The Ceo's Contracted Mistress
The Ceo’s Contracted Mistress Chapter 47

They had been on the island five full days and Bobbie was ready to throttle her children and their father. It was a bright, sunny morning and the kids were laying on the floor of the living room, trading insults over which video game they should play.

Olivier had vanished to take a phone call from Riggs, leaving her to clean up the breakfast mess and to referee the arguing demons.

“It’s nice out. Put the game away and go outside!” she yelled from the kitchen sink.

“Papa said to wait for him, and he’d take us fishing.” Max called back, “he said to entertain ourselves until he was ready.”

She closed her eyes and began slowly willing herself to count to ten before she went into the other room and jumped with her two feet onto the gaming console and the shoved the pieces of it up Olivier’s backside. Her phone rang on the counter, and she was grateful for the distraction when she saw it was Everly.

She sat at the table and opened the video call, smiling when her friend’s face came into view, “come rescue me from paradise.”

“I’m on my way,” Everly grinned. “I could go for some beach time. You look like you’ve gotten some sun.”

“I have but I’m stupidly edgy today. The kids are bickering like mad, and Olivier vanished so I’m stuck listening to them on my own.” She grumbled with a snarl. “Maybe I need more coffee.”

“Coffee,” Everly sighed, “I miss coffee.”

“How are you feeling?” Bobbie jumped on the change of topic. “Everything good?”

“Great. No morning sickness yet and otherwise feeling great! It’s going to be the longest pregnancy in the history of pregnancies considering I knew two days after my first missed period,” she grinned.

“Oh snap,” Bobbie g*****d, “my period’s coming.” She pulled her packet of birth control pills out of her purse and looked at them. “Yup. It’s why I’m so cranky. Why did I not notice this when I took this earlier?”

“You should throw them away,” Everly teased her. “We can do this together again.”

Bobbie stared incredulously at her friend, “are you high or drunk? You know you shouldn’t drink when you’re pregnant.”

“Come on. It would be so fun.”

“For whom?” She knew she hadn’t blinked in at least thirty seconds as she tried to fathom the words spewing from her friend’s mouth.

“For you, for Olivier, for me and the kids. We’d be doing it in tandem again.”

“Everly, I’m trying to figure out how I feel about the guy, and you want me to toss my birth control pills?” she hissed quietly at her phone as the bellowing of the kids’ squabbling lowered in the other room.

“What do you mean, trying to figure out how you feel?” Everly’s tone was mocking.

“Did I stutter?” Bobbie glared at her, “I don’t know what this is. I get he’s the baby daddy and he’s going to be around but is this l**t, affection, love?”

“All of the above?” Everly laughed at her. “Why are you psychoanalysing yourself. You love the guy.” She paused at Bobbie’s expression, “don’t you?”

She lifted her hands up in a shrug, “do I?”

“Do you?” Everly questioned curiously. “On the outside looking in, it looks like you do. I mean, it’s only been a couple of weeks, but you are two parts of a puzzle who just fit.”

“What if it’s just good s*x?” she whispered praying the kids didn’t hear her. “It’s really good Everly. Every night except once since we’ve been here and twice, we’ve snuck off when the kids were doing other things. Also,” she grimaced at the screen, “s*x on the beach in the moonlight sounds a lot more fun and romantic than it really is. The water is cold, and sand gets into cracks you don’t want it to.” Everly threw her head back and laughed as Bobbie continued, “but what if it’s just unbridled l**t? What if it’s just my hoo-ha feeling some kind of magnetic pull to his perfect pe –”

She stopped speaking as the smattering of bare feet on tile warning of kids running towards her made her look up, “what do you want?”

“Where’s dad?” Ollie asked and then looked at the phone in her hand, “who’s that?”

“Everly,” Bobbie almost dropped her head to the table when the kids commandeered her phone to talk to Lark after they begged Everly to put her on.

She pushed away from table in frustration. “Can’t even have a conversation with my friend,” she griped as she started wiping the counters down.

The kids laughing uproariously made her wonder if her ears were bleeding from the shrillness of it. Evidently, they missed their BFF, but she was missing hers too. She wanted her phone back. She pulled the refrigerator open and stared at it, willing something sweet to pop out at her.

