I nodded, then crushed him in a hug. “Thank you. You’re right—this was hard to hear and is going to take a while to fully digest, but it gave me a huge piece to my puzzle.” I’d needed that—to stand a chance at healing. But would it be enough?
31
Liam
The next morning, being back in my office felt surreal.
Our flight home had been uneventful. Ella and I slept in the aft compartment while the security team camped in the main cabin.
Now, aside from the fact that my right knuckles hurt like hell from punching Blaine’s ugly-ass face, the whole ordeal might never have happened. Only it had. And it played in my mind on a constant loop.
When I’d gotten the news that Ella had gone rogue, it devastated me. The fact that it was pushing ten a.m. and there was still no sign of Blaine’s share of the divorce papers had me reaching for my TUMS.
To a certain extent, I had been bluffing. Right now, I had nothing to pin on him that wasn’t circumstantial. But given enough manpower and the amount of funding I was willing to blow on the project, it was only a matter of time before he was done. He knew it and I knew it, which was why he’d peed himself and I was able to put down my antacids.
I didn’t need them.
I might not know how or when, but Blaine would eventually end up hanging from his own rope.
I’d given Ella an office down the hall from mine, where she planned to work on her college degree. Until she officially enrolled, I had her running final-round consumer testing on apps close to hitting the market. We’d mutually decided that for the time being, at least until after the divorce, it would be best if she left her job in Yvonne’s shop.
“Knock, knock.” Owen strode through my door. “Good to have you back, buddy. Feel up to some brainstorming?”
“Sure. On what?”
“What else?” He grinned. He’d been pissed about my “shenanigans,” but he and Natalie and their girls adored Ella and supported my cause. In my absence, we’d officially purchased Find Me!, and Owen was back to tinkering. “While you were gone, I assigned a crew to work out some of the bugs. When this thing gets stumped, it spits out a list of probable locations that the user has to weed through. Now, with current-day GPS technology, we should have no problem seamlessly merging this with all known smart phones. The tricky part comes in with videos and images that are pre-GPS era.”
“Can’t we add a disclaimer?”
“Sure, but…” He scratched his head. “Wouldn’t it be more fun if we could pinpoint the location from literally any video or photo in any era? I’ve got a few geek buddies—remember Phil and Lambert from school?”
“Yeah. Didn’t Lambert hold the all-time beer-bong speed record? At least until we graduated.”
Owen grinned. “Considering he practices every weekend, he probably still does. Anyway, now those two are working cyber crimes for the SFPD, and you wouldn’t believe what some pervs have out there. They were helping me out with test runs, and we actually tracked down a child porn shop.”
“No shit? That’s awesome. Great work, man.” I patted his back. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but how’s it going with tracking down Ella’s possible video?”
“I’ve got her image plugged into face-recognition software, but so far, nothing’s come up. I’ll keep at it, of course, but I’m afraid that if, like she said, she had duct tape over her mouth, it’s screwing with results.”
“Sure. I understand.” But that didn’t mean I’d give up until every copy of that video was found and destroyed. Hell, I didn’t even know for sure if there was a video, but right now, that was the only thing that made sense for why Blaine had backed down. “So what did you need my help with? Sounds like you’ve got it figured out.”
“I mostly do. Mind if I borrow this?” He took my tablet from my desk.
“Be my guest…”
We spent an hour debugging code until Ella was the one knocking. “Warden, do I get time off for good behavior?”
“Damn…” Owen shook his head. “You two aren’t even official, and she’s already ruining our fun.”
“Sorry.” She yawned. “I’m not used to this kind of work. At the Christmas shop, Yvonne gave me lots of tea and cookie breaks.”
Owen looked to me, then back to Ella. “She sounds like a lot better boss than this guy.”
“Oh, trust me, she was.” Ella helped herself to my lap, then planted a kiss on my cheek. My heart swelled. “Lucky for Liam he’s hot. Otherwise, I’d go right back to those cookies.”
