by E. L. Todd
“Cedric will be fine.”
“I hate having a babysitter out of the family.”
“Mrs. Hanson is good. I got a ton of references for her and I did a background check.”
“It still stresses me out.” She fidgeted in place because she couldn’t stand still.
“We’ll only be gone for a few hours. Now, let’s enjoy ourselves. It’s just the two of us very often.”
“I know…”
Her parents emerged from behind a wall separation where a sculpture sat. They were both dressed elegantly, a distant herd of admirers on their tail. “Your mom and dad are here.”
“Hey, guys.” Skye embraced both of them half-heartedly, her mind still on our son. “Silke has some pretty good stuff, huh?”
“She really is talented,” Scarlet said. “I’m glad she took the risk and reached for her dreams.”
Sean was quiet, his eyes taking in the sculpture sitting on the table beside him. He had a scotch in his hand and he was silently brooding. The flood of people following him everywhere probably got on his nerves.
“What do you think, Dad?” Skye picked up on his dark mood.
“I think I’m very proud of my niece.” He sipped his scotch without looking at any of us.
Skye turned to Scarlet and raised an eyebrow.
Scarlet shook her head in response.
Sean was hardly upset and I wondered what got under his skin. But asking him about it here and now wasn’t the best idea. “How was your day, Scarlet?”
“Good,” she answered. “How’s my adorable grandson?”
“Great,” Skye said. “But Mrs. Hanson is watching him…”
“She’s lovely,” Scarlet said. “Don’t worry about it.”
More people emerged into the gallery, and Skye turned her eyes to the entrance. “Oh good, Roland is here. I haven’t seen him since he left for his honeymoon.”
“I’m sure they had a great time,” I said. “All I ever hear is how beautiful Switzerland is.”
“Ro!” Skye got his attention and waved him over.
Roland’s eyes immediately darted to his father, whose back was to him. He slowly approached with Heath by his side. “Hey. Silke’s art gallery is really—”
Sean walked away and moved into the crowd, cutting off his son with just his silence. His broad shoulders reeked with threat, and his unnaturally stiff posture made him breakable like a dried twig. He moved on to the other pieces, his drink still in hand.
It was the coldest, tensest moment of my life.
Roland watched him go before his eyes moved to the ground below his feet.
Despite Skye’s distraction she picked up on every ounce of hostility. “Wow…what was that?”
Scarlet sighed like she didn’t want to talk about it—especially here.
Roland rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable.
“Ro, what did you do?” Skye asked. “I haven’t seen Dad act like that…ever.”
“Tonight is Silke’s night,” Scarlet said with authority. “Let’s be there for her and put our family issues aside.”
What family issues?
Scarlet hugged Heath and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m so glad you’re back. We missed you.”
“Thank you, Scarlet,” Heath answered. “I missed you too.”
Without giving her son the same affection, which was unbelievably strange, she joined Sean at the piece he was looking at.
Scarlet was definitely one of the most affectionate women I’ve ever encountered. She was motherly in ways most mothers weren’t. To ignore her own son like that…was bad.
“Roland, what the hell did you do?” Skye demanded.
Roland stood there with a devastated look in his eyes. He wouldn’t even look at his sister.
“Ro?” she pressed.
“He was an ungrateful brat,” Heath answered. “And I can’t blame your parents for being hurt.”
This was getting worse and worse.
“What the hell did you do?” Skye demanded. “Try to run them over with a car?”
“No…” Roland rubbed the back of his neck again. “When we were in Switzerland I noticed this guy was tailing us. He followed us everyday until we got to the airport to go home. So, I called Dad and asked what I should do.”
I didn’t have any expectation of what he might say, but this story was surprising.
“Dad said he hired that guy to look after us while we were away. I was upset because Heath and I are grown men who can take care of themselves, and I didn’t appreciate being spied on. Dad argued that his agent never told him what we were doing, where we were going, or gave him any information. His job was to only contact him if something went wrong. But I was still mad and I told him off…and that pissed him off. He brought up the stabbing…and the shooting…and everything else.” He swallowed the lump in his throat and wouldn’t meet our gaze. “I disappointed him.”
Damn, that was bad.
“Ro…” Skye tried to keep her gasp back but couldn’t.
“I wasn’t thinking when I blew up at him,” Roland said. “I just don’t like being watched all the time. It’s suffocating. When I realized we were being followed I was scared. He didn’t even tell me about the guy.”
“I knew Dad is really protective of us and I’m sure that was annoying but he meant well,” Skye said.
“I’m a grown man with a husband,” Roland argued. “Do I really need a babysitter?”
“He wasn’t a babysitter and you know that,” Heath argued.
“I’ve never seen him this mad at me before…” Roland avoided our gaze. “When I stole his car and hooked up with that married woman he was mad…but not like this.”
“I’ve never seen him like this either,” Skye whispered. “He’s never ignored one of us before.”
