The chair scraped on the concrete as he leaned forward.
She pulled her hand back and twisted her fingers in her lap. “I’m worried about him. He’s not moving on.”
“That scene where we were tied together last night wasn’t moving on?” His cock got hard remembering the way her hair smelled, the way Alexander breathed on his neck. It turns out you give Alexander an inch and he took a proverbial mile—out of your hide.
She didn’t return his chortle. “He brought up delaying this morning.”
“He needs to leave.” They all did. Enough of emptying trunks and scanning old books hoping to find a voice from the past. “Washington is a better environment for all of us, I think.”
“I agree. I told him I wanted to see Accendos. Hoped that helped.”
He moved to still her twisting fingers. “Worried about Accendos? It sounds scarier than it really is.” He cocked his head. “Unless you’re in the Library.”
She arched an eyebrow at him.
“It’s the main play space area. Well, maybe the dungeon is scarier.”
She laughed. “Stop teasing.”
“I’m not. He hasn’t filled you in?”
“He said it was better to see.”
“Okay, well, he has a dungeon in one of the lower levels. You’ll see.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh. He is serious then about this international network he’s got going on.”
“You have no idea.” By her shocked face, that wasn’t the right thing to say. He captured both of her hands. “It’ll be fine. I promise.”
“No matter what happens when we get to D.C., promise me we’ll stay friends? Promise we won’t be at odds with each other even when it gets hard. That we’ll be a team. For him.” Worry laced her words.
Did she think he’d bail? Or try to push her out? Well, he did have that thought a few days ago, but now? “Where is this coming from?”
Her fingers went to her throat, to touch that moonstone pendant she always wore. “Just nervous, I guess. I’m used to being in new places, but this one is personal.” She eyed him, her face flushing. Was that shyness?
“People will welcome you with open arms.”
Her teeth caught her bottom lip. “It’s not that. I want to make sure this is going to work for you, too.”
Well, didn’t that come out of the blue? He sucked in a long breath. Just last week, he’d been pining for Alexander from afar, and now he was on the inside with not only him but a woman he rather enjoyed being pressed against flesh to flesh. If she was what Alexander wanted, and it kept him from being pitched to the outer circle again? He was all in, and the sex was amazing. He’d never intentionally hurt her. But leave? Yeah, truth is, he might. He was more of a have-amazing-sex-that-ended-in-an-Uber-ride-home kind of guy.
“Rebecca, you are the most intriguing woman. You’re lovely, clever, and, while faithfulness hasn’t been my strong suit, I believe in—”
“Destiny? Sorry, go on.”
“I was going to say being open.” He laughed. “I don’t mind having a different future than I envisioned for myself. I’d like nothing more than to show Alexander a different future than—” he waved his hand toward the crumbling brick wall behind him. “—this place.”
“Good. Then we’re on the same page? The man has lived with besting the Wynters for so long he doesn’t know what else there is.”
“We’ll show him.”
She squeezed his hand. “Then, you’ll stay with us.”
This was really important to her, wasn’t it? “I can only make that promise on one condition.”
She pouted, looking rather cute he noted. She hadn’t expected to be challenged—something beautiful people often believed.
“Promise me you won’t abandon ship again, not without telling him what’s really going on,” he said.
“Yes, I promise.” She smiled broadly. “I was right. You do love him.”
Yeah, he did love Alexander. As for this woman? He liked her a whole helluva lot. As for love? He didn’t move quite as fast as these two did. He’d just have to see.
He rose and brought her with him. “Let’s go wrest the man away from the past. There’s one room we haven’t christened yet.”
“Oh?” She arched her eyebrows.
“Alice’s bed.”
She giggled but then stilled. “You mean it.”
“I never joke about revenge.”
“Justice,” she whispered and then tore her hands away. She darted away from him. “Race you.”
