When her voice cracks and she begins crying anew, I become ready to do two things. Fire the fucking housekeeper and get the locket back, by any means necessary. She will have it back and it will make her stop crying. There’s no other option. In the face of the angel’s anguish, I have completely forgotten about everyone else in the room, but when Veda peeks out from behind my shoulder to observe the table, I’m forced to remember I’m in a meeting with eight employees…and my seventeen-year-old, live-in girlfriend just made an appearance.
These are the best and the brightest, however, and their expressions have all remained mostly neutral as they take in a tear-stained Veda, although, there is definite curiosity lurking as well. Oh yes. Thankfully, they’re all paid seven figures annually and know better than to question the man who signs their checks.
I notice Veda’s gaze snag on Allison, but I don’t stop to question it. “Take a break. I’ll be back when this is resolved,” I say to the room in general, before guiding Veda’s huddled form out onto the landing. “Which end of the pool were you swimming in?” I ask, already unfastening my cuff links, pocketing them and heading for the lowest floor, where the pool is located.
“The deep end,” she says, her bare feet slapping on the tile steps as she tries to keep up with me on the way down. “I was diving off the edge…I must have broken the chain.”
We reach the bottom of the stairs and enter the dimly lit pool area, the smell of chlorine replacing the ever-present scent of bubble gum she projects. I take off my dress shirt and toss it down on one of the deck chairs, followed by my pants and boxers. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Veda lift the towel still wrapped around her body, covering her mouth with the white terrycloth. “Ramsey…”
I scan the bottom of the pool for a glimpse of gold. “Yes?”
“You’re…hard.”
“Yes, I know,” I answer through clenched teeth, bothered beyond measure at the lingering distress in her voice. “Did you think I could pass the night with your naked body sprawled on top of me and ever be soft again?”
My dick proceeds to swell larger the longer she looks, all wide-eyed and dripping with pool water. I shouldn’t feel irritation with her, but God help me, I’m aroused out of my mind. But I have to finish the upstairs meeting and send my employees on their way, before I can indulge my obsession. Her sudden appearance in the meeting has already spurred curiosity, no doubt. I can’t very well work out my lust on Veda’s body while they’re still upstairs.
Can I?
I see her glance toward the pool with a hiccup and know she’s still scared about losing her mother’s necklace. Getting it back takes precedent over my painful state. “I’ll find it, angel.”
“Please, Ramsey,” she murmurs. “It’s all I have left of her.”
I’m in the heated water before she finishes speaking, my middle lanced by the acuteness of her sorrow. My fixation on making Veda happy is tangled up with raw, sexual need and as I sink lower into the water, I realize how symbolic it is, this descent to the bottom, the lack of noise. I’ve left a meeting with millions of dollars on the line to cater to my borderline violent obsession…and I don’t give a fuck if it’s healthy or right anymore. The money doesn’t make me happy. It hasn’t for a long time. None of the luxuries have any meaning when compared to a smile painted on the angel’s mouth.
Heading directly for the drain, I see the barest flash of gold and swim harder. When I reach the white spiral, I manage to tug the necklace free of the suction just in time and kick back toward the surface. Through the blur of water, I see her standing at the edge, waiting for me, and the lights from above surround her head like a halo, sending my heart up into my throat. But nothing compares to the satisfaction of watching her face transform with relief when she sees the necklace in my hand.
“Oh thank God. Oh my God.” She falls down on her knees at the pool’s edge as I climb out, taking the locket from me and throwing herself against my chest, straddling my hips with her smooth thighs. “I thought it was lost.”
The towel has fallen free of her body and I finally see what she’s wearing. A white string bikini is the only thing separating us…both of us wet with pool water. Her nipples are straining against the damp, white triangles and my cock is pushing against the matching bottoms, dying to go to heaven.
“Thank you, Ramsey,” she breathes.
“Veda. Angel.” I press my open mouth against her neck. “If you’d lost that necklace in the ocean, I would order the goddamn thing drained to get it back.”