No Promises: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance by Michelle Love (11)

Bodhi leaned over to kiss her. “Are you hungry?”

“A little.” She stroked him hair, trying to force the image of him dying out of her head. “I don’t want pancakes though.”

“Eggs?”

“Perfect.”

They ate outside, balancing their plates on their knees. “It is heaven here,” Sailor said. “No television, no internet, no phone signal, just this.” She indicated the beautiful rolling hills, the regal, but rustic buildings, the olive groves.

Bodhi ate a forkful of eggs. “Could you see yourself living here?”

Sailor looked at him in surprise, then nodded. “I could. You?”

Bodhi smiled. “It’s been in the back of my mind for years, just to retire and then come back here, a simpler life. Lately, I’ve been thinking about it more. If you’ll forgive an old man’s fantasy…I could see us here, our own little kids running around, dogs, horses, us making everything we need together. Tranquility. Peace.”

“I take it back,” Sailor said, tears filling her eyes, “This isn’t heaven. That right there, what you described, that’s my heaven.”

Bodhi grinned shyly. “Yeah?”

“God, yes.”

He reached over to stroke his hand over her hair. “Sailor King…you make me so happy. I don’t want to freak you out or anything, but one day, I want to marry you. Don’t worry, I’m not asking yet, but I will ask, someday.”

Sailor reddened with pleasure. “And one day, I’ll say yes. I promise.”

Bodhi took her plate from her and set it down on the ground. He pulled her to her feet and led her down the hill. Sailor chuckled at his mischievous face.

“Where are we going?”

Bodhi laughed. “The olive grove…another fantasy of mine is to fuck you there.”

Sailor’s heart began to beat faster and she grinned. “Lead on, Mr. Creed.”

In the middle of the olive grove, he took her, laying back on the earth and moss, and grass, her legs hitched around his hips, his cock driving deep inside her.

Afterward, hand-in-hand, they made their way back to the house, talking and laughing. Sailor happened to glance around and stopped Bodhi. “Look.”

They saw a cloud of dust making its way up the hill. “Someone’s coming.” Bodhi frowned. Soleil and Claudio weren’t due back for another day.

They walked back to the house and waited for the car. Sure enough, it was Soleil and Claudio, along with Tim. Tim got out of the car and ran to hug his father and Sailor. Soleil greeted them, her usually cheerful face somber. She glanced at Claudio who nodded and took Tim back inside for something to eat.

“Hey guys,” Solly said, “I’m sorry we had to break into your time, but something’s happened back home, and I thought you should know.”

“What is it?”

Solly looked at Sailor, her face sad. “Bay Tambe was attacked in hospital. She’s in a pretty bad way.”

Sailor covered her mouth in horror. “Oh god…what happened?”

Solly drew in a deep breath. “Stuart Lawson. He attacked her with a scalpel. She was protecting the baby, oh, by the way, she had a boy a few nights ago, and thankfully the baby’s not hurt. Bay was cut, and her femoral artery was severed. They had to operate for hours and she’s in intensive care again.”

Bodhi put his arms around Sailor who was sobbing. “Did you hear it from the news?”

Solly shook her head. “The F.B.I. called me to try and get in touch with you. Stuart Lawson’s singing like a bird. Seems like Bartholomew Foy arranged his escape, hid him, gave him the opportunity to kill Bay.”

Sailor gaped at her, tears still pouring down her face. “Bart? Why the hell would he want Bay dead?”

Soleil looked at Sailor, deep sympathy in her eyes. “According to Stu…to punish you. He knew you were friends, god knows how. Bodhi…you have a spy in your team.”

“Fuck!” Bodhi was angry now. He tightened his arms around Sailor who was sobbing even harder now. Bay had been attacked because of her? No. No, she couldn’t bear it.

“Bodhi, we have to go home,” she said, trying to calm herself, but Bodhi was raging.

“No, no way, it will be like putting you in the firing range.”

“No-one else is getting hurt because of me, Bodhi, I won’t permit it.”

“Not gonna happen, sweetheart.”

“Stop telling me how to live my life!” Sailor lost it then. “It’s my decision, Bodhi, not yours! I’m responsible for this…god, Bodhi, she’d just given birth! How do you think Tomas feels? The girls? Because of me, their mommy is…” She couldn’t get the words out.

“What’s done is done,” Bodhi’s voice was cold. “Sacrificing yourself won’t change that.”

“It’s not your choice,” Sailor snapped. “We’re going back to the States tonight. I need to be there for Bay.”

Bodhi threw his hands up in the air. “You barely know her!”

Sailor went very still. “I’ve known her only two weeks less than I’ve known you, Bodhi. Bay is my family now too. Make the arrangements. End of conversation.”

And she stalked back into the main farmhouse, barely holding it together. She found an empty bathroom and sank to the cool tile floor, burying her head in her hands and sobbing out her heartbreak.

Outside a shell-shocked Bodhi turned a pale face to Soleil. He shook his head. “This is a bad idea, Solly. A bad, bad idea.”

Soleil squeezed his arm. “But you know you have to do it, right?”

Bodhi nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. “God…if he kills her, Solly…”

“He won’t, Bodhi. Look, how about I move in with you all and we can run interference? We fire your entire team and bring in a security detail. I will personally take Tim to school and back. You and Sailor try and have a normal life together.”

Bodhi looked at his friend with gratitude. “What about your life, Sol?”

She grinned. “Hey, I’m a lot younger than you…I can wait. I can work from Los Angeles as easily as anywhere. I have some stuff going on with Grady Mallory and Maceo Bartoli, but they can handle it from where they are.”

Bodhi hugged her. “Thanks, Sol.”

“You’re welcome. Look, let me make the arrangements to fly back tonight. Go and find Sailor and make-up with her. Now is not the time for you two to be fighting.”

“Girls, when we see Mommy, don’t jump all over her,” Tomas Meir told his daughters gently. “She’s very sore, and she may be a little groggy.”

“Can we kiss her?”

Tomas looked in the rearview mirror and smiled at Esme. “I think she would like that very much.”

He turned back to the road, feeling his body easing from the tension and grief that had colored the last few days. After hours in surgery, Bay had pulled through and was now on the way to recovery, but the terror he had felt when he was told, he would never forget it.

Stuart Lawson was now in F.B.I. custody and singing like bird. His escape from prison had been orchestrated by a man called Bartholomew Foy, who Tomas had then researched and found out exactly who he was. It was the shock of discovering the #FindSailor hashtag, the thing which linked him to Bay. He had her attacked to show Sailor what he was capable of. Tomas felt murderous, and a little pissed at Sailor King, which he knew wasn’t fair, but hell, his beloved Bay had almost died, again.

Stu Lawson would have tried to kill Bay without Bartie Foy. Tom repeated it to himself, but still, the thought came that if it weren’t for Bartie Foy, Stu Lawson would never have gotten out of jail.

To his relief, Bay was awake, and overjoyed to see the twins, hugging both the girls. His wife was still pale, but the life had come back into her eyes again, as she held her son and kissed her girls. Esme and Milly were obsessed with their baby brother. Bay, when she awoke from the surgery, had asked for her son to stay with her, wanting to breast-feed him even as she recovered and after some discussion with her doctor, he had given permission. She handed Buddy to his father before kissing Tom’s lips.

“Doc says I can come home this weekend, girls,” she told her daughters and they looked excited. Tom stroked a hand over Bay’s forehead.

“You sure you’re up to it, baby?”

She nodded vehemently. “God, yes. I’m counting the days.”

“How’s the thigh?”

Bay smiled at him. “The wound is healing nicely, but you should see the bruise. I’m slightly proud of it.”

Tom swallowed a lump in his throat. “You’re a warrior, baby. Not many people would have had the strength to fight back.”

Bay looked steadily at him. “Tom, honey…I have to ask. Did you know? Did you know he was out?”

Tom met her gaze. “I did. I didn’t want you stressed in the last few weeks of your pregnancy. I never dreamed that you wouldn’t be safe here.”

Bay sighed. “I understand why you made that decision but, please, don’t keep anything from me like that, again.”

“I won’t. Forgive me?”

Bay grinned slightly. “I’ll think about it. You’ll have to make it up to me…in about six weeks’ time.”

Tom laughed and Milly looked up. “What are you laughing about, Daddy?”

“Just your mommy being a naughty girl.”

Milly shrugged. “Okay.”

Bay slid her hand into Tom’s. “Sailor called me. They’re coming back. She was upset, kept blaming herself.” She saw Tom’s expression and gave him a stern look. “Tom, this is not her fault so I don’t want to hear otherwise. Can you imagine how that poor girl had been living?”

“What I don’t get,” Tom said, lowering his voice, “Is why you? Why, of all her friends, did he target you?”

“That’s an easy one. Sailor doesn’t have a lot of people, and most of them are under Bodhi’s protection. I’m on the periphery and no-one would suspect Bart Foy coming after me. Plus, using Stu, he had a way to deny any involvement. I have to hand it to Bart Foy, he did his research.”

Tom thought about this for a long minute, then nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

“Anyway, Sailor is coming to see me tomorrow so we can have a chat then. I’m sure the hospital will be delighted with the amount of security around them.” Bay nodded out of the door where Tom’s security team guarded her. Bay smiled. “Like a fortress.”

“You bet your sweet…butt,” Tom amended at the last minute, cutting his eyes at his children and Bay laughed.

“Nice save, Mr. Meir, nice save.”

The tension between Sailor and Bodhi hadn’t lightened as they flew home and now, two days later, breakfast was a silent thing. Soleil and Tim would glance at each other and try to start a conversation, but both Bodhi and Sailor were subdued.

Soleil took Tim to school, and the couple were left alone in the house. Sailor watched the new security team patrolling the property and felt tears come to the surface. She wiped one away with an impatient hand then felt Bodhi slide his arms around her waist and kiss the tears away.

“I’m sorry, Sails. I was insensitive. I’m just damned scared you’ll get hurt.”

Sailor leaned back into his embrace, needing to feel his strength, his big body against her own. “I’m sorry I yelled. It’s just, god, Bodhi, I feel so responsible.”

“You’re not the monster here,” he said gently, and she turned in his arms, tilting her face up for a kiss.

“I know. I just hate the thought of anyone else being hurt, because of me.” She put her hands on his face, studying him. “You look tired.”

“I missed you the last couple of days.”

She smiled gently. “I was right next to you in bed, baby.”

“I felt the distance.”

She nodded, her eyes growing serious. “Me too.”

“Let’s never do that again.” Bodhi kissed her gently. Sailor took his hand and led him back to their bedroom.

“Let’s get those times back,” she said softly, and closed the door behind her.

Soleil looked over at Tim as they sat in the heavy Los Angeles traffic on the way to his school. The boy had been quiet, picking up on the tension between his father and Sailor.

“Timbo? You okay?”

Tim looked at her with concern in his eyes. “Solly…are my dad and Sailor going to split up?”

Soleil shook her head. “No, sweetie, they’re just upset about what happened to Bay. But everything’s going to be alright again. Bay is getting better and your dad and Sailor will be okay.”

“We have new bodyguards.”

“You do.”

“Good. That’s good.”

Solly frowned. “Tim, do they ever bother you? Not the new ones, but the old ones. Did you ever notice any weird behavior?”

Tim considered. “Only Udo. He was creepy. He liked to look at Sailor all the time. I think he thought she was pretty.”

Soleil nodded, deep in thought. “Udo, huh? Yeah, he was a little creepy. Good thing he’s gone now, right?”

“Yeah. Do you think Dad will marry Sailor?”

Soleil was relieved he seemed happier. “Maybe, I don’t know. They love each other very much.”

Tim nodded. “Why hasn’t Daddy gotten married before?”

“Well, maybe he was waiting for Sailor.”

“But he didn’t know her.” Tim looked confused and Soleil grinned at him.

“Maybe, deep inside, he knew he was waiting, that someone like Sailor was out there, and so he held off getting married. Are you sad he didn’t marry your mom?”

“No. I don’t think they loved each other, not like Mom loved Evan or Dad loves Sailor.”

“What happened with your mom and Evan?”

Tim shrugged. “She used to get these moods, and yell at him. He ignored it for a while but then he got…what’s the word?”

“Angry? Depressed?”

“Depressed. He was sad. One day, he told me he couldn’t live with us anymore because Mommy asked him to leave.” Tim looked a little tearful, and Soleil hurriedly changed the subject.

“Well, if you ask me, I think your Dad will marry Sailor.”

“I hope so.” Tim was smiling again. At school, he kissed Soleil’s cheek and ran off to be with his friends. Soleil sighed. She’d never wanted kids, but there was something about this particular kid that made her heart hurt.

She glanced at her watch. Still early and she wanted to give Bodhi and Sailor some privacy. Soleil drove to her favorite L.A. coffee house and flirted with the female barista. Hedda, her date a few weeks back, hadn’t called her, for a while and Soleil decided she wasn’t that concerned. Hedda had been fun but the nurse’s hours had been inconvenient and…

Something clicked in Soleil’s head. Hedda had been a pediatric nurse. Soleil called the hospital where she said she worked. The staff there hadn’t heard of a Hedda Shaw.

Shit. Soleil grabbed her iPad and checked which hospital Bay Tambe had given birth at in Seattle and called them. After some negotiation, she was put through to the nurse’s station on Bay’s floor.

Soleil recognized Hedda’s voice immediately. She hung up the phone without speaking. Fucking bitch. So, Hedda had lied about where she worked, it couldn’t be a coincidence that she worked in the neonatal unit where Bay had been attacked.

Sailor had wanted to travel up to Seattle to see Bay, maybe she, Soleil, should take her. Maybe then she could check out Hedda, maybe freak her out enough to get some information.

It was worth a shot.

Bodhi ran his palms slowly down Sailor’s sides as she straddled him. She was stroking his cock into a state of tumescence, after they’d paused in their love making. She smiled down at him as her hands caressed him, rubbing the tip of his cock along her damp sex.

“Remember our night in Tuscany?” She said, and Bodhi grinned.

“Baby, I don’t think I will ever forget that. Did you enjoy yourself?”

“God, yes.” Sailor positioned herself and guided him inside her, taking him in deep, sighing happily.

“I love the way your peachy cunt grips my cock,” Bodhi said as she rode him, and she chuckled, winding her fingers between his.

“I love it when your cock reams me into submission.”

Bodhi chuckled. “God, you have such a dirty mouth.” In one swift motion, he flipped her onto her back and pushed her knees up to her chest. “Let’s see just how deep I can go, shall we?”

Sailor gasped and cried out as he fucked her harder and harder, pushing her knees higher so he could go deeper. “That’s right, little girl, scream my name…god…your cunt feels so good, baby…”

Sailor came quickly as Bodhi shot deep inside her. Bodhi made her hold her legs apart as he went down on her, Sailor finding the way his tongue teased her already sensitive clit unbearable in the best way.

After two more orgasms and a lot of kissing, they lay panting, side by side. “God, it can’t get better than that, can it?”

Bodhi grinned. “Doubtful. But I’m up for anything, if you are.”

Sailor propped herself up on her elbow to gaze down at him. “I am…except for anything involving knives.”

“I would never consider that, Sails. Not ever. Even taking your past into consideration. Not my bag.”

Sailor grinned, relieved. “But anything else…we’ve tried whips, bondage…”

Bodhi grinned wickedly. “At this point it might be easier to just list the stuff we won’t try.”

“Ball gags. Gag being the operative word. There’s only two things going in my mouth during sex: your tongue and your cock.”

“That’s good to hear,” Bodhi was chuckling and leaning against his chest, she felt the vibration rumble through him. “I’m not into humiliation or degradation. Or adult diapers.”

They both made a face then laughed. “Yup, not for me either. What about a threesome?”

Bodhi’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

Sailor nodded. “I’ve been wondering.”

“Woman or man?”

“Either. But only if, and this is a big if, we trust that person implicitly. Because I can get jealous.”

Bodhi pulled her on top of him. “You know that rules out everyone but two people.”

“Yup. But I don’t think Bay will be up for it just yet.”

“Oh, ha ha funny girl. Funny enough, I’m not sure Claudio would do it, either.”

“So, we’re talking about the same person. Well, Solly is posing as your girlfriend.”

Bodhi grinned at her. “Soleil is the one person I’m surprised hasn’t suggested it yet.”

“Have you and her…”

Bodhi shook his head. “No, never. I know she has done it with others, though, she’s not shy about telling me.”

Sailor was chuckling. “I can’t believe we’re even discussing it.”

“Hey, I have a whole role play thing in my head already.”

“Oh, really?”

Bodhi covered her body with his. “Yeah. Me and Solly, we’re the rich folk…“

“True story.”

“Don’t interrupt.”

“Sorry.” She grinned up at him. “Please continue.”

“We live in a grand castle and you, Sailor girl, are our maid. We chose you because of your staggering beauty, and soon, we take you out of the kitchen where you’ve been slaving, and keep you as our sex toy, every night,” he was trailing his lips across her clavicle as he spoke, “we make you strip slowly in front of us, then we both kiss every part of your beautiful body. All out attention is focused on you…all of it.”