We both knew that in a perfect world, that was where she wanted to be, but neither of us could stomach the thought of Blaine trying to take her again.
“Speaking of cookies,” Owen stood. “Darcy gets her cast off today, and Nat’s hosting a tea party after the twins and Jane get home from school. You two want to come?”
No. I wanted to grab Chinese take-out on the way home, then lock ourselves in my theater room, where maybe we’d watch a movie or maybe not. Whatever we ended up doing, I preferred we be alone. I’d shared Ella way too much.
“Sounds perfect,” Ella said to my regret. “What should we bring?”
So much for my Chinese.
“Darcy’s already been spoiled rotten, so just bring yourselv—”
“Got a sec?” Now, Garrett filled my door. With any luck, he’d need me to stay late tonight and it would get us out of going to Darcy’s party. I didn’t mind tea, but I’d enjoy making love to Ella more.
“What’s up?” I asked, not liking the way she’d stiffened when Garrett entered the room.
“I’ve got surprising news.”
“Bad?” Ella asked.
“Is this going to take a while?” Owen asked. “I’m starving.”
Garrett next did something I’d rarely seen him do—smile. “This’ll just take a sec, Owen. Promise, you’ll want to hear. This about knocked me out of my chair. I got an email from a Memphis divorce attorney who claims to represent Blaine. He’s agreed to go ahead with the divorce—no contest. Says he wants to get it over with ASAP.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” If I hadn’t had Ella on my lap, I would have floated out of my chair. “Our plan worked?”
“That’s awesome!” Owen reached over the desk to shake my hand, then Ella’s. “Congrats, guys. Natalie and the girls will be thrilled—not that they know details, but they’ve been talking weddings since New Year’s.”
“Trust me,” Garrett said, “considering how much time I already have to spend on your pile of cases, I wouldn’t kid about something like this.”
“I don’t buy it.” Ella stared out the window. “This is a trap. I know it.”
“Just remember what dirt we have on him,” I said. “He’s smart enough to know he’s beat. Besides, he can try getting to you all he wants, but with the added security around here and the house, you’re safe. He wouldn’t dare touch you. Even if he did, my team would see him coming.”
“Agreed.” Garrett paused, already halfway out the door. “Anyway, just thought I’d share the good news. I am officially taking the rest of the day off and getting wasted.”
“Catch you later.” Owen waved. After Garrett left, he said, “I like his plan better than ours. Think Nat would be mad if I skipped the tea party in favor of bar hopping?”
—
“This was my cast.” Darcy passed the two pieces of hot-pink fiberglass to Ella, who had been granted a seat at the “princess” table.
Owen and I were stuck at the kitchen counter bar. Charlie sat in his high chair alongside us, drooling over a teething biscuit.
I was eavesdropping on the dining room from my angled view. Owen had broached the subject of the two of us joining Garrett with Natalie, but she wasn’t having any of it—not that I would have left Ella.
“You weren’t here to sign it,” Darcy said to Ella, “but you can now—if you want.”
“I would love to.” Ella sipped her tea. She even held her pinkie finger out, just like the
other girls. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you fell.”
“It’s okay. Where were you?”
“Darcy…” Natalie warned while topping off everyone’s tea. “Remember how we talked about not asking Uncle Liam and Ella lots of questions?”
“It’s okay,” Ella said. “Darcy, when we’re done with our tea, could you let me use a Magic Marker?”
“Sure. But don’t use black. Daddy signed it with black, and he made me really mad.”
“Promise,” Ella crossed her heart. “I will only use your favorite colors.”
“Okay, thanks.” Darcy jumped up to ambush her with a hug.
“She’s great with kids,” Owen noted. Instead of the chicken salad–filled croissants everyone else was eating, Natalie had given him a broiled chicken breast and celery. He switched plates with me. “Toss that in the trash, then ask Nat for seconds.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and it felt good. Unlike Ella, I believed Blaine knew he’d been outmatched, and that he’d given up on ever getting her back. As such, I planned on partying, but I didn’t need booze. The thought of marrying Ella had me high on life. “Dude, you’re going to get me in trouble. Natalie scares me.”
