by Lori Ryan
Even though she had given him to people she knew in her heart, with all her heart, would care for him and love him as if he were their own, she’d still felt the agony of letting someone else raise her child. She could be losing Matthew all over again.
She heard Brian soothing her. “It’ll be okay, PJ. Matthew just needs time, but he loves you. And, he knows we’re all there for him. He’ll come around.”
PJ felt Gabe take the phone from her hand. “Brian, she’ll call you back.”
PJ would like to say she was strong, that she brushed away the tears and collected herself and all was good and well in the world….
It wasn’t. And she didn’t. Gabe lifted her and she let him. She rested her head against his chest and sobbed as he carried her to the house and into her room.
Gabe sat on the edge of her bed, letting her settle into his lap.
PJ couldn’t believe she’d let him see her fall apart like this. She was a grown woman, for heaven’s sake. But, she also hadn’t had any warning, had no idea she was about to hear what she had. What if Matthew didn’t ever want to speak with her? What if he didn’t want her in his life? What if she couldn’t be a part of his life? Couldn’t see him growing up?
Part of her knew it had been better for him to find out this way than to discover it when or if it leaked to the media, but that didn’t lessen the pain.
It took a long time for her tears to stop and when they did, she was spent. Beyond spent.
Gabe seemed to read her mind. He laid her on her bed and then pulled the covers back to tuck her in. As she closed her eyes, the last thing she was aware of was the sense of security, the feeling of unquestionable support, as Gabe stretched out and lay down next to her, one arm slung over her as he pulled her close.
Chapter Twelve
Gabe watched PJ’s breath as it evened out. She had fallen asleep in minutes, if not seconds. Her face relaxed in sleep as the grief fell away. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what she was feeling, but he hated seeing her so torn apart. She had been ripped to shreds by all this, and he hated not being able to do anything to fix it. He wanted to stay next to her for as long as she needed him, but he heard the faint buzz of the front gate alert from the kitchen, and didn’t want to risk it buzzing again. If the dark circles under her eyes were any indication, PJ needed to rest for a long time.
Gabe went to the kitchen and pressed the intercom to the front gate. “Yes?” he said into the speaker.
“Courier delivery for Gabe Sawyer.”
“What company are you with?”
The courier didn’t hesitate at the question. “Long and Short Overnight Service, sir.”
“Thank you. Come on up.” Gabe hit the button to open the gate and walked out to the front door to meet the courier at the top of the drive. His secretary always used the same company when she had to send something to him that couldn’t be done by fax or DocuSign.
Gabe still worked with a few people in the industry who were old school and didn’t trust the security of online document signing services. Although Gabe found that ridiculous, and more than once had been tempted to break ties because of the inconvenience, they’d been good companies to work with in all other ways, so he’d persevered. Relationships were crucial to Gabe’s success. Burning bridges over the use of a courier to deliver a few things here and there didn’t seem worth the trade-off in the end.
The courier handed him a letter-sized envelope and waited for him to sign a paper before getting back in his van and leaving the way he’d come. Gabe waited until the gate closed behind the courier’s car and returned to the kitchen, tossing the envelope on the kitchen counter before grabbing a soda from the fridge.
Gabe chugged half the can before turning to the envelope and tearing it open. Instead of a contract, the stack of papers that slid out turned his blood hot and cold all at once.
Shit.
The pages were filled with nothing but the words, ‘It’s almost time, Pretty Pru’ over and over again. There must have been twenty or thirty pages with nothing but the same message. And right on top of the stack was a photo. A small, worn, wallet-sized photo of a baby. Gabe knew without asking Pru who the baby was. It was Matthew. Gabe was sure of it.
Gabe went to look in on PJ, and saw she was still sleeping in the other room. He dialed Zach’s phone and was relieved when Zach picked up right away.
“Zach, it’s Gabe. He knows she’s here. He knows she’s with me.” He quickly explained about the courier delivery, especially the part where the blackmailer or stalker or whatever the hell you call a guy who hasn’t actually made a demand for money, had used the same courier service that Gabe’s secretary always used.
