by Lisa Bilbrey
“She was,” Sadie said, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “She gets this look on her face. Like she’s in heaven. I could sit and watch her paint all day.”
Elle could feel her cheeks warm, and she turned back to her paintings. “Why did you put them here?”
“Why not?” Angel countered.
“Because this is Henri Matisse, one of the greatest artist of all time!” Elle exclaimed. “And I’m just … me. Just an amateur artist.”
“Oh, sweetheart, you’re not an amateur anything,” Helina insisted. “You put so much into everything you do, every building you design is a part of you.”
Elle stared at her mother. “You’ve seen my buildings?”
“Every one of them,” Helina assured her. “They were incredible.”
Tears once again flooded her eyes, though she managed to keep them from falling. Elle reached out and placed her hands on Helina’s shoulders, pulling her mother in for a hug. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, I guess,” she murmured, her hands lying flat on her back. “Are we okay now?”
“We’re getting there,” Elle whispered, taking a step back. “I’m trying to let go of my hurt and anger. It’s not easy, but I am trying. Can you be patient with me?”
Helina nodded. “Of course I can.”
Elle smiled and looked around. “I still can’t believe you did this for me.”
“Your art is too incredible to hide away,” she said, placing her arm around waist.
“But this is the Matisse Collection!” Elle laughed and shook her head as she walked over to her favorite painting of his.
Next to it hung one of hers. A large, empty room, empty with the exception of a mirror hanging on the far wall. Standing in front of the mirror was a young girl. She was pale, brown hair down to her waist, and a flimsy, white, cotton night gown on. Though, it was her refection that was the main focus of the piece, or lack of one. The girl was standing in directly in front of the mirror, but her face was missing from the reflected glass.
“It’s you, right?” Callum asked, placing his hand on the small of her back.
Derek stepped up behind her, his hands resting on her hips. “The girl. It’s you?”
Elle nodded. “Confused. Scared. Alone. Feelings of uncertainty and doubt about …” Elle paused and looked to her other side, where Sadie was standing. “About you.”
“But not now,” Sadie murmured.
“No, not now,” she whispered, tangling their fingers together and lifting them to her lips. “Everything is perfect right now.”
And Elle hoped like hell that nothing would change.
Twenty-nine
“Permits, zoning approval letters, plans,” Elle murmured to herself as she thumbed through the three binders she was clutching.
“Sweetie,” Sadie said, drawing her attention to the door where she, Derek, and Callum were waiting. “We have everything. In fact, we have multiple copies of everything. What we don’t have is time to sit here and go through everything for the tenth time.”
“Today,” Derek added. “That’s not including the dozen times we went through it yesterday.”
“Or the day before that,” Callum groused.
Elle pressed her lips together as she turned her attention back to the paperwork. Yes, she was being obsessive. And, yes, she had annoyed them by continuously checking and then double checking to make sure they had every ‘T’ crossed and every ‘I’ dotted. But today was the first step in a long progress, and if even one area wasn’t perfect, the delay could cost them everything. So, yes, she was being extremely cautious.
“Hey,” Sadie called again. Elle bit her lip as she shifted her eyes back to her lovers. “We have everything ready. Nothing is going to stop us from breaking ground today.”
She nodded and slid her folders into her briefcase. “I know. We should get going.”
Elle joined them at the door, sighing when Callum moved so that he was standing in front of her. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. You’ve been on edge all week, honey, but you’ve got to relax. We still have another year before we can officially wrap up this project, and if you don’t relax, you’re going to have a nervous breakdown. As hot as tying you up sounds, we don’t want to because you’re cray-cray.”
Elle lifted an eyebrow. “Did you just call me cray-cray instead of crazy?”
Callum pursed his lips and nodded. “I heard one of the interns say it, and well, I guess it kind of stuck.”
“Wow, dude, no more listening to the interns gossiping,” Derek teased before turning to Elle. “But he’s right. You’re going to drive yourself insane if you don’t stop stressing over every single aspect of this project. Between the four of us, we’re going to make sure everything is covered.”
