A Summer To Remember (Seasons of Love & Lust Book 1) (7 page)

Chapter Seven

Though I wanted to laugh yet again, I kept up my poker face.

“Why doesn’t this surprise me? Insider trading? What is he doing and how was he so incredibly stupid he got caught? Wait, don’t answer that—Kevin was never the sharpest tool in the shed.”

“Jude and I discovered it by accident really. He’s been telling his friends about when a stock is going to hit the roof and they buy up a bunch of this stock before it goes berserk. He has also been informing his buddies about when a stock is going to go south, and they of course dump it before the shit really hits the fan.

“At first, Jude and I just thought he was getting lucky. It just so happened all three of us were working late one night. We work in different departments but I was going to the cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee when I heard him on the phone. With the permission of upper management and based upon our observations, we were allowed access to all of his activity within CDG and we found out there was a pattern. It’s too much of one to be a coincidence, and when you combine that with what I heard him tell his friend…” He shrugged.

“Why didn’t he just text the guy?”

“Probably because our phones are monitored and he uses some sort of code. It was easy enough for me to break because I know what to listen for. Others might not have been as quick on the uptake. Except Jude, of course, because he would have known in a heartbeat,” Paul explained.

“Hmm, an unfortunate situation for him indeed. I can’t really say I feel sorry for him because I don’t. As far as I am concerned, you and Jude can take his ass to the cleaners. Get him fired, and you two better damn make sure he never gets a job at any blue chip investment company again. I don’t care what happens to him. He means less than nothing to me.” Paul finished up his gyro in several bites and wiped his mouth. “I just don’t understand it. I get the whole ‘he means nothing to me’ part, but you aren’t the least bit concerned he will probably serve some jail time over what he has done? Since the whole banking fiasco of 2008, insider trading is taken more seriously than ever and there are no guarantees—even with all the powerful connections Kevin has in his personal arsenal—that he’s going to be able to weasel out of this.”

I threw my napkin on the remainder of my gyro and swallowed what was left of my wine. “I don’t care, because what he did to me was far worse. Perhaps he needs to spend some time in prison reflecting upon all the wrongs he’s done against other people. However, I
know
Kevin, and as far as he’s concerned, what he has been doing is a victimless crime.”

“Ha! Tell that to all the people holding worthless stock he
sold
them after his friends dumped their shares. The man is a bottom feeder and a first class cretin. Personally, I think there is a special Hell reserved for assholes like him.” I stood and looked down at my watch. I had approximately five minutes to get back to the gallery to meet Dr. Winters. “It’s been great. Why don’t you stop by this evening with Jude and we can talk more about this then? I really need to get back to the gallery to meet that arrogant bastard or there will be hell to pay.”

Paul kissed my cheek chastely. “We’ll see each other again real soon. Take care of yourself.”

“I will.” I headed back toward my gallery, praying I would be on time for this meeting with Dr. Winters.

***

Much to my amazement, not only was I on time but the cheap ass neurosurgeon ended up buying two expensive paintings which would be nice for my bank balance indeed and the gallery as a whole.

I arrived home to find Talia on the sofa scribbling furiously in a notebook. Jude had arranged for her transfer, but since she was still paying rent on an expensive apartment in West Los Angeles, we agreed she should take the spare guest room.

“Hey, how was your day at work?” she asked.

“Great. And Paul came by to see me and took me out for lunch.” I sat beside her. “All in all, it was a very good day.”

Talia’s smile faltered a bit before she plastered it back on. “I wish I could say the same. Why didn’t Jude tell me when I was transferred here I would have to work with Scarlet Fever? I don’t mind writing rock anthems, but changing every poetic word into something dirty just doesn’t feel right.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I wrote this great hook for a love song. Slow tempo so the lyrics were perfect.
‘Tonight is our night…when tomorrow comes nothing will be right…so give me a hint or a clue…I want to know if I’m gonna be loving you.’
Beautiful, right? They made me change ‘loving’ to ‘fucking’. I swear to God these hard rocking musicians have no freakin’ taste!” She set her notebook aside and weaved her hands through her hair.

“Well at least you get to work with all types, and Scarlet Fever is certainly no band to sneeze at. They have been around for a while and have four albums under their belt, with you helping them polish the fifth which is due out in a couple weeks. I already pre-ordered the mp3 from iTunes. I’m sure they are honored to work with someone as talented as you.”

She shook her head in exasperation. “I had to Skype with Kaz and Jaden since they aren’t here in New York, and the whole time we’re chatting, Jaden’s society girlfriend, Faith, shot daggers at me as if I were trying to steal her man! Let’s not forget these guys weren’t interested in me like that, but apparently my panties are supposed to get soaked or something because I am in the presence of these great sexy rockers with too many tats, sculpted abs, and killer bodies. I swear, women can be so
dumb
sometimes.”

I yawned, stretched out, and let my head fall in Talia’s lap. There was nothing sexual about my actions whatsoever and it was as natural as if we were sisters for her to massage my scalp as we talked.

“Most women fall for those type of bad boys. Give me a guy with an Ivy League degree, a respectful job, and who can fuck me sideways, and I am a happy woman. But not everyone thinks the way I do and how boring the world would be if they did?”

Talia was silent for a moment and I knew why, though I wasn’t sure whether I should broach the subject or not.

“Are you still having dreams about Seth Delvecchio? Believe me, if you said yes, I wouldn’t hold it against you.”

“I don’t want to talk about Seth any more than you want to discuss Kevin.” She sighed. “Besides, he is everything I detest: a tattooed rocker on the verge of superstardom with his stupid band, Winter’s Regret.”

“Do you really think he named the band after you? Since your middle name is Wynter?”

