A Love For Always (18 page)

He gave her more.

She started fighting against him, her struggle between the pleasure and its intensity took his control to its limit, tearing his climax from him.

“Fuuuuuuck!” He groaned as he came long and hard. His limbs stiffened even as his muscles seized. Nate continued to glide in and out of her, but he released her legs to fall to his sides. He cupped her face to kiss her gently before burrowing his nose in the tangled skein of her hair.
 
Still moving languidly inside her, he let the aftershocks shudder through him as his heartbeat returned to normal and his breathing calmed down.
 

“Nate?”

“Hmmm?”

“You’re heavy . . . and uh… hate to be a mood killer, but the condom?”

Shit.

Nate slid out. He was still hard, but even before he pulled off the rubber, he already knew it had broken.

Fuck.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“It doesn’t look so bad.”

Her mother spoke behind her as they trudged through debris and fallen plaster. It was late Monday afternoon when they were finally allowed to enter the restaurant. An engineer cleared the restaurant of structural damage, the crime scene investigators got what they wanted, and her restaurant was released back to her.

The stench of smoke, burnt soy sauce, and the beginnings of rotting food permeated the air, but like her mother said, it didn’t look too bad. Her office, as expected, was destroyed. It had holes on both walls and toppled boxes were strewn haphazardly on the floor. Her kitchen, though in shambles, sustained mostly cosmetic damages. Her ingredients were toast, especially those she kept in stock in her office. It would be better to just chuck the lot of them rather than pick through broken glass and containers stained by a hodgepodge of liquids.
 

Clean slate.
 

That was what she needed. After her business was tainted by her father’s operations, she would welcome the opportunity to start anew. She liked this perspective. She liked it a lot. Sylvie would just have to wait for the insurance adjuster to make an assessment and was thankful her extensive policy covered malicious damage.
 

Sam led the way of their little group, which comprised of Nana, Mom, and Taylor—her only employee present—with the admiral bringing up the rear.
 

“I’m surprised Rick didn’t show up today,” Taylor said. “He came out mostly unscathed from the explosion aside from the dining area, of course.”

They emerged from the hallway into the dining area and except for a few tables and chairs askew, it had mainly escaped the blast.

“Rick’s out.” Taylor’s eyes widened at her words. Not wanting to expound further, she changed the subject. “Kato wanted to come in, but his mother begged him to stay home a few more days because of his concussion.” She idly righted a chair. “Koji said if we didn’t need him, he wanted to visit his family in Japan.” She looked Taylor right in the eye. “I’ll be honest with you, it may take a couple of months to get the restaurant back into shape, but I don’t want to lose you. I’ll compensate you for two months, but I’ll understand if you want to find other employment.”

“But I’m not salaried—”

“We’ll average your pay for the past three months,” Sylvie said.

Taylor frowned. “I can’t let you do this, Sylvie. You’re taking on all the burden.”

“It’s my responsibility and what happened is my fault. And let’s face it, you can’t afford to take a hit right now.”

“I’m sure we can manage,” Taylor muttered.

“Look, stuff that male pride,” Sylvie retorted. “This is not charity. You’re not going to be idle sitting at home. We’ll be busy coming up with a new menu and may pick up some catering work. If you’re handy with the hammer, you’ll be subjected to other type of labor as well.”

Taylor grinned. “I’m good with a hammer . . . or a nail gun.”

“Fabulous.” Sylvie winked. She spied her grandma walking back to the kitchen. “Nana, watch your step; it’s slippery.” Sam signaled to her that he was watching Nana. Nate did good assigning Sam to them; she couldn’t ask for a better bodyguard.

Crap
. Thinking of Nate, she remembered she had to stop by the pharmacy after the condom incident this morning. No biggie right now, but it was better to take care of that boo-boo straight away. She’d been on the phone all day from trying to find work for her waitstaff to checking out opportunities with other restaurants in the area she could do interim business with while she got the restaurant back into gear. With everything else going on right now, the last thing she needed was getting pregnant.
 

“Okay, the insurance company will be coming in tomorrow to make an assessment,” she told the group. “We’ll leave everything as is.”

“I’ve taken a couple of pictures,” her mother said, holding her SLR camera.
 

