Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
“Sorry Mom went on and on like that,” Katrina said as they walked into her room at the resort two and a half hours later. “There were a few times there I was hoping the floor would open up and swallow me whole.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Darwin said with a chuckle as he grabbed two bottles of water from the mini fridge and joined her on the couch.
In the interest of keeping with their cover story, after leaving her dad’s study, they’d gone upstairs to see her old bedroom, which turned out to be a good idea since her mom decided to join them.
“I personally enjoyed the cute pictures of you at your ballet recitals when you were a kid,” he added. “You looked adorable in all those tutus.”
Katrina felt her face heat with embarrassment. She’d been hoping Darwin would forget he’d ever seen those photos. “Don’t remind me!”
Darwin laughed again. “I think all moms enjoy using photos like that to embarrass their kids. My mom does the same thing with pictures of me in all the embarrassing Halloween costumes I wore when I was a kid. She pulls them out every time I bring a girlfriend home to meet them.”
Katrina couldn’t help laughing, hoping that was something she could look forward to.
“Even though Mom might have gone a little overboard, at least she’s trying to repair the relationship between us. Dad, on the other hand, is still being a complete jerk. If I’d known he was going to be that bad, I would have never agreed to dinner with them.”
“It’s not your fault,” Darwin said. “Your father just isn’t there yet. Maybe someday.”
She sighed. Maybe. But she wasn’t holding her breath.
“Speaking of my father, are we going to talk about what we found in the safe? What is this Genesis thing, and what does my dad have to do with it?”
“Before we get into all of that, let me send these photos to Kyla.” He pulled out his phone, glancing at her as he typed. “I’m hoping she’ll be able to use them to confirm what I think is going on.”
She waited as patiently as she could for him to finish and put his phone away. “Okay, so what’s the story with this Genesis project?”
Darwin leaned back on the couch with a sigh. “I can’t tell you everything because your father and brother have somehow gotten tangled up in a classified Navy weapon program called Genesis. It also happens to be the same project I’ve been going out to San Nicolas Island to evaluate.”
Katrina stared at Darwin, speechless. Of all the things she thought her father might be involved with, this wasn’t one of them.
“You’re going to have to explain because I’m not connecting the dots here at all.”
“I’ll try.” Darwin took a sip of water. “But before I do, I should probably confess something else. A few days ago, when I asked Kyla to do background checks on Arthur, Silas, Harold, and Upton, I also asked her to look into your father and Rhett, too. I know I should have talked to you before I did that, but I was hoping she wouldn’t find anything, and I could forget it had even been a thing. ”
Katrina should probably be upset he’d done something like that without telling her, but after everything they’d uncovered tonight, she couldn’t be.
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” she said softly, setting her water bottle on the coffee table.
“I’ve been holding out hope my father and brother aren’t involved in any of this, but the things we’ve heard and seen lately suggest otherwise.
Maybe you should just tell me what you think they’ve done and we’ll go from there. ”
Darwin nodded, looking relieved. “I should probably start by mentioning I thought I recognized Silas and Harold when I saw them at the meet-and-greet reception, even though I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen them.
It turns out I’d caught sight of them the first night I was on San Nicholas Island, in the building where the Genesis weapon is being held.
Between that and finding their names in your father’s ledger, I think it’s safe to say they’re part of all this, along with Arthur, your father, and probably Rhett, too. Possibly even Upton.”
“But what is all this?” she asked. “Knowing who’s involved doesn’t tell me anything.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, like he was trying to figure out how much to tell her.
“There’s still some guesswork involved here, but I think your father and his investment consortium are the people who funded the Genesis weapon program, which is probably heading toward a very lucrative Navy contract.
From what we overheard on the vineyard tour, it seems that some of them—Silas included—started pushing the idea of selling the weapon to someone else.
Someone who’d give them more money than the Navy is likely to pay. ”
“Who would pay more than the Navy for a major weapon system?” Katrina asked.
This wasn’t her area of expertise, but she was still having a hard time imagining something like that.
“When I was at the shooting range the other day, I heard Silas tell Upton the people they were dealing with weren’t the kind who worried about the police, so we’re talking about criminals of some sort,” Darwin said.
