Leilani feels her stomach turn over. “No! You can’t touch him!” she blurts out.
“He kidnapped you, imprisoned you, and threatened your life,” Waylen hisses in outrage. “What do you mean I can’t touch him? The man deserves every second of suffering he’ll get and then some.”
“He has heart disease,” Leilani says. “If your punishment is too severe, you might kill him, Waylen. I can’t let you commit murder.”
Waylen’s eyes narrow with suspicion, “Are you trying to protect him?”
“No, I just don’t want you to hurt anyone,” Leilani says. She thinks of Charles’ heart in Andrew’s chest and fights the tears rising in her eyes.
“He’s a bad man, Leilani,” Waylen says. “Even if you forgive him for everything he did to you, just think about what he did to Gabrielle. Why are you protecting a man like that?”
“Believe it or not, I’m not protecting him,” Leilani says.
Waylen sighs heavily. “Let him be for now,” he says with a pained expression.
Leilani tries to hide her relief, she can feel Waylen’s eyes on her face, and she doesn’t want to provoke him. His phone rings, and for a split second, his expression changes when he sees the caller ID. He answers the call without a word and crosses the room to stand by the window and whisper into the phone. His shoulders seem slightly tense, and she wonders if she’s paranoid or if he’s acting secretive on purpose.
“Speaking of my sister, have you heard any news about her?” she asks Robert.
“Miss Gabrielle is actually at the Bamford’s mansion,” Robert says. “Dr. Walter checked her, and he says she’s in perfect health. I’m actually surprised that you haven’t heard from her yet—I already gave her phone back to her.”
Leilani hurriedly looks around the room for her phone and finds it lying on the nightstand next to a vase of tulips. Gabrielle answers on the first ring, but her voice sounds hushed and distant. Leilani has to press the phone close to her ear to hear.
“Sister,” Gabrielle whispers.
“Gabrielle?”Leilani asks, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, of course, I’m just looking for something right now,” Gabrielle said slightly louder, “Everything is fine with me. But what about you? Did you escape from Andrew? Did that bastard hurt you because I swear to God Leilani, I’ll—”
“I’m fine,” Leilani quickly assures her. “But Gabrielle, you sound so strange. Are you sure everything is okay? Where are you? Are you at the Bamfords’ house?”
There’s a long silence on the line before Gabrielle answers. “Not exactly,” she whispers guiltily.
“A rented apartment, then?” Leilani asks, feeling anger and worry fight for control.
“How do you know?” Gabrielle asks.
“Who’s the man?” Leilani asks, “Gabrielle, how could you do something like this?” There’s a long silence and then a click. Leilani asks, “Gabrielle? Gabrielle?” When she pulls the phone away from her ear, she sees that Gabrielle has ended the call.
Gabrielle squats by the nightstand and rummages through the drawers as she talks to Leilani. A long, dark shadow falls over her, and she drops the phone with shock. Then she leaps to her feet and turns to face the tall man.
He’s just gotten out of the shower, and his flaxen hair drips water. The droplets fall down his handsome face, and trail down his tanned and muscled chest. Then they continue to slide downward. He’s completely n.a.k.e.d and hasn’t even wrapped a towel around his waist. Gabrielle tries not to look down.
“I—I—I didn’t,” Gabrielle stammers.
“Shut up,” the man says. His voice is rich and deep and distinctly male. The very air seems to vibrate when he speaks.
“Why are you n.a.k.e.d?” Gabrielle asks, fighting the urge to look below his waist.
“Do I need to remind you that you’re the one in my bedroom?” the man asks with an inviting smile. “Besides, I think you’re already familiar with my n.a.k.e.d body.”
He crosses the room, slowly advancing on her like a predator on prey. She backs into the wall and freezes as he brings his hand to caress her face.
“I haven’t seen you n.a.k.e.d before,” she whispers.
His hand drops to her lips, and he slowly runs his fingers between them. “Your eyes say otherwise,” he says. “They say you want to swallow me.” Abruptly he drops his hand and steps away from her. “Why are you in my room, anyway?”
“Umm, I was looking for a pen,” Gabrielle says, realizing how lame the excuse sounds as soon as it’s out of her mouth.
She hopes it’s not obvious that she was looking for some way to find out more about his identity. Though he claims he can’t remember who he is, she suspects he’s lying. She hopes that he’s grown careless now that the police have given up trying to identify him, but she’s determined to return him to his family. She can’t endure him a second longer.
“There aren’t any pens in my room,” he says, “But I have a pen on my body, do you need it?”
“Your body?” Gabrielle asks with confusion, “I don’t understand.”
The man smirks and approaches her again. She can feel his breath on her neck and the heat of his n.a.k.e.d body against hers. Although she can’t see his expression, she can guess his intentions and panic flooded her veins.
“What did you need again?” the man asks.
“A pen,” Gabrielle whispers.
“Well, I can let you borrow mine,” he says, stepping away and glancing down at his half-erect d.i.c.k.
Gabrielle covers her eyes with her hands. “You’re an asshole!” She shouts, “Get away from me! You’re disgusting!”
Jackson Oliver smiles to himself. What a cute, innocent girl! He thinks. It’s so easy to tease her. He grabs the clean bathrobe off his bed and glances at the bedside table. He doubts she was actually looking for a pen, but he’s not particularly worried. Sometimes he intentionally leaves his address book filled with account information and passwords lying around. Other times he leaves the safe wide open.
He ties the robe loosely around his waist and finds Gabrielle sitting on the leather sofa in the living room. Her legs are crossed at the knee, and she sits on top of her hands. The position is charmingly girlish.
He looks around the apartment and smiles with satisfaction. He’s joined the two apartments and redone them in a French Country style. Gray and black wallpaper adorn the walls, and dazzling crystal chandeliers sparkle in every room. Each piece of furniture has been carefully selected by one of the top interior designers, and many pieces were imported straight from France.
He sinks onto the sofa next to her and sees her swallow nervously. He looks sideways as she slides further away from him. He follows her, sliding down the sofa, so they’re only a few inches apart. Suddenly, she jumps up and holds out her palm.
“Give me my credit card,” she says with surprising boldness.
“What card?” Jackson asks, running his fingers through his damp hair.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.