His mouth was on her breasts now, his hand snaking between her legs to rub her clit. Sailor shivered at the sensations flooding through her body. Bodhi was enjoying himself, running the tip of his tongue around her navel.

“Imagine that’s Soleil’s tongue on your belly, and she’s stroking the soft flesh inside your delicious thighs…I’m behind you, running my tongue down your spine, then, as Soleil takes your clit into her mouth, I slide my cock deep inside your cunt from behind…”

Sailor moaned, trembling underneath his touch and Bodhi, grinned, flipped her onto her stomach and thrust into her from behind finding her wet and so turned-on that she came at once, then again as they fucked, Bodhi gripping the headboard and slamming his cock deep inside her.

Later, when Soleil returned home, Sailor couldn’t help grinning to herself. It had really done it for her, imagining being fucked by both Solly and Bodhi. Her body still buzzed with arousal, but she saw Soleil was serious as she came into the room, and pushed her more erotic fantasies to the back of her mind. Soleil, for once, did not look in the mood for flirting.

Soleil told them about Hedda and Bodhi’s face was grim. “It certainly sounds suspicious. And yes, I think it’s a good idea to go to Seattle.”

Sailor agreed. “I want to see Bay and if we can scare Hedda into giving something away, even better. Jesus, if she let Lawson into the hospital, I want to get her ass fired.”

“That was my initial reaction, but she may be more useful if we stick a P.I. on her. I can use visiting Bay to cover for my presence, act surprised Hedda is there, maybe intimidate her a little.”

Bodhi was reaching for his phone. “We’ll find out where she lives and stick bugs on everything. If she’s working with Foy, we’ll find out.”

Sailor felt relief flooding through her. “A lead, at last,” she said, beaming. “Thank you, Solly. That’s the best news.”

Soleil grinned and high-fived her. “You two look happier. Can I assume you made up?”

Sailor colored and giggled. Bodhi looked smug. “We sure did. And, um, in an interesting way.”

Sailor shot him a horrified look and Bodhi laughed. “Sailor’s worried I’m going to tell you about her fantasy.”

“Bod-hi!” Sailor moaned, and Soleil chuckled.

“Oh, this must be good. Tell me.”

“No!” Sailor clamped her hand over Bodhi’s mouth. He pulled it down and while laughing as Sailor tried to shut him up, “Sailor wants a threesome with you, Solly.”

Sailor could have died, but Soleil just laughed out loud. “Well, about damn time.”

Sailor was mortified. “I cannot believe you told her.”

Bodhi was unrepentant. “Nothing to be embarrassed about, Sails. How else did you think we should invite Solly into our bed? By Morse code?”

Soleil got up and came to sit next to Sailor. “Sails…is this something you really want to try?”

Sailor was panicking a little as she looked between them both. “Is this really happening?”

Soleil and Bodhi shared a look. “It can be. Do you want to talk about it?”

Sailor didn’t know whether she was going to freak out or go along with what she was pretty sure was a rhetorical conversation. She chose the latter. “Maybe…how would it work?” She didn’t know if she could take seeing Bodhi fuck Soleil. Soleil read her mind.

“If we do this, it’s all about you, Sailor. I don’t fuck men and Bodhi would never cheat on you.”

Bodhi nodded. “No, I wouldn’t. Solly’s right, if we do this, it’s all about your pleasure, baby. Is this too much?”

Slowly Sailor shook her head. Soleil glanced at Bodhi who nodded, his eyes riveted at the two women. Soleil took Sailor’s face in her hands and pressed her lips to Sailor’s. She tasted of honey and Sailor sank into the kiss as she felt Bodhi stroke her back. She reached behind her and cupped his cock through his jeans, feeling it already hard. So, Bodhi would enjoy this too? It seemed so. Soleil’s hands were under her t-shirt now, and between them, she and Bodhi stripped Sailor, both of them kissing her exposed skin.

Sailor shivered with anticipation as they moved to the bedroom. She lay on the bed as Soleil and Bodhi caressed her body and when Soleil’s mouth found her clit, she gasped. Bodhi caught her mouth with his, his thumb finger-fucking her navel.

Soleil was skilled at what she did, bringing Sailor to orgasm swiftly, smiling up at her. “You taste wonderful, Sails.” She looked at Bodhi. “Swap places? I want to watch you fuck her.”

Bodhi thrust his engorged cock into Sailor’s red and swollen cunt as Soleil, her beautiful face glowing with arousal, kissed Sailor thoroughly. “I admit,” she said, “I have thought about this since I met you.”

Sailor felt a swell of affection and of pleasure that she, Sailor, could turn on a staggeringly beautiful woman like Soleil.

“Solly, look in the cupboard…we have some toys you might like.” Bodhi’s gorgeous eyes were intense with desire as he fucked his lover, who was crying out and gasping, completely at their mercy. Solly went to the closet and in seconds she was back, carrying the riding crop and wearing the strap-on they had yet to use.

“Well, look at that,” she grinned. The sight of her, the large silicone dildo protruding from between her legs, was strangely beautiful. She waved the crop. “Where do you like this, Sailor?”

“Across her belly,” Bodhi said, his climax near, and Sailor nodded, giving a sharp intake of breath as Soleil cracked the whip across her belly, leaving a red welt.

“Harder,” Sailor gasped, Bodhi’s cock plowing deep into her. Solei bent and pressed her lips to the first welt before striking Sailor again, harder. The sting was sweet agony. The third strike broke the skin slightly, and Soleil put the crop down, kissing Sailor’s belly.

“I’ll make it better, Sailor girl,” she whispered. Bodhi came, watching the women interacting and then pulled out, gasping for air.

“I want to suck your cock,” Sailor told him, and he nodded, smiling.

“Solly, fuck her from behind with that thing while I suck her clit.”

With Bodhi’s cock in her mouth, his mouth on her clit, and Soleil thrusting the dildo into her from behind, Sailor thought she might die from the pleasure. In her life, she had never dreamed that being fucked by these two beautiful people would be so good, and so uninhibited. She wanted Bodhi and she wanted Soleil just as much at this moment.

She sucked on Solly’s nipples, then took her turn with the strap on, straddling Solly as Bodhi fucked Sailor in her perfect little ass. She came over and over as they made love for hours, before all three of them collapsed, exhausted.

Sailor lay panting in between them. “Wow, just wow.”

Bodhi and Solei, both chuckled. “You can say that again,” Bodhi said. He kissed Sailor tenderly. “I love you, boo.”

She grinned at him. “And I love you, baby.” She looked at Solei. “Love you, Solly.”

“And I like you as a friend,” Solly shot back, grinning and Sailor laughed.

“Seriously, though, both of you. You have shown me a world I never knew existed. I’m glad we did this.”

Soleil chuckled, and Bodhi kissed Sailor’s lips. “Me too, baby.”

Soleil pulled herself up. “Well, loves, I’m hitting the shower then I think I need to do some work today. I’ll be in the guesthouse if you, um, need me again.”

She tugged her dress around her and grinned as she left them alone, blowing them both a kiss on the way out.

Sailor wrapped herself around Bodhi, whose arms held her tight. “That was…thank you, Bodhi. Thank you for your generosity.”

“Hey, it was my pleasure.”

Sailor kissed him, then looked worried. “I hope that wasn’t me cheating on you?”

“No, baby,” Bodhi grinned, “that was consensual three-way sex.”

“But you and Soleil…”

“Like she said, we both wanted to fuck you, and I’m only human, Sails, the thought of you and Solly together…that was hot. And I got to experience it, first hand and in a loving way, so we all win.” He soothed her damp hair away from her face. “When you think you were still a virgin a few months ago.”

Sailor grinned. “I know. I got the best education.”

Bodhi laughed. “Yes, you did…now, what shall we do now?”

Sailor grinned, and reaching over, picked up the strap-on. “Well, Mr. Creed, since my ass is still aching from your huge cock, I think it’s time we had a little role-reversal. You up for this?”

Bodhi laughed. “Hell, yes. Just make sure you lube up really good, baby.”

“Oh, I will.”

Sailor felt the power of her own body as she fucked Bodhi, feeling sexy and uninhibited and above all else, loved. When she made him cum, hard, and knew he was feeling ultimate the pleasure because of her, her heart soared. Afterward, Bodhi flipped her on her back and thrust his diamond-hard cock into her ready cunt and they fucked until they were both weeping.

Later, Sailor and Soleil made plans to travel to Seattle while Bodhi and Tim played Red Dead Redemption on Tim’s PlayStation.

Soleil was on the phone booking them a hotel as Bodhi looked over to them. “Don’t forget to book the extra rooms for the security team.”

Soleil rolled her eyes and Sailor grinned. “Surely we’ll be okay?”

“That’s what Bay thought.” Bodhi gave her a stern look.

“Dad.”

Bodhi turned back to the game as Tim got impatient and Soleil stuck her tongue out at him.

Sailor looked around at her little family and again felt so lucky. She was also glad there was no awkwardness between her and Soleil, who greeted them both with “Hey, slut” and a huge grin as she came in for dinner earlier and high-fived Sailor. Sailor watched her now. That mouth was on my nipples, those lips on my clit. Soleil winked at her. Sailor had never been attracted to a woman like she was to Soleil, but she wasn’t in love with Solly. Sailor got up and went over to see what the men were doing. Tim grinned at her. “Dad’s terrible at this game.”

Bodhi looked despairing. “He’s not wrong.”

Sailor sat on the arm of the chair, her arm around Bodhi’s shoulders as she watched them play. Soon Soleil joined them. “All arranged. We fly up on Thursday, stay overnight at the Four Seasons. Our bodyguards will be staying in style, and you’re paying, Bodhi,” she said cheerfully. Bodhi shrugged good naturedly.

“Anything for my girls.”

Sailor leaned her head against his shoulder, and Bodhi handed Soleil his game controller. “Here, see if you can make anything of this damned game.”

Soleil settled in beside Tim, and soon they were yelling and laughing as they played. Bodhi kissed Sailor’s forehead and gazed down at her.

“I love you,” he mouthed, and she smiled.

“I love you too,” she whispered and pressed her lips against his.

Bay wrapped Sailor in a huge hug then ushered her into the seat next to her bed. Sailor was glad to see that her friend looked better than Sailor had expected, just a little pale. Her post-baby body was already slimming down. Bay grinned when she saw Sailor’s scrutiny.

“Breast feeding. Best diet in the world.” Bay winced a little, favoring her left leg as she sat on the edge of her bed. Sailor squeezed her hand.

“Are you in pain?”

“Some. Could have been a lot worse.” Bay nodded over to her son, sleeping soundly in his crib. “The terror of Stu being in the same room as Buddy…Sailor, I would have happily died to protect my son, I was damned if Stu Lawson was going to get away with it.”

Sailor swallowed. “I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am. I’m sorry you got dragged into my crap, Bay.”

“Don’t be silly. Stu would have come after me anyway. Some men, god, some men think they have a God-given right to say whether a woman lives or dies. Scumbags.” Bay sounded angry and hurt and Sailor’s eyes filled with tears.

“I know. I just don’t know what to do.”

Bay rubbed her belly unconsciously as she chewed on her bottom lip. “Me either. It’s a bigger problem than either you or me, girl. We just have to deal with this situation. I suspect you feel the same as me, no ivory towers and twenty-four-seven security details, they don’t help with feeling safe.” She sighed. “Honestly, I’m just exhausted of everything. I just want to go away with Tom and the kids and disappear for a while. Kym and Pete are desperate for a break too. Maybe we should go on hiatus for a year or so.”

Sailor nodded. “I know Bodhi has benefitted from not working for a while so maybe it is good. Not like you can’t afford it.”

“Well, exactly.” Bay smiled at her. “I was never someone who wanted to be famous, you know. It was the music, that’s the thing I loved, and playing for people. The other stuff can go like, the fame, the press, the ridiculous pedestals people put us on. We’re just musicians, not gods.”

Sailor grinned at her. “Speaking from the other side of the fence, you were all gods to me.”

Bay laughed. “Well, I can relate. I still can’t get used to having Pearl Jam on speed dial.”

Sailor’s eye widened. “Really?”

“Really.” Bay was slightly smug, and they both laughed.

“Hey.” Tom Meir stood at the door, watching them. Bay’s smile spread wider.

“Hey, baby. Look who’s here.”

Sailor’s heart thumped as she stood to greet Tom, scared he would rebuff her. Instead, his eyes softened, and he hugged her.

“I’m so sorry, Tom,” Sailor whispered to him as he kissed her cheek. Tom nodded, half smiled, then turned to his wife.

“Scooch on over, beauty,” he said, and sat down next to her, his hand on her thigh. “How are you this morning?”

Bay leaned into him, and Sailor’s chest hurt at the love between them. She hoped that she and Bodhi would still look at each other when they had been together as long as Bay and Tom had. She got up, meaning to give them privacy but Bay shot her a look.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Sailor smiled timidly. “I don’t want to take up all your time.”

“Girl, sit down. You only just got here and you haven’t met Buddy properly yet. Tom, tell her.”

Tom took Sailor’s hand. “Stay, Sailor. It’s early. Please, stay.”

Hedda Shaw grabbed the adult diaper pads and turned to walk out of the maternity ward’s huge supply closet. She was startled when she realized someone was standing in the doorway. With the light behind her, she didn’t recognize the figure at first, until she spoke.

“Hey, there.”

Hedda shielded her eyes. “Soleil?”

Solly smiled and stepped into the room, letting the door swing shut behind. “I thought I saw you…I didn’t realize you transferred.”

Soleil was smiling, but Hedda heard the edge in her voice. Soleil stepped forward, and Hedda swallowed hard. “Um, yeah, sorry, it was last minute…why are you here, Soleil?”

“Visiting a dear friend. Bay Tambe…you know her?”

Hedda nodded slowly. Oh fuck… “Of course, she just had a baby.”

Soleil put her head to one side. “And was just nearly murdered. That’s surely worth a mention, right? In a secure hospital…guess someone really dropped the ball on keeping the patients safe, huh?”

“It’s unfortunate, but it happens.”

“In a locked ward?”

Hedda looked away from her gaze. She knows…Hedda’s eye drifted to the boxes where they kept scalpels. Could she get to one before Soleil went for her?

“I wouldn’t, Hedda.” Soleil’s voice was like ice. “Now, I think it’s strange that Stuart Lawson was able to gain access to Bay’s room so easily…and just after you transferred, too. Coincidence? I don’t think so.”

Hedda risked it and lunged for the scalpels, but Soleil was too fast and too strong. Hedda squeak in terror as Soleil pushed her against the wall, gripping her throat and got in her face.

“You little bitch…how long have you been working for Bartholomew Foy? Before we fucked or after? How much is he paying you to help Lawson kill Bay?”

Hedda shook her head, terrified. “I’m sorry…I’m sorry…”

“I don’t give a crap about your apology. I care about the people I love. Bart Foy is going down, Hedda, and you can either go with him as an accessory to murder or you can help us. Because believe me, there’s no way I’m letting you get away with what you did. Think about it. You have my number. And one last thing…you’re being watched so don’t try to run. If you do, you’ll have to deal with me.”

Soleil released her grip and stalked out. To Hedda, as Soleil opened the door, she looked like a beautiful avenging angel, only Soleil was most definitely not on her side.

“Shit…shit…” Hedda sank to the floor, trembling uncontrollably. Bart Foy scared her even more, but Solei had just proved that she too was not someone Hedda wanted for an enemy.

It was only then the weight of what she had done hit Hedda Shaw, and with no other option and no idea what to do, she began to cry.

Sailor and Soleil left the hospital just after noon, and Soleil insisted on showing Sailor around the city. Sailor loved the cool vibe of the place, down to earth and laid back. They went to the top of the Space Needle and looked out over to the Olympic Mountains and Mt. Rainier. They ate chowder from the concessions stand, sitting at one of the little tables on the viewing deck.

They chatted amiably until Solly’s phone buzzed. “Hey, it’s Claudio. Ciao Fratelli!”

Sailor smiled as Soleil chatted away in Italian, so quickly Sailor couldn’t even begin to translate the little she knew. She concentrated instead on the delicious chowder and the incredible view. Yeah, she could imagine living here, not as hot or busy or as fast-paced as L.A. She wondered idly if Bodhi would be up for moving then checked herself. Despite the intensity of their relationship, she really didn’t think they were ready to discuss moving his whole life entirely on a whim of hers.

Sailor rocked back a little, realizing, despite his great generosity, she really didn’t have parity with Bodhi in their relationship, and not just financially. The thought depressed her. I was meant to do…something, she thought now.

“Hey.” Soleil had finished her call. “You’ll never guess where Claudio is right now. Seattle. Uh-huh,” she nodded as Sailor looked surprised. “He had a last-minute meeting with Grady Mallory at the art museum and flew in yesterday. He wants to know if we can be free for dinner tonight?”

