His Bahamas Affair (The Albury Affairs) (8 page)

Reno wished he could
tell Ruiz the truth but, it wasn’t the right time. Now, it would only worsen
the situation. He began softly hoping his meaning wouldn’t be misconstrued or
his words anger Ruiz further. “Have you ever thought to consider that he left
it all to me because he knew I’d take care of you and Riana?”

“
Whoopy
do! The man was a prophet, but we both know that wasn’t the reason why,” he
gnashed out. He held his hand up to stop Reno from speaking as he took a deep
calming breath. “Look. It doesn’t matter. I have my awesome big brother, a
beautiful little sister, a job and a home and that’s all I care about. Come on,
let’s go speak to the lovely ladies.” He wiggled his eyebrows with a wolfish
grin making Reno laugh.

“Careful, Allan has the
means to make you disappear without a trace.”

“I’ll take my chances.”
He turned to where the girls stood. “You know Reno, you could have just told me
you wanted her for yourself, instead of telling me she’s crazy.”

Reno turned to look at
Loraine. She was smiling at Melody’s animated gestures as she pointed around.
“Well, I should have taken my own advice.”

“So you’ve noticed
too?” Ruiz asked quietly in a somber tone.

Reno turned to face his
brother and caught the solemn look on his face and then he nodded his answer,
clenching his jaw tight.

“I’ll give Melody a
tour; see if you can find out what’s wrong with her.”

“Why me?”

Ruiz smiled leaning his
head slightly to the side. “Because big brother, if there is anyone who can
make her feel safe and strong again, it’s you. That’s just what you do. And because
you like her and I get the feeling she likes you too. Who better to help her?”

Reno wished that was
true but he wasn’t so sure about helping her get past her problems. It wasn’t
an easy one to solve.

Ruiz punched his
shoulder lightly then jogged off to join the girls. He spoke to Loraine,
pointing back at Reno, and then spoke to Melody taking her hand and leading her
back to the resort.

He watched as Loraine
watched the two leave and disappear into the wooden shack that was the beach
entrance to the resort before she turned to look at him. They stared at each
other for a long time before she took her first step toward him.

Reno forced himself to
relax when his body tightened with anticipation. “Here we go,” he whispered to
himself then lifted his lips in a lopsided grin when she stopped a few feet
away from him. “Crazy Lori, what brings you to my neck of the woods?”

* * * *

Loraine wasn’t sure
exactly what kind of reception she would receive from Reno. More than disgust,
she dreaded being pitied and it truly surprised her when he spoke to her like
that night never happened. She was speechless, watching that come hither smile
play on his lips like they were back to their seductive banter.

The man should have
been an actor, not even his eyes gave him away.

“Ah, Melody has some
business with you and I thought I’d tag along for a free vacation.”

Reno nodded, looking
behind her for a moment before his eyes settled on her again. “Did she tell you
why she’s here?”

Loraine wasn’t sure how
Melody wanted to handle brokering the subject with Reno so she thought best to
keep that information to herself and be as vague as possible.

She shrugged.
“Something about a business proposition for you.”

He nodded. “You want to
take a walk with me?”

Loraine blink a few
times, a little confused at what was going on. “
Ahh
,
sure?”

He pointed to her feet
with his chin. “Take you sandals off.”

“Why?”

His brow rose. “Do you
always have to argue? Just do it.”

Loraine fought the urge
to stick her tongue out at him and slid off her sandals. “Fine.”

“Now, come closer to
the water—don’t you dare ask me why or I’ll dunk you!”

Loraine would have
asked why just to annoy him but the look in his eyes told her he was serious
about his threat. She stepped closer to the water and closer to him with a
patronizing smile. “Is this close enough?”

He chuckled, shaking
his head and began walking away, leaving her behind. “Do you need me to tell
you to follow too?”

“No!” she yelled,
jogging to catch up with him. “I can take the hint.”

“Yeah, you’re just slow
in processing it.”

She punched his
shoulder as hard as she could and yelped at the pain from the contact.

“Ouch,” he said with a
boring dry tone, not even bothering to look at her. He didn’t even flinch!

Loraine rubbed at her
knuckles. “Yeah right, you didn’t even feel a thing. Do you eat rocks for
brunch because you shouldn’t be that hard, it’s just not normal?”

He laughed and the
sound made the butterflies in her belly flutter.

“No, I don’t eat
rocks.” He took her injured hand and massaged her knuckles. “You should be
careful next time. Here let me kiss your boo
boo
and
make it better.”