24
An hour after landing, and one denied orgasm on Alexander’s private jet, thank you very much, the car moved through an iron gate not dissimilar to the Wynters’. It was the house, however, that made Rebecca’s jaw go slack. House? How about a lavish, stone Federal-style mansion surrounded by boxwoods, grassy lawn and trees with trunks so thick she’d not be able to wrap her arms around them? Alexander had said he’d done well, a true understatement if ever she’d heard one.
A man with an idling leaf blower tipped his hat toward the car as they pulled up. Two men dressed in black suits scurried down wide stone steps toward the trunk lid that popped open as soon as the car stopped moving. She nearly laughed at their scurrying as it reminded her of those old fashioned gas station attendants who used to come running when a car pulled up to a fuel pump.
Alexander held out his palm, which she took. “Home at last.”
Home, huh? “Oh, really?” She flipped her hand as she stepped out of the car. “This is all you’ve got?”
Eric leaned down, his breath a comforting warmth against her ear. “Don’t let the façade fool you. There are several more floors than what you can see from the outside.”
“Oh, just a few?” she tittered nervously.
A woman in a crimson sheath dress and black wrap appeared through the grand set of double, white doors and stepped down the front steps. Rebecca felt a moment of fear the woman might slip on in those sky-high heels, but the woman descended with the ease of a runway model. Model, indeed. Rebecca drew her hands down her rumpled tee-shirt under her jeans jacket, donned more for travel comfort than style.
Alexander’s hand tightened around her palm. “Rebecca, this is Sarah.”
“Hello, Rebecca, I’m delighted to finally meet you.”
This was Sarah? Alexander had told her his right hand in running Accendos was a woman, but he had not prepared her for this woman. She took Sarah’s outstretched hand, her fingers meeting a dozen cool rings loaded with gemstones and diamonds. Sarah’s dark hair shone in the sunshine, and her skin reminded Rebecca of a pearl—flawless and glowing.
“The Tribunal is assembling, though Jonathan is stuck in traffic.” Sarah smiled at Rebecca. “We live and die by it in this town. Hello, Eric.” Sarah’s dark eyes shone as she addressed him.
Happiness. That’s what she saw in Sarah. Please let that be a sign.
“Mistress Sarah.” Eric dipped his chin, and his cheeks warmed with color. Had they been together? Great. She’d been here for two minutes and already a little green monster had appeared.
Alexander swung one side of the double doors open, and Rebecca blinked. Her chest squeezed as she met a familiar set of blue eyes set in a lined face. She yanked her hand free from Alexander.
“Carina?” She hesitated for one brief second, not believing her eyes. She stepped inside, into her old friend’s outstretched arms. She pulled back so she could see her lips. “But, how?” God, did she remember any of her rudimentary sign language?
Carina lifted her hands and signed. I can hear a little now. She glanced up at Alexander and her smile widened. She pointed at Alexander and her ears.
“Cochlear implants,” Alexander said. “She can hear sound but it’s not well articulated.”
“A gift,” Carina said aloud.
A flood of too many emotions—nostalgia, regret, love—nearly swamped her. The man truly had made good use of his life, a sharp contrast to her own. Rebecca grasped her
old friend’s hand. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
Carina squeezed her palm. “Me, too. It’s been too long.” She cupped the side of Rebecca’s face. “Beautiful as ever.”
Her eyes pricked. The last time she’d seen Carina Rose, the woman strutted across a stage and held over a hundred peoples’ attention like putty in her boa-wielding hands.
“So you know … ” How could she ask about this? “You know about Alexander’s new life?”
“Of course. Remember. San Francisco.” Carina winked. Carina had seen much of her, Alexander, and Charles’ life back then. “Then, when I moved here, well … ” she shrugged.
Rebecca twisted to peer up at Alexander, who had pressed against her back. “You stayed in touch after all these years … ” How could she not have known? Alexander didn’t leave people behind, unlike her. Rebecca fought to not double over at that twang in her belly. She’d written to Carina in the early days of being back on the East Coast, but as with so many things in her life, she let the space between them grow until there was nothing but space. No letters, no calls.