“Of course,” Sailor was delighted; she had liked Claudio Fonseca very much.

Claudio threw his arms around both of them as they arrived at the restaurant. Claudio’s companion, Grady Mallory watched with a grin on his handsome face as his friend made a fuss of his sister and her friend, then Claudio introduced him to Sailor, Soleil was clearly already acquainted with the other man.

Over dinner, Sailor discovered Grady was a Seattle native, part of the very rich, very famous Mallory family and had recently had a new baby with his wife, Floriana. He showed Sailor the photo of his new daughter. She was adorable and Sailor told him so.

“You have any more children?”

“Two,” Grady said proudly, “Flori loves being pregnant for some reason.”

Sailor grinned. “I wouldn’t know about that, but you two sure do produce gorgeous offspring.”

Grady grinned his thanks. The rest of the dinner was fun as Sailor and Grady watched Claudio and Soleil bicker and tease each other in the way only siblings could.

Later, Grady asked Sailor about her art and Sailor looked surprised. “I told him,” Soleil interrupted, smirking. “Both Bodhi and I have seen what she can do, Grady, although she is very good at hiding it.”

Sailor was surprised. Yes, she loved drawing, and would often sit sketching in the evenings while Bodhi and Tim played computer games, but she hadn’t noticed Soleil taking a particular interest in her art.

Grady nodded. “Listen, have you heard of The Quilla Chen Mallory Foundation?”

Sailor shook her head.

“It’s named for my sister-in-law, and through it, Quilla, Flori and I all work towards giving emerging artists a helping hand. We’re very much looking for tutors for a Los Angeles office we’re thinking of opening. Would you be interested?”

Sailor’s cheeks flushed. “Grady…look, that’s very kind, but I’m nowhere near qualified. I just sketch for a hobby.”

Grady smiled and took out a business card. “Well, then, keep in touch…maybe there’s some other area you’d like to get involved in.”

As Sailor and Soleil were being walked back to the hotel by Claudio, Sailor couldn’t stop thinking about Grady’s offer. Maybe she could be useful, and she could actually use a focus right now. Suddenly she felt a new energy inside of her, as much as she loved Bodhi and their life together, she needed something of her own to feel a connection to the earth. If their relationship was made public, she wanted to be more in this life than just Bodhi Creed’s girlfriend.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts, she didn’t see Soleil on her phone, and Claudio dropping back to walk with Sailor.

“Hey, kiddo. How do you like Seattle?”

She smiled up at him. She had liked Claudio from the first, his fun-loving side coming out when his sister or Bodhi was with him. She also felt she could talk to him about anything. “I love it, so beautiful.”

“You know, Bodhi was raised here for much of his childhood? That’s where we met him. Our father was working with Boing at the time, as was Bodhi’s dad, and they became friends so when he brought us over on school vacations, we would all hang out.”

“I never knew that,” Sailor said, smiling. “That’s cool.”

“He’s my brother,” Claudio said, and almost too late, Sailor realized that he was giving her the ‘Don’t hurt my brother’ talk, in a very sweet, subtle way. She nudged his shoulder with hers.

“Don’t worry, Claudio, I’d rather die than hurt Bodhi, Tim, or any of you. You are my family now, and you’ll never know how grateful I am for you all.”

Claudio, seemingly satisfied with this, kissed her cheek. “Good girl. If it’s any help, I’ve never seen Bodhi so wiped out by love. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Sailor was touched. “Claudio, I can promise you…we will all be happy together if I have anything to do with it.”

She had no idea how soon that promise would be broken.

“Bart Foy has gone very, very quiet,” Bodhi announced at breakfast a few weeks later. “The Feds leaned on him about Stuart Lawson, but he covered his tracks very well.”

Sailor looked at him unhappily. “That doesn’t surprise me.”

Soleil spooned the last of her yogurt into her mouth. “How do you know all of this?”

“I have a contact at the Bureau.”

Soleil grinned. “Impressive.”

Bodhi grinned, but Sailor didn’t smile. “It’s when he goes quiet that I start to panic,” she lowered her voice so Tim, who was running around packing his backpack for school, wouldn’t hear. “Back in the commune, it meant someone had stepped out of line and that bad times were coming. Dark times.” She felt tearful, and Bodhi stroked her cheek.

“What is it?”

Sailor just shook her head. “Just…a hidden enemy, you know? It’s harder to stay ahead of them.”

“Ahead of who?” Tim had rejoined them without Sailor seeing, and for a second, she floundered for an answer.

“Emails,” Soleil rescued Sailor, then mussed Tim’s hair. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s get going.”

Sailor looked at her gratefully, and Solly winked. “Listen, I have a meeting after I drop Tim off, so you two will have the place to yourselves for a while. To, um, work, you know?”

She winked at both of them, then laughed as she left the house with Tim. “Bye, gorgeous people.”

“Bye, nut job,” Bodhi called out after her and Sailor laughed, feeling her spirits lift.

When they were alone, Bodhi leaned over to kiss Sailor. “Sails, I’ve been thinking…it might be time for me to get back to work. Record some new stuff, do some press, and I’m thinking maybe we could kill two birds with one stone.”

“How’s that?”

“I think we need to go public with our relationship.”

Sailor gaped at him. “Why?”

“Because the more Bart Foy realizes that you are protected, that you are loved, the less likely he is to risk coming after you. He might think you’re anonymous enough that he could, and I hate these words coming out of my mouth, that he could kill you and no-one would think anything of a young biracial woman being murdered in this town. God knows how many people straight off the bus from everywhere go missing, especially young women. This could be where my fame, for want of a better word, could actually be of help. From what I can see, Bart Foy won’t risk being exposed as a murderer or a charlatan. I don’t mean this to sound egotistical, and of course, you are much, much more than just my lover, but being Bodhi Creed’s girlfriend automatically gives you an extra layer of public protection. No-one can touch us.”

Sailor chewed this over. “Conversely,” she said, “Bart could think I might expose him in a bigger arena and come after me.”

Bodhi’s smile faded, and he sighed. “God, Sails, if I could get my hands on him.”

She stroked his face. “I know, baby. And I think you might be right, at least, we could consider it, because I have an idea. Maybe if I did an interview with you and not mention names, but make it clear where I come from, what I’ve seen. Bart will know I’m ready and willing to talk about him. He might panic. He might make a mistake and then we’ve got him.”

Bodhi looked unhappy. “Using yourself as bait is not an answer.”

“We have to use what is available to us, Bodhi. Until the threat of Bart Foy is gone, then I don’t know how to really feel free. Be free. I don’t want a death threat to follow me around forever.”

Bodhi took her in his arms. “I know. I know.” He sighed, pressing his lips to her temple. “We’ll work it out. We’ll work something out.”

She tilted her head up for a kiss. “In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about Grady Mallory’s offer.”

Bodhi looked surprised. “You have? That’s great news.”

“I still don’t think I’m right to be an art tutor,” she said, sitting down on the couch with him. “But I know what I’m good at and that’s organization, scheduling, all the dull stuff.” She grinned at Bodhi. “I know, it’s a bore to you, but it gives me a sense of control. If the Foundation is opening a branch in Los Angeles, then they’ll need someone like that.”

Bodhi smiled at her enthusiasm. “I see you as much more than a paper pusher, Sailor.”

“Well, maybe I could handle the charitable part, arrange benefits, or marketing…something like that. I don’t have an awful lot of experience in anything, as you know,” she grinned at his wicked smile, “except some things, Mr. Creed, I think I’m becoming an expert.”

“I would agree with that.”

They were both laughing now. “See, I was having a serious conversation about a possible career, and you have to bring up sex.”

Bodhi laughed loudly. “You brought up sex, you little nympho.”

“Fair enough.” She snuggled into his arms. “So, what did you have in mind for today? Recording sessions?”

His fingers were trailing up and down her spine. “I was thinking of going into the recording studio, but not recording.”

“Oh?”

“Uh-huh. I was going to take my girlfriend in there and fuck her senseless on the mixing board.”

Sailor started giggling. “Oh, you were huh?”

“Oh yeah. Well, first I’d strip her slowly, then put my face in her sex and suck and taste her until she came…”

Sailor was getting very turned on by his dirty talk, and she looked up into his intense green eyes and he brushed his lips against hers. “Then,” he continued in a low, slow, sensual voice, “I would part her legs and put my cock inside her so hard that she would scream my name so loud that even the soundproofing couldn’t muffle her cries…”

Sailor moaned softly. “Put your hands on me, Bodhi Creed.”

Bodhi pulled her top down and took her nipple into his mouth, his fingers sliding into the waistband of her denim shorts, stroking her lower belly then massaging her clit. “You’re getting wet, baby.”

Sailor responded with a moan then Bodhi tumbled her to the carpet, yanking her shorts and her panties down. “This isn’t the recording studio,” Sailor chuckled as he kissed her belly then blew raspberries on it, making her shriek with laughter.

“There’s time enough for the studio,” he said gruffly, hitching her legs around his and thrusting his rigid cock inside her. Sailor sighed happily as they began to make love, and she thought to herself, Maybe. Maybe Bodhi’s right. Maybe no-one can touch us…

In the next few hours, she would be shown, in the most painful way possible, just how wrong they both were.

“You got the words wrong again,” Tim complained, and Soleil rolled her eyes, going back over the song they were singing together again. As usual, the Los Angeles traffic had ground to a halt, and the clock was edging ever nearer to nine. Tim didn’t seem bothered by being late, but it made her feel like a bad aunt, so she’d deliberately set off a few minutes earlier, only to be constrained by a traffic accident up ahead.

“Dang it,” she said, for once not cursing in Tim’s presence. That made her feel like a bad aunt too. She glanced over to Tim. He was so different from the shy, sullen boy she’d met almost a year ago; he had thrived under Bodhi, Sailor’s and she had to admit, even her own care. “Hey kiddo, you talk to your mom this week?”

Tim nodded. “She says she’s feeling a lot better now. I talked to Evan too.”

“You did? That’s good.”

“Yeah. I didn’t tell Dad that. I don’t think he likes Evan.”

Soleil smiled at Tim. “He just doesn’t know him, buddy. I think your Dad’s just a little jealous that Evan got to raise for so many years.”

“Okay. But that’s not Evan’s fault.”

“No, it’s not. And it’s not your dad’s, it’s just how things are.”

Tim was silent for a long time. “I think it’s my mom’s fault. I feel kind of angry with her.”

Soleil shook her head. “No, Timbo. Sometimes we make decisions based on what is the best at the time. Your mom made a choice. Whether it was the best one or not, it was her choice. That’s all anyone could do.”

“I don’t want to go back to live with her.”

That shocked Soleil, and she swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. “Why not, pal?”

“Because…I think I make her sad. That’s why she went away.”

Tim’s word broke Soleil’s, heart. “No, sweetheart, you didn’t make her sad. And look at it this way, because your mom was sad, and that happens to us from time to time, you got to know your dad, and Sailor and me. And your grandma and Claudio and Tag, of course.”

Tim smiled at the mention of his canine friend back in Italy. “I’d like a dog.”

“Talk to your dad, I’m sure he’d get you one.”

Tim nodded happily. “I like living with Dad and Sailor and you. Will you live with us forever?”

Soleil, touched, grinned at him. “Sure you want me to? You know those missing Pop Tarts? That was me.”

Tim laughed. “I knew they hadn’t been stolen!”

Soleil peered out at the traffic in frustration. “Timbo, I’m going to get off the freeway here and go a different way. It might make us a little late, but not more than this damn traffic will. Okay with you?”

“Sure.”

Soleil pulled the car onto the off-ramp and off the freeway, not noticing the black SUV following behind them. They drove around the back streets for a while until they were only a few blocks from Tim’s school.

“So, what you got on today, kid…”

Soleil didn’t finish her sentence as her car was sidelined by the black SUV. It cornered their vehicle, slamming into it again and again, and didn’t let up until both Soleil and Tim were both stunned and concussed. Then Tim’s door was wrenched open, and he was grabbed by a large man. Tim started to scream and Soleil, yelling, was about to get out of her seat when she was grabbed and pinned back against her seat by someone who jumped in the back of her car. A hand was clamped over her mouth. A tall man, dragging Tim around to Soleil’s door, held Tim’s head, so he was staring directly at Soleil.

“Now, watch, Timmy. Watch what happens when you disobey me.”

Soleil, unable to move, saw Udo slip into the passenger seat. In his hand, a switchblade knife. Soleil tried to free herself as Udo cut open her shirt, but when she knew it was too late, she bit the hand covering her mouth. As the man behind her cursed, she turned to Tim with desperation in her eyes. “Don’t watch, Timmy, close your eyes.”

Bart Foy smiled at her. “No, do watch, Timmy…this will be fun.”

Udo stabbed Soleil repeatedly as Tim screamed. Solly gasped as the knife cut through her belly again and again, viciously, Udo smiling the entire time, before Bart told him to stop. Bart released a sobbing, hysterical Tim to his guard, and stepped up to the dying woman. Soleil moaned, her wounds pumping her precious blood out of her body. “If you live long enough, beautiful girl, tell Sailor that this can happen to her bastard lover’s son or it can happen to her. It’s her choice.”

Bart ran a fingertip down Soleil’s face as she bled out. “A shame. What a lovely woman.” He looked at Udo who handed him the knife, and with one brutal movement, Bart plunged the blade into Soleil’s stomach one last time. She vomited a fountain of blood as she heard Tim’s screaming getting further away.

Soleil now left alone, her hands freed, knew she was dying. She clutched the wounds on her abdomen and threw herself out of the car onto the hot asphalt, causing a scene, desperately to get her message across before she died. She heard voices, alarms, sirens, the sound of people rushing to her aid. The pain was unimaginable.

It’s too late…it’s too late. I’m dead…

As the first responders reached her, she pulled his head close and repeated what Bart had said to her. Tell them…tell them I’m sorry…Bodhi…Sailor…Tim…save Tim…

“Jesus, Jesus,” the cyclist bent over the bloodied, brutalized girl on the road and tried to give her first aid. Another woman rushed over. “I’ve called 911.”

The cyclist gave the stricken woman chest compressions as the woman blew oxygen into the girl’s lungs. She told him to stop a moment, felt for a pulse then shook her head. “She’s gone. She’s gone.”

A cop car pulled up then, and two cops rushed over. The cyclist, trembling shook his head. “She’s dead.”

One of the cops was staring down at Soleil’s dead body intently, and then he cursed loudly. “Fuck.”

“What?”

“That’s Bodhi Creed’s girlfriend. Jesus H Christ, that’s his girlfriend.”

The other cop looked shocked. “Dammit, call it in. And someone get over to Bodhi Creed’s house. This is going to be all over the news.”

As the first cop called in the murder, he examined Soleil’s car and paled. “God…look.” He held up a child’s knapsack. “She had a kid in the car…where’s the kid? Where’s the goddamned kid?”

Bodhi and Sailor sat on the couch too shocked and devastated to say anything. The detective watched them carefully. “You understand what I’m saying?”

Bodhi turned pained eyes to him. “Soleil is dead…and my son is missing. Missing.”

The detective, Jim Wallis, nodded. “Obviously, this has just happened, so we’re gathering information. Before she died, Ms. Fonseca told a witness that she was given a message for you, Miss King. Something like “This will happen to the boy or it will happen to you. Your choice.” Does that mean anything?”

Sailor, haunted, nodded. She explained everything about her escape from Bartholomew Foy and the cult, how Bay Tambe had been dragged into it, and now Solly. Oh god, Solly, I’m sorry… “He likes to kill women, detective. That’s the crux of the matter. He wants to kill me. That’s why he’s holding Tim so that I’ll go to him.” She turned to Bodhi. “Bodhi…I have to go to him. It’s Tim’s only chance.”

“No,” both Bodhi and Jim Wallis were vehement in their response.

“That’s not an option, Miss King,” continued Jim Wallis as Bodhi dropped his face into his hands. “We will find Tim, I promise you.”

“You don’t know Bart,” Sailor said in despair, “He has no humanity, no morality, and his people are everywhere. He probably has some in law enforcement.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Jim said grimly, “But I can promise you for sure; he will not get away with this.”

His cell phone rang, and he excused himself. Bodhi put his arms around Sailor “Soleil’s dead.” His voice was breaking, and he leaned his head against her. “And my son…god…”

Sailor couldn’t help the tears. “I can’t believe it,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, Bodhi. If I hadn’t…”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” he said, his eyes closed. “I couldn’t live without you, Sailor. This is when it ends, you know, this is when Bart Foy is brought to his knees.”

Sailor nodded. “Even if it costs me everything, Bodhi, I will get Tim back for you.”

Bodhi opened his eyes and gazed at her. “We do this together, okay? Don’t you dare sacrifice yourself. Bart Foy doesn’t get to kill anyone else.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I have to call Claudio to tell him. How the hell am I going to do that?”

Jim Wallis came back a short time later. “Mr. Creed…I’m sorry to have to ask you to do this, but we need someone to identify Ms. Fonseca’s body.”

