by Sorcha Black
She tried to stare him down, but it worked about as well as I would have expected, even though he was lying propped against his pillows and not looking like his normal, imposing self.
“I apologize. The last thing I remember, we were being shot at. Took me a minute to catch up.”
Both women seemed mollified, which was good because they both looked pretty tough, even though they weren’t that big. Ariel was giving the quieter one a charming smile, but the woman was immune despite his good looks. No doubt nurses got flirted with a lot in their line of work.
“You’ve had two surgeries since then. The doctor will be by to talk to you later, but your wife can fill you in.”
They withdrew, and Ariel made his excuses, mumbling something about grabbing coffee.
“What happened? How did we end up here?” He closed his eyes, and the only thing that kept me from panicking about him maybe losing consciousness again was that he was grimacing in pain. “I didn’t even get a shot off.”
“She shot you three times,” I said, kissing him and nuzzling his cheek. He kissed my forehead.
“What happened after that? The other guards stopped her? The police?”
“No.” I opened my mouth to tell him the rest, and then I couldn’t. She’d tried to kill me, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that she was gone—that I’d never see her again. My mother was the voice in my head, full of criticism and disapproval. Wrestling with her for that gun—I’d killed her. How could such a force of nature be snuffed out so abruptly?
I could have handed over the money. If I hadn’t been difficult, she would be alive, and Blue wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
Guilty tears streamed down my cheeks.
“What happened after that?”
“She tried to shoot you again, but I jumped on her and tried to get the gun away. It was jammed into my chest and I pushed it away from me, and then it just—went off. Maybe the way it twisted between us made her accidentally pull the trigger. I just don’t know. I keep trying to replay it in my head, but everything was fast and…the blood.”
“Fuck. Aberdeen.” He closed his eyes again, briefly, and when he opened them, he was giving me such a frown I knew that if he had been in better shape he would have turned me over his knee.
He tried to sit up again but fell back. “Did they arrest her? You might still be in danger.”
“She’s…” I swallowed hard, but the sob I was trying to hold back came out anyway. I shouldn’t have felt so absolutely devastated by having to admit this out loud, but I hadn’t had to say it to anyone yet. Everyone else had known by the time they’d spoken to me. “Dead,” I finally managed to get out.
“Fuck. I’m so sorry, gorgeous.”
“I thought you were going to die. My mother… I think there’s still blood on me.” I sobbed again. Mother had almost killed him, and yet I was looking to him for consolation for all of it—him being in danger, her dying. As soon as I could safely leave him alone, I was going to need to see my therapist and deal with some of this shit so he wouldn’t have to.
“Shh, I know.” He pulled me closer until my head was resting on his chest. “Jesus, when she pulled that gun it was so surreal. I never suspected. I should have thought…”
“You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have guessed. It’s my fucking job.” He was quiet for a few minutes, one of his big hands cradling my head against his chest.
“I’m so happy you’re awake.”
“I was more comfortable when I was asleep,” he admitted. “Did that nurse call you my wife?”
I sucked in a breath. “You noticed that, huh?”
“I did.” He chuckled, then stopped, grimacing in pain.
“I was afraid they wouldn’t let me stay with you. Ellis and Violet are here, too. They’ll be back soon with food, but I doubt you’re allowed to have pizza.”
“Fuck, Ellis came back here from California?” he mumbled.
“Daddy, you almost died!”
He made a tired, dismissive sound. “Hospital stays and dying are part of the job description.”
“Are you telling me you wouldn’t drop everything and go if this happened to Ariel or Ellis—God forbid?” I asked skeptically. “Ariel said you were brothers.”
I waited for him to argue but there was nothing but even breathing under my ear, along with the thudding of a strong heart.
He might have dozed off, considering he was pumped full of drugs.
“I can’t believe you ended up having to save yourself…and me,” he said a while later.
“Maybe you can hire me to guard you after this.”
His hand came to my hair and pressed my head to his chest, where it wasn’t bandaged.
I stayed like that, listening to his heartbeat, strong and alive, letting it lull me to sleep.
* * *
By the time Blue was ready to come home, the nursing staff was more than ready to get rid of us. Daddy was a horrible patient, and as the risk of him dying on us faded, the guys became a nuisance, seducing their way through several members of the hospital staff. Violet seemed to think it was hilarious and had a whole shtick where she did voiceover narration as though we were all stuck in an ‘80s soap opera.
As he’d improved, and it felt safe to leave him overnight, I’d stayed at the guys’ house with them and Violet, to make it easier to get back and forth to the hospital. It was lonely in Blue’s bed, but at least it felt like he was near.
I was too afraid to go home.
The idea of walking into the house where it had all happened felt too big—too fresh and horrifying—to do. The longer I waited, the worse it got.
Had that house ever been my home, or had it been my prison?
