Bad Intentions

by Carmen Falcone

  She cleared her throat, shoving down the lump of frustration. None of this was her business or mattered. She wouldn’t need to worry because she’d never be part of his family. He’d made it clear when he told her about his business plans. After Tulip, he’d move on somewhere else and return to this gorgeous mansion for breaks. “I didn’t mean to push you,” she said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

  “It’s okay. Doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the pool.”

  “The boys would love it. They wouldn’t think twice before jumping in.”

  “Maybe they can come for a visit sometime.”

  She chewed the inside of her cheek. Why did he dangle that type of dream in front of her like a juicy carrot when he had no intention of following through? Or worse, he’d follow through and the boys would get heartbroken when he left her for good.

  She removed her feet from the pool, swung them to the side and propped herself up. Standing, she erased the gap between them. A different type of ache burned at her feet, spreading upward and weakening her knees.

  He lifted his hand, outlining her jawline with his strong, manly fingers. She sucked in a breath as the fire continued to shoot within her system, scorching her pussy and knotting her stomach. Desire and pain. Not pain yet, but the idea of doom. “I don’t think they should visit. Given how much of a wanderer you are.”

  “You always know what to do, Nikki Brady. Why did you come with me? Why are you here?”

  “Because I can’t walk away from you.” Not yet. When the time came, she hoped she’d be strong enough to do it—perhaps to anticipate the doom and Band-Aid him out of her life. The thought brought bile to her throat. One day. Not tonight. She stared at the depths of his gorgeous eyes, and something inside her shifted, melted and tingled all at the same time.

  11

  Cole glanced at the woman who set fire in his stomach. She didn’t need to elaborate again on why bringing her sons to his L.A. residence was a bad idea. He had no business bringing David and Henry to his city, his home, and expect them to be okay when he disappeared from their lives. That would be selfish.

  He stared into her eyes, and the world stilled. Besides her heavy breathing, he couldn’t hear anything else around them. Not the gentle waves of the ocean, nor the chirping of crickets. His gaze lowered to her mouth, and he outlined her lips, coaxing them open. A sexy moan sliced the air, encouraging him to pull her against him and lower his head.

  She circled her arms around him and stretched to her full height, plastering her lips to his. He lifted her from the ground, and when she wrapped her legs around him, he felt the dampness of her feet. She hadn’t been scared to dip her feet in the pool, and never would be. Nikki was brave and smart and wonderful. A wave of pride washed over him, expanding his heart in a way he didn’t understand and couldn’t explain.

  Aroused, he walked up to the stone wall, and held her against it. She massaged his scalp, her fingers lazily sliding down his neck and shoulders. A shiver trickled down his body, and he groaned, loving how close they were.

  Before he had the chance, she lowered one of her hands until she touched his pants. She unbuttoned them, and he shifted on his feet to help her, dropping his pants and boxers just enough so his cock sprung out, unrestrained.

  “Cole,” she hissed, the sexiness in her voice sending little thrills of excitement to his already maddening heartbeat. “I need you,” she said, her voice sultry and filled with want.

  He parted her thighs further, the instant his fingers slipped inside her drenching-wet heat, Cole and Nikki moaned in unison. He parted her folds, stretching her pussy, teasing her swollen clit. She bucked into his hand, grinding, silently asking for more.

  Unable to wait one more second, he thrust inside her all the way to the hilt. She bit his lower lip, the sting elevating his arousal a notch. He withdrew midway then drove into her again, continuing the motion until their moans became raw, pained, and urgent.

  She slipped her hand into his collar, fumbling with his shirt until she found his shoulder blades and scratched her fingernails on them. In retaliation, he increased the rhythm, each time plunging into her with deeper, harder thrusts. His heart thrummed in his chest, but he didn’t let up. With a growl, he continued the maddening, erotic dance, impaling her, claiming her like the very air he breathed. Oh yes.

