Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (64 page)

“
This
is incredible.” Morgan's eyes scanned every detail of the
interior, and she instantly thought of a spaceship. So many buttons,
that she had no idea what they did.

“
Ah,
it was a birthday present to myself.” Gil buckled his seat
belt, and started the car.

Morgan
nodded silently, and thought of her birthdays past. Sometimes, she

would
get herself a new pair of jeans, or a lipstick that was typically out
of her budget. She also thought of her old beater car.
I wonder
if it still runs.
“It really is amazing.”
Yep,
this man is in a class of his own. Fucking Ferrari as a birthday
present....to himself.

“
Have
you decided?” The vehicle began to move, and Morgan could
already feel its power.

“
On?”

“
Hotel
or...my place?” The way he placed his words made Morgan's heart
stir in her chest. She felt like she'd just met him at a bar, and he
was asking if she'd go home with him for the night.

I
don't know you.
Morgan felt her
fingers clench tightly around the strap of her purse.
And
if I'd met you three days from now, like I should have...I still
wouldn't have known you.
She
took a deep breath and nodded, so subtle, even Gil didn't notice.
Nobody is going to hurt me anymore.
She
knew, to continue her job, she couldn't hold any reservations. She
also knew, she had to prove to Julianne she was ready.
But
I really wanted that bubble bath.
Morgan
wanted to tell Gil to take her to a hotel instead, not because of
fear, but she honestly wanted to relax a couple of days without an
audience.

“
How
about this?” Gil spoke, noticing her reluctance to answer.
“Join me for lunch at my house, and then you can decide.”

“
Sounds
good to me.” That, Morgan decided, was a perfect way to get
around it. Later, she thought, she could say she wanted to relax at
a hotel.

The
following fifteen minutes were relatively quiet, with the exception
of the beautiful rumble of the Ferrari's engine, and small talk about
Gil's family, and details about Belize City as they passed certain
attractions. Morgan was in awe by the beauty around her, and couldn't
wait to explore. The shops and restaurants called to her, but not as
much as the thought of the white sand beaches and clear ocean water.
Finally, it was her phone ringing that broke the silence between
them.

“
Sorry...it's
Julianne,” Morgan told Gil as she hit the answer button. “Hi.
Yes, I'm fine. Oh, I'm sorry! No, but he shouldn't be calling you.
Tell him I'm alive if he calls again. Angel had been calling Julianne
every hour, on the hour, making sure Morgan was still alive. She
giggled to herself, and put her hand over her mouth to prevent any
unladylike snorts from escaping. “Uh, actually...” Morgan
looked to Gil and smiled. “I'm with him right now.”
Julianne knew Morgan would give her the details through a text and
didn't pry, knowing the client was nearby. “Okay, talk to you
later. Bye bye.” Morgan was happy she ended the call when she
did, because the next words out of her lips would not have been
approved by Julianne. “Holy shit, mother of three-toed sloths.”

Chapter
Eight

“
This
isn't even a home...you can't possibly live here. Is this a hotel?
Are you kidding me?” Morgan didn't wait for Gil to answer, nor
help her out of the car. “Oh. My. God.”

His
home, three stories tall, and twice as long as any previous homes
she'd ever visited, looked like something one may only see in a
magazine while waiting to get their teeth cleaned. There was a wrap
around balcony on all three levels, and more windows than Morgan
could even count. An eight stall garage was on the right side, and a
massive gate on the left, that Morgan assumed allowed access to the
back yard.

“
Come
on, I'll give you the grand tour.” Gil took her hand in his and
the two of them crossed a small bridge over a creek that surpassed
both sides of his property.

“
You
do realize I'm only here for a week, right? I don't think I will see
this entire place in that time.”

“
Then
I'll show you the rooms that matter most. First, I'll have Sasha
start lunch.” He gave Morgan a squeeze of his hand, as he led
her through the front doors of his mansion. Almost instantly, Morgan
was greeted by a herd of white balls of fur, that she decided were
dogs.

“
Ah,
I hope you're not allergic or anything,” Gil spoke, as Morgan
dropped to her knees to pet the small animals. He quickly realized,
she wasn't. “Let's see...there's Dean,” he pointed to the
one licking Morgan's face at the moment. “Sammy.” He
motioned toward the small one in the back, “and this one
is...,”

“
Are
you serious?” Morgan broke out in laughter, and pointed at the
very last dog, the largest of the bunch. “Let me guess, that
one is Frank?”

“
Yep,
that's my Frankie boy. I hear a lot of judgment in your voice.”
Gil grabbed Morgan's hand, and helped her up from the cloud of
Pomeranians.

“
None
at all,” Morgan giggled again.

“
Mhmm,”
Gil teased. “Sasha?” Gil walked away, as if looking for
her, and left Morgan in the foyer with the dogs. Morgan fixed her
tank top, and brushed some white fur from her legs as she waited to
meet someone named Sasha. Within seconds, a man seemingly appeared
out of nowhere in front of her.

Startled,
Morgan took a step back, but regained herself just as quickly.
“Uh...hi. I'm Morgan. You're Sasha?”

“
Do
I look like Sasha? Who the fuck are you?” He had a handful of
grapes, and popped one into his mouth. Morgan put her hand down
quickly, when she realized the man wasn't going to shake it. Also,
she wasn't going to give him that courtesy.

Great.
Another bitch to deal with.
Morgan
smiled to herself as she thought of Markus' grandmother, and reminded
herself to keep in touch with the man. She hoped he would learn to
stand up to her, and things would start getting better for Markus and
his family.