“Oh, Christ on a cracker, Jerrica, God no! Besides, my mother must have been high when she decided to give me that name. Why couldn’t she settle on Heather or Elizabeth?”

We both burst into giddy laughter. We heard the front door to the loft open. My heart beat a little faster and my breath came out in short small bursts until I heard female voices interspersed with Jude and Paul.

Neither Talia nor I bothered to move when Jude walked up the stairs followed by Paul and two identical looking ivory-skinned women. The only difference was the one who clung to Paul had long auburn-brown hair while the other had fiery red hair with blondish highlights interspersed throughout.

“Oh? Did we interrupt anything?” the ginger-haired chick asked in a thick, upper-class Oxbridge accent.

“No, you didn’t. Imogen, this is my sister, Jerrica, and her best friend, Talia. You two, this is Imogen, Ashley’s cousin from London.”

It was Ashley who moved out of Paul’s arms and walked over quickly. “Hello! We didn’t get a chance to meet the other night. I’m Ashley, Paul’s girlfriend.”

I stood and held out my hand. “Very nice to meet you. I’m Jude’s sister, Jerrica, and this is Talia—”

“Yes, I know. Talia and I met the other night.”

Ashley was perfect but I wasn’t convinced she didn’t have a fake bone in her body. She was a nice person with a warm smile and a beautiful disposition, but something about her eyes made me feel like her attitude was forced and unnatural. It didn’t seem fair because I hated her on sight. And from the way her eyes kept darting my way, I wasn’t convinced she liked me either.

Perhaps I wanted her to be a stuck up, stick-up-her-ass bitch so I wouldn’t feel too bad about lusting after her boyfriend, but she was so fucking nice, I instantly felt guilty. I couldn’t help the feeling I was projecting my own emotions onto her to make me feel better. I only managed to make myself feel envious and petty because she had Paul and I didn’t.

Paul and I shouldn’t have shared that intimate kiss in the Hamptons. This young woman deserved better because she was probably an infinitely better human being than I could ever be and that pissed me off.

She didn’t deserve the way Paul had taken me out to lunch like we were old lovers instead of family friends. He didn’t speak to me in a way that friends did, and it secretly pissed me off because he was taking this young woman for a ride.

I knew why he was attracted to her and why she would be a perfect addition to their family. Everything about her was polished and she was just so damned sweet. She deserved a man better than Paul.

“It’s nice to finally meet you and put a name with a face,” I said awkwardly. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to freshen up.”

I walked out of the sitting room and directly to my bedroom where I shut the door and began to pace.

I was completely and totally fucked. No way would Paul give up that prime piece of ass for someone like me. If I was being honest with myself, it
shouldn’t
happen. I didn’t deserve him—she did.

I was the classic manipulator, and although I could never pull the wool over Jude’s eyes, my parents still thought I was their little angel. They didn’t realize what had happened to me at Vassar or that I was ruined goods. Mom and Dad still considered me a perfect candidate for the Social Register and knew I would be the one with the main story in
The New York Times
Sunday wedding announcements section when I decided to tie the knot. They weren’t concerned about me in any way, shape, or form because I was tough, I owned my own business, and underneath all my bad ass persona, I could melt for a man as quickly as the next woman.

There was a light knock. Then it opened and Paul walked inside. He closed the door halfway and continued toward me.

“What are you doing here when you have that beautiful woman downstairs, Paul?”

“I know Ashley is perfect and you wouldn’t be surprised to know she’s like that in private too. But perfection does not equal love.”

I sat down on my bed and was surprised when he sat next to me. “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”

“Don’t call me that. Your sweetheart is downstairs.” I turned toward him and held his face with my hands. “You don’t want to risk her…not for me.”

“Fuck this.” Paul snatched my hands away and stood. “I will not be manipulated and played for a fool.” He walked over to my door and shut it completely, and locked it for good measure.

My heart thundered in my chest so hard I could feel the vibration in my ears. Although I knew he wasn’t capable of any real violence, I’d finally pissed him off with my tiptoeing around a subject that I was too ashamed to talk about to anyone. Even Talia wouldn’t know if she hadn’t been the one who had accompanied me to the hospital.

He walked over in long strides with a panther’s grace. He knew he hadn’t scared me, but perhaps his temper had scared himself. Paul was the type who always wanted people to perceive him as a gentle soul with a killer instinct. Therefore, he kept his bad language to a minimum and there was really nothing all that bad boyish about him unless you counted a few tattoos in strategic places no one who wasn’t intimate with him would ever be able to see.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. That was completely uncalled for. However, I really think you need to stop playing games with my heart. I want to know what happened to you. What turned you into this cold, callous woman who feels like she isn’t worth anything to anyone? I need to know. You owe me that much.” I stood and walked to my floor-to-ceiling picture window, looking down below at the New York City traffic and thousands of people mulling about. This city was so beautiful and extraordinary, but it was also tragic and sad. There were more than eight million stories in the Big Apple and mine was just one of them. How sad was that?

“Paul, even if I tell you what happened to me, I don’t expect you to dump Ashley. She’s perfect for you and you’re like a big brother to me. I want to see you happy, and perhaps there is someone out there for me too but I have a hard time believing it is you. What kind of cruel God would dangle a man as wonderful as you in Ashley’s face and pull him away at the last minute?”

“What kind of God dangles a man like Kevin in front of you, only he turns out to be the asshole of the century and ruins your life and the person I once knew?” Paul sighed. “Truth be told, I never liked him. I always thought there was something a bit…shifty about him.”

I turned toward him as the light from the setting sun shone through my windows and threw off hues of orange, red, and gold. “You’re a great judge of character. Too bad you didn’t let me in on how you felt when I started dating him. If he’s capable of what he did to me then he’s capable of insider trading and every other underhanded deed a person can do.”