by Rye Hart
My blood was boiling when we walked inside, but nothing could have prepared me for what I walked into. Sydney was running around with toilet paper trailing behind her, and it looked like she’d unraveled most of it on the floor. Daniel was screaming at the nanny, writing crayon along the wall as she tried to wrestle it from his grasp. Pictures were hanging lopsided on the wall and there were wet stains all over the damn floor.
Even Brooke was shocked at what she saw.
“Enough!” I roared.
Everyone stopped and my kids turned and looked at me.
“Daddy! You're home!” Sydney said.
“Upstairs. Now,” I said.
“But why?” Daniel asked.
“Look around you,” I said. “And then tell me yourself.”
The nanny looked absolutely relieved that I was there. She gathered her things up quickly and rushed past me, like she didn’t even want to be bothered with getting paid. I managed to catch her arm and I handed her a wad of cash from my wallet, then thanked her for her time.
She couldn’t scramble down the steps fast enough.
Sydney’s lip was trembling and Daniel was already crying. I walked slowly through the house, surveying the damage. There was a broken vase and the television was cockeyed on its stand. A pillow had been ripped and the feathers were fucking everywhere. I clenched my fists at my sides, feeling my rage boiling over at the situation.
“Come on, kids. Let’s get you upstairs,” Brooke said.
“But we want Daddy,” Sydney said.
“Then you should have thought about that before you destroyed the house,” she said.
“We just wanted him to come home,” Daniel said.
But I didn’t hear Brooke respond to that statement.
I slumped against the wall as they made their way upstairs. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm my anger. My head was spinning, the house was a disaster and there was no way in hell the nanny service would ever come back to help me with the kids if I needed it.
Pressing the heels of my hands to my eyes, my shoulders slumped. I could hear the sniffles of my children above my head as Brooke tucked them in. I was at a loss. Still digesting what Brooke had told me and still trying to process the disaster the house was in.
It would take me all night to clean this shit up.
CHAPTER 16
BROOKE
I headed straight for my room after tucking the kids in. I knew they wanted their father around, and I knew they missed him and were angry that we left without them. But that didn’t give them an excuse to tear up the house and I made sure they understood that. I kissed their foreheads before making my way down the stairs, and I could already hear Kevin trying to clean up the mess.
He was stomping around and cursing under his breath, but I’d had enough excitement for the night.
I slipped out of my clothes and grabbed my robe, just as there was a knock on my door. I closed the fabric and tied a knot around my waist, my eyes glancing over at my laptop. I was hoping to get some writing done tonight. The tension alone had me fraught with ideas on where to take my characters. But the knock came again and something told me to answer it.
So I did.
“Come on in.”
“Hey there,” Kevin said.
“How’s the house? Still standing?”
“Barely,” he said.
“The kids really did a number on it.”
“They’ve never acted out like this before,” he said. “And yes, I heard you in the cab. They had a reason to be upset, but that doesn’t excuse what they did here.”
“I know. And I told them that.”
“You did?” he asked.
“Yep. And don’t bother with cleaning all of it up. The kids are helping me tomorrow. This will be a good lesson,” I said.
“Good. That means I might be able to get some sleep tonight.”
“Do you need something?” I asked.
“I actually want to apologize for our date being interrupted. I hope you’re not upset with me.”
“Not for the interrupted date.”
“But for other things.”
“I already spoke my piece in the cab,” I said.
“Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” he asked.
“I’m not upset with you, Kevin. But I am upset with the circumstances. You can’t lead me to believe you don’t see your hand in all of this. I understand the interrupted date. Your children need you and I would never take that away from them. From anyone. Ever. But they had a right to be angry with you. And so did I, all those years ago.”
“Yes, you did.”
“And just bec—wait, what?”
“You did have a reason to be upset with me. And you still do.”
“I do? I mean—yes. I do. I’m not their mother, and I can’t replace her. Or you. If you promised them a vacation—”
“They’ll get it. I promise.”
“You have to make sure you follow through on that,” I said.
Kevin took a step toward me as the backs of my legs hit the bed.
“I know,” he said.
“And you don’t owe me a promise. You owe them,” I said.
His body was flush with mine as I sat down.
“I know,” he said.
“They love you so much,” I said breathlessly.
I felt his finger under my chin, pulling my gaze to his.
“I know,” he said.
“I—loved you so much,” I said, with a whisper.
His lips slowly bent toward mine, the pulsing of his breath heating my skin.
“I know,” he said.
I wanted to fight this desire between us. I wanted to stay upset with him. I wanted to stay in control and kick him out, then write until the tension from my body released me to a stress-free slumber. But when he pressed his lips to mine I could feel myself melting, caving when I needed to stand strong.
My hands fisted his suit and I pulled him down on top of me. My back hit the mattress as his tongue slid along my lips. I parted myself for him: my jaw and my legs. Letting him in from all angles as his hands pulled my robe open. He palmed my breasts and teased my nipples to aching peaks. I slid his suit coat off his shoulders and ran my toes up his back, feeling his thick groin pressing into my thigh.
