by Eva Charles
“It’s been some time since you spent the night with a lady, too, but I see that didn’t stop you. First time for everything.”
“How do you know who I spend the night with? For all you know I have a different woman holed up here every night and send her away before you show up in the morning. That’s what a smart man would do, given that you’re such a busybody.”
“I said spent the night with a lady. Those floozies you chase are not ladies. And you best not be bringing them here.”
“Some people might say you’re much too familiar given that you work for me.”
“People say a lot of things. Much of it isn’t true. And when did you start caring what people say? When you find the love of a good woman to keep you on the straight and narrow, I’ll hold my tongue. But not a second before.”
“There’s about as much chance of you holding your tongue as me finding the love of a good woman. I won’t be holding my breath on either account.” I hug her. “Merry Christmas, Lally. I’m happy you’re not at your cousin’s this year.”
“Merry Christmas, JD. Grab yourself some fresh coffee and a little something to go with it. Then you better go change before Gabrielle’s daddy wakes up and sees you skulking around in the clothes you were wearing yesterday.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say, taking the stairs two at a time.
I shut the door to my bedroom and call Chase. “Hey, Merry Christmas.”
“JD?”
“Did I wake you?”
“It’s Christmas morning, not even seven o’clock,” he grunts. “It’s not like I wake up at the butt crack of dawn to find out what Santa brought.”
“Sorry. I waited until a semi-decent hour to call. This is important. I need you to do something for me.”
He groans. “Does this have to do with Gabby again?”
“Someone disabled all four furnaces in the hotel during the night. Nobody saw anything.”
“Jesus.”
“I need—”
“I know what you need, but I’m not convinced we’re going to find anything on the film this time either.”
“Try. And if there’s nothing there, see if the film’s been altered.”
“Have you talked to Smith about this?”
“Had to. Smith will want to put the cavalry on this, and Gabrielle’s going to balk. But we need to try to get to the bottom of it.”
“I’m on it. I’ll call you when I know something.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, well you can explain it all to Gabby when she wants to kick my ass for hacking into her security system.”
“Pussy.”
“JD?”
“Yeah?”
“Why not go to the police?”
“Not sure they can be of any help in this situation. The culprits might be too big for the local police to reel in.”
“Who do you think is behind this?”
“I don’t know. But I’m hoping you’ll turn up something that will help us figure it out.”
I’m back at The Gatehouse before eight. I see Gabrielle huddled across the dining room with—Georgina. Their backs are to me, but I’m pretty sure that’s Georgie.
Hmmm, she was supposed to be away until after Christmas.
I’ve known Georgie as long as I’ve known Gabrielle. Never cared for her. Always thought she was skittish, like she was hiding something, especially as we got older. She was always a huge flirt, but I never had any interest in what she was offering.
The last time we spoke more than a sentence or two was the afternoon she tried to kiss me when we were teenagers. Gabrielle was in the shower, and Georgie plopped herself on my lap, and tried to put her lips on mine. I tossed her on her ass, called her a slut, and left.
I never said a word about it to Gabrielle. It would have hurt her too much.
“Merry Christmas, ladies.” They’re both startled. Gabrielle practically jumps out of her skin when she hears my voice, and Georgie looks like she’s being force fed lemon wedges.
“Hi, JD. Georgie just stopped by to see if I need help. They got back early from Wade’s sister’s place. It’s supposed to snow in Georgia. Wade doesn’t like to drive in the snow.” Gabrielle can’t stop blabbering. She says about ten more things. Each one more random than the last. And Georgie’s still sucking on lemons.
“Congratulations,” I say to Georgina. It seems like the polite thing to do, and although she’s still not my favorite person, I’ve softened considerably toward her over the years. “I hear you’re expecting a girl.”
“Yes. We just found out—we’re having a daughter. Thank you,” she answers, turning to Gabrielle. “It looks like you have everything under control here. I should get home to check on Wade. He was still sleeping when I left.”
“I’ll walk out with you,” Gabrielle says.
“Anything I can do while you’re gone?” I ask.
Gabrielle shakes her head and smiles. “Believe it or not, we’re done with the set up. Now we just wait for the guests to show up.”
Georgina hasn’t met my eyes once since I walked in. But she doesn’t look as sour now that she’s about to leave. “Merry Christmas, Georgie. Give my best to Wade, too.”
She nods. “Merry Christmas.”
“I’ll be right back,” Gabrielle mouths to me before they walk away.
I take a quick look around the first floor while she’s gone. It’s plenty warm, and everything seems under control. I’m about to go back down to the basement when Gabrielle sneaks up behind me.
“Thank you for taking care of things this morning. You were a lifesaver.” She slips her arm through mine, and pulls me into an empty room off the kitchen. When we get there, she twines her arms around my neck.
“We always made a good team.” I dip my head to kiss her. But she pulls back. “What?”
“Nothing,” she answers, looking like there’s definitely something eating her.
“Nothing, my ass. Is this about Georgie? I thought she was gone until after Christmas?”
“It’s not about Georgie,” she says defensively. “She and Wade had a fight, so they came home late last night. The snow was just an excuse.”