“Alexander,” Sarah’s voice interrupted. “The Tribunal is assembling. It’s urgent.” She lifted her cell phone, and Alexander’s eyes clouded.
“Can’t wait?”
“I’m afraid not.” She turned to Rebecca. “I’m sorry to pull him away so soon. I had hoped the other council members’ wives could be here to welcome you, but it will have to be another time. They are all anxious to meet you.”
Behind her, Alexander’s large hands engulfed Rebecca’s shoulders. “You’ll want to know some of the other women who frequent Accendos.”
A vision of an Amish sewing circle entered her head. It was sweet of him, but unnecessary. She’d not been someone who had many girlfriends, except for the one who now held her hand.
“My granddaughter, Samantha, is married to a council member … ” Carina pointed at her heart. “Wonderful man. And, another grandchild is on the way.” She lifted up three fingers.
My how the past and future collide. Rebecca laughed and her shoulders relaxed. “I can’t wait to meet everyone, especially Samantha.”
Before she could ask the million questions bursting in her mind, Alexander cleared his throat. “Why don’t you two ladies go to the gardens? Catch up. Duty calls for me.” He kissed her on the crown of her head. “Eric, take them there? I’ll be no more than thirty minutes.”
“My pleasure.”
“And, just the garden.” He ground seriousness into his words. Her mind spun with what might lay inside these walls, but first, her friend.
Eric nodded once. “Of course.”
Carina hooked her hand into Rebecca’s arm. Her smile was like a warm blanket thrown across her shoulders when she hadn’t even realized she’d been cold. The universe had provided the ultimate gift. Not only did she reconnect with Alexander, have Eric as an ally, but she now had an old friend who could help her figure out how to tell Alexander what really happened that terrible summer of 1981. Because Carina knew. She knew everything.
25
Sarah kept up with his long strides toward the Tribunal Council chambers. He really didn’t want to start out this way.
“How was Connecticut?” Sarah asked.
Always checking up on him. “It worked. House has been secured. Rebecca helped. Eric, as well.”
She smiled. “Eric has been dying to ‘help’ you for years.”
“So I’ve learned.”
“How long will Rebecca stay?”
“Forever.” The vehemence in his voice surprised even him. “Or until she wishes to leave.” Truth was, they hadn’t discussed it, but he’d be damned if she waltzed out of his life without a damn good reason this time.
“I see. And Eric? I mean, making him a full member so quickly … ”
Heard about him, had she? He’d directed Ryan to start the membership process. The man deserved it.
“You know my story involving Charles and Rebecca. Well, we’re feeling our way.” If he couldn’t trust Sarah, he couldn’t trust anyone.
She paused in front of the closed chamber doors, and cocked her head. “Not like you.”
She always did go straight to the heart of the matter. Her sense of fairness and attention to rules and protocol made her a perfect candidate to take over for him once he retired. If he could ever empty his desk of requests and matters requiring his attention.
“Let’s say Rebecca brings out the explorer in me.”
“Rebecca or Eric?”
He laughed. “Does it matter?”
“Well, I’m happy for you.” She turned to open the door, but then turned back as if remembering something. “By the way, how did you finally find her?”
“I didn’t. She found me. She had a feeling and acted on it. She had a hunch that I bought the place and just arrived.”
“Oh.”
The surprise on her face was to be expected. He, himself, almost couldn’t believe how his luck had turned—first with the house sale and then reuniting with Rebecca.
“Well, I’m glad you were … found.”
Found. He supposed that was the right word. Now that she was back in his life, he wondered how he’d let forty years go by without tracking her down. Never again. He pushed open the Chamber door, and the other Council members stood.
“I have fifteen minutes.” He meant it.
Rebecca stood at the top of a flagstone terrace. “Alexander never did do anything in half measures.”
“You should see it in spring,” Carina said.
