For His Pleasure: The Boxed Set, Books 1-6 (For His Pleasure, For His Taking, For His Keeping, For His Honor, For His Trust, For His Forever) (55 page)

Danielle looked at her. “You look thin and pale. Are you doing low carb again or something?”

Nicole shook her head, looking away. “Nope. Just a little tired, I guess.”

“So this is the place!” Danielle said, putting her hands on her hips and taking in the outside of the house and the grounds.

“Yup, this is it.” Nicole already felt tired again. Drained. She’d actually been looking forward to spending time with a friend who didn’t know that she’d gone through hell in back these last few days.

But now that Danielle was actually here, it was different. Nicole was still too raw, too wounded to just have normal girl talk and flit about like some queen bee the way Danielle was doing.

“God, Nicole, this place is amazing.” Danielle pulled off her enormous sunhat and started into the house without asking. “I can’t wait to see the rest of it. It’s almost as big as my house.”

“You mean Kane’s house?” Nicole said.

Danielle turned and gave her a strange look. “No. We’re married now. It’s my house as much as it is his.”

“Oh, yeah. Of course.” Nicole followed her inside.

“The foyer is lovely,” Danielle said. Nicole noticed how tan she still was. Her skin looked glistening and fresh and youthful. Compared to her, Nicole felt like an old hag.

Pale, dry skinned, with dark circles under her eyes and an aching wound in her heart.

“Let me give you the tour,” Nicole said with fake cheer.

As they walked, Danielle gave running commentary on the things she liked and the things she didn’t like—there were plenty of both. She liked the floors but not the curtains in the living room. She liked the table in the dining room but she thought there should be a different color used on the walls. Danielle thought the media room was a bit small—the one in the mansion she shared with Kane was probably twice the size.

But she absolutely loved the kitchen.

“I’m going to take a picture of this and tell Kane we need ours to look exactly the same,” she said, pulling out her phone to take a picture.

“Ummmm….I don’t think you should,” Nicole said. “I don’t think Red would like it if you were taking pictures of our home to show Kane.”

Danielle looked at her. “Are you serious?”

“Come on, let me show you the verandah,” Nicole said, trying to change the subject.

When they stepped out to the verandah, Danielle nodded but didn’t seem overly impressed. “I’d want a better view of the pond, personally.”

“Oh.”

“I’d take down that whole line of trees that’s blocking it.”

“You’d just kill all those trees?”

“They’re killing your view. Either way, something’s getting killed.”

Danielle’s harsh words made Nicole think of her loss. Something had been killed all right. Her baby was dead. Her dreams had been crushed—and that poor little soul was never going to have a chance to live and grow and be loved by her parents.

“Those trees have every right to exist there, and I think they’re beautiful,” Nicole said, with sudden fierce emotion in her voice.

“All right, all right. Chill, Nic. I was just saying—personally, I prefer the view to the trees.”

“I get it.” Nicole sat down and crossed her arms and looked out at the rolling hills.

She thought the view was just fine.

Danielle stood and looked at her. “Okay, something’s up.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean,” Danielle said. “What the heck is wrong with you?”

“I don’t know,” Nicole lied. “Maybe you’re the one who’s acting weird.”

“Me? How so?”

“You can’t be serious,” Nicole told her, smirking. “Just look at how you’re dressed, for starters. And coming here in a limo?”

“Kane wanted me to use it. His driver knew how to get here. What was I supposed to do, take a gypsy cab to satisfy you?”

Nicole shrugged. “You’re the one who’s changed. You’re like suddenly all high society.”

“It’s called being happy. You should try it sometime.”

Nicole didn’t have much to say to that. “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

Danielle sat down next to her. “I think I know what this is all about.”

“Okay, tell me what you think.”

“I think this is about Kane beating Red in some silly business deal and now you’re feeling protective.”

Nicole couldn’t help but laugh at that. The last thing she’d been thinking about recently was Kane taking Red’s business from him. After all, they still had plenty of money and Red was rejuvenated with his new company. But she didn’t say any of that.

She just cocked her head. “Is that what Kane told you? That he beat Red?”

