Craving HIM (Serving HIM Vol. 7) (2 page)

When he caught my hair and brushed it away to study my neck, I shivered, goosebumps breaking out over my flesh. I was getting chilly now that the sweat had dried and the heat of everything was fading away.

He caught a blanket from the foot of the bed and dragged it up until it covered me. “Better?”

“Yes.” I stared into his eyes, caught by how beautiful he was. How mine he was.

I lifted a hand and touched his cheek. “I love you.”

He dipped his head and pressed his lips against mine in a firm, but chaste, kiss. “I love you.”

He went back into the bathroom and I heard the water running as he cleaned himself up. A few moments later, he was back and sliding under the covers next to me. He wrapped his arms around me and I settled against his chest. I closed my eyes, feeling warm and protected and complete.

This, I thought, was about as close to perfection as life could get.

Chapter 2

Dominic

The sound of my mother’s voice on the phone was bizarre. Intense, wonderful…but still bizarre.

Three weeks had passed since I’d met my birth mother, Cecily Cole, and there were days when I had to stop and think about everything that had happened, remind myself that it had happened at all. Then I’d start to brace myself and wonder if today was the day that something was going to go wrong.

In my experience, something always went wrong. I couldn’t help thinking that way. It was how my life worked, how it had always worked. Happiness was fleeting in my experience, a shallow sort of thing that usually revolved around a decent Sub or a good bottle of scotch, maybe a business venture that distracted me from the mess that was my mind.

That had all changed, though. Because of Aleena. My world had changed because of her.

“Dominic,” Cecily said, her voice warm and full of a love that still baffled me. “I was thinking that perhaps we could get together this weekend and have dinner. I’d like to see you and Aleena again.”

Automatically, I checked the calendar that Aleena kept updated on my phone. I'd been a bit worried that when we'd started sleeping together, she’d insist I get a new personal assistant, but she hadn't and, so far, our personal life hadn't been a hindrance to our working relationship. If anything, it seemed to work even more smoothly now.

“We’re going to the Hamptons this weekend.” I hesitated and then mentioned, “We’re actually meeting with a friend of mine. He’s a DA here, but I was going to push and see if he had any info on what’s going on with…” My voice trailed off. It was still a bit awkward to talk about the black market adoption ring that had led to me being taken from Cecily and adopted by Jacqueline and Solomon Snow.

“The investigation,” Cecily finished. She paused a moment and then asked, “Would that be Jefferson Sinclair?”

“It would.” I managed to smile despite the fury that brewed inside me every time I thought about what had happened. Almost before I took my first breath, I'd been stolen and sold like an animal or a piece of furniture. And I hadn't been the only one.

“If anybody can manage to get information from the Attorney General’s office or the FBI, it would be Jefferson. He’s very much like his father,” Cecily murmured.

“You know him, I take it.”

She laughed. “You can’t work in philanthropy like I have and not make friends—or at least acquaintances—with some of the biggest powerhouses in the city. Jefferson’s father was definitely a powerhouse. Jefferson will be the same way in time. He’s already making a name for himself.”

“Why don’t you come with us, Cecily?” I asked impulsively.

“I…” She hesitated. “Well, I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“You’re my mother.” I laughed wryly. Even after a month, my stomach still clenched when I called her that. I wondered if it would ever feel normal. “One thing you’re going to learn about me if you haven’t already is that I don’t tend to do things I don’t want to do. I’d like you to come.”

“Very well.”

I heard the happiness in her voice and it caused an odd little twist inside me. I wasn’t used to making somebody happy so easily. Well, except Aleena. Approval was something bartered and traded for things a lot more complicated than an invitation to dinner, or at least it always been for me. Before Aleena and Cecily, the only person in my life who'd ever cared about me unconditionally—and called me on my bullshit—had been my previous assistant, Fawna Harris. She still did it now, just not as often. I smiled sadly. As much as I loved Aleena, I still missed Fawna, but she had her hands full with her grandson.

I gave myself a mental shake. No more brooding over the past. I grabbed the notepad Aleena had convinced me to keep on hand and jotted down a note about my mother joining us. If I didn’t make a note, then I’d forget to tell Aleena and it wouldn’t end up in my calendar, then she'd have my ass.

“Will it just be us and Jefferson?”

“Yes.” I tossed the pen down and leaned back in my chair, swiveling around to stare out over the New York City skyline. “Since I’m pushing him for information, I don’t want anybody there that would keep him from talking. It’s not a dinner party or anything.”

“Understood.” There was an odd hesitation and then softly, she asked, “Are you inviting your…mother?”

“You’re my mother.” I closed my eyes as I said it, the familiar prick of guilt coming immediately after I spoke. My feelings about Jacqueline St. James-Snow were complicated to say the least.

Cecily seemed to pick up on it. Her voice was firm, but kind, as she said, “I’m not the one who raised you, Dominic. She did, and she’s still very much a part of your life. I don’t want us to be at odds.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I had to admit silently that I didn’t want that either. Despite everything that had happened over the past few months, despite knowing for years that I had been adopted, I couldn’t think of Jacqueline St. James-Snow as anything other than my mother.

“I guess I’m going to be one of those guys with two moms,” I said, trying to keep my tone light. “She is my mother, yes. But so are you. It’s…surprisingly easy to think of you in that role, Cecily.” It wasn't easy for me to admit things like that, but Aleena had been working with me on it, especially where the people I loved were concerned. Sometimes people really did need to hear it.

“I’m…glad.” There was a catch in her voice and I hoped I hadn’t made her cry.

