Reckless (Fractured Farrells: A Damaged Billionaire Series Book 2) (6 page)

He let out a little laugh.
If only it were that easy.
“You think I’m scum. What could I do to convince you I’m not?”

She crooked her head at him. “I’m harder to please than the press,” she assured. “Just think of it like some cheesy romance flick. When the guy messes up, he needs to pull off some grand gesture to apologize to the girl.”

“You want me to treat the press like a wronged lover?”

“No. Treat the earth like one. You said it was an oil spill? Pump a bunch of money into conservation efforts. All I hear about from the geology and biology students here is about all the grants they’re trying to get for conservation. Well, start throwing some money at it. Try to do good with all the cash your father got through less than honorable means.”

“The company donates millions to charities every year.”

“Well then, you need to be less modest. Make a big deal of it. Make an event. Make sure that people know it.”

“Malia, are you trying to help me?”

“I’m trying to use your forces of evil for good.”

“So does that mean you’re changing your mind about me?” He approached her slowly. She was kneeling down in the water, so the gentle waves brushed over her breasts.

Robert knelt so he was at her height as well. The water was cold at first, but the second he was under, it felt warm.

“No,” said Malia. “I haven’t changed my mind about you at all.”

“Then tell me something.”

“I don’t have to explain myself.”

But he continued on anyway. “I know you had fun with me on the beach. I know you liked kissing me. So what the hell is stopping you?”

“I still don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Damn it. Give me something. I’m dying here.”

She let out a laugh and bit her bottom lip as she looked him up and down. “Dying? I doubt that. In fact, I’d be surprised if you don’t have some hot—”

Robert finally gave up and kissed her. He was so sure about this. So sure that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He wouldn’t apologize for being too forward with scheduling this. He’d wanted to see her again and he’d found out how. Everything in his past had taught him to go after what he wanted and not stop until he got it.

And he was damn tired of people thinking of him as the bad guy just because of his last name.

He cupped the back of her neck as his mouth moved over hers. He waited for the slap or her pulling back and cursing him, but she kissed him back. He would’ve muttered a “thank fuck” if he weren’t too afraid to break his string of good luck.

Under the water, his free hand wrapped around her back and pulled her against him. The feel of her tight body pressed against him. Before he could deepen the kiss, the sounds of splashing and laughter grew closer. Reluctantly, Robert pulled his head back and savored the sight in front of him. Malia was taking deep breaths, her breasts pressing against his chest with each inhale, as her hands ran along his arms.

“So you don’t completely hate me then?”

Malia rested her forehead against his chest. “I don’t like you either.”

He’d take that as a win. “From now on, you can’t deny it. There’s something between us.”

Before she could say anything, Colin’s and Jean’s voices came from the other side of the boat and Malia pulled away.

Robert stayed where he was. He didn’t think he should be getting out of the water until he had better control over himself, or else Colin and Jean would know exactly what he and Malia had been doing behind the boat.

Even as he waited, he smiled to himself. Malia was warming to him. It was only a matter of time now.

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A
fter Robert said good-bye to Jean and Colin, he headed back to his room, which doubled as his office for the week. The resort had cordoned off a separate conference room to use as much as he wanted during the week, but unless he was meeting with someone, he worked better in his presidential suite.

Mainly because the only people who would walk in to interrupt him there were the maids, and they would stay away if he left the notification on the door.

He powered up his laptop and cleared his mountain of emails one by one, even though he only thought of one thing.
How he could see Malia again.
It was hard to get back into the working mode after the day he’d had. He thought back to how Malia had looked as she’d steered the boat back to the dock. The flush that crept under her tanned skin every time she glanced in his direction.

It was obvious she regretted the kiss. Both kisses. But she still kissed him back. He smiled in victory at the memory. No, he had gotten closer to cracking the mystery that was Malia. Even though she acted like they were no more than strangers as she’d said good-bye to Jean and Colin, there was something more between them. Damn, it was going to be fun to figure out what that was.

She already thought he was a stalker after his surprise appearance today, and he didn’t want to spook her more. She had just started to thaw before they had to head back for the day. He’d closed enough deals in his time to know that once he had momentum, he had to keep charging ahead until his adversary gave in.

Malia would probably slap him cold if she knew he was thinking of her in terms of a real estate deal. He smiled at the thought. As strange as it was, that was a compliment in his world. She was complex and intricate and one hundred percent worth all of his effort.

Make that two hundred percent
, he mentally corrected as he remembered the feel of her strong, soft body against his.

But getting Malia out of his mind became much more difficult when the picture popped up in the next email he opened. More specifically, pictures of them kissing. One from that first night on the beach and one from just a few hours ago. Robert straightened as he scrolled up to the email address. Nothing he recognized. Just a random assortment of numbers and letters in no particular order.

Then he read the note. “Touch her again and she dies.”

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M
alia might have accused Robert of being a stalker before, but he’d shrugged off the comment. Now that he was standing outside her home, he was one hundred percent certain he’d crossed a line somewhere.

He was also one hundred percent certain he didn’t care.

