Free Essential Master (Doms of Napa Valley) by Dakota Trace Page A

confess
to something he could use in court, and he wasn’t going to oblige him. Finally
unable to stand anymore, he interrupted him. “Enough! If you want to talk to
me, contact my lawyer. His name is Davis Clayton and he has an office downtown
off of Jefferson Street.” Then he hung up on the sputtering man.
    A few seconds later, the phone rang again.
Pissed, he yanked it off the hook. “What part of I don’t want to talk to you,
don’t you get?”
    “Sexy?” The female voice had him pausing.
“Has something changed? I thought we agreed Nicky and I would call tonight?”
    “Steph?” he croaked, holding the phone
tight. “I wasn’t expecting you to call now that I’m in here.”
    “We promised you we’d call, il mio colibrì. Did you expect us not to
honor our word?” Nicky’s voice was a pleasant sound in his ear. They either had
him on speakerphone or were using two extensions. Either way, the last thing he
wanted them to think was that he doubted their word.
    “It honestly never crossed my mind you
wouldn’t. I just assumed it wouldn’t happen…”
    “It’s dangerous to assume, Sexy. It’ll get
you in trouble every time.” Steph sighed. “And Lord, don’t I know it.”
    A bubble of laughter built inside of him.
He could only imagine what kind of trouble she got into. Despite being Nicky’s
sub, she was probably one of the most assertive women he’d ever been around.
“Point taken.”
    “Don’t do it again.” Nicky’s warning
settled over him like a heavy blanket. “If you have doubts, we’re just a call
away. We put our numbers in your cell before we left the hospital. I hope you
don’t mind.”
    They’d gotten into his phone? He glanced at
his cell sitting on the bedside tray. Not that there was anything on his phone
he didn’t want them seeing but…
    “Davis insisted, in fact,” Steph added. “He
wanted you to be able to contact us if you weren’t able to get a hold of him or
Ethan tonight - because of Subbie Night.”
    He relaxed. “It’s fine. I was just
surprised you wanted me to have your numbers is all.”
    “Of course we want you to have our numbers,
Zebadiah.” He could hear her frustration. “Even if you didn’t need us for some
emergency, you can always call us to talk. How else are we going to get to know
you better?” Her reasoning was logical and even he had to admit it.
    “I’m sorry, Steph. I don’t mean to
frustrate you. I’m stuck in a hospital I don’t want to be in, and my head still
aches. I’m probably not thinking real clearly right now.”
    “Do you want us to let you go?” This time
it was Nicky.
    He thought for a moment. “No, not really. I
just don’t want to talk about what happened or about her. Can we talk about
something else? Something pleasant?”
    “Sure. What topic would you like to talk
about, Sexy?”
    He glanced out the window as the sun
started setting. He was curious about them, and wasn’t sure where to start. He wanted
to know everything, then he thought about their earlier meeting where they’d
all laughed and fed the ducks. “Well, since you both know one of my favorite
retreats is the duck pond behind Ethan’s, do you have one? A place you like to
think?” He prayed the question wasn’t too inquisitive. Maybe he should’ve stuck
with their favorite colors or something.
    “My study. It’s quiet and comfortable. I’d
stay in it for hours if Steph let me.” Nicky answered promptly.
    “And I have a glider out back of our house
I love to sit in. I can see the neighboring wineries’ grapes and everything’s
so peaceful.”
    “It does sound peaceful, Steph.” He closed
his eyes and leaned back against the pillow as they continued to speak softly,
chuckling every so often as they filled him in on their home life, when Nicky
wasn’t touring for his books or writing. This was definitely better than
watching television, or even going to the club. They treated him like he was
their equal, something he was going