“I’ll talk to her,” I said, rushing to fill the silence. “But you should know that she’s not always an easy woman to be around.”

To my surprise, Cecily laughed. “If you think this comes as a surprise to me Dominic, you're mistaken. I know how Jacqueline can be.”

Something in her tone made me sit up straighter. “You two know each other already.”

There was a moment of hesitation before she answered, “Yes, though not well. As I said, in my line of work, you get to know a great many people.”

I should have already figured that out. My mother was indeed a powerhouse, at least in social circles. Granted, Cecily was a good sixteen years younger than Jacqueline, but with Cecily's charity work, they would've definitely moved in the same circles.

“Were you ever...friends?” It was strange to think of how close Cecily and I had been to each other and had never met.

“Hardly.” Cecily sighed. “Though if things had been different, we might have been.”

Different.

She’d given birth to me twenty-nine years ago, but she'd been told that I'd died at birth. In reality, I'd been taken away and sold to the Snows. Everyone had known Cecily's story when she'd begun her charity work, but my mother had never even considered that her adopted son could've been Cecily's dead baby. Why would she? A part of me wondered if things would've been different if the two women had been friends. If Cecily had met me as a child.

Instead, up until about a month ago, she'd believed I was dead. She'd lived her entire life since my birth championing for the causes of children and young mothers, trying to reach out to other women who were young, pregnant and afraid. She developed programs for youth who had problems with drugs and alcohol, supplying them with the support they needed to get clean, finish school and find jobs. Her programs were designed for those with money and those without. She’d changed lives. She’d saved lives.

She did it for you
, Aleena had told me when we'd first found Cecily. It still moved me.

I wasn’t surprised to hear that the woman who’d changed her life after losing me didn’t get along with the woman who’d raised me as her own. They were as different as night and day. While both of them loved me, Jacqueline thought the world had been handed to her and she deserved it. Cecily, on the other hand knew how cruel the world was and she fought to make it a better place.

“You needn’t worry that we hate each other or anything like that, Dominic,” Cecily said, unaware of my thoughts. “We've always been polite and cordial to each other. Although…well, I imagine things will be quite different now.”

“Yes.” That was all I said. I wasn’t about to say what I really thought. Different didn’t even touch on how things were going to be between my birth mother and my adopted mother.

***

She did it for you.

Friday, those words were ringing in my head louder than ever.

It had been almost a month now since I’d walked into that hotel, since I’d almost stormed into the fundraiser my birth mother had been hosting for one of her charities. It had been one of the ones geared toward underprivileged girls from the inner city, one that I now knew was considered to be one of the most radical, and life-altering, programs to ever hit New York City. She was currently working to expand into several other cities.

“Dominic, I’ve got some more information on that chain of jewelry stores. It just came through in my email.”

I glanced up at Aleena with a smile, but I wasn’t really paying that much attention. I’d already lost interest in the matchmaking company she and Fawna had helped me get off the ground and I was playing with the idea of opening up a line of jewelry stores. There was a chain that was faltering and I’d thought perhaps I’d buy them out and slowly revamp them, make them into a luxury chain with specialty pieces.

Now, though…

“Dominic?”

I took the neatly bound report and flipped through it, seeing both the images she and Amber—my administrative assistant who handled only the business aspects of my life—had compiled from the chain as it looked now and artist renderings of what could be done in a year, two years, five years.

It look amazing. Perfect. Luxurious.

And…empty.

I tossed it onto the floor of the limo and leaned forward, running my hand over my face. In the front, Maxwell was driving, but the window was up, offering Aleena and me some privacy. As she picked up the report, I struggled to find the words to express what I wanted to say. Normally, that wasn’t a problem when it came to work.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, frowning. She flipped through the report, pausing to look over a few key pages before looking up at me. “I’m still waiting on some data from Amber, but—”

“It’s not the report,” I said, cutting her off. “I can bail the chain out, take over. Hell, in a year or so, I’ll be bored with it too and looking to do something else. Then what?”

“Then you find something else.” She undid her seat belt and moved to sit next to me instead of across from me. After she’d clicked the restraint on, she took my hand.

“Something else.” I felt empty even saying it. “And when does it get to be enough, Aleena?”

She pressed her hand to my cheek, her soft green eyes holding mine. “What’s this about?”

I took the report she still held and looked at it. “This…it’s not enough anymore. This…hell, the agency. The hotels. What difference do they make?”

“They provide jobs, for one.” She leaned forward, a puzzled expression on her face.

I curled my arm around her shoulders, breathing in the warm female scent of her. I wanted to pull her onto my lap and lose myself in her. That might ease the chaos. Might help me stop feeling like I was losing myself in one pointless project after another instead.

She did it for you.

It clicked then.

So simple.

So damn simple.

“What if I don’t look for something else?” I said slowly as Aleena nestled her head against my shoulder.

“Hmm? You want to hang with Trouver L’Amour for a while longer?”

“No.” Snorting, I looked out the window. With my hand tangled in her curls, I began to toy with the idea forming inside my head. “No business this time, Aleena. I want to do what Cecily is doing.”

When she lifted her head, I turned to meet her gaze.

She didn’t say anything right away and when she did, her question was slow, thoughtful. Almost curious. “You want to do something for teenaged mothers?”

“No…well, not exactly. Cecily seems to have that pretty well under control.” I grimaced and added, “Not that there’s ever going to be enough attention focused on teenaged girls who get shoved to the background so they don’t embarrass their families.” An idea was forming. “But that’s not what I had in mind. I want to focus on helping missing children get reunited with their parents. On human trafficking, kidnap victims and their families. That sort of thing.”