“Listen, Preston. I know you’re used to getting your way, and you’re used to people bending to your every command, but you forgot to take one thing into account.”
“And what’s that?” I asked, too mesmerized by the image of her mouth and lips so close to my cock.
“I refuse to be away from you. Especially if you’re going to find Derrek. We decided, together, we were going to find him. So, I’m coming with you.”
I could have argued with her, could have fought with her all day and all night, explaining all the reasons I didn’t want her to come. When we’d decided to find him, it had been on our own terms, for our own reasons. This was different. This was dangerous. If Derrek knew we were coming for his money, coming for him, coming to finish whatever Edgar had wanted done before Derrek had so conveniently disappeared, he wasn’t going to welcome us with smiles and handshakes. But I couldn’t argue with her. Not when she was in front of me, half naked, asking to be near me, her mouth so close to me, so lush. There was also the fact that I did, always, want her with me. So, in that moment, I decided it would be pointless to argue, and better to just give in and let her think she’d won.
“Okay,” I said softly, raising one hand to run the backs of my fingers along her cheek and down to her chin. Her eyes closed and she leaned in to my touch. “Come here,” I said softly, opening up my body, signaling her to come closer. She stood and curled her body onto my lap, her cheek resting high on my chest, ass right where I wanted it, knees curled up. I held her, feeling how small she was in my arms, and knew I didn’t want to be without her. So she would come with me.
“Will we bring Parker?” she asked, sounding hopeful.
I shook my head. “He needs to be in Portland for Piper. She’ll need someone to be there for her as she tries to put her life back together.”
Lena was quiet for a moment and then lifted her face to look at me. “Are you sad it won’t be you who’ll be there for her?”
I knew Lena was amazing in many ways. I loved her for a variety of reasons. But in that moment I loved her because she knew. She knew, without me having to tell her, that it would be difficult to be away from Piper. I pressed my lips to her forehead, mumbled, “Yeah,” against her skin. She sighed deeply, then inhaled a big breath.
“I’m sorry my estranged husband is causing so many problems for you.”
It hurt me to hear her apologize for him. His actions were not her fault.
“Soon, hopefully, we’ll find a way to get him out of our lives for good.”
“When do we leave?” she asked on a sigh, her eyes wandering out to the ocean, peaceful and blue.
I kissed her brow again. “We should probably leave when Piper and Sam leave.”
“That doesn’t give me any time to give notice at my job.”
Silence hung between us.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. She’d worked hard to build a life before I showed up, and now she was being forced to leave it behind. It was important to her that she’d done something on her own for once, without the help or influence of anyone else, and I knew she would be sad to leave it at all, let alone on bad terms. That’s just the kind of woman Lena was.
“In the end, when everything is sorted out, it’ll all be worth it, right?” She looked up to me, searching my eyes for an answer.
“Right,” I promised, knowing I had no right to make that promise to her.
“Parker, I need your help with something. And fast.” I had snuck back up to the apartment, leaving all three girls on the beach, sunning themselves, soaking up as much Hawaiian sun as they could before we all left paradise. With my phone to my ear and my eyes on the girls, I quickly called my brother.
“What is it?”
“I need you to draft up divorce papers between Derrek and Lena. And I need those papers to indicate that Derrek gives up everything in the divorce. The house, the cars, and gives her all but two million dollars.”
“What? Why? He isn’t going to agree to that.”
“He won’t have a choice.”
Parker was quiet for a moment, then spoke. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing you need to be looped in to. I just need those papers drafted, and I need them faxed to me when you’ve got them.” I dragged in a deep breath. “Piper’s coming home and I need you to look after her.”
“Where are you going?”
“Lena and I are going to find Derrek.” I heard Parker sigh, and knew what his next words would be.
“Do you think it’s wise for Lena to go with you? Perhaps she should stay here with me as well.”
“Lena doesn’t want to be in Portland. She might never be in Portland again. She wants to be where I am, and honestly, I want her with me, too.”
“It sounds like shit’s going down, Preston. It doesn’t sound safe and it doesn’t sound like you’ve really got it under control.”
“I need something else. And this might be more difficult for you to get a hold of, but you’re the only person I can ask.” I took in a deep breath, knowing I was about to ask something of him I never imagined I would, knowing it would probably change our relationship and the way he viewed me. I could see no other way to get from point A to point B. There was a piece missing, and Parker was the only person I could think of who could provide us that missing link.
Chapter Six
The four of us had flown into Seattle, working around Lena wanting desperately to not have a layover at the Portland airport.
“The last time I was there I was completely broken. I don’t really want to go back there,” she’d told me in a whisper one night as she lay sprawled over me in bed.
I didn’t need any more convincing than that, so we flew into Seattle and Parker had no problem meeting us there for dinner. Parker and Lena hugged tightly when they reunited and, again, I was filled with gratitude, grateful he was there to support Lena when I couldn’t be.
We had dinner at a restaurant inside the hotel Lena and I were staying at that night, waiting for our morning flight. It was a sham of a dinner; the girls were pretending not to be sad, even though the grief of separation was weighing down the very air we breathed. Parker and I were trying to be sensitive to their situation, but all three of the women were shredded, knowing they’d be saying goodbye again for who knew how long.
