Colt, Billionaire Reunion: Sweet, Clean Christian Romance with Suspense (Billionaire Protectors Book 2)

by Alexa Verde

Kitty had always been the more serious of the twins—and the more bossy. So would she call Mirabella mom again, too?

  As if she read his thoughts, she lifted her face to Colt. She hugged the new monkey toy she carried and explained. “We decided to call her mom again. Because she is our mom, right?”

  Something in Kitty’s voice suggested she wasn’t too keen on the idea but did it to support her brother. Unlike the girl, who’d been rather standoffish since her mother’s return, Corbin had become alarmingly clingy. Good thing, she’d only been gone a few days this time.

  That is, if she really did return.

  Worry about Mirabella made his gut clench. Of course, it was only because of the twins. Corbin would be heartbroken if something happened to his mother.

  “Right. She is.” He tucked the box of chocolates he carried under one arm, then, with tender fingers, cupped a hand on each of the adorable children’s shoulders. Such love coursed through him. They’d toddled their way right into his heart from their first meeting. Now, five years later, he loved them more than he loved his own life.

  He’d tried to shield them, tried to give them the best, and still, they’d been through a lot. Mirabella’s disappearance, followed by her regaining her memory and coming back, couldn’t be easy for them.

  It wasn’t easy for him.

  Kitty was smart and resilient beyond her years. Corbin, he wasn’t so sure about.

  Constantly on high alert, Colt scanned the crowd. He’d wanted the kids to wait in the car with a bodyguard. But the prospect of missing out on meeting their mom as soon as she exited Arrivals upset them so much, he’d given in, despite his concerns. Zack and Fred, old employees of his brother and now his family’s bodyguards, moved closer as if sensing his change in mood.

  The kids’ insistence wasn’t the only reason he was here. Someone sent her daisies. Could her life really be in danger?

  He still tried to kid himself that the bouquet delivery was some kind of a weird mistake.

  Either way, it was a blessing the twins were leaving for a two-week summer camp at David’s ranch this afternoon, much as he’d miss them. The kids loved his friend’s nearest ranch, with its horses and petting zoo. Better, if the threat to Mirabella also placed them in danger, the fortress-like ranch had armed cowboys and an extreme security system, not to mention miles of land around it.

  They’d be safe there.

  A shudder coursed through him. If only he could scoop them both up and keep them safe from any hurt. But he couldn’t. Instead, he squeezed their shoulders, hoping they felt the reassurance he intended.

  “She’s coming, isn’t she?” Corbin’s voice wobbled, and his lower lip jutted. “She promised she’d take us to camp.”

  Releasing the twins’ shoulders, Colt squatted in front of his boy. He’d never cared that the twins weren’t blood related to him, had never hesitated over adopting them. Since the moment he’d seen them, two cute fire-headed toddlers, they’d had his heart. They were his children, period. No matter what happened between him and Mirabella, they’d always be his.

  The alarm in his son’s gray eyes tugged at Colt.

  “Of course, she’s coming.” He infused his words with a confidence he didn’t feel. “She loves you both.” Even if she didn’t love him any longer. The thought sliced him as if the wound were still fresh and not years old. “Besides, how could she miss out on the wonderful gifts you prepared for her?”

  Kitty lifted the toy monkey in her hands and grinned. An exact copy of her own beloved and bedraggled Monkey. According to the girl, that was the perfect welcome gift because “How could anybody not love monkeys?”

  His fingers tightened around a huge box of custom-made caramel-filled chocolates. He’d wanted to bring flowers, too. But when a serial killer used Mirabella’s favorite flower as a signature for his murders?

  He’d settled for chocolate. Besides, Mirabella loved caramel-filled chocolate. He smiled at the large, gift-wrapped chocolate monkey in Corbin’s hands. With his boy having a secret sweet tooth, it was a wonder the monkey hadn’t lost an ear or a paw yet.

  He watched the arriving passengers, anxiety and a hint of anger gnawing at him, though he didn’t allow it to reflect on his face. Not only because he didn’t want to worry the kids, but also because he’d seen the damage unrestrained emotion could cause. The acrid smell of remembered fire filled his nostrils.

