Victorious (38 page)

“Don’t you mean days to spend
naked
together?”

He drops his head to my chest. “Mmm.”

I run my fingers through his hair, loving the silky feel of it. “You’ve actually brought me here to make me your sex slave, haven’t you?”

“You’ve figured me out.”

We stay like that, wrapped up in each other, for a long time, long enough that the moon begins to rise over the water.

“Hey, Nat?”

“Yeah?”

“Despite how it might seem, I’m actually
your
slave. You know that, don’t you? I’m completely and utterly at your mercy.”

“And I’m at yours.”

“You can’t ever leave me.”

I love when he, who could have any woman he wants, shows me his heart and his vulnerability where I’m concerned. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here with you.”

Chapter 20
 

By Thursday night, we’ve tried everything twice and much of it three times because we liked it so much. My body is vibrating from the hours he spent building me up only to shatter me into a thousand pieces and then put me back together the way only he can.
 

It has been the most blissfully relaxing and sensually charged week of my life. That I’ve been able to relax so completely despite the nearly constant hum of desire is amazing to me. I’m sad that we have to go home tomorrow, but I’m ready to get back to some sort of productive routine after the beautiful weeks I’ve spent with Flynn.
 

I also miss Fluff. This is the longest we’ve ever been apart, and I hope she’s behaving for Flynn’s parents. Other than my weekly appointment with my therapist, Curt, which Flynn insisted I keep, we haven’t spoken to anyone but each other in days.

My body feels beautifully used, my bottom cheeks stinging from being spanked, my inner thighs sore and my most tender areas tingling from the burn of his big cock entering me over and over again. I’m officially addicted to that big cock and all the amazing ways he uses it to love me. We’re lying in bed, our bodies cooling from another round of vigorous lovemaking, when the house phone rings, startling us both.
 

“Probably just the pilots confirming departure,” he says as he gets up to answer it. “I’ll tell them we’re not ready to go.”

“We are ready. We’ve got the Oscars this weekend, and we’re going. My husband is favored to win.”

He growls and makes a playfully sinister face at me. “I can’t believe you said that out loud.”

Smiling, I watch him leave the room. The sight of his tight buns never gets old, even after nearly a week of looking at his naked form.
 

Listening to the low hum of his voice in the other room, I begin to doze. I’m as relaxed as I’ve ever been after the idyllic time with him. We’ve done nothing but swim, lie in the sun, eat delicious food, drink margaritas and more wine from the Quantum vineyards and make love as often as we possibly could. Every part of me—and every part of him—is tanned from the hours in the sun. We’ve spent entire days in bed, talked about every possible topic and made more plans for our foundation. While I wish our time here could last forever, Flynn assures me we can come back again soon. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to digging into my new role with the foundation and making a difference for hungry children.

 
I wake with a start when his arm wraps around me from behind. How long was I asleep? How long was he gone?

“Everything okay?”

“That was Emmett.”

Three little words put me immediately on alert. I turn to face him. “What’s wrong?”

“They’ve made an arrest in the Rogers case.”

“That’s great news! Oh my God, what a relief. Now they’ll leave us alone.”

“Nat…”

“What? Who did they arrest?”

“Your father.”

I hate having to tell her this news. I have no idea how she’ll take it or what it even means for her or us.
 

She sits up in bed, tucking the covers around her breasts. It’s the first time she’s felt the need to cover herself all week. “My father. He killed David Rogers? But why? He didn’t even know him.”

“Emmett didn’t have the details yet, and of course Vickers isn’t taking his calls now that I’m no longer a suspect.”

“I… I don’t understand.”

Her confusion and disbelief make me furious. She was so relaxed and free of worries. And now this. I put my arms around her. “You haven’t seen your father in a long time. Perhaps he had some dealings with Rogers in the ensuing years. You never know.”

“I suppose. But why would he kill him now after he goes public with information about me?”

“Emmett said our investigator was actually the one to tip off the FBI to your father’s possible involvement. He said they didn’t want to bother us while we were here, so they held off on telling us until he’d been arrested. Apparently, the investigator caught the scent of your father because he decided to look into everyone who was involved in the Stone case from the beginning.”

“I need to call Candace and Olivia. I need to tell them…”

“Okay, sweetheart. I’ll get your phone.” I get up to retrieve the phone that’s been stashed in her purse all week. On the way back to the bedroom, I turn it on for her. The phone goes crazy beeping with text messages and voice mails. “It’s probably safe to say they already know.” I hand it over to her.
 

She begins to return the text messages from her sisters.

“What’re they saying?”

“They’re in shock and hiding from reporters.”

“I’ll set up some security for them.” I use my phone to send a message to Gordon Yates, our director of security in LA, asking him to work with Addie to arrange for immediate security for Natalie’s sisters.

I’m already on it
, Gordon replies right away. I share that news with Natalie.

“Thank you. I hate to think of them being pursued by reporters and their lives upended
again
because of this.”

“What about your life, sweetheart?”

“My life is just fine, and it will continue to be fine. This has nothing to do with me.”

“Nat…”

“What? It doesn’t.”

“Is it possible your dad did this because he wants to make things right with you and he saw killing Rogers as a way to do that?”

She shakes her head, and I can see the disbelief has been replaced by anger. “It’s not about me. He did it because Rogers resurrected all the shit about Oren. In his mind, he was protecting Oren by killing Rogers. It’s always about Oren with him, even now.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Yes, I do. And the only thing that matters to me is that the FBI is no longer looking at you for his murder.”

 
“Emmett said the press is driving Liza crazy wanting a statement from us about the arrest.”

“You could have her say that Natalie hasn’t seen or spoken to her father in more than eight years. His actions have no reflection on her or her sisters, who are also not in contact with Martin Genovese, and we ask that you respect her privacy and that of her family.”

“You’re sure that’s what you want?”

“Absolutely.”

I’m awake all night thinking about things I’d much rather forget. My father killed David. With hindsight, it makes a sick sort of sense. He must’ve been enraged to have the sordid tale resurrected after David went public with my story. Seeing Oren’s name once again dragged through the mud and every sick detail of what he’d done to me rebroadcast to a whole new audience probably sent my father into a rage. The audience was much larger this time around thanks to my relationship with Flynn and the insatiable appetite of the Hollywood media machine.

Despite my horror over what my father did, I’m sick with relief to know the spotlight is off Flynn.

“I can feel you spinning, sweetheart,” he mutters.

I thought he was asleep.

“Talk to me.”

“Nothing much to say.”

“What’re you thinking about?”

“That the only thing that matters is that the FBI no longer considers you a suspect.”

“That’s not the only thing that matters. You matter, too.”

“This can’t touch me if I don’t let it, Flynn. What does it matter to me if my father lost his mind and killed David? He hasn’t been my father in any way except biologically since the night he dragged my mother out of the ER after his
friend
savagely attacked me. When he left me there, he drew a line in the sand that can never again be crossed.”

“I was going to ask if you wanted me to see about getting him a lawyer.”

“No. He’s on his own. He’s made his choices, and now he can live with them. I don’t want anything to do with him or what he did.”

“Whatever you want, sweetheart. I’m following your lead. What about your mom?”

“What about her?”

“I wondered if you might want to see her now that you’re back in touch with your sisters.”

“I’ve thought about that, about her, and I have to admit that it hurt me all over again to hear she’d finally left my dad when she couldn’t bring herself to do that when I needed her most. Since I’m back in touch with the girls and I intend to be fully present in their lives, I suppose I’ll run into her at some point, but I can’t imagine ever having a close relationship with her.”

“I can totally see where you’re coming from. She had her chance to step up for you and she didn’t.”