by Logan Chance
I hurry out the door, still screaming for help, just as Gabriel is running inside. “He attacked me.” I point in the direction the man fled, but can no longer see him.
Gabriel palms my face. “Did he hurt you?”
“He’s getting away,” I say, feeling the hot sting of tears forming.
“Don’t worry.” Gabriel wraps his arms around me, checking to make sure I don’t have any injuries as a security guard arrives. “What happened?”
I retell the story of how the man was in the bathroom with me, and how he covered my mouth. The guard for the Juniper takes my statement, and then I tell the story again once the cops show up.
A man with gray eyes and cropped dark hair pulls Gabriel away, speaking close to his ear. Gabriel and the man glance over at me as they talk, and then they speak with the police officer in charge.
“I’m so sorry about everything,” Lana says, sitting next to me on the lounge couch. “I’ve just talked to the manager, and they’re going to double up the security here.”
I shake my head, knowing this wasn’t just a random attack.
When Gabriel finishes with the police, he walks over, flanked by the dark haired man.
“Clementine, this is Dean. He’s going to assign a man to stay with you at all times.”
“What do you mean?”
“Security,” Dean answers. “We want to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again. You’re marrying a very important man, Clementine. We want to ensure your safety because people could use you to get to Gabriel.”
“It won’t. I have an idea who did this,” Gabriel says more to Dean than to me.
I blow out a deep breath, knowing he’s thinking about Bishop just like I am, and stand. “Can we go?”
Gabriel nods, wrapping a protective arm around my shoulders and leading me out of the Juniper where Stefan waits, holding the door open to the back of Gabriel’s sedan.
“I need to get away,” I say once the Juniper is behind us. “A beach somewhere in a tiny town sounds perfect.”
Gabriel places his warm hand over mine, brushing his thumb across my skin.
Never in my life have I ever just run away from a problem, mainly because I didn’t have the means to, but sometimes self preservation overrides everything else. No matter how many times Gabriel assures me we’re safe, I fear this wedding will ruin all my plans. Ten million dollars is not worth the price I’ll pay if Bishop Blackstone finds out what I’m hiding.
NINE
Gabriel
* * *
CLEMENTINE WANTED A BEACH, so a beach she’ll get.
She may try to put on a brave face for others, but it doesn’t work with me. I could see the fear. The pain. This attack was not the first time someone has threatened her. I can tell. Don’t ask me how, maybe just an intuition, but I know something more is going on here.
Well played, Bishop. Going after my soon-to-be wife to get to me. Well, fucking played.
But, I’ll always remain one step ahead of him. Just like with my company, every time he’s tried to outbid me on a deal, I’ve always come out on top.
This won’t be any different.
“Are we going on that?” Tennyson asks, pointing to the helicopter waiting to take off from the helipad located on the roof of the estate.
The roar of the blades is loud behind me, and I have to bend over so Tennyson can hear me. “Yes, the helicopter is going to take us to the airport where we have a jet waiting to take us to St. Thomas.”
As soon as we arrived home, I arranged everything for a short getaway and instructed Clementine to pack a bag. For once, she didn’t argue. To make sure Clementine has time to fully decompress, Faye, the nanny, is accompanying us.
Clementine holds Tenny’s hand, looking so fucking sexy in a simple blue summer dress that blows around her long legs. “Isn’t this exciting?” she asks Tennyson as we wait for the ok to board the chopper.
“I get to fly like Batman,” he says.
I slip the bag off Clementine’s shoulder and place it over my own. “Ready?” I ask them.
Tennyson bounces on the balls of his feet, trying his best to wait to jump on the helicopter.
As soon as we get the ok, we head to the chopper, and I help Tennyson up first, then Clementine, and Faye follows next.
Once we’re all settled, the pilot gives us a thumb up and takes off. Clementine’s eyes widen as she holds onto Tennyson. I grab a headset for everyone and put on my own so we can talk to each other.
“This is insane,” Clementine says, staring out the window.
“Have you ever been in a helicopter before?”
She shakes her head no as she shows Tennyson the mountains off in the background. “No, never.”
A sense of pride rushes through me that I’m able to give her this first. It’s almost like I want to impress them both. “Take the scenic route,” I tell the pilot, and he turns the chopper around so we can fly over the bright lights of the city.
The next fifteen minutes of the flight are filled with me showing Clementine different landmarks throughout the city.
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” she says.
I stare at her and realize I’ve never seen anything so beautiful either. The way she looks right now nearly takes my breath away.
She smiles at Tennyson, pointing to something down below, and I can’t stop staring at her lips. Remembering the way they taste. The way they looked when she came all over me. I’m to the point of getting hard right now, and I try to focus on the here and now and forget about Clementine’s face.
I like it though. The carefree look she’s giving right now. Like the attack from earlier today has been stricken from the record, and she no longer has any fears nestled within her. Another rush of pride tackles me, knowing I’m the reason to take that fear from her. What the hell is going on with me?
She’s messing with my head. This whole marriage is messing with me, making me think about having all of this for real.
I need to tamper that thought down, and remember that is not in the game plan for Gabriel Prince.
