Their Seductress [The Hot Millionaires #1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (22 page)

“Not fucking hard enough,” he muttered when his gaze fell on the deathly pale Paige.

“Call 911,” he yelled at Nick.

“On it.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, but it was soaking wet and completely useless. “I’ll go in the house and call. Is she going to make it?”

“If I have any say in the matter.” Isaac’s voice resonated with determination. He pushed down on her sternum again and again, willing her heart to keep pumping, hoping he was doing it right as he rhythmically repeated the action. He alternated between heart stimulation and holding her nose as he breathed into her mouth. “Come on, Paige. Come on. Don’t leave me now, baby. Don’t let her win.”

Nick reappeared. “They’re on their way. I rang Weir, too.”

“Good. Keep an eye on her.” He nodded toward Lana, on her feet and creeping round the edge of the pool when she thought no one was watching her.

“Take your filthy hands off me!” she yelled at Nick when he grabbed her. She brought her knee up, took Nick by surprise, and caught him squarely in the scrotum.

“Shit!” He let her go immediately as he doubled over with pain.

Isaac couldn’t leave Paige, but he was worried about Lana. She was desperate enough to try anything and didn’t seem to realize it was all over. Her sort never did. What if she had a gun in the house?

Isaac spared a glance for Nick. His face was puce, his hands protectively covering his genitalia.

“Can you get her?” he asked.

Before Nick could answer, a small voice cried out from the door. “Mommy, what are you doing? You’re all wet. Why did you go swimming with your clothes on?”

Lana glanced at her child. Her gaze flipped to Paige, and all the fight appeared to drain out of her. She lunged for the child and scooped him into her arms, holding him so tight that he protested vehemently and then started to cry. Isaac barely noticed. He was still desperately worried about Paige. She hadn’t shown the slightest reaction to his ministrations. Once again, he wondered if he was doing it right. It was all very well to try these things in theory but… He blew into her mouth again and almost fell sideways when a long stream of water fountained from Paige’s mouth, drenching him. He shouted with triumph. It tasted sweeter than vintage champagne.

Her eyes fluttered open. She looked at him for a moment with incomprehension in her eyes.

“You all right, babe?” he asked anxiously.

Paige attempted a weak smile. “What kept you?” she asked before passing out again.

Things happened quickly after that. Weir and the paramedics arrived together. The professionals took over with Paige. She was still unconscious and only now that he knew she wasn’t dead did Isaac notice the nasty bash to the side of her head. It had almost stopped bleeding, and the paramedics seemed more concerned with stabilizing her breathing than dressing the wound. They wrapped her in a foil blanket and attached a saline drip to her arm, working calmly and competently enough to just about assuage Isaac’s worst fears.

While all this was going on, Isaac and Nick exchanged a few words with Weir. Lana was being handcuffed and read her rights by Detective Archer as they did so. A woman officer had taken charge of Joe. Mike was apparently on his way.

“We’ve got her for attempted murder of Ms. Fairfax,” Weir said with satisfaction. “And something tells me she’ll cough on Ms. Carter’s murder, too, now that she knows the game’s up.”

“She’s a fucking maniac.” Isaac trembled with rage when he thought of how things could have—would have—ended if he and Nick had arrived literally one minute later.

“No arguments there,” Weir said, scratching his head. “I wonder what tipped her over the edge.”

“Hopefully Paige learned something to make her near-death experience worthwhile,” Isaac said, grinding his teeth.

“You need to get out of those wet things, both of you,” Weir said.

“Yes, Mom,” Nick said, making them laugh and lightening the mood.

“We’re ready to take Ms. Fairfax to the hospital now,” one of the paramedics said.

“How is she?” Weir asked.

“Still unconscious. We need to get her checked out. That knock to the head might have concussed her.”

“I’m coming with her,” Isaac said in a tone that brooked no argument, forgetting all about his wet clothing. He threw his car keys to Nick. “Don’t bend it if you can help it,” he said with a ghost of a smile.

