Steamed 5 (Steamed #5)
Read Steamed 5 (Steamed #5) Online
Authors: Nella Tyler
Steamed
#5
By Nella
Tyler
This
book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are
products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not
to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual
events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright
© 2015 Nella Tyler
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Chapter One
I broke all of the traffic laws as I woe in and out of the
lanes at breakneck speeds. I had just left Jared's place after his arrest and
my blood was set to boil. I was furious at Gloria for having my brother
arrested. She couldn't even wait until he was at work where there would be less
of a chance that there would be drug paraphernalia all over the place. Now it
was likely he would have drug charges as well as whatever slander or libel
charges that Link could bring.
Although I didn't want to, I knew that I would have to talk
to Gloria myself. I needed her to drop the charges and as soon as possible.
There should be no reason why Jared needed to be arrested. If there was proof
against him, then a simple threat to back down should have been all it took to
end the whole charade with Jared. I had looked up Gloria’s office address
before I left and sped there as quickly as I could. I wanted to know what I was
dealing with before I arrived at the police station. I ripped around the corner
into her parking lot and found a place to park my car. I made my way into the
building. Looking up at the directory, I found Gloria's office number and
headed to the elevator.
I wanted
Link to get a lawyer but not one that was trying to ruin our relationship in
the meantime.
As soon as I got off the elevator I made my way to her
office and opened the door. There was a receptionist waiting and she smiled as
I entered.
“Well hello there.”
“I'm here to see Gloria.”
She smiled again and looked at her appointment calendar. “Do
you have an appointment?”
“I do not.”
“Oh well then I'm sorry. Gloria is very busy and she has a
full day.”
“Sorry but that's not good enough.”
I walked past her quickly and looked around for some kind of
nameplate for Gloria. The receptionist called out behind me and made my way to
the office door. Without knocking, I walked into Gloria's office. She looked up
in surprise as she sat at her desk.
The receptionist was right behind me. “Gloria, I am so
sorry. I told her she couldn't come in. She just barged right past me.”
“That's okay Edith, it's not a problem. You can give us a
few minutes.”
Edith glared at
me before she retreated closing the door behind her.
“Well it's nice to see you Gemma, although that was a little
rude don't you think?”
“Not at all, especially after what happened to Jared today.”
“Oh? And what was that?”
“Don't play dumb with me Gloria. I was at my brother’s home
when the police showed up. What is wrong with you? Link and I are trying to end
this amicably. We don't want a war and arresting Jared is unnecessary. If you
have proof against him I guarantee you that he will fold. Why are you doing
this?”
Gloria stood up and smirked; she looked far too smug for her
own good.
“I'm doing this because Link deserves the best. It is
appalling that you are dating him while your own brother is trying to sabotage
his business. For all I know you two could be in on it together, you’re trying
to take him down emotionally while Jared ruins him professionally.
What does that say about the kind of
people you are?”
“Excuse me?” I stammered.
“It's true and you know it. I'm fighting for Link here. His
name and business has been tarnished because of your brother. Doesn't that
bother you at all? Instead you’re here fighting for your brother instead of
fighting for Link. It’s easy to see where your priorities lie.”
I was speechless. She had it all wrong. I adored Link and
cared for him deeply. I just didn't want my brother going to jail. It was my
job to protect my family and I didn't see why the problem couldn't go away
quietly instead of turning into an all-out war.
“That's not fair and you know it.”
“I don't care about fair Gemma, I care about Link. He has
been unfairly treated here and I intend on getting justice for him whether you
like it or not.”
“Why can't you just drop the charges and let Jared and Link
work it out together? Like I said, my brother will back down if he knows he's
backed into a corner.”
Gloria shook her head, “You are pathetic Gemma, look at the
kind of man you are defending. He was probably high on coke when they showed
up. He probably doesn't even know what he's being arrested for. It's
disgusting.”
I had never wanted to slap a woman more in my life. It took
all my willpower to not strike her as hard as I could. My luck I would be up
for charges as well. “You are a real piece of work aren't you?”
Gloria just smiled and said, “Your brother will be
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, even the drug possession. I sent
the police to Jared's house because I knew that he was swimming in a lake of
drugs over there. All that drug paraphernalia lying around will be great for
the new drug charge. It's just the cherry on top of his new criminal record.
Let’s see how his business holds up after that all comes out.”
Horrified and angry, I hissed, “It doesn't matter what you
do Gloria, you will never get Link back.” I turned and stormed out of her
office, slamming the door behind me.