Bodhi nodded, his face drained of color. “Of course. I have to call her brother; I think he’s still in Seattle…he’ll want to come and claim her body once the medical examiner releases it.”

“Of course. Look, we’re going to keep some people here for protection and to keep the press away. Someone must have called them almost as soon as it happened. Some journalists are outside now, but we’re keeping them away from the gate. Would you come with us now, Mr. Creed, before they start flocking?”

Sailor told him she would wait for him at home and he went to grab a sweater. Sailor pulled Jim Wallis aside. “How did she die, Detective Wallis? Please tell me. Bart…he has a favorite method.”

Jim Wallis hesitated then sighed. “Ms. Fonseca was stabbed repeatedly, Miss King.”

“In the abdomen?”

He nodded and Sailor sighed. “Yes. That’s Bart’s mo. That’s what turns him on. I just hope to god that Tim didn’t see it happen.”

“I hope so too.”

Bodhi gazed down at the face of his much-loved friend. In death, Soleil was just as beautiful, but the sparkle, her light, her humor, her energy…now Bodhi knew what the term ‘snuffed out’ really meant. She lay naked under a blood-soaked sheet; the medical examiner hadn’t had time to clean her wounds yet, but it was obvious where she had been stabbed, how horrifically she had been murdered.

“God, Solly, I’m so sorry,” he whispered again and again. Her eyes were closed, and Bodhi couldn’t understand how he’d never see them dance with laughter again. How could Soleil, of all people, be dead? Funny, smart, sexy, loving Solly. His tears dripped onto her face as he kissed her cold forehead and he heard the medical examiner cough. Jim Wallis touched his arm.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Creed but, you know, chain of evidence.”

Bodhi nodded. “Of course.” He shook his head, still unable to believe Soleil was dead. He turned to Jim Wallis. “We need to call Claudio Fonseca now before the press puts this online.”

They were too late. Sailor took the call from a near hysterical Claudio, who screamed at her that it was her fault Soleil was dead, and why the hell hadn’t they called him immediately and how could his beloved sister be dead?

Sailor took it all, every word of abuse, feeling like she deserved it. Finally, when Claudio, sobbing, had calmed down, he asked to speak to Bodhi. “He’s not here, Claudio…he’s at the medical examiner’s office…identifying Solly’s body.”

Another wave of ranting, and cursing in Italian. Sailor waited for him to finish, feeling as if she were in the body of someone else. Numb. “Claudio, Tim is missing. They took Tim. If you think you’re the only one blaming me for this, you’re wrong.”

The phone went dead. Sailor put her cell phone down gently, and steadying herself, switched on the television. Sure enough, Soleil’s murder was breaking news on every channel. A photograph of Bodhi Creed’s now dead ‘girlfriend’ was front and center, along with a photograph of Tim.

Too late, Sailor realized they had forgotten someone in the terror, the horror of Tim’s abduction. Someone who, if they had seen this broadcast, would now be in hysterics.

Tim’s mother. Gemma.

Her legs shaking, Sailor went to find a police officer. There was a commotion at the front door, and for a terrible moment, Sailor thought the press had got in. A moment later, a smartly dressed man with short brown hair and a kind but serious face approached her.

“Miss King?”

Sailor nodded, glancing at the officer behind the newcomer who nodded. The visitor saw her hesitation and reached into his pocket for his i.d.

“Miss King, my name is Evan Teal, I’m an F.B.I, agent and…”

Sailor recognized the pain in his eyes and immediately knew just who he was. “And the man who brought up Tim.”

Evan Teal nodded, and Sailor did the only thing she could think of to do in this situation. She hugged him.

Evan hugged her back tightly. In this situation, they were family even if they had never met before. When they released each other, Sailor led him to sit on the couch with her. Evan ran a hand through his short brown curls. “Sailor, please, just tell me everything. Everything. I called Gemma; she’s on her way down, so for everyone’s benefit, let’s get it all out in the open.”

Sailor had braced herself for the torrent of rage coming her way, but when Claudio and Gemma arrived at the same time, she realized she had under estimated. The grief and anger were all-consuming and entirely directed at her, so much so that by the time Bodhi arrived home, Sailor had been corned by both of them and was almost cringing at the force of their barrage.

“What the fuck is going on?”

Bodhi batted Claudio and Gemma out of the way and stepped in front of Sailor. “Enough!”

Both Claudio and Gemma were silent then. Bodhi turned to Sailor. “You okay, baby?”

She nodded, too stunned to speak. Bodhi turned back to his friend, and the mother of his beloved Tim.

“Stop it,” he said gently, “both of you. This isn’t Sailor’s fault. This is the work of a very, very sick man. Claudio, I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am…Soleil didn’t deserve this. She was murdered because I stupidly believed she and Tim were safe, that Sailor was the only one at risk. I should have insisted on them taking a bodyguard, but, from what I understand, they were ambushed by a few people.”

“And my son?” Gemma’s voice broke.

“Our son…our son has been taken, yes. But, I believe he is alive. Bart Foy wants Sailor, so he’ll keep Tim alive as long as he hasn’t got her.”

Gemma sneered at him. “So? Give her to him, what is she to me? What is she worth when Tim’s life is on the line?”

Sailor closed her eyes. Nothing. I am worth nothing.

When Bodhi spoke, the steel in his voice was obvious. “She is the love of my life, Gemma. Just as Tim is. Don’t ever, ever talk like that about Sailor again. Do you understand me.”

Gemma turned away, then exclaimed as Evan Teal reentered the room. “Evan!” She flew across the room into his arms. Evan looked uncomfortable, glancing over Gemma’s shoulder at Bodhi, then Sailor. When Gemma released him, he stepped forward and offered Bodhi his hand. “Evan Teal.”

Bodhi shook it. “Bodhi Creed. Thanks for being here, Evan. Thanks for looking after…” His voice broke, and Sailor went to him, ignoring Claudio’s glowering look. She stroked Bodhi’s back, and he wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. She could feel his silent sobs rack his body.

“Okay,” said Evan calmly, after a few minutes, “let’s all be calm and work this problem through. Shall we sit?”

They were about to sit when another detective came in and grabbed the remote. “You have to see this.”

He flicked on the television and immediately an image of Soleil, bleeding out on the asphalt where she was found flickered on the screen. Claudio collapsed to the floor, batting Bodhi’s hand away, and as they watched in mounting horror, the newscaster told the world about the murder, the kidnapping. A photograph of Tim, obviously taken from a distance, at his school.

“Where the fuck did they get that?”

Bodhi was incensed, but then a moment later, something far worse was shown. A video, taken from an awkward angle, above a familiar scene. Three people. In bed.

Sailor gasped in horror as the television news broadcast the pictures of her being ecstatically fucked by both Soleil and Bodhi to millions of viewers worldwide.

For a long moment, they all froze…then Claudio lunged for Bodhi.

Sailor sat in the darkened guesthouse, watching Claudio and Bodhi argue violently in the main house. After Claudio, had seen the video of his beloved sister making love with his friend, and the woman he blamed for her death, he had gone mad, pounding on Bodhi, who just seemed to take it. After Evan and another cop hauled Claudio off of him, Bodhi had simply got to his feet and turned to her. “Go wait in the guesthouse, baby. You don’t need to hear this.”

She had fled, but now she felt wretched. God, was it worth it? All this horror, this pain?

Sailor pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her face on her knees. How the hell were they going to get Tim back if she, Sailor, was to remain safe? She couldn’t see a way.

Take me, she willed Bart, come take me, kill me, and leave them all alone. She kept seeing the image of Soleil, beautiful, amazing Soleil, stabbed to death. It should have been me.

She started as a cell phone began to ring, and she frowned. Her own cell phone was back in the main house, and there was no land line. Sailor got up, trying to trace the sound of the phone. She walked around, confused until she traced it to the bookcase. She pulled out a heavy copy of Othello and opened it. The book had been hollowed out and inside, a ringing cell phone. She took the call.

“My darling Sailor.”

Her blood run like ice, Sailor heard Bart’s voice for the first time in nearly a year. It sent horror shooting through her; her stomach clenched, her heart beat faster.

“You bastard. Where’s Tim? What have you done to him?”

Bart laughed softly. “He’s fine…a little, how shall I say this, a little subdued, a little traumatized. It was his first time seeing a killing.”

Sailor’s throat closed up, and her knees gave way. She sank to the floor. “You made him watch you kill Soleil? You…” She didn’t have the words.

“What a beautiful woman…what a pleasure to kill her. Now, don’t collapse on me, Sailor, you need to listen to me. Sit back on that couch.”

He was watching her. Of course. That’s how they got the footage of her, Bodhi and Soleil. She glanced around the room, and Bart laughed. “Hello, pretty girl. Yes, Sailor, I can see you. I’ve been watching you for months now, fucking that sleazy rockstar, and the now-dead whore. Well, well, well…you broke the rules, Sailor. You gave away what’s mine. You will have to be punished.”

Sailor went to the corner of the room and scooched down in it so that people in the main house wouldn’t be able to see her distress. “Please…Bart, don’t hurt Tim. I beg you. Don’t hurt him.”

“Sailor, you have my word that I will not harm the child…if you do exactly what I say. If you give yourself to me.”

“Anything, anything. Please just…tell me what I have to do.”

Bart laughed softly. “That’s my Sailor girl. Now, listen…”

After a still-raging Claudio had left to go see his sister’s body and make arrangements, Evan, who Bodhi had warmed to immensely, took a weeping Gemma back to her hotel. “I’ll come back in the morning, Bodhi, if I may. I want to be as much help as I can.”

Bodhi shook his hand, holding his gaze. “Thank you, Evan. Not just for today, but for bringing my son up to be a wonderful man. I can never thank you enough.”

Evan smiled, a little shyly. “I love Tim, and it was entirely my pleasure. I’m glad you have bonded so well. He loves you, Bodhi, he really does.”

Bodhi tried to hold back the tears, but was unable. “Thank you, Evan.”

“We will get him back safely, Bodhi, if it’s the last thing I do. I swear that to you.”

Bodhi nodded, but couldn’t speak. After they had left, Gemma still refusing to speak to Bodhi, Bodhi went to the guesthouse to find Sailor curled up on the sofa, her eyes haunted. Bodhi sat beside her and wrapped his arms around her. “Well, my beautiful girl…now it’s a waiting game. The F.B.I. want to wait for Bart to get in touch. We already know what he wants, but he’s not going to get it.”

Sailor said nothing, but buried her face in his neck. Bodhi could feel her trembling. “Try not to dwell on what Claudio and Gemma said to you; it came from a place of grief.”

“They were right. This is my fault.”

“No,” Bodhi’s voice was harsh and he made her look him in the eye. “It’s not. It’s the work of a madman, a psychopath. You did nothing wrong, do you hear me? I would not change a moment of time I spent with you. Nor would Tim, nor would Soleil. I am so in love with you, Sailor, you are my world as much as Tim, as much as Soleil was. God.”

“It hurts to hear her name in the past tense,” Sailor said, her voice breaking, “I can’t believe she’s dead. When I saw that photograph of her body…Bodhi, it was like seeing those photographs of Tilly all over again. The way she was killed…exactly the same. Bart has taken every important female figure in my life away from me, my mother, Tilly, Soleil. I can’t help feeling that if I had just given him what he wanted…”

“That’s bullshit.” Bodhi was up now, pacing. “Sailor, I see you murdered every night, in nightmares, I can’t stop them. Stabbed to death like Soleil was...I cannot handle you talking like that. If I lost you…”

“Ssh, ssh, ssh.” Sailor got up and wrapped her arms around him, kissing his mouth gently. “I’m still here, baby, still here…” Her voice broke, and Bodhi gave a groan and kissed her roughly, pouring all his pain into the kiss. He tore her shirt from her and took each nipple into his mouth, sucking hard, biting down on the nubs. Sailor pulled him to the floor and wrapped her legs around his waist as he pushed her skirt up over her hips and tore her underwear away.

He couldn’t wait to be inside her and thrust hard, hid cock straining to be enveloped by her velvety cunt.

They fucked each other hard, almost animalistic, feral, desperate to purge themselves of the sadness that weighted them down. They stayed in the guesthouse, the bedroom in the main house they’d shared for that one glorious night with Soleil, now sullied. A tomb.

In the morning, Bodhi woke up, the bed beside empty. He could hear Sailor in the little kitchenette. For a moment, he closed his eyes and pretended everything was normal, everything was okay. That his son, his Tim, wasn’t being held by a madman who wanted to kill Sailor, that his beloved friend Soleil hadn’t been brutally murdered.

Bodhi sighed, the sadness inside him weighing him down. He stared up at the ceiling, and his attention was caught by the tiniest red-light blinking. He sat up and cursed. Fucker had put cameras everywhere. Bodhi was about to reach up and rip the camera out of its hiding place behind the slatted door of the closet when he heard a crash and Sailor cry out.

He darted into the kitchen where he saw her on the floor, moaning, holding her left arm which he could see straight away was broken.

“What happened?”

“I was trying to reach the other skillet, the one that’s on the top of the cabinet,” Sailor winced as Bodhi gently held her broken arm. “I slipped. Oh, fuck it, fuck it…”

“Come on.” He swept her up into his arms easily, “You need to get to the hospital. Cedars is closest.”

Sailor, gasping with pain, stopped him. “Could you grab my jeans? I can’t go to the hospital in my underwear?”

Bodhi half-smiled. “The doctors wouldn’t mind. Okay, just stay here for a moment.”

As Bodhi went to the bedroom, Sailor very deliberately looking at the top of the oven to the extractor hood and said “Cedars Sinai. Cedars Sinai.”

Bodhi was back almost immediately. “You okay?”

She nodded, and he helped her pull on her jeans and sweater, then dressed himself quickly. They walked out to the garage, his security detail jumping to attention. “We need to get to Cedars…Sailor has broken her arm.”

“Okay, on it.”

Bodhi helped Sailor into the back of the SUV, but then turned back to another man. “Greg, sweep the entire property for cameras and any other surveillance devices. That cocksucker Foy has been watching us; that’s how they got the video of us.”

“Right, boss.”

Bodhi got into the car with Sailor, helping her put her seat belt on. “What a stupid idiot I am,” she said, apologetically. “This is the last thing you need.”

“Could have happened to anyone, baby. Let’s get you fixed up.

Bart Foy watched the video feed in satisfaction. Sailor had executed his plan perfectly. He got a little extra thrill at seeing her hurt…which would be nothing to how he would feel later, her blood on his hands, her lifeless body in his arms. Soon, so soon.

He turned to the man waiting. “Blindfold the kid. We need to get to Cedars Sinai.”

Sailor watched the doctor as he wound the last piece of plaster soaked bandage around her arm. “Now, it’s going to be painful for quite a while. Thankfully, it’s a straight break so you should be okay in time. Are you in much pain?”

Sailor nodded. “A little.”

The doctor smiled at her. “I’ll go get you some pain relief. Would you like me to ask Mr. Creed to come in now?”

Sailor swallowed hard. “Not just yet, I need some time.”

The doctor patted her good arm. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”

As soon as he left, Sailor grabbed every sharp implement she could find, a scalpel, scissors, and darted to the door. She could see Bodhi at the end of the hall, talking to the doctor. Quickly, she sped across the hall to the elevator and pressed the call button. She flattened herself against the wall as she waited then darted in and pressed the button to the basement. In the elevator, she shoved the scalpel and scissors down the side of her still malleable cast.

As the elevator reached the basement, she slipped out and waited.

“Sailor!”

She heard Tim’s voice as he was dragged into the light by Bart. Salem, Bart’s main henchman, aimed a gun at her, and Sailor also saw Udo, the security guard Tim had been scared of. Tim looked unharmed, but his eyes were haunted, and he was obviously terrified.

“Send Tim over, and as soon as he’s in the elevator, I’m yours.” Sailor managed to keep her voice steady.

Bart looked amused, but nodded to Udo. The big man walked Tim over to her, and as they reached her, Tim threw his arms around Sailor and burst into tears.

“They killed Auntie Solly,” he sobbed, and she hugged him tightly, her own tears flowing.

“I know, baby, I know…look, Timmy, when you get in the elevator, press number nine and don’t get out or speak to anyone else. Your dad is up there. Tell him,” her voice broke, “Tell him I’m sorry and that I love you both so much. So much.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Tim began to wail but Sailor, barely keeping herself calm, pushed him gently into the elevator.

“You have to, baby, please. I love you.”

“Sailor!”

She couldn’t bear it any longer and pushed the close-door button. “I love you so much,” she repeated as she heard him wailing and screaming her name. She watched as the elevator climbed to floor nine, then felt a pistol being pushed against the small of her back.

“Time to go, Sailor,” Bart said with a slight edge in his voice, and nodding, she was led to his car, and to her certain death.

Bodhi got alarmed when the doctor who was treating Sailor came to see him. “Has Miss King come by here? I can’t find her.”

Bodhi’s heart began thumping. “No…she was in the treatment room…did you leave her alone?”