“On my way,” Zach said before hanging up and Gabe knew he’d be there in half an hour, or less. That’s the way his friends in Connecticut were. It was the reason he had bought the house here, why he planned to settle here someday—probably sooner rather than later. There wasn’t a damn thing they all wouldn’t do for each other. No questions asked. Anytime. Here he had the kind of friendships he never imagined.
His next call was to Chad to let him know about the photo. Gabe had a feeling the picture belonged to PJ. He’d ask her about it as soon as she woke up, but in the meantime, he wanted to see what Chad had found.
“Let me know as soon as you talk to PJ about the picture. We need to know if it’s hers—and if it is, where she kept it. This asshole’s close to her,” Chad said, and Gabe could tell from his voice Chad was taking this personally…. If Gabe cared for PJ, then Chad would, too. It was that simple with his friends.
“Listen, Gabe,” Chad went on. “Did you know Ellis White was adopted? He’s actually Lydia White’s brother by adoption. Her family adopted him when he was twelve, after he was passed around to a lot of different foster homes. Apparently, his biological mother left him at a fire station when he was only days old.”
“Pru never mentioned that. I wonder if she knows. I remember her saying Ellis and Lydia are siblings, and she didn’t always like the way Lydia treated Ellis. I don’t remember her mentioning adoption, though.”
“Whoever’s doing this sounds angry, Gabe. Angry and vindictive. And, they’ve had a lot of access to PJ,” Chad said.
“You think it might be Ellis?” Gabe asked, knowing the answer, but dreading the idea of going to Pru with that theory. It would tear her up to think one of her team could be behind this.
Gabe spun at the sound of Pru’s small voice behind him. “It can’t be Ellis,” she said, her voice choked and thick with emotion. She shook her head at Gabe, one hand over her stomach as if he’d just physically cut into her with his accusation. “It’s not Ellis. He’s so loyal, so good. He’s kind and….” She didn’t finish the thought. Just let her sentence trail off as she continued to shake her head at him, as though the action itself could erase the idea from her head.
“I’ll call you back,” Gabe said, and set his phone on the counter before crossing to Pru. He pulled her in close for a hug, her small frame fitting snugly against him.
She pulled back, but not as if to pull away. She leaned back and looked up at him. “It’s not Ellis,” she repeated.
“I want to believe that too, Pru,” he said, “but we need to look at the facts and not dismiss anyone without considering everything carefully. Whoever is doing this is close to you. It’s most likely going to be someone you trust. It may even be someone you love. But, it’s almost certainly someone close, Pru.”
She bowed her head a minute and took a deep breath, before lacing her hand behind Gabe’s neck and pulling him down into a heated kiss that threw Gabe completely off balance and curdled his brains. On some level, he knew it was wrong. Everything in him was screaming to stop, to not allow her to do this when she was in such emotional turmoil. But, his body utterly overrode anything his head knew. He was instantly hard as a rock, his cock pressing against his pants for release as his hands wrapped around her waist, lifting her to the counter.
H
e knew she was probably just trying to forget, just trying to slip away from reality for a short time before her world came crashing down, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop her.
He felt her tremble as his mouth devoured her, her moans driving his mouth down her jaw to the small spot behind her neck that seemed to cause her body to bow, arching into him. He’d never felt a hotter, faster burn in his body than the fire Pru set loose in him. He pulled open the sheer white blouse that had been tempting him for hours, exposing her incredibly perfect breasts. They weren’t large by any means, but to him, they were everything he’d ever wanted. One hand traced the outer edge of her breast softly, almost reverently, as he dipped his head to suck the nipple on her other breast, drinking her in. She rewarded him with a quick intake of breath as her nipples pearled and a moan began deep in her throat.
