by Tara Rose
“What was in the package?”
Felipe shrugged. “No clue. Ivy said it was small and light, and she doesn’t recall who it was addressed to. He took it off the plane with him when he disembarked.”
“Son of a bitch. Does she know who the man was?”
“Yep. Clayton Hale III. That bastard flew onto the island ten days ago.”
Chapter Sixteen
Mattie was so taken with Alaina in the first five minutes that she felt as if the two could have been long lost friends. They talked about Alaina growing up in California, and what it was like for her now on the island, and moving up in a company where there were no top executives outside the Raleigh or Durante family. Eventually, they moved onto talk of the lifestyle, and Mattie was very surprised to learn that Alaina hadn’t been in it before moving to Sybaris Cove.
“Jeff and Taj were my first introduction to it. They run the shipping department, and one of their employees was unfortunately also my ex-boyfriend from California. He was a screw-up and kept getting key orders wrong. None of us knew it at the time, but Alex was dating Sallyanne, our former department head. So Taj and Jeff kept getting the word from Tim not to fire Alex.”
“Oh, what a nightmare for you.”
“Well, it would have been, if those two hadn’t finally stood up to Tim and Asa both and done the right thing. But then Alex used Sallyanne and me again to try and get me fired.”
“What happened?”
Alaina’s face took on an expression of so much pain that Mattie wished she hadn’t asked.
“I was with Alex for quite a while in college, and I let him take nude photos of me. He kept them, although I didn’t know that. When he got fired, he sent them to Sallyanne, Asa, Jeff, and Taj.”
Mattie put her hands over her mouth. “Oh my God.”
“Yeah. To our work e-mails, yet. Asa’s biggest concern was, of course, company security, so the cops went over to Alex’s house and made sure he hadn’t also hacked into the system at Phoebe’s Playthings, or stolen company files.”
“The cops did that for Asa?”
Alaina chuckled. “Oh, Mattie. You have no idea. Asa owns the cops on this island. You want something done, just ask him. He calls Santos Augustine, one of the sergeants, and it’s taken care of.”
A shiver ran through her as the image of the man she and the guys had seen lurking in the alley behind the animal clinic rose up in her mind. “I’ll remember that.”
“So, Felipe and Rey said you have questions about the lifestyle?”
Everything Mattie asked Alaina, the guys had already given her the answer to in one form or another, except for one. When Mattie asked how she reconciled being in an executive position at Phoebe’s Playthings with being submissive to two men, Alaina smiled.
“When I’m at work, I’m in work mode. Everything I do inside those walls is geared toward making that company money. I came here nine years ago with big dreams, and I have to tell you that when the trouble started with Alex, I wasn’t sure I’d be on the island much longer. But they came through for me. Not only Jeff and Taj, but Asa, as well. My hard work and determination have been rewarded.”
“That’s good to know. While I was growing up we heard all sorts of things about Tim and Asa, but I’m learning that most of them aren’t entirely true.”
“Well, some of them probably are, but they both have their good sides, too. But back to your question. When I’m home, I’m Taj’s and Jeff’s submissive, one hundred percent. My goal is to serve them. And they in turn protect me and cherish me. In many ways, it’s more intense and intimate even than a traditional marriage. The level of trust I need to show them, and they need to show me, goes far deeper than staying faithful, combining finances, or any of the things couples do when they marry.”
“Do you mean because of the play? Is that the trust you’re talking about?”
“Not only that, but because they’re in charge. Sure, I can safeword and we will negotiate something, but ultimately, I trust them to make the decisions. I know they have my best interests at heart, and I also know they’d never do anything to harm me. They take care of me.”
“And they in turn trust you to let them know when you need to talk about something, right?”
“Exactly. It’s called a power exchange because that’s what it is. It goes deeper than a traditional marriage. I literally place my life in their hands when they restrain me and we play.”
Mattie thought about all the things that she hadn’t yet allowed Felipe and Rey to try. Was she truly showing them complete trust by not allowing them to try any impact play with her? Or to use a knife blade to scrape off candle wax? Wasn’t it time to shed the past for good, and truly give herself over to the two men who had held her heart all these years?
By the time they left the restaurant, Mattie felt like she had a new friend, along with a renewed sense of peace and contentment in her life. She couldn’t wait to get back to Felipe’s house and tell the guys all about her conversation with Alaina.
As she pulled into the driveway, her phone rang. It was Tessie, and Mattie answered it, hoping everything was okay with Babs and Bruce.
“The cops are here. Someone tried to break in.”
“What?” Mattie ran toward the front door but the guys were already out of the house, their phones in their hands. They both tried to talk to her at once and she had to push her phone against her ear to hear the rest of Tessie’s words.
“I called 911 and then I called you. Santos said he was on the phone with Rey about some man coming to the island when the call came in.”
At first, Mattie didn’t understand what Tessie meant, but one look at their faces and it all fell into place. “Tessie, are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“No. No, I’m fine. But the cops want you to come over now.”
Rey and Felipe were already pulling her toward Rey’s Jeep. “We’re on our way.” She disconnected the call and, as they backed out of the driveway, turned to face Rey. “What the hell is going on?”
