Infatuation: A Rebel Stepbrother Romance (10 page)

The owner of the bed and breakfast helps me arrange a rental car. The drive home seems to take forever.

My apartment’s exactly the way I left it Friday morning.

I can’t close my eyes without feeling Flynn’s hands on my body, hearing his voice.

Wait a second. That
is
his voice.

Coming from my front door.

I’m out of my mind. After handling business with my father, I return to find Ella gone.

The owner of the bed and breakfast explains that I just missed her.

I drive like a lunatic to her apartment. It’s a miracle I don’t get a ticket.

“Ella!” My fist hammers against her door. I hope like hell she’s here. I don’t know where else to go.

The door opens and she stares at me. I’m not waiting for an invitation. No, I sweep inside and kick her door closed. “Why’d you leave, baby?”

“You were gone.”

“I left you a note and told you to stay put.”

She shakes her head sadly, as if I’m lying to her. “Ella. I left you a note . . . you know what? It doesn’t matter. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Why are you here?”

Why am I here? Is she serious?

Suddenly, she gasps and touches my arm. “Flynn, what happened to your hands?” I turn them over and see the bruised, torn skin on my knuckles. It doesn’t hurt . . . yet.

“What do you think, Ella?”

She stares at me.

“I couldn’t let his crimes against you go unpunished.”

“You . . . you fought your father? For me?”

“Damn fucking right I did.”

She chokes and her eyes fill with tears. “Flynn, I never wanted you to do that. You didn’t have to—”

“Like hell I didn’t.”

“But your—”

I grab her face between my hands and stare into her eyes. “I’m nothing without you. I won’t go another day without you in my life, where you belong.”

“The company—”

“Ella, baby, please listen to me. I own my own company. I split off one of the smaller ones and run it myself. I came into full control of my trust fund at twenty-one. He can’t do jack shit to me.”

“He’ll try to ruin you. Because of us.”

“Let him. Let anyone judge us. I don’t give a fuck. What we have isn’t wrong. Anyone who thinks so can go straight to hell. Are we clear?”

Finally, everything sinks in, and she flings herself against me, wrapping her arms around my neck and clinging tight to me. “I can’t believe you . . . oh, Flynn.”

My hands rub circles over her back. “I love you, Ella. I’ve always loved you. I want to be your protector and your provider. Can you handle that?”

She sniffles and draws back. “I think so.”

“Hmm . . . we’ll need to work on that.”

I pull her into my arms, and we hold each other for a while. She yawns, and I squeeze her one last time before letting her go. “Did you get any sleep last night?” I ask.

“Barely.”

“Come on, let’s put you to bed.”

She eyes me skeptically, as if I won’t be able to keep my hands off her.

Okay, it’s a valid concern.

“Let me take care of your hands first.”

Sweet and tender, my girl cleans and bandages the worst of it. I’m thankful she didn’t ask me to explain in greater detail what happened. I don’t want those images in her head. She’s suffered enough, and I only want happy things for her from now on.

Chapter Twelve

I don’t consider myself bloodthirsty by any means, but I can’t deny that a certain thrill takes over me when Flynn explains how he handled his father.

For me.

It’s the only justice I’ll ever get. I hate that Flynn had to stoop so low, but I’m also grateful.

“I’m not tired anymore. Could we go out together?” I ask.

He smiles down at me and rubs his hand over my cheek. “Sure. Any place special in mind?”

“Not really.”

His smile turns into a wicked grin. “I brought my bike. Are you feeling adventurous?”

Am I? “Yeah. That sounds like fun.”

“Ever ridden before?”

“Only with my dad when I was little. Before . . . ” Well, duh. Before he died.

He has me dress in jeans and boots. Then he digs through my closet until he finds an old leather jacket I never even wear any more and hands it to me. “It’s a little warm for this, isn’t it?”

“Trust me, you’ll want it.”

Once we’re on the road, with the wind whipping against me, I admit to myself he was right. The bike cruises beautifully along back country roads, and after a decent amount of miles, I’m able to relax and enjoy the scenery.

I’m more than a little confused when he turns onto a long driveway lined with rows of grapevines. We pass under a large sign “Masterson Vineyards.”

“What is this?”

“Mine.”

“You own a vineyard? Since when?”

“Since last year. It was a distressed piece of property my father bought for the location. But then he didn’t think it would be profitable enough, so he sold it to me when I took over my trust fund.”

“Wow. So is it up and running?”

