Chapter Thirty
Gabriel
I hated seeing Luna so upset, but I felt it best I didn’t rile Harbor up any more than he already was about her and his opinions of her. I knew she wasn’t what he’d said, but with him wanting to talk, I hadn’t wanted to lead him off topic by telling him if he didn’t stop talking about Luna, I was going to punch him. He’d have clammed up and stormed upstairs – or worse, left the house all together. It wasn’t like I could keep anyone here against their will.
Harbor and I watched Luna until she got to the top of the stairs before I asked him again about Cindy. “What were you doing asking Cindy to your room? She’s too old for you.”
He shrugged and flashed me his sly grin. “I always thought she was hot. Why not live out a fantasy? Besides, sleeping with her would have pissed you off, so what other reason do I need?”
He raked his hand through his hair and his expression turned grim. “I can’t believe what happened to her. I always liked her. Out of the few you actually brought around, she was the best. She never treated me like I was a pathetic little boy whose father was murdered. She treated me like anyone else.”
The kid needed some insight. “Would you like to know why I dumped her?”
“I’ve always wondered. She was great. I figured she dumped your sorry ass. She sure didn’t have a problem turning me down.” I leaned against the rail as he took a seat on the bottom stair and put his back against the wall.
“No, she didn’t dump me. In fact, I told her never to come around me or my family again, which is probably why she turned you down.”
“Thanks for nothing.” He stared at his shoes and frowned.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at his disappointment. He had no idea what a bullet he’d dodged. “Trust me, I did you a favor. Besides, she knows who controls your money.” He looked up, meeting my eyes with a sideways glance, so I took a deep breath as I prepared to explain.
“After I found myself falling hard for her, I found out I wasn’t the first man she dated for his money. She’d been engaged three times to wealthy men and even took one for a large sum. His lawyer contacted me with a warning.
“At first, I thought it was a scam and that the man was jealous or playing a game, but then I heard it from a more reliable source – you know him as your Uncle Joe. He told me that she was seen uptown with another wealthy prospect not two days before she’d hooked up with me, and that he’d followed her and seen her with that same man again after we were together.”
“You have shitty luck with women. Now look what you’ve gotten into.” He shook his head and tapped the banister with his foot.
Shitty luck was a little harsh. I found Luna, after all. I wished I could say those words aloud to Harbor, but he wasn’t interested in my declarations of feelings, but I had to set him straight on his opinion of her.
“All of the things you’ve said about Luna aren’t true. She’s agreed to sign away any right to my wealth in exchange for an annulment, so I think you owe her an apology.”
“Why would she do that? Is she mental? No offense, but if I’d been able to hook someone, I don’t think I’d let them off that easy.” He shrugged. “Guess she’s not that bad. She’s kind of hot, too.”
Trying to control myself from revealing that Luna had told me all about the little incident at the pool, I cleared my throat. I decided to take another approach. “You do realize she’s your aunt?” That brought things into perspective and he curled his lip in disgust.
His lips spread into wicked grin. “Not for long.”
The reminder hit hard. I hated to think that one day soon I’d go up to bed and she wouldn’t be there. The annulment would bring me back to the lonely life of a bachelor. I’d only see her at work, and would that be enough? A strong need to declare otherwise overcame me. “She’s not going anywhere soon, so you should get used to her.”
“At least until you’re no longer wanted for murder, right? You wouldn’t want to tarnish our precious name.” He got to his feet and started up the stairs.
“All I’m saying is, don’t confront her again.”
He continued up the stairs without another word, and before I could slip back into my office, Joe entered the hallway with Kim. The two had locked arms and strolled side by side like two lovers in the park. She stared up at him with stars in her eyes, like he was an angel fallen from the heavens; if she only knew how lethal the man could be. His early military training had prepped him for more than stunt work, and I’d put the man to use because of the talents he’d acquired long before his time behind the camera.
“Everyone else has gone up to bed. I was about to go up, too,” I said, as if I needed an excuse to be standing around in my own house.
“Thank you for a lovely chat, Joe. I guess I better head up to bed.” Kim could hardly speak from smiling, and I wondered what kind of love spell my bodyguard had put on her. He had a way with the ladies when he wanted, but he’d always kept that part of his life private. I saw more than most being so close to him and I wondered what he had going in life that I didn’t know about.
Joe unlocked his arm and stepped back. “Would you like some help? I could walk you to your door. We wouldn’t want you to fall over anyone else.” Their laughter filled the hallway.