Chapter Two
I headed straight home, walked past my doorman without a
word and went up to my condo. Anger, hatred, fear, loneliness, hopelessness…all
these emotions ran through me, leaving me practically paralyzed. All I wanted
to do was flop on my bed and cry the day away. Unfortunately my work was not
done. I was so angry that wanted to punch something, anything. Once I got in my
apartment I started pacing the room like a hungry puma. I didn't know what to
do or how to handle the situation but I knew one thing was for sure; Gloria had
to go. There was no way that I was continuing a relationship with Link with her
in the background doing her best to ruin everything for me. She was a monster
that had no soul. I couldn't even fathom what she was doing to my brother and
it was all to save Link. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to help Link as much as I
possibly could but I didn't think that Jared's life had to be ruined over a
recipe. Granted, my brother had behaved on a whole new level of stupid but I
still didn't think the punishment fit the crime.
I headed to the kitchen where I found a bottle of wine. I
planned on drinking the entire thing if I could manage it. I needed to find a
way to relax and get my blood pressure down. I considered taking a bubble bath
but I knew that I needed to talk to Link first. The bubble bath would just have
to wait.
I poured myself a glass of wine and went out onto my
balcony. It was a beautiful day with a warm breeze, the kind of day you should
have when nothing goes wrong. I sat down in my lounger and made a call to Link.
He picked up right away.
“Hey baby, how are you doing? I miss you.”
The water works began immediately and I started blubbering
into the phone.
“Gemma, what's wrong? What's going on?”
“How do you not know what's going on? Everything is a mess
right now and it's all Gloria's fault.”
“Oh god, I guess you heard about the arrest.”
“Heard about it? I was right there. He was arrested right in
front of me. They threw him on the floor and handcuffed him because he resisted
arrest. It was awful. I just feel so lost right now. I don't know what to do.”
“Oh shit, I'm sorry Gemma. I didn't know you were going to
be there.”
“I went to see Gloria and she's insane Link, completely
insane. She doesn't care about anyone but herself and I don't like how much she
cares about you.”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
“Gemma, I'll be
right over.”
It didn't take him long to get there and when he came
through the door he grabbed me and wrapped me in his arms.
“Gemma, I'm
sorry.”
I started
sobbing. I needed to release all the frustration and tension in my body.
“Why didn't you tell me that you guys were engaged?” I asked
him through my tears. “You're not just friends, and I think she is still in
love with you!”
“I know, I should have told you but I didn't want you to
feel weird. Yes, we were engaged but I realized that I didn't want to spend the
rest of my life with her. She wasn't the one for me. I broke things off; that's
why you should be okay with us being friends. I didn't want her to be that
person in my life. I didn't then and I don't now. I can't say how she feels. I
think she was devastated by the breakup, but then she wanted to remain friends
and I wanted that too. There is absolutely nothing for you to worry about. I am
sorry that I didn't tell you though; you should have found out from me.”
“Link, this isn’t really about your engagement. She's trying
to destroy my brother and maybe he deserves it but I just can't accept that!
She's doing it all in your honor and I almost went crazy when I was over there.
She's doing this for all the wrong reasons; she thinks it will make you go back
to her.”
“Well I assure you that won't happen,” he said as he kissed
me on the tip of the nose. “I'm very happy with you in case you haven't noticed.”
I smiled, but didn’t let him change the subject so easily.
“She's insane!”
He laughed, “Yeah, Gloria has the way about her. She's just
on a power trip right now. She's always been sort of power hungry, which is why
she is such a good lawyer. I promise you that I'm not going to do anything to
hurt you. I do have to protect myself though, and your brother has been
ruthless and my business has suffered because of it.”
“I know. I'm so sorry Link. I don't understand any of it. I
don't know why he's doing this. I don't even recognize him anymore, but that
doesn’t mean I can just stand by and let him go to jail.”
“I promise I will drop the charges as long as Jared does the
right thing and comes clean. I don't need to press charges but I do need this
nonsense to end because I have a business to run and a reputation to rectify.”
I nodded, “I understand and that seems fair.”
“I love you Gemma.”
I smiled up and him and kissed him on the lips. “I love you
too Link, so much.”
We started kissing again and the passion and emotions
between us began to build up. When we started kissing, it began slowly, with no
rush. Our kisses grew more passionate and the next thing I knew we were full on
making out. He had one hand in my hair and the other was fondling my breast.
The moment our lips touched my mind exploded, it was like
the fourth of July all around us and we were amidst a fireworks display. I had
been longing for him all day long; he made my body hum and for the first time
all day my mind was opening up to some incredible feelings.
He held me tightly against him and I nuzzled into the skin
of his neck. My body was alive against his and I ached the closer we got. A
moan escaped me and it was the greatest sound in the world. I was so thrilled
to have him alone with me finally. I kissed him deeply, which caused him to
respond with fire in his eyes. I released his lips and stared at him, my gaze
hot and full of longing. I was feeling very powerful myself. I needed him and I
planned on taking whatever I wanted from him.
