Reckless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 2) (7 page)

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M
alia set the pictures down on her bed and tried to shake off the uneasy feeling. As much as she liked to call Robert out on his stalking tendencies, he never made her feel like this, at least.

As though she needed another reason to stay away from the Farrells. Just two quick days and she was already getting death threats. The only person she could think of who might want her dead for hanging out with one of the Farrell boys was her mother, but the whole threatening email aspect was a bit too subtle. No, Mom would’ve run out to that beach and slapped Malia for kissing Robert, whether she knew who he was or not.

Besides that, she was completely clueless about anyone who’d be possessive over her. She could count on one hand the number of guys she’d been with since coming to the island—or ever, for that matter—and none of them were the take secret pictures and send threatening emails type.

No. Whoever was behind this had to be someone related to Robert. For all she knew, he left a girlfriend back in New York who wasn’t too happy about his flirting with Malia.

A girlfriend who’d secretly followed him here? That was less likely.

Either way, there was nothing she could do about it now. She had a full morning and afternoon and she’d pay good money to see Robert show up to bring her back with him.

She pulled on her work shirt, a thin denim that kept her skin clean but let a good amount of air flow, and laced up her paint-covered tennis shoes. Today she was helping her buddy, Dean, repaint his drive-in diner. Once every few years, he went over the red accents to make sure they stayed bright and shiny enough to lure in the tourists, and he’d hired her to help out.

As soon as she had her stuff ready and in her backpack, she got her bike from the tiny backyard of her rental house and started on the six-mile ride to Dean’s. Because of the intense hills around the island, half the ride was just coasting and the other half was like torture to her thighs, but she had ridden her bike enough to be slightly used to it. At least it didn’t feel as though her legs were about to fall off her body and go running for the mainland.

Dean was already there once she arrived, and he’d sectioned off the place she’d be working for the day. Because he didn’t want to close to get this done, she was painting in three main sections, one day per week.

“Hey, Dean.” She leaned her bike against the side of the restaurant and walked over to where he’d set out the paint, brushes, and tape for her. The drive-in had a walk-up window where customers could order an assortment of fried fish, other meats, and some amazing fries. The walls along the outside tables and where customers ordered were all bordered with the wavy, red streaks that went with the white and red color scheme of the place.

She was just starting to press on the tape when Tina, one of the girls who worked there, came out the back door. “Hey! Didn’t realize you were coming over today. Want me to get some Loco Moco ready for you?”

Malia’s mouth watered at the idea of the local breakfast, but she forced herself to shake her head. “Nah. I don’t think I’d be good for much after all that rice. Unless Dean has a cot back there for me to doze off on for a few hours.”

“Diet soda filled with ice coming right up.” Tina ran back inside. A minute later, she was back with the biggest cup they had filled with ice-cold diet soda.

As excited as Malia was for the drink—the temperatures were already climbing close to eighty and it was only just past nine in the morning—she was rather confused. Tina and she had always gotten along okay, but they’d never truly been friends. Tina was a student at the university and worked at the drive inn for some extra cash. Sometimes they ran in the same circles but they’d never gone out for drinks or anything.

“What’s up?” she asked cautiously as she tried to figure out what was happening.

“It’s been a slow morning. I was wondering how your weekend was. I heard you took Chris’s boat out to show some tourists around?”

And she suddenly understood what was happening. “So word’s getting around, huh?”

“Come on,” insisted Tina. “You spent all day with one of the richest men in the world! Tell me everything! Was he handsome? I heard he was gorgeous. Or is he one of those handsome pricks? Did he tip at all? I hear those guys can be cheapskates.”

Malia bit back a laugh as she started to carefully cut out the more detailed curves so the painter’s tape would cover the non-red parts of the wall perfectly. “Robert’s, um, decent-looking.”
Okay, that was an understatement.
She’d seen the man in nothing but his bathing suit and had firsthand knowledge of exactly how beautifully ripped he was. She tried to use it against him. A guy with those muscles spent a lot of time at the gym. The kind of time that only a daddy’s boy with too much money could afford.

But that didn’t explain why she’d run her hands up and down his back with abandon when she thought no one had been looking behind Chris’s boat.

“He tipped okay too.” But she refused to take that as a sign of character. If anything, he’d only tipped well because he was trying to get into her pants. If she thought of it that way, his tipping well was really his roundabout way of calling her a whore. So there.

“I still can’t believe you got to spend all day with him. Did he mention if he had a girlfriend? Or if he was looking? Hell, can you give him my number anyway? Couldn’t hurt to try!”

No.
There was a lot of harm in trying, but Malia wasn’t going to burst Tina’s bubble. “Really, I spent most of the time talking to his sister and her boyfriend. They were really nice.” Jean had been much nicer than a Farrell had any right being, but that was easy enough to explain. Jean hadn’t been raised with the family. “But her boyfriend...now that was one guy who was easy on the eyes.”

She paused with her hands in midair, as she said the words. Colin had been handsome. He had an amazing six-pack and had been so sweet with Jean the entire day. But for some reason, until right now, she had never even stopped to think of him as attractive.
What the hell was wrong with her that Robert was so all-encompassing in her mind?

