Reddest Black_In the Shadows

by P. T. Michelle

  “Would you rather I call her Roo?” His eyes light up. “Actually, I’ll probably call her that half the time too.”

  I snicker and glance down at her adorable face as she sucks down as much milk as she possibly can. “Joey is perfect, Sebastian.”

  Touching my hair, he tucks a section behind my ear, his fingers lingering. “Talia, your aunt…”

  He stops and my heart feels like it’s on a short circuit cycle. “What? You should have told me about her heart attack. No more holding back.”

  He folds his hand over mine, his expression somber. “Her doctor told me that her heart was too damaged from the heart attack. She’s dying. I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

  I let out a watery sob, my heart breaking. “No. That can’t be true.” The look on his face tells me that my hope won’t help this time. “How long does she have?”

  “They said days, a week at the most.” Sitting down in the chair beside the bed, he kisses my hand, folding it between his. “I think you should spend the time while you’re here with Vanessa. Unfortunately the baby can’t be brought into the ICU, but we’ll figure out a way for your aunt to see her. I’ll be here every step of the way. I promise.”

  I close my eyes and release the last bit of guilt I had over pulling that trigger, not just once, but twice. Simone’s actions killed my aunt. Aunt Vanessa might’ve had a chance otherwise. Swallowing my emotions, I force myself not to think about the limited time I’ll have with the woman who raised me. Not yet. “I want to go see her right after I finish feeding the baby and take a shower.”

  “Of course. I’ll get a wheelchair brought up so you can go visit her.”

  I frown, my tone tense. “I can walk.”

  He shakes his head. “Those are my terms, Talia. You might not have needed a transfusion, but you lost quite a bit of blood. They want you on bed rest for the next few days and nursing regularly.”

  “Other than feeding my child, why is that a stipulation?” I ask as I sit the baby up to burp her, then move her to my other breast.

  “According to the doctor, it’ll help your uterus contract and shrink faster so that hopefully there won’t be any more bleeding issues.”

  My uterus suddenly cramps as the baby sucks particularly hard. “Ugh,” I wince. “Okay then, I can see why they say this might work.” Nodding, I agree to his terms. Anything to get me down to see my aunt as quickly as possible. My heart squeezes with guilt. I spent so much time being angry with her. I might’ve been justified at the time, but now it all feels so trivial.

  An hour and a hot shower later, I feel somewhat human again even as the news about my aunt weighs heavily on my heart. When hope no longer does any good, will I ever smile again? I step out of the bathroom after drying my hair and stop short at the sight of my husband sitting in the chair with the baby stretched on his thighs. With his forearms on his knees, his big hands cup her little head. Sunlight streams over them and my heart squeezes with a renewal of hope.

  He glances up at me and my lips twitch that he’d found the sunglasses I’d tucked into the baby’s bag. Guess he looked in every pocket for that compact hairdryer. At least we’ll both enjoy the sunny room now.

  “Her hair is so red,” he says in awe. “The brightness is amazing. I can’t believe it!”

  I grab onto the edge of the bed, shocked that the glasses worked. “You can see colors now?”

  He shakes his head, but his smile never fades as he looks at our baby once more. “No, but the red is back. More vivid than before. There are so many shades in her hair. And pinks. I can see the pink on her cheeks and lips. My God, she’s so beautiful.” Looking up at me, his voice shakes. “Just like her mother.”

  I move to my knees beside them, and as I kiss Joey on top of her head, he bends and kisses my head at the same time, whispering, “I’m so sorry about your aunt. Little Roo couldn’t have come into our life at a better time. Thank you for the greatest gift. You two are my world. Promise you’ll never stop loving me.”

  I look up at him, my smile trembling. “You’re stuck with us, Mister Black. Forever and ever.”

  “Ah, I’m glad to see you’re up.” Doctor Chabra opens the door after a brief knock. “Just don’t stay on your feet too long. Those are Doctor’s orders.” Smiling at me, he sets the tablet he’s carrying down on the bed. “Now we just need to make sure you don’t go running off to save the world again, then we should be good.”

