
Gawain watched Percival flick another kernel. This time, he hit Bors on the neck.
“If you don’t stop that, I’ll fucking squeeze your tiny balls.”
Percival just grinned at Bors’s threat. “Do you think they changed their minds and decided to watch your collection of porn that you recorded in VHS?”
“What? Little boy over there—” he pointed at Gawain— “is the one who likes to masturbate while watching porn on VHS. Mom caught him a couple times.”
Gawain scowled at his brothers. “What the fuck are you two talking about? You’re the one who had sticky bed sheets all the time. Mom told you to stop eating rice cereal in bed because she didn’t know you weren’t eating cereal. You were fucking your pillow.”
Bors’s shoulders shook from laughing. “I knew it wasn’t the ghosts I used to hear all night. It was you, Pervcival.”
Gawain laughed, then quickly turned his back when Percival peppered him with popcorn. “Damn it, Percival! Quit it, man. You’re fucking wasting the popcorn.”
“I did not fuck my pillow, nutcase.”
The screen door opened. Gawain looked up, expecting to see Alex, but it was Tristan that came out carrying an inflatable swimming bed. He noticed how his heart doubled its beat at the thought of Alex. Jesus. He’d never been this attracted to anyone. At home early this morning, he didn’t even want to leave Alex’s side. All he could think of was how she had felt good sleeping beside him. If Bors had not invited the
m to come today, he’d have kept Alex in bed naked. All day. Gawain grinned.
“Smiling at your beer bottle, lover boy?” Tristan asked.
“It’s a good beer.”
Tristan raised a brow, but didn’t pry further. “I heard laughing and talks about bathing suits. They’re coming, all right. Here,” he tossed the green plastic to Percival. “Julie had a great time using that.”
“Thanks, bro. Man, I have to blow this?”
“What, you’ve never done a blow job before?”
“You mistaken me for Gawain, bro.”
Gawain raised his fist with his middle finger up.
Bors’s cell phone rang. “Yeah. Okay. Good. We’re all on a watch. I’ll be here.” He hung up, then picked up his beer.
Gawain didn’t have to ask. He knew what was happening. He had hoped today Alex wouldn’t have to talk about her past, but Branyan, Bors’s partner, had received something he needed to share.
The wind blew, bringing the scent of the cedar trees. He loved summer in Washington. It could get hot sometimes, but not as scorching as the weather in the south. Alex said the temperature in the central Philippines could go up to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and it was muggy. She also told him that he’d look like a pig skewered by a bamboo pole getting roasted in a pit if he were to go there, especially during summer.
Roasted pig! He could handle heat. Whenever they made love, the temperature was always ten times over the heat in the Philippines. He’d show her.
Taylor came out of the house, followed by Julie and then Addie. His sister stood by the door, talking on her cell. All four wore their bathing suits and carried beach towels. Even with her round stomach, Addie still looked amazing. Gawain waited for Alex to come out. Where was she? He looked at his brothers. They were all sporting big smiles, with eyes focused on their respective wives.
Bors let out a whistle.
“Hello, boys,” Julie said. “Sorry for the delay.”
“No problem, hon. You’re worth the wait,” Tristan replied.
“Aww. Thank you, honey.”
Kirsten joined them. She looked like she had just won the designer of the year award. Man, she was glowing. Gawain would bet his balls Edmund was on the phone and whatever he said had made his sister’s face turn the color of bright red tulip.
“Listen, guys,” Kirsten said with her hands on her hips. “Alex is coming out. When she does, do not say anything. I repeat, do not say anything about her bathing suit or anything about her. Say hi. That’s fine. I heard you whistle, Bors. Don’t do that. Just pretend you don’t notice how gorgeous she looks.”
“Why?”
“The fuck.”
“Damn.”
“Huh?”
The brothers all spoke simultaneously.
“She’s not used to wearing a bathing suit. And she didn’t think she’s good enough to wear a pair. Also, she is so self-conscious about her…her…”
“Breasts,” Taylor supplied.
“What’s wrong with her breasts?” asked Bors.
Gawain snorted. “Nothing. She’s one percent short of becoming perfect.”
Kirsten sighed. “I know. We tried telling her that.”
“What’s the missing one percent, bro? An outie?” Percival teased. “You’ve seen her bellybutton.”
“Inverted nipple,” Tristan said, pretending to be serious. “You know, the cure for inverted nipple is a regular sucking motion. To pull the nipple out.”
“You should know,” Gawain retorted. “How many inverted nipples have you seen and sucked?”
Julie crossed her arms on her chest and then raised a brow at Tristan.
Bors made loud sucking motion, making everyone laugh.
“Honey, I didn’t suck anyone’s nipple.” Tristan raised his hands in surrender.
Julie’s eyes narrowed.
“Honey, I swear.”
Bors roared while Percival remained quiet. Obviously he didn’t want the attention to revert to him.
“Bors, dear,” Taylor said sweetly. “You seem like an expert in fixing inverted nipples.”
“No, sweet. Just saw it on You Tube. Interesting, really. Once you stop sucking the nipple, it goes back in again.”
“Oh, my God! Stop. This discussion is so weird,” Addie said, laughing.
“Okay, just listen to what I said, please.” Kirsten tried to get everyone to listen. “Until Alex gets comfortable with hersel—”
Everyone stopped talking when they heard the screen door open and close.
