The Ties that Bind (Kingdom) (27 page)

At the smug look on Cox’s face, Steve looked over at Jason and saw real concern on his face. Breaking eye contact almost as soon as it had been made, Steve’s attention was again on, Cox.

“Ah, yes, Falloa Datra Inc. I always liked Latin. Did you take Latin at school, Mr. Cox?”

The sound of Jason’s explosive laughter bounced off the wall as Cox’s head spun around to look at him. Jason and Steve shared a smile in remembrance of their father, the man who had first taught them how to get one over on anyone who had ideas of besting them.

Steve saw the moment Cox finally worked out that he had been played, and had no qualms about laughing in his face.

“That’s right, Cox, in Latin fallo means
dupe
, ad means
by
and atra means
black
. In other words, you have been duped by a black man. That means me in more ways than one. That piece of paper means nothing, now or ever. Therefore, I suggest you give up your futile vendetta. You can take me to court and end up being the laughing stock of the business world. You see, in your eagerness to best me you didn’t do sufficient homework. There is no registered company by the name, Falloa Datra Inc.”

Reaching across his desk, Steve pressed a button, sat back in his seat and watched as sweat broke out on Cox’s face. He could see that his nemesis was visibly shaken by what had taken place in a meeting in which he had thought that he would emerge the victor.

Gaining his feet, Percy Cox surreptitiously wiped at the trickle of sweat that escaped his hairline and ran down the side of his face.

“What about my money? You can’t keep my money!”

Steve looked Cox up and down, his disgust of the man apparent. “Now that’s where you’re wrong. I could keep it, and there wouldn’t be a damn thing you could do about it. Unlike you, Mr. Cox, I covered my tracks. Fortunately for you, I’ve decided to return all of your money.”

Adjusting his cuffs, Steve observed that with his last statement, some of Cox’s bravado had returned. But he wasn’t finished with him yet.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

“Come in. Ah, Ms. Ellis, do you have the envelope?”

“Right here, sir.”

“Please give it to Mr. Cox.”

Taking the manila envelope Steve’s assistant handed to him, Cox gave it a blank look.

“Sign.”

“What is this, are you crazy? I’m not signing anything I haven’t had an opportunity to read!”

“Very wise. You have two minutes to look through the contents of that envelope and attach your signature to the relevant document. Two minutes or your money goes to charity as an anonymous donation. Your call and, Mr. Cox, your time has already started.”

Steve watched as indecision ran across Cox’s face. Silently Steve willed him to call his bluff. He would like nothing more than to ruin the man standing before him.

Coming to an immediate decision after giving the envelopes content only a brief look, Cox took the pen, Ms. Ellis offered and signed the document. Handing it back to the waiting woman. Cox fixed his eyes on the door, looking at no one within the room, humiliation written all over his face.

While he had been preoccupied, two of Steve’s security staff had taken up a position by the door, waiting to escort Cox out of the building.

As the visibly shaken man passed by, Jason rose to his feet, grabbed Cox by the arm and whispered in his ear. Whatever Jason said changed Cox’s complexion from the grey pallor that had overtaken it to an unnatural green. When Jason released him, Cox continued out the office neither looking left nor right.

Finally, he and Jason were alone. Steve rubbed a hand over his face and drew in a deep breath. His company was secure, and on that front at least he was finally ready to move forward with his plans.

Steve’s reverie was broken by Jason’s question. “What was in those papers?”

A grin on his face, Steve leaned forward to rest his elbows on his desk. “Simple really, it told him to stay the hell out of my business, and I wouldn’t expose him.”

Curiosity aroused, Jason tipped his head indicating that Steve should go on.

“I think the deciding factor was the shots of the woman, Mr. Cox likes so much.”

“You have got to be kidding me... a prostitute, come on!”

“Not just any prostitute.” Steve clarified, but actually saying nothing that shed any light on the situation.

“Do I have to pry it out of you? I know he’s not married. If he’s messing around with prostitutes who the hell cares? The majority of businessmen from all over the world are doing the same thing. Come on man, you know I’ve seen and heard about some perverted shit. If I have to guess what he’s into, we could be here for a long time.”

