Ignoring Carly’s tug on his arm when he moved forward, he said in a sharp voice, “You have just crossed a damn line, Thrasher. I knew you were an ass when you walked in here uninvited, but what you just said proved you’re a bigger ass than I thought.”
Sidney Thrasher glanced over at Lee, as if noticing him for the first time. He stiffened his spine and tightened his shoulders. A furious look appeared on his features. “How dare you speak to me that way,” he said in mounting rage. “Do you know who I am?”
Lee gave the man a hostile glare. “Yes, like I said, you’re an ass. You have a lot of nerve saying such awful things about Carly.”
Thrasher’s nostrils flared in fury. “I don’t give a damn about her. I’m just here for my daughter.”
“And she doesn’t appear to be going with you, so I suggest you leave,” Lee ordered in a furious tone.
Thrasher looked at Carly. “You better tell your friend to back off or I’ll make things hard for you. I’ll make sure you never find employment anywhere ever again.”
Carly moved forward to stand beside Lee and lifted her chin. “I’d like to see you try it.”
It was obvious Thrasher hadn’t expected Carly to talk back to him. “Fine. I checked out a few things on the flight here. I know that you work as a cook at the Grand MD Hotel. All it will take is a phone call and you’ll be unemployed and out on the streets.”
“Dad, no!” Shundra pleaded. “I won’t let you ruin Carly because of me. I’ll go with you and Mom, but I’m not getting an abortion.”
“You don’t have to go with them unless you want to, Shundra,” Lee said angrily. He was mere seconds from knocking the hell out of Thrasher. “He’s bluffing about having any influence over Carly’s job. He doesn’t know the owner.”
Thrasher’s features contorted with furious shock. “How dare you call me a liar?”
“I dare because Lee Madaris is the owner,” Lee said, taking a step toward Thrasher. “And I am Lee Madaris.” Lee ignored the shocked look on both Thrasher’s and Gail’s faces. “And since Carly plans to marry me, a job at the hotel is the last thing she needs to worry about. Now get out.”
Gail and Sidney looked at Carly as if they actually thought she would intervene on their behalf. She lifted her chin and stared at them in disgust. “You heard Lee. Please go. You aren’t welcome here.” She looked past them to Shundra. “You can leave or stay. The choice is yours, not theirs.”
Shundra lifted her chin as well. “I’m staying.”
Sidney glared at Shundra. “You’re making a mistake.”
“If I am, then I learned from the best. My parents,” Shundra said.
Then, without saying another word, an angry Sidney stormed out and Gail followed.
Lee closed the door behind them, smiled slightly and then said to Shundra and Carly, “Come on, ladies. Let’s eat.”
* * *
The three of them had finished dinner and were about to dive into dessert when there was a knock on the door. Although this knock was civil, Carly couldn’t help wondering if Gail and Mr. Thrasher had returned.
She met Lee’s gaze.
“You want me to get that?” he asked.
“No,” she said, getting up from the table. “I will.” If the Thrashers had returned she had choice words for them. She had tolerated their dislike of her for the last time.
Moving toward the door, Carly was very much aware that Lee was by her side and Shundra was on her heels. She looked through the peephole and frowned. A man she didn’t recognize was standing there.
She spoke to him through the door. “Yes, may I help you?”
“Yes. I need to talk to Shundra, please.”
“Shelton?” Shundra said, moving closer to the door.
“You know him?” Lee asked her.
Shundra nodded. “Yes, Shelton Chapman. He’s my father’s pilot and the father of my baby. It’s okay to open the door.”
Carly opened the door to what she had to admit was a very handsome man with a serious look on his face. He was respectful enough to give her a smile and say, “Thank you, ma’am, for allowing me to see her. I’m Shelton Chapman.”
“You’re welcome.” Carly heard his Southern accent and wondered where he was from. She then proceeded to introduce herself in a way she had never done before. “I’m Carly Briggs, Shundra’s sister.”
The man’s smile widened and Carly noticed the cutest dimple in his chin.
“This is my fiancé, Lee Madaris,” Carly added, liking the way she could introduce Lee as well.
The man extended his hand out to Carly for a handshake and then to Lee. “Nice meeting you both.”
“Shelton? Why are you here? Why aren’t you piloting the plane to take my parents back home?”
“I was fired.”
“Fired?” Shundra said in surprise. “Why would Dad fire you, especially when he needs to leave Vegas?”
Shelton hesitated and then said, “Is there someplace we can talk privately?”
Shundra waved off his request. “No need. You can say what you have to say in front of Carly and Lee. They know all my secrets.”
“Evidently I don’t,” Shelton said. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”
Shundra’s mouth dropped open. “How did you find out?”
“Your parents. When they returned to the jet, they were fit to be tied, madder than hell. I overheard what they were plotting to do. They were discussing how to get you out of Vegas even if they had to have you kidnapped. Your father went on to say that once he got you back to Minnesota he’d make you have an abortion, and he didn’t care that you didn’t want one.”
Shundra gasped.
“I knew if you were pregnant the baby was mine, so I confronted your father.”
“You did?” Shundra asked.
“Yes. I told him I was the father of your baby. Let’s just say he wasn’t happy about it, and what he said next doesn’t matter. In the end, he fired me and said he had connections and would ruin me so I would never work anywhere again.”
“Thrasher seems to enjoy throwing that threat around,” Lee Madaris muttered, shaking his head.