I had loved him all those years ago.
And if I wasn’t careful, history would repeat itself.
My body was on fire for him, buzzing with electricity as he kissed down my skin. Nipping at my neck and wrapping his lips around my nipples. Sucking and teasing, lapping at my skin. His hands massaged my hips. My thighs. My waist. He pressed my knees open and sank to his, pressing kisses along the lines of my stomach. My hands twisted in his hair as my head rose up, our eyes connecting as he pressed a kiss to my damp folds.
Then he dipped his tongue between them, the tip of my clit swelling with need.
My head fell back to the bed and my hips began to roll. His tongue flattened out as his hands pulled my body closer to his. My thighs tightened around his cheeks and my heels pressed into his back. With every brush of his tongue, my spine shivered. Coursing with white hot heat that ravaged my body with energy, I undulated, rolling with the rhythmic bashing of the waves against the house. I could feel his fingers teasing me. Gathering up my arousal before slipping into my entrance.
But it was the finger he teased at my asshole that had my attention.
And it was the primal want to be filled by him that caused me to buck forward.
With every knuckle that slid in, my vision began to blur. I lost my breath as pleasure crashed throughout my body. Sensations I’d never felt before twitched my muscles and soon I was losing control of my own body. I pulled his face deeper between my legs, searching for that release as his fingers crooked inside of my body.
I arched my back as my mouth opened, desperate to moan his name but no longer capable of making sound.
“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.”
<
br /> It was the only word I had. The only word in my arsenal that my throat would allow me to croak. The storm brewing in my body broke and my pussy rained down juices onto his face. I throbbed. Thrashed. Tried to back away, yet kept pulling him towards me. His tongue never relented and another finger slid into my dripping pussy, filling me and teasing me as I pulsed against him.
I rocked into his stubble. Into the hair he’d allowed to grow out just a bit as my body shook again.
And again.
And again.
“No more. No more. I can’t take it. I can’t. Kevin. Stop. I can’t handle—it—oh. Right there. Right there. One more. Just one more. Please.”
I felt him smile into my skin as he sucked my clit between his lips.
By now I didn’t know where I was or what time it was. I didn’t know how long he’d been down there or how many times my body had jerked against him. The bed was drenched beneath me, soaked with arousal. His fingers filled my body as he stretched me to my limits. Stars burst in midair and images rolled around in my mind.
Images of the man and the woman on the island. Dancing in the shadows and making love on the beach, then drinking tea as the sun set beyond the lighthouse. I saw their fights and their future children. I saw their sickness and their health. I saw the woman almost losing her childhood home and the man swooping in to buy it back from the bank.
Saving her world, even though she refused to accept it.
I collapsed to the bed, heaving for air as sweat dripped down my brow. His tongue was cleaning me up. Swallowing down my juices as his fingers slowly slid from my body. My legs hung limply off the bed as images poured to the forefront of my mind.
I wanted to get up and write them down.
I wanted to grab my recorder and talk through what I was seeing.
But I couldn’t move. Couldn't speak. Couldn't do anything except close my eyes and breathe.
Covers slid along my legs as I felt my body being moved. My eyes were fluttering closed as my naked body descended into the soft sheets. A soft pair of lips pressed against my cheek, smelling heavily of the scent still tumbling from between my legs.
I shivered at the touch of his lips and felt him smile against me, his nose nuzzling the shell of my ear.
“Good night, beautiful. Sleep well.”
Then the door to my room closed and sleep pulled me under. Fraught with dreams of my characters and storylines that would stick with me until morning.
Until I could function well enough to get to my laptop and write.
CHAPTER 17
KEVIN
“I took this meeting as a courtesy to you, Gianni. Because of our twenty-year friendship. But I’m not going to take another look at the numbers.”
“Kevin, come on. You know me. You know how reliable I am. I will make those payments. But this new security system will give my clients a sense of ease. It’ll get me back on my feet.”
“That isn’t how business works and you know it,” I said. “Clients don’t come because they feel safe. They come because you have a product that works. The only way I’m looking into the numbers is if you let me give you advice on how to salvage your business.”
“I know damn good and well how to run my business, Mr. Spencer.”
“So it’s ‘Kevin’ when you need a favor and ‘Mr. Spencer’ when you’re pissed? Come on, Gianni. You already have my answer to our contract. But I can help you come back from this. I can help you regain your footing. I’m a consultant on the side, you know this.”
I watched Gianni’s eyes as they went from pleading to dark. His face became stoic and his back grew a little stiffer. I cleared my throat and readied myself to leave. I knew this side of Gianni. He was a good businessman, but he sometimes used strong-arming tactics. He was readying himself for a fight.
“I think you should take another look at things,” Gianni said.
“I’m not one of your business partners that you can intimidate,” I said. “I’m your friend. And if you don’t want my help, then this meeting is over. I have two kids who are begging for my time and I can’t waste any more of it on you.”
“Did they enjoy the museums?”
I squinted my eyes as I held his gaze.
“Yes,” I said. “They had a good time.”
