Rockstar Untamed Extended Epilogue

 

 

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, had been 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 Sailors 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 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 showed 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, plunged 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 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…and 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 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 and 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 retrieve 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, waited, 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 tilted 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 with 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 anyone 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 neither. 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 step-ladder 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, 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 satnav 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 stroked, singing roughly along, his voice agitated and stressed. As she watched, he cursed loudly and picked up a boxcutter and slash 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 on 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 too, she would not leave without exhausting every hope that she could reconcile 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, tearing it 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 reigned 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 would 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 head space 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 onto 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 at 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 was 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 o 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 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 burnt 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 god-daughter.”

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 wrote 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, acknowledge 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.