Quick & Reckless, page 17
Gail was full-on crying again. “I have a grandbaby. She’s mine. Mine,” she blubbered, circling around them and hugging Warren and Johnathan’s sides. Silver was right in there, too, and Warren slipped his arm around her, leaning forward and kissing her head.
A high-pitched squawk from inside the family hug made them all break apart. All eyes fell on the little wonder in Silver’s arms. Her eyes were wide and her face scrunched and grumpy as she took in all the people staring down at her who had inconveniently woken her up from her nap.
“Come here, baby,” Warren said, his voice wobbling as he reached for his daughter for the first time. He’d held her before, briefly, but now, now he was holding his daughter. His daughter.
Silver passed her off, and Ava went to him, her eyes taking in his face with such awe and wonder, he couldn’t stop the hot lone tear from slipping down his face. Okay, now he understood why Tate was so fucking happy all the time. This dad shit rocked.
Johnathan circled around the coffee table to stand next to Gail. “Let’s give the new little family some privacy, dear. You can hold your granddaughter in a moment.” He wrapped his arm around her and wheeled her off into the kitchen and out of the way.
“B-but,” Gail protested.
“Just a moment. It’s a lot to take in. Come on, I want to show you what I got you for a wedding present.”
“A wedding present?”
“Mhmm. It’s in the garage.”
“Does it have four wheels and a soft top?”
“Mhmm.”
Silver chuckled as she turned to face Warren. “He bought her a Mustang.”
Warren didn’t bother to lift his head. He was too enamored with the vision before him. “I know. He told me.”
Cradling Ava against his forearm, with her tiny head in his palm, he let her take his pointer finger in her strong little fist. Another tear drifted down his cheek and landed on her sleeper. “Hey, sweetheart, I’m your daddy.” Ava blinked at him. “I know I haven’t been here from the beginning, but you’re stuck with me now. You’re going to be sick of me soon, because I need to make up for lost time. I’m never letting you go, never letting you out of my sight.” She blinked again, and then what looked to be a smile broke out on her perfectly round face. “Never.”
“I’m sorry,” Silver whispered. “Do you forgive me?”
Finally, reluctantly, he lifted his gaze from his daughter’s face. “I do. Life’s too short, too full of incredible things to spend your time being mad. But know this, woman, with the next kid, I’m going to be there every step of the way. From conception to graduation, weddings and babysitting the grandchildren, I will be there.”
Her eyes went wide. “N-next child?”
He offered her a crooked smile, marveling at Ava’s tight grip on his finger. “Oh, Silver. You don’t believe for a second I’m letting you go, do you? You’re the mother of my child, the best fuck I’ve ever had, and now you’re my stepsister.” Her nose wrinkled into a disgusting face. “It’s till death do us part for us. Just you wait and see.” And then he pulled her forward and kissed her, hard. When he finally let her come up for air, she was panting and glassy-eyed.
Those stunning gray eyes blinked up at him. “Who knew being reckless could be so rewarding?”
Warren smiled and dipped his head. “Who said it was reckless? I’ve planned this whole damn thing from the start.” And then he took her lips again, this time moving in so their child was between them, shrouded in the love of both her parents, just like she was meant to be.
Epilogue
Silver
One year later …
“You all done?” Gail asked, fluttering around the bridal suite in her royal blue off-the-shoulder mother-of-the-groom dress.
Silver pulled Marcus from her breast, wiped his little lip and passed him to his grandmother. “Yeah. He’s out, too.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. You think he’ll sleep through the ceremony?”
Silver stood up and adjusted her wedding dress. “As much fun as it would be to have both my children involved in my wedding, I think it’d be a dream come true if they both slept through it. They won’t know what the heck is going on and certainly won’t understand.”
Gail made a mock pout before placing Marcus down in the basket bassinet on the floor. “There you go, little man.”
Silver checked her makeup in the mirror and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before turning to her stepmother/soon-to-be mother-in-law. “Do you mind watching him for me? I need to duck out for a moment.”
Gail narrowed her eyes in confusion.
Silver didn’t want to tell her that she was ducking out to go find Warren. The woman would probably forbid it, stating bad luck or bad juju or something. But she had to see him.
“Hettie and Parker and the girls will all be here in a minute or two. Kylie’s just finishing up getting her hair done, and then we’re all going to have a glass of champagne before the ceremony. I’ll be back for all of that, I promise.”
“Is everything okay?” Gail asked.
Silver was already halfway to the door. “Yes, yes, of course. I … I just want to go talk to my mum … alone. If you know what I mean?”
She hated lying to Gail, hated even more using her dead mother as a scapegoat, but she couldn’t think of anything else.
Gail’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Oh, of course. Yes, go right ahead, dear.”
Silver flashed her a big smile, gave one look of love to her sleeping infant and then was out the door. She knew that Warren and his brothers were a couple of doors down in a villa the boys had reserved for all of them to get ready in. As she made her way down the cobblestone path through the thick tropical foliage of Tate’s luxurious resort, she was hit with the sound of loud music and joyous laugher. As she neared the villa, she realized that all that noise was coming from inside. What on earth were the guys up to?
