Chapter 50
FIFTY
Zephyrine
“I’m announcing today that I’ll be stepping down from my office as Governor of Colorado, and my Lieutenant Governor, Robert Davis, will be taking over, effective immediately.
It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Colorado, and I’m grateful that I was able to accomplish so much in my term here.
I know Robert will continue my legacy into the future, and I look forward to the next chapter.
” My father announces his resignation on live TV, and it feels like a movie in slow motion.
I never thought this day would come, not in a million years.
Even when we talked to Bea’s father, the senator from Washington.
Even when we met with the senators from Colorado and members of the statehouse.
I didn’t believe it. When the journalist came under the darkness of night to take copies of all the evidence we had of embezzlement and fraud, it felt like one of my daydreams. A thing I imagined to help make reality more tolerable.
I hadn’t even dared to hope it would have any real effect.
But then we got word through back channels that the FBI and the CBI were opening investigations into my father.
They were already working on the case and had frozen his assets.
They started pursuing leads from the paperwork we gave them.
It wasn’t a conviction of anything—far from it—but it was a start.
Enough of one that it cast the kind of dark cloud of relentless questioning over his office that he felt compelled to step down.
I’ve never known a bureaucracy that could move with this kind of efficiency against corruption.
Then again, no one has made as many enemies over the years as my father has.
Once we started making noise, they came pouring out of the woodwork to offer their assistance on the case.
People who were willing to turn state’s evidence.
Others were willing to give us access to recordings that could help solidify the case.
Apparently, everyone was just waiting for someone to be brave enough to do the right thing.
“You all right?” Levi asks, reaching over and threading his fingers through mine.
“I’m just in shock. This is real?” I look at him for confirmation that I’m not just imagining it.
“It’s real. Unbelievable but real.” He holds my hand and brushes his other palm over the back of it.
Tears are falling down my cheeks before I realize what’s happening, and my body starts to shake with how hard I’m crying. I feel like I’m floating, watching this all happen like an out of body experience. Seeing some semblance of the justice I always wanted but never thought I’d get.
“Hey. Hey. Come here.” Levi speaks to me softly, and I curl up against him. He wraps his arm around me and kisses my forehead. “I know it’s a lot to process. I feel the same, honestly.”
“It’s not prison. I hope someday it’s prison time, but at least this means he has fewer resources at his disposal. Fewer means to retaliate against us, right?”
“Right.” Levi nods. “He’s still wounded though. His ego as much as anything. We’ll still have to be careful. He might be angrier than ever, but if the firestorm of press continues like it has the last few days, he’ll have trouble leaving his house without an entourage of paparazzi.”
That’s our main protection now. The press has been slowly leaking all the details of his wrongdoings.
The politicians we met with to help get the word out have been steadily taking action against him, moving pieces across the board to try to corner him until he has nowhere to run.
I thought he’d hunker down in the governor’s office, maybe even start trying to find a way to punish us, but someone must have finally convinced him to throw in the towel and walk away.
“Well, hopefully they continue to hound him. Could he flee the country?” I don’t think he could, but then I don’t know for sure.
“No. A judge mandated that he stay in Colorado unless he gets permission, and he’s required to check in regularly.
I’m guessing that helped the case for him stepping down.
It’s hard for him to do his job if he can’t travel and is being watched everywhere he goes.
Thankfully for us, that’s going to keep him from his after-hours job as well. ” Levi lets out a sigh of relief.
“Thankfully. Not that it’ll stop him from trying to get someone else to do it for him.
He has other men like Corey. My brothers too.
But they’ll be too nervous to want to deal with the firestorm, and without his assets they’ll have a lot less money too.
But yes, you’re right. We’ll still have to be careful.
” I agree with Levi’s assessment, and then I remember I won’t have to worry about my father because I’ll be out of the country after tomorrow.
We’ve been so glued to all the news reporting and all the leaks that were coming out around my father’s scandal that we’ve barely had time to think, let alone talk about the fact that we’re heading back to the convent tomorrow. We’re returning the relics, but I’m also planning to go back with them.
I don’t know how long I’ll stay, but after talking to the abbess over the phone to let her know our plan for the relics, it was obvious I have amends to make.
Corey’s men ransacked the place after I was kidnapped.
Two nuns were hurt. Thousands of dollars in damage done.
Tourists were frightened enough to leave, and the loss of revenue hasn’t helped pay those bills.
Likewise, someone needs to make sure the relics are returned to where they belong, and it was my family that made a mess of everything.
It’s the least I can do to try to atone for their sins.
I look over, and Levi must be having the same thoughts because sadness washes over his face despite the small smile he’s forcing. I feel it echo in my own heart.
“Are you packed for tomorrow?” he asks. It’s his way of asking if I’m ready to leave. I’m not. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready to leave him.
“I love you.” I blurt the words out, and his eyes widen for a moment before a real smile, one that’s pained and full of conflicting emotions, but still very real, forms on his lips.
“I love you too.” He says the words back easily, like he’s said them a million times before now.
“I know I said we shouldn’t say it the night before anything big, but lately all the days and nights are big, and I don’t want to keep waiting to tell you how I feel. I need you to know that no matter where I am, or how far apart we are, I love you.”
“You’re taking my big speech away from me. I was saving it for tomorrow.” He chuckles and smooths my hair out of my face before he leans over to kiss me softly.
“Well, fuck tomorrow.” I grin when he pulls away to look at me.
“In that case, I love you, Zephyrine. I think you know by now that I’d do anything for you, but if I need to say it, then know I’ve said it.
If you ever need me, all you have to do is say the words.
I’m always here. No matter what happens.
No matter how much time passes. I will always be here for you.
Okay?” His blue-green eyes are glassy as they search mine.
