Her Alpha Avengers [The Hot Millionaires #7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (7 page)

“But you wanted to be your own boss, I’m guessing.”

He smiled at her. “Which is when I found out the truth about Cindy. It wasn’t me she loved so much as my potential for giving her a life of luxury.” He sighed. “Anyway, she wasn’t prepared to slum it whilst I made my mark. Two years into the marriage she left me for another guy who’d been at college with us and who
had
taken a position with a market leader.”

Sabine shook her head. “That is
so
mercenary.”

“I thought so at the time. Now I look upon it as a lucky escape.”

“You had a bad marriage, and Gabe had to fight to pursue a career as an artist.” She flashed another sapient smile that reignited Otto’s raging lust. “Now I start to understand why this is a female-free zone.”

“Gabe told you about his family?” He allowed his surprise to show. “That’s unusual.”

“He told me a bit. His father didn’t want him to be an artist, I gather.”

“None of his family did. His parents and brothers disowned him, until he hit the big time.” Otto curled his upper lip. “Then they were all over him like a rash, tapping him up for handouts, trying to fly on his coattails.”

“He didn’t tell me that bit.”

“No, he wouldn’t. His brothers keep saying that he’s being manipulated and that he needs a manager.” Otto scowled. “They’re the ones doing the manipulating. They insist that they ought to guide his career because they know him so well, so they’ll graciously make the sacrifice and handle his affairs.”

“And do they? Manage his career, I mean.”

“So far Gabe’s resisted their generous offer. Problem is, they’re at him all the time. They never let up, and I can see him giving in sooner or later, just to get some peace.”

“Money can make people very single-minded. Look what happened to my mum.”

“Yeah, and for Gabe it gets worse because he feels kinda guilty for abandoning his family. They never tire of telling him how hard they’ve had to work whilst he swanned around doing whatever he liked.” Otto rolled his eyes. “His father exploits his fame, too. He’s now a celebrity back in Kansas, living vicariously through Gabe. He seems to have conveniently forgotten that he tried to beat Gabe’s artistic instincts out of him.”

“That sucks.”

“And then some. The poor guy is getting pulled inside out by his damned family, but don’t you dare tell him that I expressed sympathy for his situation. It’s the last thing he’d want. Besides, I’d never live it down.”

Sabine laughed. “Your secret’s safe with me.” She watched his fingers flying across the keyboard as he set up another programme. “So, I’m assuming you made a success of your self-employment.”

“Right, which is when Cindy tried to come crawling back. So I know what I’m talking about when about it comes to fair-weather families.”

“Ah, I see.”

“We ain’t monks, babe, but none of us are looking for a permanent woman. We’ve all been there, and it hasn’t turned out well.”

“I can understand why, and I don’t even know Fin’s story yet.”

“You’ll have to ask him if you
do
want to know.”

“I just might.” She canted her head. “How did you finish up living with Fin?”

“He’s from New York and specialises in helping older people with their investments. He was down here and got chatting to my parents about making their money work for them. Like you just said, money brings out the sharks, and I was suspicious of him at first. Fortunately, it didn’t take me long to realize he wasn’t trying to rip them off. We got to be buddies, and I told him that if he intended to make a mark in Florida then he needed to base himself here. Older people prefer the personal touch. He agreed but then needed a decent website.”

“Which you designed for him, I suppose.”

“Right.” The desire to place a hand on her thigh or kiss her temptingly plump lips was compelling. He turned back to his screens to stop himself from making a move on her and scaring her off. “Whilst I’m waiting for something better to show itself, I shall see what else I can find out about Spencer.”

“Where will you start?”

“Well, we know he just got released a month or so ago from prison in Jacksonville. He’s out on parole, which means he’s being supervised, and the parole service will know where he was supposed to be living.”

“But you can’t just ask them, can you?”

Otto grinned. “Says who?” He patted his computer screen again.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to hack into their systems.”

“Don’t need to. We have a buddy who’s a deputy with the police department. He had some problems with a bad guy who was trying to bribe him into providing information about an ongoing investigation. Trying rather forcefully, as it happened, by threatening his young family. Fin found out about it, and we helped him to solve the problem.” Otto held up a hand. “Don’t ask,” he said, sensing that was what she was about to do. “Suffice it to say that he owes us one and will find out as much as he can. He’ll certainly be able to find out where Spencer was living when he first came to the States, who he was close to on the inside, stuff like that. That’ll give us a starting point.”

Sabine hid a yawn behind her hand. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s been a turbulent sort of day.”

“Sure. Why not go and get some rest? By the time you come down again I’ll be able to tell you everything about our friend Spencer, right down to his shoe size.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

She smiled, stood up, and stretched her arms behind her back. Damn it, why did she have to do that just when he’d gotten himself under control and had stopped thinking with his dick? It forced her tits against the flimsy fabric of her dress and got him all steamed up again.

“Off you go,” he said, almost gruffly, giving way to temptation and patting her cute butt to send her on her way.

Damn it, Otto thought grouchily, no longer quite so sure if he’d be able to take things slowly with her.

* * * *

Sabine, Mulligan at her heels, made her way up the stairs and let herself into her room, mulling over the surprising turn her life had taken that day. Fiercely independent, she was surprised how relieved she felt to have help with the search for Pearson. Perhaps stumbling upon a murder victim had finally made her realize what she was up against. Tiredness seeped through her, but for the first time in what felt like forever, she didn’t feel alone or afraid.

