Jasmine was on cloud nine. Grandchildren were her greatest desire second to seeing all of her sons married and happy. Still, there had been a gaping hole in her heart for the six months following the Nagambie Massacre (as the papers had dubbed it). Breaker was gone, only contactable via his Blackberry while the MC worked on keeping their members out of prison. We’d all been questioned and denied knowing anything about his MC dealings—“He’s just a family friend,” we’d said. The cops got the same story out of all of us, and despite keeping a watch on Jasmine’s place for a few weeks, they seemed to drop off our tails entirely. It seemed the Cartwrights were free and clear with no DNA or any other ties to the drug heist—thank God something finally went our way. We needed a win to keep our spirits up and our stress low.
The next win came when Breaker turned up at the end of a Sunday dinner carrying an early edition of the next morning’s paper. Smuggler’s Racket Uncovered. Drugs Recovered, read the headline. Basically, the Grim Order had tracked down Grey’s storage facility, planted some of the stolen cocaine there, and anonymously tipped the cops. Grey had been arrested and his business was in pieces.
Breaker’s grin was huge as he held the paper up and Jasmine squealed, rushing into his arms and jumping at him like she was a much younger woman than she was. It was beautiful to see. Although the sounds coming from upstairs not long after that sent us all rushing for our cars. No one needed to listen to that.
Unfortunately, Grey in prison didn’t mean it was all over. There were still people loyal enough to him to keep the fires burning. Our plan was to systematically take down each of those smaller operations and break the whole thing apart, one puzzle piece at a time. It would mean that the Grim Order ran everything at the end of it. But, better the devil you know, I supposed. It was better than the alternative, and the Cartwrights were all in agreement that smuggling wasn’t a business we wanted to get into. We were the Robin Hoods of this world. Not the pirates.
Speaking of pirates, Toby had taken his dog and his boat after Nagambie, and no one had heard from him since. The brothers understood that he didn’t want this life anymore. Jasmine, on the other hand…
“When Toby comes back, we’ll work together on our own jobs again,” she kept insisting.
“I don’t think he’s coming back, Ma,” Abbot had told her the last time, keeping his voice soft while trying to get her to understand that it was OK to let him go. Her youngest sons were all happily married and raising children of their own. Toby was in his forties now and didn’t have what the rest of us did. He had given his youth to the Cartwright cause. He needed a chance to find a cause of his own. I just hoped that wherever he was, he was OK.
“I think she has your eyes, Sloane,” Mum said as she peered into Willow’s face. Then she touched her nose to her little head and inhaled. “Mmm, there’s just something so wonderful about the smell of a new baby.”
I nodded and smiled, thinking it was strange how everyone kept doing that. She’d literally just came out of my vagina and they were basically inhaling my bodily fluids. It was really gross when you thought about it. But, she did smell good. I wouldn’t deny that.
Willow began to get fussy, so Abbot hopped up and took her from Mum’s arms then handed her to me to breastfeed. It really wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but Willow seemed pretty eager to latch on, so I’d been told I was lucky that she was a natural at it. I was feeling lucky anyway, because pregnancy had made my boobs grow. I had cleavage now. I was chuffed.
“I have a gift for you,” Mum said as she smiled over my little family.
“You didn’t have to bring anything, Mum,” I said, meaning it. We’d gone a bit crazy with the whole baby preparedness thing—Abbot more so than me. That man had made baby shopping his hobby. The second bedroom in our apartment had been turned into Willow’s nursery. She had an entire room packed full of things she may never even need. It was adorable how much he’d looked forward to being a daddy.
“Technically, it’s not a gift,” she said holding out an envelope that Abbot took for me. “It’s the money from your grandfather. Take it, use it in good health.”
“Thank you, Mum,” I said, giving her a small nod. I appreciated that even though I’d torn up the paperwork to this once before and thrown it at her screaming, she’d kept the money safe to give back at the right time. She could be thoughtful at times. Sometimes.
She bounced a shoulder. “It was always yours. I was just holding on to it for you. And I do apologise, Abbot, for using it to try and make you marry my daughter.” The apology was one of those ones said with blinking eyes that indicated she wasn’t in the least bit sorry but was saying so because she was trying to be decent.
“It’s all good, Emma. As long as you keep your nose out of our relationship in future, we’re sweet.” He winked at her. I loved a man who wasn’t afraid to say with he thought.
“Oh, I’ve learned my lesson. I hope Jasmine has too.”
“Jazz may never be through meddling, but she keeps out of our business just fine,” he said.
“How is she? I hear things are different with Toby gone.”
“Heard from who?” Abbot narrowed his eyes.