Danielle held her hands out. “I don’t want to get in the middle of it. I mean, I love Kane regardless of all that cutthroat stuff he does. And honestly—he wants to be a better man, Nicole. You should have heard some of the things he told me when we were together in The Caymans.”

“I’m sure it was lovely. He’s a charming guy.”

“Don’t give me that. You think he’s the scum of the earth, and so did I. But then he showed me who he really is. And underneath all that suave masculinity, he’s just a regular chap with the same hopes and fears as anybody else.”

Suave masculinity? Nicole thought, stifling a giggle. Kane Wright was about as suavely masculine as a hammerhead shark. And at least the shark would have the decency to show you its teeth before it bit you in half.

“Danielle, I swear to you—I’m not upset that you and Kane Wright are together and that you’re happy. Red and Kane might not be the best of friends, and maybe Red is stinging from what happened with Jameson International. But I personally haven’t given it a thought in the last few days.”

Danielle listened to her and nodded. “Well good. I just…I really care about you, Nic. You’re one of my best friends and you’re the only one who knows what it’s like to be in this kind of situation.”

“What kind of situation?” Nicole asked. A flock of birds suddenly burst from a nearby grouping of trees. Watching them soar into the sky and take off into the distance, she thought of her never-to-be-born child and her heart twisted in her chest. Maybe her child’s spirit was soaring off with them, completely free and unbound.

Danielle followed Nicole’s gaze. “You know the situation we’re in. Getting married to an extremely wealthy man. All of the shenanigans, the drama, dealing with business associates and friends and ex-lovers and family members. Everyone feeling threatened by your new place in his life.”

Nicole nodded, thinking of Red’s vindictive mother. “I do know about that stuff.

It’s not easy to deal with those people.”

“And everyone thinks you’re after his money,” Danielle complained. She gripped her hat so tightly in her hands that Nicole thought she might tear it to pieces. “Even he suspects that you might be in it for a quick payday. And then you have the whole awkwardness of negotiating the prenuptial agreement.”

Nicole didn’t respond to that. She just licked her lips and looked away.

“I mean, hasn’t Red talked to you about a prenup yet?” Danielle said, when Nicole didn’t say anything.

“No, not really.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t you getting married soon? Haven’t you two even discussed the financial part of the whole thing?”

Nicole shrugged. “I mean, sort of.”

“Well you need to sort that out. He’s going to want a prenup, Nic. They all do. So don’t get all pissy with him when he brings it up.”

“Danielle, he doesn’t want one.”

Danielle stared at her for a long time. “You’re sure about that? He said that?”

“He said we share everything fifty-fifty.”

She snorted. “Well, there’s a lot less to share now, isn’t there?”

Nicole’s eyes narrowed. “That’s a shitty thing to say.”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. That was really a mean thing to say.” Danielle stood up, still gripping her hat for dear life. “The thing is, it really bothered me when Kane brought up the contract. The prenuptial agreement. It hurt my feelings.”

“I understand it did. Of course.” Nicole tried to hide the tiny feeling of triumph she felt that Danielle and Kane didn’t have the same kind of trust that she and Red shared. The way Danielle was prancing around, flaunting her new social status, it was hard to sympathize with her plight. But Nicole didn’t want to gloat over something so trite. “Did you tell Kane how it made you feel?”

“Of course,” Danielle said, pacing across the verandah. “And he explained to me that the contract was merely precautionary and meant to protect both of us. Also, it’s not as if I get nothing if we have a divorce.” She stopped and looked at Nicole. “I must sound so shallow right now.”

“Not at all.”

Danielle flushed. “I just hate to feel like I’m one of those stupid celebrity wives that gets dumped after two or three years and then sits around getting Botox injections and tennis lessons for the rest of her life.”

“You’d never be that kind of woman.”

“But the prenup made me feel like that kind of woman. I kept reading it and thinking how there should have been more for me in there. I hated how greedy it made me feel to think about our relationship that way.” Her expression was genuinely pained now.

“And here I was, assuming that you and Red had the same arrangement as us and now I feel like a complete fool.”

“Danielle, don’t be silly. Nothing you’re saying is foolish.”

“Well Red must really love you if he’s not protecting himself at all.”

