Redemption (The Bet) (25 page)

"I'm working with imbeciles." He sounded haggard, his tone gruff and as the last employee slinked out of the office he slumped back against his chair and wearily rubbed his eyes. "Was she the last one?"

Samantha flipped open the manila folder she held in front of her. "Yes, for today. David Nakamura called earlier and asked that you return his call immediately."

Nicholas scowled at nothing in particular. "Of course the bastard called, the stocks are bound to plummet after this fiasco." he stuffed his fingers between the collar of his shirt and the royal blue silk tie around his neck and brusquely tugged. "Have the jet ready by noon and all my calls forwarded to the Tokyo office."

Samantha pulled out her PDA, jotted a few things down and furtively looked up. "You have a meeting with the VP of Guthrie Robotics, later this afternoon."

"Cancel…
"

"He's been waiting months for this meeting, Nicholas. I don't think canceling on him again would be wise." After years of being at the receiving end of Nicholas infamous glares, Samantha had become quite immune to them, so, she did not
bat an eyelash when that inscrutable gaze fell on her.

"Do you understand what could happen if I don't take this trip to
Tokyo today?" He asked his composure belying the simmering fury brewing beneath.

Not the least bit cowed, Samantha logically responded. "I more than most, understand exactly
what is at stake here, Nicholas. But canceling this meeting would not be in the best interest of Grayson Corp or your own."

Of course she was infuriatingly correct in her assumption. Nanotechnology
 would inevitably be Grayson Corp's next venture. Something that had caught Nicholas's attention a few months back when he witnessed a demonstration on exactly how powerful micro technology could be, forming a partnership with Guthrie Robotics was their key into that untapped field.

"What time is the meeting?"

"He requested an early dinner. The location is to your choosing."

"Call BeSo and set something up. You will be joining us."

"But I have plans."

"Plans with whom? Ben and Jerry again?" He grabbed the jacket she offered and slung it over his arm, while she staidly followed his hurried gait outside the office. His briefcase and notebook tightly held in each hand.

Not that she needed to explain herself to him, but she was more than a little flattered that he actually cared enough to ask. It flattered her so much that Samantha had to quickly think of something to say, before he realized that she had just lied through her white teeth. "No, Ben and Jerry have decided to spend some time alone tonight. I had plans to go out with a guy I met."

The elevator brought them down from the twenty-first floor to the first in seconds and as the silver doors dinged open, Nicholas grabbed his briefcase from her hand and continued walking, knowing that she always followed. "Interesting," he exited the revolving door and smoothly stepped into the stretch limo opened and awaiting his arrival. "You've met someone?" He asked once Samantha entered and the door closed firmly behind her.

Did he sound jealous? Samantha wasn't too familiar with the sound of jealousy from men. Then again, Nicholas wasn't exactly like most men, even when angered he went out of his way to always remain in control of his emotions.

"Yes. You sound surprised."

Nicholas poured a glass of water into his short glass and brought it to his lips with the first smile Samantha has seen since the beginning of the week. "Not really surprised…well, yes, I guess I am surprised. It's a little shocking to hear that you have a date."

Slightly offended, Samantha retorted, "I do date."

"Which I am well aware of, it's just hard to grasp. I did not mean to offend you and I apologize if I did." He smiled softly and all was forgiven for Samantha.

"It's fine." She took the offered glass of water he handed her. "I'll cancel."

"There's no need…"

She shook her head. "No, I need to be there and besides he isn't all that
interesting anyway." What could possibly be interesting about a guy who didn't really exist? Nothing, that's what. What was it that Cassandra, best friend extraordinaire had drilled in her head a few weeks ago? Oh yes-"...make yourself available to him at all times and if all else fails, try the jealousy thing."

Well, seeing as how the' jealousy thing' was sinking faster than the titanic, Samantha resigned herself to plan A.) Availability wa
s obviously the key in all this. If she made herself available to him at all times than she would eventually creep into his life and slowly become acquainted with his children and soon enough, who knows? She could be the next Mrs. Grayson, with a child of her own on the way, in less than a year perhaps. Okay, so maybe she was getting ahead of herself, but one couldn't blame a girl for dreaming, right? And Samantha Harris had some very big dreams, dreams she would've loved turning into reality.

"I apologize if working for me interferes with your social life but then I cannot say that I understand seeing as I have no social life of my own. The life of an entrepreneur is at times lonely, bleak and tiresome, in no way, would I wish that onto anyone, especially you." There was a note of slight derision in that comment that tugged at Samantha's heart and
if she didn’t know him as well as she did, she would've taken it as self-pity.

But Nicholas wasn't the sort of man to wallow in pity. He was strong. He was self-assured. He was man who did not accept anything else but perfection in others and went even further in giving more than perfection in return.

"You have a good life, Nicholas." She tried to reassure.

Eyes averted to the passing scenery beyond the tinted windows of the Limo, Nicholas gave a snort at her comment. "I have mon
ey, I have power, and I have lovers. It’s a meaningless existence. There is nothing good about it."

"I…is
this about your ex-lover?" the dreaded ex-lover, the beautiful ex-lover, who was not only mother to Nicholas's children, a blessing in its own right. But she also happened to be the sole wielder and proprietor of Nicholas's heart and soul. It would be a foolish person indeed who would dare go up against something so daunting.

Mother had always called her a foolish girl, her head filled with hopes and
dreams that seemed unattainable but she had conquered business school, despite all that had been against her. She worked herself up from lowly intern to one of the most respected minds in Grayson Corp. Nicholas valued her opinions next to his own-she was his right hand man.