“I think I can manage. But thanks.” She walked to the end of the hall where she’d fallen before and called back to my friend. “Will you be around tomorrow?”
“I’ll make a point of it.” He turned and entered my office as she took to the stairs.
“What’s that all about?” I hadn’t seen Joe work his magic so quickly in quite a while and was shocked he was interested in Kim – not that she wasn’t gorgeous, but he usually liked them a little older.
“She’s a nice girl and a lot of fun. I haven’t laughed so hard in ages.” His face had even turned red as he put his hands in his pocket and rattled his change.
I liked seeing the man happy; it was long overdue. His wife had left him years ago when his daughter was just a baby. Even though he barely got to see the girl, she was the one true joy in his life.
“Did you see anything while you were out there?”
Joe and I had been out back when the commotion happened, looking for an intruder. The gate had called him after Harbor had entered to say that there was a man on foot running away from my fence line when the cops pulled in. I wasn’t sure if it was anything to be concerned about, since we did have neighbors and it wasn’t unlikely that one of their workmen had been wandering around.
“Not a soul. I’ll keep an eye on things for a bit longer, but I wouldn’t worry. I think it was a local.”
“I hope, but we can’t be too careful.” I yawned and stretched my arms in front of me.
“You should get up to bed. If I see anything of importance, I’ll be sure to call.”
“Make sure it’s damned important, will you?” We shared a laugh before I headed out of the office and down the hall. By the time I rounded the stairs, he was headed back outside, and I could sleep easier because Joe was on the job.
When I got upstairs and entered my room, I found Luna in my bed surrounded by pillows, like a child in a fort. I didn’t know the secret password, but I imagined I could infiltrate her boundaries without a problem. I undressed to my shorts and pulled the covers back to crawl in with her. Despite the pillow perimeter, her body heat radiated near. I pulled the pillow away from her back and slid myself closer.
Luna didn’t move. I pulled myself closer still and pressed my face against her hair. I loved her scent and the way her ass felt when I pressed against her. I wanted to wake her and make love to her. I wanted to be inside her and feel her around me. As I nestled in, wrapping my legs with hers, she stirred.
“Stop it.” She wiggled away and put a few inches between us.
“Sorry I woke you.” My erection called me a liar as it punched forward in my shorts.
“I think it’s time we discuss other arrangements. I can’t stay here like this. I’ll be as safe at my father’s house, or maybe Kim’s. Maybe I can leave when she does.”
My back stiffened and panic shot through me. “I’m sorry it’s been a bad day, but you know it’s not like that all the time. I thought you’d be happy here. I thought we were getting closer, too.”
“You ignored Harbor’s accusations. One minute you defend me, and the next you sit there like an ass and let him get away with it. I’m growing tired of being called a gold-digger.”
I had wondered if she’d been upset when she headed to bed, but I thought she knew I didn’t think those things about her. “You should know better. I don’t think those things. That’s their opinion, which means nothing to me.”
“But it means something to me. You defending me means something to me.” She rolled over on her back and pulled the covers up around her neck. “I get that they see me as a threat. I’m competition to them both, and they’ll never see me as anything else, especially if you don’t defend it.”
I felt horrible that she felt that way, but angered because she should know better. “I didn’t want a rise from him again, and with him talking about Cindy and the trip, I felt it best to let him keep talking. You should trust me.”
“I do, and I appreciate you going ahead and having Mason draw up the papers. We can sign them whenever you’re ready.”
“I didn’t have him draw up the papers. He did that on his own. I’ve told you you’re not going anywhere until I can assure your safety. This is not a negotiation.”
“Excuse me?” She rolled over and kicked my shin under the covers. “You can’t keep me here. I’m not your prisoner.”
“For Christ’s sake, Luna. I’m not saying any of that, but I don’t understand why you want to back out on our agreement. We have a plan, and I want us to stick to it. Nothing has changed with the investigation and there is still a killer out there targeting women I’ve been with.” She yawned and I realized that she was too tired to be arguing. “I’ll talk to you about this in the morning when you’re awake.”
She rolled over and tucked another pillow between us. “I’m wide awake.”
Minutes later, her breathing leveled off and she was asleep, but I lay on my back staring at the ceiling. There was no way I was going to let her leave.
I should have told her that there had been someone seen lurking around the property, but I didn’t think scaring her to death was a good idea. I’d talk to her about it later when her stubborn anger would give way to reason.