“Her father took her away,” Tony said. The next words swelled his chest with pride. “He was against his diva marrying a grocer’s son. I did not care. I stole her away in the middle of the night. Like a thief. We came to America. Bought this vineyard. Made a life for ourselves. And we never looked back.”
“You gave it all up?” Lauren asked. She glanced at Elijah to see if he was paying attention. Eleanor’s story sounded so similar to his. Did he get the connection? “Just like that?”
“Si. Like that.” Eleanor snapped her fingers. “And I have never regretted it. Not even when he throws his clothes on the floor, leaves the toilet seat up, or snores in his sleep.”
Silence fell between them. Elijah’s stare locked with hers. All traces of humor vanished from his expression. Thoughts swirled behind the blue of his irises. She could feel them churning through his brain. His lips parted as if to say something then closed again, pressing into a thin line.
“I would do it all again for you,” Tony whispered, his eyes soft with love. “My little lazy bag of bones.”
CHAPTER 28
THE RETURN trip to the airport came way too soon for Lauren. They were silent. They shared longing glances, lingering touches, and soft, secretive kisses, but words eluded them. Reality loomed beyond the airport gates. She dreaded it more than she’d dreaded having her wisdom teeth removed. She wanted to savor these precious last moments together.
She’d enjoyed their lazy mornings together, the long, wordless walks on the beach, sleeping in Elijah’s strong arms. He lived every minute without regard to the next, without planning or worrying. His playfulness made her relax, his silly jokes made her laugh, his utter disregard for clothing filled her with lust.
They’d been naked for the last twenty-four hours of their stay. During that time, they’d indoctrinated the kitchen island, the hood of his sexy car, and the upstairs veranda—twice. Every muscle in her body ached. Her limbs felt stretched and sore. The space between her legs throbbed when he wasn’t inside her.
It was over now. She would return to her job and the normal life she’d fought so hard to have. He would board a plane and go wherever it was that rock stars went. The world would continue to spin, and the sun would continue to rise. Despite the cloudless blue sky and the sun beaming down, the day seemed less bright and less beautiful.
Her chest constricted. The tightness of her ribs choked her heart. The effort to breathe became laborious. Sensing her unease, Elijah slid his fingers through hers and squeezed. He smiled, lifted her hand to his lips, and kissed it. Reassurance flooded through her arm, up her shoulder, and spread out through her body.
“You know,” he said, “this doesn’t have to end.” His words sent a frenzied rush racing through her veins.
“Maybe I could come see you on the road,” she said, the look in his eyes lifting her spirits.
“I’d like that.” He brushed another kiss over her fingers. In spite of the promise in his gaze, she was less than optimistic. Time and distance did things—unpleasant things—to relationships.
It sounded great in theory. They’d meet now and then, but eventually their visits would become fewer and farther apart. After awhile he’d forget all about her. She’d meet some nice, boring guy and get married. Maybe have some kids. And live out the rest of her life as Lauren Caldwell, suburban housewife.
No. She didn’t want that. Elijah’s jaw clenched as they approached the gate for their flight. She wanted excitement and passion every day. She wanted to live every moment in anticipation of the next, never knowing what kind of adventure awaited her. Elijah’s hand tightened on hers, this time to the point of pain.
Alarmed, she glanced up and saw his focus trained on the cluster of people at the gate. Not just people. Paparazzi. Dozens of them. Her heart lurched into her throat. Elijah’s palm dampened against hers. Cameras flashed. The lights blinded her. She raised a hand to shield her face, pulling her sunglasses down over her eyes.
“Elijah, over here!”
“Can we get a picture of the happy couple?”
“Did you have a nice vacation?”
“How long have you two been seeing each other?”
The questions and demands pelted them like stones. Lauren raised her bag to shield her face. Elijah put an arm around her. She curled into him, shocked by the melee. The crowd thickened, pressing against them from all sides until they could barely move forward.
