Haze (16 page)

Gabriel

"Why are you smiling? You never fucking smile." Caleb gestures over the small table in the crowded café at me. "You're nailing someone, aren't you?"

This time the vile word actually brings an even wider smile to my lips. "Don't be crude, Caleb. I'm seeing someone."

"Seeing, nailing, screwing, call it whatever the fuck you want."

"Seeing. I'm dating a remarkable woman." I take another bite of the sandwich I'd ordered before he arrived. I'd suggested lunch in the office, this hole in the wall was his idea.

He looks past me to the expansive menu scrawled across a chalkboard hanging over the open kitchen. "I'm starving. Give me half of your sandwich."

"Order your own," I say mid chew. "You should get in line now if you're going to make it back to the office before our meeting."

"We need to discuss dad." He drops his gaze from the menu to my face. "He's jumping into this marriage thing without a life boat."

"A life boat?" I swallow a mouthful of water. "It's another euphemism for sex, isn't it? If it is, I don't want to talk about it."

He pulls a half-eaten candy bar from the inner pocket of his suit jacket. He takes a large bite. "There's no prenup. He's marrying her without anything in place."

Even my father wouldn't be foolish enough to do that.  "You're mistaken. Roman is smarter than that."

"Roman is pussy whipped right now."

I drop my sandwich on the paper plate in front of me. "I told you never to talk about that. I don't want to know who he's sleeping with."

He reaches across the table to pull my sandwich into his hand. He folds open the bread, pulling out a soggy tomato. "He's marrying her, Gabriel. Don't tell me you think she's hopping on that train for his mad skills in the sack. He's giving it to her alright but it's all about the money."

"How do you know there's no prenup?" I finish the last mouthful of water from the plastic bottle I'd ordered with the sandwich. "Who told you that?"

"Dear old dad did." He chews heartily. "He called me up this morning to share that tidbit of information with me."

"You told him he's lost his mind right?"

"I told him she was screwing his brains out for what's in his wallet, or more accurately, what's in our collective wallets since dad still owns a share in the company."

"Is he getting a lawyer?" I scroll my fingers over the screen of my smartphone. "I can call one right now to handle this."

"He's dead set against it. According to pops, she's the love of his life."

I push my hands against the edge of the table and stand. "Bring that with you. We're going back to the office. It's time we had a discussion with Caterina Omari."

"You're going to cut her a check too, aren't you?" He drops the remainder of the sandwich back on the paper plate. "That's how you're going to make her disappear."
"You can't put a price on love, Caleb." I button my suit jacket. "If she takes the bait, we've saved Roman from that shark. He'll thank us…eventually."

***

"I need you to get Caterina Omari on the phone." I gaze down at Sophia, who is just finishing her own lunch which, judging from the crumbs and crust, was a slice of pizza. "Where did you get that pizza?"

"Why?" She tosses the paper cup filled with soda that was just in her hand in the trashcan. "I'm allowed to eat lunch at my desk, sir, aren't I?"

"It smells delicious." I tilt my head to the left. "You'll order that for us both tomorrow."

A small smile pulls at the corners of her mouth. "I can do that, sir."

"Who died?" Caleb walks back out of my office to stand in the open doorway. He'd walked right past Sophia without a second glance when we stepped off the elevator. Much of that had to do with the fact that he was absorbed in a phone conversation with his wife.

"Someone died?" Sophia's hand jumps to her chest. "Shall I send flowers, sir?"

Caleb knocks on the doorframe. "It looks like someone already did. You're the one who accepts deliveries for Gabe, aren't you?"

"Gabriel." I toss him a look. "What are you talking about?"

"There's a bouquet of dead flowers on your desk. Either someone died or you pissed someone off. Either way, I need to run. Rowan is on her way to my office."
He pats me on the back as he brushes past me on his way back to the elevator.

"There was a delivery, sir." Sophia rises to her feet. "I'm sorry but I didn't realize the flowers were dead. I can remove them right now."

"No." I wave her back down with my hand as I catch sight of the bouquet of stunning black tulips in a large vase on my desk. "Hold my calls. I'll buzz when I wish to speak with Caterina."