Mother’s lawyer contacted me about her will and her preplanned funeral. She’d left the company to her cousin, Geoff, who’d been working there almost since the beginning. Geoff was shocked, and tried to give the company to me, but I refused to take it. I was glad. I’d already decided I didn’t want to run it, and now I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about selling it.
For all that she hadn’t liked me, she’d left me the house and all of its contents, the cars, the summer house in the Hamptons, and her estate in Tuscany, not to mention several bank accounts.
The fact that she had a summer house and a place in Tuscany were news to me.
Whether she’d left me those things because she cared was hard to say. I decided it didn’t matter one way or the other. Even after death, it had probably just been for the sake of appearances.
The funeral was awkward. Many of Kincaid’s employees and business contacts came, but they focused their attention on my mother’s cousin after discovering he had inherited.
We’d installed Blue in a chair and given him strict orders not to budge. He didn’t take well to me issuing commands, and I had a feeling he was keeping a mental list of all the things he’d punish me for when he was feeling stronger.
My household supported me through the never-ending two days, not leaving me alone as a blur of people drifted through to pay their respects.
“I hear she wrote her own eulogy,” Violet said as we drank wine and ate hors d’oeuvres. “Bold move. She had a high opinion of herself.”
“Writing her own eulogy was very her. She controlled every other detail of her life. Anything I would have come up with would have been all wrong and embarrassing as far as she was concerned.”
“She neglected to mention attempting to murder you and almost killing my brother. Nothing like glossing over the finale of her autobiography.” She kissed my cheek. I really liked Blue’s twin.
“I’m choosing to believe it wasn’t premeditated.”
“You’re a tough girl. It would have been reasonable and easier for you to skip coming to this, considering. You don’t owe her shit. I, on the other hand, would be drunk and pushing the funeral director aside to give the attendees the full story, but you do you.”
“She was the only
parent I had, other than Jake.” My former bodyguard had been beside me through all of this, supporting me—his wife at his side. He’d hugged Blue like a son when we’d talked about what had happened in those last minutes with Mother. No one had suspected her of anything. “Besides, it may be her funeral, but today isn’t really about her. I’m here to make my own peace with her. It’s the only closure I’m ever going to get.”
“Cheers to that.”
* * *
“Can I burn it down?” I asked, staring at the house as we drove up. “This is a ridiculous house. What were we trying to prove, living here?”
“Selling it would probably make more sense.”
“It wouldn’t be anywhere near as satisfying, though.”
The place felt completely alien to me, as though I hadn’t spent every day of my life in it before Blue came along. Coming back after everything that had happened made it look different—or maybe I was seeing it with eyes that were fresh after being away. Blue and the guys had a house that felt like a home. My mother’s house felt like a museum with beds. I knew the difference now.
I’d expected crime scene tape on the door to my mother’s office, but there was none. The door was closed, and I found myself staring in horror as it came into view.
“It’s been cleaned,” Blue assured me.
“I hope they hired professionals.” I swallowed down bile.
“They did,” he said, squeezing my hand.
He was still using a cane, but his limp was nowhere near as bad as it had been a few weeks ago. We’d stayed at his place for a while so that he could recuperate, but it was time to get this moment I’d been dreading out of the way. I thought it was important for Blue, too.
Rather than pass by that room as I intended to, he stopped me and flung open the door. It was empty and fresh drywall had been put up. The furniture and bookcases were missing.
“Where is everything?” I asked, worried it was gone, and yet also hoping it was gone. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see Mother’s desk again, but I also wanted to know I could.
“Anything salvageable has been cleaned and put into storage.” The hand he put on my back was big, warm, and comforting. “I thought it would be best to keep the contents of this room elsewhere, at least for now.”
I inhaled the scent of fresh construction, trying to ground myself. I’d assumed the room would still contain a badly stained rug, a broken chair, and maybe even hints of splattered blood that had been missed during clean up.
The relief I felt from not having to deal with any of that was so immense it made me dizzy. This empty, pristine room wouldn’t haunt me as I lay in my bed tonight.
We walked out again, and Blue closed the door behind us with a satisfying click. I wouldn’t need to go in there ever again if I didn’t want to. I couldn’t wait to tell my therapist.
Vincent’s lined face broke into a grin when he spotted us in the upper hall.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I gave you a pension—do you need more?”
“You know you were absurdly generous already. Deb and I don’t need or want more—we paid off our house, bought a new car, and still have a ridiculously large nest egg in the bank. We could have bought our own huge house and hired our own staff, for goodness’ sake. I’m here to train my replacement.”
“You don’t have to do that!”
“We’re not just going to abandon you with strangers, Deen. We’ll train them, and then we can retire and be…I don’t know. Surrogate grandparents?”
“What am I ever going to do without you?” I hugged him.
He patted me. “We won’t be far. Jake was saying you want to throw a Christmas party for all of us in a few months?”
“Either here or wherever I relocate to. I’m not sure I want to stay here indefinitely.”
“It’s up to you, of course, but it would be a shame to let the behavior of one person ruin what we had here. We didn’t let her ruin things while she was alive, so it seems silly to let her do it now. It is a huge house though.”