“Me too,” I agree, because I can’t say more. Not with the way it feels like my heart is going to shatter.
“I know you need to do this. For yourself. Because of the past. To make it up to the nuns who helped you when you didn’t have me yet. I don’t blame you one bit for this. It still hurts to let you go though.”
“I hate leaving you. I don’t know how I’ll manage without being able to talk to you every day. Being able to see you laugh and making dinner together. And Teddy.” I sigh. “I’ll miss Teddy, and he doesn’t even understand I’m leaving.”
“He’ll miss you. But maybe someday you can take some vacation time and come visit him. Visit all of us.”
“You’ll come see me at the convent sometime?”
“If the abbess ever forgives me and doesn’t have me killed on sight, absolutely. Otherwise, you’ll just have to sneak off the island and meet me in town.” He grins.
“I’m sure she’ll forgive you. We’ll apologize for everything. Once she sees we’ve brought the relics back, she’ll have to forgive us on some level. I hope. I’m sure it’ll take a while for her to let it go.” I groan. “I can’t wait to find out how many toilets I’m going to have to clean.”
“There’s still time to run away with me.”
“Don’t tempt me. It’s a much better offer. But a wise man once told me we can’t give in to every single temptation that comes our way.”
“He sounds wise. You should listen to him more often.” Levi winks at me, and I descend into giggles, my tears and my sadness forgotten as I kiss him a dozen times, and he wraps his arms around me.
“Speaking of temptation, I have something for you.” Levi lets me slide into the spot next to him as he releases me and walks over to the cabinet next to the mantle, pulling out a gift box.
“What’s this?” I ask as he places it in my hands.
“Open it and see.” He nods, dropping back to the couch next to me.
I carefully undo the gold ribbon, and the dark navy-blue wrapping paper follows to reveal a thick rectangular box. My brow arches upward in curiosity, and he grins as I open the lid.
“It’s a phone.” I pull it out.
“Your phone. Or a copy of it, anyway. The real one’s still at the bottom of the lake keeping mine company. But I backed all of our data up every night before then,” he explains.
“All my photos and messages?” My eyes go wide at the prospect of having all of my memories back.
“All of them. Your videos and recordings too,” he muses. “Restored just the way you had everything. Well, I might have added a few things.”
“Like?”
“The recording of me you liked so much. Another I made for you. I know you’re trying to be good. To make up for everything with the abbess. But just in case you get too lonely at night. There's something for you to listen to.” A grin teases at his lips, and I can feel my cheeks heat.
“Can I listen to it now? I don’t think I can wait for the convent to hear the new one.” I give him my best pout, and he shakes his head.
“I suppose, if it means I get to watch your reaction.” His eyes rake over me.
“Deal!” I pop up and hold my hand out for him. He barely uses it for leverage now that he’s almost fully healed, but I want him to have the help if he needs it. “My headphones are in the bedroom. Now I see why you got me the new ones.” I look back at him with a conspiratorial grin.
“I might have been thinking ahead a little,” he admits.
We move to the bedroom, and I climb into his lap, my dress spread out around us as I turn the phone on and put my headphones over my ears.
He settles under me, his hands on my hips as he studies me.
I thumb my way down to the playlist and find one called “Z’s Late-Night Playlist” and hold it up to show him.
He nods, and I click to open it. There’s a series of tracks he's put together. Some songs I recognize, some I don’t.
Then tracks that are labeled with our names or his. I click one and it starts to play.
The sounds of my moaning in the background start, and soon I hear him in the foreground. A low rumble of a groan. The sound of a zip and the rustle of fabric. I can hear the creak of a chair like he’s leaning back.
“Fuck, you sound so sweet like this. I bet that pretty little pussy could use a tongue like mine. I’d make you moan for hours.”
My eyes meet his, and the blush that was just beginning to bloom earlier floods my cheeks. But it’s not embarrassment anymore. Now it’s just pure anticipation. I nibble my lower lip as I wait to hear what happens next.
He groans through the speakers, and I hear the sound of his hand on his dick, slowly at first, just barely brushing over his skin.
Then a little faster, a low moan, and the sound of him spitting into his palm before he resumes working himself over.
The slick sound of the movement sets me on edge and makes me shift in Levi’s lap.
“Wish this was you, sweetheart. Your mouth on me. Those pretty blue eyes staring up into mine. Just the thought of it… Fuck.”
I bite my lip, and I feel Levi’s hands dig into my hips, his face tightening into a half scowl as he looks at me like I’m torturing him. I push one of the earphones back from my ear and look at him in question.
“What?” I ask.
He grabs my hips and pulls me forward, centering me on his lap, and I feel how hard he is.
“You’re grinding away on my thigh while you listen there, sweetheart.”
“Oh. Sorry!” I give him a sheepish look, but then I jump up, setting my headphones to the side. “I have an idea!”
“What’s that?” he asks, clearly confused by my sudden abandonment.
“I want to make one for you.” I walk to the door, making sure it’s locked. Aspen and her daughter are out for the day, and Grant and Dakota are likely busy having their own listening session wherever they are. But I don't want to risk any family trauma.
“Right now?”
“When else will I be able to suck you off without company in earshot?” I ask, and his face crumples with amusement. “We have to be a little loud, right? To make sure the mic catches it?”
“A little, but it picks up a lot. I really didn’t mean to make the original recording you heard. I just forgot it was still on from when I was making notes earlier.”
“All right. So can you do it again? Set it to listen while we do this?”
“Are we doing this?” He looks at me thoughtfully. “Because we don’t have to. I appreciate the thought, but—”
“You don’t want a recording of me?”
“Of course I fucking do.” He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind if I think he’d say anything else.
“Then take your pants off and hit record.”