Chapter 43
FORTY-THREE
COLSON
When we had boarded my private jet in LA, Sophie knew our destination was Fort Lauderdale.
I couldn’t keep that a secret, considering the trip required packing and I didn’t know what clothes and cosmetics she kept at her condo—if any.
But what Sophie didn’t know was what I had planned for when we arrived.
With Hayden’s help, I had rented a yacht, and it had everything Abbi would ever want to play with on the water.
A trampoline that jumped on top of the ocean.
Jet Skis. A slide. There was tubing and rafting.
Throughout the day and evening, a chef would serve all the princess food she could ever eat.
The interior of the boat was decorated in pink and glitter, balloons, and sparklers.
And once the sky turned dark, there would be fireworks set off from the beach across from us.
Most importantly, everyone on board was someone who cared deeply for Sophie’s little girl.
Abbi had layers of family, and they were all here.
On Sophie’s side were Hayden, Troy, Jones, Callum, Talon, and Leo.
There was Dottie, of course—the woman who had orchestrated Abbi’s adoption, changing both Sophie’s and Abbi’s lives forever.
And then there was my family, who had landed this morning, coming straight to the marina from the airport.
Hart had brought Sadie, Beck was with Jolie, and Alivia had joined Walker.
Eden, the only solo one of my group, hadn’t engaged much with any of the single men on the yacht, although each of them had tried.
My sister would only give them less than a minute’s worth of conversation before she walked away and clung on to one of my brother’s girlfriends.
Not that I was surprised.
I just wished things were different.
As I was sipping a vodka on the rocks, observing the party from the back wall of the starboard side of the boat, Sophie joined me.
At first, she just pressed the front of her body against mine and smiled.
Happiness was exploding across her face, and I fucking loved to see it.
I ran my hand along her side, appreciating the thin flimsiness of her bathing suit cover-up, skimming the edges of her bikini.
The moment we were off this boat and the kids were asleep, I was tearing both off her.
The longer she held that position, I knew there were some deep thoughts in her head.
“What are you thinking about?”
“This. You. Them.” Her arm slipped around my back. “I can’t believe they all came, Colson.”
My lips pressed to the center of her forehead, and I breathed her in. “You mean the Westons?”
“Yes. It’s such a long trip for them. And it’s an extreme effort to make for my little girl—”
“My family will always be there for you.” I held her chin. “Because you’re part of us now.”
When I had told my siblings about the plan I had come up with for Abbi’s birthday, they were immediately in.
Although they’d only met Abbi once—at a barbecue I’d held at my place a few weeks back—they loved who I loved, and they supported who was important to me.
Sophie was going to be my wife; they knew that, and they were here for her as much as they were here for Abbi.
“I know, on the West Coast, all you’ve ever had is Troy, and he’s a hell of a dude, but you have my family now too.” I brushed my thumb across her bottom lip.
She set her drink down and hugged both arms around me, locking her hands behind my back. “But they showed up. I’ll never get over that.”
“They’ll continue to do that, Sophie. Forever.” A word I would emphasize until it became ingrained in her head.
I never wanted her to think any of us would leave her.
The heavy emotion in her eyes wasn’t the reason I kissed her. I did that because I couldn’t wait another second to have her taste in my mouth.
“I love you,” I whispered when I pulled back.
“You have no idea how much I love you.”
I placed my drink next to hers and cupped the back of her neck. “Do you think Abbi’s having the best time?”
She laughed. “I don’t think it’s possible for Abbi to have a better time. Ellie too. She’s been bonding with all my boys today, and I love that.” Her lips pursed, creating an adorable expression. “Our worlds are colliding in the best way.”
Ellie was already quite fond of Hayden. Since he’d watched both girls during the boat trip Sophie and I took, my daughter hadn’t stopped talking about that weekend.
“I think after today, Ellie’s going to want to become some type of racer.”
“Why do you say that?”
I turned her toward the stern of the boat, where, in the distance, Ellie was on a Jet Ski in front of Jones and Abbi was on one with Hayden.
They were circling the water, catching the waves, the competition clear in their movements.
But what was more evident than anything was the smile on Ellie’s face.
My girl was having the time of her life.
“Yep. You’re right.” She sighed. “I’m afraid we might have two racers on our hands.
” She clasped our fingers. “And out of all people, the girls are currently with the most competitive guys on the planet.” She went quiet for a second.
“My brothers can’t even lose when they have four-year-olds with them. ”
I chuckled. “But the little ladies wouldn’t want it any other way.” I paused. “Look at them.”
“Lauderdale is good for the soul, Colson.”
“So is family.”
She turned to me again and tilted her chin to look at me. “You’ve given me so much of that.”
I kissed her, taking my time since there were no little ones around. “Mmm,” I moaned when it ended. “Do me a favor. Before I throw you over my shoulder and take you downstairs into one of the staterooms”—I smiled—“go find Eden and make sure she has a full glass of whatever she’s drinking.”