“I’m not a child…” she
began to grumble when she caught his darkening eyes as he lifted the back of
her hand to his lips.

Breath caught in her
chest as she watched his lips lower to her knuckles. When they came in contact,
her eyes fluttered shut and she sucked in a breath. He kissed it lightly,
running his lips then the tip of his tongue over her knuckles before he planted
another soft kiss.

“Better?” he whispered
huskily.

Loraine nodded,
unconsciously moving toward him until her chest touched his. He wrapped his
free arm around her waist, as the other hand weaved her fingers through his and
held them both to his chest. Her head cantered to the side as he lowered his to
nuzzle at the nape of her neck. Her body shuddered, pushing closer to his.

“Reno…” she whispered
softly, turning her head into his.

“
Mmhmm
,”
he responded, brushing his nose and lips up her cheek to her temple.

Loraine felt her toes
curl in the sand, a quiver in her chest as her breaths grew heavy. “Thank you.”

When he stopped what he
was doing, she thought she’d ruined the moment by bring that night up, that is
if he knew what she was referring to when she thanked him. She hoped he didn’t.

He kissed her temple
and began moving in a circle, in a slow dance. “You’re welcome.”

She nodded, blinking
back tears. She went on her tip toes and pressed her soft cheek to his rough
one. He tightened his hold on her waist and lifted her up, supporting her.

She felt his breath on
her ear before he spoke. “Any time you need me Lori, I’m right here. Don’t ever
forget it.”

A sob escaped from her
lips as a few tears broke free. He released her hand to wrap his around her,
hugging her to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, lowering herself so
that her head rested under his chin.

She felt a smile creep
over her lips and the load in her chest lightened. She didn’t know why but she
knew for certain she would always be safe where she was. In Reno’s strong arms,
she would get the strength she needed to rebuild herself to the person she used
to be before the nightmares made her feel defenseless again.

And maybe, just maybe,
in his arms she’d also find the one thing she coveted.

She slid her arms down
to wrap them around his torso. His body folded around her like a protective
casing of large hard muscles and she loved it, loved every second she was there
even more. Yup, this was where she wanted to be until she was strong again. And
certainly, not maybe, she’ll be staying in those arms until she was old and
grey. She was going to make sure of it.

Chapter Four

He heard the whimper
first, and then the creaking of wood as it cried under the strain of weight. At
first, he thought an animal had somehow found its way into his home, a beach
house he had built a few miles away from the resort where his first home, his
mother’s home, had once stood. The one bedroom shack that had been his mother’s
pride and joy, but for Reno it had been a reminder of his painful past. So he
replaced it with a two story, four bedroom home, with floor to ceiling windows
for walls in the living room and dining area at the bottom level.

He heard the whimper
again, but this time it was louder and coming from one of the guestrooms. He
climbed off his bed and moved to the door, paying keen attention to the noise
again. A few minutes of silence passed and Reno turned around to go back to bed
when an ear piercing scream had him rushing out of his room and into the
opposite one. It was Loraine’s room.

She was thrashing and
crying, fighting the man in her nightmare, her body wet with sweat. Reno sat on
her bed and pulled her into his arms, taking the kicks and punches as she kept
on fighting. He struggled to hold her still, trapping her head on his shoulder
with his own so that he could speak into her ear.

“Loraine, wake up!” He
tried to remain calm but that was a struggle on its own. The intensity of her
nightmare made his heart race with fear.

“What’s going on?”
Melody’s distraught voice filled the room.

Reno ignored her and
kept rocking Loraine as he spoke soothingly into her ear, “It’s okay, Loraine.
I’m right here, Lori. He can’t hurt you anymore if you wake up. Come on Lori
wake up.”

Her body suddenly went
stiff and her screams reduced to whimpers. He kept her in his arms, stroking
her back and hair as he rocked and soothed her. “That’s it. Wake up Lori.”

“Reno, what’s wrong
with her?”

“Melody, come with me.
Let him handle this.”

Reno was grateful to
his brother when he heard their feet shuffle out and the door quietly close.
Loraine didn’t need the audience and she would be mortified if she woke up and
found them all staring at her.

He should have known
something was wrong when she fought sleep earlier in the evening. They had been
sitting in the living room, sharing stories about Riana so that Ruiz could get
to know her better. He hadn’t laughed so much in his life as much as he did
listening to the antics she and Loraine got into during their days in NYU. It
made him feel less guilty for leaving her alone, knowing she had a wonderful
college experience. Reno had never had that. He went to community college and
for one purpose only, to attend his business classes. He had an early morning
schedule so that he could have the rest of the morning for his schoolwork because
the rest of the day and evening he had to work his two jobs. Reno never had a
normal college life and he was glad Riana got the chance to.

