by Natalie Ann
“What?” he asked.
“Eli. You don’t think I didn’t know what happened do you?”
“What happened?” Egan said.
“Yeah, tell us,” Ethan said.
“That is for your brother to say,” his mother said, smiling at him.
Crap. They both knew. Why wouldn’t they have said anything? “How did you find out?”
“Oliver reached out to me to make sure you were who you said you were. Remember, Eli. You were twenty-six years old and stating you’re going to open your own casino. There was doubt.”
“I figured. I gave him my name. I told him where I was from. He could look up the island and our family,” he said.
“And he did. Then he found me and placed a call. Anyone could have said what you did. Do you think a man like Oliver would just take your word?”
“No,” he said.
“Someone tell us what happened,” Egan said. “I want to know if the pretty boy got in a fight.”
He laughed. “No. It was a simple misunderstanding.”
“I’m sure you weren’t thinking it at the time. But if you hadn’t called me within a few hours and acted like nothing was going on, or every day after, your Uncle Scott, Charlie, and I were on our way to Monte Carlo with a boatload of lawyers.”
“I told your father to get the jet ready and go the night of the call,” his mother said. “But you called when he was gathering the troops.”
“I can’t believe you’ve never said a word to me in all this time,” he said. That no one did.
“Because, like you said, it was a misunderstanding with Bella. He seemed very protective of her but didn’t state why.”
“Were you caught in her bed?” Ethan asked, laughing.
“Hardly. I was asking her questions about the casino. She had security all around her. They came over to see if there was a problem and I said no.” He’d never told anyone how he’d met Griffin. Not the whole story and figured maybe now was the time. “Griffin was sitting on a bench and jumped in to verify.”
There was a lot of laughter from Egan. “That’s how you ended up in the cell. We should have known it was Griffin,” his father said.
“You got locked up?” Egan asked, howling with laughter. “And you’re still talking to her? You’re a better man than me.”
His family loved Griffin like their own and they’d stand behind him but there were things they didn’t know and he’d never tell. “I didn’t even know who he was. He was a stranger standing up for me. They tried to pull him in and he had their guy down so fast I don’t even know what happened. But then guns were drawn.”
“Eli Edward!” his mother shouted. “If I had known that I would have been on the plane with your father.”
“That part was omitted,” his father said.
“A misunderstanding,” he said again. “Can we move past this? I took care of things and as you can tell Griffin and I were unscathed.”
“I still say there is more going on with Griffin than you ever will tell us,” Ethan said.
“He stood up for me and almost got shot,” he said. “I owed him. Besides, his military career and background have made him invaluable to this family. To all the family on the island.”
“It has,” his father agreed. “Back to you and Bella. So why is she here?”
He told his parents everything. The day she showed up. The letter from Oliver. The potential threat and that no one could find the man.
“Oh dear,” his mother said. “She has no one.”
His mother would see that. Would see that the only family Bella had was her uncle who was now in hiding. She wouldn’t see the threat, but more the emotional side.
“She has me watching out for her,” Eli said.
“You mean Griffin,” Egan said.
“The same thing. Or somewhat the same. She’s staying at the casino and started to work this week.”
“You put her to work,” Ethan said. “Best way to not end up in her pants.”
“Shush,” his mother said. “Poor girl is probably going crazy sitting around and worrying.”
“I don’t know how much worrying she is doing. She doesn’t talk that much about it. But she is bored and asked for something to do. Robin is going out on maternity leave next week and Bella is going to help that department out. She knows what she is doing.”
“The question is,” his father said. “Do you?”
Damned if he knew.
11
Squirming In Her Seat
“Bella. Janet Bond is here to see you.”
“What?” she asked, turning toward the secretary that popped her head in the door. She was in Robin’s office going over a few things with her.
“Janet Bond is out here. She asked to see you.”
She stood up and looked at Robin. “I’ll be back. I had no idea.”
Yes, Eli had come to her suite last night and confessed that his parents knew why she was in town. At first she’d been nervous that anyone else knew, but he’d assured her they would keep the secret.
When she left Robin’s office and went down the hall to the reception area, she saw the woman standing there with her back to Bella talking to Corrine who worked in the department. It gave Bella a moment to compose herself to talk with the mother of the man she had been dreaming of way too much.
“Mrs. Bond,” she said.
“Please call me Janet,” Janet said when she turned and smiled.
There was no way this woman was Eli’s mom. Her dark hair was shoulder length and layered in soft waves, her makeup minimal, and barely a wrinkle in sight. She was absolutely stunning and she was reaching her hands out to grasp Bella’s. “It’s nice to meet you, Janet,” she said.
Janet patted her hand. “Let’s go somewhere to chat.”
It’s not like she could tell the woman no, so she nodded her head. She wasn’t on the clock or getting paid, so she could take off for now.
“Can I grab my purse from Robin’s office?”
