The Billionaire's Suite Dreams

by Lori Ryan

  She couldn’t help but think her team would feel they were being accused of something, not just being interviewed. She worried about how Ellis, in particular, would take that. She could picture how hurt he’d look, and the sense of betrayal that would show clearly on his gentle face.

  “Chad also ran checks on your background singers and your band. A couple of little things popped here and there. A few with some minor criminal backgrounds. Jaqueline has lost several babies, so he’s looking a little harder at her.”

  PJ flinched again. She hadn’t known Jackie had lost any babies, and that invasion of the guitarist’s privacy bit into her. What an awful thing to go through, but to have that bit of your life on record somewhere, a record that an investigator could find, made it all the worse. And, how would Jackie feel when the investigators raised that?

  “I can’t even call them and let them know Chad’s people are coming, can I?” she asked, knowing they’d say no.

  “No,” said Zach, but then he surprised her. “We can arrange for you to talk to them as soon as the investigators get there. We’ll get everyone into a conference room while we search luggage, the tour bus, everything. You can talk to them then by phone and let them know a little about what’s going on. We’ll keep it general, let them know you’re in danger, and there have been threats made against others. It’s not much, but it’s the best we can do, PJ.” Zach’s phone buzzed. He glanced at it before looking back up at her.

  “My guys have Matthew and his parents. They’re safe.”

  Her heart felt like it would collapse inside her chest with relief when she heard those words. From the moment she’d decided to give birth to him when she was fifteen years old, that’s all she’d ever wanted for Matthew. For him to be safe and loved.

  Gabe stood and held out his hand to her. “Let’s get you to bed, Pru.”

  She stood and turned toward her room, but he tugged her hand and pulled her toward his, bringing a hot flush to her cheeks. Zach called out a good night from his place on the couch, and she wondered if he thought anything of the fact that Gabe was leading her to his bedroom.

  Probably not. It’s not like they lived in the eighteenth century. But still, the idea of Zach knowing she’d be sleeping in Gabe’s bed was embarrassing. And yet, she wanted Gabe to hold her.

  She still felt raw from having so easily slipped into a sexual relationship with Gabe, and they hadn’t had a chance to talk about what had happened earlier. She had no idea what he was thinking or what he expected from her. Tonight or in the future. What would Gabe want from her? Was this a quick screw because he found out how easy she was? How she’d spread her legs so readily at fifteen?

  Would he want to continue this beyond the end of the week? Or was she just another one of the stars she always saw on his arm at fundraisers? That thought bothered her. A lot. She wanted to be special to him. Just like she’d wanted to be special to Jimmy Mondo so many years ago.

  She’d thought sex brought intimacy, but it didn’t mean that at all. She had learned that lesson early, and she’d learned it well. And she’d remembered it until, apparently, this afternoon with Gabe. She’d forgotten everything she’d ever learned the moment his mouth had touched her.

  That needed to stop.

  Gabe shut the door behind them, and PJ was suddenly very aware of how alone they were, how close he stood.

  “We can’t do this,” she said hurriedly, before she chickened out. “We can’t sleep together.”

  His dark eyes studied her, but he didn’t argue. “Sleep together or make love?”

  Her heart leapt at his description of it as love not sex, but she knew better than to be fooled by sweet words. She cleared her throat to answer, but he moved before she could get anything out. He just turned and walked to his dresser on the other side of the room.

  As she watched, he undid the button fly on his jeans in what seemed like one all-too-smooth move. He stripped down to his boxers and tossed his jeans over the arm of a wing-backed chair, then drew low-slung sweatpants up over his lean hips. He turned and watched her, those heated eyes never leaving hers, as he pulled his shirt over his head and replaced it with a T-shirt. He watched her as he reached back in the dresser and pulled out another pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and crossed the room to where she stood, frozen, her heart pounding.

  He didn’t say a word as he placed the clothes in her hands, then pushed her toward the door of the bathroom and shut it behind her.

  Well, that answers that question.