“I can’t help it,” she mumbled, feeling foolish for being so erratic. “We almost lost this project once, and losing it again would be … I don’t even want to think about that happening.”
“We will not lose this project again. In case you haven’t noticed, Gabriel Alvarez has a little crush on you, beautiful,” Derek teased.
“No, he doesn’t!” Elle insisted, though she knew it was a feeble attempt.
In that last six months, Gabriel had made his feeling about her clear, though he never made a move on her. It was just the simple way he smiled at her, or patted her on the back. Unlike the morning they’d sat across from him and had the project ripped from their hands, Gabriel had been sweet and kind, always making a point to reassure Elle that any hiccup was tolerable, and for that reason alone, she didn’t want to disappoint him. He’d put his trust in her.
“Oh, baby, he’s putty in your sexy little hands,” Sadie snickered. “But it’s okay. We’ll let him flirt with you because we know it’s harmless.”
Elle rolled her eyes, muttering, “Whatever.”
“Look, we really don’t have time for this, so promise us that you’re going to relax. We’ll get through the groundbreaking, and then spend the rest of the night celebrating!”
Biting her lip, she shifted her eyes up to theirs. “Promise?”
“Oh, yeah, baby, we have big plans for tonight.” Callum reached up and cupped her face, the pads of his soft fingers caressing her rapidly heating skin. “Now, can we go?”
Elle nodded.
With a sigh of relief, Callum slid his arm around Elle’s waist and led her out of their office with Derek and Sadie following behind. Samuel was waiting for them at the elevator, a scowl on his face as he tilted his head back and looked at each of them.
“Cutting it a little close, aren’t we?” he groused.
“Sorry,” Callum said before Elle could apologize. “You know me, always late.”
“Hmm,” Samuel snorted. “So true, boy, so true.”
“Don’t call me boy, old man,” Callum grumbled.
“I’m not an old man, boy.” Samuel smirked as the doors to the elevator slid open. He stuck his hand out, holding them open while looking over at Elle and Sadie. “Ladies, after you.”
“Thanks.” Sadie sauntered inside, turning and giving Elle a quick wink as she beckoned her forward with a twitch of her finger.
“Um, do I need to take the stairs?” Samuel grimaced. “I really don’t need to see you being all gross.”
“Gross?” Sadie asked, laughing as he, Derek, and Callum joined them in the elevator. “You think we’re gross?”
“Yep,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Mushy and in love. It’s gross.”
“Wow, Dad,” Callum tittered. “Coming from you we must be horrible!”
“You are,” he replied, smiling. “And what do you mean ‘coming from me’?”
“Oh, please,” Callum scoffed. “You and Mom are the worst. I don’t know how many times I walked in on you two having sex, and not just in your bedroom, either. The kitchen, the living room, the bathroom. My room!”
“His room?” Elle laughed. “That’s gross!”
Samuel
shrugged his shoulders. “She was there, I was there, we were in the mood. It was good sex, too. Broke his lamp.”
“Dad!” Callum shuddered as the doors slide open. He stormed out, leaving the rest of them laughing in his wake.
“You get too much pleasure out of tormenting him, Samuel,” Elle snickered.
“I do, don’t I?” he murmured. “Should I feel guilty?”
“You should, but you don’t, do you?” Sadie asked, leading the way to the front doors, where Callum was pouting.
Samuel smirked and pushed open the door. “Nope.”
As he passed by his son, Samuel’s smarmy grin grew, and Callum grumbled under his breath about needing therapy. Elle bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, but if he didn’t see how much his father loved him, how much he respected him, then there wasn’t much she could do.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the future sight of Alvarez Park. The land had already been bulldozed and was ready for the Asciari Brothers Construction to break ground on the first house, which would be in the next few minutes.