“Well, if he wants another ride, you tell him that I’m your tour guide apprentice, okay?”

“I promise. You’ll be the first one I call.”

“Good. I’ll keep those cold drinks coming.” Tina headed back inside to take care of the van full of surfers that just pulled in. The rest of the morning passed by in a blur as the drive-in got busier. Soon enough, she was pulling off her tape and taking in her progress for the day. It would be nicer if she could tackle this all in one go, but at least she had the rest of the afternoon free. Well, free to work another job. And she got paid more for doing it piecemeal like this.

After Dean paid her, Malia checked her phone for the time. It looked as if she’d get home just in time to lock the door to keep Robert out. If she had any luck, Robert would give up before her landlord and roommate got home at six. But when it came to Robert, she had a feeling her luck was running out.

That feeling became a sickening reality when she got back to her house. Well, what remained of her house. From the looks of it, the fire had been burning for a long time before she got there.

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R
obert saw the smoke from miles away. At first, he’d figured it had to be some poor stranger whose fire got out of control, but the closer he got to Malia’s house, the more fear built up.

After encouraging his driver to break every driving law Oahu had, the car screeched to a halt down the street. They could only go so far with the fire trucks and police cars. Robert leapt out of the backseat and ran forward. He didn’t look for the firemen or police or at the bystanders. He had laser vision for the petite brunette who’d burned her way into his mind.

And there she was. Sitting on the curb across from her house and looking in dismay at the wreckage. Without thinking, he ran up to her, took her hands in his and pulled her into the biggest damn bear hug he’d ever given.

He held her tight as he bent his head to the crook of her neck, taking a deep breath of her scent. One more way to verify that she really was okay. It was only when he lifted his head that he realized she was holding him tight, her arms around his shoulders. He was half surprised her feet were still on the ground.

“What happened?” he asked softly, considering he was still so close.

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “I came home from Dean’s and the fire department was already here. I think it’s almost out, but I won’t be able to get any of my stuff until tomorrow at least.”

Robert leaned back enough to take a look at the still smoldering house. Nothing was coming out of that house: anything that wasn’t burned was going to be destroyed by the smoke.

“Just to clear things up, I didn’t do this,” he said.

Malia let out a soft, bitter laugh as she pressed her forehead into his chest and twisted her fingers in his suit jacket. “A likely story.”

“Do you have to stay here?”

“The police already talked to me and the fire department is going to be here for hours. I don’t even know if they’ll need me anymore. It’s not my place and nothing of mine was insured. It’s just all...” Her voice broke. “It’s all gone.”

“It’s not all gone,” assured Robert. “Let’s just get you somewhere you can rest and regroup and then we’ll make a plan, okay?”

“Plan? I just lost everything I own. What is there to plan?” She surveyed the wreckage as an increasingly panicked look came over her face. “I just lost everything I own. Shit.” She disentangled herself from his arms as though she was surprised she was still there. She ran a hand over her hair, a rather ineffective move considering it was back in a ponytail. “I can’t go back with you.”

Not this again.
“Did you have somewhere else you were planning on being?”

“It’s Hawaii. Being homeless in Hawaii is like being on vacation. I just need to get a tent. Maybe some essentials from the store. I have a bit of cash...”

Was he hearing things?
“No. You’re going to stay with me.”

“No. I’m not accepting a damn thing from a Farrell.”

Robert tilted his head as he let that sink in.
She’d rather sleep in some cold tent on a beach than get help?
But it wasn’t just accepting help. It was help from
him
. Ever since she’d found out who he was, she’d been resistant to the idea of him being...well, him
being
. This was more than her being aware about the rumors and gossip about his family. This was personal. “We’ve never met before,” he thought out loud. “I know we haven’t slept together. I would’ve remembered.”

She squinted at him as though she was lost by the strange path of his mind. “What? No, we haven’t slept together.”

He wasn’t the indiscriminate womanizer that Nathan was. And Alex got around a fair bit, even though his nighttime activities were more discreet than Nathan’s. “You didn’t sleep with my brothers, did you?”

She looked as if he’d slapped her. “What? No! What the hell is wrong with you?”

Okay, he had probably scored some dick points for that one...maybe accusing her of sleeping with his brothers right after her house had burned down wasn’t the smartest move. “I’m trying to figure out why you’d rather be homeless than accept any help from me.”

“And your mental answer to that was that I slept with your entire family?”

“Why don’t you tell me why you don’t like me? I know there’s something and I’m kind of at a disadvantage here.”

She snorted as she wrapped her arms around herself. “Robert Farrell at a disadvantage. That’s a first.”

That’s it.
He was done with this conversation. “Stop pretending like you know a damn thing about me,” he bit out. “Now, I don’t care if you fucked every member of my family and everyone on this island. You’re coming with me. Now.”

“If you think I’m going—” She broke off as he grabbed her arm and led her to the car. She tried to jerk away from him, but he tightened his grip.

He tried like hell not to hurt her, but he was done playing around. It was time to get her away from this scene and somewhere safe. Whether she wanted to come or not.