"That's terrible." Kiki developed a conscious for a split-second.
"Not terrible but smart. The health insurance industry is terrible, but drug manufacturers are smart."
"But how would being president help you create your drug?"
I was surprised to hear Carter speak. Why would he care? The man was a monster. We needed to leave and luckily, the question distracted President Higgins enough that I could slide my fingers into Carter's.
When I pulled, he didn't budge. Did Carter have a plan? I hoped so because, from everything I learned in those letters, the former president was the reason for his mother and sister's death. And based on the gun he was holding, might be the reason for his death, too.
"I'm the president. Actually, former president, but who says no to a president? Do you have any idea how many people want to do business with me? Growing up, my father had a terrible time finding funding for drug research and development. The government agencies turned down more of his drug concepts than approved them. I noticed when I went to a gathering in my early twenties where former President Thompkins attended, everyone wanted to talk to him. From the lowliest waiter to the heads of powerful companies. And if he showed interest in what the CEOs and executives discussed, then they would always ask him to be a part of whatever project they were discussing."
The president smiled while Carter frowned. Bea was tugging me back but I couldn't leave Carter, so I remained listening to the insane man babble.
"Anyone I asked wanted in on my little drug because I was a president. I got so much funding I could avoid the usual government agencies in the early stages. Only coming to them when the testing was near." He sighed as if thinking of a great memory. "I came up with a perfect idea for a drug. One that would cause people to become addicted so they would always want more, but wouldn't give them a high. Because they didn't have the usual bad behaviors tied to addiction, no one would realize the drug was addictive. I made it an anti-depressive, so people felt better on it. It was a win-win. They got a mood boost, and I got a lifelong customer willing to pay me for it."
"You're basically a drug dealer," Bea said in a dry tone.
President Higgins didn't like what my sister had to say. His face darkened and he turned toward her, lifting his gun.
"No, not at all like a common dealer. I wanted to help people, but in a way that made me money. The only way to do that was to make sure I had lifelong customers. I wasn't harming them. Zarozole was perfect."
"Isn't that the drug that one celebrity took who claimed he saw demons and ended up strangling his girlfriend? He blamed the drug for causing him to see things and have hallucinations?" Kiki said.
Higgins groaned. "It had some side effects, but we're working on that."
"My father knew what you were doing was dangerous. He was going to the FDA to let them know what your plans were. That's why you tried to kill him, didn't you?" Carter's voice was like ice as a shiver ran down my neck.
The former president turned to Carter and put his hands on his shoulders. "I never wanted to hurt him or have your mother and sister killed. That was the fault of that stupid shooter we found, Jason Loch. The man didn't know how to shoot a gun. When I placed it in his hands and told him that your father wanted to create a listening device to implement in all households and that his country needed him to stop it, I thought he knew how to aim a gun. I was wrong."
"But my father never wanted to create a listening device."
"Of course not, but I had to feed into his distrust of the government and his hatred. How do you think I was going to accomplish that? By just asking nicely?" Higgins chuckled. "I asked your father if he wanted in on the project. With all the money he had, he could easily be a leading partner. But he not only turned me down but threatened to inform the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. He'd ruin everything."
"Wow. This goes way beyond me bribing Mr. Love. You're like, my hero. Except for the killing stuff. I don't think I could kill anyone for money," Derrick said.
Everyone frowned except for the president. He was emboldened by Derrick's words.
"Maybe I won't kill you. You could be my protégé. Come work at Higgins Pharmaceuticals." The president went over to Derrick and put his arm around the loser.
Bea tugged on my hand. I looked up at her and was going to wave her off again. I wasn't going to leave Carter. But Bea didn't want to leave. She held up two fingers, and I almost giggled at what she wanted to do. I nodded.
"Hey, Mr. President," Bea said to get him to turn toward her, "why are you hitting yourself?"
Higgins tilted his head in confusion and before he could ask what she was talking about, I leaped into action. I saw the gun hanging loosely in his hand at his side. With one quick kick, I'd knock it away. But the kick never came because Carter grabbed the president's wrist and twisted it behind his back. The gun dropped to the floor.
Higgins struggled and whined that Carter was hurting him.
"This is nothing compared to what my girlfriend's about to do to you." The corner of Carter's lips quirked up, and he winked at me.
Now was the time for the kick. Right into the stomach that caused him to bend in pain. Then an added one to his groin to make sure he wouldn't try to escape and finally, to make Bea's question come true. I grabbed Higgin's other hand and socked him with it several times in the face.
Carter released the president and he crumpled into a moaning heap onto the ground. I glanced around for the gun, but it was nowhere to be found.
"Looking for this?" Derrick held the firearm in his hand and when he lifted it toward me, I realized the safety was still on.
I wasn't scared because Derrick didn't know the first thing about firing a gun.
Derrick turned his head to Kiki. "This is much heavier than I thought it would be."
I rolled my eyes and then gave a nod to Bea, who happened to be standing behind Derrick. Bea came up behind Derrick, reached over, and plucked the gun from his hand as his grip was loose.
"I'll be taking that and in return, I'll give you this."
