Embracing the Fall (25 page)

“You know, come to think of it, I don’t think I should leave it at that now. I’m not
sure if they both worked there, but after all that little blonde has cost me, I think
I’m going to put a phone call into her boss. It would be interesting to see what he
thinks about her attacking a paying customer.”

Evan figured he’d heard enough. And even if he hadn’t, he couldn’t stomach another
word out of the smug bastards lying face. “Well, as far as putting a phone call into
the owner of one of New York’s most popular and successful new taverns, I’m afraid
you might want to rethink that. You see, Cami owns that place, so it wouldn’t do you
any good.” The angry flush that started at the base of Mark’s throat was a satisfying
start, but Evan wasn’t nearly finished with him yet.

“And let’s see,” Evan pretended to ponder with a finger on his chin and a wrinkle
between his brows. “High school and college girls. You asked me if I remembered what
they were like,” Evan said, dropping the pretense to look at him with contempt.

“I remember them as innocent and beautiful as brand-new foals. I remember them to
be delightful and charming and fragile, and as far as I know, that still holds true
today.” Unable to sit still any longer, Evan pushed to his feet and braced both hands
on his desk as he loomed into Mark’s personal space.

“Now, as for the night you brutally raped my future wife, I have a hell of a lot to
say about that. But every word of it could be best said with the end of my fist. Let
me assure you, you miserable son of a bitch, once you leave this office, your get
out of jail free card is expired. I suggest you run far and you run fast, because
I’m going to be coming for you, and you are not going to like the results.” Mark must’ve
heard the deadly resolve in Evan’s voice, because his charm and his easy-going manner
deserted him and left him sitting there as what he was at his core. A coward.

Evan had to force himself to sit back down, because every cell in his body wanted
to dismantle the man across from him piece by piece. “After Friday night, I started
researching you. Looking deeper into you and not just your company. You may be interested
to know that I woke up all five of our lawyers, and they have been looking into those
sexual harassment lawsuits that you had filed against you over the last years. With
the information that I was able to give them, I believe those girls are going to be
getting quite a boost in their settlements now that they all know about each other.”
Evan took grim satisfaction from the way Mark paled as all the blood drained from
his face.

“Now then where does that leave us, hmm?” Evan asked in a mock singsong voice. “Oh
yes, reputation. I’ve been telling you all these weeks how important my reputation
and the reputation of my company is to me. And I believed you, when you told me your
reputation and the reputation of your family’s company was equally important to you.
So I hope this hurts like a son of a bitch.” Evan turned his laptop around, and watched
Mark gasp like a fish on a hook to see what was on his screen.

The satellite conference call had been activated, and every company that Pac-West
had dealings with was there, and had been watching their entire exchange.

“From the looks on those faces, I’d say your reputation is shot. What do you think?”
Evan asked, as though it was a serious question. The triumphant pleasure he felt in
that moment was only a fraction of what he would get from ripping the asshole limb
from limb but he’d take what he could get.

“You mother fucker.” Angry red flushed up his neck and over his cheeks as Mark surged
to his feet. “You God damned mother fucker. My own shareholders and board members
are on there, too!” Mark shouted, staring at the screen in furious dismay. “You can’t
get away with this shit. This is slander or entrapment or something. I’m going to
sue you, you prick! I didn’t give you permission to record this meeting! This will
never hold up in a court.” Evan sat back in his chair and made a come on gesture with
one hand.

“Sue me. Try it, I dare you. No I beg you. You see, I didn’t record this, I just broadcast
it. Although, in all fairness, since it was broadcast, anybody watching could have
recorded it and probably did. Something else to consider, the other love of my life,
and also future wife, the brunette? She did finish law school, and has assured me
that in the state of New York, I could, in fact, record this conversation without
your knowledge if I had wanted to. So, if you want to go to court and make this public
record, by all means, let’s do.” Mark howled in rage, and moved as though to attack,
and Evan delighted in the other man’s impotent fury. He stayed where he was, but had
every muscle in his body ready and eager to counter his assault.

“Mark!” The disembodied shout stopped the man mid-lunge, as though a leash had been
yanked. “Get your stupid ass out of there now.” Mark didn’t move, with the exception
of his eyes that darted from the laptop to Evan, as rage turned his handsome face
a mottled purple mess. “I’m not going to tell you again, son. Get out. Get on a plane.
And get home, so your mother and I can figure out what the hell to do with you now.”

“Uh-oh Markey,” Evan said with his eyes glued to the other man’s. “Daddy’s pissed.
Better run home. I think you’re grounded.”

“Say it again, please, please, pretty please.” Cami was bouncing in her seat as she
tugged on the front of Evan’s sweatshirt. “Just one more time, say it for me because
you love me.”

“I think you’re grounded,” Evan repeated for what felt like the millionth time, and
both women dissolved into laughter yet again. “I don’t know why you keep asking me
to tell you what happened when you both watched the whole thing.”

“Yeah,” Z said as she wiped tears from her eyes, and tucked her chilly feet underneath
his thigh, “but it’s not the same as hearing you tell it. It was on the computer,
so we didn’t get the real nuances of everything.”

