by Natalie Ann
“What did you tell Riva about today?” Eli asked.
“We are working on a case together and I asked her if we could meet. I didn’t tell her anything else. I think she just assumed.”
“Then that works for us,” Bella said.
“Can I get you a drink or anything? I know you arrived not that long ago, but my guess is you flew in on a private jet?”
“Some water would be nice,” Bella said.
“Same,” Eli said.
Susanna picked up the phone and asked that water be brought into her office, then turned and sat. “I know you’re nervous, but I can tell you Riva is a doll. She’s a little bull in the courtroom just like her mother is. But when she isn’t working, she’s more like a Southern belle.”
“Prim and proper?” Eli asked, grinning.
“Not stuffy though,” Susanna said. “I know many think that, but she is more the ma’am and sir type. Sweet as pie. There is a part of me that feels bad I’m blindsiding her like this, but I love Hailey and I believe maybe Riva will thank me after.”
“My cousin does inspire loyalty,” Eli said.
“The stories I’ve got of Hailey and me in college. If the walls could talk.”
“I’m not sure there is anything that would surprise me with Hailey,” Eli said.
Bella watched Eli talking with Susanna about his cousin, the look of humor in both their eyes, and she wondered if anyone thought of her like that in her life.
Nah. She was the one that sat in the corner more and watched. She was polite and aware but didn’t always speak unless spoken to.
When she went to boarding school, she thought maybe she’d come out of her shell but found she only did with a few close friends, then retreated under the dome when the lights went out.
Which was funny that she had no problem opening up to Hailey and Janet when she’d never done that before. Maybe it had more to do with being an adult now.
The door opened and the receptionist came in with a tray of refreshments. “Riva Carmichael is here to see you. I hadn’t realized she was scheduled. What would you like me to tell her?”
“Tell her to come back,” Susanna said. Then she turned to Bella. “Are you ready?”
“As I’m ever going to be. How are you introducing us?”
“The same as Eli did. I want to give you an out to leave if you change your mind.”
“Thank you, but I’ve come this far.”
Eli reached for her hand and threaded their fingers together. “It’s going to be just fine.”
She looked over and nodded, then turned when her cousin stopped in the doorway. She knew who she was from her picture on the website.
What she didn’t expect was her cousin’s face to pale as if she recognized her. “I’m sorry, Susanna. Becky didn’t tell me you were meeting with someone.”
“No, no. That’s fine. Come on in. Riva Carmichael, this is Eli Bond and Bella.”
Riva blinked her eyes a few times. “I’ve got a cousin named Bella.”
“I know,” she said.
“You’re my cousin, aren’t you?” Riva asked.
“Yes. You recognized me. How?” she asked.
Riva turned to Susanna. “What’s going on?”
Susanna shut the door. “Let me explain.”
“Can I?” Bella asked.
“By all means,” Susanna said.
Bella wasn’t sure how much she wanted to say about her current situation and decided to keep most of that out of it. “I wanted to know more about my father’s family. I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I know my father was estranged and I don’t know the reason as to why. I hired Eli’s cousin Hailey Bond to see if she could find out some information for me.”
“So you were trying to get me to talk about Bella?” Riva asked Susanna.
“No. Hailey and I are sorority sisters. She asked me to get some information. I dropped a few worms in the water about casinos when we were meeting a few weeks ago. You started to talk about Bella as if you were close. I did find it odd but didn’t know the whole situation.”
“It got us thinking,” Bella said. “That if you knew about me or as much as you said, you must have been keeping track of me. Or someone was. I thought this might be my best bet to make contact. Or I hoped you’d see me.”
“But you didn’t want me to know ahead of time?” Riva asked, reaching for the water on the cart.
“It was best with not knowing everything,” Eli said.
Riva looked confused but then said, “Probably smart. I would have wanted to tell my mother. I mean I’m going to. I can’t not tell her. But my grandfather can’t know.”
“Why?” Bella asked. “I don’t know anything. I just know that I met my grandparents once when I was younger and never saw them again. My parents died in a car accident and no one came to their funeral.”
Her eyes were filling with tears and she hated that she couldn’t control it.
“We weren’t invited,” Riva said. “I don’t know all the details, but I know my mother was devastated. She was very close to your father. They found out several days after my uncle’s death in a news article. My mother tried to get details and she kept running into dead ends from the government and no one from your mother’s side of the family would return a phone call.”
“I had no idea,” Bella said.
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Riva said. “I can’t profess to know everything that went on. I just know that my mother and your father were close. But they had to keep that quiet. Your father’s name isn’t even spoken around my grandfather. As to how I recognized you? Your father had sent pictures of you over the years. You haven’t changed much.”
She knew she looked the same as a teen. Even her hair wasn’t styled much differently. “And you have no idea why it’s not spoken?” she asked.
Eli handed her a tissue. “My mother won’t talk about it. I’m not sure why. I think it hurts her too much. I know about you because she talks about you now and again. I know she’s gotten reports over the years of where you were and how you’ve been, but she hasn’t been able to get close to you.”