  I look at the doctor, my thoughts on my aunt. “I’m not making any promises.”

  “When I told you to ‘be the Alpha,’ I didn’t expect you to take it quite so literally,” Cass says from the open doorway.

  Standing behind her, Calder puts his hand on her shoulder. “Translated: We’re so glad to see you’re recovering nicely.”

  “Cass, would you please go with me to visit my aunt in ICU while the guys hang with the baby?”

  Her expression turning somber, Cass walks in and helps me to my feet. Hugging me close, she whispers, “I’m so sorry about Vanessa,” then pulls back, keeping her arm around my shoulders. “Absolutely, I’m ready to go whenever you are.”

  Doctor Chabra clears his throat and turns a stern expression my way. “That’ll be after your doctor conducts an exam on mother and child, Mrs. Blake.”

  Releasing me, Cass turns and lifts the baby from Sebastian’s arms, cooing to her, “Okay, Jocelyn, your godmother is going to steal some quality time with you while the doctor a-okay’s your mom. You cool with that?”

  As Doctor Chabra listens to my heart, I shake my head that Cass has already assigned herself as our child’s godmother. Not that I’d have it any other way, but watching Cass carry on an entire conversation with Jocelyn, my sad, sluggish heart starts to fill with compassion and love for my friend. She’s struggling with her own worries, too. I reach over and brush her dark hair over her shoulder, saying, “It’s Jocelyn Vanessa. As Joey’s godparents, you and Calder will need to know her full name at the Christening.”

  Cass glances up, tears brimming in her eyes. “It’s perfect, Talia. And, aww, so is Joey. I love the nickname. I can’t wait to spoil her rotten.”

  I swallow my emotions and take deep breaths when the doctor asks me to, hoping that I don’t completely break down in front of my aunt. My hand starts to tremble and my heart feels like it’s being ripped in two.

  My friend clasps my hand before I pull away, her fingers folding with mine. “You’ll be okay. We’re all here for you.” She glances to the doorway and nods. “All of us.”

  I follow her line of sight and everyone is standing in the hall. My father, Sebastian’s father, Mina and Sebastian’s brothers, Gavin and Damien, Charlie, Elijah, Den, and even Theo walks up with Trevor’s help.

  Among the bevy of flowers and balloons, what strikes me the most is the unspoken emotion in their gazes. Nodding my appreciation for their support, I shift my gaze back to Sebastian. I know he did this. He had them all come, right now and at this very moment, so that I’d know I still have family who will be there if I need them.

  I take a deep breath on my own this time as the doctor takes notes in his tablet. The days ahead will be heart wrenching and hard, but I’m going to make the most of every moment I have left with my aunt.

  Chapter Twenty

  Sebastian

  Four Weeks Later

  “After a full month of testing the system to the max, we’ve run every single report enough times that I’m comfortable saying that it’s fully integrated into Blake Industries,” Elijah says.

  “Thank you for stepping up the past few weeks,” I say into the speakerphone. “I really appreciate having this time with my family.”

  “No problem. I needed to make myself invaluable to the boss lady, too.”

  Talia smirks in the background when I raise my eyebrows, silently questioning the truth of his statement.

  “We’re good, Elijah,” she says cryptically as she nurses the baby beside me on the bed.

  “Do I want to know
what the two of you are referring to?” I ask, unable to resist running my fingers over Joey’s sweet curls. Talia shakes her head as she plays with the baby’s tiny toes and Joey gurgles baby giggles around her mother’s breast. That’s the little tyke’s newest thing; as she feeds, she puts her foot up for her mother to tickle it.

  “No, Talia’s right. We’re good,” Elijah says quickly.

  “What about the few hiccups that initially occurred after the system went live. Have they all been ironed out?” I ask.

  “There’s only one discrepancy that the new system reports have uncovered so far. It’s not an insignificant amount, so your father called in an independent accountant to validate our findings.”

  Talia and I look at each other and I frown. “How much, Elijah?”

  “The discrepant amounts were assigned varied categories and were small enough at first that they might’ve fallen through our alert filters, but over the last ten months those amounts increased.”

  “What’s the total damage?”

