“Aleki, no—”
“I didn’t want to come find you. I wouldn’t have if Caleb hadn’t decided to go looking for you. You would have died, Vivi.”
Oh. Oh no. How had she not realized he was thinking all of this?
“I failed you.”
“No,” she said firmly. She leaned in and kissed him. Aleki seemed the most open of the guys, he’d tell you when he was happy, hungry, horny. But when it came to anything really serious then he bottled it up.
When she drew back, she cupped his face between her hands.
“Vivi—”
“No,” she said fiercely. “Hush. You’ve had your say. It’s my turn.”
She was silent for a long moment until he raised an eyebrow, looking amused. “Well?”
“You . . . I . . . you big nincompoop.”
She closed her eyes in embarrassment. She did not just say that. He shook, making her open her eyes to find him smiling widely. “Nincompoop? Really? I confess my innermost, deepest thoughts and you call me a nincompoop? What even is that?”
“Urgh! I don’t know. It’s you. You . . . I . . . God, Aleki.” Damn it. She was so bad at this. “You have never failed me. Not once. None of this is on you. It’s on them. My father. William. This mystery man. Not you. I didn’t tell you.” She ran her hands through his short black hair. “That’s on me. Not you.”
“You could have fucking died in that alleyway and I was sleeping in a damn hotel bed.”
She cupped her face with his hands. “You didn’t know. How could you have known? We were made for each other. Eight years can’t come between us. My father can’t come between us. I want you. As my man. My Daddy. If that’s what you want too. I’m just learning about all of this and I’m going to make mistakes. We both are. But as long as we’re together, nothing else matters. Are you going to tell me that we’re not meant to be together?”
“Fuck no.”
“Then kiss me, you idiot.”
“Stop calling your Papa names. And stop swearing. God, you’re a brat.”
“You can spank me later. Kiss me now.”
He grasped hold of the back of her neck and kissed her with a passion that stole her breath. Damn, she’d missed him. She placed her hands around his neck, holding her tight.
“You taste so fucking good. So delicious. I need you.”
“I need you too,” she whispered. Her nipples were pressing against her bra, her clit throbbing. She wanted him inside her.
He nuzzled into her neck. “Do you?” He kissed his way down her neck then undid her overalls, pushing them down. Then he grabbed her T-shirt and carefully pulled it off over her head.
“Fucking bras. Why do you need them?” He reached around her and unclasped it. Drawing her bra off, he stared down at her breasts. “Damn, I’ve missed these.”
He’d always been obsessed with her breasts. Leaning in, he sucked on one nipple, making her gasp. She wove her fingers in his hair.
“Aleki!”
“I’m sorry, baby girl. I never meant to worry you.”
“Give me two of your Tim-Tams and I’ll forgive you,” she teased.
Raising his face, he gave her a firm look. “What? My Tim-Tams? Them’s fighting words.”
“And one of your special hot chocolates.”
He narrowed his gaze at her. “Wolfe is going to kill me if I overload you with sugar.” He grinned. “It’s a deal.”
She giggled.
Caleb walked in then and she gasped in surprise. She glanced down at her naked breasts. Should she cover up? Would he join them? But then she saw he was frowning, his hand tightly gripped around his phone.
“What is it?” Aleki asked just as Wolfe walked in from outside. His face could have been carved from marble from all the expression it held. But his eyes, they were like two raging, dark orbs.
“That bitch, Marilyn, poisoned Vivi!”
What?
Aleki gaped up at Wolfe as Vivi grabbed her T-shirt, pulling it over her head. Now that was a damn shame. But he only had a moment to regret the fact they’d been interrupted.
Christ. Just the thought of someone hurting her made him feel ill.
Like she’d been hurt for all these years. Pain wasn’t just physical. And emotional pain could be far harder to heal.
She moved off his lap, facing the others.
“What do you mean Marilyn poisoned Vivi?” he asked frantically as he stood then helped Vivi up. He drew her against his chest, running his hand up and down her back.
“Caleb?” he asked.
“It’s true. The lab rang me after speaking to Wolfe. Apparently, he hung up on them.”
“I wanted to send someone to her apartment immediately,” Wolfe muttered, pacing back and forth, his cell phone in hand. “The lab was backed up which is why it took them so long to test that bowl. She put a damn laxative in the porridge.”
Aleki gaped at Wolfe then down at Vivi who looked pale and frightened.
“A laxative?” she asked.
“Yep, likely something she had on her since she wouldn’t have had time to plan this. Bitch must be all blocked up,” Wolfe stated.
“Wolfe, I know you’re upset but watch your language in the playroom,” Caleb said calmly.
Wolfe whirled to point at Caleb. “Why aren’t you more upset?”
“It was just a laxative,” Vivi offered gently. “It wasn’t really poison and it didn’t hurt me.”
“You only ate half a bowl. What if you’d eaten the whole thing?” Wolfe spat out. “What if you’d been so weak afterward that you’d fainted and hit your head? She could have made you very ill.”
Aleki felt horrified just thinking about it. Once more they hadn’t protected her. This couldn’t keep happening.
“Oh, don’t mistake my calm for condoning what she did,” Caleb told Wolfe with a ferocity that surprised Aleki.
It obviously surprised Vivi as well as she turned big eyes on Caleb.
“I want her brought in,” Caleb said. “I want her questioned.”
Wolfe nodded. “I’ve already put in the request with Beta Team to bring her in and inform us when they have her.”
“I need to speak to Kassim,” Caleb said, frowning. “This breach in security is our fault. She should never have been hired on.”
“There was nothing in her background or reports that indicated any instability,” Aleki told them. “How was this missed?”
“Maybe she’s never done something like this before,” Caleb offered. “Perhaps there was something that set her off. Pushed her over that edge. Something that we did.”
“But it was Genevieve she attempted to hurt,” Wolfe pointed out. “Could Marilyn have something to do with her father?”
Caleb shook his head. “It doesn’t seem likely. Like you said, she didn’t have time to plan this. And if Vivi’s father was trying to harm her then it wouldn’t have been with a laxative. No, this feels more spur-of-the-moment.”
“She had the hots for all of you,” Vivi told them.
They all frowned at her. Then Wolfe’s face cleared. “She flirted with Aleki and Caleb. That’s when you decided I was your favorite because I didn’t pay her any attention. I have always told the two of you that you should be more like me.”