She’d lifted her hand to knock on the door when it swung open. Gavin was standing there, cigar in his mouth and a tumbler of scotch in his hand. His eyes went wide at the sight of her standing there in her dress. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.
“I need to see Warren,” she answered, not bothering to be invited in and instead just pushing her way forward.
“You’re not supposed to see each other before the wedding,” Gavin protested, following her inside. “It’s bad luck.”
Silver rolled her eyes. “Too bad.”
Tate and Warren were out on the veranda. Tate was holding two scotches and two cigars, while Warren appeared to be shotgunning a beer. Their suits were on, but they were missing ties and boutonnieres. You’d never know to look at them that Tate was a billionaire father of four, just a few years shy of fifty. Or that Warren was an almost-billionaire, successful real estate mogul and father of two. Both men were laughing and behaving like college freshmen.
Gavin’s voice startled her. “He’ll be sober enough for the ceremony, we promise. I was just on my way out to grab some coffee.”
She craned her neck around and glared at him.
He held his hands up in surrender. “Yes, the cigars and scotch were my idea, but shotgunning the beer was all Warren’s idea. I think that’s his third.”
Warren’s head snapped up from where he’d been slurping the beer, his mouth wide in a joyous grin as he wiped foam from the corners. His eyes found hers, and his smile slipped off nearly as fast as Tate grabbed his phone from his pocket and shut off the music.
“Hi,” Warren said, his gaze climbing her body. She’d nearly forgotten she was in her wedding gown.
Just then, Tate’s phone started to vibrate in his palm. He glanced at the screen, held up a finger and answered it. “Hey, Rob. I’m going to put you on speaker, ’kay?”
“Cool,” came a deep masculine rumble.
“What do you have for us?” Tate asked.
“Well, I think I’ve finally found her. And based on my research, she just got to the island, so if she sticks to her pattern, she’ll stay there for a few weeks to a couple of months before moving on.”
“Where is she?” Gavin asked, wedging his way back out onto the veranda.
“Gili Air, just off Bali. I’m heading there now. My flight from Bangkok leaves in a few hours. I’ll fly into Denpasar and then book a boat to the Gili Islands.”
Tate nodded. “Excellent.”
“She’s been using aliases. Was Simone on Koh Chang, Samantha in the Langkawis, Stella on Capri and Sophia in Malta.”
“Jesus Christ, she’s really getting around,” Gavin muttered.
“What’s her real name?” Warren asked.
“I think Skyler, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. She appears to have been born in France. Her mother’s dead, from what I understand. Couldn’t find much. She’s covered her tracks well. Definitely in hiding. Running from something.”
“Or someone … ” Tate said fearfully.
“Or someone,” Rob repeated. “Seems to be using the name Scarlet in the Gilis. Working at a dive shop. I’ll book a room, book a dive and feel her out. Try to uncover what she’s running from.”
“Money’s no object, as you know,” Tate added. “We’ll fund whatever means you need to get her here.”
“That’s right.” Gavin nodded. “We just want to find our sister.”
“Got it,” Rob said. “I’ll be in touch. Let you know when I get there and if the trail is still warm.”
“Sounds good,” Tate said.
Rob grunted on the other end. “Later.” Then the line went dead.
Silence and pensive expressions seemed to bounce around their little group. One brother, then the next, frowned and glanced down at his shoes in thought. Their sister was still missing. It’d been six months that Rob had been looking for her, and every time they thought they were getting close, the trail would go cold for a month or two, only for Rob to be too late once he got to a new destination. But Rob had never called with this much information before. Things sounded good. The man was a perfectionist and refused to stop looking until he found her, until he finished the job.
“Well,” Gavin started, making Silver jump. “That’s good news. With any luck, Rob will have her here with her family by next week. I, for one, am getting tired of hitting all these dead ends.”
Tate and Warren grunted.
Silver shifted back and forth on her sandaled feet. “Can we talk for a sec?” she asked, glancing at Tate and then back at Warren. “Alone?”
Fear of a different kind flooded his face, but he quickly nodded. No more words were spoken, and suddenly Tate and Gavin were gone and she and Warren were alone.
Warren took a hesitant step toward her. “Everything okay?”
She nodded, taking in his frazzled appearance. “You guys seem to be having fun ... until that phone call, I mean.”
He shook his head. “Just goofing off. I promise to be stone-cold sober for the ceremony. I won’t forget a single word of my vows.”
She smiled. “It’s okay. I love seeing you have fun with your family.” She moved into him and brushed a couple of orange crumbs off the shoulder of his perfectly tailored dark gray suit. “You have a little bit of … ”
He made a sheepish face. “Dorito dust.”
“Dorito dust.”
“Is everything okay?’
She met his gaze and nodded. “I just want to say, without an audience that is, that I’m so incredibly happy and in love with you.”
Warren’s brows pinched for a moment before his face softened. “I’m incredibly happy and in love with you, too.” His lips twisted in thought. “You’re sure that’s it? Your eyes tell me you have more to say.”
It was scary how well he knew her.
“I also wanted to thank you.”
“For?”