  With every thrust, a piece of his soul left his body and entered hers, like an unstoppable force. He crushed his lips on hers, desperately craving every part of her. She opened her mouth, and when their tongues meshed, it was like a giant ocean wave slapping against the shore. His entire body tingled, trembled and roared in devastating need.

  She clenched her inner muscles around his cock and wrenched her mouth from his for a stolen, shaky breath. Then, he realized she quivered, and stared at him with the undeniable glint in her dilated pupils. A flush stained her cheeks and neck, and she moaned, repeatedly, letting pleasure ride her body.

  Seeing her come undone only added to the pressure in his core. Aroused beyond belief, he withdrew almost all the way to plunge into her one more time. His balls contracted for an instant, then he let himself go and cried out her name, again and again, as pleasure rode him like a tornado and left him extraordinarily spent.

  “I don’t think I can move, but I should try,” she said a few seconds later.

  He chuckled against her hair, still connected to her, his fluid still emptying into her sex. Groaning, he slipped out of her and pulled up his briefs and jeans. He helped her to her feet, and with a nervous chuckle, she smoothed her hand over her dress.

  “You okay?” he asked, sucking in a breath. Had he been too rough? He hated how unsure and weak she made him feel.

  She chewed her bottom lip, then inched closer. “I love—” she started, then straightened her shoulders and angled her head to the side. “I loved it.” A bright smile formed on her lips.

  Relief loosened his shoulders. Good. “We should head inside and shower.”

  She grabbed her purse from the outdoor table and fished out her phone. “Yes, we should. Let me check my messages to make sure everything is good with the boys and all.”

  He nodded, loving how worried she was about her kids even when they were safe and sound with Luke. Would his mother be like this if she had overcome Keith’s death? After Keith had died, she hadn’t been mean to him—his sweet mother wouldn’t know how. But before she took her own life, she treated him with a degree of distance. She was there, helping him with homework, but not really present.

  The smile on Nikki’s face died. She scrolled through messages quickly, frowning.

  Acid spilled into his stomach. Had something happened with her boys? He’d come to care for those two and would hate himself if they got hurt when he had whisked her away for the weekend. “What’s wrong?” he asked, erasing the distance between them.

  She sat the phone on the table, then tucked a strand a hair behind her ear. “I can’t believe this… Violet left her husband and kids.”

  “Are you good with Fridays?” Brit asked, checking off a task from her iPad.

  Nikki slowly nodded. Guilt clogged her throat. She’d driven back to Tulip as soon as she heard about the news. How could Violet take off without telling any of them? Now, two days after the fact, it still hadn’t sunk in. Apparently, Violet had left Damian a note and taken off while he and the kids slept.

  “Yes,” Nikki said.

  “I can help on Saturdays,” Lara said.

  Brit checked another box off her digital list. “Thanks. Damian is off on Saturdays but sometimes he has emergency surgery.”

  “Like some high-rolling patient who needs a nip-tuck overnight?” Lara snickered.

  Brit tilted her head to the side, glaring at her friend. Ever since they met in Nikki’s kitchen to go over chores and how they could help the kids while he looked for a full-time nanny, tension had filled the room. Maybe it’s just me.

  Sweat slicked her forehead. “Have you read the note she left?” Nikki
asked.

  Lara nodded. “He took a screenshot and sent it to us.”

  “Are we sure she’s okay?” Nikki asked. “What if her husband did something to her?” She never believed Damian to be violent, but what if there was more than met the eye—she clapped her hand to her mouth. What if—

  “The note seemed like her handwriting, but I’m not an expert,” Lara said.

  “She could have done it under duress,” Nikki said, doubting her own words. Blaming Damian for whatever triggered Violet to go away didn’t help. When they’d talked, Violet had assured her he’d agreed to a separation. I should have pushed more. Damn, the irony. Nikki was known for her overbearing nature, yet it did no good when really needed.

  “Well, no shit. If she felt like she had to leave her family and friends in the middle of the night, of course she was under duress,” Lara said.

  “Ladies, please.” Brit lifted her hand. “Let’s leave the bitchfest for another time.”

