Richard: Caveman Instinct --- Gypsy Curse Book 2

by Hazel Gower

  “So when do you work at the firm?”

  “Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. In the holidays, I work five days a week. I earn my own money then and help Ethan out. When I get my degree, I want to take over from Ethan so he can have some time off. He needs a holiday. He needs to have fun. He needs to start living again,” she whispered.

  If I hadn’t been concentrating, I wouldn’t have heard the last bit. “Why don’t you think he lives?

  “Nope.” Her ‘p’ popped as she shook her head slightly. “He gave up everything for me. Ha, do you know he didn’t want to be an accountant? He was studying communications. He wanted to be a director or producer. He was pretty good too, from what I remember. I was only six so I don’t remember much, but I’ve seen the film he made, and I remember my parents bragging about him getting an internship at Movie World and that he never got anything lower than a credit.” Bailey became quiet and I waited, unsure if I should say anything or wait to see if she said anything else. “He gave that all up for me. It’s a hard business to break into, and the pay wouldn’t have been good until he moved way up.” I watched as her eyes closed. “I know he had a girlfriend, and a bunch of things lined up, but our parents died and he dropped everything, and I became his focus.” Her eyes opened and I wished I wasn’t driving so I could hold her.

  Reaching over, I squeezed her leg. “I bet he wouldn’t change anything he’s done for you. I know he loves you and would bring you the stars and moon if he could.” I knew right then I’d do the same.

  “I know. He is the best brother in the world. I couldn’t even wish for a better one. That’s why I will get my accounting degree and take over, and in my spare time, I’ll get my business degree. When I’m finished, he can go live his life. He can have the life he deserves.” He glanced over quickly to see her straighten. “I like that our firm is family owned. I enjoy numbers so I can do it.”

  Holy crap, my heart broke at the thought of all she was willing to sacrifice and all her brother already had. Bailey was amazing. She wasn’t like many teenagers, who thought solely of themselves or what they weren’t getting. Not once had she mentioned how much harder it was for her to do things or what it would mean to spend that much time in front of a computer with her eyes. The only time she’d even mentioned her vision problem was at breakfast, and even then, she didn’t say anything but got upset and embarrassed. I couldn’t be prouder to be blessed with this woman as my soul mate.

  “Sounds like you have your future planned. So you’re going to Griffith University. What are you going to do for accommodation, or are you going to train it from Brisbane each day?”

  “At the start of next year, Ethan and I are going to start looking at apartments. Jessica will stay with me, too.”

  We were getting close to our destination. It was all back country roads now.

  “You don’t want a house?” I was buying a house for us—she just didn’t know it yet. I had my realtor looking now for properties. I hoped by the time university started, Bailey would be with me. The next couple of days I was going to get Bailey to help me find the right house.

  “A house would be nice, but it would cost a lot more. I already cost Ethan a lot of money by choosing to live down here instead of training it every day from Brisbane. But enough about me, let’s talk about you. You told me at lunch Mason started a gym and I know Zeck has his own business, what about you? I know you own nightclubs. Is that all you have, the two clubs here on the Gold Coast?”

  I had a bunch of other businesses, like owning a bunch of rental houses, and even a couple of shops that I leased out. She hadn’t asked about those, though, and I didn’t want to brag. “I own six nightclubs. Two here on the Gold Coast, one in Brisbane, one in Sydney, and two in Melbourne.”

  “Wow, how do you manage them all?”

  “I have a close knit team. The Sydney and Melbourne ones are run by two people. The ones here on the Gold Coast and Brisbane are having big problems at the moment so I’m helping manage these. I stay close to these as they are close to my family. I do visit the others. Sydney isn’t too far from where Stephan lives, or I should say lived. He, his fiancée and her brother are moving here to the Gold Coast. I’m sure Aunty Evelin and Uncle Lucas will follow. We Silvermans are all a pretty close knit family.”

  “From what little I know, I had gathered that. I noticed once we got Zeck’s Business at the firm, soon after, the rest of the Silvermans followed.”

