Guarding Hearts (Living Again #3) (34 page)

He didn’t miss his old life one bit. Living alone, going to work and trying to pretend that he was happy with it didn’t hold a candle to waking up next to Sammi every day. The only thing he wished he could have some resolution to was Mason. CPS had refused to remove him from his mother, saying that there was no evidence that she was neglecting him or doing anything to warrant him being removed. Ellis was still going the route to try to get his parental rights reinstated, but she had to agree or he had to prove that he had good reason. His attorney was working on the paperwork, but since Mason lived in New York and he was a Florida resident and kind of a Tennessee one now, it was all muddled. Once they got back from the tour, he planned on finding time to get to New York to try to get to the bottom of this. He wanted to see Mason, and he wouldn’t stop until he did. He never forgot that if it hadn’t been for Sammi, he never would’ve known where Mason was. The way that it came out wasn’t ideal, but he was still thankful every day that he could fight to be a part of his son’s life.

They hadn’t seen or heard from Brian in the month they had been on the road. He could tell that it made Sammi sad sometimes, to think about what Brian had been through and he felt he couldn’t come back to work for her. Ellis was acting as her head security, but he had also been in charge of hiring an entire new team. Samuel hadn’t wanted to take any chances with the people they had left, so they replaced everyone. They had never really gotten to the bottom of how Sean had gotten things delivered into her room when he wasn’t there, so they all thought it best that they clean house to make sure whoever was the accomplice to his crazy behavior would for sure be gone. They also replaced all of the roadies. The only people that were left that were the same were Jason and Luke.

Sean was locked up and would continue to be for life, thanks to a plea deal he took to escape the likelihood of being on death row not only for the murder of his stepmother Amelia, but the attack and kidnapping on Sammi. Ellis was glad that Sammi wouldn’t have to go face him, and they could get the guy the help he needed. Sean was clinically diagnosed schizophrenic after he was arrested and given psychological testing before deciding if he was fit to stand trial.

It was Sammi’s birthday in two months and his not long after, and he had been working with her dad to clear a week so they could go to Florida and spend her birthday at the beach. She was turning twenty-four and him thirty, so he wanted to have a big celebration. He knew she would need the down time, and they’d both enjoy spending time with his friends. He also planned on giving up his rental house and moving his things back to Tennessee with her at that time. Even though the total time they had known each other was still in only months, he had no doubts that he was in this for the long haul.

He had been doing better with talking to Carl on a regular basis, and even Sammi called him and talked to him. Carl was as smitten with Sam as Ellis was, and he told Ellis regularly that he had to put a ring on that girl’s finger. Every time he said it, Ellis told him to find a nice woman to put a ring on her finger, and every time Carl scoffed and said he was too old to get married. He had been married once but Ellis didn’t know what had happened. He realized he had known the guy for thirteen years and there were many things he had never bothered to find out.

Sammi opened the door to the bathroom, completely naked. The sight of her shook him out of his trance and he sat up quickly. “Well what do we have here?”

“Shower’s warmed up,” she said. “Thought you might like to come steam it up with me.”

She didn’t even have to finish that thought before he was up and stripping his shoes, socks, pants, and underwear off. He pulled his shirt off and threw it behind him. She laughed. “I think that was a record for how quickly you could take your clothes off.”

“You think I’m funny, do you?” He backed her into the bathroom door and spread her legs with his knee, dipping one finger inside her without warning. She gasped. “Not laughing, are you?”

“So bad,” she breathed, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

“I’m going to show you bad, right now,” he threatened, lifting her and making her squeal. He stepped into the hot water and pressed her back into the cold shower wall.

“Ellis! That’s cold!”

“I told you I was bad,” he murmured against her mouth. Crushing his mouth to hers, he tasted, nipped, and sucked on her tongue and lips, his arm still holding her against the wall. He felt her hand snake down in between their bodies, and he moaned as she stroked and caressed him. He used his free hand to cup her full breast, taking her nipple into his mouth and biting gently on it. She squirmed against him, and he moved to the other one. He let her slide down the wall until she was standing on her feet again, then he spun her so her back was to his chest.

“So damn beautiful,” he said into her ear, running his hand along her smooth back and down her backside, parting her legs so he could touch her wet flesh. She moaned, leaning back and resting her head on his shoulder. He used his other hand to massage her breasts as she rubbed her backside on his aching erection.

Before he could register what she was doing, she had turned and dropped to her knees. He sucked in a breath as she took him completely in her mouth, and he stroked her hair, watching her out of heavy lidded eyes. When he knew he couldn’t take one more second without her, he pulled her up and turned her again, pressing her chest against the glass wall of the shower.

Water ran off of both of their bodies, making them slick. He stepped up behind her and guided himself inside, holding his breath as he adjusted to her warm, tight heaven. She slapped her hand against the glass, gripping it with her fingertips. He moved slowly as she pressed harder into him. The only sounds were the running water and their moans and whispered admissions of pleasure.