“Thanks, Mom.”
 

Her mother smiled tightly and began fiddling with her camera settings. Sylvie noticed an odd tension between her mother and the admiral this morning. Her mom seemed to look everywhere but at the admiral. Interesting.

Lord, her mind was all over the place.
Focus, Yoshida.

“Taylor, can you come in tomorrow when the insurance adjuster is here?”

“Sure thing, chef.”

Sylvie nodded. “Okay, let’s get out of here.” So she could take care of her other problem.

*****

“Are we done here?” Nate asked, checking his watch.

“We would have been done sooner if you didn’t take that extended lunch break,” Beatrice shot back. “Where were you anyway?”

They were in a conference room with Travis and Ed going over new security contracts. Their business had almost doubled after the successful security gig with Senator Mendoza, a popular American Colombian lawmaker on the Hill. The threat of ISIS had also spurred the demand for security for high-profile personalities traveling abroad. Their business was still focused on political figures and foreign dignitaries, but they made a few exceptions for showbiz personalities, especially when they were on charitable missions. Neither Travis nor Nate had patience dealing with pop divas or self-absorbed rock stars dressed in skinny jeans.

“I had an appointment,” Nate answered vaguely. He went to a clinic to get tested because he was so done with condoms when it came to Sylvie. He wanted no barriers between them. Skin to skin. Anticipation sent blood south to his groin.
 

Beatrice’s brows shot to her hairline. “Hmm . . . Usually you have no problems sharing. Why so secretive nowadays?”

“I bet it has something to do with a certain ramen chef,” Travis interjected. “You’ve lassoed my wife again into doing your dirty work.” His friend sighed. “It’s your turn to get your ass handed to you by a woman. You’ve got our full support.” Travis looked confidently around the conference room. Nate had filled in Travis and Ed about the situation with Sylvie. Caitlin was scanning databases for information regarding the Asian Crime Syndicate, their business, and their enemies. “You’ve more than gone above and beyond for everyone in this room.”

“Thanks, bud,” Nate replied, smiling gratefully at Travis.
 

“Okay, why does it seem I’m in the dark about something?” Beatrice narrowed her eyes at the men in the room. “I know you’re finally pulling your head out of your ass regarding Sylvie, Nate, but I’m missing something.”

Nate didn’t say anything. Beatrice would ask the right questions soon. She was astute that way. It took two seconds.

“Does this have anything to do with my dad canceling his plans to Montana?”

“Yup.”

“He said he was staying with you for a while.”

“Yup.”

“Arggggh,” Beatrice exclaimed, slamming a binder shut. “Tell me already.”

“Uh . . . That’s a negative ghost rider.” Nate smirked.

Beatrice rolled her eyes. “Stop being such a frat boy, Nate. You’re, what, thirty-seven?”

He scowled at the redhead. “Thirty-six.”

“What’s a year?” Beatrice smiled with saccharine sweetness then her eyes speared straight into his. “Now spill. What’s my dad up to? What mess did you drag him into?”

“Beatrice, you of all people know your dad is not someone you can drag into situations. If he’s involved, it’s by choice. Was he ever forced to do something he didn’t like, not including situations when he had a gun to his head?”

“You didn’t blackmail him?”

“Again, do you think I’m stupid enough to blackmail Ben? If you ask me, he’s more powerful than the CIA director. The president goes straight to the admiral and bypasses everyone else if he wants to skip the bullshit.”

Beatrice’s chest puffed with pride. “That’s Dad.”

“Okay, I gotta go.” Nate jumped out of his chair. “I think you guys can take it from here.”

He knew better than to put one over Beatrice. The redhead was blocking the door before he got to it.
Mental note: sit nearer to the exit next time.
 

“Not. So. Fast. Reece.” Beatrice laid a hand on his chest. “Dad said he was doing security for you. I know Sam’s been assigned to you as well. All this to protect one woman? What kind of trouble is she in?”

“The mafia kind of trouble,” Nate replied. “We’re protecting her grandmother and mom as well.”

“How old is her mom?”

Trust Beatrice to go straight for the bullseye.

“Fifties.” Nate tried to make his tone nonchalant.

“Didn’t you say Sylvie’s mom was of Scottish heritage?”

“Yes.”