  “That sounds about right. We share our success, and if we find something we like—your firm—we tell each other. It works well for us, well, most of the time.” Sometimes it did backfire, like with Jade, Stephan’s fiancée testifying and the problems it was causing with the bikers. The Silverman name was a blessing and a curse.

  *****

  Bailey

  Richard had stopped before we turned down a gravel road. He reached into his glove box and got out a black silk tie. “I want to keep this a surprise. We are almost there. Let me put this on please, and I’ll take it off when I’m ready.”

  I didn’t lean towards him. I wasn’t sure I liked even the idea of being blindfolded. I was already vision impaired.

  “Please, trust me.” I studied his face, focusing my gaze on every detail. His eyes were bright and positively begged me to trust him. His lips were pouting, which I didn’t think a guy could do, but damn, Richard did it well. His hands came up in a begging motion and I was a goner.

  “Argh, fine, but if you misplace the trust I’m giving you now, I won’t ever give you a second chance.”

  He chuckled and leaned forward wrapping the tie over my eyes. “I promise you’re going to love the surprise.” When he’d done it up, I couldn’t see a thing. For a moment, I freaked out searching for the door handle and an escape. Richard’s hand found mine and he intertwined them together. “Calm down. I promise you, you won’t have this on for long. Take deep breaths in and count to a hundred. We will be there in less than that.”

  He let go of my hand, and moments later, I felt the car move over the gravel road. I started to count, took deep breaths in, and slowly let them out. Once I was at eighty-six, the car slowed to an almost stop, and by the time I was at ninety-eight, the car was stopped and the door on my side opened. The tie stayed on, but Richards smell surrounded me as he lifted me out of the car and gently put me down.

  “Mr. Silverman, you’re early,” a woman’s voice said. “Your security arrived only minutes ago, but we received the email of what needed to be done. Welcome. This must be Bailey.”

  I nodded having no idea who I was nodding to, but said, “Hi.” I could hear barking in the distance, and I could smell Richard close.

  “Come right this way. We have everything set up. Happy birthday, Bailey.”

  Richard started guiding me carefully.

  “Thank you. It was yesterday, but thanks.” I almost tripped and without missing a beat, Richard swooped me up and kept going.

  The barking became louder and louder the further we went. My heart beat faster as I started to get a feeling of what was going on. Little yips and barks were so close that I knew what was happening. Richard gently placed me down.

  “Sit down, my little Raven.” I didn’t even hesitate. I eased down on what felt like a blanket.

  A moment later, I felt Richard undoing the tie from around me eyes as he slipped it off. Blinking to help bring the focus back, I gazed down as brown, gold, and cream furry bodies started climbing over me. I glanced at the side and saw the outline of Richard. I turned back around and stared down at what I knew were puppies. Their fur was super soft almost like hair. One started licking me and I laughed. The little bodies came more into view and I gasped, darting my gaze to where I knew Richard was.

  “They’re Labradoodles?” These were my favourite dogs. They don’t shed and they are known as highly intelligent dogs.

  “Yeah, and you can choose whichever one you want.”

  “Oh, my God,” I screamed.

  Th
e woman, who I could now see was middle aged with short brown hair knelt before me. “You’re very lucky Richard is so persuasive. These two are my only litters so far this year. I want my dogs to enjoy life and not just be breeders. My bitches only have a litter every three years. The litters before you I had most of them sold, but Richard got in contact with half of them and made some an offer they couldn’t refuse, but,” she laughed, “it looks as though you’ve chosen one of the ones I hadn’t sold yet.

  “Oh, that’s good. I wouldn’t want to choose one that someone else wanted. No matter what Richard has done. Please take away the ones that are sold. I’ll happily choose from who are left.” The puppy I held licked me again. “I’ve chosen this guy.” Some of the puppies barked, I laughed and cuddled my puppy that wouldn’t stop licking me. “You’re coming home with me.” His little tongue slipped out and licked my face. Giggling, I hugged tighter the brown fluffy little puppy.