Gabriel was waiting for them inside the stone pillars that marked the entrance of the park. He looked almost as nervous as Elle felt. He, too, had poured himself into this project, and Elle finally understood why the development meant so much to him. As much as it was his father’s legacy, it was his, too.
Next to him stood three men who looked like they were in the Marines. All three had short cropped dark hair and black eyes, and all three looked like each other, which led Elle to believe that they were the Asciari brothers.
The rest of their crew, all one-hundred and fifty-eight of them, were milling around behind them. Some appeared anxious to start their work day, while the rest were nonchalant about everything.
“Elle, it’s lovely to see you again,” Gabriel said, reaching out and taking her hand before she could stop him. He had a wide smile on his face, which didn’t do anything to discredit the idea that he had a crush on her. “I’d like you to meet the Asciari Brothers. This is Tank, Duke, and Gunner. Gentlemen, this Elle Reid, primary architect on the project.”
“Oh, no, I’m not the primary on the account,” she refuted.
“Yes, she is,” Samuel insisted, reaching around her to shake Tank Asciari’s hand. “I’m Samuel Davis. It’s nice to meet all of you. I’ve been hoping for a while that we’d be able to work together, but none of my other projects called for a crew of your size.”
“Yes, well, we’re thrilled to be a part of this,” Tank said, tilting his head back toward the smoothed out land. “Now, not to be rude, but we’ve got a lot to do today, so if we’re ready to break ground, I say let’s get to it.”
“Of course.” Samuel turned his attention to Elle. “The floor is yours, so to speak.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, pulling her folders out of her briefcase before putting the case on the ground next to her. “I’ve taken the liberty of binding all the paperwork for you. Thought it would make it easier for everyone,” she rambled, holding out the binders.
“Oh, that’s very considerate of you, Ms. Reid,” Gunner Asciari said with a smile.
“Please call me Elle,” she told them. “Inside, you’ll find the building permits, zoning approvals, specks of the plans, and a copy of the plans. Also, I’ve included a contact sheet with our office numbers, and cell numbers in case you need to get ahold of us.”
All three brothers were staring at her with amused expressions on their faces, which only made her feel silly for being so obsessive.
“I’m sorry if I’m coming off as a little …” She trailed off, unsure of the best way to describe her actions.
“OCD,” Derek, Callum, and Sadie said together.
Elle shifted her attention to away from everyone. “Yeah.”
“Personally,” Duke started, drawing her focus back to him, “I find a little OCD is good. Better over-prepared than under-prepared, right?”
Elle nodded. “That’s my motto.”
“Mine, too,” he said with a grin. “Thank you for all of this. Now, as my brother has said, we’d like to get our crew started, so …” Duke took a shovel from one of this guys and walked over to Samuel, holding it out. “It’s time to break ground.”
“Um,” Samuel mused, wrapping his fingers around the wooden handle and looking over at Elle, “I think you should do it.”
“What?” she murmured, her eyes widening. “No, you’re the boss.”
“But they are your plans, it’s your project,” he argued, nearly shoving the shovel into her hand. “You should break ground, Elle, not me.”
Sighing, she shook her head and looked over at Callum, Derek, and Sadie, unsurprised when all three of them nodded, showing that they agreed with him.
“All right,” Elle replied. “Where?”
“Over here,” Gunner said, gesturing to the right of the entrance to where the first house would be built.
“And I just dig in and toss it to the side?” she asked.
Gunner smiled. “That’s the idea.”
“Okay,” she whispered, mostly to herself. Gripping the handle tighter, she dug the tip of the shovel into the dirt, scooping a hearty amount before tossing it to her left.
Loud cheers erupted around her, and when Elle looked around, she saw everyone clapping. Her cheeks warmed as she walked back over to everyone and handed the shovel back to Gunner.
“Nice job,” he laughed. “If this architect gig doesn’t work out, you can come work for us.”
“Oh, okay,” she snickered.
“Well, we should get going,” Callum said, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Busy day, right?”
The jealous tone lacing his words had Elle laughing in the inside, but she didn’t call him on his barbaric behavior. She found it incredible sexy.
