Page 19

brIDGET

I sat out by the pool for an hour, lamenting how shitty my life had become.

I was never great in school, and I skipped college mostly because I'd had it ingrained in me that I would become Alex's wife and my life would be tennis at the club and parties, neither were things I liked.

I never became good friends with any of the women in our social circle.

In fact, I loathed our social circle so much, I hadn't seen any of our so-called friends for months.

Most of them had stopped texting and calling, which was one of the perks of me becoming a hermit.

Dad's limo drove out the gates as I made my way back to the house.

There seemed to be a lot going on with Dad's business.

This morning I'd woken to him having a tense discussion with Alex's dad, James.

A while back, I'd heard the men talking about some new venture in the Italian Riviera.

They were gathering investors for something big, but since I had absolutely no interest in anything they did, business or not, I'd never found out details.

Whatever was happening it was making Dad extra mean and short-tempered.

Growing up, I always knew when to stay out of his way.

Now I avoided him as a normal part of my day.

Most of the staff was off on Sunday, so I had the place to myself.

Even Ivan and his crew were scarce. I assumed they'd gone down to the beach to scare off intruders .

I walked into the kitchen and made myself a cheese sandwich.

The kitchen was a blinding mix of shiny marble and chrome.

My dad's interior designers had shit taste.

Our houses never felt like homes. I sat on the leather upholstered counter stool and nibbled my sandwich.

I badly wanted to talk to Jaxon, but once I got back to my room last night, it hit me that I was being selfish.

I wanted to be with Jaxon so badly, but my dad could cause terrible destruction to the Stone family and that would all be my fault.

Just thinking about my wretched situation made the sandwich feel like a rock in my stomach.

I pushed aside the second half and sipped some water.

My phone buzzed. I picked it up reluctantly, certain it would be Alex pestering me to come out to the boat.

He had invited some of his dreadful friends out for a ride on the yacht.

It was the last place I wanted to be. Apparently, Alex's ego was too big to allow him to believe that we weren't getting married.

Jaxon's name was on the screen. I felt that instant burst of adrenaline and excitement I got whenever I saw him, and this was just his name. I had it bad.

"Had a fun chat with your dad," he texted.

"Shit." I called him.

"Hey," he said. Even that single syllable sent a rush of heat through me.

"What happened?" I asked, warily.

"Ivan and his pals called the cops on my brother and his buddy. They were out surfing. Your dad showed up like Atilla the fucking Hun in loafers. He told me he wouldn't press charges as long as I never saw you again."

My shoulders slumped. "My dad is really good at blackmail."

"Seems that way. But I figured since he's shit at keeping promises, then I won't feel bad if I break mine. I'm not going to give you up, not for anything, Gidge. As far as I'm concerned, you're mine and I'm yours and that's the end of it."

"Jaxon, I'm worried. You don't know him."

"I know he's a supreme motherfucker, and that's still not going to keep me from seeing you. What are you doing right now?" he asked.

"I happen to be all alone in this very big house, and apparently, Ivan is out on the beach chasing away rogue seagulls and beachcombers."

"Alone, you say? I like that. And what exactly are you wearing, my delectable honey?"

I smiled and felt my cheeks warm. "I'm wearing a bikini, pink and skimpy."

There was a long pause on his side.

"Jaxon?"

"Yeah, just had to catch my breath. I'm on my way."

I was slapped back to reality. "I have no idea where Dad went. He could be back soon."

"Come on, darlin', you don't expect me to just say 'oh well' and hang up knowing that your hot bod is sitting there next to naked. In fact, a skimpy bikini is better than naked."

My pussy was already throbbing with the idea of Jaxon inside of me. "There's a pool house. Let me know when you're at the gate. And hide your bike or car, so you won't be seen."

"Yep, plan to. Not my first time sneaking in—Never mind."

"Yeah, I probably don't need to hear about your other conquests. Just text me when you get here."

"Be there soon, and don't you dare take off that bikini. I've got plans for it."

My stomach fluttered with both excitement and fear.

I couldn't wait to see Jaxon, but this was so fucking risky.

I got up from the stool and placed the uneaten sandwich half back in the fridge.

As I walked out of the kitchen, I noticed that the office door was ajar.

I never went into the office uninvited because I just wasn't interested in anything my dad was doing, but after bringing up Dad's propensity for blackmail, I wondered if there was anything I could arm myself with to counter his threats.

I rarely spoke to my mom, but she'd told me more than once that Dad didn't earn all his wealth honestly.

I always fluffed off her comments because I knew she hated my dad, but I wasn't a fool.

I knew a lot of the people in Dad's circle were involved in sketchy business deals.

Dad wasn't home, but my adrenaline still kicked in as if he could walk in at any moment.