“Who are the kids talking to?” Olivier stepped into the kitchen and reached past her into the fridge and pulled out a water.

“Everly called me, and they took my phone to talk to Lark. Where did you disappear off to for more than an hour?”

He leaned against the counter and fought the smile on his lips at the question, “Riggs had an update for me on several situations. I then had a quick call with Melisandre and then ten minutes with Emile. I’m trying to keep my work to a minimum while we’re here, but I have many pokers in many fires so sometimes it’s inevitable.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled and closed the door angrily and plopped back down in her seat.

“Are you pissed off at me?” He tugged a chair out. “I’m sorry I was gone so long.”

“It’s fine,” she picked up her packet of birth control pills and shook them before dropping them back on the table in frustration, “my lady friend is coming.”

“Lady friend?” he lifted the pills and then grinned, “ah, you need chocolate and a hot pack.”

“I need red wine, chocolate and silence, which I’m unlikely to get.” She shook her finger in her ear as Ollie’s loud shout echoed off the open space. “I swear every day she gets shriller.”

He chuckled at her words, “you’re edgy.”

“I’d ask you to f**k the crankiness out of me but two kids running around waiting for you to take them fishing tells me it’s a fruitless request,” she glared at him when he threw his head back and laughed loudly at her words. “It’s not funny.”

“It’s actually quite funny. I’ve never seen you like this.” He pushed back the chair he was going to sit in and rounded the table instead to stand behind her.

“I’m not usually like this. Once in a blue moon.”

“Lucky for you, I’m around on this blue moon.” He massaged her shoulders. “I have two younger sisters whose cycles synced up. The only thing worse than this, is having to be home when it happened. I was their personal errand boy. Rub my feet, Olivier. Rub my back Olivier. Make me snacks Olivier.” He mimicked their voices, “I got incredibly good at bringing their painkillers and taking care of them. I will take care of anything you need.”

“Really?” she looked to him curiously. “How brave are you?”

“We literally had a conversation the other night about me camping near alligators.” He teased her as he continued rubbing her neck and shoulders.

“Everly swears the best way to get rid of cramps is s*x, but Grady won’t go near her. She has a special friend she uses for when the cramps get too bad.”

His fingers stopped moving on her neck and she grinned as she faced the table. She’d shocked him and it gave her perverse delight. Her smile froze when he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “you will have no need of a special toy. I promise to test the theory out myself. Showers and towels, right?”

At her wordless state he pressed a k**s to the back of her neck and then started rubbing it again. “Do you need me to have Marie bring you supplies?”

“No, I packed for it. I just hadn’t realized how quick it was coming up.” She sighed suddenly miffed he wasn’t as freaked as she had expected. “What did Riggs want this morning. Everything okay?”

“Yes. Gael was looking for me. It seems Cleo paid him a visit yesterday and they exchanged information. Bernard has a house in Florida nobody knows about. She felt strongly if there was anything he would have it hidden there. Apparently, he named the place “la casa del pecado.” Riggs has a team meeting Gael’s team to tear it apart.”

“That’s Spanish for House of Sin. What the hell does he do there?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to know. All I am aware of is Cleo said she was there once and said it gave a creepy seventies horror house vibe. I guess he has a porcelain doll collection he swears are haunted.”

“A what?” Bobbie looked up in surprise. “Why?”

“Who knows. The man is nuts.” Olivier gave a final squeeze to her shoulder and stood up straight and stretched. “Riggs and Emile met with the soccer hooligan and his wife already this morning. I guess he’s been shitting bricks since the news hit, I was Ollie’s father and has been waiting for me to come after him. Emile had the video clip of his kid saying “I got her back just like you said to” on a loop. Each time the jerk tried to defend his actions Emile hit play on his phone. I wish I had been there.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t.” Bobbie didn’t even need to look at him to know he was smug. She made a face and stood up dropping her pack of pills back into her handbag and tossing it on the counter. “Did he agree to the demands?”

“Eventually. He and his brat will apologize in person to Ollie. He will issue a statement about his behaviour at a kids’ soccer game and inciting violence, and he agreed to attend a parenting class. By the way, he knew it was your suggestion. He asked if he could just donate money instead. He called you a bleeding heart.”

“I am. Sue me.” She shrugged and folded her arms in annoyance. “What else is going on back home?”

