Chapter Twenty-One
A few hours later, Trinity was sprawled out on a lounge chair by the pool. As she listened to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, she tried to relax, but her busy brain wouldn’t stop working.
She’d had a lovely conversation with Rosa and Maria when she’d taken the dishes back into the kitchen. They had been warm and welcoming to her, and the two older women were swiftly becoming two of her favorite people. They were best friends who had fallen in love with the same man back in high school, and they’d been together ever since.
She felt a warmth and innate kindness coming from them that reminded her of Veronica Cross, the woman who had adopted her. Rosa had a sweet, motherly disposition, while Maria was sassy and had a snarky wit.
The older women had expressed how happy they were that she was moving in with Jackson, saying they had been praying for him to find a nice woman to settle down with. They had asked her preferences on things, but Trinity had told them she was pretty easygoing and didn’t need much. The women had fussed over her while they had coffee at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, then she had been shooed away so they could get back to work.
Since her men were nowhere to be found when she returned outside, she made a call to Tony Moretti back in Chicago to ask him to pack up her stuff and ship it to her. To say that her friend had been surprised when she had told him she was moving to Crescent Island was the understatement of the century.
At first, he had gone on alert, thinking that she was being held hostage or was being coerced into calling him. After she’d finished laughing, she told him about her relationship with Jackson and Maxwell, once again shocking him. In the end, he had agreed to pack up all her stuff and have it sent to her, but he had refused to get rid of her furniture, insisting on putting it in storage instead.
After she hung up with him, Maria surprised her by saying she had a visitor. course, Nikita had tracked down where Jackson lived to bring her the bag of weapons she’d brought to the island along with the case she had left in her car the night before.
Trinity had invited her to join her by the pool, but Nikita had declined. She had already followed up on the drug case with the local police and was planning to make a trip to the mainland to hunt down the dealer the kid had bought the pills from.
The unsuspecting dealer had no idea of the world of hurt heading his way.
Unsure where to store the weapons, she decided to temporarily leave the stash in Jackson’s bedroom closet. Nikita had brought her enough guns and ammo to start her own little war, so that was one less thing she had to worry about.
Realizing how quiet it was, Trinity went back downstairs to search for her men. Instead of finding them, Maria shoved a glass of ice-cold pink lemonade at her and told her Jackson and Maxwell had requested she enjoy herself by the pool or at the beach while they took care of a few things.
Willing to do what they asked, she decided to skip the sand to hang out by the pool instead. Maria and Rosa had told her that Hector was on a fishing trip for the day, so Trinity felt safe sunbathing nude.
She alternated tanning her front and back while thinking about everything that had happened since she’d been on the island. She knew that she was on her way to falling in love with both her men. Even though she had only known them for a short time, she felt connected to them in a way she’d never felt before.
She’d learned to trust her gut, and it told her that she’d made the right decision to give their relationship a chance. Not to sound fatalistic, but life was too damn short in her line of work, so she figured she better grab hold of the happiness she’d found with two hands while she could.
The other issue plaguing her mind was the fact that someone was trying to kill her. Even though the attempts pissed her off, it was still a good way to figure out who was causing the problems on the construction project. Most criminals were pretty fucking stupid, and their mistakes would help her catch them. She thought she had a pretty good idea who was behind it, but to resolve the matter she needed to identify everyone involved and to collect more evidence.
She peeked at her phone and saw that it was close to one o’clock. They were due at the meeting with the owners of the construction company at three, so she allowed herself fifteen more minutes before getting up and heading upstairs to take a shower.
She loved Jackson’s master bath and smiled when she saw her toiletries lined up on the counter of the double sink vanity. The bathroom was decorated with white cabinetry that had frosted glass panels and chrome accents. The floor was a light-gray marble, and the sinks were raised rectangles with waterfall faucets that made the bathroom ultra-modern looking.
In the far corner of the room was a large walk-in open shower made of various shades of gray slate and several showerheads. Next to the shower was a large sunken bathtub that was styled like a Roman bath. It would have been heaven to soak in, but she opted for a shower.
She lingered in the hot water, making use of the brand-new bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that had been provided, and took the time to shave her legs. Once she stepped out, she smoothed on her favorite lotion that had hints of raspberries and vanilla in it. She dried her hair and styled it so the dark locks fell down her back in soft waves. For the first time since she’d met her men, she took the time to put makeup on. She did her eye makeup with a bold, smoky look and painted her lips with a shimmering gloss.
She wanted to make a statement today.
In fact, she wanted to knock their fucking socks off.
Taking one of two dresses that she had brought with her, she put on a white midi dress that floated around her thighs like a dream. The dress had a tank-style top with a low V -cut front that showed off a generous display of cleavage. She added a thick black belt that had two small knives hidden in the large buckle in front and a garrote enclosed in the lining, then selected a black suit-style jacket that cinched at the waist to wear for the meeting. Finishing her look, she chose a pair of red high heels and did one final check in the mirror before walking back into the bedroom.