  Since childhood, he’d trained himself to hide his feelings.

  As it turned out, so had Mirabella. Not the recipe for a perfect marriage. And he didn’t know what was.

  All he knew was, if her life was at risk, he’d do whatever it took to protect her.

  Chapter Five

  Colt took a deep breath of air filled with different perfumes, flowers, and distant teriyaki chicken from a small Asian restaurant. Far better than the smoke he recalled all too well, even though that fire had been twenty-five years ago. His grip on Corbin’s shoulder tightened.

  “You don’t think it’s too much chocolate, do you?” He gestured at the monkey, making sure to keep his voice light.

  The boy sighed in exasperation. “Too much chocolate? Dad, you sure have a lot to learn about girls.” Corbin looked up at him and winked as if he were a teenager, not seven.

  Colt didn’t know whether to chuckle or cringe. The child definitely didn’t get those moves from him. Must be from his Uncle Brett.

  It would be great to bounce ideas about this daisy situation with Mirabella off his brother. The CEO of a large security company, Brett would know what to do. But Brett and Ashley were on a well-deserved vacation at Brett’s retreat in the Caribbean, and they’d just discovered they were expecting their first child.

  Colt couldn’t be happier for them. He’d be as much of a doting uncle to Brett’s child as Brett was to Corbin and Kitty.

  So, if he didn’t want to ruin his brother’s vacation with Mirabella’s problem, he’d need to decide for himself what to do. One thing for sure. If Mirabella’s life was in danger, he couldn’t stay on the sidewalk. His children needed their mother. He wouldn’t put them through the pain of losing her again.

  He’d have to come up with the way to help her, for their sake. But she wouldn’t accept protection if her life depended on it. Even if it really did.

  Provided she decided to come back from Australia this time, that is.

  A bit unfair. She hadn’t exactly chosen to remain there last time. His jaw tensed. Could she really have forgotten her life here so completely? Didn’t she miss the twins? And didn’t she miss him, even a little?

  “Mom!” Corbin took off like a mini tornado.

  “Hold on!” Colt caught up and grabbed the boy’s hand, with Zack following right behind.

  Fred stayed with Kitty. The girl moved with a dignity befitting a far older woman.

  He still hadn’t spotted Mirabella in the crowd, though somehow Corbin had. Then she lifted her head, shadowed by a wide-brimmed white hat, her eyes moving over the mass of people. A hint of stiffness in her posture betrayed she was on guard. Her gray eyes lit up, and she waved.

  Something inside Colt warmed as he hurried to her, Corbin’s small hand in his. The boy clutched the chocolate monkey to his chest.

  In some ways, she was the same Mirabella he’d fallen in love with. She’d stopped wearing colored eye lenses and a black-haired wig, the disguise she’d used when she first returned, both to hide who she was and to hide patches where her hair hadn’t grown back yet. But short hair, far more makeup, and the way the plastic surgeries for her burn scars altered her face took some getting used to. He guessed almost dying did change someone.

  Still, she had the same warm twinkle in her eyes for the twins, and the way her full lips tugged up when she saw them was familiar and endearing, as well.

  A small hand tugged at his arm. Kitty must have hurried as well. He passed the box of chocolates to Fred and lifted her up. His girl hugged him, and the sweet scent of her favorite peach shampoo—Mirabella’s favo
rite, too—drifted to his nostrils. “Are you and Mom going to start over? So we can all live together as a family? Corbin was asking.”

  Colt’s steps faltered. “I don’t know, Kitty.” The only honest answer he could give. Too much hurt, too much past, and too much bitterness lay between him and his ex-wife.

  A sigh deeper than a child’s lungs should bear reverberated through his soul. “Corbin had high hopes.”

  “I’m sorry, darling.” He hugged her tighter. So cute how she pretended she didn’t care, pretended it was just for Corbin.

  Cute and heartbreaking.

  Could he and Mirabella make it work? Even before the amnesia thing kept her away for years, they’d made a mess of their marriage. He had to admit to some responsibility for that, too. Once he sensed distance in his wife, he’d done what he knew best. Withdrawn into his lab, a familiar safety zone. No emotions there, only facts.