And then it happened. The thing she’d been dreading for years. The thing she never expected.
“Sophia, can you look this way?”
“Sophia! What does your father think about your relationship with rock’s bad boy?”
CHAPTER 29
LAUREN’S HEART thudded against her ribs with such intensity she thought they might crack. Once her name was spoken aloud, it rippled through the press like a riptide, sucking her under, drowning her. Someone grabbed her arm. Bodies closed around her, tearing her from Elijah, leaving her drifting in a sea of strangers. Another person ripped the sunglasses from her face. Someone pushed her from behind. She felt her ankle roll, sending her to the floor in the mob, striking her cheek on a camera as she fell. From her knees, she looked up to flashing bulbs and rapid-fire questions. A photographer pushed his camera into her face. She heard the rapid click of the high-speed shutter as he took a string of photos. Elijah fought his way back to her and shoved the man away, claiming her and tucking her into the safety of his chest. The man grabbed Lauren’s arm, his fingers bruising her bicep.
“Get the fuck off her, man,” Elijah growled. He pushed the man away with a hand to his chest. The photographer cursed and stumbled backward.
Airport security arrived and whisked them to their gate. Lauren settled into their first-class seats and tried to smooth her hair with shaking hands. The plane was silent. No one else had boarded yet. Elijah sank into the seat beside her with an exhausted groan. Her stomach reeled and everything inside her shook with panic.
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.” She dropped her face to her hands, repeating the phrase over and over until Elijah touched her.
“It’s alright,” he murmured. He folded her into his arms, tucking her nose into the nook of his neck, and stroked a soothing hand down her back. “You’re alright.”
“It’s not alright,” she said into his neck. “You have no idea.”
“That was seriously fucked up,” he said. Two fingers touched beneath her chin and forced her to look at him. His eyes flicked over her shoulder and out the window then back to her, filled with stress and adrenalin. His muscles tensed as he held her. “You need to tell me what’s going on. Right the fuck now.”
Lauren drew in a shaky breath. His voice wasn’t angry but the threat in his words brought her back to herself. She pulled away from him and straightened. The sleeve of her shirt was torn. The edges gaped at her, accusing, just like Elijah’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I never thought… I mean, it’s been so long … I just assumed…”
Elijah gripped her by the biceps and shook her, just a little, enough to bring her gaze to his. The tightness of his jaw frightened her. At her fearful expression, his features softened and he blew out a long, relaxing breath. “Just tell me, Lauren. Those guys were more interested in you than me. What’s going on?”
Concern clouded his features. He stroked a hand along the tear in her sleeve. His calloused fingertips brushed over the skin inside and sent a shiver of longing and regret up her back.
She closed her eyes and leaned against the seat. “My father. He’s Robert Ellington,” she said after gathering her strength.
“The criminal attorney? The one who defended the boxer who killed his wife?”
“Yes. That one.”
CHAPTER 30
ELIJAH DREW in a long, slow breath through his nose, mulling over her confession. Robert Ellington might be more famous than even him. Ellington had defended some of the most notorious criminals in current history. Everyone knew of the Olympic boxer found in the po
ol of his wife’s blood, a knife near his side. Ellington had played the media, splashing the boxer’s face and name across the country, until it was impossible to find an impartial jury. The case had ended in a mistrial. A media circus had followed the trial, lampooning Ellington, dragging his family into the mix. The enraged public went into a frenzy. Ellington had received death threats, and someone had outed his longstanding affair with Sophia’s mother, a former actress and wife of a Hollywood producer.
“Fucking Gabe,” he muttered. This fiasco had Gabe stamped all over it. His fingers clenched, shaking with anger.
Sophia had been a victim of the hype. The paparazzi had hounded her endlessly, following her to college, documenting her every move. They’d latched onto her with merciless fervor. Elijah had been interested in other things during that time of his life, but he had memories of a sweet-faced, pretty girl splashed over the covers of magazines and lampooned in the tabloids.