Maxwell’s heart stopped as soon as Trinity walked into the room. She looked like a goddess, her golden skin almost glowing against the stark white of her dress. Her face was even more sultry than her normal sexy self, and the thick mass of brown hair she usually pulled back tumbled down her back in gentle waves. It was styled, but in a way that reminded him of a woman who had just gotten out of bed after a vigorous bout of bed play.
Basically, she was walking sex in red heels.
Her slow, seductive smile had his heart kicking into high gear so it pounded in his chest, hard enough that it almost hurt. “You look like a dream…”
“A good one I hope,” she said in a low, smoky whisper.
“The best. A fucking fantasy,” he amended. He was drawn toward her as if unconsciously answering her silent siren’s call luring him to his doom. “You’re gorgeous. I want you so much I hurt. I want to rip that dress off you and bury myself so deep that you will never feel normal again without me inside you.”
“We’ll be late for the meeting if you do that.”
“Fuck the bloody meeting.”
“Nope. You promised me a date night.” She laughed, stopping him with a hand to his chest over the shirt he had borrowed from Jackson, and wrinkled her nose. “If you get any closer, you’ll get me dirty…and not in a fun way. What in the hell have you been doing?”
He glanced down at himself and sighed.
“I think I’ll let Jackson tell you. I’m going to jump in the shower.” He leaned in to press a careful kiss to her lips, delighted when she sighed in pleasure. “I’ll take you on that date, love. Then, I hope you’ll let me do all kinds of naughty things to that gorgeous body of yours.”
She ran a finger down the column of his throat. “Only if I get to reciprocate.”
He groaned. “This is going to be a very cold shower.”
“Or you could just beat off in the shower. I want you ready to last later,” she added with a saucy wink.
He groaned again as she brushed her hand over his burgeoning erection barely restrained by his jeans. “Christ, it’s not going to take me long to come. Going to shower. Jackson is down the hall.”
Trinity grinned as he hurried into the bathroom. She had gotten the reaction she wanted from one of her men. Now for the other. She strolled out of the bedroom carrying her jacket and peeked into the rooms down the hallway only to find them empty. Her steps slowed as she approached the left wing of the house and the room where she never wanted to go into again.
The smell of paint hit her as she approached the closed door. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and found Jackson working in the empty room with all the windows wide open. She stared in shock at the white walls that had been a deep crimson only yesterday. The big bed that had once dominated the room was now gone. She took a step into the doorway, still not wanting to enter the room.
Jackson froze in his crouched position. He felt her more than heard her and slowly turned his head to look at her. All the blood in his body drained down to his cock, filling him to bursting. She was fucking glorious. Framed in the doorway was a vision of every fantasy, every wish, every dream that he had ever had of the perfect woman.
And she was his.
He surged to his feet, his only thought to claim her.
“Stop,” she ordered.
He stilled, his body practically vibrating with the need to touch her.
“Jackson, you’re covered with paint.”
He glanced down at himself and winced. Shit, she was right. Like a mortal standing in front of a goddess, he wasn’t worthy of touching her. Her eyes searched his face, and he could see the bright shimmer of tears in them.
“What did you do, Jackson?”
“I told you I’d take this room apart. This is your home now, Kat. I won’t have you uncomfortable here. I already threw out all my toys. If we ever want to use anything in our play, we can buy new ones together.”
Trinity felt it then. It wasn’t a slow slide into love. It was like a punch in the gut. She loved this man. Hell, she loved them both. How that was possible when she’d only known them for such a short amount of time, she didn’t know.
The simple truth was that she did.
“I fucking love you,” she whispered, then wanted to wince at how crass she had made her declaration sound. It didn’t seem to matter since the look on Jackson’s face was worth it. His green eyes burned with such intense emotion they looked like they were glowing. He stalked up to the doorway, grabbing onto the doorframe to anchor himself, his hold so tight his hands were white with the strain.
“Say it again,” he demanded.
“I love you,” she said breathlessly. “So much. And I know that sounds crazy, but—”
His mouth cut off her words as he leaned in and attacked. She swayed into him but kept enough control not to brush up against his paint-streaked body. When their kiss finally ended, they were both breathing hard, hearts racing. She looked away and pushed her hair behind one ear in a nervous gesture.
“Well, you should probably get ready for the meeting. I’m going to go downstairs and wait for you guys.”
Jackson watched as she turned and walked away. She’d only made it a few steps before he called out to her.
“Katrina?” He waited until their eyes met, the connection still smoldering between them. “I love you, too, baby.”
And he realized that he had never spoken truer words.