I understood his feelings perfectly. I almost lost Skye to a gunshot wound. I was panicked and terrified. I could only imagine how her own father felt in that moment. He was almost shot in the head because he refused to give up Skye’s whereabouts. And then Scarlet was held at gunpoint alone in her house. And then Roland was almost killed on the streets, but Sean took the blade for him. “I can’t blame him for being upset.” I knew Roland didn’t want to hear that but I wasn’t going to lie to him. I’ve never known a man who’s taken more damage than he has. He and I had our differences months ago and it was really tense for both of us, but I finally forgave him and left it in the past. Our falling out was caused by his unflinching protection of his daughter. Could I really blame him for taking her side? Now that I had a child of my own I understood it on a much grander level.
“I don’t know what to do,” Roland whispered. “He won’t talk to me.”
“Go up to him right now,” Heath said. “He’s just a few feet away.”
“I tried calling him this week…he didn’t answer.” Roland swallowed the lump in his throat and tears immediately formed in his eyes.
I’d never seen Roland cry.
“He always answers on the first ring…” He sniffed then blinked his eyes quickly. “No matter what time it is or what he’s doing he always answers on the first ring. And now he won’t take my calls at all.” Roland couldn’t combat the flood of tears about to emerge. He rested his hand across his face, shielding us from looking at him. Then he walked out of the gallery and exited the building, wanting to hide his face from everyone.
Heath didn’t go after him. He stayed right beside us. “I hate the fact Roland doesn’t appreciate what he has. My father couldn’t care less if I were dead or alive. Roland needs to realize how lucky he is. I hope this is a wake up call for him.”
I’d never seen Roland break down like that before, so I suspected that was exactly what happened.
“My dad always answers the phone…” Skye had a dreamy look in her eyes. “I’ve never called him and heard his voicemail before. I’m not even sure what his voicemail sounds like.”
“Well, now Roland does,” Heath said coldly.
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I turned my gaze and watched Sean move through the crowd with Scarlet by his side. Even though his face looked exactly the same as it always did, there was an obvious air of devastation to him. He wasn’t just livid with his son—he was heartbroken.
Chapter Nine
Lexie
Conrad pushed me into a dark corner then devoured my neck with sexy kisses. He kissed the delicate skin of my throat and made me forget we were at an art exposition with hundreds of other people.
“Conrad, stop.” I pulled him further into me.
He moved his lips to my ear. “Your hands don’t agree with you.”
“Someone might see us…”
“Then let’s do our business quickly so we can get it out of our system.”
“We just had sex before we came here.”
“That was a lifetime ago.”
I knew I needed to get him off of me otherwise something terrible would happen. Someone we knew might see us. Or even worse, his parents might spot us. “We’ll get to it later.” I managed to get his massive size off of me.
He stepped back but still had that hungry look in his eyes. He didn’t respond very well when I told him to keep his hands to himself, but at least he was doing it now. “There’s an alleyway around the corner.”
“I’m not letting you screw me in an alleyway.” I felt like a slut when the idea turned me on.
“Why not?” He took another step toward me and backed me up into the brick wall. “I’ll keep you safe, baby.” He grabbed my hand and pressed it against his rock-hard stomach. “I’m a mountain. And you can’t move a mountain.”
“Even so…” It was becoming more difficult for me to keep him at a distance. “We’re here for Silke. So let’s start being here for her.”
He shook his head like that didn’t sound appetizing at all. “Sex first. Art later.”
“Why do you always talk like a caveman?”
“Because you leave me speechless.” He pressed his body against mine, having me pinned in the exact position I spent five minutes getting out of.
“That was the worst line I’ve ever heard.”
“Then let’s stop talking and start fucking.”
I wasn’t sure if I could marry Conrad. I’d have to live in the shadow of this gorgeous man that bulled me into amazing sex in dark alleyways. I’d be his plaything, a leash around my throat. I’d spend the rest of my life so in love with a man that I couldn’t think straight. “Okay.”
He grinned in triumph. “Let’s go.”
***
The alleyway was dark because the streetlight went out. A dumpster was next to the wall, cardboard boxes littered on the ground around it. Two stray cats were eating something out of a plastic bag.
It was spooky, to say the least.
Conrad lifted me into the air but didn’t pin me against the brick wall. Everything was dirty and could easily stain my nice dress. His arms moved underneath my thighs while my arms hooked around his neck. He slipped himself inside of me then moved me up and down as he thrust his hips into me.
It felt even better than I imagined.
“You’re so wet.” He grunted as he thrust into me, every inch of his long cock slamming into me over and over. He didn’t start off slow and work his way up. He fucked me hard and fast right from the beginning.
“That feels so good…” I loved it when he held me up like this. He was so strong and fit. He moved me around like I weighed nothing, and he screwed me like he had every right to do whatever he wanted to me.
Conrad breathed hard and groaned as he fucked me faster, moving so hard inside me that I thought I might come undone then and there. “This is what the rest of our lives are going to be like…screwing every chance we get.”
That was fine by me.
The backdoor opened and someone took a step outside.
Conrad faltered momentarily, but it was so dark no one could see us. He took a few steps away just to make sure.
