by Cox, Zara
God, no wonder he’d built a shrine for her.
Pain, jealousy and a healthy amount of self-loathing for her very uncharitable thoughts congealed in a ball of misery in her gut.
She stared harder at the sultry Farrah’s photo, searching for answers she knew she wouldn’t find. Then she scrolled back up and read the message again.
A full body shiver raked over her.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Zach rasped in her ear.
She jumped and slammed the tablet shut. Or she tried to.
Besides the insane talents he’d been blessed with, Zach also possessed super quick reflexes. He snatched the iPad from her and flipped back the cover.
Heart in her throat, she watched his face as he scanned the page.
“Who sent this to you?” he demanded, his face as mask of pure, icy fury.
“I don’t know. There was no identifiable email address. Just a bunch of numbers and figures.”
He threw back the sheets and lunged out of bed. Tension gripped his body and stiffened his shoulders as he stalked naked to the dressing room, her tablet still in his hand.
“Zach?”
He came out seconds later, dressed in dark blue lounger pants. “I’ll deal with this.”
“How…who sent it?”
“I don’t know. But I’ll find out.” He strode purposefully to the door of their suite and yanked it open.
Bethany scrambled out of bed, threw on a robe and raced after him.
Philip appeared in the doorway as she reached the living room and she saw Zach hand him her tablet. “…source of the email. It may have been hacked. Have it checked out.”
The thickset man merely nodded, unruffled by the fact that he’d been woken in the middle of the night.
“And the LA situation needs to be escalated,” Zach added. The cold menace in his voice made the hairs on her nape quiver.
Another nod and Philip calmly shut the door behind him.
“What’s the LA situation?” Bethany blurted, unable to stop the shivers that raked her body.
He slowly turned and faced her. His face was a mask of fury and deadly control. “Karim.”
“What are you going to do?”
“He came after you. All bets are off.”
Her hand tightened over her belt. “What does that mean? In plain English, please.”
“It means he will be given one last opportunity to deal with my lawyers. Or he’ll have to deal with me. Only a handful of people have the information in that email. It’s designed to look like a newspaper article but I’m certain it won’t be published anywhere. He’s an attorney, he knows the law.”
“So this was supposed to scare me?”
His jaw tightened. “Yes.”
Fear clambered up her gut and lodged in her chest. “What are you going to do?”
Her emotions must have communicated themselves to him because he paused in his pacing and came over to her.
He grabbed her waist in a tight grip and pulled her into his body. “Nothing that will jeopardise us, I promise. But he needs to know that he can’t mess with you.”
“Zach, I can take care of myself.”
“Then why are you shaking? Why do I see pain in your eyes?” His voice was husky with worry and fury and barely leashed control.
“Because…my imagination fell far short of grasping just how beautiful Farrah was. Now I know…and I…”
A rough sound jerked from his throat. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
“I’m worried about other things. But I know you’ll tell me what you can when you can.” She held her breath. “The hospital records going missing. Is it true?”
His mouth compressed. “Yes,” he answered tersely.
She shut her eyes and breathed out shakily. “Did you have something to do with it?”
“No. Not directly.” His tone pleaded for her to stop her line of questioning.
She placed her hand on his naked chest and felt his heartbeat jolt at her touch. “It’s okay, I won’t ask anymore. I can go back to trying to deal with how gorgeous Farrah was and how awful I feel for hating her because she had you first.”
He speared his fingers in her hair and angled her face up to his. “Don’t do this to yourself. I belong to you, Bethany. Do you need a reminder fuck? Because I can oblige if it helps you stay grounded in the fact that I’m yours and you’re mine.”
“God, Zach…” she sighed out his name and he groaned and pressed her back against the doorway.
His lips brushed the corner of her mouth. “Keep saying my name like that and I’ll throw in a Christ-you-undo-me fuck too.”
She laughed. “How many categories are there?”
“We can work our way through it and find out.” He cursed as a knock came at the door.
Reluctantly he dropped his hands and walked over to open it. Philip silently handed him her iPad, nodded and retreated.
“Does he have anything?”
Zach’s mouth tightened and he set her tablet on a console table. “He will by morning. Go back to bed, Peaches. I’ll join you shortly.”
“I don’t…”
“It’s okay, I’ll behave. For now. I just need to make a couple of calls.” He caught her to him and kissed her long and deep, then pushed her toward the hallway leading to the bedroom.
She turned and watched him walk away, her heart in her throat.
Every time she fooled herself into thinking they were making strides forward, something happened to set them back.
Frustration and fear had her altering her course, choosing another small hallway in the suite that led to the balcony outside.
Rome was spread out before her and in the distance the large, imposing dome of The Vatican loomed. She gripped the railing and tried to infuse hope into her heart.
She fell short.
Would they make it? Would they survive? Hospital records destroyed. Someone out there knew what Zach had done. The possibility of losing him rose like the dome before her, threatening to shatter her.
She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, trying to fight back the black hopelessness but she felt his presence the moment he stepped onto the wide space.