His eyes flicked to the tarmac once more. Two uniformed policeman hustled toward the plane. He shoved a hand through his hair, weighing his options and snapping to decision.
He grabbed his phone and tapped out a couple of quick texts then turned to Lauren. “Look. We don’t have much time. I’ll have someone meet you at the airport after you land. His name is Randy McKenzie, and he’s a big motherfucker. You can’t miss him. My publicist will get in contact with you. She’s great. She can maybe prevent a shit storm.” The panic in her sweet, violet eyes morphed into confusion. He brushed the back of his hand over her cheek.
“What do you mean? Aren’t you coming with me?” Her eyes searched his. “I don’t understand.” Then her gaze focused over his shoulder. His stomach sank. Time had run out.
“Mr. Crowe.” The voice came over his ear, stern but pleasant, accompanied by the touch of a hand to his shoulder. “I’m afraid we need you to come with us. A reporter claims that you hit him in the airport. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”
Lauren watched, horrified as Elijah stood. The office cuffed him, reading his rights in a low, terse voice.
“Do you understand these rights as I’ve read them to you?” the officer asked, looking up into Elijah’s eyes. He was a good foot taller than the policeman and looked every inch the bad-boy rock star.
“Yeah, man. I’ve got it,” Elijah said with a grin. “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
Right beneath her watery gaze, he morphed from her sweet and playful lover into a tattooed stranger. Pain stabbed across her forehead. How had everything gone so incredibly wrong? Before, she had anonymity to cushion the end of her fantasy weekend. Now, she had nothing. Not even Elijah. The events of the past thirty minutes had sullied a perfect memory.
“Hold up a minute,” Elijah said to the officer. “Can I at least say goodbye to my girl?” The officer nodded, and Elijah bent down to whisper in her ear, hands trapped behind him. His voice was clear and determined. “Don’t worry. It might take a little while, but I’m going to get my shit straightened out and when I do…I’m coming back for you.”
CHAPTER 31
THE BLACK limousine in the driveway seemed out of place in Lauren’s middle class neighborhood. Her father had never been to her house in the five years she’d lived there. Not once. But he was waiting in her driveway when she got home. Scandal traveled fast.
True to his word, Elijah had had someone meet her at the airport and shuttle her home, away from the prying eyes of the media. Her house seemed small and quiet, a sanctuary in the center of a storm. All she wanted was to curl up on her bed and sleep, to let unconsciousness steal away her misery. The expression on her father’s face told her it wasn’t going to happen.
He followed her into the house, shooting a barrage of questions at her before she closed the front door behind them. “Where did you meet this guy? What were you thinking?” He paced her living room, face set in angry lines, his pristine suit wrinkled. “Do you have any idea how many reporters are at my house? The phone has been ringing off the hook. Debra’s afraid to leave the house.”
Now she got it. This was really about him and the inconvenience of another media blitz.
The clock on the fireplace mantle ticked away the minutes. Late afternoon shadows flickered through the living room windows. A garbage truck clanged down the alley behind the house. Lauren sat on the sofa, shell-shocked and uncertain. This was her house, her haven, the one place she felt safe, and yet everything seemed surreal, like she was looking through some kind of gray filter.
Cadence sat in the chair across from her, eyes clouded with concern. Good friend that she was, she’d left work early to make sure Lauren was okay. Clearly, she was not. Knowing Cadence had her back helped a lot.
“Your face is all over the news. That guy is in jail. What the hell have you been up to?” Robert unbuttoned the waist of his suit coat, the same way he did when preparing for courtroom cross-examination.
“He’s in jail?” The confirmation split her chest in two. She squeezed her eyes shut, nauseated over the mental image of Elijah behind bars.
“Yes. The man he accosted filed charges.”
“It wasn’t like that. He didn’t do anything,” Lauren began, but her father cut her off.
