Completing Beauty: Books 1-3

by Stella Andrews

  I can tell my words have done nothing to deter the woman beside me and she falls deep in thought as we speed toward the town. Suddenly she changes the subject. “I should go and see my mom.”

  “Why?”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you hate her.”

  “I do.”

  “Then why?”

  “Because there is unfinished business there. What she agreed to all those years ago hurt me badly. Now we have resolved our issue, I want to do the same with them.”

  “Them?”

  “Mom and Anastasia.”

  I say nothing and she sighs heavily. “We need closure on this, Seb. We have to tell them where we’re at and what’s happening. I’m not saying we’re about to become modern family or anything but I need to put this issue to bed.”

  “Do you want me to come with you?”

  Smiling, she reaches for my hand and squeezes it gently. “Maybe it’s best I go alone—I think.”

  Pulling into the parking bay outside the office, I think about what’s just happened. It’s all moved so fast since yesterday and is a lot to take in. Angel’s right though, we need closure on the past to deal with the future because if I know Tobias Moretti, that could be very dark indeed.

  Chapter 25

  Angel

  To say I’m nervous is an understatement. Ever since Sebastian and I stepped foot inside the office, I’ve spent every minute finding out what I can about Tobias and how he operates. I don’t like what I discovered.

  Ryder filled me in on the businessman but a few internet searches revealed the player this man is in private. He is all over the internet with a different woman on his arm in most of the photographs. He’s one good-looking son of a bitch and exudes confidence and charisma. However, he has dangerous eyes and even through cyberspace I feel unnerved by him. I can see he’s a man who controls and I’m guessing anyone who gets in his way is dealt with mercilessly.

  Further digging into his business life revealed a string of legitimate businesses he has some involvement with. Even politicians and celebrities feature in his life story and he is usually seen at all the major events. He travels in convoy and I saw pictures of him in the most expensive sports cars and boarding his private plane. Now I see the full extent of his empire, I feel unnerved by my arrogant request for him to attend today.

  I hear a knock just before 2 pm and Dora pokes her head around the door. “Um... I’m sorry, Angel but your 2-o’clock is here and waiting in the boardroom.”

  I smile but I can’t disguise the nerves because Dora smiles reassuringly. “You’ll be fine, he seems a nice gentleman.”

  Shaking my head, I follow her out and wonder about Dora. I took in her heightened color and the flush to her cheeks and see that she liked what she saw. Maybe Tobias is a charmer because Dora is no fool.

  I reach the boardroom and taking a deep breath, push open the door, glad to see Sebastian already waiting. He stands up as I enter and smiles reassuringly before I turn to our guest. As expected, he hasn’t come alone and Mr Bellini is sitting alongside him, as well as a stunning woman who appears to be his assistant. Then there’s the man himself. Talk, dark and handsome doesn’t do this man justice. He is perfection molded into human form. Glittering dark eyes, sparkle from a chiseled face and his dark hair as black as the night, gleams in the sunlight. He smiles as I approach and holds out his hand and as I take it, his grip is hard and firm but strangely gentle and I can only imagine the pleasure those hands can give a willing participant, as well as the pain they can inflict on an unwilling one.

  His aftershave is pleasant and intoxicating, much like the man himself and it takes me a moment to gather myself and face him with indifference.

  “Good afternoon Mr Moretti, thank you for attending the meeting personally.”

  He nods and as I take my seat, he does the same and faces me with a keen expression. “I was intrigued, Miss. Johnson.”

  “Intrigued?”

  “Yes, I have never been given an ultimatum to attend a meeting before and it made me curious as to the person who would think that was a good move.”

  “You surprise me, Mr. Moretti.”

  “Please, call me Tobias, we are partners, after all.”

  The gleam in his eyes unnerves me and I say quickly, “I may be new to this business, Tobias but I want to start as we mean to go on. I didn’t take kindly to a substitution because I believe a person needs to know who they are in business with. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Well said, Angel, isn’t it?”

  “It is.”

  He leans back and I hold my breath because I can tell he has something to say. “Yes, Angelica Johnson, the prodigal daughter who ran away because her boyfriend...” he looks across at Sebastian who has tensed beside me, “Chose her sister over her. That must have hurt.”

  “It did.”

  He looks thoughtful. “Then this must be very hard for you, returning to face your pain and finding you must work together.”

  Shrugging, I say in a flat voice, “We are not here to talk about my likes or dislikes, Tobias, we are here because we are now partners.”

  I can tell my words have irritated him because his eyes flash and he leans back, staring at me like a Panther stalking its prey. Mr Bellini appears rather hot because he is sweating profusely and the woman with him looks bored as if she’s seen this all before. Sebastian’s face is, like his name suggests, cast in stone and I take comfort in the fact he’s by my side because I’m not sure how well my next remark will be received.

  “Well, Tobias, I won’t keep you guessing because I had an ulterior motive in bringing you here.”

