Sweetest Obsessions - Anthology

by Anthony, Jane

  Her billions bought her whatever she wanted in life, but it hadn't even brought her into contact with any man worth his salt.

  She lowered her lashes. Perhaps now wasn’t the time to tell him. He needed to process who she really was, so she sipped her wine. “I’m Mica Murphy.”

  “That’s a prettier last name than Hellsworth.”

  She shouldn’t have expected more. It’s not like he read the business pages. Besides she had more important things. Ali’s family could find her with the computer breach. She had her helicopter on standby. Rocco’s name was about to be cleared so he could do with her there. Her car was in her lot. Her room was secure if it came to that as a panic suite. And she had her gun. Tomorrow was fine to leave. She met his gaze again and said, “My brothers never bothered with the company as they were happy with their shares. I took over for my father when I was twenty four and I liked having control.”

  He bumped into her shoulder playfully as he asked, “Liked?”

  Her heart thumped differently and her lips tingled as she said, “I like being here with you and Jacob even more now, but don’t tell anyone.”

  “I won’t.” He took her glass and placed it on the fireplace mantel next to his.

  Her pulse zipped and then he came back, wrapped his arms around her sides, and kissed her.

  It was like the heavens opened just for her and she'd found someone she wasn’t afraid to be herself with.

  His kiss made the rest of the world and all her worries just disappear.

  12

  Rocco Hellsworth knew three things right now. Mica's soft skin smelled better than any floral perfume. Two, Mica was the kindest and sexiest mom he’d ever met and couldn’t imagine anyone like her. And three, he had no right to even dream about her like he did.

  Despite how domesticated they were, as they finished their dinner in the library and patted their bellies in silent satisfaction.

  Currently he’d like to strip her naked and claim her.

  The sleeping baby in a crib was probably her best armor and honestly he hated himself for having these thoughts right here, right now.

  He stacked their empty bowls to take to the kitchen and get a breather when suddenly a pounding sounded from the front lobby door. He thought he'd locked it.

  Mica rose and hugged her waist as she stared at the white library door that led to the hall and hotel foyer. He stood in front of her. “Were you expecting another package?”

  Her face was pale and she sucked in her breath like she wasn’t in full control as she said, “No. Go see?”

  This was why she'd asked him to stay and given him clothes and food.

  He wouldn't let her down so he headed to the door, squared his shoulders like he was a human shield, and reached for the handle. “Stay here with Jacob.”

  As he opened the door, she asked, “Knock four fast knocks and one slow one so I’ll open the door?”

  Right. Good. Hopefully this was nothing. His entire body away awake and aware of everything around him.

  The white fabric chairs were untouched in the hall toward the lobby and he jiggled the door behind him to ensure it was locked. Then he headed toward the front door.

  Outside the bay windows no delivery trucks or police were parked.

  This wasn’t a package unless it was left at light speed. He opened the door and no box was waiting to be taken in.

  He relocked Nothing near him was out of place wherever he went and every window in all the main rooms were closed.

  He ensured he made no sound but he entered the kitchen and even here, nothing stirred.

  Yet he’d heard the sound and so had Mica.

  He would swear they were alone.

  He headed to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of formula for Jacob, the powder mix from the pantry and a gallon on milk and tossed it in a bag, and then he grabbed Mica’s medicine in the refrigerator and one of her bags that held the cold. If they had to run, it was good for the baby to have food, but his skin buzzed with adrenaline.

  Something ate at his gut to run.

  The police usually had loud sirens so it wasn’t them.

  This was something else.

  He checked all the rooms downstairs and empty hotel rooms and downstairs toward the parking and returned to the library. He knocked with her signal and she unlocked the door to let him inside. He handed her the bottle and said, “Every window is bolted and the doors are locked.”

  She waited until he locked the library door behind him. “Was someone there?”

  Her eyes were big like saucers. He pressed his hand against her arm. “There were no packages, and nobody was there. I went through each room." He had to be honest with her. "I thought I heard a knock.”

  “Me too,” she said. “Bad guys don’t knock though, right?”

  In his desperate escape he’d have broken into anything to evade capture, like he'd done in this chalet.

  What would he do if someone came at Mica? His gut twisted as he said, “Maybe we shouldn’t have kissed like that.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Just that wanting you confuses me.”

  “Or you’re trying to keep me calm.”

  “Maybe.”

  “I can play.” She reached up and brushed her fingers against his rough skin as she said, “Maybe it was the thumping of my heart?”

  Her eyes were pools that he him ache, but her words made no sense. “What?”

  "The knock we heard." She pushed her lower lip out, tempting him to kiss her, as she said, “Rocco, I’ve never wanted any man like I want you.”

  Yet he was here to protect her, not bed her. He stepped back. “You shouldn’t.”

  Her lips quivered as she held that bottle in her hand for her sleeping son. “But I do. I’ve never known anyone like you.”

  He glanced at the floor as his heart raced. “I’m not a good man for you.”

  She let out a sigh which made him stare at her and she hugged her waist. She never seemed nervous, ever, so he stood taller as she said, “If you’re thinking I should only marry a man with more money than me then you’re wishing me back to men like Ali.”