When we could extend dinner no longer, the girls reluctantly stood and headed toward the lobby of the hotel, Sam already wiping tears from her eyes.
“Be safe,” Piper said as she wrapped Lena in a hug. My heart pounded just a little harder seeing the two women who meant the most to me in the world embrace. I’d give up everything for either one of them, and something felt right when I saw them together.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Sam said, still crying, as Lena hugged her. Lena was surprisingly quiet, and I assumed it was because she was afraid if she spoke, she’d just end up crying. Everyone took in her silence and didn’t press her. When she hugged Parker though, the two of them exchanged words in hushed whispers, quietly enough I couldn’t hear.
I hugged the girls, kissed Piper on the cheek as she murmured the same “Be safe,” to me, then hugged me again a little more tightly. I tried not to look in her eyes as we pulled apart; didn’t want to see the pain I knew would be lighting them up.
I shook Parker’s hand and clapped him on the back, stilling when he leaned in and whispered to me, “Once you get settled in the hotel room, meet me down here alone.” I nodded as I pulled away, knowing exactly why he wanted to see me.
After Lena had given the girls another round of goodbyes, I took her hand and led her back to our room. I could see her holding back more tears and as the doors to the elevator closed I pulled her to my side and kissed the top of her head.
“Everything will be all right, Lena. I promise.” She nodded slightly as her arms squeezed my waist tighter. The doors opened on our floor and we walked, still wrapped in each other, to our room. I led her straight to the bathroom and started filling the bathtub
with warm water. I turned back to her and could hardly stand her tear-streaked face. “Turn around, sweetheart.” I pulled the zipper of her dress and watched as the fabric floated down into a pool around her feet. I reached back up and unclasped her bra, watching it too fall to the ground, leaving her nearly bare. She bent at the waist and slid her panties off, then, with the grace of someone so accustomed to wearing them, took her high heels off without a single totter.
She turned back to me with not one single piece of clothing marring her body, nothing to shield her from me at all, and with sadness in her eyes, asked me, “Will you join me?”
I framed her face with my hands, saying, “In a little while, love. I’m going to get some ice and settle in for a minute. But then I’ll join you.”
She leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to my lips, and I fought every urge I had to pull her in closer, to take her mind off her sadness by making her feel good again. But I managed to watch her pull away and slowly dip her perfect body into the steaming water, then I turned around and walked out.
I found my brother exactly where he’d said he would be, and to say he looked worried would have been a massive understatement. He looked nervous and uncomfortable.
“I will never, not ever, do this for you again. So you better make sure you get this right the first time, Preston. I know you’d go to the ends of the earth for Lena, and I’ll do anything I can to help you, but this,” he said, slamming a sealed manila envelope into my chest, “is outside my comfort zone.”
I grabbed the envelope and breathed out a sigh of relief.
“You don’t know how much I appreciate this. It’s all there?”
“Everything you asked for is in that envelope. This cannot come back to me, brother. You have to find a way to end this.”
“Trust me,” I said, looking my older brother directly in the eye. “I’ve thought this through and this is the only way we all get what we want, and everyone gets what they deserve.”
“You better be right,” he said firmly, his face a mixture of concern and apprehension. Then he clasped my shoulder and brought me into a hug, forceful and startling. “Keep her safe. And keep yourself safe too, Pres. I need you both to be okay when this is all done.” After a few hearty claps on the back I pulled away, trying not to let my surprise at his worry show on my face. I was trying to be stoic, to show him I had everything under control.
“We’ll be fine.”
In response, Parker reached out his hand, and I shook it.
“Call me if you need anything.” He paused, my hand still clasped in his. “I mean it.”
“I know, Parker. I will.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the exit of the hotel, head bowed.
I let out a harsh sigh. It was official. We were on our own. We were on our own and about to attempt something insanely dangerous and very illegal. But as I’d told Parker when I asked for his help, I didn’t see any other way out.
The only thing I could see, the only thing my mind would let me focus on, was Lena. I needed to keep her safe. Needed to ensure that, come what may, she was through the storm and safely on the other side of the destruction. Out of harm’s way. In my arms. So, the very next day we would depart on, without a doubt, the most important trip of our lives.
The next morning, after a short flight to Toronto, we found ourselves on a much longer flight taking us to Athens, Greece.
“You know what sucks?” Lena asked, her head leaning against my shoulder as her hand lay in my lap, fingers laced through mine.
“What’s that?”
“The entire time we were married I begged Derrek to take me to Europe. Greece was one of the top places I wanted to see. But we never went. And now that I get to go, now that I get to see the beautiful country I’ve always wanted to visit, I won’t even be able to enjoy it.” She pressed her cheek closer to me and I gripped her hand a little more tightly. “And more than likely, after we leave, I won’t ever want to go back.”