“What do you think she does to me?” He made quick work of my sandwich. “And don’t think you’re getting off easy. She likes Ella. It’ll only be a matter of time before she teaches your soon-to-be wife all of her evil wifely ways.”
I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. You know you love every minute of being her submissive.”
“Shh…” Owen reddened. “You can’t talk about shit like that in front of the baby.”
“But you can say shit?” Oh, snap. Had I accidentally hit a nerve? The notion of Owen and Natalie being closet sex fiends left me smiling all over again, then wondering if Ella would ever be into anything kinky.
—
I held onto the question until getting her back to my Palo Alto house.
We were in the steam shower, and I was washing her hair when I kissed her neck. “You’ll never guess what I learned at the party reject counter.”
“You weren’t rejected.” She arched her head back, groaning in pleasure when I deepened my massage. “Darcy didn’t want boys at her party.”
“I’m hardly a boy.” My cock proudly stood at attention to prove it.
She spun around to glare. “You know what I mean.”
After a quick rinse of her hair and body, she got out.
I followed with my cock at half-mast. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She toweled off.
“Care to help me out? From where I’m standing, we’ve got reason to celebrate. Not-so-little Liam agrees.” I cast her a hopeful grin.
She raised her eyebrows. “I’m sorry. I’m just not feeling it. I know you think Blaine’s turnaround is good news, but I can’t get the fact that he really did film the whole thing out of my mind. Do you think Owen will find a copy?”
“If it’s out there, he’ll find it—and destroy it. Right after he sends a copy to Tennessee’s attorney general.”
She nodded, but her glum demeanor read far from relaxed.
“Hey…” I curved my hands over her still-wet shoulders. She’d wrapped her towel around herself sarong-style, so I dried her with mine. “Just outside these walls is a ten-man security team—the best money can buy. This time, I’ve not only got ex-SEALs, but former Secret Service guys. I’d like to think I can protect you myself, but even my ego’s not that big, so I turned the job over to professionals. You’re safe. Believe me.”
“I want to. I really do, but…”
“Stop there. We’re golden. Untouchable. All you need to do is plan a wedding. Big or small—I don’t care, as long as you’re happy.”
I kissed her nose, and she nodded.
So why didn’t I feel better? And why, when I climbed into bed alongside her, was my cock flaccid?
32
Ella
We’d been home a month.
I should have been thrilled to not only live in a mammoth house, but share it with a man like Liam. I wasn’t. Every night I dreamt of the rape. Blaine’s subsequent attack. The fact that all of it was out there, just waiting to be gossiped about on TMZ or Entertainment Tonight.
I’d been unprepared for the public’s insatiable appetite for dirt on Liam’s, and now my, private life. The first tabloid article hit a week after our return—a spread in the National Enquirer titled Billionaire Bombshell—Divorce Disaster! The article had trash-talked Liam and me, labeling us as adulterers and claiming that poor Blaine’s heart had been broken. A photo had been snapped of me entering Zoogle headquarters. Liam had his arm around my shoulders, and a team of bodyguards surrounded us both.
Another week passed, and out came another story: Sad Little Rich Girl? Billionaire Bimbo Begs for Bigger! This sordid tale claimed Liam and I were fighting over the fact that he wouldn’t give me the opulent wedding of my dreams. Ridiculous! If anything, he seemed disappointed that I didn’t want a splashy wedding. The accompanying photo had been snapped of me leaving a wedding dress shop. Carol was supposed to have met me, but at the last minute, she had to bail. Head down, in the photo spread I’d looked morose.
In the sterile white Palo Alto master bath, Liam and I were getting ready for bed on a Tuesday when I said, “Nathan called today. He wants to do lunch on Saturday.”
“Sorry, babe, but that’s no good. I’ve got that thing for the San Francisco Historic District Commission. It’d be great if you tagged along. You need to be familiar with how they run.”