* * * *

Paige opened her eyes, wondering why she felt as though she was floating. Where was she? Everything was so white—the wall, the ceiling, the lights that were too bright for her eyes. She felt pressure on her hand, turned her head, and looked directly into Isaac’s worried eyes.

“Hey,” he said. “Welcome back. How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been run over by a truck.”

“Glad to have you with us again,” said a voice from her other side.

She turned to smile at Nick, a warm feeling spreading through her body when she realized that both of her protectors were there for her. “You two took your time.”

Isaac opened his mouth, presumably to read her the riot act, and closed it again. “You gave us quite a scare,” he said, his voice choked.

“Sorry,” she said humbly. “But at least I know what happened now. Why she did it.”

“You can remember.”

Paige blinked. “Yes, why shouldn’t I? If someone tried to knock your brains out and then drown you, I bet you’d remember the details.”

“The doctor said you might be concussed,” Nick said.

“I don’t think so, but I will admit to a headache.”

“Hardly surprising.” Isaac rang the call button. “We were told to let them know when you woke up.”

“How long have I been in hospital? I assume that’s where I am.”

“It’s six in the evening. They brought you in at two. You’ve been out all that time.”

She smiled and then winced. “What’s the matter?” two concerned voices asked.

“It hurts to laugh,” she said, and promptly did precisely that.

The laughter turned to tears, and she was sobbing her heart out against Isaac’s shoulder when the doctor came in.

“A natural reaction,” he said calmly. “Now, let’s have a look at you, Ms. Fairfax.”

He shone a light in her eyes whilst a nurse took her pulse and temperature. He asked her name, date of birth, what day of the week it was, and the name of the president. He smiled as though she’d passed some great test when she answered him correctly.

“No concussion then,” he said. “But we’ll keep you in overnight and do a scan in the morning, just to be on the safe side.”

“I don’t want a scan,” Paige said. “I just want to go home.”

“Tell you what,” the doctor said, obviously used to difficult patients like her. “I’ll make a deal with you. You stay overnight, and if your condition hasn’t deteriorated, then you can go home in the morning. If it has then you have to agree to the scan. Deal?”

“Deal, I suppose.”

Paige proffered the hand without a drip attached to it, and the doctor shook it gently.

“Thirsty?” Nick asked.

“Dry as a bone, but don’t you dare give me chlorinated water.”

“Nothing much wrong with her if she still has her sense of humor,” Isaac said.

Nick held a drinking cup to Paige’s mouth, and she sucked water through the straw.

“That’s better,” she said, sitting back against the pillows that Isaac thumped into position for her.

“Feel up to telling us what happened there?” Isaac asked.

Slowly, her voice croaky, Paige told them everything.

“I never would have guessed that about Mike,” Isaac said, cracking a laugh.

“Nor I,” Paige said. “And that’s the way Lana wanted it to stay. What’s more, she was prepared to do whatever it took to try and make sure that it did. ”

“Just to think,” Nick mused. “Catching that chance glimpse of Greg and Ellie at play put a blight on the kid’s entire life.”

“I hope you’re not feeling sorry for her,” Isaac said, scowling.

“I think she would have resented Ellie anyway,” Paige said. “From what I can gather, her dad wasn’t that attached to Lana’s mother and lavished his attention on the kids instead. All that changed when he met Ellie because she enjoyed the same things in the bedroom that he did. Lana couldn’t come between them and was astute enough to realize it, so instead she set out to be the model daughter and make her father proud of her.”

“Which is why she married Mike and stayed with him, even when the relationship fell apart,” Isaac surmised.

“Yes.”

“The police will need a statement,” Nick said.

“They can wait until tomorrow,” Isaac countered. “Paige needs to rest. Not that she deserves to after running off and playing detective all on her own.”

“Sorry,” she said, smiling meekly at Isaac. “Couldn’t seem to help it.”