***
PJ’s head reeled as Gabe assaulted her with more feeling, more sensation than she’d ever felt. She had wanted to forget, to think of something other than fear and betrayal and loss for just a short time. He was giving her that and so much more. She was wet and swollen and ready for him when he slipped his hand beneath her skirt and roughly pulled her panties to the side, sinking his fingers into her. Her whole body tightened around him as his thumb circled her clit, and she was lost in an instant. Utterly lost to the feeling of him touching her, of his mouth on her breasts, of all of him devouring her with such complete––
A small part of her heard the buzzer of the front gate, but Gabe’s mouth sucked hard on her nipple at the same time that he added just slightly more pressure with his thumb…at the same time that he found the precise spot inside her and set off a cascading orgasm, drenching her in pleasure she’d never felt before. She was weak and spinning when he pulled back and lowered her dress. His voice was gravelly and low when he spoke.
“Go to my bedroom,” he said, slipping her off the counter. “If I don’t let Zach in soon, he’s going to let himself in.”
It took PJ a minute to grasp what he’d said as he gave her a gentle push toward his bedroom door. Zach. Zach was coming over. “I’ll be there in a minute, Pru.”
Why was Zach coming here?
PJ didn’t know why Gabe had called Zach here. Worse, she didn’t know what Gabe thought about what they’d just done. She could feel the heat burning her cheeks as she remembered the way she’d cried out his name as she’d orgasmed in his arms moments before. One minute they’d been talking and the next, she’d jumped on him. And, he’d brought her to orgasm in seconds flat.
Oh, god. He must think she was such a whore. In the last few days, he’d learned more than she’d ever wanted him to about her sex life with Kirt Tolleson, and he’d heard about her losing her virginity to a man who was twenty years her senior. And now, she’d spread her legs for him and come in an astonishingly fast fashion for him. Would he think she was a complete slut? It was almost laughable, given her lack of experience with men, but she still felt embarrassed at how forward she’d been.
As she entered his room, she wanted to be anywhere but there. She wanted to run and hide, to pack her bags and hide out where no one could find her. To be alone again.
But even as she thought it, she knew she was tired of being alone, of only having her parents and the closest members of her team as friends. There hadn’t really been anyone else in a long time. Her high school friends had all gone on to lead such different lives than the one she’d led. They had tried to stay close to her, but honestly, after her spiral with alcohol and the baby and the fight to get herself on track, she’d felt alienated and removed from them. Not by them. It was something internal. Something she felt had created a wall between her and her friends. It was as though they were no longer able to connect.
She had no friends who would do what Jill and Andrew’s friends had done: rally around when she needed them. Well, except for Gabe. He had rallied for her the second he found out she was in trouble. He’d been there for her, and he was still here for her.
And then it dawned on PJ. Gabe had seemed to be expecting Zach, even though Gabe had told Zach earlier they wouldn’t need him to come tonight. Something had changed Gabe’s mind about Zach coming to the house. PJ stood and straightened her skirt, buttoned her shirt and pulled her hair up in a knot, then pushed the door to the room open. Both men were bent over the kitchen island looking at papers.
“What happened, Gabe?” she asked, but it came out more as an accusation. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He tried a halfhearted ‘it’s nothing’ kind of response, but she put her hands on her hips and waited him out.
He picked up the envelope and handed her the sheets of paper. “These came to me by courier while you were sleeping,” he said as she read the sheaf of papers. It’s almost time, Pretty Pru. It’s almost time, Pretty Pru. It’s almost time, Pretty Pru.
She looked up at Gabe and Zach. “He knows where I am.”
Gabe’s face was grave as he nodded. “Yes, he knows.”
She looked at him and knew he wasn’t telling her everything. “What are you hiding? What haven’t you told me?”
“This came, too,” he said quietly. She knew what it was the minute she saw it. Matthew’s baby picture. The one she’d carried with her until it was lost a month ago. The photo of him the day he was born.
PJ didn’t hesitate. She dropped the photo back on the counter as though it had bit her, and ran to her room and began haphazardly shoving her things into her bag. She needed to get to Matthew. Gabe and Zach followed her. She felt Gabe’s arms come around her, stilling her hands and stopping her frantic packing.