“Why hasn’t she tried to call me?” Bella asked. “If she knows where I work, why not call the casino and leave a message? Make up a name?” She didn’t know any of this. None of it was making sense.
“I don’t know. Would you be willing to talk to her? She is going to be so upset if you won’t. But she is out of town until late tonight. I’m just stunned right now that you are in the room with me.”
Bella let out a laugh. “Not as stunned as I am. We are only here tonight,” she said. “We’d have to check with the pilot on our flight back.”
“You chartered a private jet,” Riva said. “That’s great. I can’t imagine doing that.”
“It’s Eli’s family’s jet.”
“We’ll make it work,” Eli said, squeezing her hand. “You know that.”
25
Above and Beyond
“That went better than you thought it would,” Eli said two hours later when he was towel drying his hair. They’d checked into their hotel and were changing after a shower. He was comfortable in a suit but not in Georgia weather in the summer. He’d ditched the jacket like he normally did if he was in the office, but with the sweat stains he got just walking outside to the car, he wished he’d had it.
“I still don’t know that much,” she said, “but I don’t feel as nervous as I thought I would be to talk to my aunt tomorrow. If she’ll see me.”
“You know she will. Riva said she’d text you later with a time. She had meetings all afternoon and your aunt is out of town. It’s going to take time to get in touch and make the plans.”
Bella grabbed tan shorts and a peach printed chiffon shirt out of her bag along with a change of undergarments. “I know. I won’t be long. I’m not going to wash my hair. Maybe you can find us a place to get dinner. I know it’s early, but I’m starving.”
“I’ll get it squared away,”
he said. “Go shower. You’ll feel better. I know I do.”
“I already feel better just looking at you standing there wrapped in a towel. Did you even leave me one to use?”
He was at least happy to see the smile on her face. “You can have the one I’m wearing if you want.”
“Ah, but then I’d get you all hot and sweaty again when you've cooled off. I’m already getting worked up looking at you standing there.”
What every guy wants to hear. “Nothing is saying I can’t take another shower,” he said reaching for her. But all he did was pull her into his arms and hold her.
She laid her head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Eli. This went above and beyond just watching over me.”
“I’d like to think what we’ve got is far more than that.”
He didn’t want to put the pressure on her but knew they would have to talk about this at some point.
What should be temporary in his mind was turning into ways to keep her in America. If that meant getting her to see what she could have with his family—if not find her own family—then he was going to do whatever he could to make that happen.
Until then, the best he could do was support her and make her feel like she belonged all the while keeping her safe and making sure her uncle wasn’t being targeted either.
Not a tall order.
“One day at a time,” she said and he wouldn’t be hurt by those words. She was confused and had enough to deal with.
“For today,” he said. “Go shower.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I need to check in with Griffin anyway.”
“Of course. You can’t be away from him too long.”
“Don’t start acting like my brothers,” he said, swatting her on the ass. She yelped and then laughed.
Once he heard the shower start, he dialed his best friend while he picked up menus to look over in a binder in their room. “So, how did it go?” Griffin asked on the first ring.
“Interesting. Riva recognized Bella when she walked into the room but tried to not show it. It was obvious though.”
“Do you think her father’s family has something to do with Oliver leaving the country?”
“No. If Oliver thought the Kingston family posed a threat to Bella, he would have said that. He said to protect her from her past, but not to keep her away from it. He’d be clear if he didn’t want her anywhere near her family.”
“You don’t think he wanted her to reach out to them, do you?” Griffin asked.
“I don’t know what to think when it comes to Oliver. But I do know that Bella said Oliver has had to push her to do things. She won’t do them on their own. There are a lot of places Oliver could have sent Bella to hide. Why here? I haven’t talked to the guy in years. There is more going on.”
“I’m sure there is,” Griffin said. “Maybe he thought while we watched out for her, we’d also help her reach out to her family.”
“I’m starting to think that too.”
“What’s next?” Griffin asked.
“Riva is going to talk to her mother. She said that Bella’s aunt and her father were very close but no one could know that.”
“And she had no reason as to why that was?”
“I think she knows but wasn’t going to say. What was clear to me was that Ben’s father was the one that had the falling out and then later on, Bella’s mother's family was withholding things. Riva commented that no one would return Gretchen’s calls to Oliver or his parents.”
“And the plot thickens,” Griffin said, laughing.
He heard the shower shut off. “It does. How are things going there?”
“Same as always. Took a masked robber down one handed while giving a child a lollipop to stop her tears, then I took two women up to your suite to let them show me their gratitude for saving the day.”
He snorted out a laugh. “The sad part is, you could probably do all of that.” When Griffin laughed on the other end but didn’t comment, Eli continued. “So all is good. My father is around if you need him to schmooze with whales.”
“Meaning you want me to find some high rollers to give him something to do?”
