Wealth

Wealth-7

“I can’t say I’ll never hurt you. All I can say is that I won’t ever hurt you by turning away from you.”

“How the hell can you just say that about the future?”

“Because I’m the kind of guy who knows what he wants. If I hadn’t known the future how would I have known you’d want a steak? My powers are supernatural.”

“Your powers are barrow boy bullshit crook.”

“And your powers are burger-flipping karaoke girl.”

He shrugged and held her eyes.

“OK, we’re just two black and white biographies fallen from f*******: into each other’s arms. Face value’s the only sensible price if you don’t want to spend too much. Doesn’t mean we can’t dance, I guess.”

He made a sign and a guy started to play a piano in the far corner of the room. The tune was silky and familiar. She had to. She b****y well had to sing.

With a song in my heart

I behold your adorable face

Just a song at the start

But it soon is a hymn to your grace….

His eyes softened in a way she’d never seen a man react as she sang the song remembered from her father’s vinyl Ella Fitzgerald collection when she’d dreamed of being a real singer, not a girl’s night karaoke queen. She hung onto the notes, watching him grip his bottom lip in his teeth, almost as if he was fighting to hold back emotion.

She finished the song as the piano guy stood up to applaud. Randolph was simply laying his eyes on her face and watching her lips.

“So beautiful. You really can do it, can’t you? You could steal a heart from a man, roast it, carve it for his dinner, and he’d be begging for more.”

“That’s one hell of an image.”

“Worked as a butcher’s boy as a weekend job,” he said.

She smiled. She’d caught him by surprise and he’d changed the mood so as not to show his soul. Maybe, just maybe, he’d been hurt too.

The piano re-started. And there on the dark sea with the land of all their dangers held away for this one night they danced, often lips to lips, threatened only by the terror of love.

Chapter 9It was 2 a.m. Too late to be in his bedroom, watching him undress, the shirt slipping from his broad, muscular shoulders. This guy had the build of a fighter. He hadn’t dragged her there, hadn’t made her sit on his bed to watch the show. God, he had already made her come in her panties with a kiss. Much more of this and she’d have to deal with her issues herself. He ran his hand over the hard flat muscle of his stomach, letting his fingers stray down under his belt where the first hint of his pubic hair teased up onto his tanned skin. His fingers were at the buckle. Kaitlyn, it’s only s*x, it’s only pleasure, she told herself. He was watching her, letting her know that he knew where her eyes were fixed.

“It kind of gets personal in a minute,” he said with a slow smile.

She kicked off her shoes and lay back on the bed, propping herself up on the pillows, wantonly showing her panties.

“I did the cabaret, you do the striptease,” she answered, feeling the excited pulse of her l**t in the depth of her belly.

He smiled back, flicking off the buckle and stepping out of his pants. Now he stood before her, his hard c**k bursting from his white briefs. Her eyes shot to the slight darkening of the fabric where his man juice had already started to flow. She felt evil, wicked. She let her hand drift to her pouting hot groove. His eyes widened as his own hand slid to his c**k. Her fantasy was of his semen pulsing into her hot tube. She closed her eyes, let the image take her. Oh God, he was pulling away her panties, his tongue was teasing and urging her on. She opened her eyes to see his head buried in her groin as the jolts of o****m doubled her over onto him. For a second she subsided, allowed the tease to build without holding herself tight to bring it on. She looked down again. He was l*****g her, conscious of her climb to her summit, and jerking his own massive c**k. His fingers eased inside her as his tongue drew her on and on. Her own hands went to her n*****s sending the final sparks of release to her c******s. She was letting go without abandon, animal sounds expressing the jungle of her woman soul and l**t. His hot c**k filled her as she was coming and then built her again to some higher peak from which she could only crash like a massive wave. She heard his deep voice urging her as his hard c**k drove in to the limit of her flesh. Her own hand reached for her c******s. She had to catch his wave as he groaned out his release into the heat of her flesh. She caught that same wave, calling out into the blur of desire and coming, coming, coming into the shallows of a tender kiss and the opening of eyes to see the gaze of love returned.

He didn’t move, didn’t turn away but kept his eyes steady on her face. His voice was slow and deep.

“At last I’ve made love with a woman.”

She smiled.

“You’ve made love to plenty of girls, Mr Quinn.”

“I said made love with,” he replied.

“I guess not too often on the first date. I imagine it’s no use saying I’m not that sort of girl if we assess the evidence.”

“It’s not our first date. You invited me back to your police cell, gave me a cup of tea without even a kiss and left me alone all night and I could have done with your company believe me.”

He lay on his back, pulling her to rest her head on his chest, his arm around her. She’d just forgotten everything she knew about men, about being a cop, about every kind of risk. In the warmth and the illusion of safety in his hold she didn’t care. She simply didn’t care.

“How is it with a man and a woman? Is there someone for you, for me, for all the lonely people? Is it someone special or just someone half decent who’s there at the right time?” she said.

She felt the physical vibration of his voice as he answered.

“You’re a strange one. Don’t girls want to think in terms of love? I’ll be honest, Kaitlyn, I’m asking the same question since I met you. I know what I want the answer to be, but right now I’ve got a bit of business hanging over me. Is it fair of me to ask you to stay with me and trust me?”