“Why? Do you think she’s having a rough day?”
This wasn’t my story to tell, so I replied, “I think my sister could always use an extra cocktail when she’s outside of her comfort zone.”
“On it.”
She rose up on her tiptoes and pecked my lips, and as she disappeared to find my sister, I scanned the interior and exterior of the boat until I found who I was looking for.
I then carried my drink through the sliding glass door and walked out to the stern, joining Troy on the couch where he was sitting.
With his phone to his ear, he said, “Keep me posted, Jenner.” He went silent. “I don’t care what time it is, call or text me the second you hear. I’ll have my phone nearby.” He slid his cell into the pocket of his swim trunks.
“Is that about our case?”
He crossed his legs, his foot tapping the air. “Just some loose ends that need to be tied up. Don’t worry, all is good.”
“Something tells me you feel guilty that you’re here and Jenner is dealing with all the bullshit back at home.”
He laughed, dragging his hand over the top of his brown locks. “That motherfucker will get me back. He’s taking Jo on vacation soon, and he’ll be off the grid for two weeks.”
Jo was Jenner’s wife, who happened to be the chief marketing officer of the Cole and Spade Hotels.
I didn’t need to ask if there was news or anything he hadn’t told me. Our attorneys would be the first to tell us if there was. In the meantime, Dutton was busy dropping Easter eggs and digging up some that were already buried, so when the time came, he could put the plans in motion.
“Does that mean Sophie steps in while he’s away?”
Troy shook his head. “Jenner won’t get her involved in anything that has to do with the Gordons, nor would Sophie step into Gordon territory.”
“I figured.”
“She’s in the thick of a case right now, and”—he whistled—“she’s obliterating the opponents. I wish I could tell you about the eruption she caused last week. You’d be blown the fuck away if you heard the details. Let’s just say, the Daltons are more than impressed.”
“I know you had something to do with her hire.” I pounded his arm with my fist. “And the fact that you have her back—that you’ve had it since she was a kid—I appreciate that so much, Troy.”
“The Shark has one hell of a reputation in California. The Daltons wanted her long before I said anything. Shit, I’m sure every firm would have wanted her if they had known she was willing to leave.”
As his voice trailed off, Eden and Sophie walked out through the sliding door. Sophie gave me a smile before the two of them climbed onto the trampoline. They didn’t jump. They just lay across the flat surface beside each other as though they were trying to get some sun.
“That woman …” I exhaled. “She’s fucking fire.”
“She sure is.”
Troy’s sunglasses hid his stare, but the reflection showed who he was intensely focused on, which was a perfectly framed profile of my sister.
He wasn’t gazing at the woman I was in love with.
He was concentrating on the woman he was obsessed with.
And the way he scratched his bare chest told me he was fighting the urge to reach for her.
I hid my grin when I said, “I heard something about you that I didn’t know.”
He looked at me. “Yeah?”
“You went to school at Dartmouth.”
When Hayden had mentioned that, it hadn’t really sunk in. Although it should have. But as time passed, the realization had burrowed deeper into my brain.
“I did.”
I rubbed my palms over my knees. “Do you know who else went there?”
His lips didn’t lift. They actually didn’t move at all. Through the thickness of his beard, I couldn’t tell if any lines appeared in his cheeks, but there were certainly some in his forehead. That expression only lasted a few seconds before his tongue tapped the center of his top lip.
Troy knew exactly who I was referencing.
His attention left me when Jones and Callum joined the ladies on the trampoline.
Instead of the men lying down, like the women still were, they started jumping around them.
The movement caused Sophie and Eden to bounce in their horizontal position.
I couldn’t make out what they were shouting; all I could hear was the laughter coming from the four of them.
I expected Troy to have a smile on his face, chuckling over the way his family was playing around with my sister and Sophie.
But that wasn’t what I saw, nor was it a sound that came out of him.
There was a tightness in Troy’s jaw. A rigidness in his body.
A fixation that was unbreakable as he continued to stare in their direction.
The skin on his hand as it gripped the edge of the couch—squeezing, releasing, clutching again—was extremely tight.
His knuckles were painfully white, as if he was forcibly stopping himself from getting up to shield her from every jostle.
There was no question what I was looking at.
Troy wasn’t seething in jealousy. He was guarding, protecting what he wanted to be his.
“My man”—I clasped his shoulder—“I think there’s something you want to say.”
I assumed that would be enough to make him glance at me. I was surprised when it wasn’t.
“I think there’s something you want to hear me say.” The muscles in his cheek flexed.
“Same thing.”
He finally looked at me, lifting his glasses to the top of his head, and in his stare, I saw something I hadn’t anticipated. Something that slithered deeper than anything either of us had said to each other so far. Something that hit me as hard as his reply.
“Nah, man. Those two aren’t the same thing at all.”
I let out a breath, and when that wasn’t enough, I released another. “I’m going to grab myself a drink. Should I get you one as well?”
“Make mine a double.”