The Millionaire's Arranged Marriage (8 page)

CHAPTER 15

Tyson

- - -

Tyson got up
early the next morning. He couldn’t sleep well. He wasn’t accustomed to anyone being in his home besides him, and something about having estrogen flowing through the house excited him. He hadn’t had a serious relationship in years and just the thought of having female interaction was a nice change of pace, especially when the woman was Gabrielle.

She was young, respectful, as sweet as they came. He hadn’t understood why Dilvan, his idiot cousin would trea
t her so badly. She was beautiful. He meant it when he told her that at dinner last night. She was pretty, and he could name plenty he found enchanting about her.

She was one of those natural sisters, had thick, black, cottony hair, bundled up into a bun. The natural hair made her look authentic and real
. Truth be told, it looked a lot better than the weaves and wigs he was accustomed to seeing on women.

Gabrielle
had smooth, milk chocolate, blemish-free skin. She didn’t need to pile on loads of makeup to look beautiful or hide flaws because she had none – none that were physical, anyway. Her eyes were bright and dark brown. Beautiful, perfectly curled eyelashes decorated her eyes. Her nose was small and dainty, lips plump and full. She had a smile that could transform darkness into light. And then there was her body – he saw her naked only because of the way Dilvan had left her on the floor in the bathroom that morning, but from what Tyson could see, she had a tiny waist, full breasts and a shapely bottom. Nothing about her repulsed him. Not one thing.

The only drawback he had about her wa
s her mental state and her age. Dilvan had damaged her. He knew that for sure because she hadn’t liked making eye contact when speaking to him. And even after they spent the day together yesterday, she felt leery about inviting him in her room last night, as if he would harm her somehow.

S
he was also young, twenty-one, inexperienced and just really starting to live on her own. He preferred older, mature women who had life experiences and knew what she wanted out of life. Tyson could admit he liked Gabrielle, just from the little time he’d known her, but he would do what Padma wanted him to – help Gabrielle get back on her feet. He’d be her friend, confidant, whatever she needed him to be and he’d make sure Dilvan never hurt her again.

* * *

While she was still sleeping, he made breakfast pastries – sausage, eggs, bacon, cheese, ham and veggies – all baked in a pastry and smothered with country gravy. He’d also taken the time to make a fruit salad with strawberries, peaches and mangoes.

He then took some plates from the cabinet and placed them on the island, in front of the barstools where they’d sat last night.
Then he waited...

Gabrielle was up pretty late the night before, so he wasn’t sure what time she’d come down for breakfast. His house was small, so he’d hear her upstairs if she was out of bed. Since he hadn’t heard anything, he knew she was still sleeping.

After pouring a cup of coffee, he took his cell phone from the table and called Padma. He hadn’t spoken with her in a couple of days and he needed to check in with her about the desserts for the restaurant and to give an update on Gabrielle.

“
Hi, Tyson. I meant to call you yesterday, but I was so busy with the foundation.”

“I know how busy you are, Padma. You don’t have to explain that to me.”

“How’s my girl?” Padma inquired.

A smile touched his lips.
“She’s doing well now that she’s Dilvan-free.”

Padma sighed.
“Speaking of Dilvan...he came home early.”

“Why? His shoot got canceled?”

“No. Somehow, he found out that Gabrielle was your uncle’s bone marrow donor.”

Tyson snapped his head back. “She was?”

“Yes.”

“
Hmm,” he responded, while thinking about the selflessness of her to do something so honorable for his uncle. “I didn’t know that.”

“Hardly anyone knew. I wanted to keep it that way, and I especially didn’t want Dilvan to know.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I didn’t want him to develop an affection for Gabrielle because of it, you know. I wanted him to fall in love with her because he realized how good of a woman she was to him
. But he treated her so poorly.”

“So
the only reason Dilvan came back early was to ask you specifically about the transplant?”

“Yes
, and he called himself
confronting
me because I didn’t tell him about what Gabrielle had done, and Tyson, you know I’m pretty calm, but I let him have it.”

“I don’t understand why he would be so angry.”

“I’ll tell you why. He’s trying to blame me for the way he treated Gabrielle...if he knew about the transplant, he would’ve treated her with more compassion.”

Tyson shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“That’s what I told him.”

“So he’s supposed to be
remorseful now?”

“According
to Beatrice he is. She said he’s been less talkative and is very withdrawn.”

Tyson rubbed his mustache. If Dilvan wanted to apologize to Gabrielle, he didn’t see the harm in it, but he would be present, just in case Dilvan tried to do anything to her.

“What’s on your mind, Tyson?”

“Well, I’m wondering if allowing him to apologize to her would help her move forward.”

“Honestly, I don’t want her near him. My son needs to be taught a lesson, and while I hate what he did to Gabrielle, at least now he sees how his attitude and treatment of people can backfire in his face. Just because you have money doesn’t mean you walk around with your nose up in the air. I mean, look at you...you own a chain of restaurants and you treat people with respect. That’s what I’ve always admired about you, Tyson. Your millions have never changed you. You’re modest, live in that cute little house when you could live in a mansion if you chose to do so. You help me out at the restaurant; devoting your time to cook desserts that you fund with your own money. If only Dilvan could be more like you...”

“Maybe he’ll change. He’s still young...still don’t know what he wants out of life. All I know is, I won’t let him hurt Gabrielle.”