“We’re approaching the airport, sir,” the pilot says. He lands us as close as possible to the hangar that holds my jet.
I can already see it on the tarmac, and we make quick work transferring us all from the helicopter to the jet.
Once we’re on my jet, I relax. I won’t ever admit that I’m nervous about these attacks, but I fear I won’t be able to get to her in time if something like this happens again. Dean and his men never found anyone at the Juniper. It’s like the man who attacked her vanished into thin air. The fact someone laid hands on Clementine turns me into some raging beast ready to fight to protect her.
When we return to the city, Clementine will have someone protecting her at all times. I wish it could be me. I wish I could follow her around twenty four-seven, and I’m not going to lie, I’d kind of like to. I should just go after Bishop Blackstone myself, let him know who he’s dealing with, and finish the fucker off for good.
Clementine and Tennyson are out once the plane takes off from the Denver Airport, and I get a little work done while they sleep, making sure everything for my empire is running smoothly. Then I read the email from Kurt letting me know the house in St. Thomas is fully stocked and the manifest has been changed so no one knows the plane even took off.
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Perfect,” I reply back.
I don’t want Clementine to feel like she needs to look over her shoulder while we’re here on my very own tropical paradise.
After we arrive on the island of St. Thomas, we hop into a car to take us to my personal retreat. I can’t say I visit it here as much as I would like, but it does come in handy when I just want to escape the pressures of my everyday life.
It’s late by the time we roll in, and I give Clementine a quick tour of the house before we all head off to bed.
Tennyson and Clementine take the guest room, and I check on them before head
ing to my own room.
“Gabriel?” Clementine’s sweet voice whispers into the darkness of the night, when I open the door.
“Yes, it’s me. I was just checking on you.”
“Can you sit in here until I fall asleep?”
I open the bedroom door further, stepping across the tile to the queen-sized bed Tennyson and Clementine are occupying. I stand over her, staring down at her snuggled beneath the comforter with tiny palm trees on it. “You’re safe here. No one knows where we are.”
“Thank you for doing this, Gabriel.”
“Of course. You don’t have to thank me.” I try to smile at her, but she should know marriage or not, I’d do this for her. I didn’t do this because I expected anything in return.
I cross the room to sit in an oversized tufted chair by the large bay window, overlooking the ocean. Stars twinkle across the black sky, and the moon casts a soft glow over the crashing waves outside. It’s tranquil with the palm trees swaying in the salty breeze, making me relax even more.
Clementine snuggles closer to Tennyson. Her breathing evens out after a few more minutes, and I stand, moving over to her side of the bed.
I brush my hand over her forehead, pushing a few soft strands of hair from her face. “Sleep tight.”
I leave the door open just a crack, and flip on the hallway light just in case Tennyson wakes up in the middle of the night and doesn’t know where he is.
Is it strange I’m thinking about a kid? This is so out of the norm, but it feels more normal than anything I’ve ever felt before.
TEN
Clementine
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, I wake and Tennyson isn’t by my side. I jolt upright in the canopy bed, my eyes racing around the room. I barely remember much last night as we got in so late. I can faintly hear the ocean as it laps quietly against the shore.
“Tennyson?” I call out.
My stomach is in my throat as I jump out of bed, and pad across the cool tile out into the hallway. Voices drift from the kitchen and I follow the sound. I’m shocked by what I see when I reach the arched opening—Gabriel, in shorts and t-shirt, cooking something in a skillet, with Tennyson sitting on the granite countertop next to him.
“What’s going on?” I ask, rubbing the sleep from my eyes to be sure I’m seeing this scene correctly.
“Good morning,” Gabriel says, turning a bit to smile my way. His eyes skim over my white tank and gray sleep shorts. “We’re making breakfast.”
“We’re making breakfast,” Tennyson echoes Gabriel’s words with a giant smile.
I walk further into the G-shaped kitchen complete with a granite countertop bar encasing the top-of-the-line appliances. “Is that so?” I wrap my arms around Tenny, picking him up to give him a big hug and kiss. “What are you making?” I set him back down.
“Eggs and toast,” Tenny says, swinging his feet back and forth against the cocoa-colored cabinets.
“Sounds delicious.” I give Tennyson another little squeeze.
My eyes do a sweep of the villa and I was so tired last night when we arrived, I didn’t fully take it all in and missed so much. From the kitchen, I can see into the spacious living room filled with a wrap-around beige sofa and a chair made from loud-indigo fabrics. The throw pillows appear like they’re made from burlap sacks, and the dining room table has what looks like… “Is that a real tree?” I ask, unable to stop staring at it.
“Sure is. It was salvaged from the beach and I had it made into the base for that table.”
“That’s really cool.” It’s more than cool. I never expected Gabriel to be so creative.
Beyond the living room is a wall of glass with a view of an infinity pool with crisp blue water appearing like it’s feeding right into an aquamarine ocean that goes on and on, with no end in sight.
It’s like out of the pages of a home design magazine. Something I would flip through while in line at the grocery store and know I’d never be able to have anything so luxurious.
“I didn’t have the heart to wake you,” Gabriel says, bringing me back to the here and now.