"Certainly, sir."

Isla

"Your mother's attorney called this morning." Mr. Ryan nods to his assistant as he places a cup of coffee in front of him. "Are you sure you don't want something to drink, Isla?"

I don't. I had two cups of coffee this morning with Cassia before we both left for work which is two cups too many for me. I have exactly an hour for this meeting before I have to back from lunch. I want this to be over quickly. "I'm fine, Mr. Ryan."

"Garrett." He smiles softly. "You need to start calling me Garrett."

My gaze drops to the stack of papers he'd placed in front of me when I sat down. "What did her attorney say?"

"I'm obligated to tell you this by law." He leans back in his chair, crossing his legs. "If I wasn't required to do that, I wouldn't bring it up."

I scratch my cheek. "It's another settlement offer, isn't it?"

"It is." He reaches forward to grab the coffee mug. "It's not worth talking about. I see no reason to entertain any offer from them."

I haven't until now either. Up to this point, the money that I've been receiving from the account that my grandmother set up in my name has been limited to a few hundred dollars a month. It was meant to cover my expenses while I attended Julliard. She had little doubt in her mind that I'd study there and the small offering from her estate was for covering my everyday expenses. A lot has changed now that I'm twenty-one. I'm now entitled to receive everything she willed to me.

"What if I settled with her?" I smooth my hands over the skirt of my dress. "If I did that, she'd drop her lawsuit, right?"

"Your mother's lawsuit has no merit, Isla." He sits upright in his chair. "Your grandmother's will was very clear. Your half-sisters each receive a small lump sum when they reach twenty-one. You inherit all of her properties, investments, and the remainder of her estate."

I don't need to hear that. I've heard it over and over from countless attorneys. The numbers may change slightly as the stocks rise and fall but the bulk of it is several homes in different corners of the world and more money than anyone can spend in their lifetime.

My grandmother and grandfather worked hard their entire lives and when combined with the wealth she inherited when her own father died, it's accumulated to what could be a life of leisure for me. That's not my intention though. My intention is to carry on my grandmother's legacy, including her dream of being a principal violinist with the New York Philharmonic.

"I want this to be over." I tap the top of the papers. "You've already told me that this may drag on for years and years."

"It's a possibility," he admits. "Eventually the case will be heard before a judge. I have no doubt that you'll be awarded everything your grandmother left you."

"My grandmother's heart was so soft." I swallow to curb the emotions I'm feeling. "She loved my mother, but she was disappointed in her."

"Your mother made some unforgiveable decisions." He coughs into his hand. "You know how I feel about the funds that were transferred from your trust account to her."

He's talking about the money I made when I was a child. The truth of what she'd done with that became evidence in the lawsuit that my mother launched more than two years ago in anticipation of my twenty-first birthday and the day I'd inherit everything.

Mr. Ryan has urged me time, and time again, to countersue my mother for that money. I can't do it. It's just money. It will never replace what I lost. I'll never again have a relationship with my mother that is based on trust and unconditional love.

"You can make a counter offer, can't you?" I inch forward in my chair. "You can offer less than she's asking for."

"Isla." He folds his hands together on his desk. "I discourage this, strongly. It wouldn't be a wise move on your part."

"It would end all of this." I wave my hand over the stack of papers in front of me. "It would stop this forever, right?"

"Your mother would have to sign off on the agreement, yes. It would be clear and final."

"What about my sisters?" Hearing myself refer to them that way is hard. My mother has poisoned their memories to the point that neither will even acknowledge I exist.  "It wouldn't impact their inheritances, would it?"

"No, not at all." He looks at me. "It would have no bearing on them at all."

"Please present them with a counter offer." I hold up my hand to halt him. "I've considered everything you've told me, but this is my life. I want to get on with it. I want this to be over. Please help me make that happen."

Gabriel

"You sent your driver to get me." She brushes past me as she walks into my office. "Cicely had a million questions about that."

"I'm sure she did." I close the doors, noting Sophia's empty chair. I'd sent her away with a list of mundane errands I've been putting off. I don't want any interruptions.