“For forgiving me. For just being an incredible man, partner and father. I know I fucked up—”
He cut her off. “I forgave you the day I found out she was mine. Hell, even before then, I forgave you. And then nine months later, when you gave me a perfect son, I forgave you all over again, because with Marcus I got to do it right from day one. It’s in the past, Silver. And today I’m thinking about nothing but our future and all the babies we’re going to make in that future.” Warren wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him.
Her eyes went wide. “More babies?”
Growling, he lifted her up and spun her around. “You think I want to stop at just two? I need to at least match Tate.”
Silver coughed slightly as he tossed her to the bed and fell on top of her. “Four?”
“We’re fertile, angel. Ava and Marcus are proof of that. Anytime I stick it in you unsheathed, you get pregnant. The world is telling us to fill it up with McAllisters.” His eyes dropped to the cleavage of her dress. “And you, wearing this … how on earth am I not supposed to put a baby in your belly tonight?”
She pouted. “Tonight?”
His fathomless blue eyes grew dark, and his nostrils flared. “Can’t wait for tonight?’
She grabbed his hand and brought it down beneath the simple skirt of her dress. Unlike last time, she’d gone with a classic halter top sheath dress. No Q-tip princess monstrosity for this wedding. This time she was doing it right. Doing it classy. Except for maybe one thing …
Warren’s eyes went wide when she placed his hand over her bare mound. She’d gotten a wax at the spa two days ago and was ready to go.
“No knickers?” His breath hitched. “Miss Belle, you are a dirty little thing.”
Lunging forward, she nipped his bottom lip. “I believe I was told many moons ago that I was not to wear any beneath my next wedding dress. Was I not?”
His gaze grew even more avid and his eyes even darker. “You certainly were.” He dipped his head low and nipped at her collarbone. “We might be late for the ceremony now … all thanks to you and your lack of undergarments, you dirty little thing.” His thumb brushed her clit beneath her dress, and she shivered.
Suddenly, Silver grew serious for a moment. She grabbed Warren’s ears and pulled his head up and away from her neck. “I love you, Warren. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and you’ve given me two gorgeous children. I just want to start this marriage off right. A clean slate, fresh start. I need to know you don’t still hold anything against me.”
He mirrored her serious gaze, but a smile broke free. “Never. Now stop apologizing. You were Mrs. Warren McAllister the moment we found out Ava was mine.” Her smile faltered for a moment, but he kissed the corner of her mouth. “But you were my angel, and the one I knew I was meant to be with the moment you walked into that bar looking like some fairy-tale princess missing a shoe and late for the ball, your hair all aglow with the sun behind you. I was smitten. All is forgiven. Clean slate.” His thumb rubbed against her clit again, and her leg jerked beneath him. “A fresh start with our beautiful family.” He bent his head low and licked her bottom lip as his fingers under her gown began rubbing delectable circles around her clit.
She closed her eyes and sighed. “Warren.”
“It’s us forever, Silver.” He kissed her cheeks, her jaw, her neck, her chest. “Us and the kids. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect life.” He removed his hand from her, and she heard the zip of his pants. Seconds later, he was poised at her center. “And what a more perfect way to start the first day of the rest of our lives than inside the perfect woman for me.” Then he kissed her soundly and drove home.
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Whitley Cox
Sneak Peak from Quick & Dangerous, Book 4, The Quick Billionaires
A Novel
Chapter 1
“Fuck!” Rob Cahill yelled as he leapt off the powerboat into tropical seawater that immediately filled his combat boots. “Son of a bitch.”
“Miss the landing a bit there, eh, mate?” an Aussie tourist commented with a chuckle. He’d managed to make the jump and remain dry. Lucky prick.
Rolling his eyes and scrunching his toes in his soggy socks, Rob slung his backpack over one shoulder and trudged up the white sandy beach of Gili Air. From everything he’d read about this tiny little island off the coast of Lombok in Indonesia, it was a divers’ haven, laid back and the perfect place to unwind … or remain hidden.
There were three islands clustered together, known by most as “The Gilis.” Trawangan was the party island, Meno the island for lovers, and Air the island for everyone else. And that was Rob. His partying days were certainly over, and as for a love life … he took female affections when they were offered to him but had no time for anything serious. At least that’s what he told himself. Having retired from SEAL Team Six last year, he was somehow now busier than ever with his freelance PI business, finding people, their secrets and all for a pretty penny. So much for retirement. He hadn’t played one round of golf yet.
But he had a job to do. He’d been hired by the McAllister brothers, three billionaires, to find their long-lost sister. And she was proving to be a challenge. Nobody had ever given Rob a runaround like this woman. He’d been on her tail for nearly six months. His longest investigation yet. Just when he thought he’d tracked her down, the trail would go cold. She was running from something. But what?
His buddy and fellow SEAL Aaron had gotten a match through face-recognition software when he’d hacked into the Denpasar airport security cameras. They matched the blurry photo of twenty-seven-year-old Skyler McAllister that Rob obtained from her last known location on Koh Chang. The woman was certainly getting around. Never staying in one place for more than a few months, sometimes a few weeks. But Aaron had traced her here. She was in the background of someone else’s vacation Instagram post three days ago, and the location placed her on Gili Air. Now all he had to do was find her.
