Missionary Position (Masters of the Prairie Winds Club Book 7) (24 page)

It saddened her to think she’d let the actions of one man have such a huge negative influence. She’d never experienced heartbreak before Simon Ericson walked away without ever looking back. Well, this time it was her turn to walk away from him—or at least from the damage he’d done to her heart. And the simple truth was, she’d probably used the experience to hide from her feelings because he really had been as honest with her as he could. Sighing to herself, she let all the sadness and fear melt away when she looked down at the gold chain coiled in Peter’s upturned palm. She couldn’t hold back her smile when she saw the small charm that would lay atop the hollow at the base of her throat. The small golden cupcake was engraved with the words
‘Mi Amõre’
, Lara was overwhelmed with emotion and felt the first tears slide down her cheeks. The fact they’d combined their pet names for her as a reminder she belonged to them, touched her more than she would ever be able to explain.

She watched as Peter turned the charm over to reveal a small hole in the back. “The key goes here. Fischer and I each have one, and we’ll wear them around our neck on a chain that matches yours so there is a piece of your collar over our hearts at all times. When your permanent collar is ready, we’ll schedule a formal ceremony and replace this set with the one we plan to wear for the rest of our lives.”

Lara was barely able to hold back her sob, but the fresh rush of tears gave away her emotion. Fischer reached forward and brushed the tears away, “I sure hope those are happy tears, baby.” When she simply nodded, he smiled, “Good to know.” And then looking at his brother, he added, “Let’s collar our sweet sub so we can suffer through a few toasts before getting the hell out of here, because I for one can’t hardly wait to fuck our sweet sub.”

The soft snick of the lock closing was the sweetest sound Lara had ever heard and she had about two seconds to enjoy it before Tobi’s and Gracie’s voices filled the air. She’d barely even gotten to kiss her Masters before her two friends wrapped her in a short robe made of fabric so sheer she wasn’t sure why they’d bothered. The next half hour was filled with congratulations and so many toasts Lara was grateful she’d followed Tobi’s advice and opted for ginger ale.

Peter or Fischer kept a hand on her at all times and Lara was surprised at how much comfort she found in their touch. For the first time, she realized how much more emotionally settled she felt when they were physically close, as if something in them settled the storms that often churned in her mind. Those storms had been why she’d gotten several undergraduate degrees without ever moving on to advanced placement programs even when she’d wanted to. Even her former boss, Cameron Barnes, had spoken to her about it when he hired her as a nanny for his daughter—a job she’d been paid for, but never gotten to do before he moved his family to the Caribbean. He’d reviewed her employment file and challenged her lack of focus and direction. Lara had always sensed the restlessness in herself, but she’d never been able to find a solution—until now.

Four Months Later

Peter listened as Eric Roberts spoke to the members of the Prairie Winds team gathered in one of the smaller conference rooms of Houston’s FBI headquarters. The building was large enough to allow team members to enter from several different directions, which helped disguise the fact they were meeting on-site. Anytime members of a team that was supposed to be covert gathered in one place the threat of exposure became an issue, so using different entrances and staggering their arrivals was a necessary inconvenience. Kyle West had told him on the way downtown the powers-that-be had been less than thrilled to host the CIA’s
tête à tête
. They’d finally relented in light of the fact there were rumors floating around that Lara was being watched, and being John Hunt’s granddaughter had no doubt provided them with an added incentive. Kyle had laughed as he’d recounted how the local feds had changed their tune when the oilman’s name came up in the discussion.

The past four months had been filled with a lot of changes at Dark Desires, keeping everyone distracted enough to push the concerns about Lara’s parents onto the back burner. Yesterday’s phone call setting up today’s meeting had definitely unsettled Lara and Peter hated seeing the peace she’d finally found in the past few weeks fade so quickly from her pretty blue eyes. She’d been invited to today’s meeting but had opted to spend the morning riding with her grandfather instead. He wasn’t sure if she was avoiding the man she’d known as Simon Ericson or bad news, but he and Fischer had agreed she shouldn’t have to attend the meeting if it made her uncomfortable to do so.

Neither he nor Fischer had been particularly thrilled with the prospect of Lara being near Roberts either, but their reservations were far different from hers. He and Fischer had both heard the man’s silent, but heartfelt regrets. And they both knew better to tempt fate by giving him a second chance. No—he’d fucked up his chance and she’d paid a hefty price for his lack of consideration so Special Agent Roberts wasn’t going to get another opportunity to hurt her.

Lara was rebuilding her relationship with her grandparents and personally, he was thrilled she was finally finding the balance she’d needed for so long. He and his brothers had a close relationship with their grandparents, so they understood the value of her relationship with John and Elizabeth Hunt.

Peter thought back on the times he’d bounced ideas off his grandparents and how often he’d found it easier to talk to them than his own parents. When he’d made that observation one afternoon while walking along the beach with his grandfather, the old man had laughed and assured him that grandparenting was a far better “gig” than parenting.

Their sweet woman had been spending quite a lot of time at their estate and Peter enjoyed watching her blossom as her self-confidence grew. John Hunt’s staff had assessed the contents of the safe deposit box and the estimates had been staggering. Lara had been unimpressed and she was working with her grandmother to set up a foundation to benefit several local charities.

