One More Time (32 page)

“Fuck, I’m there,” he grated between thrusts. Those three words were all it took and I was coming.

A minute or so later, he pulled out and groaned.

“You okay?” I asked, rolling onto my side.

He nestled in behind me and kissed my shoulder. “Never been better.”

“Do you really think I would choose Zane over you?”

“No. I just wanted to hear you say it right before I had you.”

His Tarzan comment had me rolling my eyes. “You do realize you didn’t use a condom, again,” I stated.

I felt his lips turn up into a smile against my shoulder as he answered, “Yep.”

His nonchalance about the whole thing surprised me. I turned my head to look at him. “You’re okay with that?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I want a boy this time,” he sleepily said.

It was my turn to smile and I did… big time.

Dillon

‡

A
fter two weeks
of total hell, I am finally home with my girls
. I had already been up twice this morning, once to take three Advil and the second time to check on Milly. As I stared down at a sleeping Ibby, I couldn’t help but give a mental thank you to whoever was watching out for us. A lot of bad had happened in a very short period of time and both of us were still alive and breathing. According to Cas and Bobby, it was all behind us now, but I wasn’t so sure I believed them. Something still didn’t feel right and I had nothing to go on but my gut.

“What are you chewing on up there?” Ibby sleepily asked.

I leaned down and touched my mouth to hers. “Good morning, beauty,” I said against her lips. She smiled and wrapped her hands around my neck as she deepened the kiss. When I pulled back, she pouted. “As much as I want to go there with you right now, we need to talk.”

Her expression instantly sobered. “Are you okay?”

“Stop worrying about me. I promise to tell you if I’m anything but great, okay?”

Her expression softened. “Okay,” she said.

“Sally has Milly. You head to the bathroom and I’ll get you a cup of coffee,” I told her.

“You are still recovering. I can get the coffee. You stay right here in bed.”

“Ibby,” I growled.

“Jeesh! Okay, please get my coffee!” she exclaimed with exasperation.

I laughed as she stomped off to the bathroom muttering about me being hard headed under her breath, and went to get her coffee. When I returned, she was waiting on the bed for me. I couldn’t help but be reminded of how thankful I was to be back home. Handing her the coffee, I piled onto the bed beside her. “There’s a lot to cover, but I want to start first with my childhood,” I told her. Before she could respond, I launched into growing up and what happened with my parents. I managed to hold it together until the very end. This time, when I broke, it wasn’t Piper there to comfort me, but Ibby. This was a big step towards healing those wounds and, instead of feeling shame, like when I told Piper, I felt relief.

A while passed before either of us could speak. Finally, needing to get the rest out, I hit her with part two, my trip to Charleston and what Adam and I discovered there. Since I had already worked through most of this with Parker, I could now emotionally distance myself. This made it slightly easier to tell. As it was Isabella’s first time hearing it, she took it hard.

“Oh my God!” she screeched. Then she jumped off the bed and began pacing back and forth across the foot of the bed. “So, for two weeks you have been carrying this around,” she stopped and threw up her hands, “And you didn’t tell me?”

“Baby, for two weeks, I have been working through it, and no, I didn’t tell you.”

“Why?” she shouted.

“Because I was afraid,” I answered.

Her face fell and she started crying, again. “You were afraid of me?”

“No. I was afraid once you knew I was a murderer, you wouldn’t want me anymore,” I told her.

The next thing I knew, Ibby was on her knees in front of me, both hands on either side of my face and staring deep into my eyes. “You are not a murderer. Do you hear me?” The conviction in her voice was a complete turn on. “You were a kid, Dillon. Your mother should have protected you. Your father should have let her go. You were just a victim of their fucked up circumstances. Our children will be worshipped and adored, no matter what happens between us. I swear it.”

“I love you,” I whispered.

She gave me a soft smile and whispered, “I love you, too.”

Our lips met and, right then and there, I had to have her. I worshipped her body with my hands and mouth as I stripped her bare. Not wanting to waste another precious minute of time, I shoved down my briefs and entered her.

“Promise me it will always be this good,” she moaned.

“Tell me you love me, again, and I’ll grant you your promise,” I said between thrusts.

“I love you,” she panted.

“I promise it will always be this good,” I rasped.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“One more time,” I commanded.

“I love you!” she shouted.

I powered in one last time and, when I felt her quivering underneath me, I let go.

I was so fucking happy to be home.

After we cleaned up and were back on the bed, I started back up. “I need you to know, the night before I left had absolutely nothing to do with Dana.”

“I know,” she quickly responded.

“You sure?” I asked.

She let out a sigh. “I admit, at first I questioned it, but Sally explained everything and then Dana showed up with her scary friends at Dragonfly and was so ugly to us and I just knew. You wouldn’t be with me if you cared about her or vice versa. You aren’t that kind of guy.”

I gave her a hard kiss. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For believing in me.” She smiled and I let out a sigh of relief. Then I explained what Garrett and the guys found out about Dana and how guilty I had been feeling.

“Have they arrested her yet?” she asked.

“They have issued a warrant to bring her in for questioning, but I haven’t heard anything other than that,” I told her.

“Is this what they talked to you about in the hospital?” Before I could tell her no, she gasped and grabbed my hand. “Did she pay to have you beat up?”

