Ignite Me (A Burning Desire Novel) (29 page)

I laughed at her, “All in due time. We never said it was a
proposal now did we?”

“Deedee?” Emilia cut on a conversation that was clearly
frustrating her and Aurelia, “Will you take us to the dolphins?”

“Of course sweetie, your wishes are my command.” He beamed
at them and we all walked across the park.

I didn’t get the chance to give him my gift, and frankly,
it would look moot compared to what he just did. I was better off keeping them
to myself and set about upping my game. Landon Davis was a hard man to match,
in every way.

You will never hear me complaining about the cold in New
York. Not only did I have someone to keep me warm at night, but the frenzy
takes the edge off, and I’m more focused on reaching my destination. It was my
last day of freedom, and the last day of the year. Ever since we got back from
California, we’ve been organizing my move into Landon’s apartment and
establishing some security measures.

Audrey’s vindictiveness seemed to have no limits. The day
after Christmas, Landon and I woke up to a media circus in front of his
apartment building. He was on every magazine cover; most of the headlines were
accusing him of being abusive and a sadist.

One of the headlines was ‘It’s a Christmas miracle –
Landon Davis has a big, fat flaw.’

Audrey started a bidding war between several media outlets
and magazines, sharing her story with whoever wants to hear it. Davis &
Crawley was on crisis mode, trying to take control over the situation. Landon
seemed extremely calm for the past two days, even though I knew better. I,
myself had been looking for ways to stop it from getting out.

We’ve been suspecting that she might be just using the
threat to pressure Landon into breaking up with me. I’ve been wondering about
ways to manipulate her again, especially since she guilt tripped me with a text
message.

‘This is your fault. You have the means to stop it.’

Jude advised me to ignore the threats and to let Landon
and Eve take care of it, but I wouldn’t hear it. I was on my way to meet with
the two of them at the office.

Landon refused to cancel our New Year’s Eve party and
insisted on attending the one my office was having.

“Good evening Miss Dane.” The doorman greeted me and moved
me past the photographs and journalists that have been gathered in front of the
office for the past two days.

Ignoring the provoking screams and fervent scrutiny, I walked
past them and through the revolving doors.

“Miss Dane.” Zee walked out of the elevator and pulled me
inside with him.

“Hi Zee.” I offered a weak smile. I’ll be damned if I was
going to let her ruin my relationship. I had too much of a mess in my mind to
be courteous.

Zee seemed to understand my state of mind, “It’s pretty
busy around here; Mrs. Crawley and Mr. Davis are in the conference room on the
new upper floor.”

I nodded and we rode in silence.

The new floor was vacant, filled with desks, chairs, and
wrapped canvases. Zee walked me to the conference room. I could see Landon, he
seemed caught up in a phone conversation, but Eve was nowhere to be seen.

When I got inside the room, Landon reached for me to grab
his hand. He seemed very cheerful for someone whose career and name were in
jeopardy, but it didn’t calm my tenseness. He pulled me onto his lap and buried
his nose in my hair.

“Alright Mr. Davis, three is our final offer.” A man at
the other end of the line spoke decisively, “You have to understand, this is highly
unusual.”

Landon pushed my hair to the side and addressed the
caller, “Unusual is my business. Let’s reconvene tomorrow. I want this done as
soon as possible.”

The man seemed to choke on his BLT sandwich, “But Mr.
Davis, tomorrow is January 1
^st
.”

“So?” Landon interjected with a raw and uncommonly
domineering tone.

The man fell silent, probably intimidated by my
challenging man.

“Tomorrow Jared, you can have the morning to recover from
tonight. I’ll send a car to pick you up at your house, or is it Kandy’s or
Cindy’s?” Landon finished with a snarl.

“No Mr. Davis, I’ll be with my wife.” Jared conceded with
a defeated tone.

“Send my best to Loraine. Happy new year.”

He killed the call before the other speaker got the chance
to return his best wishes.

“Hello beautiful.”

Rearing, I wriggled around and caught his mouth in a kiss,
“Hi baby.” I finally said cutting our seal.