“Probably arms dealers of the most violent variety, considering the fact that they’re almost certainly the ones who murdered Arthur. ”
Katrina felt her stomach clench. “This is bad, isn’t it? There’s the Navy on one side and arms dealers on the other, with my father and brother stuck in the middle. I’m also assuming the Navy frowns on people attempting to sell weapons to arms dealers?”
Darwin snorted. “Understatement. Prison time is almost a given. And if these arms dealers are international—which is highly likely—everyone involved could be looking at treason charges.”
Katrina tried to take a breath and couldn’t. Crap, she was on the verge of hyperventilating. Getting to her feet, she walked across the room to stare out the window at the moonlit vineyard beyond. As annoyed as she could be with her father and brother, she didn’t want them to end up in jail.
“What am I going to do?” she asked softly, still staring out the window. “How do I get my father and brother out of this?”
She felt Darwin come over to stand behind her and wrap his arms around her waist. “I’m not sure. First, let’s see what Kyla comes up what with concerning those journal entries. I promise I won’t let you go through this alone. We’ll figure it out. Together.”
Katrina felt her heart melt. She was never going to find someone as awesome as Darwin as long as she lived. After all the crap her father had given them tonight, Darwin was still willing to help him.
She turned in his arms to gaze up at him. “How did I get lucky enough to find you?”
His mouth edged up. “I’m the lucky one.”
She snorted. “I don’t know about that. Have you met my family?”
“I’m not dating your family. I’m dating you.” Darwin reached out to gently brush her hair back from her face. “When we first met, I knew you were someone I could see myself falling for. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you.”
Katrina caught her breath, her heart doing a little happy dance. “Me, too.”
Sliding his hand in her hair, Darwin tipped her head back a little more and covered her mouth with his. The other night, she’d been willing to take things slowly, but not anymore. Tonight, she wanted him. And from the urgency of his kiss, he was as ready to take things to the next level as she was.
She pulled away, breathing ragged, to gaze up at him, trembling a little at the hunger in his eyes.
“Your bed or mine?”
* * * * *
They ended up in her bed since it was closer.
Still kissing her, Darwin untied the belt on her wrap dress and slid it off.
Her bra quickly followed, giving him an all-access pass to her breasts.
He gently cupped them, his thumbs teasing her nipples, making her moan against his mouth.
Then he was nudging her backward until her legs hit the mattress.
She tumbled back onto the plush down-filled comforter, naked except for her panties.
Katrina expected him to immediately join her, but instead, he went for her strappy sandals, slowly sliding each shoe off and dropping it to the floor.
Then Darwin’s big warm hands were gliding along the outside of her bare legs until they reached her panties.
She barely had time to lift her hips before he hooked his fingers in the lace and slowly slid them off, drawing out the anticipation as he held her gaze.
The heat she saw there made her go warm all over, and she caught her lip between her teeth to stifle a moan.
Tossing her panties aside, he pressed a kiss to the inside of her ankle, slowly working his way higher.
“Mmm, that feels good,” she breathed, her head falling back in pleasure.
“I’m glad you like it,” he murmured, his lips brushing her inner thigh. “If there’s any particular place you want my mouth, feel free to let me know.”
“Higher would be nice. Definitely higher.”
At her request, Darwin worked his way upward, tingles appearing wherever his mouth touched her skin. It was all she could do not to squirm.
“That feel good?” he asked softly, his warm hands sliding down the outside of her legs to her hips.
She sighed. “Very good.”
Katrina waited to feel that wonderful mouth of his where she wanted it most, but he didn’t seem to be in a rush to get anywhere in particular. Instead, he continued to press heated kisses to each thigh. He was well on his way to driving her to distraction. And making her excited as heck.
“It’s not nice to tease,” she admonished as his mouth once again skirted close to the heated junction between her thighs.
“Really?” He chuckled. “Because it seems like you’re enjoying this. But if you want, I guess I could always stop.”
“No!” she said quickly as she felt him lift his head. “You don’t have to stop. Just stop teasing.”
“Well, I did say that if there was a particular place you want my mouth, all you had to do is let me know. Is there any place you want me?”