Derrick turned in surprise, his mouth hanging open. Bea pulled her arm back, and then lunged forward, hitting him in the middle of his face.
Derrick's head flew back, and blood splattered from his nose. His eyes began to water and the cry that rang from his mouth was so high-pitched that I thought glass might shatter.
Carter chuckled and looked over at me. "What did you ever see in that guy?"
I shook my head.
Kiki ran over to Derrick and tried to console him.
The adrenaline was pumping through my veins again and I wanted to get more baddies again. But I didn't have time to suggest we go out to the party and take out a few of the corrupt CEOs and politicians I knew were guests because the door swung open.
My father stood there with a key in his hand and behind him, Attorney General Dashiell Fitzwilliam. A few more men in suits filed into the room behind him.
"Good work, Carter. We recorded everything," Dashiell said and slapped Carter on the shoulder.
"What's going on?" Bea asked as she stared at our father.
My dad widened his arms and pulled us both into a hug.
"I'm so sorry, girls. There's much I need to tell you that I've kept secret for so long. But I want you to know that everything I did was to keep you safe."
Dad sat us on the sofa and explained that when he realized he was being pulled into a plot to hurt people, he went to the FBI.
"It took two decades of searching for evidence and following people because President Higgins covered his tracks well. But tonight, Carter managed to capture the president admitting the truth of his plan."
I leaned back on the couch and looked over at Carter, who stood in the room with his hands in his pockets, staring at the floor. The president had been hauled off by Dashiell's men and Derrick was being brought to headquarters for questioning, along with Kiki. No one was left in the room but my father, my siste
r, the man I loved, and me.
"You know about Carter?"
My father nodded. "I had to pretend I didn't when you mentioned him. But Dash told me two days ago when he came home. The way Dash went on about his nephew, I can't imagine a better man for you, Olivia."
I stood and went over to Carter, sliding my arms around him and it felt like home. He was warm and strong and now; he was finally safe.
"I love you, Mr. Grumpington," I whispered into his ear as he turned and buried his head into my neck.
"Olivia, love isn't a big enough word for how I feel about you."
We stayed like that for a moment, just enjoying being together once again before he stepped back, taking my hand with him. "Come and meet my family."
There was no way I could resist the grin on his face as he said those words, so I followed. Knowing I would always follow him wherever he led me.
THIRTY-FOUR
Carter
"You thought you had me, didn't you? But now the tables have turned," I whispered in her ear. My fingers curled under her chin, I pushed her head sideways and slid my tongue down Olivia's neck.
"But all I wanted to do was tidy up your bedroom. I wasn't trying to trick you, sir," Olivia said as I lifted her black French maid's costume. It was frilly and tight and made my dick hard the moment she walked into my bedroom in my grandmother's townhouse.
I'd been here a week speaking with the FBI and the press, letting the truth be known about what happened to my father and me. I especially wanted to let everyone know that Jason Loch, the man that shot my mother and sister, was being used by President Higgins.
My grandmother had hated the shooter for so long, it took me explaining how his family was destroyed as much as ours for the icy wall she put up around that man to begin to crack. While she didn't know if she could forgive him, she felt sympathy for his family.
She found out his son, the man that broke into my cabin a few weeks back, was jobless. She decided to hire him as an office manager at Unlimited Life, an organization she created to help children with special needs.
I never told Olivia but when I met with the sheriff when her sister came to visit the cabin, I told him I wasn't pressing charges. Since nothing was stolen, the sheriff let the guy go. I planned to go tomorrow to his home in Maryland and offer him the job. It's not much, but I bet he'd be happy for a chance to work.
"With no panties? Bending over to dust and to taunt me with your perfect ass."
I released her chin and my finger traced down her neck past her chest until it found her spiked nipple. Her mouth fell open as I twisted it through the black top.
My other hand slipped from her hip and around to her cheek, digging my fingers into her flesh. Her facade slipped. Olivia's eyes became molten as she groaned. I knew she wanted to beg for more, but it was her idea to roleplay maid and lord of the manor. When she came to dinner at my grandmother's Sunday night and saw the decor, the notion popped into her head.
I tried out my British accent on her to try it out that night, but she put a stop to it immediately. Her only rule—no accents.
"They fell off while I was scrubbing the tub."
I turned my chuckle into a growl as not to upset Olivia. She was quite excited with the role-play idea, but a few of the stuff she had come up with was silly.
"Is that what you like, maid? Being on your hands and knees?" I moved my hand down from her butt until I was trailing a line between her cheeks.
"Yes," she groaned and then shook her head, "I mean no. No, I hate being dirty like that."
Why had I ever tried to push Olivia away? She was a dream come true. The woman made me happier than I had ever been in my life and for the first time since I'd known her; I knew we were meant to be.
She told me she emailed Tyler last week to see if it was too late to take the full-time position, and he said it was hers. I wasn't even jealous. To watch her smile with pride made me happy. And when she explained she desired to go back to school to study to become a vet, I announced it at my grandmother's dinner that I was in love with a future veterinarian.