“I’ll come back with you,” Janet said. “I’d love to see how Robin is doing.”
The two of them walked back and she picked up her purse, Janet chatting with Robin, then them walking out. “She looks so uncomfortable, doesn’t she?” Bella said.
“I was like that myself. Eli, he was the first and one big baby. Over nine pounds. I wanted that massive watermelon out of me. But Egan was bigger and so was Ethan. By Ethan, I knew what to expect and felt like a beached whale.”
She smiled, not sure how to reply to that. “I’m an only child.”
“We know all about your situation, dear,” Janet said quietly. “Have you eaten lunch yet? Why don’t we go to the VIP lounge for some privacy and talk?”
“I’d love to,” she said, even though deep down she was scared to death what this could be about.
Once their drinks were in front of them and their food ordered, Janet said, “If you’d like to see the island some more, I’d love to show you around. Or go shopping another day.”
She wasn’t sure where this was all coming from. Eli had warned her that his mother had been upset with him for not bringing her to dinner yesterday when she’d found out. Bella was fine with not going and would have made an excuse to avoid it. Family dinners weren’t something she’d had in years. Long before her parents had died.
“I’m busy now helping Robin out.”
“Nonsense. I think it’s wonderful you are helping my son and his employees, but you shouldn’t be here working seven days a week. And please, if I’m pushing, you can tell me.”
“You’re pushing, Mom.”
She turned her head and saw Eli standing there in a suit again. Her mouth was watering. She should be used to this by now, but she couldn’t help it. Every time she saw him blood started to pump in her body like a sump pump cleaning out a flooded basement and she knew if she didn’t get control she’d be squirming in her seat.
“Have some lunch with us, Eli,” Janet said.
“Please do,” Bella said to him with a smile on her face. It was her way of saying “save me” without voicing the words.
He lifted his hand to the waitress and added a dish to the order, then slid in and sat next to her in the half-circle booth. “So, what are you two lovely ladies talking about?”
“I was telling Bella that I would love to show her around the island or go shopping with her. That you shouldn’t make her work seven days a week.”
“I’m not making her do anything,” he said. “Though I think at times she might not believe that. I think it’d be wonderful for her to see the island and learn more about it.”
So much for thinking Eli was going to save her, but at least he acknowledged that he had a lot more control over her life than she did right now. “I would love to see more of the island.”
“Then we can plan on a day next week sometime.”
“That sounds wonderful,” she said. The rest of the hour was spent with Janet and Eli bantering back and forth, her getting a few words in, but not much. That was fine with her. This was more interaction than she was used to with a parent.
Even when her parents were alive, they were often entertaining others. She didn’t remember having any fun conversations like this. Some of her friends had relationships with their parents, but not many. There was usually a reason a kid was in boarding school and it wasn’t because of the closeness with their family.
The Bond’s wealth as a whole was more than what her parents had. She knew that. Her mother had money, but it was all in a trust fund and wouldn’t have gone to her until her parents’ death. When Bella’s grandparents both passed away, the bulk of the money went to her uncle, her mother’s trust turned over to her. She hadn’t touched it once. There was no reason to.
Uncle Oliver provided her with everything she needed for years. She had plenty of money and thought she was happy in her life.
Now she was starting to wonder about all the things she’d missed out on.
Two hours later she was back in Robin’s office. “Did you have fun with Janet? She’s like a whirlwind of sunshine at times.”
“I did. She’s a very nice lady,” she said.
“I wasn’t aware you knew the Bonds personally.”
She wasn’t going to lie. “I knew Eli. You’re aware of that. But that is the first I’ve met his mother.”
Robin nodded. “She’s a sweet lady. So hard to say no to.”
“So I learned,” she said. “I believe I’ve got a girls’ day planned next week but am not sure what that entails.”
Robin laughed. “Lucky you.”
“Why don’t we get to work so you can get out of here. I can tell you want to get home.”
“I do. This kid wants out and I want him out just as much,” Robin said.
She finished up a few things and then went back to her suite.
She’d never thought much of family for years. Just being her and her uncle, she didn’t have a lot to compare anything to. Plus she worked so much, where would she find time to get a man, let alone one that would want to have kids?
Did she even want to have kids? She supposed she did at some point. Again, not much she thought of. Life just seemed to be going by at a steady clip and she was enjoying it.
Then she finds herself on Amore Island watching the guy she would have liked to get to know years ago but wouldn’t dare. Not after her uncle almost had him arrested for God only knows what reason he might have been able to come up with.
Spending the following week with Eli had let her apologize and get to know him better, but he’d never seemed interested in more than learning the ropes of the business.
Then Eli left the country and she got back to her life.
She’d dated on and off but nothing ever stuck.
Most times the men were intimidated by her uncle. Or she suspected were told to get lost by her uncle but never wanted to ask. She didn’t want to be mad at the only family she had.