  “Twenty-three million.”

  I sit up straighter. “Someone embezzled that much from the company without anyone the wiser? How was that remotely fucking possible?”

  “Holes in the reporting. The person responsible was good at covering their tracks, because they were familiar with the old system’s weaknesses. We’ve traced the user responsible to a Regan Crawford. Apparently she’d been using your sister’s log-in from her own computer for the larger amounts over the past six months.”

  As Talia raises her eyebrows, then touches the tip of her nose, Elijah continues, “Unfortunately Regan didn’t show up for work today. Police were sent to her home, only to find her apartment cleaned out. She’s in the wind, Bash.”

  “Fucking hell.” I rub the back of my neck. “We’ll start digging into it next week once I’m back in the office. Thanks, Elijah.”

  As I end the call, I expect an “I told you so” comment from my wife, but Talia’s too busy one-hand typing on her phone, a slight smile on her face. “Charlie and Stuart invited us over for dinner this weekend. I can’t wait to see their home.”

  Charlie has been a godsend these past few weeks. He stepped up and worked in tandem with Talia’s father on Vanessa’s funeral arrangements. I’m pretty sure Kenneth volunteered as his way to relieve the guilt he felt for Simone’s part in the whole tragedy. Talia may have lost an aunt, but she gained two new uncles in the process who have shown they want to remain a part of her life. Over the couple of dinners they brought to our home, the men told funny stories, helping keep Talia’s aunt’s memory alive. I’m more than okay with that.

  “Stuart’s steak rub is fantastic. I’m in.” Brushing Talia’s hair over her shoulder, I pull her silk shirt fully open and kiss her bare skin as she sets the phone down to sit Joey upright and pat her back.

  When a loud belch erupts from such a tiny body, I chuckle and pat her back too. “That’s my girl, Joey Roo. Show ‘em how it’s done.”

  Snorting, my wife rolls her eyes. “I’m glad you’re amused. But when she’s twelve and can out-burp her Papa, it won’t be so cute.”

  “The louder, the better,” I say, shrugging. “I hope to never see her go through another bout of belly cramps.”

  “On that we agree.” Settling the baby’s belly and chest across her slightly elevated knees, Talia supports her head and neck with her hand and lightly pats her bottom.

  Her little arms and legs dangling loose, Joey yawns and makes contented sleepy sounds as her mom bounces her.

  “That is so weird that she enjoys that,” I say, shaking my head.

  “The bouncing is like car motion and her own weight is just enough pressure to help get rid of excess bubbles in her belly.” Talia tilts her head and watches Joey doze off to sleep. “It looks rather comfortable to me.”

  “Would you like me to bend you over my knee, Little Red?” I say on a low chuckle.

  Her eyes lift to mine, and the heat in her gaze gives me an instant hard-on. “Oh, Mister Black, I thought you’d never ask.”

  My brow furrows. “Has it been long enough?”

  “Doctor Chabra cleared me for sex over a week ago,” she says on a disgruntled huff. “You’re the one being Mr. McCautious pants.”

  Sliding out of our bed, she cradles Joey against her chest and glances back at me. “When I get back in here, there’d better not be a stitch of clothes on that hot body of yours.”

  “What? No foreplay,” I say, mock-offended. I’m so turned on, she’d laugh her beautiful ass off at my attempt to play hard to get if I were currently naked.

  “You have five minutes. Since you made me wait a week, I’m calling the shots.”

  The gorgeous woman doesn’t have to ask me twice. The last four weeks have been sheer torture. But for her safety and health, I held back my own desires. I’m so fucking glad I don’t have to any longer, she could tell me to stand on my head as I wait for her to return and I’d do it. Instead, I strip completely and clear all the electronics off the bed. Phones and laptops get shoved away in the nightstand drawer, while I hear her singing softly through the monitor as she puts little Joey down for a nap.

  Lying back on my pillow, I close my eyes and soak in her voice. I had no clue she could sing. The lilt of her voice is so enchanting I feel blessed that our child gets to hear it too. I hope she’ll always do that for her.