  Immediately, the tension in the room increases as Tobias looks at me with a hard expression. “I want you to sell me your shares.”

  For a moment there is silence and you can hear a passing plane in the sky and the sound of a car honking its horn outside.

  Tobias just leans back and looks at me with interest and I can tell I now have his full attention.

  “They are not for sale.”

  “Everything’s for sale, Tobias, at the right price.”

  “I don’t need your money, Angel.”

  My heart sinks because I had hoped this would be over with already but I can see that Tobias is not a man easily persuaded.

  Sebastian jumps in. “That may be the case but you must realize Johnson’s plastics is going into a period of uncertainty. The market is averse to the use of single use plastics which is the category we fall into. Added to that, its owner and chairman is dead and word on the streets is this business doesn’t have long. We are offering you the opportunity to sell while the share value is still relatively high and make a large profit on your investment. Who knows what that investment will be worth in the future even two weeks from now? It’s a sound business proposition and I beg you to consider it.”

  Nodding, I lean forward and stare at him in the eye. “I have a buyer lined up who would have the money transferred by the close of business today. This is your chance to walk away and enjoy a healthy profit. Not bad for a few hours work, wouldn’t you say?”

  I can tell that I’ve angered him by the way his eyes flash and a hard look enters his eyes. Mr Bellini looks as if he may pass out and even his assistant appears to shrink in her seat.

  Tobias also leans forward and snarls. “Do you take me for a fool, Angel?”

  “Not at all, if anything, I think you are an extremely shrewd man.”

  “Then do not insult my intelligence in this way.”

  I make to speak but he silences me with one look. “Firstly, I repeat, my shares are not for sale. They never will be. Secondly, I do not agree that this company is in danger, if anything, you are poised on the edge of a very exciting new beginning.”

  He laughs at the alarm on my face, as he says in a low voice. “You see, I have also been doing some digging and had a very interesting conversation with somebody very dear to you only this morning.”

 
The tension in the room is suffocating as he adds, “Your own mother, in fact.”

  The alarm bells ring but I keep it to myself and face him with a cool expression. “I’m sure that was very um...nice for you both.”

  “As a matter of fact, it was. You see, Angel, I believe in the importance of family. I believe you should look after your own and treat your parents with the respect they deserve. I believe in the power of family above everything and yet it appears it’s a sentiment you don’t share.”

  “You know nothing about me.”

  He laughs, but it’s cold and sinister and the hairs on my neck stand to attention.

  “I know everything about you, Angel. I know the deal your father made to remove your lover from your life. I know he arranged for him to marry your sister to break your spirit. I also know that he was working on something that would move this company forward like a rocket launched into space. Yes, Angel, my shares will be worth billions by the time we have finished because this company is entering a brave new world and you want to leave me behind. Well, I don’t take kindly to be treated like a fool, Angel and you have just made your first mistake.”

  My heart thumps inside me at an alarming rate but I don’t show how affected I am by his words. Instead, I shrug and say coolly, “Then your information should also have told you that I am undecided about my inheritance. You are right about my father wanting to break me, Tobias and for a while back there he did. However, like you, I place great value on family and believe loyalty is earned not inherited. I now have a new family who I would die for and it is them I owe my allegiance to. I believe you understand what I’m saying because I’m guessing your family is much the same. It’s my new family who will support me through this testing time and my birth family mean nothing to me. So, the decision is yours, sell to my new family and walk away with no hard feelings and the hand of friendship, or stay and deal with the fact that my family controls the majority of this company and do not need the money it brings. I’m in an emotional state, Tobias and am liable to sell up and take off and you may not like your new partners. My advice would be that you get out now while things are amicable because you won’t like me, or my family, when they are not.”

  I grab my glass and take a sip of the cool water to try and extinguish the fire within me. I need to do this. I need to regain total control of this company because the thought of being in business with a crime family is not worth thinking of. I am doing this in Sebastian’s father’s memory because all the time Tobias Moretti sits across the boardroom table, it’s a reminder of why my father did what he did to both of us. Ryder has already offered to buy the shares and I know I have the Reapers full support with whatever decision I make.

  However, Tobias is not a man who lets go so easily and says in a cold voice laced with steel and veiled threats, “I repeat, my shares are not for sale. You see, Angel, my conversation with your mother was extremely enlightening. She revealed that your father was determined to keep this as a family business. He was so disappointed not to have a son and heir to leave it to and had to make do with his daughters. He did not value you and so why should I? She also told me that there was a clause in the will that you couldn’t sell your share to anyone but family.”

  He laughs as he sees the alarm in my eyes because this was something I did not know. “It appears that I’ve caught you off guard, Angel. Maybe you should have stayed and listened to the rest of the will that day, instead of leaving like the petulant child you are. You see, it’s all in the small print, my dear and so, when you have tired of playing with the big boys, you will be the one selling your shares and the only one who can afford them will be me.”

