Tropical Storm (21 page)

“Sorry.” Nigel threw out bitterly after a few more jerks threatened to snap him in two. Cairo pushed the older man away from him in disgust. Nigel stumbled, caught himself and then
drew himself up regally.

“You will pay dearly for that.” He threatened.

Cairo shrugged indifferently. “You can’t ruin me, Nigel. But you’re free to try. Money has put me out of your reach. When I was a poor orphan maybe, but not now. Cairo brushed invisible lint off his impeccable jacket only slightly rumpled from the scuffle. “As I said, I didn’t come here to fight. I came here to tell you that Storm is mine. We’re getting married and I’m warning you not to get in the way. I have full control over my son and his future. If you have any hopes of having him in your life, I suggest you learn to accept me. This time I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay.”

“You’re marrying,
Storm
?” Nigel repeated the name derisively before a malicious light entered his eyes. “You’re marrying, Jessica!” He said again like a deranged parrot. He spared a look for his daughter who was hugging herself, all fire and light robbed from her face.

“Does he know what he’s saying?” He asked his daughter gaining some strange glee from her silence. “He doesn’t, does he?” He said understanding darkening his eyes to inky pools.

“Please, father.” Storm began.

Nigel held up a silencing hand and turned back to Cairo grinning. “You’ve no clue, do you? You’re a stupid man and I can’t wait until
you learn the truth. I wish I could be there. I don’t need any revenge; my daughter is going to give you exactly what you deserve. Get out of my house and take your
wife
with you.”

“Despite everything, I think that went quite well.” Cairo mused when they were outside.

He was so absorbed in reliving the event that the slap caught him off guard. Storm put all her weight behind the blow so that Cairo’s head actually snapped back. His hand instinctively went to the side of his face to rub the spot. His gaze narrowed on his soon-to-be bride.

“I assume you disagree?” He said his voice lowering dangerously.

“How dare you!” Storm railed as furious color filled her cheeks and her green eyes sparkled with anger. “Your behavior was
utterly unconscionable. What did you think you were doing?” She yelled, her body shaking with anger. “My parents are not playthings for your amusement. They are hellish, bigoted, petty and selfish but they’re my
parents
. They have done bad things to both of us, but that was inexcusable.”

“
My
behavior was inexcusable?” Cairo questioned almost too softly. “I think I let them off easy. There interference made me lose six years of my son’s life and six years of our lives together as a family. We can’t replace that time and I will never forgive them for their interference. Be grateful that I didn’t strangle the life out of your mother and rip your father’s heart out. There is only one side in this battle, Storm, my side or your parents’ side. Choose.” He demanded.

Storm took a deep steadying breath. “I have already chosen, Cairo. I chose Shane and you a long time ago. But those are my parents. For better or for worse, they’re a part of my life, just like Shane and you are. If we’re being honest with each other then we can admit that they weren’t all to blame. If you believed in me, if we believed in each other, they would never have been able to separate us. We let them win; it’s up to us to make sure they don’t win now. I’m not naïve enough to think that you can just forget what happened but I am asking for tolerance . . . and patience. Is that too much to ask?”

Cairo thought for several long moments before he pulled her roughly against him. “Not too much to ask at all.” He conceded happily. “I’ve won and they’ve lost. I’ve triumphed in this battle and won the prize they wanted to deny me. You and Shane belong to me and no one can take you away. Because of that, I can afford to be magnanimous.”

“Good.” Storm sighed in relief. “Can we go home now?”

“Home?” Cairo questioned.

“Jamaica.” She clarified. “I want to go back home to my son, back to where we found our happiness.”

“I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. But there’s one more person left on the list we have to see before we can leave.”

“Please say it isn’t James.” Storm said worriedly.

“I could say it isn’t him, but it is. What’s the matter? Are you afraid of seeing your soon-to-be ex-husband again? Maybe you still feel something for him.” The light tone could not hide the dark and possessive light in his eyes.

“I feel nothing.” Storm reassured him quickly. “The only man I’ve ever loved is standing right in front of me. No matter what happens, I want you to remember that.” She said her voice shaking with emotion.