  After his parents’ disastrous marriage, he had no clue what a good marriage should be like. He just knew he’d never be like his dad. And for that, he needed to control his emotions, no matter what.

  Thankfully, it seemed his no-emotion rule didn’t apply to the children. Same could be said about Mirabella.

  As they reached her, she grabbed Corbin in a hug, then straightened out and turned to Kitty. “I missed you both so much!” She obviously knew better than to try to hug Kitty.

  The girl nodded. “We missed you, too. Corbin kept asking for you.” She handed Mirabella the brand-new duplicate of her precious monkey. “This is for you.”

  “Oh, that is so sweet. Thank you, darling. He’s just like yours.” Mirabella’s eyes shone as she accepted the toy.

  Then she stepped to Colt. Uncertainty flickered in her gaze, but it disappeared so quickly he could be mistaken. “It’s probably not safe to be out in the open like this.”

  Nodding, he extended his hand to take her carry-on. She’d always preferred to travel light. But she shook her head, holding onto it. Why did she always have to insist on being so independent?

  He pushed the irritation aside. “Let’s go to the car.” Still carrying Kitty, who seemed to get bigger and heavier by the minute, while Mirabella held Corbin’s hand in her free one, he led the way to the exit.

  “I know you’ll be tired from the long flight, but is lunch at the ranch house before we take the kids to David’s, okay?” He threw the words to Mirabella without looking at her.

  If he did, he’d want to hug her and give her a real welcome back. And that wouldn’t do.

  “I’m not too tired. I managed some sleep. Lunch at the house would be great. I’d like some time with Corbin and Kitty.” Her words emerged quiet, much quieter than usual for self-assured, even spiky at times, Mirabella.

  A glance at her revealed so much longing in her gaze that his heart nearly stilled. Longing directed at him, not the children. She looked away immediately.

  “I missed you,” he blurted out.

  “We all did,” Corbin said. A slight bewilderment in the boy’s voice suggested Colt just stated the obvious, rather than something difficult to admit.

  At the exit doors, Zack did a quick surveillance while Fred positioned himself behind the family.

  “Guys, could we stop off at my apartment on the way home?” Mirabella gave the address to the bodyguards, her question directed to them, rather than Colt and the kids. “I won’t need long. Just a couple of minutes to grab a few things.”

  Colt fixed on the most important thing. Home. So Mirabella still thought of the house he’d built for them as home? Or had that only been for the kids’ benefit?

  The bodyguards exchanged a glance, and Zack spoke into his headset mic before opening the door.

  Air tainted with car fumes and heavy summer heat met them. Though he trusted his bodyguards, Colt scanned the area. After the kidnapping last year, his brother had given him a crash course in what to do to make sure it never happened again. Thanks to his wealth, he and the children could be targets.

  “All clear.” Zack nodded for them to proceed.

  As they stepped out of the airport building, his custom-built boxy black SUV pulled up beside them. No limo. That would be like painting a bull’s-eye on themselves. Like all his vehicles, he’d had the SUV fitted with bulletproof glass, and it was about as secure as a vehicle could be. Jackson, his gardener and sometimes chauffeur, seemed to develop a sixth sense throughout the years for the exact time to drive up.

  Fred and Zack rushed to get their cars. They’d need to work hard to get in position, Fred driving in front of their vehicle while Zack drove right behind it. They and Jackson had become a good team, understanding each other without words.

  Okay, sometimes words—and radios—helped.

  Keeping awareness of his surroundings in his peripheral vision, Colt helped Corbin into the SUV while Mirabella helped Kitty. Then they both climbed inside, and Jackson shut the door behind them.

  Seated four abreast, he and Mirabella each beside a door, the twins perched on booster seats between them, he couldn’t deny that imagining them all riding together while the chauffeur drove was the reason he’d asked for a four-seat-wide vehicle.

  After a ten or fifteen minute drive, the cavalcade approached the ordinary apartment block in an Austin suburb where Mirabella chose to live. He’d offered her a room in his newly rebuilt ranch house, or even a guesthouse on the grounds, but stubbornly independent as always, she’d refused, citing her irregular work hours as a reason.