  No man had the right to hurt her, no matter how rich or poor. “Not every man is evil.”

  She stood in front of him with her lips slightly pouting and captivating as she said, “You’re not. Why can’t I crush on you?”

  If he hadn’t literally waded through sewage, or gone to jail, maybe he’d have a different viewpoint but money was not the only thing that divided them. His mind returned to his recent past as he shook his head, “Because I’m not fit to wipe your feet.”

  She swayed like she trembled, but Mica was too powerful of a woman to ever do that so he had to be mistaken. “Who is then?”

  It was time to tell her who he was. His heart raced but he said, “A man who doesn’t…”

  Another knock. This time he didn’t wait for instructions. He headed toward the door to find out who was there. “Stay here.”

  As he reached for the handle, she said, “Stop. Rocco, I’m nervous.”

  He wouldn't let anything happen to her. “Lock the door behind me.”

  She met his gaze and shook her head. “No. Wait. I’m picking Jacob up. Walk us to my room. It’s secured to be a panic room, and I can get the keys to my car and helicopter, just in case.”

  If she was in danger, then he’d do everything he could to protect her. He carried the bag he’d made for her and nodded. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”

  She reached for the baby while he checked the hall.

  Nothing stirred.

  Everything seemed normal, except his skin flamed with hyperawareness of everything, making his vision more acute. The glass windows only showed the gently sway of the trees. But everything was in order.

  Mica came behind him, and she carried her sleeping son in her arms.

  He glanced at the elevator but that would make more noise and give her less places to hide if
someone was here. Rocco guided them toward the stairs. She didn’t object but quietly said, “The hotel has a hundred doors that look all the same.”

  "I checked everyone already.”

  “If someone breaks into the hotel, I have security cameras in my suite.”

  “I should have brought you there first then.”

  She stopped speaking after that and they headed up the stairs quietly.

  Neither of them let their footstep echo. But he stayed in front of her and ushered her into her bedroom.

  He intended to stand outside like a bodyguard would, but she tugged on his shoulder. Rather than argue, he followed her inside. She went right for the crib and placed her son in it as he said, “This is big.”

  She glanced up and down at him and pointed toward the open space of the next room as she said, “It’s technically four rooms. Three of the doors outside are fake and built into the wall.”

  He walked away from the crib and her bed.

  In the next room, she had a modern glass desk and white leather chairs that overlooked the back instead of a balcony. Glass bookshelves took up an entire wall. “Your office is pretty self contained.”

  “Yeah except my refrigerator broke and I didn’t realize I’d have an immediate need for one.”

  “I have your meds in the cooler so it should be good for a few hours.”

  She walked past him, patted his arm like he should follow and then opened a cabinet that had a TV as she said, “Thank you. Let’s check the security cameras.”

  “Good idea.” He sat on the edge of one of her leather chairs.

  She flipped through channels that showed all areas of the chalet hotel as she said, “I don’t see anything.”

  His blinked and thought he imagined a movement. He pointed toward the screen like he wanted the remote as he said, “Wait. Go back.”

  “What?” She scrolled backwards.

  He motioned stop with his palm in the air and then jumped out of his seat.

  A small bouquet of cut flowers he’d made from the garden were in a vase that billowed in the wind. He pointed toward it and said, “The second floor window is open.”

  She narrowed her gaze and just stared at the screen. “How did you see that?”

  “It’s my room and my flowers. Maybe I left it open for a fresh breeze and forgot to close it” The yellow flowers he thought of like himself, unwanted but hopefully nice. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

  “Wait. Take a gun.”

  He’d be fine. He’d been a marine and in prison, he’d handled himself just fine by staying fit. “I’ll be fine, Mica.”

  She walked next to him and bumped into him until they reached the door and she said, “Okay. Hurry back. Knock three times fast and one slow so I know it’s you.”

  Without thinking, he kissed her cheek and headed out.

  The danger was likely just his imagination. Nothing seemed to stir. But his window was on the second floor and too high in the air for someone to climb.

  The other rooms were locked on his way.

  Nothing moved while he walked down the hall. However his hair stood on end and his gut was tight like he expected a prison fight to break out any second.

  But nothing happened. He entered his hotel room and everything was in order. His boxes of Armani, Saks, Versace, and Calvin Klein were all stacked near the door.

  His cut flowers he’d put in vases he’d found in the kitchen area were on his nightstand and hotel toiletries were all lined up exactly where he’d left them.

  Rocco shut the window, locked it tight, and returned across the hotel as fast as he could without making any sound.

  At her door, he lightly knocked three times and then one slow as requested, watched all around him, but again nothing happened until she opened it and he slipped back in. Once she locked the door he said, “I closed the window--nothing was disturbed.”

  She crossed her arms like this was a meeting. Her posture struck him as decisive with her one leg out as she stood. “Soon I’ll have the whole place automated and I’ll control all the doors and windows electronicially, but the system hasn’t been installed in every room yet. I made my room to be like Fort Knox and that was my first priority.”