She couldn’t imagine. Before her, acres of landscaping unfolded, the garden interrupted only by flagstone paths that spidered out from the bottom of a broad back terrace. Dark green holly trees were peppered with bright red berries. Neatly trimmed boxwoods and pansies still bright with color lined paths. Firethorn shrubs thick with clusters of orange berries and Japanese maples blended to create a perfect fall palate. It was like looking at an artist’s paint tray. A flutter of wings followed by an annoyed chirp sent her gaze to the sky.
“That’s a big cardinal.”
Eric’s laughter behind her soothed her. “They’re well fed.” He took one step down as if urging her from her trance. “I told you Alexander supports half the birds of the Western hemisphere.”
That thought warmed her. An ode to Charles, perhaps?
The three of them passed a fountain with a life-sized Greek statue in its center and, at Carina’s urging, headed straight for the center path. Determined to take in as much of the earthy, cold air as possible, Rebecca breathed deep as she and Carina strolled, arm and arm. She had never been so grateful as she was in that moment to be with someone familiar, cloaked in that comfortable silence that only very old friends can manage.
A young woman with short blond hair magically appeared with coats and blankets to place on a cast iron bench under a bare dogwood tree as if she’d divined that’s where they’d end up.
“Thank you, Carrie,” Eric said. He must have been meandering a respectful distance behind them. He shrugged at the question Rebecca wore on her face. “You’ll find Alexander doesn’t suffer discomfort unless it’s requested.”
As she settled on the bench, she turned to Carina. “Okay, first thing, how do you still look twenty-eight?” She envied the woman’s high cheekbones and almond eyes that kept her face as smooth and beautiful as a diamond despite the fact she had to be in her 70s.
Carina scoffed and waved her hand.
“Like Alexander. ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ syndrome.” Eric looked up from his phone. “Aging painting in a closet somewhere. I hope you two ladies don’t mind. I have my own duties calling.” He lifted his mobile.
“We’re fine here.” Carina patted her hand. “And we have a lot to catch up on.”
“We do.”
After Eric disappeared down the pathway, Carina turned to her. “That man is handsome. If only I were younger … ” she laughed a little.
�
��He’s mine.” She sucked in a quick breath. “Oh, that came out so bad.” This was her friend, and who was she to lay claim to anyone?
Carina’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “Ah, so you are back.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. Alexander’s life seems to have … expanded.”
“Oh, yes.”
Rebecca squared herself to Carina. “What about you? Still dancing?”
“A little. At my granddaughter’s dance studio. Today the girls now are more circus than dance. Flying through the air.” She twirled her fingers in the cold. “Remember when I dragged you up on stage at that tiny little club so long ago?”
She smiled at the memory of feeling that free, to jump on a stage and not care if she was any good. No rules, no expectations. Carina’s kindness had saved her back then. She, the wise and seasoned dancer in a questionable world, and Rebecca, the newbie living off the faith that anyone she encountered was good. How wrong she’d been.
“I do, though my dancing days are pretty much over.”
Carina scoffed. “Never.”
“I write. Freelance.”
“Ah.”
They sat for more minutes, not speaking. Then Carina said the words she’d hoped to hear. “I kept your secret.”
Rebecca took in a stuttered breath. “Thank you. I never told him about … ” She couldn’t say the words aloud. Sadness threatened to rise. Today already was overwhelming her.
“Will you? He’s different from San Francisco,” Carina signed. “Understand?”
Rebecca nodded that she understood what she’d conveyed. “He’s guarded. Still angry.” She signed the word anger. Then, patted her chest over her heart.
“He missed you. He still looks at you the same. Besotted.”
A half-laugh escaped her lips. “I’m not sure I want to jeopardize that again.” She rubbed her forehead. “When he finds out the whole story about why I had to leave him … ”
“Do you see Marston anymore?”
God, she even hated hearing that name. “I try not to.”
Invincible (Elite Doms of Washington Book 6) Page 11