Felipe leaned forward from the back seat. “We were going to tell you this as soon as you got back from lunch, and then Santos called us.” He ran his hand over his face. “There is no easy way to say this. Clay has been on the island for ten days.”
“Excuse me?” She wasn’t afraid. Rather, she was so angry she finally understood what it meant when someone saw red.
“He hitched a ride with Cove Cargo so there was no record of his arrival at McMurphy Flight. I talked to Scott earlier, and he suggested I call the Balloux family because he’d heard from one of the flight crew the two companies share that a passenger had come back from Birmingham on a routine run over a week ago. So I called, and spoke to Ivy.”
“He flew?”
“Yep. She said he insisted on riding in the back, where they stash the cargo, so he couldn’t see out the windows, and he was pale and sweaty by the time they landed. She and her sister thought he was going to puke inside the plane, and told him he’d have to take a passenger flight back because they weren’t taking him again. They thought his reaction was from riding in a cargo plane, which isn’t as smooth a ride as the one in the planes McMurphy Flight uses.
“Oh my God. Why is he here? And why has he been spying on me? Is he the one who tried to break into my condo? Where has he been staying?”
“Take a deep breath, sweetheart,” said Rey. “I called the motel after Felipe spoke to Ivy, and he’s registered there under a fake name. That’s when we called Santos. While we were talking to him, the 911 call came in from Tessie.”
“Clay tried to break into my condo?” He must have picked up some pointers from Alvin.
“Yes,” said Felipe. “Apparently he didn’t realize Tessie was there.”
“She lives in the same building as I do. I gave her a key when I started spending the nights with you two. I didn’t want the agamas alone that much.”
“Well, she was inside when he tried to break in,” said Rey. “She call
ed the cops.”
Mattie ran her hands through her hair. “I don’t freaking believe this. Why? What the hell was he going to do in there? Steal something? They left me with next to nothing. There’s nothing to take. I got ninety-five thousand dollars in the settlement. That’s it. Not even enough to buy the practice and put a down payment on the condo. I still owe Doc Ramon over seventy-five grand. It’s not like I took things from the house or something.”
Felipe pointed as they pulled up to her building. “Looks like he’s still here. Let’s ask the asshole.”
They got out of the Jeep, and Mattie ignored the crowd and the other cop cars parked all over the lawn. She ran toward the squad car where she spotted Clay in the backseat, but Santos stepped in front of her. “Hang on there.”
“You know what? I’m in no mood. I want to know why the hell he’s here on this island, and why he tried to break into my condo!” She didn’t care that half her neighbors were on the lawn and the street, watching. She was sick and tired of this shit.
For almost three years she’d put up with harassment from him and his family, all because she had dared to file for divorce. Not a one of them had ever believed that Clay would hurt her. Not one. She’d been entirely alone during her marriage. And now, after everything he’d done to her, he had dared to come here, to her home, and break into her condo? No. She was done taking shit from the entire fucking Hale family, starting with Clay.
Felipe and Rey both took Santos aside, and Mattie strode toward the squad car again, but another officer stepped in front of her. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him, not caring if she got arrested. It would be worth it for the chance to finally confront Clay. Eventually, Santos came over and spoke to the officer, who stepped aside.
Santos opened the car door and addressed Clay. “Someone here wants a word with you, scumbag.”
He was cuffed, but that didn’t stop him from leaning out to give her a menacing look. As she stared into his cold gray eyes, every single second of her marriage came crashing back in. The ruse, the lies, the fights, and each blow he’d dealt to her body and her spirit. But this time, she didn’t experience the usual physical reaction. There were no damp palms, and there was no icy fear coursing through her veins. Her heart raced, but not from anxiety. This time, she was pissed off as hell.
“Why? Why are you here?”
“You left me. No one leaves a Hale.”
“What? Are you kidding me? We’re divorced, you idiot. It’s official. It’s over and done with. Move on, Clay. I certainly have.” She’d never spoken that way to him. Not in all the years she’d known him. Mattie hardly knew her own voice, but what she’d just done filled her with renewed strength and an urge to punch his lights out.
And she liked it. A lot.
Clay’s face grew angry and dark, but it still had no effect on her. She wanted to dance around the lawn with joy, screaming at the top of her lungs. He no longer frightened her. His physical presence, and that look on his face didn’t send her cowering to the nearest corner in fear. She had no urge to hide, and she wasn’t begging him not to hurt her.
It was finally and truly over. She was free of his grip forever.
Mattie repeated that to herself, over and over in her mind, like a mantra.
“You always were a vindictive bitch. Everyone said so.”
Rey and Felipe stepped forward, but Mattie held up her hands. “I got this, Sir.” She took several steps toward Clay. “You listen to me, asshole. You hit me. You verbally abused me. You mentally and emotionally abused me. You kept me a prisoner in that house. You made me crawl through your shit! You used brushes on my bare skin that people use to strip paint off walls. I have scars on my body from what you did to me.”
Her breathing came in quick gasps, but not from fear. She had visions of beating his ferret-like face to a pulp, while he sat there helpless, in those handcuffs.