“I’ll remember.” He assured her soothingly. “I know you love me, so don’t worry about anything. This divorce will go through and then we’ll finally be together. I’ll take care of everything.” He promised her.

That night in the dark confines of her East Village apartment, she made desperate love to Cairo. With every touch Storm set out to show him just how much she wanted him, just how much she cared and just how much she loved him. She was so wild in his arms that he cried out her name when the passion had reached the limits of his control. When it was over, she stared down at him and kissed him deeply.

“I love you, Cairo.” She told him again with all the feelings of her words reflected in her eyes.

“I know.” He whispered. “We’re meant to be together and after we speak to James tomorrow, you, Shane and I, will never be apart again. I promise you that this time everything will work out just fine. Trust me.”

Storm nodded solemnly and folded herself into his arms.
Tell him now
her mind screamed. But she ignored the thought. She convinced herself that the moment wasn’t right for a confession. It had nothing to do with the fact that when she told him she loved him; he’d failed to tell her that he felt the same. Instead, she kept her body absolutely still until she was sure that he slept and wouldn’t be disturbed by her weeping. She cried that night for what Cairo would discover tomorrow. She had run out of time. Tomorrow would reveal the truth and she knew now that no matter how much she wanted it, they couldn’t be together. He didn’t love her and she couldn’t be with him without love. It was over. With a heavy heart, Storm crawled out of the bed and called the Briggs and Young law office where she left a simple message on the machine.

“Uncle Briggs, this is Jessica calling. Proceed with the divorce as planned. Put a rush on the paperwork and forward any messages you have for me to
The Victory
Hotel in St. Thomas, Jamaica. I will only be there long enough to pick up my son, after that send all correspondences to my home in New York. Thank you. Goodbye.”

Storm carefully replaced the receiver as if it would shatter in her hand. She felt raw with the pain and fragile enough to shatter into a thousand pieces at the slightest touch. She slipped quietly back into the room and packed an overnight bag. She looked down longingly at the man sleeping so peacefully on the bed. Every instinct she had cried out to curl up in his arms. In the end, it was the nails she dug into her palms that stopped her. She would survive she told herself as she crept silently from the room. She had survived once. She would survive again.

Chapter Eleven

It was the door being thrown open that woke him. Cairo sat up in bed with a start. He looked frantically around the room, his eyes wild. He calmed down only when he saw
the firmly closed door. He’d been dreaming
of that night— again. The realization came to him in a rush along with the frown the parted his forehead into a troubled line. He had never had the dream of his wedding night outside of Jamaica, and he hadn’t had it since he and Storm had
made things right between them. Something was wrong. He turned to the side of the bed where his fiancée should have been resting and wasn’t surprised to see that she wasn’t there. Cairo felt the hot brand of pain sear his skin a second before he blocked out the sensation with the emotion for which he was most familiar
—
rage. The comment Storm’s father had hurled so derisively at him now made all too much sense. She had tricked him and he had fallen for it for a second time. Cairo flung back the sheets, got out of bed and started getting dressed with furious movements. It was only as he bent to put on his shoes that he saw the note that had fallen to the floor. He snatched it up
from the ground and read it quickly. It said two words:
I’m sorry
. Cairo crumpled the note in his clenched fis
t.

“Sorry?” he said out loud. “No, you’re not sorry now but you will be.”

If he could have run to James Montague’s Manhattan office, he would have. Instead, he had to wait patiently in the yellow cab for the driver to deliver him to his destination. The car didn’t even come to a complete stop before Cairo threw a
handful of money at the driver and bounded out of the car. He half sprinted to the nearest elevator. The ride to the top floor seemed endless; when the doors finally opened, Cairo strode determinedly up to the receptionist.

“I would like to speak to James Montague.” He growled oblivious to the raised eyebrow of the older woman at the desk.

“Do you have an appointment?” She asked sweetly, obviously used to handling difficult clients.

“No, I do not.” He told her abruptly, sending her other brow to hide in her hairline. “But tell him Cairo Kane is here to see him.”