“Of course,” Tank said, like it was perfectly natural for Callum to be staking his claim in her. “We’ll be in touch next week.”
“Great, thanks,” Samuel said before he turned and walked back to his car, leaving without another word.
—FA—
“Shh,” Sadie giggled, pressing her finger against Elle’s lips. “Don’t be too loud, baby.”
“I’m not the one talking,” Elle scoffed, sliding her arm around Sadie’s waist and leading her lover up the front walk. Derek and Callum already had the door open, and were waiting for them.
“Yes, you are,” Sadie sang, pulling away from Elle and rushing into the house.
“This, lovers, is why I don’t let her have cake,” Elle told them as she followed Sadie into the house. They found her standing in the living room, already stripping off her dress. “Sugar is like crack to her.”
“No shit,” Derek laughed as he walked over to her, lifting Sadie over his shoulder. “Come on, honey, let’s take this party upstairs.”
Sadie responded by slapping him on the ass and squealing as she was carried upstairs. Callum guffawed as they followed. Once they were inside their room, the four of them stripped off their clothes in a frenzy, hands groping whoever was closer.
“I love your cock, baby,” Sadie groaned, before sliding Derek’s shaft into her mouth.
She grabbed his hips, pulling him toward her. Callum walked over to them, placing his hand on the back of Sadie’s head, causing her to turn and face him. She smirked before she snaked her tongue out, lapping at his bulging tip before swallowing him down her throat.
Elle bit her lip as she watched them, needing to be with them. She’d almost taken a step when she decided it was time to spice things up a bit. So instead of joining them by the bed, Elle walked into the closest, grabbing the box on the top shelf and placing it on the floor. She pulled the lid off and grabbed the strap on laying on top.
She and Sadie had used it on each other several times before they met Derek and Callum, but hadn’t felt the need to bring out in the last six months. But right now, in that moment, Elle wanted to play.
Elle strapped the device on, smiling as wh
en she saw the pink silicone dildo hanging between her hips, felt the snugness of the leather straps against her skin, and the pressure of the vaginal plug pressed inside of her. Taking a deep breath, she turned and walked out of the closet.
“Holy shit,” Callum groaned, his eyes traveling down the length of her body, his eyes locking on the fake-cock. “Baby?”
“On your knees,” Elle ordered, smirking when Callum groaned and followed her demand by kneeling in front of her.
His nude body was luminous in the soft lighting inside their bedroom. Behind him, Derek and Sadie were watching and waiting with anticipation for what she was going to do next. Elle slid her hand over her breast, tweaking the hardened peak of her nipple, the sensation causing her to whimper.
Callum moaned, his mouth parting as his tongue snaked out and wet his bottom lip. “Baby, please.”
“What do you want?” she asked, letting her hand slide further down her body until she was gripping the silicone appendage. “Hmm? Tell me what you want.”
“I want …” He exhaled a sharp breath, and for a moment, she wondered if she was going too far. They’d played with toys before, but was asking him to give himself over to her like this too much to request? But before she could say anything, Callum shifted his eyes up to hers and said, “Fuck me. I want you to fuck me, to take my ass and claim it as yours.”
Elle’s lips curved upward as she took a step toward him. She reached out, placing her hand on the back of his head while brushing the tip of the strap-on against his lips.
Callum moaned again before he opened his mouth and began to suck on her pink dildo.
“Jesus fuck,” Derek growled, and Elle looked over at him. He was stroking his cock, but his attention was locked on Callum and Elle. “That’s, um, that’s fucking hot.”
“He likes it,” Elle purred, turning her eyes back to Callum a she shifted her hips forward and filled his eager mouth. “Don’t you?”
With his mouth full, his response was muffed, but his hands, which had found her hips, spoke for him. He was pulling her forward, almost begging her to keep fucking his face. Elle was glad to oblige, to give her lover what he needed, what he wanted, because she needed and wanted him, too.