She sank onto the side of the bed, and Mulligan settled at her feet, resting his huge head in her lap. She absently played with his ears, wondering why she hadn’t realized before now that she’d been so damned frightened all the time. Perhaps because she had had to be strong—not just for herself, but because she was convinced that her mother wouldn’t be able to rest in peace until she’d stopped Pearson’s loathsome game. Fin actually seemed to think that they’d be able to recover the money as well, but she refused to get her hopes up. It mattered, but it wasn’t the most important thing.

Sabine couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so emotionally drained. That was hardly surprising, given that she’d been up since before it got light, had seen a man murdered almost in front of her, had been abducted, and was now ensconced in a luxury home, surrounded by three alpha avengers.

And all before midday.

She smiled at the thought, but that smile abruptly faded when she recalled that Spencer was dead. What with all the excitement, that fact hadn’t really sunk in yet. If Fin was right then he’d been used as a pawn, his life casually extinguished because of her. He might have been a criminal, but he didn’t deserve that.

Suddenly, it was all too much for her. Sabine dropped her head until her face was buried in the top of Mulligan’s shaggy head and cried her eyes out. Mulligan lifted a large paw and rested it on her arm like he understood her distress, which only made her weep harder.

She wasn’t sure how long she cried for, but when the tears dried up she felt a bit more in control. She sniffed and reached for a tissue to dry her eyes just as someone tapped on the door and Fin stuck his head round it.

“Sorry to intrude,” he said, his expression concerned. “I was passing, and I heard you crying.” He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. “Are you all right?” He shook his head. “Silly question, obviously you’re not.”

“It’s nothing.”

He sat beside her and took her hand. A bolt of awareness shot through her as his long, capable fingers closed round her palm. She tried to ignore it but was never going to succeed. He massaged her palm softly with the pad of his thumb, and the sensation homed straight in on her pussy, causing her to literally tremble with suppressed need.

“I disagree,” he said softly. “You don’t strike me as the sort who cries for nothing. Wanna talk about it?”

Sabine shook her head. “I’m just being tired and emotional, that’s all.”

“Tired and emotional is a fundamental human right. It shows you’re alive.” That set her off again. “Hey, what did I say?”

“That’s it,” she said, sniffing and blowing her nose again. “Don’t you see? Spencer, or whatever his name is,
isn’t
alive any more. He died because of me. It doesn’t seem right.”

“It isn’t right, and it isn’t fair, but no one said life
was
fair.” He stroked her hair, an oddly tender gesture that almost made her cry for a very different reason. “Life wasn’t fair to your mother, or any of Pearson’s other victims. He’s to blame for all this, not you. Don’t lose sight of that.”

“I know, but I—”

She looked at him properly for the first time since he’d entered the room and gasped as she absorbed the warm richness of a gaze full of sympathy and something that seemed oddly like admiration. The atmosphere crackled with anticipation as desire slammed through Sabine’s bloodstream with more force than a runaway truck. She held his gaze, moistening lips that suddenly felt as dry as her throat. She must look a wreck after that crying jag, but she got the impression that Fin hadn’t even noticed her red, swollen eyes.

Her hand was still in his, and suddenly, she felt emotional for reasons that had nothing to do with Spencer, other than that she needed to expunge all thoughts of his death from her psyche. She’d abstained for too long and had never been in greater need of the healing qualities of no-strings-attached sex. Otto and Gabe had made it clear that they weren’t into monogamy. That was okay. Nor was she, and she had no intention of clinging.

“How can I help you?” he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.

Surely he knew? He looked at her and didn’t move a muscle. It was almost as though he hadn’t spoken. Did he expect her to take the lead? She hesitated for so long that the situation was in danger of becoming embarrassing. Her nipples were so hard they were painful, her gut roiled with anticipation, and her panties were soaked though.
The hell with waiting on him!
She leaned toward him, unsmiling.

“I need you to help me forget,” she said and pressed her lips against his, daring him to reject her.

“Bringing on bouts of amnesia is a speciality of mine.”

Fin broke her hesitant attempt at a kiss in order to read her expression and make sure this wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction on her part. Satisfied that she knew what she wanted, he took control. This time it was him who claimed her lips, releasing her hand as he did so in order to pull her into his arms. The dog, presumably sensing that he’d lost their attention, left them to it and wandered off to curl up on a rug. Sabine fell against him with a soft sigh of capitulation as his tongue tantalized and teased her sweet mouth, delving inside to explore and then withdrawing again, ready to mount a fresh assault.

Fin had wanted to comfort Sabine any way he could the moment he saw her so upset. Hell, who was he trying to kid? He’d wanted her the moment he saw her on that damned beach this morning and comforting her hadn’t been uppermost in his mind.

All that aside, he absolutely didn’t want to take advantage of her momentary weakness, which was the only reason why he’d hesitated. Since it would hurt her more if he rejected her for her own good, there was only one possible course of action open to him. Besides, all rational thoughts had been driven out of his head by the raging lust rampaging through his body in response to the feel of her soft curves pressed against him.

Fin deepened the kiss whilst his hands wandered to her breasts. They were on the small side, yet plump and firm. Her nipples were rock solid, and he pinched them through her dress, testing out her reactions. She tried to moan, but he was kissing her so firmly that she only succeeded in nipping his lower lip. His cock, already painfully swollen, twitched inside his jeans, anxious to join the party. Hell, he needed to let it out before he caused himself a permanent injury.

Adjuring himself to slow down, Fin broke the kiss and smiled at her.

“You sure about this?” he asked.

“Don’t worry, I won’t read anything into it.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Otto and Gabe have both told me that you guys don’t do commitment. Nor do I. It’s not what I need.”

He caressed her with his eyes. “Then what do you need?”