  Apparently, tonight they were only going to sleep together – literally. And, it seemed that he was okay with that. PJ frowned. He’d been easily convinced. Too easily and she wasn’t sure she was okay with that, though that was what she’d asked for only moments before. No, not asked for. She’d demanded.

  She quickly changed into the clothes he’d given her, laughing as she rolled the sweatpants up several times around the waistband. Nope. They still swam on her and they slipped down when she moved. She took off the sweatpants and checked the length of his T-shirt. The hem fell to her thighs, and covered up more than he’d already seen when she’d been out by the pool in her bathing suit earlier in the day. It would do.

  He’d laid out a new toothbrush and toothpaste on the counter and wondered when he’d done that. Exactly when had he come up with this plan for her to move into his room, she wondered as she opened the package and then brushed.

  PJ took a deep breath before exiting the bathroom, but still wasn’t prepared for the sight of Gabe in his bed. He lay on his back, covers draped loosely over his lap, arms crossed behind his head. But, as his eyes met hers, she saw he was anything but relaxed. His whole body seemed coiled and tense, and his eyes were heated, seeming to burn through her as he took in her bare legs.

  “You’re supposed to be wearing sweatpants,” he all but growled as his arms came down from behind his head.

  “They were too big,” she squeaked when he sat up in the bed.

  “Christ, woman,” he swore as he threw back the covers. He pulled her toward the bed. “Under,” he ordered and waited as she climbed under the covers.

  Gabe drew the covers up to her chin, then lay down next to her, his body on top of the covers, drawing a laugh from her.

  “It’s not funny,” he said, his grumbling making her laugh harder.

  He rolled her toward him, covered her with his body and took her mouth, his own hot and hard and utterly unyielding on hers. PJ let out a moan as her body responded instantly, despite the layers of covers and clothes between their bodies. She was suddenly needy and wet, and completely unable to focus on anything other than finding a way through the covers and clothes that divided their bodies.

  And, then Gabe was rolling her over again, spooning her, one arm draped over her body, the evidence of his arousal evident, even through the covers.

  “There,” he said, triumph dripping from his voice. “You try to sleep now.”

  PJ didn’t laugh this time.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gabe would have much preferred to spend the morning in bed with PJ, but with the way things were heading, he knew that wouldn’t happen. Zach’s light knock on his door had woken him early, and he’d come out to find Chad was already at the house. Yeah, the whole lying-in-bed-with-PJ-for-hours thing wasn’t going to happen.

  “Give me a minute, guys,” he said as Chad and Zach fought over who got first dibs on the espresso machine that took up half of Gabe’s kitchen counter.

  Gabe grabbed PJ’s overnight bag from her guest room and crossed back to his room so she’d have something to put on when she woke up. She was still out cold when he put the bag at the foot of the bed so she’d see it when she woke. Man, he’d give anything to crawl back in bed with her.

  After they got this under control and took care of whoever was making her so stressed right now, he’d take her away for a while. Maybe they’d find an island without phones or faxes or fans or crazed blackmailing stalkers and hole up there fo
r a month. Or six.

  Assuming she’d go with him, he thought, as he shut the door behind him and went to join the other men in the kitchen. He still wasn’t entirely sure where he stood with Pru. What if she only wanted friendship after this was over? Could he still give her that if that was all she wanted?

  “What’ve you got, guys?” he asked as he took a sip from the espresso Zach had just set down on the counter. He swallowed with a wince. “Jeez. I’ll make my own,” he said and handed the cup back to Zach.

  “We’ll need to have PJ talk to her people on a conference call in the next hour or so,” Chad said. “My people are in place and are going to begin searching. The plan is to bring everyone on her team, and in her band, into one suite and let them know they can either submit to a search or lose their jobs. We’ll pitch it that we believe the perp may be hiding things among them, bugging the tour bus and luggage and things. We’ll ask for their cooperation first, but if we have to, we’ll make it clear their jobs are on the line, and refusing will give the police reason to look into them further if we bring the police into this.”