Then Melody and Loraine
shared the little they knew about Riana and Allan’s romance. He had been
annoyed at how she had easily accepted to run off with Allan for a rebound
affair in Italy, even if the affair ended in marriage. But that annoyance
easily vanished when Melody told them of how badly off Allan was when he
thought Riana was dead. He thought Riana’s pain was immeasurable but listening
to Melody, hearing the pain in her voice and seeing the sadness in her face as
she teared up…he just hoped he never experienced anything like that.

And when the night
began to wind down, Loraine began to doze off only to startle awake a few
seconds later. He’d suggested she go to sleep but she shook her head, a look of
horror filling her eyes for just a moment before she began another story. Even
after Ruiz and Melody had excused themselves to go to sleep she still persisted
in staying awake, so he sat with her, quietly watching her until she lost the
fight. He’d carried her to bed and watched her for a few minutes before he
retired to his own. That was an hour ago.

He felt her body begin
to relax and then begin to shake. Her arms slipped from between them to wrap
around him. She didn’t make one sound but judging by how tight she held him,
her nails digging into his bare back, he knew she was still frightened.

“It’s okay, you’re
okay.”

“I’m sorry,” she
whispered.

Reno pulled her away
from him to stare at her. Her face was pale and her eyes were wet and red. The
dark circles around her eyes he’d noticed when she’d first arrived seemed to
have grown ever darker, and larger. She hadn’t had a goodnight sleep in a very
long time.

He smiled at her as he
stroked her damp hair. “You have nothing to be sorry about.” He pulled her
forward to kiss her forehead. “How about, you come sleep with me?”

She snorted, her lips
spreading in a trembling smile. “Aren’t you so sure of yourself. I might be
going crazy but I know when a guy is pulling a move on me.”

Reno chuckled shaking
his head. “Yeah, you caught me. Can’t blame a guy for taking every opportunity
available, can you?”

She shook her head, a
few tears dislodging. “Well, just know I have no intentions of leaving that bed
once I’m in it.”

Her voice broke as she
spoke but Reno kept his tone light and joking. He waggled his brows. “Now who
is trying to take advantage of who?”

She nodded, and then
quickly wrapped her arms around his neck to hide her face in his shoulder as
she finally began to sob. Reno held her tight, wishing there was a way to take
her pain away. She looked like she couldn’t take anymore, and he knew soon the
Crazy Lori he used to spur with was going to disappear under all this fear and
grief.

He dug one arm under
her thighs while the other held her pressed to his chest. “Come on. First we
are going to take a shower to help you calm down, and then I’m going to hold
you while you sleep. I promise everything is going to get better. We just have
to take one step at a time.”

He carried her to his
en suite room and deposited her at the door of his bathroom. She didn’t even
look at him when he placed her on her feet. She walked into the bathroom
wearily, stripping her sleeping shorts and shirt without even caring that he
was watching. She didn’t even close the bathroom door when she turned on the
shower jets and stepped into the stall naked. She just stood there, water
pounding into her from all directions, her face in her hands and her shoulders
shaking as she sobbed.

Reno felt complete rage
for the man who did this to her and complete despair because he had no idea how
he could help her. If he only knew what exactly happened to her. He thought of
calling Riana but decided against it. Whatever had happened to Loraine would
have occurred recently and if he knew Loraine as well as he thought he did, she
wouldn’t have said a word to Riana. Why would she share her own horrors when
Riana had been living in her own nightmare at the time?

Reno sat on the toilet
seat watching her for a few more minutes then he stepped into the shower stall
behind her and turned off the jets. He didn’t even care that he was getting his
pants wet, all he thought about was taking care of her. When the water was shut
off, he grabbed his towel and dried her off, wrapped it around her and carried
her to his bed.

She was silent the
entire time, her head lowered like she was ashamed. That angered him most. She
had nothing to be sorry or ashamed about. Whatever happened was not her fault.

He pulled out one of
his t-shirts from his drawers and laid it on the bed next to her then stepped
out of her view and changed his wet pants for dry ones. She didn’t even make a
move to touch the t-shirt. She just sat there, staring at her hands on her lap.

Dejected and defeated
wasn’t the Crazy Lori he knew and he wasn’t going to allow her to become that.