“And none of your family knew anything because you hid it from them. You’re an abuser. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, you had your cousins follow me around. They followed me to Georgia, or did you think I didn’t notice them? And then you tried to hurt me still with that joke of a settlement. Your family could buy and sell this island but you threw me a pittance.”
She took a deep breath to keep from passing out. All the rage and anger bubbled up until she could hardly think, but it no longer mattered. She was going to have her say and then this would be the very last time she ever thought about Clayton Hale III or his family.
“And you know what? I don’t give a rat’s ass. Because I’d rather live in poverty than live with you. Than live with your parents, your aunts and uncles, your cousins, and all the rest of them who think you walk on water. Damn fools who can’t see past their own noses and refuse to acknowledge the truth about one of their own. A Hale abuse his wife? Not possible.”
He narrowed his eyes, and for the first time since she’d met him, she glimpsed doubt on his face. Actual doubt. She exhaled loudly, and then took another deep breath. “That’s right. I no longer give a shit. I’m back home now. I have a practice of my own. I have my friends and my family here. They care about me, and they will never let you or anyone hurt me. I have two men in my life who would die to protect me. I have everything I never had in Alabama with you.”
She pointed toward the other cops. “So go ahead. Spin your tales for them. Tell them the same lies you told your entire family. I don’t give a damn anymore. Because I know the truth.”
She strode right up to him and pushed a finger into his chest. “And you know the truth. Nothing you say will change that. Not now…not ever. And now, I want you to get the fuck off my island! This is my home! Get out of here and don’t come back. Or I swear to all that is holy I will kill you with my own hands.”
Santos got between her and Clay. “Oh, he’s leaving today. Unless you want to press charges, that is.”
“I want him gone. Forever.”
Santos’s grin was truly evil. “It’s done. And if he ever comes back, under any name, we’ll throw his ass in jail for so long, he won’t know what hit him.”
“You can’t do that.” Clay’s voice was indignant.
Santos leaned close to him. “Wanna bet? You’re not in Madison, Alabama, buddy. I’d strongly advise you to take what’s behind door number one. You don’t even want to know what the people on this island can do to you.”
As the crowd around them cheered, Mattie leaned into the embrace of her two Doms. Santos slammed the car door shut, and then she watched the squad car drive off in the direction of the airport.
Her limbs began to shake and the tears came. She cried so hard she nearly threw up her lunch. Her entire body trembled, and she didn’t think she’d ever feel warm again. Rey and Felipe held her and whispered things in her ear, but she barely heard the words. It was enough to have them there, holding her and comforting her. She didn’t want to let them go.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “You saved me. Both of you.”
“You did the work just now,” said Felipe.
She pulled out of his embrace so she could see their eyes. “But I never could have done that. Not without the love and care you both have shown me. This is because of you. Both of you. Because of your love.”
They held her close again, and Mattie was barely aware that the crowd had dissipated and they were alone on the lawn. Even Tessie had gone back to her own condo. She only knew that she was in the arms of her two Doms, and that’s where she wanted to stay forever.
Chapter Seventeen
When they went into Mattie’s condo, they checked on Babs and Bruce. Felipe and Rey made one call, and less than a half hour later, Jeff and Taj showed up with hammers, nails, and boards. They covered the window that Clay had broken, and the front door that he’d ruined trying to get the lock open.
They decided to move the agamas to Felipe’s house because Mattie wanted them where they could all keep an eye on them. By the time they returned to Felipe’s home
and had the lizards settled, Santos had called Rey to inform him that Clay was on a plane headed for Birmingham, and that Santos had had a long talk with a friend of his in the Alabama State Police.
They now knew the assumed name Clay had used to check into the motel on Sybaris Cove, and what he’d done to convince Ivy and her sister to fly him here.
Ivy had taken the five thousand dollars and given it back to the cops who accompanied Clay on the plane from Sybaris Cove. Santos said the Alabama police met the plane and confiscated the money. He also told them that the police knew if Clay set foot on this island again he’d be arrested.
“So he’s gone for real,” she said. “This is truly over.”
“Yes,” said Rey. “Santos said Clay told them he’d been spying on you the entire time. He went on and on about you fucking two guys, and how that wasn’t right.”
She would have laughed if this whole thing hadn’t been so creepy. “Wasn’t right…as if he even knows what that means.”
Felipe put his arms around her and held her close. “We are so proud of you. The way you marched right up to him and had your say.”
“I’m sorry about the swearing.”
Rey laughed and stroked her arm. “Are you kidding? We were cheering you on. Everyone was. Didn’t you hear them?”
She shook her head. “Not until the end. Honestly. I was too focused on saying what was on my mind. It was like I couldn’t stop. And there was no fear. It was so liberating. I’ve never spoken to him like that. Not even close.”
“It took a lot of courage to do it,” said Felipe. “Wait until Vivian hears about this.”
“Yeah. I suppose it did. I need to call her.”
Felipe snorted. “On this island? By midnight, every single resident will have heard what you just did.”
Mattie smiled and nodded. “True. I’d forgotten about that.”
“How do you feel right now?” asked Rey.