  “I think she’s chosen or should I say he chose her,” the woman said away from me. I assumed she was talking to Richard. I didn’t even bother looking up at the woman. I was currently in heaven, sitting on a blanket surrounded by playful puppies.

  Over half the furry little puppies were taken away, and I was left with four including the one I had chosen. “So I guess this is why you were asking if I was going to get an apartment or a house?”

  “Oh, you’ll have a house. I was checking if you cared which you had or if it was just a money issue.”

  A golden coloured puppy tried crawling up me to get a hug, too. It was as if it didn’t want to be left out. Scooping it up, I held my brown puppy and now the gold. “Looks like I’ll be getting a job or training it every day to Brisbane so I can work a lot.” Bringing my brown little fluff ball up, I kissed its head. “You’re so worth it.” The gold puppy yipped as if it were telling me it didn’t want to be left out. Bringing it up closer, I snuggled the gold puppy. “Sorry, buddy, but you got in late. I’ve already chosen my little guy, er, I think he’s a guy.”

  Richard’s lips touched my forehead. “Yep, he’s a boy, Bailey.”

  Tilting my head, I smiled at Richard. He didn’t call me Bailey often. I liked it, but his little nickname for me was growing on me, and it sounded strange when he said my name.

  “Thank you for this. This is an awesome birthday present. I can’t believe you got Ethan to say yes. I’ve been begging for a puppy since I moved in with him twelve years ago.” The puppies were so cute, and the one I’d chosen was adorable with dark brown fur and warm chocolate eyes. I had no idea what I was going to name him, though.

  “Ethan agreed because the dog wouldn’t be living with him, and I promoted to help you take care of him.”

  “Richard, I can’t have you do that. You’ve already done so much. I’m sure I can do what needs to be done. I have money saved.”

  Richard inched closer until he wrapped his arm around me bringing me up against him. I knew I should ease away from him because what I was doing was wrong. I had a boyfriend, but the more time I spent with Richard, the more I was drawn to him.

  The pads of his fingers brushed my cheek as he tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “I want to do this, little Raven. I would do anything to see the smile that graces your face right now. It’s now my favourite thing to see.”

  Oh, wow, Richard was such a sweetheart and damn if I didn’t just want to throw myself at him for that. Clearing my throat, I stared up into his blue eyes. “You’re making this really hard.” Turning away from him, I let my puppy down and the woman picked him up.

  “I’m getting him a collar, and I’ll start his paperwork. Do you know what you’re going to call him?”

  “Bear. He’s brown, cute, and cuddly just like a teddy bear.”

  “Great, I think that suits him. I’ll start sorting Bear’s paperwork out, and you can stay here and keep playing with the other three if you like?”

  I nodded. “I’d love to. Thank you.” I turned to Richard. “This is all too much. I barely know you and you’re buying me a puppy. I can’t let you pay for the puppy. I’ll buy him as a gift to myself.” Smiling at Richard, I really wanted to hug him but knew I shouldn’t because if I did, I might not be able to stop myself from clinging to him and telling him I wanted more. I was such a bad person. I shouldn’t be here with Richard. I had a boyfriend. I shouldn’t feel this comfortable with someone I didn’t know.

  *****

  Richard

  I now had a bloody puppy—no, I now had two friggin puppies, thanks to convincing Bailey that I was fine with buying her a puppy, as I was getting one for myself too and they would be friends. So I’d chosen the gold puppy that she liked. The puppies were only six weeks old and had to stay with their mothers until eight weeks so, in two weeks, he and Bailey would come and pick up Bear and the puppy he’d chosen called Goldie.

  The bracelet I’d had for her birthday I’d decided to keep as I knew she wouldn’t take it after I’d convinced her to let me buy the puppy. She tried to convince me on the drive back to the resort that buying her the puppy was too much for her birthday, especially when they didn’t know each other very well.

  “Well, we are friends now and friends give each other gifts, and this was mine for you for your birthday.”