I scowled at her. “What makes you say that?”

“Because she’s nuts and that’s so something a nutty person would do,” she replied.

I swallowed deep and answered, “No, Ibbs. That wasn’t Dana. That was Jimmy.”

Her face turned white as a ghost. “What?” she breathed.

I hated upsetting her, but it was time she knew what was happening. “You remember when we were told about Jimmy moving money in and out of client’s accounts?” I asked.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Well, it turns out there was a reason he was doing this.” When she didn’t respond, I continued. “You remember Garrett saying they were turning the information over to the South Carolina State Bar, correct?”

“Yes. They wanted the State Bar to open a criminal investigation,” she replied.

“Well, they did and they found something.”

“Oh God,” she gasped, “What did they find?”

“They discovered while Jimmy was in his second year of law school, he was involved in a hit and run. It appears he was out drinking and hit a woman walking in the street on the way home. Instead of stopping and checking on her, he left her for dead and drove away. The next morning, he took the car to a body shop and had the front end repaired. Being that the shop was less than reputable and he paid with cash, it wasn’t reported. Nor was it easily traceable.”

“Go on,” she prompted.

“The woman did not die.”

“No!” she dramatically exclaimed and I fought a smile.

“No,” I repeated, “but she was messed up for a long time. Long enough for Jimmy to graduate, get a job at a top tiered law firm and relax.”

“Please tell me she found him.”

“Two and a half years later, she found him,” I confirmed. “But, instead of calling the cops, like she should have, she cut a deal with him. No one would ever know about what he did if he paid up and paid big. Jimmy didn’t have that kind of cash, but he knew if he didn’t play ball, he would go to jail.”

“She must have had him by the short hairs,” Isabella said, “because, I’m here to tell you, Jimmy is c-h-e-a-p. What?” she asked at my grin, and I couldn’t help but bust out laughing.

“You are f-u-n-n-y,” I spelled.

She rolled her eyes and slapped my arm. “Keep going. This is good stuff.” My smile slipped at her words and she froze.

“What?” I asked.

“It was Jimmy,” she breathed. I had to give it to her, she had a damn good knack for solving mysteries. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have made the jump from blackmail to attempted murder that quickly.

“It was,” I told her.

In a flash she was back off the bed. “Jimmy paid to have you murdered?” she quietly asked. Her shocked expression made me tense.

I patted the bed next to me. “Come sit.” She shook her head, no and I sighed. “I told Garrett and the boys to dig deep and bury his ass. I knew there was a chance he would figure out who tipped off the State Bar.”

“Well apparently he did!” she shouted. “And then he tried to have you killed!”

“Right before the guy knocked me out, he whispered, “This is from Jimmy,” in my ear. Ibby gasped. “Baby,” I said.

She held up her hand and let out a tearful, “Don’t.”

I was immediately off the bed and in front of her. “They got him, baby, I swear. He used his personal account to pay the guys to kill me. There was a money trail. What happened with the hit and run and his firm accounts no longer matters, because he has been formally charged with attempted murder.”

“Wait, you didn’t finish. What did the firm accounts have to do with the hit and run?” she asked.

“That was the only way he could pay her.”

Her face lit with understanding.

“The two guys I took down with me are willing to testify against Jimmy in exchange for leniency,” I further explained.

“Did they find the two who ran?” she asked.

“They found them all. Everyone is locked up and Jimmy can no longer access his bank accounts. He’s going away for a long time.”

“Swear to me it’s over, Dillon, all of it,” she painfully said.

“I swear it is all over.”

Finally, she stepped into my arms and let me hold her.

*     *     *

One week later

“Come on you
two or we’re going to be late!” I shouted.

“Do they always take this long?” Adam asked me.

“They are women,” Charlie stated.

Adam laughed. “Enough said.”

We were waiting on Ibby and Sally to get their asses downstairs so we could be on time for Max and Ellie’s first annual MMG Fourth of July party.

This past week had been unreal. After Ibby and I spent the day hashing everything out, life didn’t go back to the way it was before. It was better. Isabella was relaxed and happy. Nothing I told her had any residual effect on us. She wasn’t walking around on eggshells around me or avoiding my eyes and touch. She was…happy… and excepting. I had no idea it could be this good.

Adam and Charlie had carpooled down from Charleston and arrived yesterday. We had a full house of family, something none of us had experienced in a long time, if ever. Tonight we were going to celebrate with our friends. Life was looking up and it was about damn time.

“We’re here! Keep your pants on,” Ibby said from the top of the stairs. She had on a see through light pink shirt, tucked into a pair of short, white, extremely frayed jean shorts. I scowled at her. “What?” she asked, as she caught my less-than-happy facial expression.

“I can see your bra,” I told her.

She rolled her eyes and laughed. “It’s not my bra, silly. It’s my bikini top. Remember, Max said we might get wet? Well, I’m making sure I’m prepared.”

Slightly mollified, I let it go and said, “Let’s load it up.”

“I’ll ride with Charlie,” Sally said.

“Ibby, Adam and I will take Milly in the jeep.” Leaning down, I gave Brutus a pat on the back. “Hold down the fort, boy,” I told him, as we headed out the door.

Twenty minutes later we pulled into MMG. We could hear
Beggin For Thread
blaring all the way from the parking lot.