He patted me again, then let me go. I caught the respectful nod he exchanged with Blue. Jake had been slower to warm up to the idea of Blue and I together, but right from the beginning, Vincent and Deb had approved.
Blue was pale, and his cane wobbled by the time we reached my room. I opened the door and let him in, surprised the place still looked exactly the same. The little blue hat I’d been knitting before we’d gone to the lawyer so long ago was sitting on the arm of the sofa, waiting for me to finish it. Someone had tidied up the pillows and changed my bed, but nothing was out of place.
I helped Blue to his chair then shut the door.
“Are you going to sleep in my bed with me tonight?” I asked, feeling shy.
“What would you prefer? Would me staying in here with you make you uncomfortable?”
“Of course not.”
“Good. I might not be as fast as I normally am, but I have Dustin stationed nearby, in case.”
“In case what?”
“Well, we think your mother was responsible for all of the threats against you, but it’s a guess based on her behavior, not on any hard facts. I’d rather not let my guard down until we can be sure. After that, you may not need me at all.”
I wanted to climb into his lap, but the bullet wound in his thigh was still healing and would be for a while. Instead, I slipped to my knees in front of him and rested my head against his uninjured leg.
“Don’t say that, Daddy. I love you. I’m always going to need you.”
“I love you too. Always is a long time, though, gorgeous. Besides, even if we stay together I’m still going to need a job. Being on my girlfriend’s payroll would be…weird.”
I took a deep breath. “If I was your wife it would be our money and you could find other, safer things to do, like lie around in bed with me all day.”
“If we got married you’d be signing a prenup, Aberdeen.”
My heart leaped.
“I can’t believe I’m even discussing this with you,” he grumbled.
“If you try to throw me at Courtland one more time I swear I’m going to…”
“No, I didn’t really like him for you, no matter what I said. No one could ever be good enough. You have to know that.”
I arched a brow at him. “So should I become a nun, then? Devote my life to God? You know, if you have a secret nun fetish you could have just said so. It can’t be that hard to find a habit. Coif or no coif?”
“Aberdeen, this is a serious discussion.” He fixed a grumpy stare on me, which gave me the shivers. It seemed as though he wasn’t in the mood for my shenanigans, which was ridiculous because we both knew he loved my shenanigans.
“If the money bothers you, I’ll give it away.”
“Your money isn’t my business, one way or the other. You’re fucking perfect. You could have your pick of men—or you could just stay single. You could have the world at your feet.”
He thought I was perfect? Ha! That had to be his pain meds talking.
“Well, I’d rather be at your feet, Daddy. You’re the man I want, so brace yourself.”
He glowered at me, and I bit my lip, unable to resist making a bit more trouble, even though he was supposed to be resting.
“So, if I’m perfect, I guess that means I’d be the one in charge if we got married?”
His fingers wove through my hair and closed into a fist, making me whimper with pleasure. “You’d never be in charge in this relationship.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, my voice sounding breathy.
“And you’d get a lot more spankings.”
“Would I?”
“Uh-huh.” His tone had gone from matter-of-fact to interested. “You’ve been getting off easy because you were almost my boss.”
I batted my lashes at him. “Don’t you think it’s cute when I misbehave?”
“It’s adorable, but so is the way you squirm for me when your little ass is bright red.”
>
I whined and put my hand on the waistband of his pants, waiting for permission. His cock was already making an impressive bulge.
God bless gray track pants.
“Can I have cock now, Daddy?” I asked, sliding his pants down slowly so he could stop me if he felt so inclined.
“Didn’t the doctor say I’m supposed to be resting?” he asked, chuckling and helping me slide his pants down his hips.
“Shh, go to sleep. You’re just having a naughty dream.” I took his cock in hand and licked the tip, and his amusement turned into a grunt of pleasure.
“Baby girl, you’re going to be the death of me.”
“Only if I do this really wrong,” I said, giving him my best devilish grin. “So, are you going to marry me?”
He shut me up by thrusting deep into my mouth. “You’re not playing fair.”
I backed off, teasing. “Playing fair with you wouldn’t have gotten me far. Now say yes, or I’m going to stop.”
He took control and started to use my mouth. The flex of gorgeous muscle in his stomach and thighs made me drool almost as much as the cock I was choking on.
“Yes.” He growled. “Hell, yes, I’ll marry you. How could I not? Someone has to keep your bratty ass out of trouble.”
He dragged me up to kiss me breathless, then pushed me down to my knees again.
“Now be a good girl and show Daddy what that sweet little mouth can do.”
About the Author
Sorcha Black writes kink romance, both alone and co-written under the name Sparrow Beckett. When she’s not writing, she’s generally avoiding housework and playing with dogs. Sorcha lives in Canada with her husband and their horde of witty children.
http://www.sorchablack.com
https://www.facebook.com/SorchaBlackAuthor