  She motioned for him to follow her into the office.

  He glanced behind him toward the crib.

  Best to keep the door open in case they needed to get the baby and run. Though he'd seen nothing, he remained uneasy. “Why?”

  She took a seat at the desk and let the surveillance footage continue to circle on her TV screen on the wall as she said, “A couple of reasons but mostly for me to control my energy costs and security sensors.”

  Her business attitude was better for her to take on than wine and romance. He stepped back and said, “I understand. I should go.”

  She jumped out of her chair and came toward him. “You could stay. I’d like that.”

  Mica reached for him and his heart beat changed and his pulse quickened. Her hands around his hips made him jumpy with needs he hadn't fulfilled in years as he said, “We need to talk about your choice in men.”

  She stared at his lips as she asked, “My choice in you?”

  Him? This wasn’t right. She deserved someone… clean, so he untangled himself as he said, “I’m not good.”

  She hugged her waist--making the most powerful woman he’d ever met appear timid. “Who is? I’m not.”

  The glistening of her eyes hit him hard, worse than being beaten in a prison riot over rotten potatoes. He glanced at the wall as he said, “Look, I have a record.”

  Her cheeks blushed and she lowered her eyes. “About that…”

  He swore he saw a shadow move from the corner of his eye on the security camera. “Go back.” He pointed to the camera. “Check the cameras again.”

  A footstep echoed outsite and Mica tossed the remote at him and ran toward her baby’s crib. She came back holding Jacob who was sleeping in her arms as he studied what he saw.

  On freeze frame.

  The shadow seemed one man, probably his brother’s size when he’d been alive, big and brawny.

  Either way, someone was lurking around the chalet that shouldn’t be.

  Perhaps a burglar. Perhaps someone hired by her ex’s family. “I’m nervous now. That sounded like a bang.”

  Now he needed to plan and going back was better than having anything happen. He asked, “Yeah. Call the police or your security. As a backup if we can’t wait it out here, where are your keys? How far is the car or helicopter?”

  She went to her desk and opened the top drawer to show him her keys as she said, “We’d have to run.”

  But if it was just one man, perhaps they’d be okay.

  Rocco knew how to brawl. He’d grown up in it, and the Marines had prepared him for anything and jail… that was a constant place where he'd lived on the edge, with his fists. He spoke calmly. “Let’s just sit quiet, with the lights off and see what’s happening first. You said this room was like Fort Knox.”

  “It is. Give me one minute” She handed him her son and took out her phone. "The line’s not working.”

  “No police?”

  “Let me email.” She headed to her computer but her nose twitched a minute later. “Internet’s out.”

  “But security is still working?”

  “Yes I have the controls and that’s not on the WIFI.”

  She retook her son and they took chairs and she held her son close as he slept.

  After a while the same feed just looped like nothing had happened and she turned toward him in her seat, her knees brushing his. “This is all live and I’m not seeing anything.”

  If this was a robbery, maybe the burglar was long gone. The hotel had nothing of value while it was being remodeled. If this was an assassin or someone sinister then he needed to ensure nothing happened to Mica or Jacob. “Can these cameras be manipulated?”

  Her lips pursed as she asked, “What do you mean?”

  Good pe
ople like her might not know about the dirty side of life. He folded his hands between his open legs and said, “A man I knew, let’s call him Bear, he said he used to hack into corporate computers. He could loop security cameras so the viewer thinks everything is fine, but it’s all prerecorded.”

  Her son woke up and started crying. She bounced him as she said, “Once we want to leave, I can call my team in New York for them to check the feed with a fine tooth comb.”

  If this was someone here to hurt them, Jacob’s cries would lead whoever was inside the chalet to their rooms. He stood, grabbed the bottle from Jacob's crib, and brought it to Mica. “Do it. I’ll make sure Jacob has his bottle.”

  She put the bottle in her baby’s mouth and walked to her desk to grab her phone. “Rocco?”

  In his mind, he was ready to fight to the death if anyone came near her.

  Her voice was like an anchor. He squared his shoulders and asked, “Yeah?”

  She juggled her son and her phone as she met his gaze without blinking. “Don’t think about leaving me.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it, ma’am.” He listened at the door. It was better to be prepared.

  She called out, “Don’t…”

  He gave her a quick smile. This shouldn’t bother her but he nodded and said, “Mica, relax. We’re probably just on edge because of our imaginations. We’re safe for now as you said and if we don’t leave, maybe whoever he is just takes what he wants and leaves.”

  Her eyebrow popped up like she didn’t believe a word he just said as she asked, “You think it’s a burglary?”

  It was always better to remain calm. He winked and said, “I will get your out out here in one piece.”

  She sucked in her lip and her face went red again as she said, “We need to talk. Give me two minutes.”

  Then she began her conversation on the phone.

  He took a seat closer to her television and watched the cameras.

  Once she was done, he’d ensure she was prepared, slip out and case her entire house until he found whoever was here.

  It was time to bring the fight to whoever had dared come here. His life wasn’t worth much, but Mica and Jacob’s absolutely were.