  “Christ,” Gabe swore. “PJ’s gonna freak. I don’t know if she’ll be able to repair the damage that will be done, conference call or not.”

  “What am I gonna freak over?” came Pru’s worried voice behind them.

  Gabe turned to find she’d kept his T-shirt on but had slipped jeans under them. The effect of her ruffled hair, the oversized tee and her bare feet had him taking a step closer to the kitchen counter to hide his painfully obvious erection. The men in the room with him may be happily married or on their way to marriage with women they loved, but he found himself wanting to toss them out so they couldn’t see his Pru like this.

  Zach was the first to answer PJ’s question, and he sugarcoated it more than Gabe would have felt comfortable doing, so he was relieved he’d been too tongue-tied to answer her – so he didn’t have to lie.

  “Chad’s guys are getting ready to question your people, so we just need to get you on a conference call to soften the blow a bit.”

  “Soften the blow?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. Yeah, okay, she wasn’t an idiot. She wasn’t going to fall for the sugarcoated version.

  Gabe cleared his throat. “They’ll be making it clear that their jobs are dependent on cooperating to find out who’s doing this to you.” A lot less sugar in that version.

  Though she kept her face blank, he knew that had to be a blow. With the exception of her bodyguards who had been brought on last year when her old security team retired, she had been with her bandmates and team for years. Gabe was sure it killed her to let Chad make that kind of a threat to people she cared about.

  “We’ll ask for cooperation first, PJ. We’ll stress you’re in danger and other people have been threatened, and we’ll ask for their help. We’ll only pull out the threat of their jobs if anyone really balks,” Chad said.

  “When can we get them on a call together?” she asked quietly, and Gabe admired the hell out of her as she steeled her spine and pulled herself together to face this. She wasn’t falling apart anymore. Damn if he didn’t love that about her. Her strength and resilience.

  “Our guys are getting your people together now. We’ll set up a call with you in a half hour,” Chad said.

  “Do you have a way to get in touch with Brian and Susie? I want to check on Matthew.”

  Chad pulled his phone out and keyed a button, then waited while the phone rang.

  “Hey,” Chad said into the phone, as Gabe went to PJ and kissed her on the temple, drawing her close to him with one arm. He was relieved when she sank against him, aligning her body with his. He’d been a little unsure of what she’d be like with him this morning.

  Well, hell. He wasn’t sure where he’d stand with her in the morning, but she seemed happy to let him hold her up through some of this. He’d take that. For now.

  Chad passed the phone to PJ a minute later, and she tugged Gabe by the arm over to the couch with her, obviously not caring if he heard the conversation. What a wuss ass he was for the wave of relief he felt at that.

  “Hi Brian. Is Matthew up yet?” Pru asked. Gabe could hear the answer, “Yes, he’s having breakfast,” through the speaker phone.

  “How’s he doing today?” she asked and Gabe heard the tension in her voice, the desperation to have Matthew confirm that he still loved her, still wanted her in his life.

  “He’s better, Peej. He’s coming to terms with it. We also talked, and we want to let you know it’s okay if you have to tell your story yourself. If you have to tell the media who Matthew is. He’s already used to getting attention because he’s your cousin. He’ll have the spotlight on him if the story comes out, but we’ll be there for him, and the attention will die down quickly.”

  Gabe had already considered having Pru release her version of the story herself before the guy coming after her did. Even so, they’d still need to find out who this was because they would remain a threat to Pru—but having the story released would take some of the stress out of the situation. It would also ensure no one ever held this over Pru’s head again after this guy was caught.

  “I’ll think about it,” PJ said and her eyes met Gabe’s.

  Oh, he was such an ass for being so damned happy she looked to him for support. Such an ass.

  “Hang on, Peej,” Brian said. “Matthew wants to talk to you.”

  Gabe heard a choked sob come from PJ, and he tightened his hold around her shoulders. Chad and Zach had slipped out to the patio, leaving only her and Gabe in the room, and he was glad she’d have privacy for this. Her hand landed on Gabe’s chest where her fingers closed around his shirt, clutching him tight.