Steve knew exactly what Jason meant, he too was aware of the types of deviant behavior some men took part in.

“It would seem that Mr. Cox never fully grew up. He hankers after childhood. Specifically, sleeping in a crib and shitting his diaper.”

Jason’s laughter exploded around the office. He was laughing so hard Steve caught the bug. Each time they tried to pull themselves together, more laughter came spilling out. Both men found the situation so funny tears were soon running down their faces.

Wiping his eyes, Jason grinned at Steve, “How did you find all this out? I checked, and I didn’t discover anything about this side of him.”

“You checked! I thought I told you to stay out of my business, Jason!” Just like that, Steve’s laughter evaporated.

Rather than looking reticent, Steve could still detect the sheen of laughter in Jason’s eyes.

“We’ve looked out for each other from almost the first moment we met. For me, that’s never going to change. If you don’t like thinking about that fact then my advice is to not think about it, but that’s not going to make me stop looking out for you.”

Steve took the time to really look at the man sitting across from him and was flooded with memories. In a series of flashes, he saw the emotionless, curly haired little boy he had first met. This was followed by some of the pranks they had gotten into in their adolescent years. Steve also saw their father reprimanding them for something they should or shouldn’t have done. No matter which aspect of his life flashed before him, Jason was there, and Steve finally admitted that he would want it no other way.

Jason’s softly spoken words broke into Steve’s reminiscing. “Wherever you were, that was a lot of emotions passing through.”

“Yeah, lots of good thoughts. Memories that mean something.”

Jason didn’t respond to Steve’s words, he didn’t need to. He, more than anyone, understood this man.

“So, are you going to tell me how you found out about Cox’s little fetish?”

“Why the hell not. You’re so far up in my business I might as well tell you all of it. As you know, I sort of lost it there for a while after the whole wedding fiasco. Well, one morning I woke up, and I was in the middle of two extremely attractive women...”

“That’s not like you.” Jason broke in.

“I know, and somewhere in the back of my mind I thought the same. But my life had bottomed out pretty fast, so I didn’t really know if it was like me or not. All I really knew was, I didn’t like the direction my life was taking. I felt completely disgusted with myself and I wanted them gone. As I was rushing them out, one of the women turned and looked at me in a strange way. At first I thought the look was one of disgust. Later I realized she was assessing me.

One night as I was just about to unlock my car the same woman emerged from the shadows. It took me a few moments to realize who she was. She said she had a proposition for me.

Turns out she was Cox’s go to girl. He went to her to be mothered, and he went to her when he wanted photos taken of me in a compromising position with two women. He thought he could use those images as a bargaining tool. What he hadn’t reckoned on was that the lady wanted out, bad.”

“Go on.”

Refocusing his eyes, Steve spared Jason a brief glance before continuing with his story. “She wanted to make a deal. She said she’d checked up on me after she’d left. She said she had wanted to talk to me the night we met, but I was too wasted. Apparently she and her companion only just managed to get me into the room before I passed out.

By all accounts, it didn’t take long for the other woman to follow suit. She told me nothing happened that night, and God help me, I’m going to believe her. I still had myself checked out though, a man can never be too careful!”

“What happened next?” Jason asked.

“I wanted to go somewhere and talk. She refused, so we ended up talking in my car. She would exchange the CD for my helping her to get away from, Cox.”

“So she was stupid!”

“I’d say! She didn’t seem to realize that she’d just got through telling me that nothing happened. Then in the next breath she’s attempting to make a deal with a CD filled with a whole lot of nothing.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously!”

“Well you obviously made the deal or did you just remind her that dumb lasts a lifetime?”

“I made the deal.” At Jason’s scoff, Steve gave him a dirty look before he continued to speak. “I felt bad for the woman. No-one, and I mean no-one should have to change Percy Cox’s two hundred and eight pounds soiled diaper!”

Both men looked at each other with a mutual shudder of revulsion at the thought.

“How did she keep the recording from him?”

“She told him the storm knocked it out.”