  “You, I’m sorry, Tobias but by your own admission, you just said they can only be sold to family. How does that make you suitable?”

  He stands and I watch as his companions do the same and move toward the door. Tobias smiles and I see the spark of victory in his eyes as he says in a hard voice, “Because I am to marry your sister.”

  He says nothing else and just walks to the door and leaves without a backward glance. As the door closes behind him, it leaves nothing but shock and despair in the room behind it.

  Chapter 26

  Sebastian

  The silence left behind is deafening. Angel just stares at the closed door and then says in a trembling voice, “So, that’s it then.”

  I stand and make my way toward her and hate the defeat in her eyes, mixed with hurt and pain and something else - resignation. I hate that look on her, so I say roughly, “He may think he holds all the cards but you are still the majority shareholder here. Your word goes and nothing will change. Tobias is just a minority shareholder and has no say in the running of this company.”

  “For now.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Think about it, Sebastian. Why would he want to marry Anastasia? It’s the company he wants, it’s obvious. Once he becomes family, as he puts it, the road is open to him taking control if I’m out of the way.”

  “Out of the way?”

  Her voice trembles and she looks scared. “Tobias is the mafia, Sebastian. It would be easy for him to arrange an accident or remove me from the situation, then he would gain overall control. This is a disaster and I can’t think why my mother and sister agreed to this.”

  My head hurts as I see the truth in her words and say roughly, “I won’t let that happen, we will think of a way out of this.”

  She drums her fingers on the desk and I watch her thoughts pass across her face. The fear is being overtaken by something else and as I watch in fascination, I see why I love her so much. When she raises her eyes, I see a different look in them as she says in a cold voice, “Maybe it’s time to pay my mom that visit I spoke about.”

  “You, or us.”

  “Us. It always was us and will be in the future. We’ll go and find out what the hell is going on and find a way to stop that wedding from ever happening.”

  As I follow her out of the building, I wonder about Anastasia. I know she’s pissed that things never worked out between us but this… it doesn’t make sense. Why would she agree to such a marriage unless...?

  “Do you think Anastasia is out for revenge?”

  Angel voices the exact same words that run through my mind and I nod. “It appears so.”

  “Does she hate us that much to sacrifice herself in this way?”

  The sadness in her voice makes me stop in my tracks and pull her roughly against me. Angel is fighting her feelings in every way possible because despite the distance between them, they are still her family and it must hurt they are conspiring against her.

  I pull her face to mine and say gently, “Whatever her reasons, she can be persuaded. I know you have a painful past with the people who should love you the most but now is not the time for recriminations. You need to build those bridges before they burn forever and whatever they say, you must consider the bigger picture.”

  I kiss her gently on the lips and for a moment she clings to me like the vulnerable woman she is right now. As my arms fold around her in a ring of steel, I make a vow to protect her at all costs. I may be up against a formidable adversary but I will die for this woman in my arms and do whatever it takes to make her happy.

  She snuggles into me and I know she’s hurting badly. However, Angel has reinvented herself into a stronger woman and as she pulls back, I am happy to see the fire flashing in her eyes.

  “They won’t beat us; I’ll make sure of it.”

  Nodding, I return her expression with one of my own and say roughly, “After you, darlin’, it’s time to make a stand.”

  We make the journey to her home and for once we are silent. There is no music playing and no gentle teasing between us. Angel is working out her battle plan and so am I. It will be interesting to see what the afternoon brings because there is too much at stake for us to fail.

  As I bring the car to a stop outside Angel’s childhood home, she grins. “Well, here
we are again but two very different people than were here last.”

  Nodding, I reach across and grip her hand tightly. “You know I have your back, don’t you?”

  “You always have, Seb.”

  I look at her in surprise and note the mist in her eyes as she says softly, “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For believing that you willingly chose my sister over me. I can see now that you did it to protect your father and buy us some time. Maybe if I had stayed, things would be very different now, so I just wanted to say, I don’t need to forgive you, Seb because there is nothing to forgive.”

  I stare at her in shock and she smiles sweetly. “I love you Sebastian Stone, I always have and always will, for however long our lives will be.”

  I almost can’t speak and fight the emotion inside me to bring her lips to mine and whisper, “I’ve always loved you, Angel. You and me were written in the stars. It was always going to be us and it always will be. Whatever happens with the company is irrelevant to me because as long as I have you, I have the world.”

  As we share the sweetest kiss, my heart settles. We were always good together and now we will be a formidable team.

  After one of the longest kisses we have ever shared, Angel pulls back and I note the brightness in her eyes and the flush to her cheeks. Laughing, she whispers, “Let’s get this over with because I’m kind of hoping you can show me how good we are together back at the cabin.”

  Grinning like schoolkids, we exit the car and head toward the large imposing wooden door. It begins.