“
No,
you look like an asshole. And I told you, I'm Morgan.” No
longer would she put up with someone being rude to her.

“
Ah,
you've got a feisty one on your hands, Gil.” The man took a
step toward Morgan, trying to intimidate her, but she took a step
closer.

“
Dammit,
Tony, leave her alone.” Gil returned to the room, with a
beautiful woman by his side. She looked exotic, with hair as black as
a night sky with no moon, and eyes that nearly matched. Her skin was
dark and her legs seemed to stretch on for miles.

“
I'm
just fucking around. Is this her?” Tony walked around Morgan,
and she could feel his eyes on her entire body. “She's hot,
bro.”

“
Get
out of here!” Gil pushed on Tony's back, and led him to the
front door. “You have work to do.”

“
Aye,
aye.” Tony gave him a sarcastic salute. “I'll be back
later. Have fun, love birds.” Morgan winced as the door slammed
behind him, then turned to Gil.

“
Another
brother, I assume?”

“
Yeah.
I'm sorry, he's a jerk sometimes. Morgan, this is Lisa, my sister.
She's the oldest of all of us.”

“
But
that doesn't make me old!” She gave Gil a slap to the arm.
“Nice to meet you, Morgan. Sorry to leave so soon, but I must
be going as well. I'm sure I'll see you later though.” Morgan
smiled, and told her it was nice to meet her as well, and watched Gil
walk her out.

“
Wow...you
have a beautiful family. Do...they all live here?” Morgan
finally had the opportunity to look around, and once again, her
breath was taken away. Gil smiled, and took her hand again as they
began to walk through a long hall.

“
No,
not all of them.” As Gil gave her a short tour of the home, he
explained that all of them were owners of several cruise lines. They
varied from huge vessels that traveled from one side of the world to
the other, to small sailboats that toured Belize's beautiful coastal
cities. The business had been started by his great grandfather, when
he'd owned a decent sized boat, and would take tourists out for
fishing trips, or city to city along the coast. It wasn't a huge
living, but he made enough to secure a larger boat, and hired his son
as captain. Within ten years, he'd gone from two tour boats, to ten.
Eventually, he'd saved up enough to expand even further. When he'd
passed away, the business was passed down to his son, and so forth.

“
Wow,
that's...just so impressive. What a beautiful story, Gil.” To
Morgan, it truly was. To see a family grow and work together as they
had for so many generations, it was something she found to be simply
amazing. “So, you all own this home, then?”

Gil
took a deep breath. “My father loved the ocean. It was
everything to him.” They were in the kitchen, and Morgan was
trying to pay attention to the story, and capture the beauty of the
home around her. She didn't know what his father had to do with her
question, but she listened intently. “Almost five years ago, he
was on one of his boats and a storm hit. He went overboard, and he
drowned.” Gil shook his head, and actually laughed.

“
I'm
so sorry, Gil.”

“
No,
no...you know what's amazing, Morgan? He died doing what he loved
best.” The part that Gil didn't mention was that his father had
been diagnosed with terminal cancer three months prior to his death,
so losing him while he did what he loved was much easier for the
family to accept.

Morgan
didn't know what to say, so she kept her lips pressed tightly
together. “Anyway...the entire business was passed down to me,
and me alone. Needless to say...the others weren't very happy about
it, and some still aren't.” They made their way from the
kitchen to another hallway, that led to an indoor pool. Morgan didn't
pry as to why he was left everything and not his siblings, but she
hoped he would tell her in time.

“
You
have a pool...in your home.” Morgan knew it wasn't appropriate
timing, but she couldn't believe her eyes. The entire room was dark,
except for neon blue lighting inside the pool, and across the ceiling
edge. Huge leather chairs lined the sides, and a television bigger
than his car filled the far wall. On the wall closest to them was a
bar that held enough alcohol to get an entire college drunk.

“
I
do. Please... sit.” He pointed to one of the chairs and Morgan
sat down slowly. Gil went on to explain that only he, Lisa, and Todd
took part in the business. Gil hadn't seen it fair for himself alone
to run it all, so he'd asked each of his siblings to join him. Only
one was reluctant.

“
What
about Tony?”

“
Tony...he's
like a wild stallion that needs to be tamed. Just in the last few
months, he and I have been trying to make amends, and things are
getting better. I've given him small jobs...to test him. To answer
your question though, only Lisa, and Todd live here with me, but it
is my home. Technically. But I couldn't do it without them.
Sometimes, Morgan,” Gil stood from his seat and began to
unbutton his jacket. “I'm just tired.”

“
It's
a lot of respon...si...bil...” Morgan felt her heart begin to
race, as Gil removed his jacket, then the shirt under it. His chest
was being exposed, one button at a time. “Responsibility. I'm
sure it's...” His shirt was thrown down next to her, and his
belt was being pulled through each loop slowly. “Really...hard.”

Gil
gave her a smile, and took a step toward her. Gil reached down and
took hold of her hand. He lightly pushed her hand into a small fist
that left only her index finger out of the mix. He moved forward a
half step and moved her hand to his front.. slowly allowing her
finger to run his entire length. “Some things in life are
very...hard, Morgan.” His cock jerked at her touch and Morgan
found difficulty in swallowing. Another smile formed across his lips,
and his pants fells to the ground, next to the pool. There he stood,
wearing only his red boxer briefs. “Join me for a swim?”
He held his hand out, but Morgan did not take it.