“What were you thinking?” He didn’t expect an answer, and Lauren didn’t offer one. “You weren’t thinking. You were impulsive and careless and…” His face turned the color of an eggplant. After years of litigation, her father had impassivity down to an art form, but it eluded him now. She’d never seen him anything but calm and collected. His unfettered rage had her frayed nerves standing on end. “Elijah Crowe? Oh my God. You’re as bad as your mother with her musician lovers.”
“Don’t start with my mother,” Lauren snapped. “She was good enough for you to have an affair with these past twenty-five years.” He took a step back and drew in a shocked breath. She’d never confronted him about his indiscretion with her mother. Even when their faces had been plastered at every grocery store checkout register and every newsstand in the city, he’d chosen to deny the liaison.
“Don’t try to change the subject, young lady. We’re talking about you and this miscreant. I want to know exactly how you met this person and how long you’ve been seeing him.”
“I object,” Lauren said. “Counsel is leading the witness.”
Robert threw his hands in the air, but a faint smile ghosted his lips.
“He’s really a nice guy,” Cadence said thoughtfully. Lauren gave her a grateful glance. “I kind of liked him, actually.”
“Not a word from you, miss,” Robert said, cocking a warning brow at Cadence. “I blame you for letting this happen.”
Cadence rolled her eyes and bit her lower lip. Lauren choked back a laugh but sobered when Robert stopped in front of her, eyes glaring. It wasn’t funny. There was nothing humorous at all in this day. She blamed exhaustion for her inappropriate outburst.
“When are you going to grow up, Lauren? Gallivanting around the country with a rock star. Elijah Crowe of all people. The man is a drug addict and a misogynist. He’s got a sex tape, for Christ’s sake.” He heaved a heavy sigh.
“Two,” Lauren said, holding up her fingers. “Two sex tapes. And I really don’t think you’re in a position to judge. You’ve been married four times and had how many affairs?”
“That was different,” her father said, but a little of his steam dissipated. He sat down in the chair across from her and passed a hand over his forehead. “Did he hurt you?” It had taken him a long time to get around to the question, but she saw the genuine concern in his eyes.
“No. He was trying to protect me.” Lauren’s temper stretched. “You know how pushy those guys can get.”
“You have a bruise on your cheek,” her father said.
“I do?” She raised a hand to touch the side of her face and winced. “It must’ve happened when that guy grabbed me. Someone else tore my sunglasses off and knocked me down.”
“Wow. This is not a good picture of you,” Cadenc
e interjected. She held up her phone to show Lauren the candid snapshot taken in the airport. Pale skin, eyes wide with surprise, hair mussed. “You’ve already gotten a half million hits.”
The energy drained from her body. She felt tired and older than her years. All of her efforts to escape the public eye had vanished in one glorious, impulsive getaway.
“You need to press charges,” her father said. “We’ll go after the bastards.” Before she could protest, he was on the phone, barking out terse instructions to his assistant. “I’m on this. And you will stay away from that lunatic.” Her father pointed a warning finger at her on his way to the door.
The throbbing between her temples increased. She was exhausted, broken, and angry, but she wasn’t about to let her father make this situation about him. “Dad, stop.” At the touch of her hand to his arm, he turned to face her, challenge filling his eyes. “I appreciate your concern, but you need to butt out. I won’t press charges, and I’m not going to stay away from Elijah.”
They stared at each other. Lauren crossed her arms over her chest and refused to break eye contact until he looked away first. He never lost a case, but this time he was wrong and the look on his face suggested he knew it. This was her battle, her life, and she would deal with it.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Lauren?”
She took a few seconds to contemplate the answer before she spoke. “Everything is fine, Dad. I got outed. No one died. I lived through it once without your help. I can get through it again.”
“I worry, pumpkin.” Robert rested his hand on her cheek, his voice soft and affectionate. “I remember how devastated you were before. I didn’t do enough to protect you. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Felony Romance Series: Complete Box Set (Books 1-5) Page 86