  Once she returns to the room, I keep my eyes closed and smile as she chuckles close to my ear. “It’s hard for men to pretend to be asleep. Just saying, handsome.”

  I start to open my eyes, but she quickly covers them with her hand. “Keep them closed. This is a surprise. Okay?”

  What could possibly be more fulfilling than finally getting to connect with my wife the way I’ve wanted to for weeks? I can’t imagine, but I nod my agreement.

  It’s amazing how, when I willingly shut out my sight and listen, I notice things I never have before. Like the sound of Talia’s light footfalls on the carpet, or the zip of her hands sliding across the covers near me as she smooths them. I soak in the sighs she doesn’t even realize she makes as she climbs onto her side of the bed, and the light floral scent that’s so unique to her as it wafts around me. The feel of her warmth, so close but not touching drives me fucking insane with want.

  The moment her lips press against my jaw, I start to reach for her. But she tsks and presses my arms back to my sides. “Stay as still as you can and keep your eyes closed. I promise it’ll be worth it.”

  Her voice has never sounded sexier. I tamp down my impatience, waiting to find out what she plans to do next. When she kisses my neck, then moves lower and presses her mouth on my pectoral, I flex the muscle underneath her mouth, hoping she’ll linger.

  She releases a low laugh and trails her fingers along the inside of my arm, before following that path with warm lips as well. The moment she lifts my hand and her moist breath bathes my skin before she nips at the heel of my palm, I turn my head toward her, my fingers flexing with the need to touch her soft skin and rumble, “You’re testing my limits, Little Red. Unless you plan to tie me down, these hands will be exploring every inch of you soon.”

  “Oh, I hope so, Mister Black. Just not yet,” she promises before her mouth lands above my belly button, then moves lower and lower still, kissing a path along my hipbone until her lips touch every part of my hard cock and she takes me deep into her mouth.

  I arch into the heavenly sensation, but too soon she releases me and continues her torturous game of kisses. Hard, then baby soft. Some lingering in the best kind of way, while others are far too fleeting. Her mouth covers every part of my body until I’m so revved that my balls feel like they’re in perpetual anticipation. Through the blissful ache, I grit my teeth to keep from throwing her on the bed and fucking her the way we both want. I’m going to enjoy making her scream my name over and over.

  My hand closest to her twitches, and before I think twice about it, I’m clenching her hair and hauling her up my bo
dy to press my lips to her soft ones. Running my hands over her silky skin, I slide my tongue into the sweet warmth of her mouth, my voice a low primal growl against her lips. “There’s only so much I’m willing to take. It’s been a hell of a long wait. All I want to do is bury myself inside you and never come up for air.”

  Exhaling a seductive laugh, she turns on the bed and straddles my hips. “Okay, open your eyes.”

  I blink as my eyes adjust to the daylight, but after they do, I smile at the sight of her plump lips. “All that kissing has darkened them. I like how well-fucked they look before we even get started.”

  “I’m glad you approve.” Puckering her lips in a sexy pout, she slides the velvet mask on, saying, “This is my mask.” Leaving the mask pushed up on her forehead, she retrieves something from the bed. “And this is yours.”

  After she settles my new sunglasses on my face, the red hair flowing over her shoulders and the bright red lipstick on her lips comes to life in a vivid picture that screams sex on a whole new level.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful.” As I lift my arm, intending to thread my fingers in her blazing hair, my gaze snags on the sexy red lips peppering along my skin. Glancing down, I laugh at the sight of my whole body covered in her red kisses.

  Speechless, I cup her face and pull her close. “You always amaze me, Talia. Fucking always.”

  She glances at the tube of lipstick on the nightstand and grins. “It’s washable and dries in seconds, but what I like most about it…” She moves forward and presses her lips to mine, then sucks hard on my bottom lip as she pulls back. “It’s also edible. You taste like strawberries.”

  “Let me taste.” I quickly roll her over onto her back and slide my mouth over hers in a long, savoring, mouth-fucking kiss until she’s panting and wrapping her legs around my hips.

  “Mmmm, strawberries and Talia sweetness,” I rumble my pleasure as I ease slowly inside her. “Tastes like heaven.”