"You look beautiful, Isla."

Her eyes drop to the blue wrap dress she's wearing. "Thank you, sir. Are you going to fire me?"

I try to contain the smile I feel on my lips. "Fire you? Have you done something that warrants that?"

She rubs her index finger under her nose, just above her top lip. "Is there a rule about opening your dress and showing a customer your lingerie?"

My hand leaps to my tie. The air in the room suddenly feels thick and stifling. "When did that happen?"

"This morning," she says sheepishly.

"You opened this dress and showed someone your body?"

"Yes." She smiles, leaning against the corner of my desk. "I showed my bra and panties to a customer."
"A woman?" I ask half-jokingly, trying to will away my erection. I didn't call her here for this but now that she's confessing, I can't concentrate on anything but what's under her dress.

Her hands drop to the belt of the dress. "I know there's a rule about not taking a man in the change rooms. There's not a rule about displaying the lingerie you're wearing in the middle of the boutique, is there?"

My own hand drops to the front of my pants. I adjust my belt. "Did you show a man your lingerie, Isla? Did you let a man see your beautiful body?"

"What would happen to me if I did?" she asks quietly. "You'd punish me, wouldn't you?"

Why the fuck can't I tell if she's toying with me or not?

"Open your dress." I lower my voice. "Show me what you showed him."

Her delicate fingers make quick work of the sash, undoing the double knot and bow. She holds the dress closed in front of her, the only hint of what's beneath is a sliver of blue lace visible in the middle of her chest.

"Open the dress," I repeat. "Take it off."

"You got my flowers." She pivots on her heel so she's facing my desk. "Do you like them?"

I'm behind her before she can react, my hands inside the front of the dress, skimming across her stomach. "They're black tulips, Isla. You sent me black tulips."

She pushes her body back into mine, grinding her ass against me. "Do you know why I choose those?"

I glide my hand down her smooth stomach to the top of her panties. "They symbolize power and strength."

She nods, her hands moving to cover mine. "You're those things to me. That's how I see you."

"The card," I whisper the words into her ear as I slide my hand over her thigh. "The card took my breath away."

She picks it up, cradling it in her fingers. "I want to be under your touch. Isla."

"Under my touch," I repeat the words back to her, my fingers over the panties now, feeling the heat of her arousal through the lace.

She moans, softly. "I could come from that touch."

"Turn around."

I feel the hesitation in her entire body as she pulls away from my hands and twists around so she's facing me. I stare down at her face. Her makeup is exactly as it was the first day I saw her at the boutique. It's dark, the contours make her look untamed and edgy.

I cup her ass with one hand, the other moves quickly to her back as I pick her up and turn her, moving until she's flat on her back on the leather sofa, her dress open to reveal a light blue bra and panties.

I brace one hand on the back of the sofa, the other next to her shoulder. "I will punish you if you opened this dress to show another man this. Tell me that didn't happen, Isla."

Her lips move faintly before her tongue darts out to moisten them. "You can see my nipples and my pussy, can't you? The lace is very thin."

My eyes travel slowly over the length of her. Every intimate part of her is visible through the thin, blue lace. There is absolutely nothing left to the imagination. "Tell me who you showed this to and I'll kill him with my bare hands."

She laughs loudly, her hand flying to her mouth to shelter the sound. "You wouldn't kill a man for looking at my body. You're not that intense, Gabriel."

I reach down to cup her chin in my hand. "Keep your clothes on at work, Isla. This is only for me. Understood?"

Her eyes fall to my body. "That's all for me, right? Only me? You're not going to your fuck pad this week, are you?"

I fall to one knee as I slowly pull her panties down. "There is one woman and one woman only that I intend to spend my time with."

Her ass moves as I lower my mouth to her stomach, tracing a path across the soft flesh with my tongue. A soft moan falls from her lips as I graze my mouth over her cunt.

"You are all that I want, Isla." I breathe in her scent. "This is all that I want."

Her hands grip my hair as I pull open her legs, wrap my lips around her swollen clit and lick and suck her until she comes under my touch.