I perched on the edge of the oversized tub. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you weren’t invited.”
“Okay…”
“It’s not that Nathan purposely excluded you, but we haven’t had a chance to really talk since the Seychelles, and I thought this sounded really nice.”
He finished brushing his teeth to meet my gaze in the mirror. “Babe…I need you at this charity thing. It’s important. I want you there.”
“I don’t care what you want.” Even as I hurled the hateful words at Liam, I was sorry, yet still meant them. “I feel like I’m living in a terrarium. When’s the last time we’ve been anywhere but your office or this stupid, ugly house that reminds me of my sterile room at the clinic? I can’t even remember when we last went to your beach house—well, wait, yes, I can. It was the day Blaine snatched me. Am I not allowed to go there, either?”
“Why are you picking a fight? Garrett says the divorce will be final by the end of May. You should be poring over bridal magazines and lunching with Natalie and Carol.”
“I’ve tried lunching with Carol, but she’s crazy busy—always doing something work-related for you. Natalie’s been great, but the kids consume most of her time. I’m lonely. I miss Yvonne and my job and being able to do whatever I want, when I want.”
He hardened his jaw in the way that I’d learned preceded one of his stubborn spells when he either pretended not to hear what I was asking or just plain ignored me.
“I know you hear me.” I waved my hands in front of his face. “Or wait—are we also not remembering how you kept me out of the loop on what went down with Blaine in Tennessee?”
His penetrating stare met mine head-on. “Oh—we’re remembering. How about we think back to the last time we made love? Seems like that may have been back in the Seychelles.”
“It was not, and you know it.”
“Do I, Ell? Yeah, we’ve had great sex since then, but you know as well as I do that sex doesn’t equal love, and I haven’t wanted to say anything, but you’ve checked out, and for the life of me, I don’t know why.” He tried rubbing my shoulders, but I moved away. I couldn’t bear for him to touch me. It hurt too bad. I loved him too much.
“You want to know why? My parents, when I went to them, begging for help in escaping Blaine, hadn’t believed me. Now, the same thing’s happening all over again with you. Yes, you’ve got suspected dirt on Blaine, and he agreed to sign th
e divorce papers, but what has that really proven? Until he’s charged for the crimes he committed against me, they’re pure conjecture. Only, to prove them, we need the video he took that night. How much fun is that going to be for me and the rest of the country to watch? How do you expect me to feel? All of this hurts. I need you, but you’re always busy doing—”
“I’m busy because not only do I have a business to run, but I’m spearheading the search for intel that will officially bring Blaine down. I’m sorry if you’re feeling neglected. Hell, if you have the stomach for it, join in on the search.”
I sharply looked away. “I can’t. You know that. Just please understand that because I love you more than anyone, you have the capacity to hurt me more than anyone.”
He sighed, raking his fingers through his already longer hair. “Then we’re even, because you’re hurting me. In a matter of weeks, your ties to Blaine will be severed. Then what? Are you still going to dwell on the negative? Or let it go, and get on with our future?”
“Don’t you think I want to let it go? But how? He’s in my head and I can’t get him out! I alternately want you to find that video and dread the day you do, because if it gets out in front of people I’ll be humiliated. And then, here I thought maybe having lunch with Nathan would help me feel more like my old self, but you’re saying it would be better for me to skip that in favor of standing around with a bunch of strangers who’ve probably already decided I’m nobody more important than the tabloids’ ‘Billionaire’s Bimbo.’ ”
“Giving back is important to me. As my wife, is it wrong for me to want you to help?”
“No, but you have charity opportunities all the time. Why can’t I have this one Saturday? Or wait—is this not so much about me missing your function as your not wanting me alone with Nathan? Like you honestly think I would consider being unfaithful?”
“Christ…”
I left him standing there while I brushed my teeth.
Our union hit so hard and fast that it had consumed me. My soul knew Liam, but not my head. What did that say about our future? I’d never doubted our bond before, but this was different. We fundamentally disagreed on an issue I thought was understood.
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