Looking at him curiously, the woman picked up the phone and turned her back to him as she whispered something into the receiver. When she was finished, she turned back in his direction and looked up at him steadily.

“I’m sorry sir, but Mr. Montague is unavailable to speak to you at the moment. If you make an appointment for another time when he is free, I’m sure he will be able to see you then.” The consummate professional, she graced him with a smile of apology. Cairo didn’t smile back. Instead he leaned down over the desk until his eyes squarely met the secretary’s.

“You tell Mr. Montague that I’m here to talk to him about his wife and that if he values her safety, he will speak to me immediately.” It was not an idle threat.

This got the woman’s attention; she scrambled for the phone and murmured something frantic into the receiver. James Montague came bursting out of his office a half a second later.

Cairo studied his onetime adversary thoroughly. Here in front of him was the man who had destroyed his life almost seven years ago, who stole the love of his son and took his place in Storm’s bed. He was a tall, gym lean and square jawed young man with curly dark red hair and dark eyes. Dressed in an immaculate Armani suit and Gucci loafers, he exuded money, power and a sense of himself that most men would envy. Cairo hated him on sight. Smiling coldly at the receptionist, he ignored James until he walked into his office and closed the door.

“What’s this all about? What have you done to her? What have you done to my wife?” The obvious private school accent was shrill with anxiety. “Are you trying to blackmail us?” He asked anxiously.

“Relax and sit down, James. We have a lot to talk about.” Cairo said flatly.

James sat down and Cairo studied his nemesis. He took note of his ashen pallor under his spray tan and the way his shaking hand destroyed the sleek perfection of his salon cut hair. Cairo looked at him without feeling and observed that James showed real concern. For a man who supposedly had nothing to do with his wife, he seemed genuinely concerned about her safety. No matter what she might have told him to the contrary, the marriage between the two of them was very much real, at least on her husband’s side.

“Let me get straight to the point of my visit. Your wife led me to believe that your marriage was a sham and that she had every intention of marrying me and divorcing you. Right now, this isn’t going to happen. I’m only here to tell you that I want my son. I have no interest in the mother, she you can keep. I will fight both of you with all my considerable financial resources
until Shane is in my custody. I’m here to give you fair warning that if you fight me on this, both of you will be very sorry. Also, for the sake of her well-being I suggest that you do your best to keep your wife out of my way. If she ever crosses my path again I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

James leaned limply
back in his chair confusion gathering like thunderclouds on his brow. “My God, what are you talking about? My wife was going to divorce me?” He digested this with real distress before shaking his head to clear it. “And you want, Shane?” He repeated dumbly.

Cairo nodded gravely ready to do physical harm to the man if he attempted to put up the slightest resistance.

“Who are you?” James asked in agitated distress. “And who the hell is Shane?”

“What!” Cairo jumped from his chair to his feet. “What do you mean who the hell is Shane? Shane is legally your son, but he’s mine and I want him.”

“Are you mad?” James said, startling Cairo into silence. “I have no children, sir, legal or otherwise. My wife Maureen and I have neither the desire nor the time for children of any kind. I think there must be some kind of mistake.”

Cairo went deathly still. “Jessica Storm is your wife. You’ve been married to her for close to seven years.”

Maybe it was the impertinence behind his statement that made James burst out laughing. “Are you crazy?” He asked clearly confused. “I’m not married to Jessica Storm. I had an arrangement with her once but that ended when she married some lowlife and had a baby against her parents’ wishes.”

When Cairo fell back into his chair, understanding shaped James’ mouth into an appalled O. “Oh my God!” he said shocked. “You’re the man she married. This all makes sense now. You’re not here to confront me about
my
wife. You’re here to confront me about
yours
.” The hilarity of the situation caught James in a fit of laughter, brought on partly by mirth and partly by
malice. “She has obviously woven a mighty tale with me at its center. No, I’m not married to Jessica and no matter how beautiful and desirable she was then, I’m happy that she married you instead of me. She was always too much to handle.”