“Yes, to get some pain medication…where is she?”

Bodhi felt the panic rise up inside of him, but the next moment, he heard the scream of a child, a child screaming for his daddy, and saw Tim rushing towards him. Bodhi ran to sweep Tim up in his arms and hug him tightly. “Oh god, Timbo, Timbo…I love you, I love you.”

“Daddy, my Daddy.” Tim held onto Bodhi’s neck so tightly he was almost strangling him, but Bodhi didn’t care. There was chaos all around him.

“Daddy,” Tim was sobbing, tears and snot dripping down his face, “Sailor. Sailor came and she said to find you and the bad man had a gun and he took her…Daddy…Daddy.”

Bodhi’s blood ran cold, and he closed his eyes. Of course. Of course. Sailor had sacrificed herself for Tim. Why hadn’t he realized? She’d broken her own arm to get here.

Oh, god…

The doctor ushered them into a private room and began to examine Tim. The child wriggled, never taking his eyes off his father. “Daddy, they put a blindfold on me to come here, but it came loose, and I could see, Daddy. I could see the way to where they took me.”

Bodhi gaped at his son as the boy recited the journey back to where Bodhi hoped against hope, they would be able to find Sailor before Bart Foy carried out his promise to end her life.

They hadn’t gone far, Sailor realized, as they drove out of the city. They hadn’t blindfolded her, why would they need to blindfold a dead woman? They arrived at a disused airplane hangar just outside the city.

She was alone with Bart now. He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her. Gently he undid the buttons on the front of her dress and pulled the fabric apart, exposing her belly. Sailor felt strangely disconnected. She was about to be murdered, horrifically, painfully, and yet…

She could only feel relieved that Tim was safe. Maybe those few deliriously happy months she had spent with Bodhi and Tim were her reward for going to her death so easily.

Bart smiled at her. “So, we’re here at last, and now I will begin the process of ending your life, Sailor. As I can hear the sirens, I won’t make a long speech.” He had a switchblade knife.

“Udo used this to kill your beautiful friend…seeing as how you fucked her like the little whore you are, it seems fitting you should suffer the same fate.”

Sailor drew in a sharp intake of breath as Bart placed the tip of the knife in the hollow of her navel. “Sailor…I’m not going to lie and tell you your death will be quick and painless. Quite the opposite. I’m going to gut you, darling, slowly.” And he pushed the blade deep into her belly.

Sailor couldn’t believe the pain; it was like nothing she had ever experienced before. Every severed nerve ending screamed with agony, and as Bart yanked the knife out, blood began to pump from the wound, soaking her skin, her underwear.

Sailor felt her head whirl, her body react to the assault. Bart watched her with obvious enjoyment. “See, my lovely Sailor? I remember doing this to your mother. She was almost as beautiful as you.”

He stabbed her again, and Sailor cried out as the knife sunk into her stomach. “Your mother begged me for her life. But I told her…she betrayed me. She betrayed you, Sailor…she was going to take you away from your rightful place…”

He sunk the knife into her belly again and Sailor began to feel lightheaded, her chest constricting as she began to lose consciousness. She could smell her blood as it pumped from her wounds. Bart leaned in and kissed her mouth. “She was going to take you away from me, your future husband, Sailor…” He smiled as he stabbed her one last time, an inch above her navel. “She was going to take you away from me…your father, Sailor…”

Sailor’s eyes opened in horror and suddenly, being butchered by this man’s knife wasn’t the most horrific thing in her life.

“You’re lying,” she gasped, and Bart laughed.

“You know I’m not, lovely one. My Sailor, my daughter.” He cut the ropes binding her and laid her on the floor. Sailor, struggling to breathe now, tried to press her hand against the wounds, tried to stem the blood, but she knew it was useless now.

Bart stroked her face tenderly and picked up a camera. “Just some photographs to send to your beloved Bodhi Creed.”

Sailor closed her eyes. It was over. All over. She would die here and…

She was hovering at the very edge of life when from what seemed far away, there were voices, shouting, angry, desperate. She could barely open her eyes, but when she did, it was in short blinks.

One. Bodhi’s beautiful face, tears streaming down his face, begging her to live. I have brought you so much pain, my love.

Two. Bart Foy’s face – her father’s face raging.

Three. Bodhi’s face, roaring with anger, with a vengeance as he pumped bullets into Bart’s head, and her father’s smile being blown off his face.

Four. Bodhi…oh god, Bodhi, my love, my life…goodbye…

Then all was darkness, all was nothing.

Three months later…

Bodhi held the letter that he had read over and over since that terrible day. The letter his guard had found in the kitchen drawer in the guesthouse as he swept for bugs.

My darling, darling Bodhi,

By now, you will know what I have done, and I ask for your forgiveness. There was never any other option if we were to get Tim back safely, and I want you to know, that if I’m dead, it was all worth it if Tim is back in your arms.

I love you. You have given me everything, and I am so sorry that my presence has been so destructive. I’m sorry for Soleil’s death, I loved her so much, as we all did, and I hate that she died because of me. She didn’t deserve to die like that.

Bodhi, all I ask is that you remember how much I loved you, with my whole heart, and I also ask that you go on and love like that again. Don’t grieve too long. Remember, but don’t grieve. If Tim is safe, then I died for a good reason, the best reason.

I can’t think of anything else to say but thank you, and I love you so, so much, my precious, darling Bodhi.

Always, your Sailor

Bodhi squeezed his eyes shut. She’s gone. She’s gone. He had to keep saying that to himself to believe it. He put the letter down and took up the other one.

The one she had written in the hospital. The hospital where they had fought to save her life, to repair her body, to heal the horrific injuries Bart Foy, her biological father, had inflicted on her. She was in a coma for a week, then as she began to emerge from it, the doctor had come to him, hope in his eyes.

“She’s turned a corner.” And Bodhi had only known relief like that once before when his son had come back to him.

But then, a week later, after some very groggy conversations, and a feeling she was holding back from him, Sailor had disappeared from the hospital, whisked away in the middle of the night by a mysterious benefactor.

The hospital had apologized to Bodhi, but as Sailor had no official next of kin, they had been bound from telling him. Her surgeon handed him the second letter she had written him.

My love, my Bodhi,

Forgive me. After everything we have been through, I feel this is the only way for me. I bring you bad luck, my love, and now, knowing Bart Foy was my father, I can’t face the future knowing I might have some of his traits. I’m so confused, my love.

I have to go away, and I have asked a friend to help me in this. Please, please don’t try and find me. Your life and Tim’s life will be better without me.

Sailor

It was rambling, the handwriting shaky, and Bodhi knew she hadn’t been thinking straight, but it still hurt. And now, after three months, Sailor had managed to keep herself hidden away, away from all of the detectives he’d paid hundreds of thousands to find her. Hidden, alone. He had no idea where she was.

Until now. This morning, Grady Mallory had come to him and revealed himself as Sailor’s mysterious benefactor. Bodhi had been angry, but Grady had calmly explained that he only did what Sailor asked him.

Bodhi stared at the man. “So, why are you telling me now?”

“Because I’m making a choice, a choice to do what I think is right. What I think Sailor actually wants now that she can think straight. She’s been in counseling, we arranged it for her. Also, Flori found out, and she’s been kicking my ass about it.”

Bodhi’s mouth hitched up in a half-smile at that. “Where is Sailor?”

Grady hesitated then nodded. “I’ll take you to her.”

Bodhi’s head had whirled, joy, anger, nervousness. He shook Tim awake and insisted the boy join them. “Sailor can’t get too mad if Tim’s there as well.” He told Grady in a low voice, and Grady chuckled.

“Chicken.”

“You know it.”

Grady drove them into the middle of Oregon’s Mount Hood National Forest, to Lost Lake. Bodhi glanced over at Grady when he saw the sign. “Really?”

“Just coincidence, I promise. My family has a cabin here.” Grady chuckled as Bodhi rolled his eyes.

He drove up to a cabin situated on the lake, and they got out. Grady knocked at the cabin, but then nodded. “I thought so. She likes to walk to the pier on the lake and sit with her feet in the water.” He showed Bodhi the way, but then held back. “You need some privacy.”

Holding Tim’s hand, Bodhi walked around the front of the cabin and toward the lake. In the distance, along a wooden pier, he saw a figure standing at the end, her long dark hair blowing in the breeze. His heart filled with love as he saw her.

Tim shook his hand free and began to run, and Bodhi let him.

“Sailor! Sailor!”

She turned, and Bodhi stopped, the shock so big he couldn’t breathe for a second. Sailor put a hand over the small bump on her belly, but bent down to hug Tim tightly as he reached her. Bodhi put one foot in front of the other, but didn’t know how he would be able to reach them.

Pregnant. How was this possible? She had been stabbed, for crissakes…the surgeon hadn’t mentioned a pregnancy. There was only one answer.

It wasn’t his.

Bodhi stopped walking, his heart breaking all over again. Tim was leading Sailor by the hand down the pier towards him, and for Bodhi, it was a moment of panic. What do I do? What do I say?

Sailor had never looked more beautiful, her caramel skin glowing, her eyes haunted, but soft with love. “Hello, Bodhi.”

He stared back at her a million questions going through his mind. She smiled gently and nodded, reading his mind. “It’s yours, Bodhi. Your child. I don’t know how everybody missed it, but I was pregnant when they took me to the hospital. Less than a month, which is why the embryo survived the stabbing. I’m four months now.”

Bodhi couldn’t speak, and it took a single, simple sentence from his son to make him come to his senses. Tim looked up at Sailor, his eyes shining with excitement. “So, I’m going to be a big brother?”

Sailor laughed, tears flowing down her face. “Yes, sweetie, the best big brother ever.”

Finally, Bodhi was able to move, and he took her in his arms. “Why did you run away?”

“I didn’t think I was good enough for you,” Sailor said, her voice breaking. “Bodhi, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’ve been living out here regretting running away ever since, but I didn’t know how to make it right. I’m so glad you’re here, so, so happy.”

And Bodhi kissed her passionately, not caring that Tim was watching. “I love you, Sailor King, and our baby. We are a family and don’t you ever forget it. We face things together, good or bad.”

She nodded, and Bodhi kissed her again, his heart swelling with relief and love and joy. He put his hand on her belly. “After all you went through, is this safe?”

She nodded. “I have a good doctor in Portland.” She looked down at Tim. “Look, shall we go inside? I can make us some cocoa. That breeze is a bit cool.”

Tim nodded eagerly, and she took his hand, and Bodhi’s and they walked back to her cabin, collecting a grinning, not-at-all-sorry Grady on the way.

One year later…

Sailor grappled with her very wriggly daughter as she tried to change her diaper. “Solly Creed, if you don’t start behaving, I swear to God…”

“Swear to God what?” Bodhi was laughing as she struggled with her daughter. Sailor glared at him.

“Could you put the Go-Pro down, rockstar, and help me? This photo op was your idea.”

They were in San Francisco for the launch of Bodhi’s first album in a few years and, as they got ready at their hotel, they could already hear the crowd of fans chanting his name.

Bodhi took his daughter from Sailor’s arms, and immediately the girl calmed down, babbling with pleasure, grinning at her father.

“Daddy’s girl,” Sailor grumbled, but laughed as Bodhi grimaced at the dirty diaper he was being allowed to change. “Hey, I had to carry that little monster for nine months. You can change a diaper.”

Later, as they made their way to the launch in the cab, Tim perched on Bodhi’s knee, Solly asleep in her mother’s arms, Bodhi looked over at Sailor.

“Hey, beautiful? You know that question I was going to ask you a while back?”

Sailor grinned, knowing exactly what he was going to ask her, put her finger to her lips. “Later,” she said, “When the kids are asleep.”

“Why?”

Sailor leaned in to whisper in Bodhi’s ear. “Because I have a very, very special way of saying yes, Bodhi Creed, and believe me, you’re not going to want to miss that…”

The End.

* * *

Tuscany, Italy

August

Sailor King stood at the doorway to the villa that she and Bodhi had purchased a little over a year ago. She breathed in the sultry, warm air of the Tuscany hills, listening to the quiet murmur of their guests as they waited for her in the makeshift aisle under the pergola.

Today, exactly five years after she’d escaped from The Children of Love and her psychotic, incestuous father, Bartholomew Foy, she would marry the man who had shown her what real, true, deep love was. The man who the world knew and adored, but who would give up every bit of his fame, his success, his wealth, for her and their children. Tim, Bodhi’s son from a previous relationship, was now fifteen years old and a devoted big brother to his four-year-old sister Soleil, Sailor and Bodhi’s child. Soleil was eager to get going, to throw flower petals along the aisle in front of her mother, but Sailor held her back for a moment, wanting to take stock. Tim had offered to walk her down the aisle, but she had told him that Bodhi needed him to be his best man. She didn’t mind that she wouldn’t be led down the aisle by a man.

She let out a long breath, feeling the tension in her body dissipate. They had made it. The wedding had been planned for so long, postponed and rescheduled until Bodhi could figure out a way to fulfill his recording contract with Quartet and go on tour, and then take another long sabbatical with his family. So now, they were here, in their beautiful home, where no press could find them, no rabid fans could turn up on their doorstep. Their haven, their paradise.

She heard a noise behind her and turned, her hand flying up to her mouth when she saw who was behind her. The surprise and joy flooded through her and tears started to drop down her face.

“I thought you weren’t going to come, I thought … oh my God …”

And she ran into his arms.

Los Angeles, California

The previous December

“Momma?”

“Yes, Freckle?”

“Why is my name Sorry?”

Sailor grinned at her daughter. “Solly, not sorry. It’s short for Soleil, Freckle. We named you after your auntie, remember?”

Solly was rolling around on Sailor and Bodhi’s bed, teasing their little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Dude. Dude licked Solly’s face, and she giggled.

“Dude, don’t lick,” Sailor scooped the puppy and kissed its furry head. She laid down next to her daughter and tickled her. “Are you excited about going on the plane, little one? Seeing Nanna?”

Solly nodded. Already, at four years old, Solly was a seasoned passenger on Bodhi’s private jet. And tonight, they would all fly over to Italy to spend Christmas in their new home. Tim, almost as tall as Bodhi now and top of his class at school, was already bragging to his friends about learning Italian, and how many of the beautiful girls he already knew there.

“Where are my gorgeous girls?”

Sailor and Solly heard Bodhi’s voice as he called and, grinning, Sailor pulled the comforter over them. “Let’s hide from Dadda, Freckle, and surprise him.”

She heard Bodhi come into the bedroom and give a low chuckle. “Now, where are my girls? Hey, Dude, what did you do with them? Eat them? Snuffle them? Now, wait … I think you ate them, because I see a chubby little leggy …”

He pulled on Solly’s exposed leg, and she burst into giggles, pushing back the comforter and yelling to him. He swept her up into her arms. “Were you hiding from me? You cheeky monkey.” Solly was laughing hard now, easily amused by their silly game. Sailor stuck her head out from under the comforter and grinned up at her fiancé.

“All Solly’s idea, so blame her.”

Solly looked outraged. “No, Momma!” and Bodhi and Sailor laughed. Sailor crawled out of bed and straightened her clothes, stopping to kiss Bodhi hello. He grinned down at her, and she smiled back, drinking in his gloriously handsome face, his huge green eyes, which both of his children had inherited, and his scruffy stubble, which saved him from being too beautiful, and instead made his machismo shine out from him.

“We all packed and ready to go?” he asked, swinging Solly in his arms. Sailor grinned.

“All set. And Tim promised me he’d packed last night. So, as soon as he gets home from school, we’re good to go.”

“Good. Ah,” he said, flopping down into a chair and, balancing Solly on one knee, he pulled Sailor onto the other one. The chair gave an ominous groan and Sailor giggled. Bodhi shrugged. “It’ll be fine.” He buried his face in Sailor’s neck, his lips against her throat. “God, I need this vacation. We need this vacation.”

He looked at her meaningfully, and she grinned. “Your mother has been very kind in volunteering to take the kids for a week. I can get Christmas really organized.”

“And we can get some special alone time.”

Sailor laughed. “You have a one-track mind.”

“When it comes to you, hell, yes.” He kissed her mouth, lingering over the embrace. Sailor closed her eyes, savoring the feel of his lips on hers. It never got old, that feeling of desire that flooded through her when he touched her. “I love you, baby.” His voice was a whisper, and she nodded.

“I love you too, big guy.”

They cuddled in silence for a while, relaxing. Solly fell asleep in her father’s arms. Sailor tucked her head onto Bodhi’s shoulder, feeling utterly blissed out. Her family— her chaotic, unexpected family— was the reason she breathed in and out, the reason she existed. After the horrors of the past, they had found a place in life which made them all happy. Bodhi had just finished a world tour, three intense months of dates in the biggest stadiums and arenas in the world, and he was exhausted but elated. “I just love performing, baby. It’s the second-best feeling in the world.”

“The second best?” she’d asked with a grin, as they’d talked in bed after the last gig. He’d chuckled.