My heart pounded, jaw clenched, thinking about Derrek still taking things from her. Still managing to impact her and her happiness. Even after setting her up, leaving her with nothing, demanding everything from her, he was still able to reach her, still able to affect her. I tried to regulate my breaths, tried to calm down, but she must have felt me tense because her free hand came up to gently cup my cheek.
“It’s okay, Preston. I don’t need Greece.” She pulled back, her hand still on my face and her eyes looking into mine. “I don’t want anything from him anymore. You give more to me than he ever did.” She leaned in and pressed her mouth against mine, then pulled away and rested her head against my shoulder again.
She hadn’t asked many questions about Derrek and Jessica; never inquired as to what they’d been up to in the last three months. I wouldn’t tell her the truth. Wouldn’t tell her that it looked like they’d been on a dream vacation, traveling the world. I couldn’t figure out whether he was stupid and actually taking his little family on a trip around the world, or if he was running, trying to stay one step ahead of anyone who might have been looking for him. Once I’d found his trail it hadn’t been hard to track him.
I knew he wasn’t a criminal mastermind, but he wasn’t completely dense. He had to know people were out to get him, had to know if he stayed in one place long enough he’d have company.
Three days ago, when I’d found him in Athens, I knew, based on his record, he’d be there for at least a week, perhaps two at the most, so we had a good chance of finding him. So that’s where we’d headed.
The flight was long, but it was also nice to have seventeen hours of uninterrupted time with Lena. Time where, even if she was asleep against my arm, there wasn’t any outside influence. We watched a movie, did a crossword puzzle together, read books. It was almost as if we weren’t on our way to find her ex-husband who’d ruined her life. Almost.
When we touched down in Athens it was just dusk, although my body had no idea what time it was or which way was up. Everything about my system was disrupted. Lena, on the other hand, was exhausted. She resembled a zombie going through customs, and could hardly keep her eyes open to take in whatever sights of Athens we could see in the darkness.
When we arrived at our hotel, I checked us in and helped Lena to our room, steering her directly to the bed where she promptly climbed in and fell asleep almost immediately. I hadn’t mentioned to her our hotel was the same hotel in which I thought Derrek was staying. I didn’t think she needed that information. I thought, instead, she needed a night of uninterrupted sleep during which she wasn’t worried about the other people staying there.
When I was sure she was fast asleep, I quietly made my way out of the room and headed downstairs to the bar. When I spotted him sitting on a stool, tumbler in hand, alone, I couldn’t decide if I was surprised I’d been right, or worried for the exact same reason. He was here, in front of me, and now I had a real decision to make. Did I approach, and possibly alter the course of all of our lives, or try to find some alternate solution I hadn’t come up with yet? I’d spent every waking moment since Edgar called me trying to find another way for Lena and me to get past this problem, but I could see no other way.
I took in a deep breath and pushed forward, never having taken steps which felt heavier or more weighted than those few steps to the bar. My hands rested on the cold wood and I caught the eye of the bartender just a few feet away.
“Scotch. Neat.”
The bartender nodded just as I saw Derrek’s head turn toward me. Then I watched with anticipation as his eyes widened in shock, mouth gaping open, then closing, quite like a fish. I watched as the bartender placed a tumbler in front of me and poured the amber liquid two fingers deep. He slid it toward me and walked away as I brought the glass to my lips, my eyes never leaving Derrek’s.
“How did you find me?”
“Derrek, I’m a private investigator. It’s my job to find information people are purposefully trying to bury.” He blinked but
didn’t respond, although I could practically see the wheels spinning in his head. “You did a decent job covering your tracks, but not good enough.” I put the glass down and sat on the stool next to him.
“I’m not going to lie—I’m pretty impressed you found me.”
“I’ve known where you were for weeks now. I wasn’t going to do much with the information unless Lena wanted me to, but other people forced my hand in this case.”
“You’re here with Lena?” His eyes darted around the room, looking for her.
“Don’t be a fucking idiot. You won’t be seeing her until I say so and only if she wants to see you.” I turned toward him, my eyes narrowing, my pulse pounding in my neck. “Let’s get one thing straight. The moment you hired me to seduce her was the moment you lost her. Forever. She’s mine now and you don’t get to look at her. You don’t get to speak to her. You don’t even get to breathe the same air as her.”
“Why are you here, then?” he rasped at me.
“Edgar sent me.”
I watched as the blood drained from his face and little beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and right above his lips. He looked ill and a not-so-small part of me enjoyed watching the fear physically affect him.
“Edgar not only wants his money, he also wants you dead.”
Derrek’s eyes widened and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. He turned back to the bar and drained his drink, then lifted his glass at the bartender, signaling he wanted another.
“Looks like hiring you to seduce my wife might have been the biggest mistake of my life. Or, rather, tangling myself with Edgar was.” He sighed and took a gulp of his refreshed drink, then ran his hand through his hair, obviously nervous and frustrated.
“Let me ask you a question. Why didn’t you just pay Edgar off? You got more than enough money when you ran, why didn’t you just give him his money?”
He sighed heavily. “I don’t expect you to understand my decisions, uh, Preston, was it?”
The Private Serials Box Set Page 30