Slade was illuminated from the light coming from the gallery. He pulled out his phone and took a call. “Hey, Don. What’s up?”
Conrad wasn’t dissuaded by his presence. He kept moving into me, at a slow pace.
“Yeah?” Slade said. “What did they think?” He kicked a rock under his shoe. “They loved the video? I told you they would. My wife is a natural.” He paused as he listened to Don talk. “Great. I’ll tell her the good news.” He hung up then walked back inside.
“I can’t believe we just had sex in front of him.”
Conrad returned to screwing me as hard as possible. “I kinda liked it.”
Chapter Ten
Silke
I just finished explaining my inspiration for a particular sculpture when someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned around expecting to see a face I wouldn’t recognize and probably wouldn’t remember after this night. But I saw someone I knew intimately well, someone that I could never forget about as long as I lived. “Pike?”
“Yours truly.” He had the same endearing smile, the one that attracted me to him in the beginning. His blue eyes were the same as always, indefinitely deep and soulful. Everything else was the same as well, with the exception of his hair. That was longer than it used to be. “Your pieces are remarkable. I’m very tempted to buy one.”
I still couldn’t process he was really standing right in front of me. “I’m sorry…I just can’t believe I’m looking at you.”
“I’ve been looking at you all night—just from a distance.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for a hug. “I would ask how you’ve been but it’s pretty clear you’re doing well.”
“Thank you. I quit my job at the museum to sculpt full time but I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out.”
Pike took a look around at all the people quietly chatting throughout the exhibit. “I think it’s safe to say you’re a success.”
“How did you find out about this?”
“I saw a flyer,” he explained. “So, I invited some of my clients to come with me tonight. You know, to give you some exposure.”
My fingertips tingled at the realization. “All these people are here because of you…now that makes sense.”
“Not all these people,” he said with a chuckle. “Just a few.”
Even though we hadn’t seen each other in a long time, I still knew when he was lying.
“Okay…maybe more than a few,” he said with a shrug. “But I can tell they’re genuinely interested to be here. They would have left hours ago if they were bored. So, that was all you.”
“That was so sweet of you.” I was surprised he did something so selfless when I left him and went back to Arsen. He didn’t owe me anything.
“Friends forever, right?”
“Yes…friends forever.”
He watched me for several heartbeats, giving me that same look he used to give on dates and romantic evenings. Perhaps those feelings would never truly go away. “You’re married.”
I immediately glanced at my wedding ring, the enormous princess cut diamond in the white gold band. “Yeah…for a few months now.”
He nodded with a slight smile on his face. “Arsen is a lucky man.”
“Thank you…” I fidgeted with my ring because I felt awkward. What happened to Pike wasn’t fair at all, but I still wouldn’t change anything. “Are you seeing anyone?”
“Casually—not seriously.”
“That’s nice. How are your paintings?”
“Great,” he said. “I’m thinking of moving to Paris for a year. You know, getting new inspiration for my work.”
“That would be so much fun.”
“Do you think of traveling?”
“Not really,” I answered. “I have a daughter so I can’t really go anywhere.”
Both of his eyebrows rose to the roof. “You had a baby…?”
“Sorry, I mean my step-daughter. Abby. I think you met her once.”
He nodded in understanding. “Yes, I d
id. She’s cute.”
“She is.” Hopefully, Arsen was too busy with other things to notice Pike and I talking. Even though we were married Arsen was still the jealous type. He would flip out the moment he saw Pike close to me. “Thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate it.”
“We artists have to stick together.” He pulled me in for another hug. “I hope you’ll talk to me about some of your sculptures if you aren’t too busy later. I know you have your excerpts out but I’d love to hear everything from your mouth.”
“Sure thing.”
When he pulled away he gave me a final smile. “Have fun tonight.”
“You too.”
He walked away and stopped at the next sculpture. He stood there alone as he stared at it, his artistic mind somewhere else.
When I finally looked away my eyes fell on Arsen.
And he looked pissed.
He was leaning against the wall with his arms across his chest. That territorial threat was in his eyes, a promise to murder Pike just for touching me. His nostrils actually flared and he reminded me of a wild boar.
Not wanting to deal with his rage and his attitude, I turned and walked away. Pike came here by his own will, and he brought a lot of art lovers as well. There was no way I could be upset about that—upset with someone trying to help me.
***
Dad counted the receipt and the cash. “Sweetheart, you sold almost all of your sculptures—in a single night.” He shoved everything into the bag and zipped it shut. “That’s unbelievable.”
Everyone left an hour ago and now we were cleaning up. Janice took Abby home so she could get to bed, and the rest of us were cleaning up the exhibit. There were plastic cups everywhere, trash, and the bar still needed to be put away. “I can’t believe it either.”
“I told you this would happen. And I’m going to shove it into your face every single day.” Dad gave me a teasing smile.
“Well, it wasn’t all me…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dad asked.
“Yo, where the hell do I put this thing?” Slade folded up the table and set it on its side. “It weighs as much as a damn rhino.”