Peter knew Lara wasn’t interested in the actual size of the trust fund her grandparents set up for her, and anytime someone mentioned it, she simply waved them off. Hell, if he hadn’t already been in love with her, Lara’s complete disregard for personal wealth would have drawn him to her like a magnet. The rare times she’d seemed to care about money were those when she was giving it away. He chuckled to himself when he thought about her phone call to CeCe Barnes, the two of them had brainstormed ways the money could be used to benefit crippled children in Cecelia’s U.S. and Caribbean clinics. Lara was excited about finding ways to use the money—their little sub had the soul as pure as any he’d ever known.

After half-ass listening to Agent Roberts while thinking about Lara, Peter finally zeroed in on the man’s words, “We have witnesses that are sure they saw the Emmons boarding a small fishing boat in Arica Chile three months ago.”
Three months ago?
If that was true, they’d had plenty of time to contact Lara. “We’ve also heard some chatter coming out of several of the countries the Emmons were working in—seems we aren’t the only ones looking for them.”

Kyle leaned forward to look over the papers Roberts slid over, “Looks to me like they better hope your team finds them first. Christ, they’ve managed to paint some pretty big targets on themselves.”

“And their daughter,” Peter practically growled as he skimmed the documents Kyle had slid down to him.

Roberts took a deep breath and looked over at Peter, “Look, let’s just clear the air here, okay? I know you don’t like me and quite frankly I don’t blame you. Hell, when it comes to Lara Emmons,
I
don’t even like myself.” Peter respected the fact Roberts was being up front with him but didn’t respond because it was obvious the man had more to say. “I know I don’t have a prayer of rekindling what Lara and I had, but I really did like her, and I’d like to be her friend. One of the things I’ve learned over the years in this business is that you can’t ever have too many friends.” Sighing deeply, Roberts seemed to take a several seconds to consider his next words, “Listen, I know the diamonds and bonds we’ve been looking for were stashed in a safe deposit box, I know where, and I know who cleaned the box out.” Smiling, Roberts let his gaze drift over to the West brothers. “Tell Tobi the disguise was great, but her perfume gave her away. I don’t know what that stuff costs you, but it’s worth every cent.”

Peter and the others laughed as Kent and Kyle both cursed under their breath. “The point is, I haven’t shared that information and I’m not planning to. Hell, the plans Lara and Cecelia have for that money far exceeds anything our government would do with it. Anyway, I don’t want either of your women in trouble. We’ve have a good working relationship and I don’t want to fuck it up. I have put the word out that the Emmons stiffed their daughter and that she’s as pissed as anyone about their duplicity.” Roberts sat in the large leather chair at the end of the table and looked directly at Peter, “The bottom line is, I’m doing what I can from a distance to make up for hurting her, and I’d really appreciate it if you and your brother would ease up a little and at least let me apologize to Lara. She deserves that much from me, and for what’s it is worth, you’re a couple of lucky bastards.”

The rest of the meeting was productive as they shared the intelligence they’d gathered and Peter wasn’t surprised to learn Micah Drake had discovered various homes the Emmons had purchased around the world. So far they hadn’t been spotted at any of those properties, but no one was betting against it since there were renovations being done to two of the more remote locations. The contractors insisted the changes had been slated and paid for well in advance so the only thing they could do now was sit back and wait.

Lara loved the feel of the wind blowing through her hair as her mare ran the track in front of her grandparents’ home. She’d forgotten how much she’d relished the freedom of horseback riding and hated the fact she’d let her mom and dad color her opinion of the two people who had never been anything but loving and supportive. She’d lost too many years with her grandparents and she was determined to spend as much time with them now as she could. Despite the fact she’d been young when the split had occurred, she still should have known better than to not at least
listen
to both sides.

Neither her grandmother, nor her grandfather expressed any bitterness, and that only made her love them more. She and her grandfather had brushed their mounts, laughing when she’d slipped and fallen directly under the beautiful mare she was planning to ride. The gentle horse had given her a look she could have sworn was just shy of an eye roll.

Lara hadn’t been paying attention to where her grandfather was on the track as they’d exercised their horses, because they had deliberately spaced themselves apart to keep the horses from giving in to their natural inclination to race. When she suddenly noticed her grandfather standing alongside the large gelding he’d been riding at the gate she was approaching, she quickly pulled up on the reins. Lara had heard people who’d experienced traumatic events say they felt as if the world had both slowed down and sped up at the same time, but she’d never understood what they meant until that moment. She heard what sounded like firecrackers going off a split second before her horse reared up as chunks of turf popped up from the track just a few feet in front of her, reminding her of corn popping in a hot skillet.

In the next beat of her heart, she realized she was sailing through the air and to her horror, she watched helplessly as her grandfather grabbed his thigh and slid to the ground, blood seeping through his fingers. She’d been so focused on her grandfather, Lara hadn’t prepared herself for the jolt of hitting the ground. The jarring impact of landing flat on her back knocked the air from her lungs and she lay there gasping for breath. Shouts filled the air around her and all she could think about was getting to her grandfather, and wondering if anyone else had noticed how pretty the sky was.
Why can’t I breathe? Those white clouds look just like cotton on blue silk. I have to get to Gramps, he was bleeding. Why did someone set off firecrackers around the horses? Don’t they know how dangerous that it? I must have fallen asleep. It’s getting dark out here. I’ll just rest for a minute and then check on him. Who am I supposed to check on?