“What’s wrong? You sound tired.”

Grasping the back of my head, he started stroking the ache
away. He had magical hands.

“I need to talk to you.” I said pushing to my feet and gathering
my will. I needed to do this and I had to make my case, “Where’s Eve?”

His frown stirred a painful ache; I hated seeing him like
that.

“What’s this about Clea?”

“It’s about this whole mess. It’s my fault.” I snapped at
him. It wasn’t supposed to go like that, but it was too much.

He stood up and faced me, “What had gotten into you? We
talked about this Clea.”

I shook my head and handed him my phone with the text
Audrey had sent me earlier. The blood drained from his face and his jaw started
clenching restlessly. Landon started walking around from one corner to the
other, clearly holding his anger in. I had no idea what to do. I was helpless.
I couldn’t let her ruin his reputation; there was a lot at stake.

When Eve barged in, she seemed to be as worried as I was,
“Landon, we lost the Shum contract…” She came to an abrupt halt when she saw
me.

“Hi Clea. What are you doing where?”

I stood determined, not coming down, “I’m here to help.”

“How?” She asked wryly, “This is the third client we lost
today.”

I walked to a brooding Landon and stopped him with a
reassuring hug, “I love you.”
 
I
pulled my phone away, “This doesn’t mean anything.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What are you suggesting?” Eve settled on
her seat, and I sat on Landon’s lap.

I drew in a breath, “Let’s imagine Landon had as a client
a married man, who happened to have a secret lifestyle, and someone threatened
to oust him to the press. What would a professional crisis manager like you do
to handle that?”

“But that’s different.” Eve commented.

I puffed at her negativity, “Level with me here, how would
you handle it.”

“Well it depends, if there’s proof out there, we’d have
the person in question admit to the affair or the lifestyle, and we’d manage to
take control over the situation.”

Landon remained silent as Eve explained.

“Good. What does taking control involve? I mean, how it
will serve your client’s image.”

Eve nodded, “For starters, we’ll have the family commit to
restore the image and sell that to the public. After which, we’ll have an
interview of the couple and try to discredit the scorned woman. It’s a long
process Clea, where are you going with this?”

I turned to Landon, “You’re sure your guy swiped all the
evidence? She’s got no proof?” I pressed and he acknowledged, “Yes, I also had
someone hack…”

I stopped him, “I don’t need to know what illegal things
you did, as long as you’re sure.”

He nodded again, “I am.”

“Great. I want you to set up a meeting with her, just me
and her.”

Landon pushed us up abruptly, “No way, over my dead body.
Plus, I’m handling it; the story will blow over in a couple of days.”

I pushed him back to sit but he wouldn’t budge.

“Listen to me – I know what she wants – and I
have a great idea with an offer she won’t be able to refuse.” I fell silent for
a second, “But I need your help to pull it off, and it will only work if I’m
the one who does it, with Eve.”

He didn’t seem to hear what I was saying, “It’s either my
idea, or I walk away. It’s the only way I know how to salvage your reputation.
She’s working with one of your rivals, what’s his name…” I searched through my
head for his name, “The one who wanted the merger.”

“Patrick Foley?” He snapped, “Where did you get this
information?”

“Ryan saw her having lunch with him, and he’s going to
snatch every client that leaves you.”

Eve breathed out her frustration, “I’m listening.”

I turned to Landon, he was staring at me, “Me too, but
don’t you ever suggest leaving me again. Salvaging my reputation means nothing
without you in my life. Also, I could get out now, save Alec and Eve, and we’d
still have enough to live on for our grandkids to be billionaires.”

I ignored his arrogant cockiness, “I don’t care about the
money – I care about you, and every name related to yours. Your brother
just got back the reigns of the company, and Alec, and Eve, and the thousands
of people who have families to feed.”

“I love you.” He cut me off with a smile.

“This is a great opportunity to prove it.” I replied
tartly.

“Don’t be cocky baby, I own you too.”

“Dear god put me out of my misery. Can we get down to business?”

“Yes.”