“You two have been getting along well, I take it.”

Tyson took a sip of coffee.
“Yeah. She’s a remarkable young woman. I’ve only spent a few days with her and I realize that. Dilvan is a fool to not have seen what he had in her.”

“You’re right about that. Anyway, I don’t want to keep you too much longer.”

“Wait, before you go, how are you on desserts at the restaurant?”

“If I had to guess, I’ll say we’ll be good until Monday.”

“Okay. I’ll be there Monday morning to make another fresh batch of pastries.”

“Sounds good, Tyson. I’ll see you on Monday, then.”

“Okay.”

Tyson set his phone back on the table, then walked to the living room and stood at the bottom of the staircase, listening for noise upstairs. He heard the creaking of the floor and smiled.
He was sure Gabrielle would be down any minute now.

To pass the time, he took his laptop to the kitchen, sipped on coffee and placed
food orders for his chain of restaurants. He hadn’t delegated this process to any of the restaurant managers because he liked to maintain a level of control as well as a hand in his business. Whenever a certain item of food was low, he’d get automatic notifications through use of the high-tech inventory system he purchased. Then, he’d make the weekly orders for each of the twenty-two restaurants.

“Good morning,” Gabrielle said, startling him.

He immediately turned around, saw her standing there in a pink blouse and white shorts.
He’d been so engrossed in the ordering process, he hadn’t heard her come downstairs.

“I didn’t scare you, did I?”

He grinned. “No. I was so busy playing around on my laptop that you were able to sneak up on me.” He folded his laptop shut. “Anyway, come on in and have a seat. I made breakfast.”

“Okay.” Gabrielle got comfortable on
a barstool, then yawned.

“Still tired?” Tyson inquired.
Then he glanced at the clock. It was almost 11:00 a.m.

“A lil’ bit.”

“Not having trouble sleeping, are you?”

“I think it’s just because I’m in a strange environment.”

Tyson grinned. “What’s so strange about my house?”

“You know what I mean,” Gabrielle responded with a smile on her face.

“Hey, do you drink coffee?”

“No...
never tried coffee. My Father didn’t drink coffee and he never let us drink it either.”

“So what is your morning beverage of choice? I have cranberry juice, apple juice, V8 and there’s always water.”

“Water is fine.”

She watched Tyson
take a tall glass, walk over to the refrigerator and hold the glass under the ice dispenser. Then he filled it with water and walked towards her with the glass and a plate of food.

“Here you go. Let me grab your fruit bowl.”

He quickly walked back over to the counter, took a bowl of fruit and placed it in front of her. After gathering his food, he sat down next to her.

“Oh, I th
ought you might’ve eaten by now,” Gabrielle told him.

“Nah...I wanted to wait for you...I enjoy our stimulating conversation over meals.”

That brought a smile to her face.

“So what’s under the gravy?
” she inquired.

“Taste and see.”

Gabrielle broke off a chunk of the pastry with her fork and after rolling it around in the gravy, she tasted it.

Tyson watched her chew.
His aphorism as a pastry chef was to
use food to seduce the palate
and he was a great seducer. His tasty pastries were featured in
Food Network Magazine
and
Bon A
ppétit
. Many celebrities visited his restaurants all around the country to try his famous recipes.

“Wow...that’
s heavenly,” she told him with a watering mouth. “Oh my goodness.” She held her hand in front of her mouth as she spoke.

“That good, huh?”

“Mmm,” she mumbled. “Yes. What is it?”

“
What did you taste?”

“Um
...eggs, bacon, some vegetables...”

“Yep
, and a few other meats and some cheese. I baked it in a pastry, then made this country gravy to top it off.”

“Delicious,” she
commented, right before taking another fork full to her mouth.

He began eating as well.
“So, I spoke to Padma this morning.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. She told me Dilvan was back.”

Gabrielle frowned and
dropped her fork in her plate. “Back? He wasn’t supposed to come back until Sunday.”

“I know, but he came back early.”

Tyson watched her instantly withdraw as if the thought of Dilvan being here again brought fear to her heart.

“Why...why is he back so early?”

“Well, apparently, he found out about the good deed you did for his Father.”

Gabrielle covered her mouth. “Oh my gosh
! I told Padma not to tell him.”

“Why would you tell her not to tell him?”

Gabrielle shook her head. “I can’t believe this.”

“Gabrielle?” Tyson said, to get her attention before she lost it. “Talk to me.”

She sighed. “I didn’t want Dilvan to know because I just knew that if he found out, he’d hate his Father as much as he hates me.”

“I’m not following you, Bri.”

Gabrielle blew a breath. “It took a part of me to save his Father’s life, so as much as Dilvan despises me, I thought that, if he found out I was the donor, he’d begin to hate his Father just as much.”

“No.
..actually, it’s having the opposite effect. According to Beatrice, he’s been beating himself up over the way he’s been treating you after finding out what you did for his Father...my uncle.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Well, that’s what Padma told me this morning.”

Gabrielle sighed. “I can’t believe she told him.”

“She didn’t...she didn’t tell me how Dilvan found out about it, but I’m certain she wasn’t the source.”

Tyson took a sip of coffee. “Let me ask you...wou
ld you be willing to have a sit-down with him?”

“No,” Gabrielle responded quickly, her hands
trembling.

Tyson saw her hand
shaking and touched her arm. “I won’t let him hurt you.”