“Little birds are everything, darling. And things have been quiet on the Cartwright front.”
“We’ve been focusing our efforts elsewhere,” Abbot said, nodding towards Willow as she snuffled at my breast, her tiny hand curled in a ball.
“Family is important,” she said. “But so is strength. Don’t leave things too long. You don’t want the vultures swooping in to pick at your bones.”
“What have you heard?” I asked, glancing at Abbot.
“Just that. Toby is gone and your network is falling apart.”
“Thanks for letting us know,” Abbot said, his voice steady but his mind obviously working.
“I’ll keep my ear to the ground and let you know if I hear anything. But, you might want to talk to Nate since he’s next in line. He needs to reach out and calm the whispers.”
“Will do.”
“OK. Well, I’ll leave you to rest for now. I’ll come back and visit this little bundle soon. I can’t possibly screw up being a grandmother anywhere near as badly as I messed up motherhood.”
I actually managed a laugh at that, my understanding towards my mother a lot better since she helped me fill in some gaps about my role in this family and their criminal organisation. “Goodbye, Mum. And thank you for this.” I nodded towards the envelope. “It’ll go a long way to taking care of our little family.”
“Oh, sweetheart, it’ll do a lot more than that. Your grandfather and I have been growing that little pot of gold for you since you turned seventeen and we realised you didn’t have the stomach for the family business—not that that part turned out, thank God. But still, we put a substantial amount of each year’s clean money into investment accounts for you, one to inherit from your pop, and one to inherit when I die. Although, don’t get any ideas.”
“Never, Mother,” I said with a smile. “And thank you for doing this to take care of me. I appreciate the thought, especially the timing.”
She gasped. “Wow. This is the first moment I don’t feel like a total screw-up of a mum. If I’d realised praise would be this good, I’d have started throwing money at you years ago.” I rolled my eyes at her attempt at humour. “In all seriousness, though, I’m glad I didn’t. If you’d had money, you may not have said yes to that job and you may have never reconnected with Abbot. It makes me so happy to see you like this, sweetheart. It really does.” Are those tears in her eyes? I’d never seen my mother get so sentimental. Who knew?
“OK,” she said after a moment, wiping at her eyes. “I’m going this time.” She blew kisses on her hands and backed away. “I love you guys. I’ll see you really soon.”
Then she was gone, the gentle scent of her perfume lingering behind.
“How long until you think we see her again?” Abbot asked, taking a sleeping Willow from my arms and pla
cing her gently in the hospital crib.
“A year. Maybe two. She breezes in and out without any thought to time.”
“That’s what I thought. What do you reckon about what she said?”
“I think you should call Nate and tell him.”
“Agreed.” He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll call him outside.”
Despite the fact my body had just gone through the rigours of childbirth, I happily perved at his arse while he walked away. I would always be attracted to that man. He was a fine specimen. And he was mine.
We hadn’t run away to live on an island paradise like we’d planned, but we did find our own paradise in each other. From the time that we were kids until the time we met again, our hearts had kept a place waiting for the other. We may not have known that at the time, but it became quickly apparent in the days we spent together, playing our games and teasing our attraction that there was something amazing happening between us. Abbot was a man who made me laugh, who treated me like a woman in all the best ways, and also saw my value as a friend. He was my equal, and there wasn’t a moment where I wasn’t giddily happy that I’d spend the rest of my life with him.
“OK,” Abbot said, walking back into my private hospital room and slipping his phone into his back pocket. “Nate said he’s on it. He’ll make some calls and set up meetings to keep things running smoothly.”
“Do you get a feeling that our dream of running away to life crime free is a bit of a pipe dream?”
He sat back on the bed and slid his arm around me. “Yeah, blue. I do. But it’s a good dream to have. I think if we let it go and decided that this was the forever life for us, we’d lose our souls a little. There always has to be an endgame. We’ll find ours. Eventually.”
“I hope so,” I said, leaning my head against his shoulder and sighing, content to just be near him.
“Hey. Wanna see what this is?” Abbot lifted the envelope then waved it up and down, fanning me with it so my hair shifted a little.
“Open it up. Maybe we can buy a nice house with a big yard or something.”
He pulled out the sheet of paper and let out a slow whistle.
“What?” I asked, leaning in to scan the page. “Holy fucking hell.” I winced when I realised little ears could hear my bad language. “I mean, holy moly, look at all those numbers. Do you know how many Jags we could buy with that?”
“Or how many houses with big yards?”
“Or yachts. We could buy a yacht and live on it with staff and everything.”
“We could literally buy an island.” Abbot and I looked at each other. The dream was so tempting, and this amount of money would make it so much easier to achieve.