I heard someone buzzing the downstairs door of my
apartment and urged Jenna to check who it was. I had all my stuff sent to
Landon’s penthouse, so I had to find something from Jenna’s closet to wear for
the party. I stood in front of the mess I made of her room still unable to
decide on an outfit. I had to be at the office in less than two hours, but I
was nowhere near ready.

“It’s Davis.” Jenna yelled from across the hall.

“Okay.”

Putting my stress about the Audrey situation to rest, I
closed my eyes and breathed out. “Okay Clea, you need a dress and a pair of
shoes, it’s not that hard.” I scolded myself and removed silver sleeveless
Chanel dress I wore back when Jenna and I were in Spain. I loved the material,
and how elegant it looked. I had the princess cut diamond earrings Landon got
me. They were his mother’s; he couldn’t let go of them and outbid everyone with
the help of his assistant.

“Clea?” His voice came through the door and I peered at
him from inside the walk-in closet.

“Hi baby. I’m not ready yet.” I walked to him, “I was
about to hop into the shower, would you care to join me?”

He was all dressed up for the night, armed with his
gorgeous smile and his Brioni gray suit. He looked yummy.

Pushing a strand of hair behind my ears, he smiled at me
and pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose, “How can I say no when you ask so
sweetly.”

“What are we waiting for? This is my last shower in this
apartment, better make it count.” I winked at him.

Landon pulled me to him, “Before we do that, there’s
someone waiting for you outside.”

I frowned, “Who?” I asked curiously.

“Why don’t you go out and see for yourself?”

I sashayed past him and head out to the living room only
to find Mario chatting with Jenna near the kitchen counter.

“Mario?”

He turned to me with a smile and a little bow, “At your
service you runaway.”

I laughed at him, “I’m sorry I haven’t called you, I got
caught up with the wedding planning and everything else.”

I hugged him and sat on one of the stools.

“What are you up to? What are you doing here?” I inquired,
“I mean you’re always welcome, but don’t you have plans with Bonnie.”

He exchanged an incredulous look with Landon then turned
to me, “I have, I’ve been invited to your party later, and she’ll meet me
there.”

“That’s great news, the more the merrier.” Jenna
commented.

Landon walked to the fridge and removed a bottle of water.
He took a sip and studied me, “Mario is your new head of security.” He
announced with a wink.

“He’s what now?” I eyeballed the two of them, and looked
at Jenna. She didn’t seem to know anything about it.

Mario smiled at me and shrugged, “I’m more of your driver,
he’s just fancying it up because he’s paying me three times what I’ve been
earning for the past eight years of my life.”

I was at a complete loss of words over the situation.

“What is happening Landon?”

He strode to me, clearly aware of my unsettled state, “I
told you I was assigning you security details, you had today. You took the subway,
the path train to god knows where, you had lunch with Liam and Brooke, and you
went shopping. Now, you’ll get to do some of those things, but with security, a
security you clearly like and appreciate.”

I stared at him and he continued, “You clearly trust him,
he was the person you chose to escape to when we had a fight, he’s been driving
you since you moved to the city, and you keep recommending him to everyone.”

“So you thought you’d hire him?”

He shrugged, “Listen baby, we talked about his, you will
have a security team assigned to you. Zee is stuck with Eve; you either take
Calvin, Mario, or someone else. I’d rather have someone with military
experience like Mario here, and he comes with perks. You’re comfortable around
him.”

He made an excellent point, even though I still couldn’t
see any reason for this security thing, he needed it, and I really did like
Mario.

“Great, it’s settled then.”

Jenna snorted, “Is he going to drive her around in that
stupid Ferrari too?”

“You’d let a chauffeur ride your Ferrari?” Mario said
turning to Landon.

He shook his head yes, “I wouldn’t mind it – But
it’s Clea’s – You’ll have to check with her.”

“You own a Ferrari.” Mario almost squeaked,

I puffed at him, “You can drive that ugly thing in your
own time. Jude’s car will have to make due, or yours, I don’t care.”

“If you don’t like that ‘ugly thing’, why did you make him
buy it in the first place?” Jenna sneered.