Gawain watched Alex walk slowly toward them. She walked unhurriedly and so gracefully, it was hard not to look at her. Her skin glowed under the heat of the sun. Her hair tied high in a bun and decorated with white cloth made flowers look so sexy. A goddess in a pink bathing suit. Gawain couldn’t believe Alex was the young girl he had kissed at their stairs on her tenth birthday, and now, was a beautiful woman who had given herself to him. Many times.
“Hello, everyone,” Alex said, but her eyes were trained on him.
“Hi, baby.” Gawain wanted to go to her, wrap his arms around that slim waist, and kiss her soundly. Instead, he remained where he was. He didn’t want to embarrass her. He glanced at his brothers. They were doing exactly what Kirsten told them not to do—stare.
Bors broke the silence. “Fuckin’ eh.”
“Jesus,” Tristan mumbled.
“I know, right?” Percival said.
“What’s right?” Alex asked.
Kirsten groaned. “Do-do heads, Alex is here. We can go swim now.”
Nobody moved.
“Lord have mercy. Either they didn’t hear what I said earlier or they’re just plain rude.”
“I think they’re just being Knights,” Julie said.
“What did you say earlier, Kirsten?”
Kirsten wrapped an arm around Alex’s shoulder. “I just told them to be nice.”
“We’re nice,” Percival said with a wide grin.
Tristan shrugged. “Didn’t do anything.”
Bors nodded. “Nothing wrong with looking. Not against the law.”
“All right. Let’s go to the dock. I’m hot.” Addie shook her head at Percival. “Shame on you.”
“I didn’t do anything, love. Just blowing this inflatable bed for you.”
“Hurry up, then.”
They watched the women walk toward the dock.
“Holy smokes. Did you see?” Bors shook his head in disbelief.
Tristan chuckled. “Hard not to.”
“Not inverted at all,” Percival said in between blows.
“Don’t I know that.”
“Bro, they’re magnificent.” Bors looked at his hands, then placed them on his chest. “Fuck.”
Gawain pushed off the table, ignoring his brothers’ laughter and comments about Alex’s breasts size. “Let’s go swimming, dickheads.”
“Do you think Alex needs a life vest? Those beautiful things might pull her down,” Percival asked, laughing.
Bors’s laughter followed him. “Bro, I think she’ll float. Her rack is like a buoy.”
“She’s a good swimmer,” Gawain replied without looking back. He smiled, though. Man, he knew how great Alex’s breasts were, but in a bathing suit? Damn, made his cock throb.
* * * *
Addie and Percival went in first. Everyone watched Percival help Addie get on top of the inflatable bed.
“Stop groaning! I’m not that heavy.” Addie tried to get on the inflatable bed, but ended up rolling off it. She came up sputtering.
Percival was no help. He was laughing so hard, he couldn’t even lift his wife. “Honey, you okay?”
“Stop laughing.”
“Stop rolling like a ball, hon. Okay, here we go.”
“Wait! I’ll lay on my tummy.”
Percival lifted her up again and deposited her on the inflatable bed, but Addie lost her hold. She went down, head first, her feet up in the air forming a V, her big belly showing. She looked like
a pregnant frog diving in the water.
Standing on the dock, everyone shouted their encouragement, hooted like drunks and, laughed so hard when Addie tried again and kicked Percival in the head.
“Maybe we should help,” Tristan said while massaging Julie’s neck.
“Yeah, we should. I want to go in now, anyway.” Bors slipped off his Birkenstocks and then took Taylor’s hand. “Ready, sweets?”
Taylor nodded, then plugged her nose. Both jumped in the water, creating a big splash with Tristan and Julie following them.
Gawain noticed Kirsten kept looking in the house’s direction. “Waiting for your prince?”
“He said he’s ten minutes away. He’s always late.”
“Snot. Isn’t he on duty today?”
“Overnighter.”
“Maybe he’s tired. Give him a break.”
“I told him not to come, but he insisted.”
“Who’s coming?”
“Edmund,” Gawain answered. He stood behind Alex and then wrapped his arms around her. She felt warm and so good in his arms that he didn’t want to let go. They should join the others, but he couldn’t seem to let go of Alex. “You’ve met him.”
“Yeah. He picked me up at the airport. He is such a gentleman.”
“I know.” Kirsten sighed.
“And very, very handsome, too.”
Kirsten’s eyes lit up. “You think so?”
“Yes! He’s like a delicious cake on the glass display case. You just want to look at him.”
Just like that, and he was already forgotten. Kirsten and Alex talked about Edmund’s nauseating attributes as if Gawain wasn’t even there. Funny though, his sister would go back and forth between expressing her admiration of Edmund and her annoyance with him as if she was trying to convince Alex that she wasn’t interested in him. He wanted to say something, but didn’t want the two to remember that he was still there and stop talking.
Kirsten knew a lot about Edmund, including his bad habits. Fuck, Gawain didn’t know Edmund liked to eat raw cookie dough. And what was that about nightly showers? It didn’t matter if it was the middle of the night or one in the afternoon. He wanted to ask how Kirsten came to know this, but he shut his mouth. Instead, Gawain stood there with Alex in his arms, caressing her soft skin, loving the feel of her body pressed against his. He nibbled on her neck. His body came to life. Alex must have felt him.
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