“He bought that?”

“I doubt it. She was sporting a wicked looking shiner. She named a sum, I doubled it if she could get me something on Cox. Plus, you know we don’t hold with men beating on women.

I arranged to meet her the next day. I had the money, she had ten CDs of Cox in various stages of, how shall I put it... Paraphilic Infantilism. It was a done deal.”

“It would seem you have him by the balls. My advice for what it’s worth... don’t let go, squeeze as hard as you can, as often as you need to!”

The look of laughter and understanding on their faces would have brought nothing but pride to the face of Howard Blackman. He had taught his boys well, and those lessons would last them a lifetime.

Chapter 29

Steve was glad that he and Jason had made peace, as he knew Jason was the only sibling he would ever have. He knew they would fall out again in the years to come, of that Steve was certain. But all he could hope was that the cause would never again be because of a woman.

Subconsciously, one of Steve’s long fingers flicked the flap of the envelope that sat on his desk, his mind fixed on how the evening would end.

The sound of his desk intercom stilled his restless hand. He had arranged for Hope to meet him at his office, and she was right on time. He had also told Ms. Ellis that he wanted to be informed when she was on her way up.

Steve hadn’t wasted any time dispatching copies of the master of the documents that were still in the envelope that sat on his desk. He wanted Nixon gone. Removed from all of their lives.

If anyone had told him that the last few months would have taken such a toll on him, he wouldn’t have believed them. Now he was more than ready to move on with his future plans. Plans that he had already set in motion. The money he had received from the death of his parents was going to help him realize his dream.

He had already made inroads in purchasing the land he needed to establish his vineyards in Italy. Only two unresolved issues remained, Nixon and Jason’s willingness to hear Hope out.

A beep pulled Steve’s attention back to the matter at hand. “Yes?”

“Ms. Richards is here, sir.”

“Send her in, please.”

Moments later, Steve looked up to see Hope walk through the door. But this was a different Hope. Gone was the immaculate super model that he had come to know. The rigors of the proceeding weeks had stripped away the façade of glamour that had always surrounded her. What remained was... Hope. The woman who was on the brink of being who she was always meant to be if fate hadn’t intervened.

Her usual high fashion ensembles were gone, replaced by a pair of Jeans, a t-shirt and tailored leather jacket, and Steve couldn’t believe his eyes, sneakers.

“Hey.” Hope said, seeming uncertain.

“Hey, yourself.” In all the time Steve had known her, he couldn’t remember her looking so fragile. The thought brought a smile to his face. She was closer to six foot than anything else, but she did indeed look fragile.

“You wanted to see me?”

Steve could tell her mind had been working overtime, and probably reached all the wrong conclusions. Some men would have taken pleasure in her discomfort, her unease. Not Steve. Steve approached Hope who still hovered at the door and when he reached her, Steve dipped his head, and pressed his lips against Hope’s. Her little gasp of surprise caused her mouth to open, and Steve used it to his advantage, and deepened the kiss.

Moving closer, Steve pressed his tall frame against her unrelenting body, and backed Hope up against the door. His mind was in a quandary, unsure of exactly what he was doing and why. Pushing the thought aside, he justified his actions by attempting to convince himself that there was nothing wrong with showing her what she had been missing for all these months.

Sliding his hands behind her back, Steve pulled her lower body against his. He wanted her to feel him, all of him. Slowly bending his knees, their bodies still connected, Steve rose to his full height, aware of the way her height fit his own, touching him in all the right places. Conscious of how Hope clung to him, how she trembled, Steve pulled his mouth away from hers. Hope’s eyes remained closed as Steve looked down at her. He knew she could sense his regard, and waited until her eyes fluttered open.

Not knowing what to say, Steve turned abruptly and indicated that he wanted Hope to take a seat. The myriad expressions that passed across her face had left him momentarily stunned. This wasn’t about whether they wanted each other physically, they both had just proved the truth of that. This was about where they would go from here. This was about whether or not they loved and respected each other enough to build a future together. Steve finally admitted to himself that he wasn’t sure that they could.