by Wade, Maddie
Her father spun and stepped back as if she had struck him. “I made a mistake, Grace. Am I not allowed to be human?”
“A mistake? Is that what you call it? You let my friend die! That is not a mistake.” She threw up her hands in frustration. “A mistake is choosing the wrong school or forgetting a school play.”
“Which I never did. Not once did I miss anything you did at school or out of it. I love you. You are my only child and I would die for you.”
“And yet here I am with the bruises to prove that wrong.”
Her father blanched at her words. For a second, she thought he would pass out as he staggered to the chair behind his desk and fumbled in the drawer for something. He pulled out a bottle of pills and unscrewed the lid before washing two down with the brandy. She stepped forward as if to help and had to steel herself from going to him.
Her father looked old all of a sudden weak and despite everything she hated that she cared. “What are those tablets for?”
He looked up and she saw sweat bead his brow. “I have angina, it’s nothing serious.” She could see the colour was beginning to return to his cheeks. “What did you mean about the bruises proving me wrong?”
Pax felt incredibly tired all of a sudden. A headache was forming behind her eyes as she tried to keep up with the barrage of emotions she was dealing with. She was angry that her father insisted on keeping up this charade when they both knew he was behind it.
Rubbing the temples she sighed. He seemed determined to make this play out and she just wanted to go back to the hotel take a long shower and sleep. “Stop, Dad. Just stop. I know you were behind it. I know you sent the two men to warn me off pursuing this latest illegal drug test by your company.” She walked to the door and stopped, hand on the doorknob and turned back to him taking in his pallor and the despondency on his face. She hardened her heart. “It won’t work. I will get justice.”
“I don’t know what you think you know but I would never harm a hair on your head or order such a thing. I don’t know where this is coming from. I know you blamed me for Benny dying but I can assure it wasn’t my fault. All I did was try and help. Maybe I could have handled your accusations better than I did but I’m only human, and I lashed out at you. In doing so I lost you. I’ll take that regret to my grave.” He dipped the crystal glass and finished the brandy before he continued. “As for the rest, I have no idea what’s happening at Sana these days. The board voted to replace me when your grandfather found out about my health issues.”
Pax rocked back on her heels at the words. Sana was her father’s life. For him not to be in charge was unthinkable. She knew he and her grandfather—her mother’s father—had their issues but to vote him off was a shock. It also made her pause and consider that maybe things were not quite as they seemed.
Either way, it didn’t eradicate her father’s wrongdoing with Benny. He had all but admitted he had given the drugs to Benny. Pax thought back to the night she’d found out and the familiar feelings of betrayal rose. She and Henrietta had never had a touchy-feely mother-daughter relationship. Half the time her mother resented her, the other half she was distant, but Pax knew she loved her.
If it hadn’t been for her mother getting drunk and revealing the truth about Benny and her father, Pax would most likely never have found out what kind of man her father was. As much as it had hurt, and it had been the single most painful thing of her life, she was grateful for her mother’s honesty that night.
Pax took one last look at her father and left the room almost crashing into Blake who looked ready to commit murder.
Chapter Fourteen
He felt like smoke would start spewing out of his ears if he didn’t get out of this pretentious place in the next few seconds. How Pax could have grown up in such a cold environment with a praying mantis for a mother he had no clue. In fact, the only warmth and genuine behaviour stemmed from the man Pax thought betrayed her.
That was another thing that had his instincts humming—her father’s reaction to her injuries. While Henrietta seemed to criticise and almost blame Pax, her father had seemed genuinely concerned and that didn’t fit with the man Pax described. Either the man deserved a fucking Oscar, or he had no idea about the attack on her which threw up a whole host of questions. He needed to find Pax and get the hell out of here.
He had never hurt a woman but when Pax and her father left the patio and Henrietta had slid closer and started rubbing his leg, he had been tempted to break her hand. He had resisted and as she went to grab his cock, he had merely pushed her away and stood up.
The woman was not deterred though. As he had moved towards the pool to look out at the magnificent vista, she had sidled up to him and draped her body over his side, leaning her breasts against his arm. Not wanting to cause a scene and embarrass Pax he had stayed still.
“Did you really protect the Queen of England?” she asked as she rubbed the muscle of his bicep.
Blake had never felt more uncomfortable in his life. Not even when he was younger and his best friend’s older sister had tried to seduce him. Although try was the wrong word—she had definitely succeeded. “Yep.”
“You must be so brave and you’re so strong. I wonder what it would be like to have a man protect you with his body?” She carried on caressing his arm, her intent and the way she said body made it clear what she meant. He fought the anger that this woman would behave this way towards her daughter’s boyfriend.
“It is just a job.” He disentangled himself from Henrietta and faced her with space between them. “Protecting your daughter however is my honour and a gift. She is a very special woman.” Blake saw the calculation in Henrietta’s eyes before she hid it behind fake laugh as she sashayed to the table and picked up a slim cigarette holder and lit one.
“Grace is a stubborn girl, but she’s pretty in a plain way.” Her hand waved in the air flippantly. “She’s lucky to have bagged herself a man like you.”