“Ellis, my god,” she breathed, reaching behind her and pulling him so there was no space between them. “Everything you do is the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced. You. You. Are…”

He drove into her, unable to stop the overwhelming desire to let loose. She could no longer talk, and that made him even harder. He reached around to touch her, feeling himself inside of her, and they both let go, calling out each other’s names.

“Sammi,” he said into her neck, his heart pounding and his breathing erratic. “I swear that every single time, I think that it can’t possibly get any better, but I’m so wrong, every damn time.”

She tilted her head, allowing him better access to her neck. She reached behind and ran her hands through his wet hair. “I agree. We’re perfect together, in so many ways.”

“Ready to get out?”

“I don’t know if I can walk,” she joked. “I think my legs are rubber.”

“Well by all means, let me carry you to our room,” he said. “I only made your legs feel like rubber? Damn, I didn’t do a good enough job then.”

They laughed together, drying each other off and kissing before retiring to their bed, exhausted.

“One more day,” Sammi said as they were drifting off. “Then we go home.”

Home. He loved the sound of that.

“Ellis, Steven Moore. I have some bad news.”

His stomach dropped. “What is it, Steven? Is Mason okay?” He could only imagine what the bad news could be. He thought he might be sick. His mind spun with all of the things that Steven could say. Sammi heard what he was saying and made her way over, sitting next to him. She had been practicing some new songs when he had gotten the call from his Florida attorney. They had been home for three days, and finally they felt like they had gotten some rest. But Sammi was due in the studio tomorrow.

“Mason’s okay,” he said. “But Mandy isn’t.”

Anger sparked deep in his belly. “What do you mean?”

“She was killed last night, Ellis.”

Sam gasped, and Ellis’ eyes met hers. “She was
killed?
What in the hell happened?”

“I just got a call from my contact at CPS. Mason is in their custody and he’s being taken to a group home later today. From what they’ve gathered, it was a drug sale gone wrong, and she was shot point blank in the head.”

“Did Mason see her like that?” Fear clutched his stomach. Please God, help Mason to not have seen that.

“No. He was at home asleep when it happened. It was about two o’clock in the morning. Whoever did it left her in the middle of the road. She had no identification or anything else on her, but everyone in the neighborhood knew who it was.”

Ellis thought back to his own mother, and having to go see her in that cold, stark room. “Does he have to identify her?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. I’ve gotten an emergency hearing for you for reinstatement of paternity in New York tomorrow. Since Mason is now a ward of the state, with no other family to come forward and claim him, this is our chance to show the judge that you’re his father and you are capable of taking care of him. I’m going to need a reference letter, preferably from someone that knows you rather well. Then, we have to get to New York tonight. You’ll have to be there a few days to prove paternity and do the necessary paperwork to take him, if it all works out well. Is this possible for you?”

Ellis looked at Sammi, understanding passing through both of them immediately. This was his son. “Yes, Steven. I’ll be there. I’ll get a flight right now and see you tomorrow morning. Email me the address and any information I may need.”

“Is Samantha coming with you? It might be beneficial, since she’s going to be part of Mason’s life, and since she’s… well known, it may help your case for her to be in your corner.”

Ellis furrowed his brow. He hated using her status to get something, but he would do whatever he had to. “I’m coming,” she said, already reaching for her phone to call the label. God, he loved her. His stomach roiled thinking of his son being in a group home for even one night. He wondered if the kid was devastated over his mother, or was he having the kind of reaction Ellis had had when his mother had finally given him his freedom?

“We’ll both be there,” he said, hanging up the phone. He had to call Carl. He needed a reference letter, like yesterday.

Ellis lay his head back on the cushioned airplane seat, trying in vain not to worry about every single thing that was about to happen. Sammi’s dad had chartered them a plane to New York within a few hours of getting the news, and he was never so grateful in his life for the connections she had. When he had called Carl, he refused to write a letter of reference. Instead, he insisted on being there with Ellis to be his live and in-person reference. Andrew was also writing a letter of reference for him.

Sammi reached over and covered his hand with hers, and he turned, trying but failing to smile at her. Being this nervous, it reminded him of the last time he was in a courtroom with Mason when he was only a few months old. Reopening those wounds was so painful; it made it hard for him to breathe. He couldn’t believe the last time he saw his son, he was an infant, and today, he would see him as a young teen. If he got the chance to see Mason and he had to walk away again, he didn’t know if he could survive it.

“You’re the strongest person I know,” Sammi whispered into his ear. She took her other hand and stroked his face. It was one of his favorite things that she did. Her touch was so calming, so reassuring to him.

“I’m not. I’m terrified.” Tears pricked the back of his eyes, but he refused to allow them to come.

“I know you are,” she answered. “I am too, for you
and
for Mason. I can’t help but wonder what he’s feeling. Is he excited to meet you? Is he upset over his mother?”

“Me too. If his life was anything like mine was, Sammi…”

“Don’t think about that,” she interrupted. “Think about what you can offer him
now
. You didn’t have anyone to save you from the life you lived, but he does. We have to hope that this all happened for a reason, and that you’ll be allowed to be part of his life again.”

“It makes me sick to think that he would’ve been a ward of the state and grown up thinking no one ever loved him, had I never found out where he was.”