“My father finally caught up to my mother.”

“Ooh,” Bobbie turned then to look at him suddenly very interested, “how did it play out?”

“Fiona said he got on his knees and wrapped his arms around her and begged her to come home. Said he couldn’t be any sorrier for what he’d done, and he would spend the rest of his life making amends.”

“Wow,” Bobbie was impressed.

He grinned wolfishly, “maman slapped him in the face, pushed him off her and told him to be a man and do the right thing then. She said the apology was owed to you and the twins not to her and silly words and falling on his knees weren’t the way to fixing what he broke. She’s still at Fiona’s.”

Bobbie cupped her hands over her mouth, “she did not.”

“She did too. Fiona and Elise were impressed with how strong she is.”

“She’s bloody fierce,” Bobbie agreed. “How is Elise?”

“She’s good. She’s sucked up to maman enough. Timon made a donation double the amount I asked him to by the way and took the time to stop at local hospice center to learn more about diabetes and kidney failure.”

Bobbie was stunned. “He did what?”

“He did. He told Elise when he was looking up the non-for-profit I wanted him to donate to, he couldn’t figure out why I selected the particular one until Fiona told him about your sister. I guess maman told her. He was devastated by the research he did. He’s a research kind of guy. He’s big into it. His guilt at his role in this is eating at him. Fiona said he told Elise he would have f****d me to pay his sister’s medical bills too.”

“Jesus Christ!”

“Elise corrected him and said it wasn’t the intent and he said he knows but even if you had done it for the money, he would understand, and he will give you a full apology in person when he sees you next.”

“This is making me weirdly uncomfortable.”

“All I know is, he’s doing the research thing and it’s keeping him out of Elise’s hair.”

“What exactly does your family do?”

“Soybean exports.”

“Soybean?”

“Yes,” he chuckled at her confusion. “My grandfather in the early sixties switched his entire farming operation to soybean. Made a mint. My father took it over and made it bigger. Timon works in research and development. Believe it or not, Fiona got started in her field because there is a correlation between soybean growth and deforestation in the a****n. Crazy tree hugger,” he laughed at Bobbie’s scowl. “Elise works as Papa’s admin assistant. She’s meticulous and organized.”

“Soybeans?” Bobbie repeated again in disbelief. “As in farmers?”

He threw his head back and roared with laughter, “yes. Chérie, my family are farmers. Why do you think Gael got so pissed off at my father for luring his little girl from the big city of Houston to live in Louisiana?”

“Your father does not look like a farmer.”

“No, he does not but he has thousands of acres of land, factories, and warehouses. He employs thousands of people, and he is one of the top, if not the top, exporter in the US of quality product. There are days he works sunup to sundown.”

“You never wanted to join his company?”

“When I was small perhaps, but my father and I are quite different, and he always embraced this. He knew I was never going to follow in his footsteps because my brain is wired differently than his. He loved me and encouraged me to be the man I wanted to be. Timon or Walt or one of the girls can have it. Maybe Ollie or Max. Max might like the research part of it. Timon could drone on for hours about which seed works best at which time of year depending on how recently the soil has been worked and if the wind is blowing north or south.” He rolled his eyes, “it’s so f*****g boring.”

“Olivier,” she slapped at him. “I’m sure they feel the same when you go on about numbers.”

“The difference is, I understand what they’re talking about. I just don’t care. They don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. I help them with their investment portfolios. It’s how they survived the hurricanes.” He gave a cocky smirk, “I do love making money, even if it’s for other people.”

“Sick and sad,” she mocked him

“Mom, mom,” Ollie came running into the house. “Lark had to go with Nana Prue to the grocery store, so Everly wants to talk to you now about how much you love dad.” She looked into the phone, “Right Everly?”

“How much mommy loves dad?” Olivier leaned forward, “can I be part of this conversation? I feel I should be.”

“Take your kids fishing!” She glared at him with her cheeks burning. She turned her gaze to her phone, “Hoffman, you’re on my s**t list.”

Everly laughed and waved Olivier who was peering over Bobbie’s shoulder, “Hi Olivier. How are you managing isolation with those three?”

“I’m surviving relatively well. I might call you later for a recap of the conversation you and Bobbie are about to have. I’m a hundred percent certain she is not going to tell me anything.”