  Lara shrugged. “Sorry. First Noelle, then this—”

  “She’s alive,” Brit said. “She was overwhelmed, it seems, and needed a breather. For all we know, she may be back in a week.”

  A knot formed in Nikki’s stomach. She rubbed her forehead, willing away the nauseating sensation rising in her body. Was she such a bad friend? Maybe Violet confiding in her had been a cry for help and she should have shared the secret with the other girls, or hell, maybe even talked to Damian about it. Instead, she’d been too caught up with her own problems and forgot about her friend.

  What if Violet hurt herself? “Guys… I don’t think she’ll be back in a week,” Nikki said, then cleared her throat. Her friends must have sensed her uneasiness for they looked at her quizzically. “Violet told me she was having relationship problems that night when we all went over her house for drinks.”

  “Whoa. Really?” Lara widened her eyes. “She’d never mentioned anything. I always thought she had the perfect marriage.”

  “Why wouldn’t she tell us? We tell each other everything.” Brit said, a pang of sadness in her voice. “Maybe we could have helped.”

  Nikki reached across the table and touched Brit’s hand. “Honey, it’s not personal. She didn’t make a point to tell me. I think it slipped out after some wine.”

  “What did she say exactly?” Lara asked before she took a bite of her veggie sandwich.

  “She wanted to divorce Damian, and he agreed to it. She didn’t go deep into why, just said she’d been thinking about leaving him and they were working the details,” she said. Hopefully if Violet turned up days later, she wouldn’t be mad at her for sharing. I think she’ll have other worries when she’s back.

  “She comes from a rich family. What if she has some amazing life insurance?” Brit narrowed her eyes.

  “Hello, her husband is a successful surgeon. It’s not like he needs her money,” Lara said.

  “And if I’m not mistaken, he comes from money too,” Nikki added, remembering the expensive family heirlooms Violet had showed her that his family had given him when they got hitched.

  “She’s such a good mom though. Why would she leave her two children without a set time to return? Doesn’t make sense,” Brit said.

  Nikki took an apple slice from her plate and played with the edges. She hadn’t been hungry ever since she found out what happened. Violet’s disappearance reminded her of Noelle’s death, and sad emotions surfaced again. Was she making the most out of her life? She loved her boys, and she… god, she almost had blurted out she loved Cole when she’d been with him. Apprehension clawed at her heart, making it skip a beat then thrum nervously like a scared animal in the forest, running from a predator. “I guess everyone loses their mind someday. Maybe we’re making too much of it.”

  “Yeah, let’s hope she’ll find her way back soon.”

  “Until then, let’s go over this list,” Brit said, picking up the iPad.

  12

  “My assistant said you wanted to see me,” Cole said as he walked into his father’s office. He’d spent the entire morning working on several moving parts of the new location for Great Escape. He’d even managed to Facetime with Nikki for a few minutes, undoubtedly the best part of his day so far.

  His father glanced at the document he’d sighed, then set it to the side and gestured for him to sit in front of him. A tumbler filled with amber liquid and a couple cubes of ice already sat on the polished desk surface. Eleven in the morning and his father was drinking? He must have gotten either good news or bad ones. “Yes.”

  “Cool. What’s up?”

  “Well, I know you’ve been busy with the Great Escape relocation, particularly after we changed the site.”

  “Yes. Good busy, though. I’m in touch with human resources, and we’ll send out a preliminary letter about it to the residents next week.”

  “Interesting.” His father drummed his fingers on the side of the tumbler, tapping the glass with intent. “What’s the name of the human resources director?”

  Cole squared his shoulders. His blood froze into an old-fashioned milkshake—the type good fathers took their kids to enjoy on Sunday afternoons. He swallowed, feeling his pulse throbbing hotly in his throat. He looked at his father, recognizing the challenge in his slanted eyes. His father was no fool, and lying would get him nowhere. Why would he lie anyway? “Nikki Brady.”