“If it’s not about her, what were you about to say?”
“Sometimes—when you say things like we always made a good team. After you say it—your face twists into something painful. I don’t know. It makes me feel—I don’t know.”
“Sad?”
“Sad is too mild of a descriptor for how much it makes my heart hurt.”
I cinch her waist and pull her closer, until I can reach her mouth. When all the loose ends are tied up. When the evidence against my father is so strong that he can’t wiggle out, it’ll be over. She’ll be safe. And I’ll tell her everything. She’ll hate me, but she’ll be able to get on with her life, and fall in love with a nice guy from a respectable family, and they can raise a bunch of kids together. My gut’s burning just thinking about it. “You got a cup of coffee around here you can spare?”
She nods. “Yes. Anything for you. How about a chocolate croissant to go with that coffee?”
“Anything for me? Is that the same as anything I want?”
She nods. “Anything. But it’ll have to wait a few hours. I only have about twenty minutes before guests start filtering in.”
“You won’t believe what I can accomplish in twenty minutes,” I say, pinning her into a corner. “But you’re about to find out,” I murmur, sliding a hand under her skirt.
“JD,” she pants, while I stroke her pussy over the silky panties. Her breathless voice makes my cock harder. “I don’t have—I can’t—someone might see.”
“My body blocks you from view. Even if someone walks in, they’ll have no idea what we’re doing.” I lower my head to her ear. “It’s much more likely they’ll hear you. If you don’t want that, you’ll need to be really quiet. Can you do that?” She whimpers something that sounds like mm. “Now be a good girl, and spread your legs for me,
so I can give you something I’ve wanted to give you since I opened my eyes this morning.”
“Brunch,” she squeals. “I have the brunch.”
“This will only take a few minutes, darlin’. Trust me. Just think of how nice and relaxed you’re going to be for your brunch. How pretty you’ll look with a little color in your cheeks.”
“Oh, JD.”
“That’s it, baby. Squeeze my fingers with that sweet pussy.”
I’m standing near the entrance to the room nursing a coffee, waiting for Smith to come up from the basement. And I’m watching Gabrielle, who’s floating around the room chatting easily with guests. Anticipating their needs before they have them. She’s a natural. And I was right, her flushed cheeks are gorgeous.
“Hey,” Smith says, approaching me from behind. “Step out for a minute.”
“Find anything?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “Not a goddamn thing.”
I blow out a loud breath. I’m disappointed, but not surprised. “Chase came in a few minutes ago. He said he couldn’t find anything either. He doesn’t think anyone hacked into the system. Said it looked more like someone turned off the cameras from inside the building. Sounds like it’s someone who has inside access.”
“Maybe. This whole thing feels like amateur hour,” Smith says. I hear the frustration and annoyance in his voice. “Any one of these incidents, the tires, the furnaces, could have been perpetrated by any idiot with internet access. I’m starting to think someone has a score to settle with her.”
“What about the security cameras?” I nod at a waiter wheeling a cart of cups and saucers past us. “Whoever turned them off, knew where to find the cameras.”
“They could have flipped the circuit breaker. The cameras are on their own circuit. Everything’s marked. We dusted for prints, but I’m not hopeful.” Smith leans against the wall, and folds his arms across his chest. “This feels personal and petty.”
“It wouldn’t have been petty if the brunch had been sabotaged or if guests had woken up to cold showers. It would have ruined Gabrielle’s opportunity to showcase this place, and take it to another level. And it would have been a long time before she got another opportunity like this.”
“That’s just what I mean. Who does this kind of shit? Someone who’s jealous or has a score to settle. And it takes a special kind of perpetrator.”
“What does that mean?”
“Think about it.” He glances at his feet, and then at me. “If you were pissed at someone would you steal their keys and slash their tires? Disable their furnace?”
“Pft. No.” I don’t need a second to think about it.
“Of course not. You would either kick his ass, fuck his woman, or do some real damage to his business. It would be big and splashy. Decisive. Not conniving and sneaky. This is bush league.”
“You think it’s kids?”
“Nah.” He buries his hands in his pockets. “Maybe a woman. Or a guy who doesn’t think like a guy.”
“A guy who doesn’t think like a guy? What the fuck does that mean? Like he’s gay?”
“No, asshole. Like he lives with his mother, or he hasn’t spent enough time around other guys—bonding and shit. It’s a prototype for this kind of behavior.”
I pause for a minute before raising the possibility. Smith won’t want to hear it, but I can’t let it go. “Don’t discount my father in any of this. He’s got a long reach.”
Smith glares at me. He doesn’t turn his head, only his eyes move to meet mine. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”
“Then you’re an even dumber bastard than I peg you for.” I take a couple steps forward, until I’m in his face. “I’m telling you, it’s in the realm of real possibilities.”
Smith sidesteps me, and brings his hands to his face, scrubbing the wariness away. “Why don’t you go check on Gabrielle. I’ll handle things on this end.” He starts to leave, but turns before he gets five feet away. “JD?”
I’m sure this is more shit about how my father is the president-elect, and how I need to resolve my daddy issues in therapy. “What?” I challenge.