“Stop fishing for compliments, woman; you know this is the best feeling in the world.” And they had made love long into the night.

The flight to Italy was long, with a stop in Paris, and by the time they reached Florence, all four of them were exhausted. Vittoria, Bodhi’s spritely artist mother, greeted them all with hugs and kisses, looking as excited as Dude was to see them after the flight. Vittoria gathered up Solly in one arm and Dude in the other and bore them off. Christina, Vittoria’s life partner, hugged Bodhi and Sailor and rolled her eyes at his mother’s retreating back.

“Honestly, she’s been unbearable, today,” Christina laughed, as she looped her arm around Tim’s shoulders. “Like an excited puppy. Gosh, Timbo, you’ve grown so much … and is that stubble?”

Bodhi grinned, and Tim looked pleased—despite the ‘stubble’ being about three hairs on his chin. Sailor felt her tiredness slip away as they got into Vittoria’s huge SUV, chatting and laughing. Vittoria and Christina had been together for six years now, and Bodh had completely accepted his mother’s female lover into his life without even a blink. Sailor smiled at him now; she knew how much he missed his mom and the place where he was born.

They stayed overnight at Vittoria and Christina’s huge city center apartment. Tim struggled to stay up late, like a man, but by ten o’clock, Sailor had to gently shoo him to his bedroom, then went to check on her daughter. Solly, her dark curls messy on the pillow, had been out for the count since after they’d had dinner, and Sailor herself felt weary now. Tomorrow, she and Bodhi would drive out to their new home and prepare it for his mother to bring the kids for Christmas. A week to ourselves, Sailor thought now, with a smile. It really had been too long. She closed Solly’s door and padded quietly back to the living room. She stopped when she heard Bodhi ask his mother a question.

“Have you seen Claudio?” The pain in Bodhi’s voice was obvious.

Sailor felt sadness shoot through her. Claudio Fonseca had been Bodhi’s best friend from childhood, his brother, virtually, and they had been inseparable right up until the day when Claudio’s beautiful, wonderful sister Soleil was murdered by the man who was obsessed with Sailor. Claudio blamed Sailor for Soleil’s death, and his and Bodhi’s friendship was ruptured beyond repair. Sailor felt the weight of guilt on her shoulders for it, but Bodhi insisted that Soleil’s death was not Sailor’s fault.

“One day, Claudio will see that and then he will be back,” he’d said confidently.

But Claudio had cut everyone out of his life who was connected to Bodhi, even his mentor, Vittoria, who had guided him to be one of the most successful young artists in the world.

Sailor leaned against the wall outside the living room and sighed, rubbing her eyes. She heard Vittoria’s soft voice. “No, darling. I’m sorry. I went to his apartment, but there was a For Sale sign up there … his place out in the country, I’m not sure. I didn’t want to intrude if he was there working, or … I don’t know.”

“It’s been five years, Mom.”

“I know, sweetheart. But Claudio didn’t have anyone else but Soleil. I called Maceo Bartoli to find out if he’d heard anything, but he hadn’t.” Vittoria sighed. “Darling, I think it’s time you accepted that Claudio no longer wants to be a part of this family. I’m sorry.”

Later, as they held each other in bed, Sailor could see the sadness in Bodhi’s eyes. “Do you want to talk about it, baby?”

But he shook his head, pressing his lips against hers. Both of them were way too tired to make love, but they kissed for a while before sleeping.

In the morning, a tearful Sailor hugged her children goodbye, and then she and Bodhi set out on the three-hour drive to their new Italian home. Bodhi held her hand as he drove, looking and smiling at her frequently.

“Big softie,” he said fondly, and Sailor laughed, wiping her cheeks dry.

“Sorry, I’ve just never been without Solly for one night, let alone seven.” She smiled, then. “Just think of the things we could get up to.”

“We’re going to fuck in every room in that place, my Sailor girl.” Bodhi looked smug.

She laughed and, reaching over, cupped his cock through his jeans. “You bet your sweet ass, we are. Except maybe that outhouse. Spiders,” she said, and shuddered. Bodhi laughed.

“Remember that tarantula down in the Caribbean, the first weekend we were together?”

Sailor grimaced. “How could I forget? Can we change the subject back to me doing bad and wrong things to you?”

Bodhi grinned widely. “Most definitely. I might have to pull over and have you before we get there.”

“Uh-uh,” Sailor said, shaking her head. “Anticipation is everything, you big horn dog.”

Bodhi sighed dramatically. “Well, don’t be surprised if I get blue balls, you tease.”

Sailor reached over again to caress the bulge in his jeans, grinning wickedly, and Bodhi groaned. “Devil woman.” He grinned as she laughed, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

“Sorry, baby. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Bodhi smiled at her, his eyes soft with love. “You better, and not just with that magical body of yours … Sails, we’ve put it off and put it off. I want to marry you, soon, next summer, if that suits you. And I’d like to get married here, in Italy.”

She stroked his cheek with the back of a finger. “I would love that, baby. August? When it gets that sultry, sleepy feeling in the air.”

“Perfect.”

Two hours later, they arrived at the villa. Secluded, surrounded on one side by cypress trees which snaked down the long driveway, the views over the Tuscan hills were breathtaking. Bodhi, though, only had eyes for one thing. He opened the main door to the villa, and let them both into the cool, shaded lobby, beautiful, original tiles on the floor, stone arches showing the way in the main house. He dumped their bags and reached for his love. Sailor went into his arms, grinning, knowing what he wanted. She hitched up her skirt as he reached under it, then laughed as he encountered bare flesh.

“You were going commando all the way here and didn’t tell me?” He feigned outrage. But soon enough, he tackled her to the floor, pushing the skirt up past her hips and hooking her legs over his shoulders. He buried his face in her sex and took her clit into his mouth.

“I want to taste your cock,” Sailor complained, but Bodhi, looking up with a smug grin, merely said, “Anticipation, baby.”

Sailor chuckled. “Oh, so this is revenge?”

“Want me to stop?”

“Oh, God, no … Jesus, Bodhi, that’s so good …”

He made her come then, freeing his diamond-hard cock from his jeans, plunging into her, making her cry out. Grinning widely, Bodhi fucked her hard, pinning her hands down, kissing her mouth roughly.

Sailor almost wept as she came, her body bucking and writhing under him. “God, Bodhi, Bodhi!”

Bodhi reached his orgasm, groaning as he pumped thick, creamy semen deep into her belly. “Christ … I love you, you fucking sexy woman …”

They lay panting, still connected until Bodhi rolled off of her and took her hand as they both stared up at the ceiling. Sailor giggled. “Well, Mr. Creed, you got your revenge. And I must say, I enjoyed it.”

Bodhi kissed her lips. “And that’s only the start of it.” She smiled up at him, then scrambled to her feet, offering him her hands.

“Come on, Creed. Let’s get settled in and I’ll make us some lunch. Then we’ll discuss the rest of your evil seduction plans.”

Bodhi stroked his hand down her side as she stood in the doorway of the villa, then slid his arms around her waist. Sailor leaned back into him. The evening was settling in, and Bodhi had lit the sconces out on the driveway and down the garden.

“It’s just heaven,” Sailor sighed, and Bodhi nuzzled the back of her neck.

“Could you imagine living here … permanently?”

She turned in his arms and studied his face. “Really?”

He nodded. “Baby … I know you hate Los Angeles. And to be honest, with everything that happened there … I’m tired of the life of a rockstar. My contract with Quartet is up after the next album.”

Sailor chewed her lip. “You want out?”

“I want out. God, how much does one man need? I have all the money in the world to support you and the kids … and I just don’t need the fame anymore. I’m tired of being ‘Bodhi Creed.' I want to be Mr. Sailor King and live in blissful obscurity.”

Sailor stroked a dark curl back behind his ear. “Honey, I think you should do what feels right and whatever that is, I’m there for you one hundred percent. Are you sure you won’t get bored?”

Bodhi grinned. “With you and the kids here? No way. Plus, I get to do all the artisanal things that my mom has begged me to do all my life, make furniture, paint. I’ll always love music. It’s my blood, but now I just want to do it for us, for myself, as a hobby. But,” he added, taking her face in his hands, “I realize that you spent nearly half a century shut away somewhere secluded.”

“Totally different scenario,” Sailor said with a frown, then her face softened. “But it’s sweet of you to consider that. Bodhi … the life you describe here, the life we could have … God … it would be like a dream. We’d have to work something out with Gemma—she won’t want to have Tim this far away.”

Bodhi looked a little sheepish. “Tim and I have had conversations about it recently. Just casual, nothing heavy, but I wanted to know where his mind was.”

“Come tell me about it outside. I want to enjoy the evening.”

They sat on the wall running around the grounds. Bodhi leaned over to kiss her. She looked adorable in her white cotton dress, her dark hair messy and tumbling down her back. Bodhi hooked a strand over her ear, and she turned her head to kiss his hand. “Tell me about Tim.”

“Well, first let me say, that kid is a brainbox, and way older than his years. Probably not surprising, given what he’s been through, what he’s witnessed.”

Sailor nodded, her smile fading, and Bodhi knew he’d hit a nerve. Tim had been abducted by her murderous father, who had forced Tim to watch his ‘Aunt’ Soleil, being stabbed to death in front of him. Tim’d had counseling, of course, but it had aged the child. In some ways, it killed both Bodhi and Sailor that a good part of Tim’s childhood had been taken from him, and after Tim had been rescued, he’d had to deal with Sailor’s almost murder. Then his mother, Gemma, had launched a legal case to reclaim her son.

Tim, in the courtroom, had stated without hesitation that he wanted to stay with his father and Sailor. The judge had ruled in Bodhi’s favor.

Tim, of late, had begun to rebuild his relationship with his mother, mostly via video link and email. Gemma had moved to Boston after losing the case and never contacted Bodhi directly. It was Tim’s ex-step-father, Evan, who had come through for them on many occasions, acting as an intermediary with Gemma, and now Evan and Bodhi had become close friends.

Bodhi stroked Sailor’s face. “Don’t look so worried, gorgeous one. Tim’s pretty clear what he wants to do with his life. He wants to go to college. Harvard. He’s already two grades ahead, and they’re begging him to go there. Unheard of. So, Tim says he’s going to live with his mom during the semester, then spend holidays with us, here.”

Sailor was surprised. “Really?”

“Kid’s had it all thought out for months, apparently. He knew before I did that we’d end up here.”

Sailor sighed. “God, we’ll miss him so much.”

Bodhi nodded, his eyes sad. “I know. Solly, especially, I think. But then … we could always give her a little playmate.”

Sailor chuckled. “I was waiting for that subject to come up. You think it’s time?”

“I do. But obviously, it’s up to you.”

Sailor didn’t answer him, just nodded, smiling. Bodhi studied her. “Reservations?”

She hesitated for just a beat. “Not exactly. Rather, I’d like to get the wedding out of the way first, then the move. Maybe when we’re settled. My first pregnancy was so stressful at the start, which I know was mostly of my own doing, but this time, I want to enjoy every moment. Except for the pain part, obviously.”

Bodhi grinned. “Obviously. Well, I get that, and I think you’re right.” He caught a lock of her long dark hair and curled it around his finger. “We made it, sweetheart. That’s what I keep thinking. We made it.”

Sailor smiled. He was right; they had gone through hell and come out the other side. Their lives were perfect … almost. The shadow of Claudio still hung over them, but Sailor had a plan to resolve that issue. She hoped she could pull it off.

Bodhi tugged her to her feet. “Come, woman. I must have thee again.”

Sailor burst out laughing. “Such a gentleman.”

In their bedroom, she pulled her dress over her head, and Bodhi dropped to his knees to bury his head in her abdomen. He pressed his lips to her belly, to each of the scars her father’s knife had written on her body, as his fingers snagged the sides of her panties and drew them down her legs. “So beautiful,” he murmured, and then his tongue was on her clit.

Sailor gasped and swayed a little; Bodhi always knew exactly how to touch her to make her head whirl, her body catch flame. He gently pushed her down on the bed and spread her legs so he could taste her, hooking her legs over his shoulders. Sailor moaned softly, her fingers stroking his dark curls, her eyes closing as she gave in to the sensual pleasure. He murmured her name over and over as he sucked and nipped at her clit, making it uber-sensitive, making her cunt dampen and swell with desire.

“I want to taste you,” Sailor said, and Bodhi shifted so she could take his huge cock in her mouth, trailing her tongue up and down the shaft, teasing the ultra-sensitive tip until she felt it quiver and harden, the salty pre-cum on her tongue. They made each other come, Sailor’s honey in Bodhi’s mouth, his seed on her tongue. She swallowed him down as he righted himself and kissed her mouth, his cock already hardening again. She hitched her legs around his waist and gazed up at him with desire-filled eyes.

“Fuck me, Bodhi Creed, harder than you ever have before.”

He slammed his cock deep inside her, making her gasp, and pinned her hands to the bed as he thrust, his glorious face almost dangerous as he fucked her. Sailor gasped, the thrill of menace turning her on. She loved it when Bodhi got rough, when he let his guard down and really nailed her to the bed, or the floor, or in the shower. She wanted him so badly, wanted to sink into him, be absorbed into him at those moments.

“Rougher, baby,” she encouraged him and nodded when his eyes looked questioning. He grabbed the belt of her robe, the only thing in reach, and bound her hands. His mouth was rough on her lips, her throat, biting down on her shoulders, nipping at her breasts. He came, then immediately flipped her onto her stomach and entered her from behind, pulling her hair so her back arched as he fucked her. Sailor was crying out encouragement, enjoying the burn on her back, her shoulders, the pounding of his cock in her cunt.

“Want me to punish you?” His voice was a low, sensual growl, and she nodded.

“Yes, yes, oh!” His hips slammed into her so hard, she had to cry out but gasped, half-laughing. “Yes, that’s it, that’s it, baby …”

“When I’m done, we’re going to have some fun with a blindfold, and the riding crop.” Their favorite toy was the riding crop. Sailor loved to be whipped by it, but having the kids in the house, usually they didn’t have much opportunity to use it because it made her scream with delight when Bodhi brought it down hard across her belly. Bodhi also liked to be whipped during sex, especially when Sailor, wearing their second-favorite toy, the strap-on-dildo, was pegging him, easing the dildo into his ass and fucking him.

True to his word, when they’d both come and were panting for air, Bodhi slid from the bed and retrieved a chair from the kitchen. Sailor, still catching her breath, watched him lazily, then took his hand and he pulled her up and led her to the chair.

“Will you be okay with this?”

Sailor hesitated. This was a new thing, being tied to the chair, but although she knew Bodhi would never hurt her—she had been tied to a chair when her father had stabbed her almost to death. Bodhi saw the hesitation in her eyes. “It’s okay, baby. We can do something else. How about I tie you to the bedpost?”

Sailor felt relief flood through her, and she nodded. Bodhi wound the supple leather strips around her body, binding her hands behind her, then slipped a velvet blindfold onto her eyes. “I’m going to touch you now.”

Sailor, trembling with anticipation, waiting, her skin tingling. A thumb stroked across each nipple. She felt him draw a finger down between her breasts, then circle around her navel. Gentle hands pushed her thighs apart, and Sailor felt the tips of his fingers trailing along the length of her inner thigh, stopping, tantalizingly just before he reached her sex. His lips were soft against hers as he continued the feather-light caresses of her body and the whole experience was so exquisitely arousing that Sailor felt her cunt swell and throb with the need for him.

She felt him push a dildo into her, slowly, an inch at a time, heard his ragged breathing, knowing his cock would be hard and proud against his belly. As the pressure and thrust from the dildo got harder, she moaned her desire, and as she came, she felt his creamy seed splash on her belly, his groans telling her that he was enjoying this strange new way of making love as much as she was.

Afterward, he freed her from the bedpost but asked her to keep the leather straps wrapped around her body. They crisscrossed her breasts and belly, and Sailor felt like a goddess as Bodhi gazed at her with pure love and desire in his eyes.

“My turn to be in charge,” Sailor said softly, and Bodhi laid back as she straddled him. She handed him the riding crop. “For when things get intense,” she grinned, and he laughed.

“When are they not intense?”

She guided his cock into her and began to ride him gently, gazing down at him. “I am so looking forward to being your wife, Mr. Creed. I am yours, for all time.”

“And I am yours, my beautiful Sailor … God, that feels so good, the way you grip my cock …” He groaned as Sailor tightened her vaginal muscles around him, taking him in deeper with each thrust.

“I feel alive when your cock is inside me,” she said softly, “or when your mouth is on mine, whenever you touch me. Tell me what you would like to do?”

