His Bahamas Affair (The Albury Affairs) (25 page)

Please
let it not be another pants suit!
“Sure. Come on mom.”

* * * *

Reno watched as Loraine
led her mother upstairs. He had been shocked when the woman spoke for the first
time, though it had been only one word. When they’d met at the resort, she’d
been polite but distant. The only emotion he’d seen in her was when she hugged
her daughter, thankful that she was safe. It made him wonder why they thought
she was safe with him until her father revealed they had no idea where she was.
His invitation had solved that, and Reno wondered if Loraine had even wanted
them to know where she was.

Well, it couldn’t be
helped at this point and with Robert Larson’s immediate attack, he’d had to
delay his surprise. He was forced to push it to tomorrow, which maybe was
better considering what he had planned then, if Jake and Gil got here in time.

Reno looked at his
watch. They were two hours late. On top of Loraine’s father, he couldn’t afford
any more huddles. After her father’s reaction, it was a good thing he hadn’t
invited her extended family. He couldn’t imagine what her grandparents would
have done, though it would have most definitely been worse.

He’d been alarmed when
Robert had demanded that Loraine get into the car and leave for the airport
with them. She’d smiled sweetly at him, hugged her mother, told Tyler to stay
and play with his cousin and proceeded to Reno’s Jeep without another word.
Relieved, Reno had gotten into the Jeep and driven home with a grumbling
Loraine, the Larson’s limo following closely behind. When they got to the
house, Loraine jumped out of the vehicle, and stormed in. He found her standing
in a battle stance in the living room, a few feet from the door like she was
determined to not let them enter any further into the house than necessary. The
necessary part, he realized, was the convenience of throwing them out with them
close to the door.

He moved to stand next
to her, telling her they should handle her parents calmly, but the moment
they’d walked in, she’d welcomed them with a threat. Reno noticed the amused
glint in her mother’s eyes, her lips pressed tightly shut as if to hide a smile.
He was surprised by it. Loraine hadn’t noticed, even when she shepherded her
mother to the couch before she moved back to blocking her father’s path.

He’d paced the floor
like an enraged bull and it wasn’t long before he started throwing his weight around,
which didn’t impress Reno one bit. He’d quietly watched the exchange, taking in
everyone’s emotions. He had to hold himself back so many times when he noticed
the hitch in Loraine’s voice and the threatening tears in her eyes.

How could her father not
notice the pain his daughter was in? Was he that cold? Then he realized that
Tyler would have been just like Loraine in twenty years if she hadn’t forced
Reno to see what he was throwing away.

He then turned to her
mother, wondering what she thought of the shouting match. The woman’s attention
was taken by his view of the ocean through his ceiling to floor window. She
looked at it longingly, her hands fisted on her lap like she was holding
herself back. A few times, she would close her eyes, tip her chin up slightly
and breathe in the sweet air, her lips spreading in a beautiful smile that
resembled Loraine’s when she was at her happiest. Susan Larson resembled a
white seraph porcelain doll needing a mall push to release the colorful caged
cherub inside. Reno was tempted to do the pushing.

Pulling himself to the
present, he face the two men, both staring at him with murderous intent in
their eyes. He’d expected it from Loraine’s father but not Jeb. What happened
to the sweet old man that was all smiles when Loraine was present? Now he
looked exactly what he was meant to be; an intimidating bodyguard with numerous
fancy fight training, ready to break Reno’s bones at the command of his master.
If the old man wanted a fight, fine. Reno got his training from the streets and
there was no better place to learn how to fight.

Reno spread his legs
and crossed his arms over his chest, meeting both their gazes head on. “My
invitation stands, but don’t think for a second I’ll let you ruin this dinner
for Loraine. One negative word and I’ll throw you out on your asses!”

Robert sneered. “As if
you could.”

“He’d need an army,”
Jeb added with his own sneer.

Reno shrugged
nonchalantly. “If I need back up I have Allan, Matthew and my brother Ruiz. And
if we don’t want to get our hands dirty, I’d just have to borrow Allan’s army.
He came with one big enough to protect the entire island. My brother-in-law is
a nut about protecting my sister.”

Robert stepped forward,
getting into his face. “I want my daughter home where I can protect her!”

“I can protect her just
fine!” Reno countered.

Robert shook his head
with a sad laughing as he moved back. “Not from this nut. Has she told you
about Pierre?”

Reno felt his entire
body go rigid as his arms dropped to his side. Jeb saw his reaction and smiled
smugly. The old man was close to getting punched!

“Yes, but she didn’t
say anything about him being a threat.”

“Well he is. Do you
want to put yourself so at risk to entertain Loraine’s current way of
rebellion.”

“Rebellion?” Reno
echoed shocked. The man didn’t know his daughter at all. “This isn’t a
rebellion. Loraine and I are building a life together here, with my son Tyler
and more children in the future if she wants that. We are getting married
tomorrow and that is the only reason I reached out to you. Though I wish I’d
waited until she told me about you before I did such a stupid thing.”

Robert’s face fell.
“What exactly did my daughter tell you about me?”

Reno heard the strain
in his voice and sighed. Hitting him when he was low would be a dick move, so
he said, “It’s a surprise. And as much as you are trying to ruin our lives, I
know Loraine would want you present. Everyone else she loves will be there.
Don’t tell her a thing about it. Now I need you to leave.”

“What about my wife?”

“She’s safe here.
Allan’s people have already been dispersed around the house and the resort. A
word to the wise Mr. Larson, your wife and daughter need you, not the public
figure. Loraine is still holding on, but soon she’ll let go of her little girl
dreams of having the parents she used to have and cut all ties from you when
something better comes along. I know, I’ve been there, and it was the easiest
decision I’ve ever made, though it hurt as hell. Your wife, she’s going to
reach her limit and I’ll have both your ladies under my roof because we’ll
welcome her with open arms.”