  Of course, she may have other reasons. Like dating someone. A pang of something very like jealousy twisted his gut.

  He wasn’t his father. He didn’t do jealousy.

  As the SUV slowed outside the building entrance, Corbin clung to Mirabella. “You are taking us to Mr. David’s ranch with Dad, right?” Anxiety crumpled his freckled face. “You promised.”

  She wrapped an arm around the boy and hugged him close. “And nothing will stop me from keeping my promise. I just want to collect a couple of things I need with me that I couldn’t take on the flight. A few minutes, tops.”

  Knowing Mirabella, she meant a gun or two, rather than a change of clothing.

  “Don’t get out to open the door for me. And don’t wait here, keep moving,” she cautioned Jackson. Made sense. A moving target would be harder to hit.

  “Yes, ma’am.” The chauffeur smiled. “And don’t you wait on the street for the vehicle to return. Call Zack and remain inside the building until he calls you back.”

  That won a laugh from Mirabella, though her lips twisted. Still insisting she could be her own bodyguard. “Sorry. My bad for thinking I needed to tell you the obvious. I’ll be sure to wait for the call.”

  Mirabella really was only a few minutes. The only woman he’d known who didn’t think it was cute to keep a guy waiting. She’d changed her clothes to jeans topped with a loose linen shirt.

  Loose so she could carry her assortment of weapons undetected? Most likely.

  Quickly entering the SUV, she hugged Corbin. “See, kids. I said I wouldn’t be long.”

  Corbin returned her hug enthusiastically, while solemn Kitty just nodded.

  Despite Mirabella’s bright smile and cheerful words, something troubled her. Sensing it, he frowned. “Everything okay?”

  She shrugged, but when she met his gaze over the twins’ heads, unease darkened her gray eyes. “I found a welcome-home gift waiting for me. Someone delivered flowers while I was away.”

  No need to ask what the flowers were. The concern creasing her brow spoke louder than words.

  So her apartment wasn’t safe. No matter what she thought, he’d have to convince her to stay at his little ranch, where they had high walls, bodyguards, and a security system.

  Before too long, they’d be home. Behind those walls. Safe and secure.

  While he could live in a penthouse in the capital of Texas and be closer to his job, he preferred to raise the children in the country and still have all the modern amenities. They loved t
he pony horse-mad Corbin had talked him into getting them and fishing at the lake. Kitty had even started dropping hints it would be a good place to keep a monkey. Not a gorilla but a much smaller one. She said that as if it was supposed to be reassuring.

  As the vehicle ate up the miles, he hugged Kitty tighter and held back a chuckle. Whatever happened between him and Mirabella, he’d always be thankful to her for bringing the twins into his life.

  His gaze turned to her. She hugged Corbin to her in a gesture similar to his with Kitty. Her eyes, intent on the twins, held so much love. They might be opposites in many things, but they had that love for Corbin and Kitty in common.

  It wasn’t enough. For their marriage to work, passion and a shared love for the children just wasn’t enough.

  And he didn’t know what was.

  As Colt gazed at his ex-wife, her focus moved to him. A regretful smile touched her lovely lips.

  Was she thinking the same thing? Even after them sharing six months of married life before she disappeared, this woman remained a mystery to him. With a different face, years apart, and no doubt plenty of other secrets he had no clue about, even more so.

  She placed a kiss on the top of Corbin’s red head. “I love you all so much.”

  You all.

  Her words hadn’t included him. He knew she’d only meant the children. Fine with him.

  Corbin lifted his eyes, hesitated a moment, then leaned into her. “We love you, too, Mom. You’ll be here after we get back from the camp, won’t you?”

  “Of course.” Mirabella answered too fast.

  “Of course, she will be. She’s our mother. It’s not her fault she had am–ne–sia. She’s back for good now.” Kitty accentuated her words with a nod.

  But her voice rang a little too high as if she tried to persuade herself as well as her brother. Clearly, she was just as sure as he was about Mirabella staying.

  Not at all sure.

  They both feared Mirabella couldn’t be trusted to stay. She kept too many secrets.

  With this new danger threatening her, would she simply disappear, breaking the kids’ hearts again? Or could he somehow convince her to let him protect her. And stay?