Fixing Justice (45 page)

She’d almost broken down and called Draegyn once she’d found a place to settle until she remembered that doing so would blow her attempt to stay low. On an impulse, Tori had rented this apartment under an alias, although not much of one. If he was trying to find her, and she wasn’t altogether sure he would be, using her real last name would lead him straight to her door. And right there, she’d hit on the crux of the matter. Was he trying to find her or had he figured good riddance to someone that had been a thorn in his side? Would knowing the answer to that question make a difference? Blaming the pregnancy for her emotional scatter seemed kinda lame but, there you have it. She was also becoming quite adept at the heavy sigh, each bleak murmur reminding her the shambles her world was in. Was it the same for him? Dammit. That was the problem right there. With every thought and feeling assailing her brain, she’d stop and consider Draegyn’s reaction.

Maybe she’d been a coward by leaving like a thief in the night. After all, she couldn’t stay furious at him for having done almost the same thing. And just like the silence that hovered over them while he was doing whatever the hell he’d been up to in New York, she was doing the same. That thought didn’t sit well.

Well, she thought, gathering her purse and the keys to her rental car, too much introspection wasn’t helping her general outlook. She had something or rather someone else to consider now and sitting around in a grey funk couldn’t be good for her or the baby. No, she had to get some air, maybe walk around a bit and find something to eat that didn’t provoke the nausea that was her new constant companion. She certainly couldn’t live forever on carbonated soda and water crackers even though that particularly disgusting combination seemed to go easy on her stomach.

Deciding to walk through the country mart and grab some supplies, she’d stop at a small café and take it easy – maybe do some people watching for shits ‘n giggles. That was one thing she’d already learned about Malibu. There was always a celebrity or two to be found. Well, at least she’d found an amusing distraction.

Later on she admitted it had been a good morning. Her walk through the outdoor shopping mart had been relaxing and even a bit productive. She’d eaten some outrageously beautiful organic pastries and browsed through a high-end children’s store, indulging in the purchase of a tiny set of pale green booties that she thought would suit either a girl or a boy.

At lunchtime she found a spot at the outdoor café where she sat quietly and watched the world go by. Tori felt better than she had in some time. She’d even managed to eat half a sandwich and though it wasn’t her favorite, she’d ordered a small glass of milk to wash it down with. She didn’t really know if drinking milk was something she should do, making her tap a note into her phone about picking up some books about pregnancy.

She’d been sitting there for a while when the bubbly waitress stopped by her table with a big smile and something else. Putting a large container in front of her, Tori frowned and let her know she hadn’t ordered anything else. The waitress grinned and said, “Hazelnut decaf, four sugars, and an extra dollop of creamer for table seven.” This
is
table seven she added. Tori was confused.

“There’s been some sort of mix-up,” she murmured as the aroma of her favorite beverage wrapped around her senses.

“Nope,” the friendly waitress replied. “You have that gentleman over there to thank,” she said while pointing toward the cash register area. Lowering her voice in a conspiratorial whisper she added, “Lucky you. That’s one seriously hot guy!”

Tori’s head whipped around so fast, it almost fell off her neck. Draegyn.
Oh my fucking god
, she moaned. It was impossible to see his eyes behind the dark sunglasses he had on but she’d know that proud bearing in the crowd of a thousand. His presence at the café scattered her thoughts. Ignoring the sudden uptick in her heart rate or the way relief washed through her along with a very telling flutter of awareness, was nearly impossible.

She wasn’t ready to face him. Not yet, so she grabbed her stuff and made a mad dash for the rear exit just steps from where she’d been sitting. Luckily she’d dressed simply in jeans with sneakers on her feet so making speed was no problem but he had beaten her to the lot, where he was casually leaning against a high class but very suburban family-looking sedan with an expression she couldn’t read. As she stepped from the pathway he opened the side door of the car and waved her on as if he were a chauffer. Dammit. This wasn’t how she envisioned seeing him again and just to make matters worse, she was fighting back an awful urge to throw herself on him and cry.

“Let me help you with your packages,” he murmured softly, reaching to take her purse and carry-all bag from hands gone numb in shock.

She needed to find her voice she realized, struggling to wrap her mind around the fact that he was very much here and very much trying to take control yet again. Some things never change. “What are you doing here, Draegyn?”

“I think that would be obvious,” he answered while placing her things on the backseat.

“Maybe to you, but not to me,” Tori answered defensively. Did he really think it would be that easy? That he could just show up out of nowhere and command her to do as he asked? Her itchy conscience reminded her that she’d absolutely fallen for this act before, sometimes with gleeful abandon.

Drae was having a hard time remaining calm. When he’d found her at last, sitting all by herself at the outdoor café, it was all he could do not to rush in, toss her unwilling butt over his shoulder, and steal her away to his private lair. She looked all sorts of adorable in her faded Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans that didn’t exactly cling to her curves. She looked thinner, if that was possible, with an exhausted air about her that squeezed his heart. Seeing her so vulnerable with that edge of fragility helped soften his approach. She was backing up, taking small steps away from him but that didn’t stop Drae from reaching out and placing a hand in the small of her back to ease her toward the car. “Get in, Victoria.”

“No.”

He had to smile at the petulant frown she was making. “We can do this the hard way if you’d prefer. Believe me honey, I have no problem stalking your cute little ass until you’re worn down from trying to get away from me. Or…you can hush that gorgeous mouth, get in the car, and listen to what I have to say. Your choice.”

It didn’t help his composure when her bottom lip, the one he so badly wanted to suck into his mouth, started to quiver. She stomped her foot and tried glaring at him and then let out an anguished wail.