“Yup. Five hundred acres. I’ve got a wonderful tour guide. We do tours on the weekends. And we’re going to start up production of olive oil within the next year.”

The genuine pride in his voice melts me. “I’m impressed.”

“I didn’t bring you here to show off. I want you to see that I can stand on my own two feet without my father or his money. Well, without any more of his money.” He flashes a quick grin.

My hand rests on his arm. “Flynn, I know you. I know how capable you are.”

His lips curve into a smile. “I also have a redevelopment project in the city I’ve been overseeing that’s independent from his corporation.”

“Okay.”

He sweeps his gaze over the breathtaking property. “I already had these things in the works. I was trying to sever ties as much as possible. I don’t ever want you to think you’re the cause of the rift between my father and me.”

His attention is drawn to his hands. “I would have done it slowly and quietly, but not after what he did to you. He needed to pay.”

“Flynn—”

“No. I shouldn’t have been surprised. He was always a tough-love sort of disciplinarian. But I never thought he’d do something so extrene . . . hurt you.”

“It’s done. It’s over. We’re free.”

He hooks his fingers into one of my belt loops and tugs me close. “You’re mine now. No one tears us apart ever again, Ella,” he says, his voice rough and husky as he stands there staring down at me.

“Never again,” I agree.

Chapter Thirteen

“You’re sure you’re not mad at me for stealing your idea?” I tease Summer.

Her laughter floats through the phone, loud and clear. “Of course not, Ella. Even if I did, it’s too late to do anything about it now.”

I’m on my way to pick Summer up, so we can drive to the Shore together. I didn’t steal
all
of her ideas. Summer’s bridesmaid dress is pink and white. She eases down the front steps carefully when I pull up, and I rush to help her the rest of the way.

“I’m fine. Knock it off,” she grumbles while brushing my hands away. “Grab my suitcase.”

I toss the suitcase in the trunk and hide my laughter as she waddles to my car. “I heard that,” she snarls at me, then laughs.

“You’re not going to drop that kid this weekend, are you?” I ask when she’s finally buckled in the front seat.

She pats her stomach affectionately. “I’ve got two more months to go, you bitch.”

I laugh it off since I know how cranky Summer’s been this last trimester.

“I can’t believe Flynn bought you a beach house as a wedding present,” she gushes once we’re on the highway.

This I’m happy to talk about. “It’s gorgeous, Summer. The couple he bought it from plans to stay to oversee things for now. Eventually, I think Flynn wants us to move there permanently and run it ourselves.”

“Oh my God. I cannot picture you two doing that. But hey, you never know.”

After the beating Flynn dished out, his father went berserk. He trashed Flynn in the media and tried every dirty trick he could think of to destroy Flynn’s company. We sat back and watched it unfold without responding.

Without a response from us, the gossip got old. People labeled Flynn’s father crazy and went on about their business.

The winery has been a success. A moderate success. Nowhere near the billions his father rakes in. But it belongs to Flynn with no strings. The hotel he worked so hard to redevelop has also been a success.

Control of his trust fund already went to him when he turned twenty-one, and that’s where he took the money from to buy our beach house.

“We never heard from Lena,” I say. “We sent her an invitation.” I’d wanted to try to repair things with my former friend. Maybe inviting her to our wedding was the wrong way to go about it.

Summer sighs like she does when she’s preparing to say something unpleasant. “Don’t expect any wedding gifts in the mail either. She’s pissed at all of us.”

“What? Why?”

“She thinks I set you two up at my wedding, and that you only invited her to your wedding to rub her nose in it.”

“That’s awful. I’d never do that.”

“I know. I tried to explain it, but . . . ” She raises her hands palm up and shrugs. “Don’t let it spoil your wedding.”

“Of course not. I just feel bad.”

“Fuck her,” Summer says, making me laugh.

“Are you sure Stu didn’t mind you going down a few hours early?” I ask.

I catch her glaring at me from the corner of my eye. “It’s fine. Pretty soon, I won’t be able to leave the house, so let me enjoy the road trip, would you?”

So much for enjoying the road trip. Summer ends up falling asleep. When we arrive at the beach house, I’m surprised to find Flynn’s car in the driveway.

He jogs down the front steps and opens my car door. “There’s my girl,” he says as he takes my hand.

“You’re here.”

“Missed you too much,” he whispers against my ear. Delighted shivers race over my skin, tightening my nipples to hard points.

“Um, can you two grope each other later? One of you needs to help me out of the car,” Summer shouts.