Zach came around in front of her. “PJ, I’ve got guys headed that way now. They’ll have Matthew and his family whisked away within the hour, and they’ll get them to a safe place. Somewhere we can control.”
And Gabe kept talking to her, his breath warm and reassuring as her heart raced in her chest. “They’ll get to them, Pru. I promise. We’ll keep Matthew safe. I’ll keep you both safe.” But PJ didn’t care about her own safety anymore. In a heartbeat, she’d give herself to whoever it was that was doing all of this in exchange for Matthew’s safety.
Her whole body was weak and shaking when Gabe pulled her to the couch. She let him, but as she sat and looked at Gabe, she felt angry. Angry at how helpless and powerless this person made her feel. Angry at how she had let this blackmailer make her hide, made her run and curl up in a ball.
She was done with that. She sat up and looked at Gabe.
“Show me the picture again,” she said. She expected them to argue, but neither man did.
Zach sat across from them as she studied the picture. Matthew was only hours old in the picture. Looking at the photo, no one would be able to make out who was holding him, but she knew it was one of a handful of times she’d held him when he was that young. After she left the hospital, she hadn’t let herself visit him for almost two years. She had known she wouldn’t be able to handle the pain of seeing him and having to say good-bye afterwards. When he was two, it was harder than she’d expected, but by then he’d truly been Brian and Susan’s baby. She was able to see him in that light instead of as the son she’d given up.
“This was in my wallet, up until about a month ago,” she said. “I lost it when we were in Indiana at the Kulsich Music Center. I had it out in my dressing room, and then I forgot to put it back when I closed up my purse before the show. I just figured one of the team ‘tossed it’ by mistake when they were clearing my dressing room in a rush to move on. I planned to get another copy of it when I saw Brian and Sue again. They have a few pictures from that day.”
Zach spoke up as Gabe rubbed her back, the hand that had set her on fire only a short while before now soothing her—adding his strength to hers.
“PJ, I don’t think this picture means the person actually knows who Matthew is or where he is. If they had identified him and his family, they would have sent a current picture of him. We’ll take precautions as though he’s
in danger, just to be on the safe side, but I think this is just your blackmailer’s way of trying to get to you.”
Gabe nodded. “Everything he’s done shows he’s angry with you, Pru, not with Matthew.”
“Okay, but don’t blackmailers usually ask for something? Money? This guy still hasn’t made any actual demands,” she said, taking a deep breath. “What did Chad find in the background checks of my team?” Her team had all been vetted heavily when they applied to work for her, so she couldn’t imagine finding anything she didn’t already know about.
“So far the biggest red flag is Ellis’s background. Did you know he’s adopted?”
“Yes. He doesn’t talk about it, and neither does his sister, Lydia. He was adopted by her parents when he was about twelve, I believe. It was awful, really. Lydia’s dad died in a car accident shortly after Ellis was adopted. He only had the chance to have a father for a few months, I think. As far as I know, he has no contact with his biological family.”
“Do you know anything about his background before he came to her family?” Gabe asked.
PJ shook her head. She’d always figured if Ellis wanted to talk about his past with any of them, he would. “He and Lydia are two completely different personalities. They’re polar opposites. He’s quiet and reserved, but loyal to a fault. He’d do anything for Lydia. She’s...well, not really outgoing. But, she’s confident and always in control. In fact, she’s a complete control freak. She runs everything on my tours—and I do mean everything. She’s like a machine. An overly organized, insanely competent, always-on-time and in-charge machine.”
“Chad’s trying to see what else he can find. He’s sending guys down to meet with your team, interview them and search your luggage. Whoever did this had to find your journal somehow. They had to have seen you or heard you at times you thought you were alone,” Zach said, and PJ flinched. The idea of someone spying on her made her very uncomfortable, as was the idea that Chad’s people would have to put her team through this interrogation and scrutiny to find answers.