I wasn't happy the school she was going to apply to was in Massachusetts, but we discovered it was only a four-hour drive from the cabin. She could visit me on the weekends. It wasn't ideal, but any time Olivia gave me I'd savor.
"You lie."
My fingers slipped by her puckered hole which made her gasp, and I made a mental note to explore that at another time. When I came to my destination at her core, I wasn't surprised by how soaked she was. I pushed two fingers inside her and felt Olivia tighten around me.
Her body was begging for it.
Lifting my fingers in front of her I said, "Look how wet you are. Filthy."
Her darkening eyes gazed at my hand as she licked her lips. This woman of mine was the best.
"You want it don't you? Tell me, maid. Explain to me exactly what you want to do to my dripping fingers."
She stood there unable to take her eyes off my hand as she hesitated. Her mouth opened a few times, but no words emerged. "I want to taste it. I mean, I want to clean it from your fingers, sir."
I brought my fingertips to her lips and slid them inside her hot mouth. Her lips wrapped around them as her tongue lapped at my fingers. I couldn't take much more of this. My dick was hard and dripping.
Removing my fingers from her mouth, I pointed to the bed. "Lie down and spread your legs."
She scurried to the bed and within seconds, her thighs parted. I dug into my pocket and took out the condom I had tucked away. Ripping it open, I slid it on—I didn't even bother to completely remove my pants and briefs, only pushed them to my knees.
When I pushed into Olivia, she arched her back and nothing seemed as wonderful as this moment. I hooked her leg over my shoulder as I moved in and out. My thumb played with her clit, and I could already feel her tighten around me.
"Carter, I'm coming."
I watched the love of my life explode into bliss. It was beautiful, and she was more than I could have dreamed of. There would be nothing in this world that could keep me from her. I had run for so long and now it seemed I had found my home, with Olivia.
I bit her calf as my climax took me over the edge. When I collapsed beside her on the bed, I pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "I'm so glad you found me."
THIRTY-FIVE
Olivia
"Why hadn't I ever seen this place before? It's cute in a rustic sort of way," I said of the Fire Mountainside Brewery.
Carter slid in the booth across from me and shrugged.
"What aren't you telling me?"
It had been six months since President William Higgins was arrested at my parents' home. The trial ended last month, and he was sentenced to twenty years in prison. A lot of reporters found Carter's farm and swarmed Fire Lake during the trial.
Funny enough, Tyler and Carter grew close from the influx of the paparazzi. Carter was concerned that the reporters would try to sneak onto his property, and Tyler suggested his brother, Jake, who had moved to Chicago to work in home security, help him.
They set up a special invisible fence around the property, with the approval of Rosemary Fitzwilliam. Anytime someone came on the property unannounced, it triggered an alarm, which sounded like a pack of wolves were on the loose. The wolves thing was my idea.
It worked and Carter hadn't said a bad word about Tyler since.
"It's where I used to come when my dad was alive to pick up women for a one-night stand," Carter said with a frown. "It sounds so bad when I say it out loud."
I shook my head. "Not bad but a little sad. Just think, if I hadn't broken into your cabin all those months ago and started eating your beans, you'd still be like poor Tyler over there using those sad lines on women."
He turned his head to see where I was pointing. Tyler was by a table of ladies trying to chat them up. The blonde with long hair was rolling her eyes, the brunette and redhead were laughing, and the blonde with shoulder length hair was compl
etely ignoring him for whatever was happening on her phone.
Carter chuckled. "He told me about that. He has some theory that he'll find the woman of his dreams if she comes up with a worse pickup line on him. I told him to stop. It wasn't worth all the slaps he's gotten over the years. But he insists."
I tilted my head, assessing Tyler's style. I understood where he was coming from, but I thought his approach was just wrong.
"Does he think the woman would respond with an equally bad pickup line?"
It reminded me of when Derrick used a pickup line on me when we first met. I frowned realizing how I thought it was cute that he was using the old line.
I'm thankful I'll never see him again. Derrick was fired after the night of my parent's party six months ago. He dumped Kiki when he realized there was no way he could take over Love Foods. Kiki, of course, blamed me and Bea for "ruining her life" as she put it.
I should be mad at her for her total hypocrisy, selfishness, and obvious lack of empathy but the dummy made my dream come true: she decided to disown us. Kiki never wants to see me or Bea again, which is totally fine with us.
Carter picked up the beer menu left on the table and gazed at it. I couldn't help but notice since we walked in here, he hadn't once looked me in the eye.
"Sort of. I think he believes it will set off a chain reaction where there's some kind of cheesy pickup line contest. I don't know the details, you'll have to ask him. Oh look, here he comes now. Walking. He's walking over here."
Something was off about this whole night. This was my first week at Tuft's University. I had to complete various science courses that I never took at Georgetown. So, I'm spending a year completing the prerequisites before applying in the spring to the doctorate program. I'm thankful I can take those courses online, so I don't have to move away until next year.
But with the course work and still working with Tyler at the veterinary, I didn't have much time to help on the farm. Thankfully, Emily comes by almost every day. The woman loved farming almost as much as Carter. I noticed she hasn't many friends, so I asked her out when Bea visits, but she has yet to say yes.
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