“Would you leave?” she pushed him in the direction of the door.

He kissed the tip of her nose and waved at the kids, “come on, Max and Ollie. Maman wants to have girlie talk with Everly about how handsome I am and how she loves me. We’ll leave her to it.”

The laughter from the kids as Olivier chuckled and raced them down to the beach made her shake her head at Everly who was laughing as loud as the kids.

“Not cool, Everly. The man already has a swelled head.”

Everly grinned back, “can I say though, how relaxed he looked. Even in the ten seconds of him being on the screen, he looked a different man. Far less uptight. He must be getting laid.”

“We’ve already gone over this,” Bobbie carried the phone down the hall. “Come on, I’m going to show you the bedroom.”

“Ooh,” Everly clapped excitedly.

She stood in the center of the room and gave Everly the three-sixty view, “you can hear the water from here.” She took her to the balcony facing the beach. “This is the view.”

“Incredible.”

Bobbie plunked down on an ottoman and leaned against the glass rail, “so, back to our conversation from earlier. I’ve given you the tour. I’ve told you about the mind-bending s*x. What if what I’m feeling is this?” she waved her hands around her.

Everly smiled softly at her and sighed, “I’ve been thinking on it while the kids talked to Lark. Bobbie, do you remember when you called me at four in the morning after you slipped out of bed to tell me you asked him to stay?”

She pursed her lips at the reminder of how she’d snuck out of the bed leaving Oliver, Max, and Ollie in a tangled mess in the bed to call Everly early Tuesday morning.

“Yeah.”

“Sweetie, you were dealing with vomit, b***d, and laundry. You asked him to stay because it feels right. He feels right to you. Stop overthinking shit.”

“I thought he was a s*x trafficker for years,” she whispered.

“And you still loved him. Girl, I held you in my arms while you sobbed about how much you missed him for months. You talked so many times about going back to try to replace him, but you were too scared. Your heart knew back then he wasn’t what that prick painted him to be. We never understood why you were so scared until you told us the full story, but Grady knew all along you loved the guy. I still say you and Grady should get DNA testing done. You could be siblings. His father was notorious for screwing around.”

“Well unless he worked the night shift at a boxboard plant, he is not the father.”

“Right, we know he absolutely did not work there. It would be too far beneath him.” Everly made fun of her father-in-law. “Maybe a distant cousin or something. All I know is Grady has a sixth sense about you. He was right back then you should have called him and not because of the twins but because of you. Because of how you were constantly thinking of him. Nearly nine years, Bobbie and you still struggled to walk through the Houston airport without looking at every single tall man to see if it was him. You could keep saying it was because you feared him, but I prefer to think it’s because your heart was seeking its other half.”

“Tell Grady to take your romance novels away from you.” Bobbie gave Everly a dirty look.

“It’s truth and you know it. Deep down, you know it. You loved him then. You loved him even when he was the bad guy. It made you feel bad about yourself because you loved the bad guy, it’s why you couldn’t date anyone else. You love him now. Your heart belongs to Olivier. Always has, always will.”

“This blows,” Bobbie huffed and blew her hair off her face.

“What blows?”

“The fact I’m here and not there to slap you for being so sappy.” Bobbie grinned at her when Everly held up her middle finger.

“You’re only pissy because you’ve pretended to be this cold-hearted rugged b***h for so long and now your cover is blown.”

“It’s not the only thing getting blown around here,” she cackled the dirty joke to break the tension of their conversation. “My swear jar is empty!”

They laughed until their sides ached at her words.

“It seems weird it’s a Sunday and you’re not here,” Everly complained as she flopped backwards on her sofa. “Grady is in his office working on a case and he keeps complaining the other girl isn’t as good as you. I guess she yelled at him and said she can’t read his f*****g mind.”

“I can,” Bobbie smirked, “usually it’s full of naughty thoughts of you but occasionally there is a streak of brilliance in there which helps us win cases.”

“He’s smart but he’s incapable of pairing socks,” Everly cursed him out.

As they continued to catch up, Bobbie felt the weight of her emotions leaving her and a sense of peace coming back. It was what she had needed. A bit of girl talks with her best friend had soothed her. Now if only she could replace red wine and chocolate and her day would be complete.