Blake sawed his jaw back and forth as he ground his teeth to keep from saying anything he might regret. Instead, he tried to use the time with Henrietta to get information useful to the investigation. “I don’t think I would agree with that. Are Grace and her father close?” he asked as he moved to sit back down.
“They were. He would have done anything for her, she was his little princess.”
Blake detected jealousy in her tone. “What happened? Gracie said they had fallen out but not why.” The lie was boldfaced, and he didn’t care.
Henrietta sat opposite him crossing her long legs to reveal an ample amount of thigh. She was an attractive woman, but she didn’t hold a candle to Pax. Pax was beautiful inside and out, her sparkle and humour one of the first things he had noticed about her. All of it wrapped up in a stunning package of grace and beauty that left anyone else in the shade.
He waited for Henrietta to continue knowing most people would scramble to fill a silence.
“Grace found out her father was not the man she thought he was. She had looked up to him, worshipped him even. They were like two peas in a pod. He never missed a single recital or parent’s evening at school. Whereas an anniversary meant nothing to him. Then one night she found out the truth.” She rolled her hand in the air and ash dropped from the cigarette on to her leg. She brushed it away and sat up taking a sip of her drink.
“That must have been difficult for you being the outsider?” He offered the false sympathy hoping it would encourage her to be more forthcoming.
Her eyes met his and he saw a flash of hatred spear through them before she masked it, her face falling into that of the perfect wife, mother, and hostess. “Not at all. I love my husband and my daughter. I would rather he be a perfect parent than a perfect husband. I know what it takes to be an adult woman in this world. My Grace did not. Maybe now she has a man to take care of her she will realise.” Henrietta stood gracefully. “If you will excuse me, I have a migraine attack coming on.”
Blake nodded and watched as she walked away.
This place was poisonous. He needed to find Pax and get out of there. He moved back inside the house and followed the sound of voices and was about to knock when Pax burst out of the room like the house was on fire almost knocking into him. Blake reached for her shoulders to steady her as his eyes scanned her face. She looked shaken and upset and the desire to walk inside and tear her a strip off her father for upsetting her warred with the need to get away from here.
“Hey, you okay?”
Her eyes were wild and confused as her hands grabbed on to his forearms. “I…yes. I want to go home. Back to the hotel,” she clarified.
Blake tucked her under his arm as he steered them towards the door and dialled the number the cab driver had given him and asked him to come and collect them. “Come on, let’s go wait outside.”
The early evening sun touched their skin as they left the property and walked down the drive towards the gate. Blake turned and saw Eddie watching them from the front door, clearly making sure they left the property like any good guard would.
As they reached the gate, the cab swung in and Blake moved to open the door for Pax to proceed him inside. He slid in beside her and took her hand in his letting her have a moment to compose herself as they were driven back to the hotel.
The cab stopped and Blake chucked some money including a hefty tip at the driver who nodded and tipped his baseball cap. “Cheers.”
A few photographers were still hanging around and he leaned in to help Pax out, not for show but because he needed to touch her, to protect her from anything that would hurt her. She took his hand and gave him a small genuine smile as she slid from the car with all the finesse of a seasoned celebrity. Her large glasses covered her eyes and Blake made sure his aviators were in place as the evening sun shone on them.
He ushered them inside ignoring the flash of the camera knowing that this hotel took its guest’s security seriously. It was his job to know such things and whatever else anyone said about him, he was good at his job.
Blake glanced at Pax as they travelled up in the elevator, her silence in the car was causing him to worry now. He bit back the need for answers knowing she would talk when she was ready.
Leaving the elevator they moved to the door of their room and went inside. Blake did a sweep of the room for bugs and found none, not that he was surprised but he would rather be overly cautious than under.
He sat on the bed beside Pax who had flopped on her back, arms out, hair all around her.
“Talk to me, sweetheart,” he coaxed gently.
Her closed eyes opened, and she watched him with a strange look on her face. She didn’t answer his question but posed her own. “Did she make a pass at you?”
Blake had no intention of lying to her, but he didn’t want to hurt her. “Yes, she did. I take it that’s not the first time?”
Pax shrugged a delicate shoulder as if it meant nothing, but Blake was no fool. “She did it with every boy I brought home. I stopped bringing them home after a while.” She moved to sit up tossing her hair over her shoulder as she faced him. No sadness or surprise marred her pretty face. “It’s not her fault. She can’t seem to help herself and she doesn’t mean anything by it.”
Blake was shocked. Hearing her defend her mother’s behaviour was confusing and a little unsettling. “Gracie, it most certainly is her fault and she can definitely help herself. She’s a grown woman for God’s sake.” He stood and brushed his hair back from his forehead in agitation. Pax looked up at him a look of surprise and confusion there. “Pax, can’t you see this isn’t normal behaviour from a parent?”
“I know that but what the hell am I supposed to do? She’s my mother and she doesn’t mean to hurt me!”
Blake sat down beside her and took her hand. “Gracie, how do you not see her for what she is? She belittles you, criticises you, and treats you with contempt.” He saw her wince and tempered his tone. “You are worth ten of her.” Blake stroked her hair back from her cheek looking deeply into her eyes.