  “Yes, we are friends, but we’ve only just become friends. Only a couple of days ago I thought you were crazy. Argh.” She threw her hands up in the air. “Maybe I’ve lost it and I’m crazy, too? That’s why I have become friends with you and not questioned why.” Bailey’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes were scanning faster than they had all day.

  I knew the gypsy curse, er, gift, was working because, after my display of kidnapping her the other day, Bailey should be terrified of me or at least think I was still a loon. We stood by her resort room door, and I went to her holding her hands in mine and pushed back the caveman instinct that came rushing to the surface at her touch. “You don’t question our friendship because you know it’s right.” I gently squeezed her hands. “Have you felt unsafe with me today?”

  Bailey shook her head. “No.”

  “Good. That’s because you know we are meant to be. So now back to your birthday present. I wanted to take you yesterday but waited so you could have the day with your other friends.”

  Bailey huffed out a sigh, took her hands from my hold, and placed them on her hip. “I still think it’s too much. My friends who I’ve been friends with for years wouldn’t spend that much on me buying me a puppy.”

  I tried not to grin at how cute she looked with her hands on her hips and glaring up at me. Cupping her face with my hands, I stroked her cheek. “I assure you, Bailey, I am not like any of your other friends. I promise you I will be more.”

  She groaned and stepped back against the door. By the time she went into her room, I think I’d convinced her.

  It was now three days later, and Bailey hadn’t brought up the puppies and their expense again. Having breakfast like we’ve had the last couple of mornings, this morning was different from the others as Jessica, Bailey’s best friend, was joining us.

  “Bailey told me you got her a Labradoodle puppy for her birthday,” Jessica said. “She’s wanted one of those ever since they started having them at vision camp. She loved the Labradors they had, but as soon as Labradoodles started coming, she didn’t shut up about wanting one.”

  “Vision camp?” I asked. I had learned in the info I’d gotten that Bailey went every holiday to Vision Australian Camp, but I wanted to hear about it from her.

  “Yeah. I started going the year my parents died. Not only do I still love it, when I was younger, but it also gave Ethan a break. Jessica has come with me a time or two. Earlier this year, I went as a helper for the second time.” The smile on Bailey’s face was almost blinding she was so happy. “The firm has been one of its sponsors now for eight years.” A dreamy look came over her face. “Your brother, Zeck, has even been sponsoring it now for three years.”

  I swore the next time
I saw my brother, Zeck, I was going to kick his arse. I growled and Jessica burst out laughing.

  “Ha, you growl at the look she’s giving now. Can I please be there when she visits your family?”

  “Jessica,” Bailey moaned and hid her face in her hands.

  My growl deepened, and I knew I sounded like an animal, but it was getting hard to hold the caveman side of me in, especially when she was attracted to my damn baby brother. Bailey was mine. She was my mate, not Zeck’s. It was bad enough she was dating that fucking kid. I didn’t want to have to add my brother to the mix.

  I needed to change the subject. “So you know this little thing she has with Toby is temporary?” I winked at Jessica. “You wouldn’t want to be there when she visits my family—or do you have a thing for one of my brothers.” I grin, knowing I’m winning over her best friend.

  Jessica sighs. “I don’t know many girls who don’t find your brothers hot. Not for me, though. They don’t have the right stuff on top or between their legs.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “My tastes go more towards the pretty thing next to you.”

  Bailey’s peal of laughter, as I gazed at her wide-eyed, had me grinning.

  “What?” Jessica added. “I don’t get a growl?”

  Chuckling, I send a growl Jessica’s way. “Don’t be thinking when she leaves Toby, she’s yours—because she’s mine.”

  Jessica joined in the laughter. “Oh, been there, done that.”

  “What!” I couldn’t help the screech. I was shocked. I gazed at my mate to see her bright red.

  “It was one time,” she mumbled. “You told me you had a crush on me,” Bailey whispered to Jessica and covered her face with her hands. Then she spread her fingers and grumbled, “It was a good kiss but did nothing for me.”