I sit and enjoy the view of the final moments of sunset over the ocean. The sun is almost gone, but the last curved sliver turns the sky dark purple and red. A cooling breeze comes in from the sea. It makes you want to smile dreamily and stretch your arms over your head…so I do. This is as close to heaven as I can get. I squirm. Well… I also need Elliot inside me soon or I’m going to go mad in this paradise.
It doesn’t take long before he reappears, padding barefoot across the deck. He’s in a white button-down shirt with short sleeves and pale cream shorts. His dark hair is damp, and he looks utterly kissable as he sits at my feet.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks.
“That I’m happy. And that I want you.” The breeze tugs at my hair, and I push it out of my face. “You?”
“Exactly the same.”
He leans close and my heart picks up its tempo, my lips parting.
Something buzzes. And it’s not the vibrator.
He pulls back with a soft curse and looks at his phone. The good humor glides off his face like oil.
“Something wrong?” I ask.
His fingers move deftly as he types something. “No,” he says. “Nothing that can’t wait.” He gives me his hand. “Let’s go eat. I can smell the fish.”
I sniff. Now that he mentions it, there is a hint of fresh bread and grilled seafood in the air. He links his fingers with mine and pulls me to my feet.
I let him lead, our toes sinking into the soft sand. And I wish that this is how our lives could be until our time’s up.
Chapter Eighteen
Elliot
The table for two is set up on the beach with candles and tropical bouquets of purple orchids, tiger lilies, stargazer lilies and orange gladiolus. It’s a lot fancier than I expected given how little time the staff had to work with. On the other hand, this is why Aylster charges what it charges.
The dinner is simple: a green salad with edible flowers and grilled grouper with some kind of dark butter sauce. Since we aren’t drinking champagne, our waiter serves us sparkling water with fresh lime slices instead.
My wife’s got that scrubbed look—her cheeks flushed, her hair soft and shiny over her shoulders, her only makeup a pink lip gloss. The white sundress is casual but airy and positively bridal.
With the sky completely black now, the candlelight casts a soft glow, turning her so ethereal and beautiful that it hurts to look at her. She smiles at me, and I smile back even though a cold shard cuts through me.
More complicated than expected. How deep do you want to dig?
Paddington’s text doesn’t mention money. The people who hire him don’t worry about how much things cost. I told him to go all the way, but my apprehension won’t leave me.
Just what the hell is in my wife’s background? Her finances and so on should be straightforward, and it shouldn’t take Paddington and his team more than a couple of days to pull everything.
A part of me wants to blame the intern—he’s probably the one with some messy crap in his past. But even as I tell myself that, I don’t believe it. Paddington’s been looking into him on Gavin’s behalf already. This isn’t about Dennis Dunn.
I pull my shirt over my head and glare at Annabelle. The clothes land in the laundry hamper in the bedroom. “Why the hell were you meeting Han?” I demand.
“Oh for god’s sake, it was nothing,” she says.
“Nobody meets my dad’s assistant—his right-hand man—for nothing.”
“Are you accusing me?” She puts a hand between her breasts, which are rising and falling rapidly. “And how did you know I was meeting him anyway? Were you following me?”
“I didn’t have to do anything. You were at the table with him in the café across from that chocolatier you like so much. I happened to be driving by and saw.”
“And you didn’t stop to say hello?” She throws her hands up in the air. “Then you would’ve known I have nothing to hide.”
I’m tired of her deflections and anger. Why can’t she give me a simple answer? “So tell me now.”
She crosses her arms, the motion making her tits balloon. The nipples push against her thin magenta blouse. “He was fishing for information about you. Somehow, your dad figured out that we’re dating, which was a big surprise to me since I thought we were keeping it quiet. I told you I wanted to keep it quiet because Marlin will lose it if he finds out.”