Her mouth opened and he knew she was going to argue so he did the only thing he could he showed her how special she was. His mouth came down on hers in a drugging kiss that was at once gentle and powerful. He wondered how he had managed to think he had lived without the taste of her. She opened for him immediately, her body leaning into his as she lit up in his arms.
His hand moved to cup her neck as he kissed his way down her neck, nibbling on her pulse points as he pushed the material of her top from her shoulders exposing the pearly perfection of her skin to his eyes and lips. Reaching the curve of her breast he pulled the lacey fabric down and sucked her pink nipple into his mouth. His voice was husky as he broke away and looked at her heavy-lidded eyes. “Perfection.”
Her mouth tilted into the smile that made him crazy and he knew he was falling for this woman—hard. She had the power to destroy him and he didn’t care. He saw something in her, something special, something beautiful, and he wanted it all for himself.
Grace Paxton was strong and gentle, kind and sweet with an air of vulnerability that spoke to him. For the second time in his life he was in love, except this time he had a chance at something—a chance to make something profoundly beautiful and he wouldn’t give it up.
Pushing her back on the bed he took his time stripping her of her armour, kissing every place he touched until she was whimpering beneath him with need. He wanted her to see what he saw, what the world saw when they looked at her.
When she was completely naked before him on the bed, he stood to gaze at her. His cock was hard as rock begging for relief. Every part of him wanted to bury himself in her perfect pussy that was made just for him. But he wanted to take his time, to show her what a prize she was. Show her she wasn’t second best to a mother that didn’t value her, or a boyfriend that didn’t realise how fucking lucky he was that she would even look at him.
Stripping his clothes he went to his knees in front of her, his eyes travelling over her flushed skin. Bending, he ignored the pain in his knee and tunnelled his hands underneath her, grasping both her ass cheeks in his palms and squeezing gently. Lowering his head he nipped at the soft skin of her thighs before licking his way upwards from the bottom of her slit until he found her clit.
Her head went back, her chest leaving the bed, her magnificent hair making her look ethereal and otherworldly. “Blake, oh God, don’t stop.”
Her hand on his head stopped him from moving as she chased her climax while he worshipped her. He didn’t answer but kept up his assault on her senses until he felt the first flutter of her climax. Using his tongue he fucked her until she was writhing and screaming his name as she came apart.
Her hand left his head and he looked up at her with a devilish smile. “Fucking beautiful. You have no idea how amazing you are, but you will. We won’t be leaving this bed until you understand what you mean to me and what a gift you are to those around you.”
She smiled as she reached for him and he covered her body with his being careful not to put any weight on her ribs. He looked down at her lips swollen from his kiss, her body flushed from her orgasm and he wanted to spend every day like this with her. “You are special.”
“So are you,” she replied her eyes soft as she caressed the stubble on his jaw.
He kissed her then and proceeded to spend the next few hours making her see how unique and amazing she was.
Hours later as he lay in bed with Pax asleep on his chest, he looked at the ceiling trying to resist the temptation to go back and wring her mother’s scrawny neck. He knew she was the reason for Grace’s lack of self-worth. The reason she saw herself as somehow less than those around her. Her father wasn’t the one who had done the damage, it was Henrietta. Which begged the question, what else had she done?
He had been doing this job a while and his instincts had kept him alive more than once. Now his were telling him that her father had been genuine when he had reacted to her appearance. The way he was with Pax wasn’t an act, he really loved his child
. Henrietta, on the other hand, only seemed to love herself.
Was Pax wrong about her dad or was he not seeing something? He needed to ask Pax what her father had said to her in his study. She had clearly been upset when she’d come out, but he hadn’t wanted to push her. But time was of the essence and he needed to be back in the UK before Jack went away.
It would be easier if he could tell her what was happening with Eidolon, but he would never betray Jack in that way and as far as he knew, it wasn’t related to Pax’s situation in any way. At least, he didn’t think it was. His mind went back to the attack at her house and how the person had known to target his injured leg. That hadn’t been a coincidence and he didn’t like it touching Pax. He now had multiple threats and he wasn’t sure exactly where any of them were coming from.
They needed a better plan. Part of that would involve looking into Henrietta Paxton further, as well as her father. Both were guilty of something—they just needed to figure what and how it affected Pax if at all.
His phone buzzed beside him with a text and lifting up he snagged it with his free hand and saw it was from Waggs.
Meet us in the bar at 9. We have a lead.
Blake shot back a reply and dropped his phone.
It was time to get serious and eliminate the threat once and for all. Then he would see if he and Pax were leading where he hoped they were. His mother would be giddy if he took Pax home to meet her. The thought made him smile as he turned and kissed her shoulder intent on waking her up in the nicest possible way.
Chapter Fifteen
Blake chewed on a piece of the medium rare fillet steak before glancing at Pax who was picking at her salmon. “Tell us about Benny’s family.”
The team were seated around the table eating a late dinner and discussing the case. Initially he had wanted to do this in private, but she hadn’t wanted to explain it twice which he understood so they had met Reid, Waggs, and Decker in their suite for dinner. Luckily for them the suite they were in also had its own dining area where they could eat so they had the privacy and security he preferred.
