“What picture?” Jax enquires, turning his head to look at Ash, his forehead wrinkled.
“There’s a picture of Lilly’s mom in Chad’s study, with all of our moms at a Black Knight Corp gala,” Ash tells him, that look of unease back in his eyes.
“What? Why?” Jax asks, looking up at me.
“I don’t know, she never mentioned even coming to America,” I say, placing another bite into his mouth. “Let alone having any connection to your company.” And yes, I’m still a little pissed at being so out of the loop where she’s concerned.
“So, interestingly, I managed to get the guest list from that gala,” Kai informs us, pausing to reach over and grab his iPad, bringing up a list of names. “Your uncle is on there Lilly, Adrian Ramsey, but his plus one is someone called Violet Rochester. No mention of a Laura Darling on the list at all.”
I can feel my eyebrows drawing together, my stomach fluttering, as he looks up at me.
“So I did some digging into Violet, and it turns out she and your uncle were engaged, and then she disappeared completely, about nineteen years ago. Never to be found again.”
“What?” I murmur, my whole body suddenly feeling overheated, and sweat trickles down my spine, even though we have the air con on.
“That must be the heartbreak the newspaper articles were talking about when we looked up Ramsey,” Loki adds, and my head whips in his direction.
“I’m sorry, what? You looked into my uncle?” I ask, my tone a little caustic and my body stiff. Loki rubs a hand across the back of his neck, looking away as his cheeks flush.
“Hey, Baby Girl, it’s okay. Take some deep breaths, baby,” Jax says in a soothing tone, his palm leaving my waist to rub comforting circles on my back.
His words make me realise that I am indeed panting, so I do as he suggests and close my eyes, taking some deep, long inhales and exhales until I feel better.
“I’m just so confused,” I tell them when I open my eyes again, my gaze immediately finding Ash’s grey one. His eyes are hard, brows dipped, but there’s a softness there that I know is for me. “Your parents don’t seem the sort not to have everyone’s names on the list. And it seems so strange that Violet disappeared around the time my mum was pregnant with me.” My head is swirling, and I can feel a headache coming on, the food lying all but forgotten in front of me.
I feel Jax’s hands alight on my tense shoulders, rubbing and kneading them until I’m relaxing and trying to hold back moans at how good it feels.
“We’ll work it all out, Princess,” Ash tells me, his tone resolved, letting me know that he’s taking this seriously. “Trust us.”
CHAPTERSIX
LILLY
After lunch, Loki suggested we go down to the beach, so we spend the rest of the day on the golden sand or in the beautiful turquoise waters, relaxing and listening to music, because of course, Loki has a playlist. He told me that you need a playlist for every occasion; from torture to chilling on the beach. I mean, he’s not wrong.
Although this time of year in Bali and the surrounding islands is often quite wet, the rain holds off, and the temperature is balmy and the perfect amount of heat. I can feel my troubles and worries melt away as the sun warms my skin, and the sea breeze kisses my body.
Kai is still a little distant, yet I can see him trying to act normal, to hide the darkness that has surrounded him since that night on the boat. But even though he is a part of our group, sitting on a colourful outdoor rug on the warm golden sand, he’s lost in his own mind, gazing out over the water. His face is a blank mask of indifference, his eyes intense, staring at the horizon. It’s frightening to see him so...closed off. I’m sure the others notice. I see Ash looking Kai’s way as much as I am, a frown marring his brow.
“We’ll get to the bottom of it, Ash,” I tell him, reaching out for his hand as he sits next to me.
“If anyone can, it’s you,” he replies, squeezing gently as he wraps his inked fingers around mine. His faith in me is warming, and I can only hope that it’s not misplaced.
He looks mouthwateringly good, positively edible, in just some loose black swimming trunks and his ink covered skin. Her Vagisty is going all kinds of crazy, the horny bitch!
As I look at Kai once more, a wicked, bratty idea comes to mind, which will hopefully lighten the mood a little and chase some of that darkness from Kai’s eyes. A flutter of nervous anticipation alights in my stomach;what if he rejects me?I brush it aside. I’ll take the risk if there is even a small chance that it’ll help him.
Letting go of Ash’s hand, I get up, going over to the bluetooth speaker and Loki’s phone, scrolling until I find the song I’m after. The beginning ofSexual Healingby Azee starts to play, the slow sensual beat washing over us like the caress of the waves on the shore.
Ash’s grey lust filled eyes are fixed on me, and I glance over to see Loki and Jax who are in the water. They look up, pausing their game of catch—I know, boys, eh?—watching to see what I’m up to. I turn and fix my stare on Kai, who’s still looking out at the sea, his arms draped on his bent knees, and walk towards him, coming to stand in front of him as he sits in his koi fish print swim shorts.
Finally, he looks up, his honey eyes dark, and gives me a small smile that makes my heart ache, and butterflies flutter in my stomach all at once. It’s such a beautiful, lost, sad kind of smile that I have to hold in the cry that wants to escape my soul.
Keeping eye contact, I reach behind me, undoing the string securing my cherry print bikini top. Moving up to my neck, I do the same to that tie, letting the fabric drop between us on the rug. I reach for the strings at my waist next, undoing them one at a time until I’m standing before him, our toes touching, fully naked, and the sun licking every inch of my body.
I close my eyes briefly as a fragrant breeze teases my nipples, hardening them to tight nubs, and pebbling bumps all over my skin.
“I will risk sand in Her Vagisty, Kai, if that’s what it takes to make you smile,” I inform him, my lips lifted in a smirk. I open my eyes as a husky laugh falls out of his own lips, transforming his face into something worthy of the gods. “There he is,” I say, my voice a rusty whisper, full of swirling emotion.