I tiptoed over to his desk, even though there was literally no one around to hear my footsteps.

Tiptoeing just felt right in this situation.

I didn't really know what I was doing or if this whole expedition was just a waste of time.

I could have been getting ready for my pool house tryst, brushing my hair, splashing on a little mascara and making sure the pool house fridge was filled with cold drinks.

Instead, I was sneaking around my dad's office, his inner sanctum, his greedy businessman cave.

His desk was an oversized, garish monstrosity from some previous century.

He'd had it shipped across the sea from France.

I always found it hideous, but I was pretty sure it came from some king or royal.

My dad certainly felt extra imperious sitting behind it.

The only things sitting on the desk were a computer and a pen set.

Fortunately, I'd paid just enough attention to my dad in his office to know he kept a key hidden in the file cabinet by the window.

I crept across and took time to glance out the window.

I couldn't see the gate from the office window, but I would certainly see a car if it had reached the front drive.

Aside from three rock pigeons fighting over some kind of scrap, the grounds were deserted.

I opened the file cabinet drawer and reached in for the magnetic box with the key stuck to the inside of the drawer.

I was in luck. Dad hadn't changed the hiding spot.

I pulled out the key and hurried back to the desk.

My visitor would arrive soon, and there was also no telling when someone, Dad or Ivan or even a staff member, might walk into the house.

I opened the top drawer. It was filled with ledgers and paperwork, which didn't provide much clue about anything. My birth certificate was sitting in the midst of some other papers, bank papers, and I had absolutely no idea why it would be in his drawer.

I shut the top drawer and opened the bottom one.

I opened a folder. The top paper was in another language—Italian, no doubt, since the letterhead was from the Italian Historical Authority.

The letter was in Italian. I flipped through to the next paper and found what seemed to be a translation of the letter.

My phone buzzed with a text. "I parked about a mile away and am just walking toward the gate. Five minutes."

I couldn't stop a small cry of excitement. "A five-minute mile?" I asked.

"Considering what's waiting for me at the finish line, might even be four.

" I put down the phone and quickly scanned the paper.

One of the lines stood out to me as important, even though I was probably in way over my head on this sleuthing thing.

"Since the land around Buena Vista Terrace has been designated as a world heritage site, construction and development around the site is forbidden.

Your building plans have been declined." I took a photo of the translation and the letter.

I had no idea if it was anything useful in my scheme to counter my dad's threats with some of my own, but the letter seemed important.

As far as I knew, Dad and James were still gathering investors for their big Italian resort.

I locked up the drawer, put back the key and glanced around to make sure I didn't leave anything out of place.

I even waved my hand around to clear the smell of sunblock from the air.

Being uber-rich had turned my dad into a paranoid dickhead, and if something was amiss in his office, he'd know it.

I grabbed my phone and hurried out the door.

My heart was fluttering at hummingbird speed by the time I reached the pedestrian gate.

I heard loud footsteps out on the sidewalk and punched the numbers on the keypad.

The door opened, and I didn't wait. I flew right into Jaxon's arms. "Damn, you un-fucking-believable hunk, I missed you.

" And then emotion overtook me as I thought about how shitty it was that I had to sneak him into the property and pretend that I had nothing more to do with him when being without him, even for half a morning, felt like an eternity.

"Hey, whoa there, darlin'." Jaxon pushed my chin up with his fingers. "Why are you crying?" He wiped away a tear with his thumb. I loved how callused his fingers were, not soft and tender like Alex's.

"This is not fair," I said. "I don't want to be separated from you … ever, but all this feels so impossible, as if there is this long chasm in the earth between us, and the one way we can be together happily is for one or both of us to make the jump across."

"Not a problem. I'm prepared to jump across the Grand Canyon for you. I'm not going to let you go, Gidge."

I kissed him. "We should probably get away from the property entrance." I took his hand. "I have no idea where Emperor Evil went just now, but he never goes out to the pool house."

We walked past the rose garden and along the hedges, then turned toward the pool area.

Jaxon stopped. His chin dropped. "Holy shit, I could water ski on that pool.

Is that a fucking bar at that end? Never mind.

Stupid question. Why the hell wouldn't a pool that size have a bar?

" He looked over at the pool house. "And I suppose that small mansion is your quaint, cozy pool house? "

I led him across to the pool house. "We don't do quaint or cozy in this family.

We do harsh and uninviting." I opened the door to the vast front room.

The cream-colored leather sofa was big enough to fit fifteen people, and orange leather accent chairs dotted the room.

The ceilings and walls were bright white, and the floors were a polished oak.

Jaxon nodded. "Yep, nothing cozy about it." He turned and pulled me into his arms. "That's all right. We'll make it work cuz I've got all kinds of plans that are neither cozy nor quaint."