“I can’t do this now, Draegyn. Please. Just let me go.”

It was his turn to say, “No.”

She continued to hem and haw, looking for any means of escape. Finally, Drae sighed and gently placed an arm around her shoulder for a brief hug. “Everything’s going to be alright sweetheart, but first you have to get in the car.”

She turned watery eyes his way but lowered her lashes when his dark glasses got in the way. Quickly removing them so she could see for herself the sincerity of his words he tried again. “Please,” he begged.

Forgetting about the remnants of the black eye Alex had given him, he was caught off guard when she gasped and reached up to touch the fading bruise. Before she could say anything he quirked a smile her way and simply said, “Big Daddy.”

After that she slid silently into the passenger seat. Reaching across her torso, he clicked the seatbelt into place and shut her door, rounding the back of the car to get in the driver’s seat where he quickly started the car and got the air conditioning running. It wasn’t hot, but the way her cheeks were flushing, he didn’t want to take any chances.

Her voice was quiet, little more than a whisper. “Why do we have to go anywhere? Can’t we just talk here?”

“C’mon Victoria. You know this isn’t going to be a five minute chat.” She looked away and stared out the side window of the car as he eased it out of the parking area and headed for the coast highway. The silence was deafening so he tried asking a simple question, trying to break the ice. “How are you feeling?”

“Peachy,” she sniped. Then more silence.

Okay.
That went well
, he thought. Maybe it was best to go with a direct approach. He had to cough slightly to clear his voice, as emotions clogged his throat. “Have you seen a doctor yet?”

She fidgeted in her seat and sighed. “No.”

“Why not?” Yeah. That did it. She turned on him with that all-too-familiar flash of bitchiness that he knew so well.

“I’ve been a bit busy, you know. And why exactly do you care, may I ask?”

He had something to say, had a lot to say in fact, but maybe the car wasn’t the place to start such an important conversation so he neatly changed the subject. “We’re staying in a penthouse suite at the Beverly Wilshire.”

“Who’s we?” she asked tartly.

His mouth quirked up at the corners. Damn, she was something else. “We. As in me and my wife.”

She stared at him with mouth agape. “I’m not your wife!”

“Is that so?” he asked silkily. “Then care to explain why you rented an apartment as Victoria St. John?”

Yeah, that shut her up he thought as her mouth snapped and the pout appeared. He though he heard a softly muttered, “Shit,” come from her side of the car.

“Sit back and enjoy the scenery. I always liked this drive along the coast. We’ll talk at the hotel when we’ve had a chance to relax. The last couple of days have been hard on both of us.”

Tori wondered what he meant by that but said nothing. Sitting close enough to him that she could pick up on the scent of his cologne was making her crazy. He was dressed in a pair of trousers that made her hands twitch with wanting to run them along his muscled thighs and a simple button-down white shirt, having already lost the sport coat to the backseat. He looked as he always did. Dangerous and unbelievably sexy. At a stoplight, he’d undone his cuffs and folded up the sleeves of the shirt, revealing the pale blonde hair on his arms that she found so appealing.

The scruffy beard was gone, but his need for a haircut was not. He seemed different somehow. Like all his hard edges had been smoothed over. She stared at his hands where they gripped the steering wheel and willed her libido into hibernation when thoughts of those very hands cupping her breasts as he held one and then the other up to his marauding mouth. So much for remaining calm.

It is always like this with him
, she thought. Put them together in a confined space and the sparks started. Soft at first until a full on bonfire erupted. It was so very primitive and quite obviously nothing that either of them had control over.

She wished she could read his thoughts. Was he feeling it too? That slow burn spreading in waves along the senses. Tori thought she’d die of embarrassment if all this was one-sided on her part until her eyes caught the distinctive ridge in the area of his lap that let her know the fire was mutual.

The suite was incredible. Opulent, beautifully decorated, and first class the whole way. So much so that she felt like an idiot schlepping through the magnificent lobby with its glittering chandelier and marble floors in her jeans and sneakers. Draegyn never missed a beat, guiding her into the elevator, sweeping her along to their room as if he didn’t have a care in the world. In fact, he looked mighty pleased with himself.

“Are you tired? You look a bit pale. What can I get you?” She started at his rapid-fire questions and comments, struggling to find her way in this bizarre situation. Tori
was
tired. More tired than she could ever remember being and she didn’t doubt she looked pale. Being unexpectedly pregnant and overwhelmed by their circumstances had her struggling.

Dropping onto the sofa like a lead weight, she asked for some soda, if he had any, which got Draegyn running to the mini-bar like his life depended on it. It would have been funny in a different context. When he returned to her side, handing off the glass filled with ice and cola, she had to turn her eyes away from the prominent bulge staring her in the face.

“Did you understand the papers I left behind?” She figured it best to start this conversation where she wanted and not wait for him.

He sat down next to her and leaned back, putting a foot on the opposite knee in a laid back posture that only made her nerves flutter more. “Yep. Got ‘em. Read ‘em. Called your lady shark lawyer and let her know what I thought about the whole thing.” The look he gave her contained a bit of mischief that surprised her greatly.

“This isn’t funny, y’know.”

“I didn’t say it was.” He leveled his eyes to hers and let the moment speak for itself.

She was getting twitchy. The impulse to rail at him was steadily growing, but with heated moisture dampening her panties, and the way she kept licking her lips each time he spoke, she was losing her shit alarmingly fast. She underestimated him because he didn’t beat around the bush at all – just jumped in and addressed what was at the heart of the matters at hand. “Those pictures you saw were not what they seemed.”

“Oh really?” Her tart-tongued response took even her by surprise. “How do you figure that?”