“Careful, or people might realize you actually have a heart,” I tease.
Gabriel raises a brow, pointing his spatula at me. “Careful, or you won’t be fed.”
I want more than anything to feast on him, but I strangle that dangerous thought and smile, giving Tennyson one more kiss on the head before I step away from the kitchen, heading into the living room. I cross to the patio door and slide it open to step out onto the sunshine-filled patio. There’s a vintage bar complete with a hanging wine rack overhead. The patio furniture is sleek and sophisticated with blueberry-colored pillows which is a perfect contrast to the ocean. It’s so beautiful here, I almost cry.
I don’t know why I’m overcome with emotion right now, but I am. Waves tease the shore, giving a little but taking it back just as quickly, and I step onto the warm sand, feeling free. I close my eyes, and tilt my face upward, letting the sun kiss my skin.
A girl like me could get used to something like this. But I can’t. This is temporary. And my heart sinks a little at the thought.
I head back into the house, going through the motions of helping Gabriel and Tennyson finish breakfast. Like a sweet little fake family.
After we eat, I wash dishes and put them away, listening to Gabriel and Tennyson discuss whether this is the sea Spongebob Squarepants lives in.
“He wears a tie too,” Tenny says.
Gabriel laughs and my belly swirls like the water down the drain of the sink.
“Want to fly a kite on the beach today?” Gabriel asks Tennyson.
Tenny doesn’t need any prompting on how to answer. His chocolate brown eyes light up and he grins from ear to ear. “Yes,” he says, jumping out of his chair at the table.
We spend the next twenty minutes getting everything ready for the beach, and I change into a black bikini with a coverup over it. After lathering Tenny and myself in sunscreen, we head down to the private strip of shore owned by my husband-to-be.
“We’ll get the kite to fly high,” Gabriel says as he unravels the string of the red and blue kite.
“Higher than that,” Tenny says, pointing up toward a puffy white cloud.
“Ok, hold the string and I’ll get the kite into the air.” With one muscular arm, Gabriel holds the kite high in the sky as Tennyson runs further down the beach with the string in his hand.
The blustery wind pulls the kite into the air as soon as Gabriel releases his hold on it. It flies into the air and Tennyson keeps a good hold on it. Gabriel and I rush toward him, helping him keep his hands on the spool.
“The wind is disrupting the bridle of the kite,” Gabriel says.
“The what?” I stare up at the kite teetering through the wind.
“The bridle. It’s the string that keeps the angle of the kite up.”
I never really knew there were so many things to think about with kites. “Oh.”
“See the cross spar,” Gabriel says, pointing up at the kite in the sky. “It needs…”
I cut him off with a smile, “Pretend I know nothing about kites.”
He laughs, taking the spool from Tennyson. “Let me get it back in the air and flying right.”
The kite plummets toward the ground, but right before it hits, Gabriel twists his arm and yanks the kite back into the air, steadying it. He holds the spool, tethering the string between his fingers like a pro.
“You really know your kites,” I say to him, holding Tennyson’s hand as the kite soars.
“I love watching things fly. Watching something I’m controlling fly into the sky is one of the greatest feelings.”
“The greatest feeling?” I ask with a little sarcasm.
Gabriel raises a brow. “Well, second best.” He transfers the string spool over to Tennyson, and helps him fly the kite again.
I step back, watching them working together to keep the kite in the air. It’s all so domesticated
. It’s all so family-like. All we’re missing is the dog.
The breeze plays with Gabriel’s dark hair and he looks like something right out of the pages of a magazine. It’s insane to think this man has kissed me. The moment my mind goes there, I can’t stop thinking about it.
The way his lips felt against mine. Overpowering. Needy.
It makes a trillion tiny tingles erupt, cascading up and down my spine.
Gabriel let’s Tennyson take over the kite, and Tennyson rushes off down by the water, leaving Gabriel and I alone.
“He loves being here,” I say to Gabriel.
“I love having the two of you here.”
I blush, unable to say anything back.
Gabriel smiles at me and the chills are back, despite the balmy temperature.
“You’re really good with him,” I say.
“He reminds me of me when I was a kid.”
“That’s a scary thought,” I joke.
“I’m not that bad, am I?” He turns to face me, and all those feelings I’ve been trying to push down bubble back up to the surface.
“You’re not bad at all.” The limo ride, the living room, every time Gabriel has had his hands on me floods into my memory, and I have to look away before he sees the want in my eyes. I glance back at the sugar-white house and change the subject, “The pool looks like it’s an extension of the ocean.”
“Want to take a dip?” His voice drips with sexual innuendo, and all the naughty thoughts I’ve been having about Gabriel re-appear. As if he can read my mind, his eyebrows shoot up. “Maybe later tonight?”
Is this what life with Gabriel will be like? Fighting the chemistry for a year? I’m tired of fighting. What happens in paradise, stays in paradise.
I nod. “I like that idea.”
We sit on the beach, watching Tennyson fly his kite, and when he gets bored with that he splashes around in the shallow waters of the ocean, building sand castles.
“What happened with your sister?” Gabriel asks me as the afternoon winds to an end.