In the past few years she’d started to wonder more about her father’s side of the family and why she hadn’t seen them in years. Why they didn’t come to the funeral when her father died. Why no one reached out to her either. But wondering never let her venture into finding out.
She was in America now and they weren’t that far away. With time on her hands, she now wondered if she could look into them some more. If she could reach out even.
She’d have to be smart about it though and that meant not doing anything without Eli’s knowledge or at least on her own. He was busy enough and didn’t need to spend any more time with her. That didn’t mean she couldn’t do her own research on her father and his family from what she knew already. She grabbed her computer.
A few hours of that only depressed her more. She pushed the computer away and decided to go for a walk around the casino and grounds.
When she got to the lobby, she noticed Eli holding the hand of a little girl and turned to see what that was about.
He never went into the casino with the child, but was in and out of the shops. He was laughing and the little girl was almost dancing around Eli’s feet having so much fun.
As much as she wanted to hide behind a pillar when he came back out, he saw her and waved his hand over for her to join them.
“Hi,” she said.
“Bella. This is Adele Young. Do you remember meeting my cousin Ava the other night?”
“I do,” she said.
“This is Seth’s daughter. They had to go see Griffin for something,” he said. The look in his eyes told her not to ask what or question anything. “I’m entertaining her since it was a last minute thing and they had no daycare.”
“I’m having fun with Eli,” Adele said. “And you’re pretty. Just like Ava is pretty.”
“Thank you,” she said to the little girl. “I think you’re darling yourself.”
“Eli told me he’s going to bring me for some dessert. Do you want to go with us?”
“I’d love to, but I’m on my way out,” she said. “You two enjoy it though.”
She’d love nothing more than to watch Eli in action with the little girl. But her soft heart was starting to get mushier and it was best to head in the other direction before she found herself oozing out depression from her pores.
All the things she didn’t know she was missing in life, she was seeing here on this island and she had no one to even talk to about it.
12
One Stray Tear
Eli had gotten the alert on his phone that Bella was back in her suite. When he looked closer he’d noticed that she’d been crying and wanted to rush to her side.
He couldn’t do that though until he could find out if anyone approached her on the grounds, so he went to Griffin. Seth and Ava had left and Griffin was still in his place going over surveillance.
“What’s going on?” Griffin asked when Eli let himself in through all the security channels.
“Find Bella and see where she went and what she did in the past hour.”
“She’s back in her room,” Griffin said. “I got the notice and checked to see she was alone.”
“And did you notice she’d been crying?”
“No,” Griffin said, pulling it up on the screen fast. “What? Where?”
“Zoom in on her face,” Eli said.
Griffin did, catching one stray tear as it rolled down her cheek before she went in the door. “What, did you blow her face up on your screen to see that?”
“Maybe.”
Griffin typed into the computer, then he watched when screens of Bella popped up all over the casino and grounds as she moved from one location to the next. She’d been walking alone the entire time, not talking to anyone, then returning to her room. He’d noticed that she was almost following him in the beginning also.
“Doesn’t look like anything happened. Maybe she is just having a bad day?” Griffin said.
“I’ll find out. Thanks.”
Griffin laughed at him as he left and made
his way to Bella’s room.
When he got outside her door, he knocked once, looked up where the camera was hidden and scowled, knowing he was being watched.
The door opened a minute later. Any longer and he would have used his master key to let himself in. He would have known if someone else entered or she left before he got here, so she was obviously doing something.
That something was probably trying to make herself presentable when he got a good look at her face.
“You’ve been crying,” he said. “What’s wrong?” At least he didn’t need to play coy if she hadn’t shed more than one lone tear he’d seen on the camera.
“Nothing,” she said, moving back to let him in.
“It doesn’t seem like nothing to me unless you are going to try to pull this off as allergies.”
“No. I’m not stupid. They are tears. I’m having a bad day. It’s not a big deal.”
It was to him. “It was my mother, wasn’t it? She pushed too hard. I’ll tell her to mind her own business.”
“It wasn’t your mother. Not really.”
“Yes, really,” he said, leading her to the couch. He’d seen the box of tissues on the end table and handed her another one as her eyes filled. “If it wasn’t you wouldn’t be getting upset with me just mentioning it.”
“It wasn’t only your mother. How is that?”
She was talking so he was going to push. “Then what else happened?”
“I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s everything in the past few weeks hitting me at once. Less than two weeks ago I was going about my normal day and now I’m in another country where you are the only person I know and can talk to.”
Shit. “And I’m not around much. I’ll try to be more available,” he said, his hand moving up and down her arm. Why hadn’t he thought more of this?
“It’s not that. I’m talking to the girls in the office. I talked to your mother.” She sniffled again and he was going to have it out with his mother when he was done talking with Bella. He had to know what more could have been said when he wasn’t around.