Billionaire and the Sisters Ch. 98

Cindy tossed me a pair of handcuffs, and I quickly put one on Steve's left ankle before he could blink despite his kicks and then wrenched his right wrist into the other side of the shackle. He was now on his stomach with an arm and leg cross-locked behind him. I backed away from him.

Marcia, Cindy, and Tori applauded. I released the cuffs and Steve stood. We bowed to each other.

Steve rubbed his wrist and said, "Wow, you are fast. I can see that I also need some practice. Please don't tell Lucas that I lost fair and square to you. You are really good. I'm going to need an hour in the spa to recovery from those few minutes."

We watched Marcia and Cindy square off and wrestle around. They were taking it easy on each other, so the assaults weren't as aggressive, nor were the recoveries and reactions. Everybody pulled Tori into some light sparring action.

When we were through, we went back up to the pool area. Steve disappeared to use the inside spa to soothe the muscles I'd pummeled. Cindy, Marcia, and I stripped down beside the pool, and dove in. Tori hesitated, but then came in right behind us, also naked.

As we surfaced, Tori said, "You all take the nudity around here for granted. Has it always been that way?"

The three of us looked at each other. Cindy responded, "Pretty much. It's almost as if the island invites one to get an all-over tan. You do realize that by the time you get back to school, you'll have some explaining to do about how in the middle of March you come in being as brown as a berry and no one can see any tan lines."

Tori laughed, "I think I'll enjoy telling them about this place."

I moaned, "Oh, no. Don't reveal all the secrets of the family to your friends. We get enough bad press as it is."

Tori said, "Actually, I know that. I read a lot about you all when mom started to hang out with you. I wanted to know where she was going, and then she told me I could come with her sometimes. After meeting all of you and Mark, I really did a lot of research."

"Don't believe all you read," Cindy warned.

Marcia offered, "On the other hand, many of the articles under-estimated the situation. There was one I remember that declared that Mark Billionaire was living in sin in a group situation and they wrote that there were two women involved. Besides getting their names wrong, at that time I think there were six or eight women in the circle plus some of the outsiders that frequently visit.

"I haven't met any of them, have I?" Tori asked.

"No, except for Andy and Margo who came by at Christmas I don't think so. We have at least an equal number of outsiders who we are very close with sometimes." I raised my eyebrows so Tori would catch the implication I was trying to impart without getting explicit. I wasn't sure how much Kate had told her.

Kate had talked with all of us about being surrogate parents to Tori. We came away from the discussion feeling the pressure to give Tori a lot of growing room and mentoring, all while nudging her in a desirable direction with subtle comments and sage advice or stories from our own past.

So far, I didn't think we'd had any 'parenting' moments. On the other hand, Kate had also talked about role models and how Tori was apt to latch onto some of us and emulate our viewpoints and actions in certain situations.

The other tendency in that direction I'd noticed was that Tori had gotten increasingly affectionate with everyone in the family. She'd been reserved and shy at first, but now she enthusiastically kissed and hugged us, much as we did with each other. Also, she adopted the relaxed dress code around the house that all of us indulged.

I took Philip Emerson and sat with Tom and Alice. She was nursing PT as they sat in the shade of a group of palm trees. They both laughed when I told them I had suddenly become the stepmother to a rather adult teen. They each suggested that maybe the teen didn't need any mothering or guidance except from her mom. That thought eased my burden considerably. As Philip Emerson's mother, I'd come to think that I was everyone's mother. Wrong. I adjusted my thinking to be more rational.