I stared at the numbers, pulling at my bottom lip with my teeth. It was so tempting to take this money and forget everything else. But we had our loyalties. With Toby gone and Grey’s minions still a threat, we had to stay. We couldn’t leave them another man down. Not yet. But, one day…
“It’s good to dream, blue,” Abbot whispered, kissing my head as he folded the paper and set it aside. “And one day, we’ll have that dream, and it’ll be perfect.”
I slid my arm around his waist and breathed him in. “You know, this is pretty perfect right now.”
“Oh yeah?” He grinned.
“Yeah. You and Willow. It’s all I need, really.”
“Who’s the sweet one now?”
“You are,” I whispered, turning my chin up to meet his lips, kissing him softly the way I had hundreds of times before and will hundreds of time more. Abbot Cartwright was my heart, and I was his soul. Wherever we were, whatever was happening in the world around us. As long as we were together, laughing, teasing, playing and loving each other, then we were living our perfect life. After all, it was in our blood.
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Next in the series, Fool’s Paradise, the fifth and final Cartwright Brothers novel
My job had a very specific goal: I found people who didn’t want to be found and delivered them to whoever employed me. After that, well, I tried not to think about what happened while I spent my money on things that made me happy. Resorts, men…I lived life by the seat of my pants because I never knew where I’d be the next week, or who I’d be looking for.
When the head of a lesser-known criminal family hired me to find her son, I wasn’t sure what I was walking into. I had his photo, so I knew the man was hot with a capital H. But I expected the usual agitated scumbag I normally went after. Not some guy running a fishing charter and looking like he didn’t have a care in the world.
I might have been curious.
I might have gotten a little too close.
I might have done a lot of things I shouldn’t have.
Things that could get me killed this time.
But hey, life wasn’t always about making the right choices. It was about making good ones. And Toby Cartwright was a great choice.
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Also by Lilliana Anderson
Cartwright Brothers
Fool Me Twice
Fools Rush In
Foolish Games
Fool’s Errand
Fool’s Paradise
47 Things
47 Things
One More Thing
Standalones
In the Wind
Till There Was You
Never Again
Drawn Series
Drawn
Drawn 2 – Obsession
Drawn 2 – Redemption
Drawn to Fight
Zac & Evie
Hugo & Meg
Beautiful Series
Too Close
A Beautiful Struggle
Phoenix
A Beautiful Forever
Commitment
A Beautiful Melody
A Beautiful Rock
Devotion
A Beautiful Star
A Beautiful Taste
A Beautiful Danger
Entwined Series
Our Hearts Entwined
Our Lives Entwined
The Confidante Trilogy
Confidante: The Brothel
Confidante: The Escort
Confidante: The Madame
For more information on upcoming releases visit
www.lillianaanderson.com/preorders
About the Author
Bestselling Author of the Beautiful Series, Drawn and 47 Things, Lilliana has always loved to read and write, considering it the best form of escapism that the world has to offer.
Australian born and bred, she writes New Adult Romance revolving around her authentically Aussie characters with all the quirks you’d expect from those born Down Under.
Lilliana feels that the world should see Australia for more than just it's outback and tries to show characters in a city and suburban setting.
When she isn't writing, she wears the hat of 'wife and mother' to her husband and five children.
Before Lilliana turned to writing, she worked in a variety of industries and studied humanities and communications before transferring to commerce/law at university.
Originally from Sydney's Western suburbs, she currently lives a fairly quiet life in suburban Melbourne.
For more information on Lilliana and her work:
www.lillianaanderson.com
[email protected]
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Acknowledgments
AS ALWAYS, there are people to be thanked! Many sets of eyes go in to the creation of each of my books and I am very grateful to every person who takes time out of their lives to help me.
To my editor, Marion Archer, I thank you all for your keen editing eyes and funny comments. Margaret Neal, thank you for helping to proof the fina
l copy—hopefully we got them all!
To my team of sharers, you’re all so wonderful. I don’t ask you to do what you do, but you see something I post and share it far and wide. I’m eternally grateful. Thank you all so much. I love you all!
To every blogger and reviewer who has an ARC or has signed up to post about my book – I thank you too. You are the first step to announcing my work to the world. No author can do this without you xoxox
Also, a big thank you to my husband for putting up with my bitching and moaning and his unending support and encouragement.
Thank you to my kids for being so patient while I stare at a computer screen and finish typing out a thought. I love that you all come and sit with me while I work just to spend a bit of extra time with mummy!
And of course – thank you to all of my readers. You are the most important of all. Without you, I would be writing to the crickets.
Mwah! xoxox
Fool’s Errand: Cartwright Brothers, Book 4 Page 31