Samantha knew the
value of hard work. She knew the agony of defeat and the joys of overcoming it. She knew how to preserver and going up against the one person who made the indomitable Nicholas Grayson lose all rationality with just her presence alone, would be a challenge she would relish winning. No small, feat mind you but the most valuable things are never easy to come by, a lesson well learned throughout her twenty eight years of life.

Taking his gaze from the window, he leaned his head back against the leather seats, closed his eyes and a small, imperceptible smile grazed his lips. "Ellie," he said the name and his smile grew, Samantha's heart burned. "She
wants me to stay away from her…pretend there is nothing between us. It's like asking a politician not to lie. Every time I see her, I can't help but fall all over again. Every time I look at the faces of our children, she's all I see." Caught in introspection he seemed to have forgotten Samantha’s presence.

S
pellbound by the object of his obsession, he continued to speak. "I want her to be happy. I really do. But I can’t seem to let her go." He sounded so forlorn, so vulnerable in his impromptu confession that Samantha felt for him.

"If you love something set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours, if it doesn't it was never meant to be. Ellie will come back to you if she's meant to Nicholas. You can't keep wallowing in your past with
her; it's going to destroy the fleeting relationship you have. Meanwhile it would be in your best interest to familiarize yourself with your children."

He
finally turned to her with a halfhearted smile. "I never did like that saying."

Samantha shrugged and returned his smile with a brilliant one of her own. "It's not my favorite either, but I thought it suited the situation."

He looked away from her and released a bone weary sigh. "God, I must be more stressed than I thought. Forgive me for unloading my baggage on you."

"Well, I meant what I said a few weeks ago, I'm your employee, but I'm a friend as well and anything you have to say, I'm always willing to listen and offer advice." Hopefully nothing pertaining to his
ex again. Witnessing Nicholas so vulnerable was as unnerving as it was touching, but Samantha wanted him to feel like that about her.

"I'll try to remember that."

Their next conversation moved from personal to business and sooner than they both realized the Limo arrived at its destination. With a plan in mind, they boarded the luxurious plane and were on their way to Kyoto, hopefully to return before the late afternoons.

Chapter 15

It wasn't until Sunday afternoon that Nicholas had the opportunity to see his children. Leaving the grievances of the past week at the threshold, he stepped into Ellie's home once the door was opened by the diminutive woman and gave an inaudible greeting.

"I'm fine. How are you doing?"

"I'm good, stressful week, but what's business without a little stress?" Nicholas posed the question as they headed towards the living room.

"I think you thrive on the stress, you've always liked staying on your toes." Ellie turned to him and surprised Nicholas with a grin. Taking a temporary second to gather his bearings, he cleared his throat behind his fisted hand, before following in Ellie's wake.

Seated around the living room, attention ensnared by the flickering images on the flat screen T.V. was about half of Ellie's family. Gabe and Ronnie sat snuggly together on the loveseat to the far right of where their babbling horde giggled and played, every now and then, taking a moment
to look at the screen. On the sectional couch, Devlin sat with Bella, Dylan seated next to them and Sophie occupying the next seat over, a small puppy separating her from the boy who bore a striking resemblance to Devlin, who sat adjacent to her.

It was an image of familial bliss, and
despite how hard he wished it were different, he came to the bitter realization that this would never be his. He stumbled backwards suddenly desperate to escape, the festering wound at his core too much for him to bear. He would’ve made his exit unnoticed but a sudden step on a creaking floorboard alerted Bella and everyone’s attention to him. 

“Daddy!”
There was no dimming the joy in Bella's eyes as she leapt from Devlin's side and ran into her father's welcoming embrace.

"Good to see you too, princess."
He held her for a beat longer relishing the warmth of her hug.

"How was your trip to Japan?"

"Uneventful and dull,
” he said with a small smile, pulling away to stare into eyes that were more gold than brown. “I only wish I had you there to keep me company. How was your week here? Anything exciting?"

"No, nothing exciting. Except for this stupid boy in my class who keeps bothering me and calling me names. I stepped on his foot because he pulled my hair and I got in trouble. It
wasn't fair because he started it." With all the indignation of a Grayson she spoke her displeasure like the princess her father believed her to be.

"Tell me his name and I'll take care of him." No one pulled on his daughter's hair, especially a snot-nosed ten year old brat who didn't have the good sense to know whose child she was.

Ellie's laughter caused Nicholas to look up at her, brows furrowed in question. "Honestly Nicholas, what are you going to do? Go up to this fifth grader and beat him up? The boy probably has a crush on her, that's it."

"He should know better than to pull her hair and call her names."

"And she should know better than using anything but her words to retaliate."

Nicholas couldn't help his own laughter, "This coming from the woman who's always eager and ready to dislocate my jaw? It's no surprise that she gets it from you."

"I am a good role model to my kids, thank you very much, Grayson."

Nicholas stood, oblivious of their audience, he approached Ellie.
"Are you? Tell me that you aren't itching to hit me right now?" he was smiling at her, the unabashed smile she remembered too clearly from memories best forgotten. For a second, a very brief second Ellie felt beguiled by that smile, but the sound of Devlin’s voice quickly dragged her back.

"She might not be, but I sure as hell am."
Ellie jumped not having realized he’d come so close.

"I'm not here for a fight." Nicholas said reasonably
. "I came to invite the children to my mother's home. She's been asking to meet them for a while now. Would you like that?" He inquired of a grinning Bella.

"Is she nice like Nan
a Dina?"