“You’re supposed to be in bed.”
He came toward her, tucking his cell phone into his pocket before strong arms bracketed her.
“All done with your call?”
He nodded. “We’re meeting on Friday.”
“We?”
“Yes. It’s time, Bethany.”
She swallowed and calculated quickly. “The IL trip wouldn’t be finished.”
“We’ll be done with Thailand and the guests. We’ll take a break and finish the private tour after we meet with the attorney.”
She hugged him tight and waited, knowing there was more.
“It could turn ugly, baby. But I’ll protect you, no matter what.”
Her fear escalated. “What are the options?”
He shrugged. “Breaking the agreement could possibly mean getting sued, maybe jail time. I don’t care about that--”
“I do!” She reared back and stared into his face. “I do,” she reiterated forcefully.
“Fuck, baby, I didn’t mean it like that. I won’t accept anything that takes me away from you. But I don’t want this thing between us any more. I’m not prepared to take that risk. But we need to do it right. Regardless of anything Karim’s trying to pull, his family have suffered enough. Hell, he’s lashing out because he’s in pain, much as I want to tear him a new one. I’m going to do my best to make things right all round.”
That core of integrity that had been the first pull to her falling in love with him tugged harder at her heart. He drove her mad with his secrets and veils but from the first, Zach wore his integrity with unashamed pride.
How could she fault him for that now simply because it stood in the way of her truly knowing the man behind the enigma?
She burrowed into his chest and breathed him in, her heart
sighing in contentment at just being this close to him. “You know I would never betray your trust, don’t you?”
He tugged her head up and kissed her, long and deep. When he raised his head, they both gulped in much needed oxygen. “I know. And if it were up to me, you’d know everything by now, fucked up bits and all.”
“You call it fucked up. I call it the building blocks of who you are today.”
“You must really, really like me, Peaches. Because only you will see things that way.”
She smiled. “I do really, really like you.”
His eyes darkened. “Come inside. I need to fuck you again.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
They flew by helicopter to the Amalfi Coast and Zach’s place right on the water shores of Lake Como.
The red brick palazzo was another stunning masterpiece that left her slack-jawed.
“Can you believe this place?” Angela, who’d accompanied them with Gabriel, asked as they moved from room to breath-taking room. “I hear it once belonged to a famous opera singer.”
The statuesque African American beauty shaded her eyes as they gazed back at the palazzo from the jetty where they’d wandered. Behind them, Zach was showing Gabriel the workings of his speedboat.
A big boy with his toy.
As if he caught her thoughts, he raised his head and slanted a heart-stopping smile her way.
“Shit. That smile shouldn’t be legal,” Angela murmured under her breath. “And you two really need to stop with the I-wanna-fuck-your-brains-out-right-now looks. It’s a health risk to the rest of us trying to keep up.”
Bethany face flamed. Knowing how completely besotted Angela and Gabriel were with each other made it easy to join in when Angela’s smirk turned to outright laughter.
“You glad we ditched Olga the Ogre?” She waggled her eyebrows.
Bethany laughed again. “It’s certainly nicer without her around.”
Angela’s eyebrow arched. “Right. You’re the diplomatic type. I think Mike’s about to ditch her. I say the bitch deserves to be ditched right all right. From like thirty thousand feet above the Atlantic.”
Bethany’s eyes widened.
Angela shrugged. “Yeah, I’m hating on her. She tried to make a play for Gabe too.”
“Well, in that case, when the time comes, I’ll bring the wire cutters.”
Angela smiled speculatively. “You’re a keeper. We should hook up when we get back to New York.”
Bethany smiled. “I’d like that.”
The men joined them and they headed in for lunch of roast peppers stuffed with shredded lamb and pasta.
As they enjoyed coffee, Zach caught her hand in his and trailed his lips over her skin.
Her phone beeped. She ignored it, caught up in the intense gaze of the man who commanded her emotions so very effortlessly.
“You like the house?” He seemed a little nervous.
“Yes, I do.”
He nodded. “Good.
She raised a brow. “Good? Is this some sort of audition?”
A corner of his mouth tilted. “Maybe.”
“I hate it when you’re cryptic.”
“It’s okay, Peaches,” he murmured for her ears alone. “You can work out your frustrations on me later.”
Her phone beeped again. Zach plucked it off the table, glanced at the screen and inserted it in his pocket. He ignored her arched look and stood.
“You work for me. The only person who should be commandeering your time is me.” He took her hand and pulled her up.
Gabriel and Angela followed and they headed back to the chopper.
Easy banter accompanied the ride back to Rome but every now and then, she caught a look on Zach’s face that made her nape tingle.
In the rush of getting packed to head to the airport, she forgot to ask for her phone back.
Three hours after take off, he lowered his superb body over hers, pinning her to their king-size cabin bed. “You want to try out the sky deck? I still have a promise to keep. Something about fucking you as we race toward the stars?”