The house she was staying at was a few miles out of Honolulu, so the streets weren’t quite as crowded or packed in. Not that the place was huge. It was a modest cream-colored place with the open garage area that was filled with bikes and various swimming gear. There was no door on the garage, so Robert was willing to bet that there were surfboards or paddle boards in the back.

Based off what the bartender, Moe, had told him, she rented out a room in the place, but Robert didn’t know who she lived with. Another reminder that he knew nothing about her.

He glanced up and down the road where the cab had dropped him off. He’d purposefully gone with the cab so he wouldn’t draw as much attention to himself. He didn’t see anyone keeping tabs on him, but he hadn’t noticed anyone snapping photos earlier. Not that he would. He was surrounded by people on a normal basis. He was used to tuning out the people in his peripheral.

But the longer he stood on the street staring at the house, the more attention he was going to draw. So Robert finally bit the bullet and strode up the driveway, where he rang the bell. And then rang it again. And as the minutes ticked by, he rang it a third time.

He knew it was working because he could hear the chimes even from his position on the porch. There was a chance she wasn’t home. It was eight o’clock in the morning, and even though plenty of people here lived on island time, Malia seemed as if she was the kind who was always on the go.

But Robert wasn’t ready to give up yet. He switched tactics and pounded on the door. “Malia! Open up!” And he kept right on pounding until the door finally opened and a pissed-off Malia stared him down.

“Have you gone full psycho?” she snapped.

Well, it was even harder to feel bad when she looked so damn cute. She wore another pair of short denim cutoffs and a skintight blue tank top that showed off more than it covered up. “Well, I called first.”

“I screen my calls.”

“I left messages.”

“Take a hint, Farrell. I don’t want anything to do with you. I know you think there’s something between us, and I know that being told no is a revolutionary concept to you, but I. Don’t. Want. You.”

People didn’t ignore his messages. Maybe his assistant’s calls, but when he personally picked up the damn phone, he expected a response. “If you had listened to those messages, you would’ve known about these.” He handed over a manila folder and for a second Malia didn’t take it. She just stared suspiciously as though it were a snake about to bite her at any moment.

“What is it?”

“One more thing you would’ve known if you’d bothered to listen to my messages.”
Son of a bitch. She must’ve just deleted them without listening.

Malia snatched the folder from him and opened it. He had to admit that she kept her face rather steady as she looked over the photos and the threatening note in the email. “Where did you get these from?”

“That’s the exact email I opened when I got back to my room yesterday. It looks like you have a secret admirer.”

“Me? Hey, my life is perfectly normal. You’re the one who must’ve pissed someone off. You’re a Farrell.”

“Someone who followed me all the way to Hawaii to stalk me? No. I think one of your wannabe boyfriends saw you getting sweet with a tourist and they got jealous.”

“Pft,” she breathed as she bent in to look closer at the pictures. “I don’t have any boyfriends, wannabe or otherwise.” She must’ve realized who she was talking to because she glared at him over the folder. “And don’t even pretend you want to be my boyfriend. I know exactly what you want.”

He highly doubted that. At this point, Robert barely knew what he wanted. It wasn’t as though he’d never been turned down by women before. Just usually they had excuses like “I’m married” or “I have a runway show in Milan that day.” Malia had turned him down cold turkey and still hadn’t given him one damn explanation.

And he knew for a fact that she was attracted to him. She couldn’t hide that.

“No matter what I do or don’t want, someone took these and doesn’t want me hanging around you.”

“So the first thing you did after getting these was come knocking on my door? Are you sure you’re not the one who wants me dead?”

“You deserved some type of warning and, considering that you never called me back or tried to get a hold of me in any way, yes, I figured this warranted an in-person visit.”

“Great. I’ve been warned. Now will you leave?”

He didn’t make any motion to get off the porch. “Someone might want you dead. Shouldn’t we go to the police?”

“They only want me dead if you keep on hanging around me. Therefore, you leave and we’ll be better off.”

“I think you should come back to the resort with me.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it as she considered him. “I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time following your train of thought right now. How would me going to the resort with you be any better?”

“Because I can keep an eye on you. Make sure you’re safe.”

“I’m willing to entertain the idea that you’re not a complete moron. You might actually be good at all the business stuff that your family is known for. But I fail to see how any of this qualifies you to be a bodyguard.”

“Once you’re under my protection, no one will think about hurting you.”

“As enticing as that idea sounds, I don’t need anybody’s protection. Good-bye, Robert.”

She started to shut the door in his face, but he stuck his foot in to keep it open a crack. “This isn’t over, Malia,” he warned.

“Just give me one good reason why it can’t be over?”

“You have three hours to pack your bags and get your affairs ready. Then I’m coming back to pick you up.”

She faked a smile. “I’ll be here with bells on.”

Robert removed his foot from the door. He knew she was lying, but it didn’t matter. He was coming back as soon as he finished up his ten a.m. conference call with Jonathan and Lindsey, and then he’d be able to devote the entire rest of the day to getting Malia to come back with him—whether she wanted to or not.