“No, it’s not fair.”

“That’s the right answer.”

“But life isn’t fair, so I guess that if I did stay with you and did trust you that’d be accepting the way life is—not fair, but life.”

He pulled her tighter to his body.

“You seem an educated girl, I’m guessing you studied logic at university.”

“Psychology as it happens. I guess you did economics.”

“I did car cleaning and got to sell a few. I got a job in a factory making parts for medical lasers. One day I noticed my cellphone changed tone when a laser was being tested. I did some experiments and found I could speed up the phone signal. One day I read about bankers making millions just because they could buy or sell faster. I phoned a bunch of banks and asked to talk to the top man. Every single one told me to f**k off. One day I read about a lady who broke all the rules to be a big Wall Street gambler. She kind of gave me a job.

“A lady?”

“Yeah, the CEO of Sackman-Platinum is a sweet little girlie just like you. She invited me for an interview and we clicked. She’s a smart woman.”

“Do I want to know about your relationship?”

“Maybe not. She was just a regular millionaire in those days. She even had a mortgage on her castle in France. She’s in a different league now.”

“And did you, you know, take over the handling of her assets?”

He sighed.

“Stella Boursellino enjoys the company of young people. She quickly saw my financial talents and exploited them.”

“She’s a super-rich cougar with an itch that needs scratching,” said Kaitlyn, imagining this business-suited power b***h.

“She’s a woman. She has needs and weaknesses like all the world, like you, like me.”

“But you slept with the boss.”

“Kaitlyn, this moment here is about you and me now. Let’s say I respect and admire her as a person in business and in her life. She’s in a relationship with a good guy. I won’t ever ask you to list the abandoned lovers and broken hearts that fan out behind you.”

“How old is she?”

“Today she is fifty-two.”

“You know her birthday don’t you. You’ll think of her that day, won’t you?”

“Kaitlyn, I’m talking about her only because I don’t want to be dishonest. You’re giving me vibes you’re a jealous girl.”

“Too right, I am.”

He propped himself up on an elbow and looked into her eyes.

“Here with you now I’m as happy as I’ve ever been. While you’re at my side and on my side, the old green-eyed monster can stay in its cave. That’s a promise you can bank.

She stroked his hair back and smiled. She knew she had no right to batter him over what may have happened before she’d met him. In her heart she knew that simple fact wouldn’t stop her. He hadn’t said he’d slept with this sophisticated wealthy woman of the world with at least one castle somewhere. If he denied it she wouldn’t believe him anyway. It was just so f*****g obvious. He’d walked into her office with that smile, that look, those hands, those shoulders and the cheek of the devil himself. She could see her, perfectly dressed and poised, pushing back her executive chair, slowly crossing her tanned waxed legs. Kaitlyn, stop this now! And another thing. This woman was in the same business. Maybe she lit the log fire at her castle with bundles of dirty money.

“I’m trying not to think about you touching someone else like you’ve just touched me.”

“Look, my lovely woman, I’ve never wanted to touch a woman in the way I’ve touched you. I want you to stay, to be with me.”

She let out a long breath. Her over-intensity was not his problem and it had caused her enough pain already.

“I’m just a cop and I’m on your case, Randolph Quinn.”

He took her cheeks in his hands, easing her lips toward his tender searching kiss.

“You’ve got me locked up, officer. Don’t hide the key anywhere sexy. I might find it, and I don’t want to escape.”

“You’re assuming I’ll let you look for it.”

His hand brushed across her belly. She groaned helplessly. He had her key.

Chapter 10OK, she was waking up in bed with the guy she was supposed to be guarding and interviewing. How many times had he loved her? A mellow marshmallow sense of fulfillment rocked her as this gorgeous loving man spooned into her back, his arm over her and soothing her breast. There was someone else in the room. f**k! What the f**k was some guy doing?

“Sir, Mr Quinn. A message from London, urgent.”

She sat up to see a uniformed steward shaking Randolph by the shoulder.

“Sir, kidnap Signora Boursellino. Captain says, come quick. Need orders, sir.”

Randolph jolted into consciousness.

“What’s our position?” he snapped out.

“English Channel, sir, near Brighton.”

“I’ll be there in five. Prepare a fast launch and the chopper. Tell Captain Fuller I’ll need a briefing in the conference room.”

Kaitlyn watched him leap from the bed, already wide awake. This was a weird guy—part commando, part Casanova, part billionaire. God, he was sexy.

“What’s going on? You gonna shower or what? You’ll stink of s*x,” she said.

He smiled as he threw on jeans and a jumper.

“Great, then I’ll be reliving what real woman-love can be all day.”

Kaitlyn began to compute what was happening. That very same Stella, seemingly Randolph’s boss, had been kidn*pped. Looked like a job for the cops.

“What are you planning to do? The police won’t want you on some sort of vigilante mission,” she said.

“I can’t imagine the police will be aware of it. Get some clothes on if you want to see some action.”

She found her jeans and hoodie top. It didn’t seem there was time for showers. She took her place next to him in a long-tabled state room with windows looking out on the sea. She could just see the south coast of England in the far distance. A bearded naval officer with a lot of gold on his epaulets entered with a handful of papers.