He crouched down before
her and took the shirt in his hand. “I know you are going through a lot of shit
right now, and I know you’d like nothing better than to crawl under a rock and
hide from all of it, but you can’t. You need to fight this or you are never
going to be the same again, and he would emerge the winner again.”

Her head shot up and
she stared at him wide eyed. He felt the pit of his stomach churn. He felt
nauseous. Her surprise had confirmed his worst fears and for once, he wished he
was wrong.

“Now, we are going to
put this shirt on and then get into bed. I’m going to hold you until you fall
asleep and I hope my presence will keep him away. But Lori, don’t get
comfortable. I’m not going to let you become a shadow of yourself without a
fight. Tonight you can feel miserable and angry and weak and scared all you
want.” She sobbed, tears running down her eyes in a flood as she lowered her
face. Reno grabbed her chin and pushed her head up. “But tomorrow Lori, there
will be no more of this. One way or another, we are going to disparate that man
out of your mind because he holds no power over you. As long as I’m alive, he
is never going to hurt you again.”

Loraine launched
herself at him and openly cried. He lifted her into bed and laid with her,
holding her tightly against his chest as she bawled. It felt like hours before
she finally fell asleep. Reno watched her for a few minutes, wondering how many
nights would end like this before she finally healed.

* * * *

“Hey, bro.” Ruiz
slapped Reno’s back as he took a seat next to him at the dining table.

Reno grunted his reply,
rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. It had taken a while before he fell asleep.
He kept on waiting for Loraine to wake up screaming again but she slept
peacefully, her body wrapped around his just like the first time they’d shared
a bed. And that time too he had kept a vigil watch over her.

“How’s Loraine?”

Reno rubbed the back of
his neck wishing he didn’t have to go to work that morning. He needed a few
hours of sleep, but he couldn’t do that. It wasn’t in him to miss work and the
only time he had was the three days he was in Rome for Riana’s wedding. The
fear of going back to the life he had was enough to keep him working from sun
up to sun up. And his studiousness had paid off because
La
Paraiso
was now the most sought after
resort at the Cable beaches.

When he had inherited
it, it had been in the red with no prospects of ever recovering but he had done
everything in his power to build it into what it was today. He’d been a waiter,
a driver, a janitor. Every job that needed doing in his short staffed resort he
had taken it on himself. He had applied for a loan to refurbish and promote the
resort three times and every time it had been denied. Then he devised a plan to
have the bank manager visit the place and had waited on him hand and foot,
taking every opportunity to explain his vision to his guest. The least he could
do was listen in exchange for a free weekend stay. Then early the next Monday
morning, his efforts had paid off.

Yes, that fear of
failure and going back to the life of struggle and poverty was what was keeping
him up that morning.

Reno pushed away from
the table and stood. “She’s still asleep. Would you please wait for her to wake
up before you come in? I don’t want her to be alone.”

“Why don’t you stay,
take a nap and I’ll handle the resort. You are no good to anyone half asleep.”

Reno’s immediate
reaction was to say no but the thought of a few hours in his bed next to
Loraine was very tempting. And Ruiz was quite capable of handling the running
of the place.

“Are you sure?”

Ruiz chuckled, standing
up. “It’s time you let someone else take care of you big brother. In fact, why
don’t you take a few days off and take Loraine on a tour of the islands?”

Reno shook his head.
“No way. I’m only taking the morning off.”

“You could take Loraine
with you.”

Both men turned to the
sound of Melody’s voice as she walked into the room. Reno could see the concern
in her eyes and he knew it was for Loraine.

“Allan used to have
nightmares like those and they scared me to death.” She tried to laugh it off
but the tears in her eyes betrayed her. “We need to do something fast before
she gets as bad as he did. I can’t handle that so soon after Allan.”

Ruiz went to her and
wrapped her in a hug. “Hey, everything is going to be alright, right Reno?”

Reno just stared at
them, speechless. He had no idea what to say. His own experience with Riana had
frightened him as much as Melody’s and he had been powerless to do anything
then too. Aurora had saved her, and years after Allan had brought his sister
back.

What exactly could he
possibly do for Loraine?

“Right. Everything will
be fine.”

* * * *

Loraine slowly woke up
feeling more rested than she had in weeks, loving the feel of Reno’s arms
around her. She hadn’t known for sure but now it was a proven fact. The only
way to keep the nightmares away was by sleeping in his arms.

She slowly crawled out
of bed, careful not to wake him. She was surprised to find him in bed with her
in the middle of the day, but remembering the night before and his promise to
watch over her made her stomach churn with guilt. He was missing work because
of her.