“And you sound so sexy when you say it. And you looked so sexy when you said it back
then. So I think I need to hear it, just one more time.” Evan groaned, wrapped his
arms around her and pulled pulling her in for a long tongue-thrusting kiss in hopes
of getting her mind off of the subject. The girls had recorded it so they could play
it back anytime they wanted to. And they’d been talking about it for hours already.
As far as Evan was concerned, today’s events were not enough, it would never be enough,
but it was enough for now, so he was tired of dwelling on it. Besides, he would much
rather spend the evening making love to the women who owned his heart.

“So, come on, tell us again how you showed that
schmuck
what was what.”

Z squealed when Evan whipped out a hand, folded her over his knee and landed a good
hard slap to her ass. When he brought her up and held her nose to nose with him, it
was hard for him to keep a straight face. She looked shocked, appalled and also turned
on. “Sugar,” he said in his best Dom voice, “I may be from Texas, but I’ve been in
New York long enough to know what that word means, and that no sub of mine should
be saying it.” Then he kissed the tip of her nose and added with a smile, “So, I’ll
say it for you. He
is
a schmuck.” Delighted, she laughed and gave him a loud smacking kiss before sitting
back again.

Evan knew that the Wahlbergs would scramble in an effort to save their company, but
that meeting had dealt them a crippling blow and it would be a miracle if they survived.
In the seven years since Cami’s attack, Mark’s parents had made over a dozen sexual
complaints about their son disappear. Their long string of success in doing so owed
mostly to a lot of money and nondisclosure agreements.

While those nondisclosure agreements pertained only to the victims not talking, they
couldn’t do anything about stopping others from talking. After today, they all knew
about each other, and the two that were still pending had just been lined up for even
bigger paydays. Evan hoped fervently that they moved from class action to criminal
with this new information, but whether or not they did was out of his hands.

As for his own company, Evan had convinced the Board to take on the expense of keeping
the distribution in-house. He shuddered to think what those lawsuits would have done
to his family’s company had they not found this out ahead of time. No amount of money
was worth a risk like that.

“Sweet brat,” Evan said and placed a tender kiss on the tip of her nose. “Can you
let it go now? At least for tonight? Thinking about that man and what happened makes
me want to hunt him down and kill him.” Her hands cupped his cheeks, and she made
a sort of cooing sound, like what women usually reserve for small babies.

“Of course we can, my Sir,” she said in a ridiculous baby voice as she kissed him
on his nose. “On two conditions … You say it just one more time. And then we watch
Buffy.” Evan growled and dropped his head to the back of the couch in defeat. “I think
you’re grounded.”

Ziporah whooped and launched herself toward the kitchen. “I’ll get the chocolate cake
shots, wahoo!”

“At least I can get drunk.” Both women laughed, and Cami rained sweet, adoring kisses
across his face as he wrapped his arms around her and held tight.

Eleven months later, it was a warm September afternoon. Texas had decided to smile
on them as Evan stood in the shade of the giant oak tree in his family’s backyard,
the leaves on it the brilliant golds, oranges, and browns of sunset. There were flowers
everywhere; sunflowers and Gerber daisies in every fall shade were draped over everything
in sight.

When choosing the date had come up, it was Cami who had picked the fall. She wanted
to reclaim it, once and for all. Harvest was a time to gather all from the past and
reap the rewards of it, then clear away the unwanted to make room for new beginnings.
What better time for them to do that than in the fall, she’d asked, and both himself
and Z had agreed whole-heartedly.

They were both taking his name, which shocked the hell out of him. He hadn’t expected
it, especially from Ziporah, but they’d told him that, although they had wills and
this commitment ceremony binding them, they wanted his name as well. All three of
them, united in every way possible.

Gage stood at his left as he fussed with his tie and tried to remain calm. There were
more than a hundred people here today, even though they had tried to keep the event
small. However, between the three of them, there were a lot of people that loved them
and wanted to be here to show their support.

A commitment ceremony wasn’t a marriage in the eyes of the law, but the commitment
was binding and real just the same. He was taking them as wife and they were taking
him as husband, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

The girls each had their own wedding set. He had delighted them with a surprise trip
to Tiffany’s and told them the sky was the limit. Cami chose a princess cut–why was
he not surprised–set with a one-carat flawless diamond in the center and two half-carat
ones on either side of it, with a wedding band that was a full circle of inset smaller
ones.

Z had picked out a round diamond that was also a full carat. Her nod to the symbolism
of the three of them was how the engagement ring fit within the wedding band. It had
a fan of diamonds on either side of the sole diamond that surrounded the stone with
brilliance.

Evan had his rings specially made. His band was an interlocking one that came in two
rings that each woman would place on his finger. It was a design that, once the two
fit together, would look like a band made of three white gold strands woven together,
inseparable and infinite.

The music started and Evan stood a little straighter, held his shoulders back and
his head high. He was flooded with pride and wonder at the vision that was floating
toward him.

Cami’s dress brushed the ground in front of her as she walked and had a small train
trailing behind. It wasn’t quite white in color, and the material had a shimmer to
it. Over the top of it was a chiffon layer that was dripping with tiny sparkling gems
that caught in the sunlight from every direction and made her glow.