Bodhi grinned up at her. “I’d like to fuck you in a public place,” he confessed, “somewhere we might get caught. An alleyway at night, the bathrooms of a restaurant, a private booth in a nightclub. Or at a gala … I’d come up behind you as you chatted to some benefactors, lift your skirt enough so I could slip inside …”

Sailor, aroused by his dirty talk, smiled. “I can’t see a situation where that would work … your cock always makes me moan like a wanton woman. How about on a balcony overlooking a public place? I can see your hands on my waist, pushing up my skirt … I’m not wearing underwear, ready for you. You put your hand between my legs and I’m so ready, so wet for you, my darling. I take you in, your massive, throbbing cock all the way, and we move gently together. As I come, I tilt my head back so you can kiss my mouth and absorb my moans …”

“Jesus, Sailor…” Bodhi was so turned on, his skin was damp with sweat, his face flushed scarlet.

Sailor felt so powerful at times like these. “My cunt is so swollen and red and tight that your cock is clenched and you have to work extra hard to fuck me, but God, the feeling is sublime. Every nerve ending in your cock is singing to you; your creamy come ready to pump deep inside my belly …”

“Holy Christ, Sailor!” And he came hard, his cock sending his seed into her forcefully. Sailor gasped as she, too, reached her climax, a shuddering, all-consuming thing.

As they caught their breath, Bodhi looked over at her as she lay behind him. “Damn, woman, where did you learn to talk dirty like that?”

Sailor laughed as she panted. “From the master.” She rolled over and kissed him. “Hey, we don’t even need to wear clothes this week.”

Bodhi chuckled. “It is winter, you know, although I admit it is unseasonably warm.” He kissed her. “I have to say, I miss the kids, but this is bliss. We haven’t done this for years.”

Sailor propped herself up on her elbow. “I wouldn’t change a thing, though. Makes it more exciting, these illicit sex fests.” She grinned. “Although, when we move here permanently, your mother will want to have the children more often, so that’s an added bonus.”

He looked at her, a small smile playing around his lips. “You said ‘when,’ not ‘if’.”

“I did. I can’t stop thinking about the life you described earlier, and inside, if I’m honest, in my bones, I’m already craving it. I know we have a lot to think about but, as an end goal, yes, yes, I want to do it, Bodhi.”

“Will you miss America?”

Sailor considered. “I’ll miss my friends, Bay, Grady, Flori, especially. But it’s not as if any one of them can’t afford to come here, or we can go there. No, I won’t miss it. At all. Los Angeles, especially, is not my favorite place.”

“Mine either. When I think about when I was a teenager, I thought L.A. was the place to be, the center of the world. For a few years, I was right, and of course, if I hadn’t been there, I would never have met you that day. The thought of that fills me with horror.”

Sailor grinned and kissed him. “But you did meet me.”

“I did. But then bad stuff … God, ‘bad stuff’ doesn’t even cover it. Soleil …”

Sailor stroked Bodhi’s hair. “You never talked about identifying her body.”

Bodhi stared up at the ceiling. “Her face looked beautiful, just like she was sleeping. If it hadn’t been for the blood … and then, when Bart Foy stabbed you and I saw the wounds repeated on you … God, I thought I would go crazy.”

“But you saved me, and you killed Bart. I always meant to ask … did you feel changed after you killed him?”

“I thought that I would, but honestly, all I felt was relief. Relief that it was over for you, that he could never hurt you again. Then, when his henchmen were arrested and put away for life, we could begin all over again.”

Bodhi turned his head to smile at her. “And we made it.”

Sailor smiled and kissed him, but something inside her was shifting … a need to make things right for Bodhi totally. He noticed she was thoughtful.

“You okay?”

Sailor nodded. “Very. Very okay. You make me so happy, Bodhi. I could never make you as happy as you make me.”

Bodhi chuckled. “So not true, baby. Listen, I’m starving. Shall we go grab something to eat?”

“Let’s do it.” She grabbed her robe and shrugged into it, then followed him to the kitchen, lost in thought. There was a way she could show Bodhi that she could make him happier, but it would take courage on her part, a lot of courage. There was only one thing which seemed to make Bodhi unhappy now, and that was his estrangement from Claudio.

I can make it better, she told herself. I can bridge this chasm. And satisfied, she joined her lover in their kitchen.

“It’s wobbling.”

“That’s because you’re shaking it.”

“I am not. You standing on the stepladder is making me nervous, Sails.” Bodhi lifted her down from where she had placed the star at the top of their Christmas tree. She giggled as he swung her up into his arms.

“Merry Christmas, baby.”

“Not for another two days,” Bodhi said and sighed, albeit with a grin. “Our little December sex fest is almost over.”

Vittoria and Christina were bringing the children back today, and, although their parents missed them terribly, it had been nice to be alone for a few days.

Sailor kissed him as he stood her on his feet. “I’m going to go to Vinci with your mother to get the kid’s gifts.”

Bodhi looked surprised. “Really? They haven’t got enough?”

Sailor smiled sheepishly. “Okay, you got me … I’m going to get your gift.”

“In that case … ” He grinned and swatted her butt with his hand. “You really don’t have to.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I do, because I already know by now you have got me some ridiculous lavish present.”

Bodhi shrugged, unrepentant. “You gave me my daughter, and you. That’s enough for me.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said, trying to hide her blush. She glanced out of the window, seeing a dust storm following a car in the distance. They were so secluded that any car was a rare sight. She glanced at her watch. “They’re early. About three hours early.”

“Damn, and I was going to have you again on the kitchen table.”

They both watched the car, but it seemed to disappear into the hills. Sailor shrugged. “Well, guess it wasn’t them. Bodhi Creed, you are insatiable,” she continued as he began to unbutton her dress. He grinned.

“Quiet, woman. I’m opening my present.”

They fucked again in the living room, then, as promised, on the kitchen table. Bodhi had kept his promise and they had made love in every room of the villa over the past week—with the exception of the spider-filled outhouse, much to Sailor’s relief.

They showered together and were preparing lunch when Sailor heard a car starting. She went to the door. “Bodhi?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Someone was here.” She pointed to the deep track marks in the dirt outside, then in the distance, they saw the same car as before, driving at full speed away from the villa. Bodhi looked angry.

“What the fuck?”

Sailor drew in a shaky breath. “Maybe,” she said slowly, “it was someone who got lost and made their way here by accident.”

Bodhi didn’t look appeased. “Or maybe it’s some asshole intruding on our privacy.”

She put a hand on his shoulder. “It would easy to think that, especially with our history, but let’s err on the side of caution.”

She could see Bodhi struggling with that, but eventually, he nodded. “Fine.”

The next time they say a vehicle approaching, there was no mystery. Solly jumped out of her grandmother’s SUV and ran into her mother’s arms, her brother following her. Sailor hugged them both tightly. “Oh, I have missed you both so much.”

Tim hugged his dad. “Hey, Pa,” he grinned, then kissed Sailor. “Hey, Mom.”

Sailor rocked back a little at that. He’d never called her Mom before. She hid the tears in her eyes by waving them all in for the huge dinner she had made for them all.

“The place looks amazing,” Vittoria nodded approvingly as they all dived into the pasta Sailor had made, along with fresh vegetables and oozy, cheesy garlic bread. Bodhi poured wine for the adults, grape juice for the kids, ignoring Tim rolling his eyes.

Sailor looked at her step-son. He looked so happy, so energetic, that she couldn’t resist teasing him. “Have you been up to no good, Timothy?” She grinned as she said it, and Tim flushed, a wry smile on his face.

“He has a woman,” Vittoria said in a stage-whisper.

“Grandma!”

The others laughed as Tim squirmed, but he couldn’t keep the happiness off his face. “Her name is Luisa, and we’re just friends,” he glared at his grandmother, who gave him a cheesy grin.

They sat at the dinner table for hours, until Solly fell asleep in her mother’s arms and Sailor stood to put her to bed. Vittoria came with her. “Are you okay, Sailor?”

Sailor was surprised. “Of course. Why do you ask?” She tucked Solly into her new bed and stroked her daughter’s dark curls.

“You looked thoughtful at dinner, kind of distracted.” Vittoria smiled down at her granddaughter as she slept. “She’s so beautiful … she was so well-behaved as well.”

Sailor grinned. “Lucky you. She can be a little monster.” But, she said it fondly.

“So, what’s on your mind?”

Sailor smiled. “Apart from Tim calling me Mom?”

Vittoria chuckled softly. “He talked it over with me. Apparently he had wanted to do it for a few months. He says he thinks of you as his mom as much as he does Gemma. He just didn’t know how you’d react.”

“I loved it,” Sailor admitted, her voice soft. “I wish he were mine, sometimes, as unfair to Gemma as that sounds.”

“You are his mother,” Vittoria said, a note of anger creeping into her voice, but then she caught herself and let out a sigh. “Tim loves you so much.”

“And I love him. If he hadn’t told Bodhi where Bart Foy had taken me all those years ago, I wouldn’t be here.”

“But it’s not just that on your mind?”

Sailor shook her head, hesitating slightly before speaking again. “It’s Claudio, Vittoria. I hate that there’s this breach, this chasm, between him and Bodhi. I know Claudio blames me for Soleil’s murder, and that’s his prerogative … but they were like brothers. It hangs over Bodhi all of the time.”

Vittoria nodded sadly. “It does.”

“I want to go see him, try and heal this division.”

Vittoria looked skeptical. “Sweetheart, I don’t know.”

Sailor held her gaze. “I want to at least try. It can’t get worse than it is right now.”

Vittoria couldn’t dissuade Sailor, and so, the next morning, Sailor set off for Vinci, her heart thumping as she actually drove toward Claudio’s farmhouse. She’d borrowed the GPS from Bodhi’s car and programmed in the directions, and now, as she approached his home, she felt sick with nerves.

She pulled up in front of the house and knocked on the door. No answer. She knew that Claudio spent most of his time in his workshop, painting, and so she walked slowly around the property, passing the little outhouse that he’d converted into a guesthouse. The last time she and Bodhi had been here was before Soleil was murdered and before Sailor nearly died. Sailor shivered now.

She could hear a radio on in Claudio’s workshop. Her heart in her mouth, she pushed open the door a little. Claudio, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans was slapping paint onto a canvas in angry strokes, singing roughly along, his voice agitated and stressed. As she watched, he cursed loudly and picked up a boxcutter and slashed the canvas to pieces. She couldn’t help the gasp of horror as he destroyed his work, and he whirled around.

When he saw her, his already maddened eyes flashed with fury. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Sailor stood her ground. “I’ve come to talk to you.”

Claudio gave a rough, mirthless laugh. “What makes you think I want to talk to you, whore? Not satisfied with fucking and killing my sister, you want a go at me? Is that it? You think you can make things better? You wanna fuck? Let’s fuck!”

Too late, Sailor realized how drunk he was, and as he bore down on her, she saw the boxcutter was still in his hand and terror flooded through her. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain.

Bodhi listened to his son trying to teach his daughter how to play chess. He grinned when he saw Tim rolling his eyes. “She’s a little young for that, yet, maybe?”

Tim shook his head. “Evan taught me when I was three, Dad.”

Bodhi hid a grin. He no longer felt any resentment towards Evan Teal when Tim regaled him of how the other man had brought him up; he just felt gratitude.

“Yeah, but you’re a nerd,” Bodhi teased his son, who shrugged good-naturedly.

“Yup, and proud of it.”

Bodhi laughed and turned back to the computer. Internet access was sketchy at best out here in the countryside, but he’d finally managed to get online. He opened his emails and groaned. This wasn’t good—multiple emails from Emily Moore, his manager back in the States. All were titled ‘Urgent! Call me!’

He grabbed his cell phone and went out into the garden. Whatever Emily had to say, it couldn’t be good. “Hey, Em, what’s up?”

Emily sounded breathless. “God, Bodhi, I’m so glad you called. Look … there’s no easy way to say this. The press has new photos of you and Sailor.”

Adrenaline coursed through Bodhi’s system. “What? What photos?”

Emily cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable. “Explicit photos. Of you and Sailor at your place in Italy. The tabloids are running them today. They’ll be international by later this afternoon. They’re using the excuse that it’s the anniversary of Tim’s abduction, and those videos of you, Sailor and Soleil—which, of course, they’re re-running. “

“Fuck.” Bodhi rubbed his hand over his eyes. “How the hell did they get them?”

Too late he remembered the mystery car. “Aw, shit.” He told Emily about it, and she hissed in frustration. Bodhi shook his head. Not this again.

“How the hell did they find out about this place?”

Emily sighed. “I honestly have no idea. We’ve questioned our staff, the few who knew about it, and only one is AWOL at the moment, so it could have been him. If it was him, I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

“It’s not your fault. Look,” he said after a few moments. “What is it they’ve got? Pictures of me having sex with my fiancée? Hardly salacious, and to drag up what happened five years ago … Jesus. Scumbags.”

He had calmed down now. The invasion of privacy was disgusting, but nothing unusual in his line of work. He just felt bad for Sailor being dragged into it again. “Look, it’ll blow over. I’ll try and keep the kids off the Internet, and find someone here who can build a security fence around this place. Damn it, I was hoping to finally give Sailor a home without walls.”

Emily apologized again, and after he’d ended the call, he went back in to tell his mother what had happened.

Vittoria shrugged. “It’s happened before and you survived. So, what harm can it do now?”

She felt the tip of the boxcutter against her throat and wondered if it would hurt much when Claudio sliced her open.

“Open your eyes,” he said gruffly, and she did. “What the hell are you, of all people, doing in my home? Haven’t I made it abundantly clear you are not welcome?”

He moved a step back and put the knife down. Sailor breathed again, but Claudio still looked enraged. She could smell the alcohol coming off him in waves. “Today of all days,” he muttered to himself and with a shock, Sailor realized what a miscalculation she had made.

It was Soleil’s birthday. Claudio’s brilliant, beautiful, wonderful sister would have been forty years old today. Sailor took a deep breath in.

“I’m sorry, Claudio. I miss Soleil, too, very much.”

He raised a hand and pointed at her, his anger volcanic. “You don’t get to say her name. You took everything from me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying you’re fucking sorry! Get out of here!”

She shook her head, terrified but determined. No matter what abuse Claudio subjected her to, she would not leave without exhausting every hope that she could of reconciling him with Bodhi, if not herself. Claudio stalked over to her and grabbed her wrist, tugging her out of the workshop and toward her car. But then he seemed to change his mind and dragged her into the house, locking the door behind him.

“Does he know you’re here?”

Sailor shook her head, and Claudio grinned nastily. “Then no one will come looking for you.”

“Vittoria knows.” The look in his eyes was scaring her. “She knows I’m here.”

Claudio chewed his lip. “So what? So what if they come for me? I could still kill you, Sailor King. I’ve nothing to lose by it.”

“You’re not a murderer, Claudio.”

Claudio grabbed the hair at the back of her head and forced her into the kitchen, throwing her onto a chair and looking around. “Who says? Who says I couldn’t kill you, you little bitch?”

Sailor tried to keep her voice steady, but it was difficult. “You’re drunk, you’re hurting. You have every right to be angry at me, every right. But, please, don’t leave my little girl without a mother.” Her voice broke at the end of the sentence.

Claudio remained unmoved. “Soleil never got the chance to be a mother,” he barked at her. “So why should you?”

Sailor closed her eyes. She didn’t really believe he would kill her; he was just hurting so badly that he was lashing out. She studied him as he paced. His hair had grown wild; his handsome face marked and lined with grief; his hazel eyes stricken. So much pain. Sailor cursed Bartholomew Foy all over again. Claudio seemed to read her mind.

“It was your father who ordered her murder,” he said, his voice calming now, almost cold. “An eye for an eye seems a good idea right now.”

Sailor was silent. Maybe if she let him rant himself out … Then Claudio did something that made her stomach curl with terror. He grabbed a dish cloth, tore into strips, and bound her hands behind her, to the chair.

“The police told me someone held her back while the killer stabbed her. She couldn’t defend herself … so why should you be able?”

The feeling of being tied to chair made Sailor’s body tremble. Memories flooded back. Her father. The knife. The pain. She couldn’t help the whimper of fear that escaped her. Claudio pulled up a chair and sat in front of her. Sailor only reined in her screams because he wasn’t armed. Claudio studied her before he spoke, Sailor smelled whiskey and cigarettes on his breath.

“You are beautiful. When I first met you, I admit, I had a crush. I know Soleil liked you … hell, there was proof all over the news that she liked you, wasn’t there? You fucked her … did you actually desire her too, or were you just using her to get your rocks off?”

“I loved her,” Sailor said softly, figuring honesty was the only thing which could save her now. “I loved her. Maybe not in the same way I love Bodhi, but yes, I wanted her that day and she wanted me. It was one of the happiest days of my life, and when Soleil died, a part of me died too. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to bring her back, but I can’t. If I had known Bart Foy …”

“Your father.”

Sailor choked on the words. “My father—in biology only—if I had known he would kill her … I would have swapped places with her in a heartbeat. I loved her, Claudio.”

Claudio got up suddenly, pacing around the room, and Sailor saw that she had gotten through to him—a little. After a few tense minutes, he sat down.

“Tell me.”

Sailor was confused. “Tell you what?”

“Everything. From as far back as you can remember. Tell me everything about how you were raised, what Bartie Foy was like.”