  His father took his tumbler to his mouth and said over the rim, “Interesting. Tell me, where have I heard that name again?”

  “What’s your point?” he asked, unwilling to indulge his father any longer. He didn’t expect his father to look into who worked under him, as he didn’t have time for these ground operations. “Most importantly, why do you care?” the words escaped his lips, but he didn’t regret them. He surged to his feet, marching to the wet bar to grab his own drink.

  “That day I suggested you take out Aubrey’s daughter. You said no, and I was curious to find out why.”

  “Meeting my date wasn’t enough?”

  “Not when I didn’t know who she was.”

  How the hell did he know who she was after a one-minute conversation? Realization dawned on him, suffocating him like a collar two sizes too small. His father had probably asked a corporate investigator to look into her. He had her name, and that’s all he needed—hell, a quick search on her Facebook profile would give him her place of work. Connecting the dots wouldn’t be hard.

  Cole opened the bottle and carelessly let the cap slide down the tray, as if it were a penny and not the stopper for an expensive bottle of whisky. He poured the liquid into a tumbler and didn’t hesitate. Within two seconds, he gulped a generous amount. His face and muscles contracted for a moment, to only a few beats later relax as the drink rolled down his throat.

  “I thought it strange when you changed the location of Great Escape out of the blue.” Regret flickered in his father’s eyes. “I didn’t believe it, but decided to let you go ahead. When I learned not only the lovely woman you brought to the dinner party worked at Great Escape but had a grandmother residing there, everything became clear.”

  Cole ran his fingers down his face. “It’s not what it looks like. Of course Nikki had compelling reasons, but they weren’t all self-serving. The new site will be better for the residents, and the investors will benefit in the long run. It’s a win-win.”

  “Of course. Which is why I’m not doing one thing to get in your way.”

  “Thank you,” Cole said. Relief relaxed his shoulders and loosened his limbs more than the dose of hard liquor had. His father may be resentful, but a dumb businessman he was not. If he brought Cole’s ulterior motives to the board, he’d make his company and himself look weak. He didn’t care how people perceived Cole, but from the moment his name was linked to Cole’s and the company, he retreated.

  “I want you to do well at Great Escape. Besides your reasoning, the new location will be better for everyone.”

  “I wouldn’t do it if it meant a financial loss.”


  His father’s glance lingered, turning into a calculated once-over. “All right. Well, son, congratulations. I’m willing to sell you my stocks at a price only a father would sell, and therefore giving you power over Myler Enterprises.”

  Cole took another sip of whisky, the alcohol adding to the adrenaline rushing through his veins. An emotion he couldn’t pinpoint thickened his throat and stung the back of his eyes. His father’s approval—this was it, in the only way his father knew how. What else could it be?

  “There’s only one caveat,” his father said.

  “Yeah?”

  “I want you to move to New York to run it from our headquarters.”

  His blood thrummed in his temples. “New York?”

  “Yes. That’s where I’ve lived most of the time, and there’s a reason for that. Most of our companies are there, so even though you’ll be traveling often, that should be your home base.”

  “I can live anywhere and be there as needed. I assure you I’ll be just as efficient.”

  “No. You can’t run an empire remotely. Your connections, everything is there.”

  Cole sighed. On paper it made sense, but a part of him had to think this was the ultimate sacrifice his father demanded of him. After all, he took Keith from his life, then his mother. So why wouldn’t his father expect for him to say goodbye to the only woman he loved?

  “What is it going to be, son?” his father said, drawling on the last word. “Will you take the stocks and move to New York or say goodbye to the company?”

  “Mom,” Henry asked. “Can we please have more mac and cheese?”

  Nikki finished cutting the strawberries and glanced at the kids. Besides her kids, she’d invited Violet’s children to come over after school. Now they all sat around the dining table. “Sure.” She brought the casserole where she’d sneakily hidden some broccoli with the recipe from Pinterest and placed it in the middle of the table. She was about to start serving each kid more when her cell phone buzzed in her apron.