  Gabe couldn't hear anything from the other end of the phone, but PJ must have heard something. “You there, Matthew?”

  There was a small sound from the phone. It wasn’t quite a grunt, but just a murmur that let them know Matthew was on the phone.

  “Please don’t tell me I’ve lost you again, Matthew. I don’t want to lose you,” PJ begged, and Gabe would give anything to make this better for her. To make her heart whole again.

  “Dad said you were fifteen years old,” came Matthew’s quiet voice.

  “Yes,” PJ said and Gabe saw her close her eyes. “Almost sixteen when you were born.” He didn’t know whether she was praying for more or thankful for small gifts. He was praying for more. He wanted Matthew, who was much too young to have to be this mature, to find the strength to forgive Pru. The strength to let Pru remain a part of his life.

  There was silence on the line for a long time as PJ and Gabe waited.

  “I’m thirteen,” Matthew said and Gabe held his breath. The kid was doing the math. He was putting it together. He understood how young Pru was when she had him.

  Pru waited.

  “You coming home for my birthday, Aunt PJ?” Matthew finally asked, his voice cracking a bit as he spoke, and Gabe watched as PJ cried and nodded, trying to say yes into the phone, but not quite getting anything out.

  ***

  An hour later, showered and dressed, they met with Chad and Zach in the kitchen and looked at all the information they had gathered to that point.

  “So far, your blackmailer hasn’t done anything that required him or her to leave the tour, other than possibly tampering with Jimmy Mondo’s car or somehow setting Jimmy’s accident in motion. And in reality, we still don’t know for sure that’s what happened. Jimmy’s death could have been an accident,” Chad said.

  Zach cut in. “We’ve got a few friends on the police force in Los Angeles where the accident took place. We’re waiting to hear if the car had been tampered with, and to get a tox screen back on Jimmy to see what was in his system.”

  Chad nodded. “So far, everything your guy’s been doing has been from behind the scenes, hiding behind texts and messenger services. It’s highly likely that this person’s absence from your team would be noticed at any exact moment, and it would be easy to con
nect that absence with any attack on you here.”

  Chad pulled his cell phone out and read from the notes app on the screen. “Now, unfortunately, your entire team hasn’t been together since you arrived here. Your tour bus was sent ahead to your next tour stop in Denver and has been waiting at the Towers there. Your team

  and band met them there yesterday, but between then and now, Debra has gone back to her office, and Ellis and Lydia took two days off. Ellis said he was driving across the country, stopping at civil war monuments on the way. He met up with Lydia at the Towers in Denver late yesterday afternoon.”

  “So, it’s possible he could have gone out to LA and tampered with Jimmy Mondo’s car before meeting up with Lydia?” Gabe asked.

  Chad nodded. “Exactly. But, the others are equally unaccounted for. Lydia supposedly stayed at the Towers in New York for two days before she went to Denver. But, since checkout is automated and there’s no record of her using room service or anything, we’ll need to get someone on the ground there to see if any of the staff remember seeing her. Gabe, can you take care of that for us?”

  “Yep. I’m on it,” Gabe said, sending a quick text to the general manager of the Towers New York asking him to send security footage from the hotel lobby and all other public areas for the day Jimmy was killed, and to see if any of the staff remembered seeing Lydia that day.

  “There’s also the band. They split up and went their separate ways. The driver of the tour bus continued on to Denver, and the various members of the band each went to stay with friends. We’re working on getting in touch with the friends they saw, trying to confirm they were with them for the days we need to track,” Zach said.

  “So you think the reason this person hasn’t actually come after me yet is because they can’t slip away from the group unnoticed?” PJ asked.

  Chad nodded. “I think so. They clearly know where you are. They know a lot about you, and about Gabe, it seems. Enough to know he owns this house—that no one knows about—and what courier Gabe’s assistant uses to send things to him here. This person must be someone who moves around the Towers properties easily and unnoticed.”