“You will be sorry when I get you home,” he said, smiling too as he brushed the hair gently back from her scalp. There was a large dressing on the side of her head. The wound had needed a few stitches but, thankfully, wasn’t that deep.

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.”

Nick stood up and kissed Paige softly on the lips. “You’ll be all right with this brute while I go and ring Weir?” Paige nodded cautiously. “I’ll tell him what you’ve told us. It might help him with the questioning. Then I’ll be right back. Don’t be too hard on her,” he added, wagging a finger at Isaac.

Paige’s gaze collided with Isaac’s as soon as they were alone. Isaac couldn’t seem to stop looking at her—battered, bruised, but breathing.

“Hey,” he said. “You did it, you fiery little madcap you. Against all the odds you’ve brought our friend’s murderer to book, but you didn’t need to almost get yourself killed in the process.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t ever frighten me like that again,” he said sternly. “Without you I don’t think I could—”

“Shush!” Paige, the injured party, took on the role of comforter. “It’s all right,” she said softly. “I’m here, and Ellie can now rest peacefully.”

“So can you, and I’m staying to make sure you do.” He offered her an intimate smile. “I don’t trust you anymore.”

“I promise to stay here like a good girl. You go home and rest yourself. You look beat.”

“It’s not open for negotiation, Paige. I’m staying, and that’s the end of it.”

“Still being bossy, is he?” Nick asked, slipping back into the room.

“What did Weir say?” they asked together.

“He’s over the moon with what you found out,” Nick said, resuming his seat. “Lana isn’t talking. Said you fell in the pool and she was trying to rescue you, not kill you.”

Paige harrumphed. “Of all the nerve!”

“Don’t worry, no one believes it. She says you were drunk on vodka.”

“She put vodka in the iced tea she gave me and thinks I drank it. I hate iced tea but didn’t want to be impolite, so I fed it to a potted plant.”

Both men roared with laughter. “Atta girl!” Isaac said, raising the hand he was holding to his lips and kissing the back of it.

“How’s Mike?” Paige asked.

“He’s pretty shaken up.” Nick’s expression was uncharacteristically somber. “He’s at home with the kids and has left Lana to the tender mercies of her lawyer. As far as I know, he’s not aware that she spoke out about his cross-dressing.”

“Knowing how paranoid she was about it, I would imagine it’s the last thing he’d expect her to admit,” Isaac said.

“I guess Weir will have a few probing questions to ask him, now that he’s clued in. He’ll need to corroborate Paige’s account.”

Isaac nodded. “The police also will get a search warrant and find his hidden wardrobe, I would imagine.”

“Poor Mike,” Paige said, sighing. “It was a pretty harmless fetish. Shame Lana was so uptight about it.”

“Lana wanted her family life to be picture-book perfect,” Isaac said, squeezing Paige’s fingers. “She’d built up her parents’ relationship in her mind as
the
most perfect union since Eve caused such mayhem by eating that damned apple. She was going to replicate her idyllic childhood for her own family and sweep anything that didn’t slot into place—”

“Like Mike’s cross-dressing?”

“Like that, under the carpet.”

“I got the impression that she’d been waiting all these years to get her revenge on Ellie. That’s why she was so determined that Mike would take her job.”

“She’s one screwed-up, vindictive broad,” Nick said, grimacing. “Anyone who can nurture a grudge for so long is damned dangerous.”

“Not anymore,” Isaac pointed out.

Paige’s eyelids drooped, and she stifled a yawn.

“Tired, gorgeous?” Isaac asked.

“A bit. I think they must have given me something.”

“Go home,” Isaac said to Nick. “I’ll stay with her.”

Nick stood and kissed Paige’s brow. “I guess I have funeral arrangements to make.”

“Oh yes.” Paige tried to sit up. “I’ll help you. I’ll—”

“You’ll rest,” Isaac said firmly. “Nick can cope.”