“Redhead?”

“Look—”

“Carry on,” Beatrice said, opening the door. “Looks like I need to invite myself over to your house for dinner.”

Travis and Ed started chuckling.

Nate shook his head in amusement. This could actually be quite entertaining—as long as Sylvie didn’t shoot him first. “I’ll let you know when.”

*****

Sam pulled into the parking lot of DTS pharmacy a little before 6:30 p.m. Nana had been a bit impatient because she had a roast in the slow cooker and wanted to whip out the side dishes with plenty of time to spare. Her grandma hated rushing. Not that Sylvie blamed her since Nana grew up most of her life on the farm.

“I’ll help you in the kitchen, Nana.” Sylvie hopped out of the SUV. “Don’t worry.”

“You know I don’t want to keep the roast on warm too long.” Nana heaved a sigh.

“I’ll be back in a jiffy.” She slammed the door close and sprinted through the pharmacy’s automatic sliding doors. She went straight to aisle six where she knew the pregnancy tests were located. Sylvie was pretty sure the emergency contraception pills were there as well. Except they weren’t. There were lots of condoms though, various types, sizes and uses.
Oh my
.

A shadow fell on her.

“What are we looking for?” a gruff voice startled her.

“Admiral,” Sylvie shrieked, her voice louder than she would have liked. Color burned up her cheeks. “A little privacy here.”

“Look, sweetheart, I’ve seen it all, but your grandmother getting antsy is no fun. And you’re supposed to have someone stick close to you at all times.” The admiral picked up a box of condoms. “I think this would work.”

“You think the Asian Mafia would have known I needed emergency contraception and have someone waiting in here to ambush me?” Sylvie said in a whispered tirade.
 

The admiral’s brows shot to his hairline at her slip. His lips were twitching as he returned the contraceptive back on the shelf. “What? Reece forgot to holster the gun?”

“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you,” Sylvie hissed indignantly. She did another cursory browse at the shelves and walked to the pharmacy counter, desperate to get away from the admiral and hoping he’d take a hint.

“How can I help you, dear?” the kind-looking pharmacist peered at her through dark square-framed glasses.
 

“Um, I’m looking for the morning-after pill,” Sylvie said quietly.

“What was that?”
 

“Emergency contraception,” the admiral spoke beside her. Sylvie groaned inwardly as she could feel her face flush crimson.

The pharmacist’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at Porter. “Yes. We have them back here.”

“I thought you didn’t need a prescription for them,” Sylvie said.
 

“We don’t,” the pharmacist confirmed. “But they get stolen as much as baby formula; we had taken them off the aisle shelves—”

“Gotcha. Okay. Fine,” the admiral cut the woman off. “We’re kind of in a hurry, so if you can just retrieve it for her and ring her up.”

“Sir, there are other ways to avoid this scenario,” the pharmacist shot back. “If you’re using a condom and it broke, you need to check the expiration date. Or you could consider a more permanent solution.”

Oh, my God!
Sylvie didn’t know whether to burst out laughing or bawl her eyes out. The woman thought she and the admiral were together! And the pharmacist’s blatant insinuation was not lost on anyone.

The temperature dropped around them as Sylvie felt the admiral turn rigid beside her. If his eyes shot icy daggers, the other woman would be dead. The pharmacist realized she had gone too far and dropped her gaze.

“Ring. Her. Up,” Porter bit out.

They were checked out in seconds. Porter grabbed the bag and shoved it at Sylvie and stalked ahead of her.
 

“Girl, you really could do better,” the pharmacist called out.

“Oh, we’re not together.”

The woman looked at her dubiously, but said no more.

Sylvie had a silly grin on her face as she hurried to catch up with the admiral.

“I thought you said you needed to stay close,” she breathed out.

“Not another damn word,” the admiral rumbled.

*****

Nate arrived at the house thirty minutes before everyone else. Nana hurried straight for the guesthouse, muttering something about a roast. Pru, Sam, and the admiral followed closely. Sylvie was about to breeze past him when he stopped her and hauled her up to his bedroom where he kissed the hell out of her. He had missed her all fucking day. This was exactly why he kept his feelings for her under control. Now emotions overwhelmed him and whenever she was out of sight, he felt unsettled.