“It’s got nothing to do with love.”

“Then he must trust you.”

Nicole thought about it. “He does trust me. But just because Kane had you sign a prenup doesn’t mean he trusts you any less.”

“Doesn’t it, though?”

Nicole didn’t know what to say. Danielle turned and stared out at the property.

“You know what? Those trees are really beautiful just the way they are. I wouldn’t change a thing if I were you.”

***

Nicole and Danielle decided to have a picnic for lunch. They gathered cheese and crackers, fruit, and a bottle of wine and put everything in a cooler. They took a blanket and walked out to the grounds and just started to stroll, in order to find whatever place might feel right to sit down and have their picnic.

The sky was clear and blue, with only a few passing clouds, but there was still a nice breeze that would cool you off if the sun ever started to feel too warm.

Finally, they settled for a spot on a hilly section of land that gave them a three hundred and sixty degree view of the property. Danielle spread that blanket out and kicked off her shoes, while Nicole opened the cooler and took out the cheese and crackers and poured wine into two plastic cups.

She handed a cup to Danielle and then sat down next to her on the blanket and sipped her drink for a moment. They both popped a few grapes in their mouths and grinned at one another.

“How crazy is this?” Danielle laughed, after a moment. “The two of us married or engaged to billionaires, drinking wine and relaxing on the acres of land surrounding your mansion. Just a couple of months ago we were struggling to find jobs to make rent on our crappy Brooklyn apartment. How lucky are we?”

Nicole tried to smile. She didn’t feel lucky right now. At the same time, she was appreciative of Danielle’s friendship and the fact that her friend was going through a similar process of fitting into a powerful man’s life and all the complications that entailed.

“What do you love most about Kane?” Nicole asked, out of the blue.

Danielle cocked her head. “I guess, I love the way he looks at the world. He’s not afraid of anything.”

Nicole smiled and took a long sip of wine.

Danielle tilted her cup back toward Nicole. “And you?”

“Me what?”

“What do you love most about your man?” she asked, laying back and staring at the sky.

“I love the way he looks at me,” Nicole said. She felt her face flush with embarrassment at such an honest assessment.

Danielle turned to her. “That’s awesome. Now I want to change my answer.”

“Your answer was beautiful.”

“No. I said I love that Kane’s not afraid of anything. But I didn’t say anything about us, you know?” She shook her head. “Maybe we’re missing something.”

“Danielle, no. You guys are awesome and you’re so happy. You shouldn’t compare yourself to anyone. Red and I are just two people and we’ve had plenty of ups and downs as you well know.”

Danielle assented to that fact. “But,” she said, picking another grape and popping it in her mouth, “you seem to have gotten past all the drama. You guys seem like you really found your stride.”

“I guess we have. That doesn’t mean we don’t have our problems.”

Danielle nodded as if she completely understood. “What about the wedding?” she said eventually. “Sometimes I wish Kane and I had done a big production instead of marrying just the two of us on the island. Are you super excited?”

“I don’t know. I’ve started to question whether I want much of a production.

Maybe something really, really small. I’ve even thought of eloping. Just me and Red together, nobody else around to worry about.”

“I hope you don’t do that,” Danielle told her. “I really want to be there for your ceremony. It would mean a lot to me.”

“Yeah.” Nicole sighed. “I just don’t know if I have the energy to plan something like that and deal with all the stress involved.”

“What you need is a wedding planner.”

What I need is to have my child with me, growing inside of me still.

“Yeah, maybe a wedding planner,” Nicole replied listlessly.

Danielle started to smile. “Hey—you guys would still invite me and Kane to the wedding and everything, right—Red wouldn’t keep Kane from attending?”

“Of course we’d invite both of you.”

“I wish we could get Red and Kane to hang out under different circumstances,” she said. “I just know the two of them could be friends. I mean, Kane really likes Red.”

Nicole didn’t know what to say to that. She thought it highly unlikely that Red would ever seriously consider trusting Kane Wright enough to be friends with him. In fact, they hadn’t yet discussed Kane’s attendance at the wedding, so she was already going out on a limb by telling Danielle that her husband could even come.