“And the girlfriend?”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek. That was his angle? Brooke? She was only six years younger than me. There was no story there.
No blackmail he could hang over my head.
“Goodbye, Gianni.”
“I suggest you take another look at the numbers. It might be in the best interests of your vacation.”
“I don’t like your tone and I don’t know what you’re suggesting, but we are through here. As a courtesy, I will inform you that all of the emails sent to Owen have been forwarded to Legal, and I’ll be informing them of this conversation as well.”
“Hope you enjoy the rest of your stay.”
I didn’t like the way Gianni was grinning at me. It made me nervous. I stood up from my chair and buttoned my suit coat, then pulled my phone from my pocket. I called Legal on the way out of the restaurant and told them to prepare a lawsuit against Gianni.
While I didn’t know what he had up his sleeve, I knew his tactics well enough to know something was coming.
I slipped into the back of a cab and started toward the house. But before I could get there, my phone rang. I sighed and picked it up, ready to bat away whatever work it was Owen wanted me to do.
But instead, it was Brooke.
And she sounded frantic.
“Kevin. It’s me. I’ve looked everywhere, and I can’t find her. I don’t know what happened. She was just in the bathroom.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, Brooke. You can’t find who?”
“Sydney. I can’t find Sydney, Kevin.”
“What do you mean you can’t find her? Where did she go?” I asked.
“To the bathroom. The kids and I were swimming in the ocean and she had to go to the bathroom. But Daniel didn’t want me to leave the water. I watched her all the way into the house, but then I turned around and a current had Daniel farther away than I liked, so I went to get him and bring him back. Then I went into the house to check on Sydney thinking she might need help with her suit, and she isn’t here.”
“Did she go to her room?”
“She’s not here, Kevin.”
“The waterslide.”
“Kevin. Sydney isn’t here.”
“The closet? The pantry? The fucking ductwork?”
My heart was slamming against my chest as I tapped the shoulder of the cab driver.
“As fast as you can and there’s a massive tip in it for you,” I said.
“I’ve looked everywhere. I swear to you, Kevin. It was up the steps to the porch and in through the back doors. I watched her all the way in.”
“She’s gotta be somewhere, Brooke. Sydney’s favorite game is hide-and-seek. Check the cabinets in the kitchen. I’m on my way home.”
The cab screeched to a halt and I threw a wad of cash at the driver. I bolted out of the car, started up the steps and found Brooke in the kitchen. All of the kitchen doors were open and pans were on the floor. I heard the patter of little footsteps and watched as Daniel slid around the corner.
“Not under the beds,” he said.
“Did you check under the bathroom sinks?” Brooke asked.
“Yeah,” Daniel said.
“Is it possible she ran up the beach?” Brooke asked.
“We can check.”
I watched her jump before she knocked her head on the corner of the counter. I rushed over to her side and pulled her into my arms, cradling her head. She was crying. Her shoulders were shaking with sobs. Daniel was clinging to my leg as my eyes darted around the beach out back, looking around for my daughter.
My little princess.
Where the hell was she?
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s go check th
e beach.”
The three of us headed out and ran up and the down the beach calling her name. I looked out into the water, preparing for the worst. I never thought I would hate those crystal clear waters as much as I did at that moment. Because no matter how long I looked, I didn’t see her.
Not her eyes. Not her body.
Nothing.
We ran up and down the two-mile stretch of beach purchased only for us. And she was nowhere to be found. She wasn’t in the brush or behind the trees. She wasn’t in the house or out in the water. She wasn’t even playing at the edge of the property near the damn road.
Sydney was nowhere to be found.
“Emergency services.”
“Yes, I need the island’s best detectives at my house now,” I said.
“What’s the address?”
I rattled off my address as Brooke clung to my son.
“What’s the emergency?”
“My daughter,” I said.
“And what’s wrong with her?”
Tears rushed to my eyes as I gazed out into the horizon. Into the endless scroll of ocean as the sun beamed down upon my back.
“She’s been kidnapped,” I said. “My daughter’s been taken.”
CHAPTER 18
BROOKE
I groaned as I woke up, my back aching and my eyes sore. It was still dark outside as I sat up on the couch and I could feel something warm underneath my legs. It had been a long night of talking to the police and having them case the beach. They tore the house apart looking for anything to help them with their investigation.
Then they left us alone to wait for an update.
I pried my legs away from Kevin and stood up. My arm was asleep and my head was pounding. Tears began pouring down my cheeks again. It felt like I was falling apart. The pain in my chest wouldn’t let up and I felt myself growing sick. I rushed to the bathroom and opened up the top of the toilet, emptying the contents of my stomach into the opening.
The guilt was immeasurable.
And it wouldn’t stop.
“Come here. I’ve got you. That’s it.”
I tried batting Kevin away, but it was no use. I didn’t deserve to be touched by him. To be doted on by him. I’d lost his child. Left her to fend for herself and she had been taken in my care. I was supposed to protect her. To cherish her and love her and make sure she was okay during these damn business meetings. And I had let my guard down and she was gone.