She tried to lift her hand to smooth back his hair but her hand flopped uselessly back down as her sweat-slicked body shuddered through the afterglow of yet another orgasm. “Give me a year, Zach. I’m sure I’d have caught my breath back by then.”
He laughed, pure arrogance and male satisfaction throbbing through his voice. “You have an hour.”
“Oh…joy.” Her eyes drifted shut as he turned sideways and tucked her into his side. His steady heartbeat beneath her cheek lulled her deeper into sleep. With a sigh, she gave in.
***
Zach held his breath until he was sure she was asleep. Then he released the anger locked inside him.
Karim had taken the situation to a whole different level. The second message he’d sent to Bethany’s phone had contained more clues as to what happened six years ago. His ex-brother in law was skating dangerously close to breaching the terms of the agreement he was fighting Zach to protect.
He meant to threaten Zach. And damn if it wasn’t working.
A trace of panic flared alongside his anger. Because he knew Karim couldn’t have chosen a better bull’s-eye to aim for by choosing to set his sights on Bethany. But what he didn’t realise was that Zach would protect the most important thing in his life - Bethany - at all costs.
The fact that his ex-brother-in-law may not also know the whole truth had crossed his mind. It was the reason Zach had gone against his own rigid principles and placed the call to Farrah’s parents earlier this evening.
His message had been simple. And succinct.
Now he needed to wait and see what shook out. If they could half the juggernaut that their son was dangerously close to overturning.
And he had to keep Bethany occupied and away from any communication devices.
He sighed. There would be hell to pay when she found out. He had no intention of keeping it from her long-term. Only until he knew he could come clean without jeopardising her safety.
She sighed in his arms and his heart turned over.
He fucking adored her. She was the blood in his veins. The light in the darkness that he’d never thought he’d escape.
She was his life.
She stirred and he realised he held her too tightly. Forcing himself to loosen his hold, he listened to her sleep.
Nothing could be allowed to touch her.
Nothing.
***
“We've organised your chefs to prepare your meals at eight. Please let your hostesses know if you'd prefer to change the time.”
“I hope the chefs make more than just Thai noodles. I'm off carbs for the foreseeable,” Olga pouted, more than a trace of malice in her eyes as she watched Bethany.
As far as she was concerned she'd made her point with Olga. So Bethany smiled. “I'll personally let the chef know to keep the carbs off your menu, Olga.”
“Then we head out for cocktails at the Vertigo Bar before midnight.”
They’d been in Bangkok for half a day. Everyone had had a chance to relax at the exclusive hotel spa and napped for a couple of hours to offset jet-lag.
Four hours ago, a designer arrived to take the female guests’ measurements for evening gowns which were due back at six.
When they were returned at six, Bethany personally delivered each gown and got a kick out of seeing the women's delight. She was trying on her own after dinner and a quick shower when Zach walked in.
The red and gold gown was made of heavy silk with a thigh split that showed a whole lot of leg when she moved. The high neck and collar were demure enough, but the severe cut at the shoulders left her arms and most of her back bare.
“You're looking pretty pleased with yourself, Peaches.”
Her gaze connected with his in the mirror and her heart did another crazy whirling. “I haven't fucked up your trip so far. So yes, I'm pleased.”
He stopped behind her, pulled up her zipper and slid his hands over
her hips.
“Have a little faith in yourself. I do.”
Her heart skipped several beats as his hands gripped her hips in a possessive hold. “You on a brownie point hunt, Savage?”
His eyes remained serious and intense. “Always. I never want to run out.” His drifted down her body. “That dress looks incredible on you,” he breathed in her ear.
She shivered. “Thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.” His evening jacket sat perfectly on his broad-shouldered frame and the open collar of his grey silk shirt gave him an air or urbane sophistication that would most definitely draw female eyes. She tried not to think about that. “I thought you'd gone up to the Krug and cigar bar with the guys?”
“No,” he answered simply. They remained like for another minute, devouring each other and letting their eyes say they words neither was ready to spill yet. Zach's hand drifted down to the bracelet he'd given her for her birthday. He raised her wrist and placed a soft kiss on her skin just below the bracelet.
Again she sensed that air of restless watchfulness about him that she’d caught occasional glimpses since they left Amalfi.
“Is something wrong, Zach?” She shook her head and corrected herself. “Something else I should know about?”
One corner of his mouth twisted up as he trailed his fingers up her arms. “Would you be satisfied with a-same-bullshit-different-day answer?” Despite his offhand remark, a dark emotion throbbed in his voice that made her anxiety escalate.
“General bullshit or specific?” She didn’t think that outside of what was happening with Farrah’s brother and the non-disclosure situation, Zach was the sort of man to worry about the outcome of any problem.
He loved challenges. He thrived on the adrenaline rush of tackling the impossible and besting it. It was what had made him the powerful, charismatic man he was today.
The only thing he didn’t relish was tackling the subject of jeopardising the fragile connection they were building.
That thought made her heart swell and ache for him at the same time. He was fighting for them. She couldn’t deny that. And her love for him grew each time he showed her that.