“You know he eats that up. He feels like a kid for some reason. Every time I’m out of town for something he says the same thing to me.”
“And I’m the one who told you what your father was after,” Griffin said.
“You are.” Two years ago Griffin commented that Mitchell Bond was dying to play it up in the casino with a big winner. Eli hadn’t believed it until one night when his father was there when a Texan was on a winning streak. The guy had been older, closer to his father’s age and Eli figured, why not let his father go put on the charm.
“I’ll see who is here and what is going on and maybe give old Mitchell a call. Let him know I need his help,” Griffin said, laughing.
“He’d enjoy that. And if he comes with Egan, keep my brother out of my penthouse tonight. He knows I’m not in town.”
“You ask the impossible,” Griffin said. “He says his name is Egan Bond and women just assume he owns the joint. Since he can get to your penthouse, he enjoys ruffling your feathers that way.”
His brother almost always ended up in his penthouse when he was out of town. Griffin was right and it was impossible to stop without causing a scene. And Griffin wouldn’t do that with Eli’s family. Now if Griffin knew he owned more of the casino than his brothers, he might. Nah, best to let that all go.
“He likes to get under my skin,” he said. He turned when the bathroom door opened. “I’ve got to run. You know how to reach me if you need anything.”
“I’ve got it covered,” Griffin said, then disconnected the phone.
“Everything okay?” Bella asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you find us a place to eat?”
“I did. It’s around the corner. Not far. Or we can go eat in the restaurant downstairs.”
“That looked a little fancier than I wanted to be,” she said.
“I like you in shorts. You should wear them more.”
“You look good in them yourself,” she said. “Are you going to get dressed before we go?”
He’d been on the line with Griffin the entire time. “If I’m not going to get you to roll around on the bed with me then I suppose I will. Here I thought staying like this would tempt you more than your belly.”
“I’m tempted,” she said, her fingernail running down his chest. “But I need nourishment to give you the full experience.”
His dick stood up so fast under the towel, he thought it was going to be pulled off to expose itself.
“Now you want to get me worked up until I can get you on this bed,” he said.
“I do. So I guess we should go get some food so I’ve got the energy to show you my appreciation all night long.”
He looked her in the eye. “I don’t want appreciation sex unless it’s for my body.”
She smiled, her eyes roaming down the length of him and back up. “That’s what it’s for. What did you think?”
“Just checking,” he said.
She put her arms around his neck. “I appreciate you being here with me today and tonight. Even tomorrow. But not enough to give you sex for it. What we’ve got in this room is private and personal and between us. It has nothing to do with my uncle and what he is asking of you.”
That was something at least. “He didn’t ask me to help you find your family,” he pointed out.
“He didn’t. But I believe he would assume you would.”
Which told him that she might be thinking the same as him with Oliver’s motives. “Then let me get dressed so we can see if this bed is as nice as the ones in my resort.”
They left, ate and then returned to their room. He didn’t want to attack her but didn’t have to worry since she shoved him toward the bed until his butt landed on the comforter. “What has come over you?”
“You,” she said. “Take your shirt off again. Just the sight of your chest gets
my juices flowing.” She pulled her shirt over her head. “Your face has been in my memory for years and I’m going to have this to add to it. I don’t even want to know how I’ll get through.”
“You’ve thought of me over the years?” he asked, pausing before he reached for the button on his shorts.
“You look in the mirror,” she said, wiggling out of her shorts. “You see what I see.”
“I do. So it’s only the physical with you?” he asked. He didn’t want to be hurt over that but found he was and it was killing the mood.
She stood up after kicking her shorts aside and was standing there in a matching silk and lace white bra and panties. Maybe not completely killing the mood. “If it was only the physical it wouldn’t have taken as long as it had to get you here. I would have done it years ago. You know better than that, Eli.”
“Just wanted to hear you say it.”
Her hands went in his hair, her mouth lowering to his. “Are you feeling insecure over something? I didn’t expect that of you.”
He didn’t expect it of himself either. “Maybe,” he said.
“Wipe it all out of your mind,” she said. “I’m not sure what we’ve got any more than you and I don’t want to think about it. I can’t. I need you to make me forget the reason we are here and that I’m going to get some answers to questions tomorrow. I might not like what I hear. I might find this was all a big mistake.” She was kissing his neck as she talked. “I want to focus on you and only you for the night. Can we stop talking now?”
He turned her fast and had her on her back on the bed, him coming over the top of her, his mouth going to hers. “Yes. No more words unless they are sexy ones.”
“I’m not much into sexy talk,” she said.
“Then maybe we need to change that. Remember, be someone you aren’t,” he said.
“Another night,” she said. “Tonight I want you and what we’ve got.”
She turned him fast, shocking him since he wasn’t expecting that move.
She straddled his legs, undid his shorts and yanked them down with his underwear. Her eyes went to his cock, then her mouth followed. Guess she couldn’t talk if her mouth was full.