He glances at me for a second, and shakes his head. “Nothing.”
30
Gabrielle
“Okay, just one more thingy to glue on,” I say proudly to Georgie while I hunt for a glittery pink heart. We’re sitting at Georgie’s dining room table making a growth chart for the baby’s room, one of those long sticks that hangs on the wall. The one we’re making has a ballerina at the top, pirouetting on a unicorn.
“It’s gorgeous,” Georgie gushes. “I can’t believe how crafty you are.”
“I hope she loves it,” I muse, adding the final heart.
“She will. She’ll love all the things we made. Especially the part where her mama and her godmother spent hours planning and painting. I want her to grow up to be the kind of girl who appreciates that part of a gift most of all.”
“She will. How could she not with you and Wade as her parents?”
“I’m putting all of it in my pregnancy journal. Every detail, so she can know how excited we were while we waited for her.”
“One day you need to let those journals inspire you to write a book.”
“One day,” she says wistfully. “It’s on my bucket list, but I’m not sure I want that kind of inspiration. I wish you had brought the quarterly reports with you. I don’t sleep well when Wade’s gone. I could have worked on them.”
“I’ll drop them by tomorrow.”
“Maybe I’ll follow you back to the hotel when we’re done here. It won’t be that late.”
“Georgie, the baby will be here any time, now. You are not driving around alone at night to get some stupid reports that aren’t due for another month. What if your water breaks or something?”
“First babies aren’t born that quickly,” she says, peering out the window again. “I keep thinking that car out there is someone lurking.”
“It is.”
“Besides your security. I’ve felt that way all afternoon. I guess it’s Wade being gone. This is his last overnight trip until after the baby’s born.”
“I’m glad. Everything good between you two?”
“Better since I talked to him about it, but I don’t think things will get back to normal until after the baby comes. It’s not that unusual for expectant fathers to have anxiety before the baby’s born. That’s what all the books say.”
“Imagine if they actually had to push it out?” I roll my eyes. “They’d need to be on anti-anxiety meds for the entire pregnancy.
We laugh, but Georgie’s looking out the window again. “Have you gotten used to them following you around everywhere?”
“Rafe and Gus? Pretty much. They really do melt into the background unless I think about them. Then I get prickly at JD, even though he means well. Have you watched any of the Inauguration coverage today?”
“No.”
“I haven’t seen much either. Although I did catch JD scowling on national television. Do you mind if I turn on the news?”
“Go ahead. The remote’s above the TV.”
Georgie gets quiet and tense when the news comes on. The reporters are talking about President Wilder. She still hasn’t warmed up to the idea of JD and I together. And after that day in the hotel when they met by accident, I’m beginning to think she never will.
There’s a split screen on the television. The politicians preening in their fancy clothes on one side, and the warehouse fires burning out of control, a few miles away from here, on the other side. “Wow. I can’t believe they haven’t gotten that fire under control. It’s been burning most of the day.”
“It keeps spreading,” she says. “There have been multiple explosions. Thankfully those buildings weren’t occupied." I hear Georgie, but my eyes and my mind are on JD, whose handsome face is on the screen now. It’s a shot from earlier. He’s with Gray and Chase. They’re watching as their father takes the oat
h of office. Their faces reveal nothing. Not a trace of emotion. Certainly no pride or joy.
“You still love him,” Georgie says, when she catches me red-handed, sneaking a peek at him. “I see it every time you bring up his name. Even if you’re cursing him while you do it.”
“I’ll always love him, Georgie. I’ve told you, it’s my cross to bear. Even if we don’t end up together. I’ll always love him. When he walked into the hotel after all that time. I knew. I knew that night, even through all the rage, even as I chucked a vase at him and got water all over his fancy suit, I knew I would always love him. No matter what he did. No matter how awful it is. I’m such a wuss when it comes to him. It makes me so mad sometimes.”
“Hmmm. That’s a powerful kind of attraction. I’m not sure I feel that way about Wade, and I love him with all my heart and soul. But JD was your first love.”
I nod. “That’s part of it. Another part is that we had sex kind of young.”
“I know, but lots of people have sex kind of young and they don’t feel it forever.”
“Dirty sex.”
Georgina lips twitch. “Dirty sex?” She giggles. “Is that like kinky sex?”
“Just like that.”
“Oh my God.” She puts her hand over her mouth to stifle the laugh, but her chest is heaving. “How come you never told me that part?”
“It was embarrassing to think about in the light of day, let alone say the words out loud. And I don’t know, I guess it was private. It seemed like it would be more special if we just kept it to ourselves.”
“You could make up for it by spilling the beans about what you’re doing now. A pregnant beluga who can barely move her body during sex, could use hearing how the fit and fabulous are doing the deed.”
I swat her away. “It’s not about first love, or sex, there’s something about JD that—completes my soul. Sounds so stupid, doesn’t it?”
She shrugs, but a building on the screen implodes in flames before she can respond. “Sweet Jesus. Look at that.” She clutches her belly. “It’s awful. I pray to God they’re right, and no one’s stuck inside those buildings. What an awful way to die.” She shudders.