He sneered again like
Reno was nothing better than the spec of dirt on his shoe, but Reno didn’t
care. He may be nothing compared to the powerful Robert Larson but he had him
beat in the most important way—he had a happy and loving family.

Reno pointed to the
view behind him. “Your wife actually looked happy staring out of that window.
For the first time since I met her, I saw life in her eyes and it made me
wonder what you’re doing to her to make her so unhappy.”

Robert’s face fell
again and he quickly turned around and rushed out the open door, jumping into
his limousine. Reno turned to the man left in his living room catching a glint
in his black eyes that he quickly covered. Reno felt a sudden chill run down
his spin.

“Even with the threat
of Pierre, you are willing to keep Loraine, to put your entire family at risk?”

He nodded. “I protect
my family with all I have, Jeb. Pierre will have to kill me to get to her.”

Jeb’s lips spread in a
lazy lopsided grin, his black eyes shining in that glint that was present
moments before. Popular belief is a person could tell in someone was a
sociopath by how he smiled or the look in his eyes. Reno wasn’t sure how true
that was but Jeb was looking like a sociopath at the moment.

As he walked away he
said, “Sleep with one eye open Reno Albury. Locked doors and windows won’t stop
him.”

Reno thought he heard
him laugh as the door swung closed behind him. And judging by the chill it gave
him, there was nothing normal about it.

Chapter Eleven

Loraine watched her
mother with Tyler on her lap as they ate in the midst of laughter and
conversation. Well, her mother laughed as Tyler got rib sauce all over himself
and her. Loraine hadn’t been sure what to expect when Tyler patted her cheek,
leaving a print of his little hand. She’d watched her mother with bated breath,
praying she wouldn’t over react. Her mother had laughed, not even bothering to
wipe it off. Instead she painted her lips with the same sauce and kissed both
Tyler’s cheeks leaving a print of her lips. Tyler rewarded her with a smile and
a kiss of his own and Loraine could swear she saw tears in her mother’s eyes.

She never thought she’d
ever see this woman again—carefree and too happy to sweat the small stuff.

When Susan had asked
her for a makeover, Loraine jumped on that fast in case she changed her mind.
She had her mother remove her contacts and used the left over hair dye to
darken her blonde hair to a chestnut shade, and then she let it dry on its own
for natural curls. Seeing her mother for the first time as herself in twenty
years, Loraine couldn’t hold off the tears even if she wanted to. The next
thing they did was change her out of her skirt suit and into t-shirt and jeans.

When she’d walked in
the crowded room the first thing Reno said was, “Wow, Lori, your mom rocks
those jeans way better than you do.” Any other day she would have smacked him
over the head but she understood what he was doing. Her mother had looked so
uncomfortable before Reno said that and taking his brother’s lead, Ruiz dropped
a few lines of his own, giving her one of his seductive smiles. Her mother had
rolled her eyes and good naturedly flirted back until her father came into the
house. When he saw her, he didn’t say a word, just walked right back out and
disappeared.

That pissed Loraine
off, but she didn’t give her mother time to think about it. She pulled her into
the kitchen where the other ladies were, to distract her. They had fun, teasing
the two pregnant women—Amy and Riana—as they cooked. She loved cooking beside
her mother. It was one more memory with her she wouldn’t forget.

“Reno, may I have a
word?”

Her father’s voice
silenced the entire table. Loraine turned to the foot of the table where Reno
sat, staring across at her father. His face gave away nothing except for the
muscle in her jaw that always worked over time when he was contemplating
something. Loraine was nervous. Reno wouldn’t really say no to her father? If
he said yes, what exactly had they to discuss and is it going to make the
situation worse?

Loraine hadn’t spoken
to her father since their argument earlier on that day and she had left the two
of them talking then, which resulted in her father coming to dinner, but it was
clear he did so grudgingly. He hadn’t said a word since he’d walked into the
house and headed straight for the table where everyone else was already seated.
Except for the misstep and shocked hesitation when he saw her mother, had
turned into this longing puppy dog look before he masked it and sat down. She
had loved his reaction though she would have loved it more if he joined into
the conversation or paid his new grandson attention.

Tyler just stared at
him with big round eyes like he did every stranger before he made friends. He
was social like her but guarded like his father. But his grandmother had
distracted him with food, games, and conversation, and he would only pay her
father watchful looks from time to time. That usually meant her father would
soon have no choice but to make friends with Tyler because he was slowly
building up his courage to approach the grouchy old man. Tyler didn’t like it
when people were excluded. Her father eating quietly, stealing glances at her
mother while everyone else was having fun was exactly that. Excluded. Loraine
loved her thoughtful son.

Reno finally gave a
curt nod and stood. “We can talk in my office, Mr. Larson.”

“Can I come?” Tyler
eagerly chimed in, staring up at Robert Larson.

Loraine was shocked
when her father smiled down at Tyler. Ruffling his new short hair do he said,
“No kiddo, this is grown up talk.”

Tyler gave him a toothy
and rib sauce grin. “Okay, grandpa.”

Her father’s smile grew
to a grin as he nodded then followed Reno out of the room. Loraine exchanged a
happy look with her mother. The ogre’s heart was going to be fluff and warm in
no time with Tyler’s help.

“Mama!” Tyler yelled
holding up his hands palms out to her.

Loraine moved to the
cardboard that sat at the corner of the dining room that used to be empty,
nothing but a fashionable decor. She had turned it into a little bar complete
with different glasses and napkins. She picked up the box of wet wipes and took
her father’s seat.

“What do you think
that’s about?” she asked, pulling a few leafs and passing them down to Allan
and Mark who had the same sticky situation with their kids before she began
cleaning Tyler up.