Sailor let out a shuddery breath. He was doing it to torture her. Okay, then, let him, she thought. She told him everything, about her mother, about Tilly, about her destiny to be his wife. “He wanted to fuck me, Claudio. My own father. And, as he always wanted to be seen as pure and a good man, I have no doubt that he would have murdered me eventually, to stop me talking about his incestuous violence.”

“Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?” Claudio’s voice was like ice. Sailor shook her head.

“No. You asked me to tell you, and I’m telling you. The day I met Bodie, I had escaped from Bart but was working for his agent, Maurice Winston. Winston tried to rape me, and Bodhi saved me. It seems so prosaic to say it, but we really did fall in love quickly. He wanted to protect me.”

“Which is why he asked Solly to pose as his girlfriend? To protect your whereabouts?”

Sailor nodded. “And she agreed without hesitation.”

Claudio looked down at his hands and was silent for a long time. All Sailor could hear was his ragged breathing and the sound of her blood rushing in her ears. When Claudio looked up again, there were tears in his angry eyes.

“They stabbed her twenty-seven times. Twenty-seven. The medical examiner said twenty-two of those stab wounds were fatal in and of themselves. He gutted my sister. By the time the doctor officially declared her dead, she had bled out entirely. Solly didn’t stand a chance.”

“I know,” Sailor said in a whisper. “I’m so sorry, Claudio.”

His face hardened. “So, who could blame me for doing the same to you, Sailor?” And he got up and grabbed a lethal-looking bread knife.

Sailor closed her eyes and waited to die. Somehow, in her heart, she knew this had been inevitable, that her happiness was temporary, that she was destined to die young. Oh my God, Bodhi, Solly, Tim … I love you, I love you … goodbye.

She felt Claudio rip open the bodice of her dress …

Bodhi tried Sailor’s cell phone again, his heart beating faster and faster. Why wasn’t she answering? He cursed, not seeing his mother behind him holding Solly.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” repeated Solly cheerfully until her grandmother shushed her. Vittoria studied her son. “What is it?”

Bodhi took his daughter and hugged her before answering. Solly wriggled in his arms. “I can’t get hold of Sailor. I would have thought her phone would be on, especially in a city.”

Vittoria looked guilty, and Bodhi squinted his eyes at her. “What? What’s going on?”

Vittoria hesitated then sighed. “Look, I promised I wouldn’t tell, but Sailor’s not in the city.”

A thrill of fear went through Bodhi. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”

Vittoria cut her eyes at Solly, who was now singing “Hell, fuck, hell, fuck.” Bodhi took his daughter back inside and gave her to Tim. “Look after your sister for a minute, would you?”

Going back outside, Bodhi glared at his mother. “What’s going on? And don’t lie. You have a terrible poker face.”

Vittoria sighed. “She’s gone to see Claudio.”

Bodhi paled, and for a moment, he thought he might collapse. “No. God, Mom, no … why?”

“She wants to heal the friendship between you both.”

Bodhi went cold. “Shit, Mom … no, Claudio isn’t in a good headspace right now … Jesus, I have to go.”

Vittoria followed him in. “What is it, Bodhi? Why are you so scared?”

“Don’t you know Claudio blames Sailor for Soleil’s murder?”

“Yes, I know, but how do you know …?”

“Because I’ve had a private investigator on him for these last years,” Bodhi said, almost panicking now. “And Maceo Bartoli called me after he went to see him. His paintings … he hasn’t shown in years and you know why? Because every single one of his paintings is him killing Sailor. All of them. Maceo Bartoli sounded sick to his stomach when he called me. I’ve had Claudio watched to protect my fiancée … and now she’s delivered herself straight to him.”

Vittoria looked alarmed. “God, Bodhi … here, take my SUV. Go, go.”

Bodhi nodded. “Keep trying her cell phone,” he said, “and if she answers, tell her to get the hell out of there. I hope to God we’re not too late.”

Claudio ripped open Sailor’s dress, with every intention of plunging the knife he gripped into her, but then he was brought up cold. Shock. The pattern of jagged silver scars across her belly reminded him. Sailor had been stabbed too. She had given herself up for certain death to protect Tim, to make some good come out of a terrible situation. Claudio stared at her scarred belly, rising and falling as she took shallow breaths, obviously anticipating the pain.

You are not a murderer. Claudio dropped the knife with a clang and sank onto the floor, resting his head on Sailor’s knees. “God, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

He began to weep, reaching behind her to untie her hands. What the hell was he thinking? How did him killing Sailor help anything? He began to sob in earnest, throwing himself away from her, into the corner of the room, his head in his hands.

Solly, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. He’d never gotten over seeing her dead, pale, silent on the mortuary table. He’d ripped off the cloth covering her so he could see what Foy had done to her. Those patterns of wounds. he’d never forgotten. Now, seeing Sailor’s scars, he realized he’d been blaming the wrong person all along.

He felt Sailor sit beside him. At first, he wanted to move away, but when she wrapped her arms around his head and pulled it into her chest to comfort him, his own arms snaked around her waist, and he held her tightly as they both cried.

After a while, they were both silent but carried on holding each other.

“I’m so sorry, Claudio,” Sailor murmured, her lips against his hair. “I’m so, so sorry. I would do anything to bring her back, anything.”

Claudio looked up, wiping the tears from his face, then sweeping a finger on Sailor’s cheek to wiped away the dampness there. “I know; me, too. I just get past it, Sailor. I can’t.”

“I wish I could tell you a way of dealing with the grief, but the truth is I’ve never known either. When Tilly died … I thought I would spend the rest of my life screaming, it hurt so bad. Is that what you feel?”

Claudio nodded. “Every waking moment—and I don’t think I’ve slept much in the last five years.” He sighed, closing his eyes, felt Sailor cup his cheek in her palm, leaning into it. “I’m sorry, Sailor.”

“Don’t apologize; there’s no need. There isn’t a day since Soleil’s death when I haven’t felt responsible.”

“But you’re not. I see that now. What he did to you … your own father … was monstrous.”

“He was no more my father than he was a human being, Claudio,” she said fiercely. “I was dying, and yet when I saw Bodhi kill him, all I felt was relief. Relief that even if I died— and I was convinced I was already dead—that Bart Foy couldn’t do this to anyone else. If I’d had the chance, I would have done it myself. But sadly, I didn’t have much time to plan it.”

“Bodhi said you broke your own arm to get to the hospital.”

She nodded, half-smiling. “Not one of my best ideas, but it did the trick. I hid a scalpel and some scissors in the cast, but they found them.”

Claudio smiled and brushed the hair away from her face. “You sacrificed yourself for Tim.”

“What else could I have done? I had to end it one way or another.”

He gazed at her for a long time. Sailor had become perhaps even more of a beautiful woman as she outgrew her puppy fat, although she still retained the curves that made men weep, Claudio thought. He felt ashamed. This young woman had been through hell, and he had just almost killed her for no reason. “You said you have a daughter?”

She nodded. “I was two weeks pregnant when Bart stabbed me. She’s a little badass. She survived it, and now she’s four and running us ragged.”

“She takes after her mom.”

Sailor smiled a little hesitantly. “Her name is Soleil,” she said softly, and Claudio felt a thrill of pleasure rip through him.

“Thank you,” he whispered, tears on his cheeks again. He gathered himself. “Do you have a photograph?” Sailor nodded and got up to find her purse. She saw she had a raft of calls from Bodhi, but restrained herself from calling him. Talking to Claudio was the priority now. She found some photos of Solly and handed him her phone. Claudio smiled as he looked at her daughter.

“She’s beautiful,” he said softly. Sailor stood next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

“She would love to know you.”

Claudio handed her the phone, his face stricken with grief. “I can’t …”

“Just think about is all I ask,” Sailor said, and pressed her lips to his forehead.

Claudio rubbed his face, looked deep in thought for a long moment. “Sailor … I would like your help with something.”

“Anything.”

He held up his hand. “It may shock you, or upset you, but I think it has to be done.”

“Okay.” She had no idea where he was going with this. Claudio beckoned her.

“Come with me.”

He led her back to his workshop and shoved open the door wide. He motioned for her to follow him to the back of the room. A stack of canvas lay there, and Sailor saw that there were maybe fifteen or twenty, covered with a tarpaulin. Claudio hesitated, then removed the tarp.

Sailor rocked back. The first canvas was unmistakably her, dead, butchered. She gave a small cry and backed off.

Claudio raised his hand. “Please. Don’t be afraid. I’m not showing you to hurt you. These paintings … they are the result of my fear, my grief. I mean you no harm, Sailor, I swear. I would like you to help me burn these. I don’t want to be reminded of my … unjustified … feelings now. Let’s burn these and put an end to it.”

Sailor stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. She helped him carry all of the canvases out into the yard, and they piled them up. She tried not to look at them, but sometimes she would catch a glimpse and be sickened. Claudio saw her face, and she saw he was ashamed.

When they had set the pile alight, they stayed to watch them burn. “I will seek counseling,” Claudio promised her, putting his arm around her shoulders. “And I’m sorry, Sailor, I truly am.”

“Then come and see your godchild,” she urged him. “Come see your best friend. Bodhi is still devastated over your estrangement. Please.”

Claudio looked away from her. “I can’t,” he said, “too much time has passed.”

“Don’t you think, Claudio, that if you and I can reach this place, you and Bodhi can too?” Sailor felt despairing; if Claudio didn’t reconcile with Bodhi, then what had she just gone through this for?

Sailor felt tears threatened and Claudio took her face in his hands. “Beautiful Sailor, I am sorry. For what I thought, for what I did. For assaulting you today. Please forgive me.”

“I do forgive you.” Sailor was weeping now, “I just can’t bear to see you both so miserable without each other.”

“I deserve the misery,” he said, and walked her back to her car. Sailor opened the door but shut it again quickly.

“We’re getting married. Next August, here in Italy. If you won’t come before then, please, come be with us at our wedding. At least,” she was desperate now, “at least promise me you’ll think about.”

Claudio held her gaze. “I will. I will think about it, I swear.”

Sailor gave him one last hug and got into her car. As she drove down the hillside, she could see the fire blazing, a figure standing in front of it, still watching her drive away.

She couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment, even though there was still hope there. She wanted so badly to reunite her lover with his best friend.

Her cell phone rang and Sailor remembered she hadn’t called Bodhi back. She pulled the car over to the side of the road and answered it.

“Hi, baby.”

“Jesus H. Christ.” She heard Bodhi’s voice, the terror in it. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Of course not, honey. Calm down, breathe. I’m sorry I didn’t call you back right away.”

He obviously knew where she had gone. She heard his ragged breathing as he steadied himself. “God, Sailor, the images in my head …”

Sailor thought back to Claudio’s paintings but shook the images away. Bodhi need never know about them. “Why are you concerned?” she asked lightly. “It’s only Claudio.”

When he spoke, there was ice in his voice. “Don’t lie to me, Sailor. You’ve never done that before; it’s not like you. I know what Claudio had been thinking these last years. Did he hurt you?”

Sailor bit her lip. Did she lie again? “No, but it was a difficult conversation.” At least that was true. “And I failed. We reached an understanding but he won’t …” Her voice choked up then, and she began to cry. “I’m so sorry, Bodhi. I thought I could make him see, make him want to reconcile with you.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” His voice was soft now. “I love you for trying, but this all has to come from Claudio.”

Sailor wiped her tears with the sleeve of her sweater. “And I didn’t go to Vinci to get you a gift.”

Bodhi laughed. “Hey, pretty girl, look up ahead.”

She looked up to see Vittoria’s SUV driving toward her, her lover behind the wheel. She had never been so glad to see him and when he parked in front of her and got out, she went straight into his arms. “You came to get me.”

“Of course I did.” He kissed her tenderly. “Man, you are the bravest person I know, and you keep proving it over and over.”

She flushed but looked at him with serious eyes. “You knew? About the paintings?”

He nodded. “I did. Did he show you them?”

“Yes. And then we burned them together.”

She saw Bodhi’s shoulders slump. “Thank God.” His arms tightened around her. “Sailor … all I ever wanted to do was protect you and our family. Forgive me for not telling you about Claudio’s … psychosis?”

“If you’ll forgive me for today.”

“Deal. God, when you called, I thought I might drive the car off the road with relief. Let’s just hang here for a while so I can get my blood pressure down.”

Sailor grinned wickedly at him. “Actually, I was just thinking I might try and raise your blood pressure. There are some shady cypress trees over there.”

Bodhi laughed. “Then send it through the roof, baby.”

And, laughing, they were soon making love under the trees. Bodhi thrust into her as she lay beneath him, and she gazed up at him. “You know how much I love you?”

Bodhi grinned and rammed his cock deep into her, making her moan. “As much as this, and this, and this …”

Tuscany, Italy

August

Sailor stood at the doorway to the villa that she and Bodhi had purchased a little over a year ago. She breathed in the sultry, warm air of the Tuscany hills, listening to the quiet murmur of their guests as they waited for her in the makeshift aisle under the pergola. Her daughter Solly was playing with her little basket of rose petals, eager to walk with her mother down the aisle.

She heard a noise behind her and turned, her hand flying up to her mouth when she saw who was behind her. The surprise and joy flooded through her and tears started to drop down her face.

“I thought you weren’t going to come, I thought … oh my God …”

And she ran into Claudio’s arms. He hugged her tightly. “I could not stay away, not today. I’m sorry I did not come before.”

Sailor smiled up at him with tears in her eyes. “Come meet your goddaughter.”

Solly beamed up at Claudio as Sailor introduced her, and raised her arms to him. “Hug.”

Claudio laughed and swung her up into his arms. “Hello there, Solly.” He studied her dark curls, her bright green eyes, and her café-au-lait skin. He smiled at Sailor.

“She is the perfect mix of you and Bodhi.”

Sailor nodded, too emotional to speak. He was here … she’d sent him the invitation, and written on the back:

No pressure, but, God, it would be good to have you there.

She’d thought long and hard and then added an extra note, and now Claudio took it out of his pocket, his expression shy. “And I could not resist your kind offer, so … if you would still like it, I would be honored to walk you down the aisle.”

Sailor burst into tears but smiled, nodding. “Oh yes, please, please …”

Five minutes later, she had gathered herself as the music began to play outside. Claudio nodded to her. “Are you ready, Sailor?”

“I am.”

He held out his arm, and she took it, his hand supporting her as they walked to the door. Solly ran ahead at full speed, but Sailor didn’t care. Everything was perfect now.

Bodhi couldn’t believe his eyes. For a moment, all he had seen was his beautiful fiancée walking towards him, dressed in a simple but beautiful white dress. It took a second to register who was walking with her, supporting her. His eyes met Claudio’s and his friend, his best friend since childhood, acknowledged him with a nod and a tentative smile, before looking back to the woman beside him with nothing but admiration and love in his eyes. As they approached, Bodhi stepped down to take Sailor’s hand from Claudio, and there was an unspoken communication between to the two men.

Sailor murmured a thank you to Claudio, and he stepped back and took his place next to Bodhi’s mom. Vittoria was already crying.

Stunned by Claudio’s appearance, Bodhi nevertheless now had only eyes for one person. His Sailor, his love.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered to her. “I love you.”

“I love you,” she whispered back and grinned. Bodhi reached out and put his hand on her eight-and-a-half-months pregnant belly. Sailor had given him a Christmas gift after all.

In moments, they were officially married, and the party had begun. Bodhi and Claudio spent time alone talking to each other, encouraged by Sailor, who didn’t mind sharing her husband on this day. Her friends, Bay and Tom Meir, Emily Moore and Dash Hamilton, were there. Evan Teal had come stag and Sailor was determined to fix the shy man up. Friends of Bodhi’s were there, Grady and Flori Mallory, and Maceo and Orianthi Bartoli, as well as other people from the local village.

The wedding part went way long into the night. Guest started to drift away until just a few were left, sitting around the garden, the trees lit up with lanterns, a small brazier warming the already hot night. Sailor sat, wrapped in her new husband’s arms, perched on his lap and smiled up at him.

“Now I can believe we’ve made it, hubby.”

Bodhi chuckled. “Me too, wifey. And later, when all these freeloaders have gone, I’ll show you just how much I love you.”

Sailor chuckled, brushing her lips. “Well, I hate to break it to you, Mr. Creed, but I think your baby son has other ideas.”

Bodhi suddenly felt a dampness on his leg. Sailor looked guilty as she grinned at him. “Oops.”

Bodhi groaned and laughed at once. “Girl, you have the worst timing. Come on. Let’s get you to hospital …”

Bodhi gazed down at his newborn son with wonder in his eyes. Sailor grinned at his expression. “He looks just like you, gorgeous,” she said. “Come sit with me.”

She shifted over in the bed and Bodhi perched next to her, cradling Adamo Timothy Claudio Creed in his arms. “He’s perfect.”

Sailor smiled up at her husband, her heart at peace at last. “Just like his father,” she whispered, and Bodhi tilted her face up so he could kiss her and show her just how much he loved her.

The End.