Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Gideon
“Shit,” Penn said as he lifted his gaze from his phone. We’d just showered and were getting ready for bed after a fucking shit show of a day with Kevin and Yolanda.
“What?”
“I forgot to call Jennifer, Livy’s piano teacher, to tell her that Olivia was going to take a few weeks off.” He pressed a button and held his phone to his ear.
I watched from the bed. Having just shucked the towel away, he was gloriously naked, slightly damp, and his skin was perfectly tanned. He was mouthwatering.
“Hi, Jennifer, sorry to call so late. I forgot to inform you that Olivia will be away for a few weeks on vacation, so we can resume lessons in August, if that’s all right?
” He was silent while she spoke. “Yes, she will practice when she can on her vacation.” He looked at me with wide eyes because it was an epic lie. There was no piano on the yacht.
“Oh, she’s just cruising around.” Penn’s brows scrunched.
“All over, no specific destination. I’m sure she’ll yap your ear off all about it as soon as you see her.
” He nodded. “Okay. Good night, Jennifer, and again, sorry for the short notice.” He disconnected the call and placed the phone on the nightstand.
“Everything good?” I held the sheets back so he could slide in.
“Yeah, she was inquisitive.” He chuckled.
“How so?” I turned so I was lying on my side facing him, and he mirrored the pose.
“Just wanting to know where she was headed.” He shrugged. “Livy will give her a play-by-play, I’m sure.”
I smiled. “That she will. Jennifer’s gonna know as soon as Olivia returns that she didn’t practice for weeks.”
“Yup.” He beamed.
We sat there in silence, the only peace I’d had all day. Penn was that for me; he was my calm, but he also had the power to turn me inside out.
“I love you,” I whispered into the dim room, his green eyes the only beacon of my attention.
“So sappy,” he joked but a second later leaned in and took my lips in a searing kiss. When he broke away, his expression was heated and yet soft. “I love you too, though.”
I rolled on top of him and pinned his arms above his head. “Damn right, you do.”
His grin was sinful, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away as his tongue wet his lips. “Want me to show you how much?”
I chuckled and leaned closer. “Seems like I’m in control here.”
One hand gripping Penn’s wrists, I let my other glide over his smooth chest until I had his cock in my fist.
“Yes.” He arched up.
“You gonna come just by my hand, or do you want my mouth too?”
His green eyes met mine, shining with so much need. “Mouth.”
In a flash I was between his legs, his hard dick sliding in my throat. Lick, swallow, repeat. Penn was a mumbling mess. He pulled on my hair, either fighting or giving in—I had no idea which. All I knew was that I wanted his load, and I wasn’t coming up for air before I had it.
“Fuck, Gid…” His words were cut off with a moan, and he was filling my mouth. I was impossibly hard, jacking myself, his taste bringing my climax to the surface.
Once I’d sucked him dry, I rested my head on his thigh, the sound of our breathing echoing in the large bedroom.
“Damn.” Penn sighed.
Eventually I got up, cleaned us, and slid into bed, where I wrapped my arms around him and fell into a deep sleep.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Hendrix. You have to understand I did my best, but when my boss heard Mr. Calvern’s offer and the estate holder as well, they told me to close. What was I to do?”
It had taken a week and a half for Hank Ribb, the real estate agent who’d sold Benito the Marion Estate, to return my call.
“You’re telling me you didn’t have thirty seconds to message me asking if I wanted to counter?”
“Sir, I really didn’t. My boss knew the two of you were battling and said he didn’t want this to go on forever. Gretchen Marion wanted her parents’ house sold and well, I’m sorry.”
I gripped my unlit cigar so hard, it crumbled. “Your boss knows who I am, and he still sided with Benito over me?”
“I didn’t ask. But, sir, I can tell you he and Mr. Calvern have had quite a few lunches together and…
” Hank cleared his throat and lowered his voice.
“I noticed my boss drive in yesterday in a brand-new Mercedes. And Lisa, one of the receptionists, told me he and his wife are taking a two-week vacation to St. Barts, and he was staying in a friend’s house. ”
“I’m guessing this sudden overflow of wealth is a surprise?”
Hank snorted. “It’s not a booming business right now.
Just last month I heard him complaining about his son’s private school tuition, and now he has a two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar car and is planning a trip that I’d need to sell like ten houses to afford.
Yeah, I’m guessing his pockets have been filled. ”
Hank was actually a good man. Loyal. I was sure if he could have contacted me, he would have. But the delay in calling was bothering me.
“What took you so long to return my call, Hank?”
There was a pregnant pause. “Fear, sir.”
I almost laughed, but I didn’t want to break the moment. Some fear was good but in this case, it wasn’t warranted.
“Thank you for your honesty. Next time you message me with news and always return or answer when I call.”
“I will, sir.”
I disconnected the call and sent a text to Alex, Toni, and Danny to come into my office. Five minutes later they stood in front of my desk, and I explained what Hank had told me.
“What do you want to do?” Alex asked.
“I want you to get this boss of Hank’s to the crate.” I looked at Toni. “How’d you miss that the new commissioner was Monica’s cousin? Have you figured out how this got past you?”
“I still don’t know. I’ve dug and dug and nothing. It’s like he was erased from the family tree or something.”
I sighed. “How’s my family?” I regarded Danny.
“All good, sir, having a great time.”
I nodded. “You two help Alex get the boss to the crate. Contact me once you have him, and I’ll meet you there. I have a few questions for him.”
“Yes, Boss,” they said in unison and left.
Benito Calvern was driving me mad. He was steps ahead of me, and it felt like every time I thought I was making progress, he would pull off magic tricks.
I had to figure out how to stop him and do it fast. Elections would be here soon enough and if he won—which seemed very likely, it would make all of this a fuckton harder.