“I’ll find work,” Shelton said. “I refuse to believe your father has connections with every single airline. But the reason I came here, even in spite of your parents’ threats, is to ask you to marry me. I have some money saved, and I can make a home for you and our child, Shundra. You won’t have all the luxuries you were used to, but—”
“You’re only marrying me because of the baby? Out of obligation?” Shundra asked.
Carly felt that this particular part of the conversation was one she and Lee should not be privy to. “Lee, I never showed you my garden.”
Lee looked at her strangely for a minute before getting her hint. “Oh, okay. I was wondering when you were going to get around to doing that.”
He and Carly then walked out the French doors.
* * *
“You have information for me?” Bracey asked when Weber entered the room.
“Yes,” Weber said, smiling. “I got Grassley drunk the other night by slipping some Coral into his vodka. He talked his ass off.”
Coral was the new drug on the market. The shit was hard to get ahold of and usually didn’t show up in the bloodstream for a while. The beauty of the drug was that although he would wake up with a slight hangover, he wouldn’t remember a thing.
“So what did he say about Harrison’s body?”
“According to Grassley, he helped Nash bury it in an empty lot in Miami Gardens.”
“It needs to resurface,” Bracey said.
“I thought you would say that,” Weber said. If the body resurfaced it would show the big man that Nash couldn’t be depended on to get a job done. “Nash is gonna be in hot water when the dead body he was supposed to get rid of shows up.”
Bracey was silent for a minute. “That’s what I want. And that’s also why I want to find that woman before he does.”
&nbs
p; Chapter 16
“I thought they needed privacy,” Carly said while she and Lee strolled through her backyard.
“I understand. Do you really have a garden?”
Carly smiled. “Yes. It’s over there. Come, let me show you.”
Her backyard was small and the paved patio extended across most of it. A high privacy fence enclosed the entire space.
Carly led him to several rows of plants. “These are my lantanas,” she said, taking him to the first row. “And these are my Salvia greggii.” They walked a few feet more. “And these here,” she said, widening her arms to indicate multiple rows, “are my—”
“Birds of paradise,” Lee finished for her, smiling.
“Yes. My favorite. Whenever I did something well in school my aunt would send me an arrangement.”
Lee nodded. “How did you get them to grow here?”
She smiled. “A good irrigation system. You don’t want to see my water bill.”
Lee could tell she was proud of her garden and she should be. He could see that she’d spent a lot of her time out here.
He leaned against the side of her house. Carly’s expression projected fulfillment, gratification. She was proud. Her plants were something she could call her own. Something she had that depended on her. He knew, in a way, she also depended on them. She gave to them and they gave back.
“Carly?”
“Yes?”
“Do you know your father?”
The look that suddenly appeared in her eyes showed she was surprised by his question. “My father?”
“Yes. The man who got Gail pregnant more than twenty-eight years ago.”
Carly didn’t say anything at first, but then, “No. I’ve never been around Gail long enough to ask, and Aunt Ruthie doesn’t know. Gail refused to tell her. According to my aunt, Gail didn’t have a boyfriend and wasn’t dating at the time. She figured Gail must have been sneaking out of the house at night or something. Why do you ask?”
Lee shrugged. “I’m just curious. You are such a passionate person and your mother seems so...”
“Cold? Unfeeling? Heartless?” Carly said. “I often wondered if perhaps she was raped because she treated me with such dislike at times.”
Wanting to change the subject and not talk about her parents any longer, Carly asked, “What do you think of Shelton Chapman?”
“He’s older than your sister.”
“Almost eleven years older,” Carly said. “He seems mature though. Ready to take on his responsibility.”
“He stood up to Thrasher,” Lee said. “I like that. And I think he can handle Shundra. He’s an ex-military man. I can tell by the way he carries himself.”
“She deliberately tempted him into making love to her.”
When Lee raised a brow, Carly smiled and said, “I know because she told me.”
Lee shook his head. “In that case, he probably didn’t have a chance. What do you think she’ll do? Think she’ll marry him?”
“I don’t know. Aunt Ruthie claimed Mr. Thrasher sheltered his kids, but Shundra seems to have a mind of her own. She certainly had no problem standing up to them.”
“Until she thought he was going to harm you. Then she was ready to cave in. I was surprised by that,” Lee admitted. “It showed that although the two of you haven’t spent much time together, she cares for you.”
Carly had been surprised at Shundra’s reaction as well. “She’s young, but maybe marrying Shelton will be the best thing for her.”
Lee moved toward Carly and stopped in front of her. “Speaking of marriage...is our wedding still on for this weekend?”
She seemed surprised by his question. “Why would you think otherwise?”
He caressed the side of her face. “You’ve had a lot of excitement. A sister you never got to know shows up on your doorstep. You might think playing catch-up with her is more important than marrying me.”
He has to be kidding, Carly thought, looking into the deep darkness of the eyes holding hers hostage. Earlier, he had witnessed the craziness of her family. He had pretty much heard her own mother admit she’d never wanted Carly as a daughter. And he hadn’t run. He wanted her in a way no one else ever had. Yet he was standing here questioning whether she still wanted to marry him?
A shiver ran through Carly in response to the gorgeous person standing in front of her. There was more to Lee Madaris than just his looks. He had a way of making her feel special and desirable without even trying.
It had been a futile effort on her part to believe she would be marrying him just for passion. She loved him. There wasn’t a single part of her that didn’t love him.
Carly wrapped her arms around his neck. Knowing he wanted her and no one else sent her spirits soaring. “Nothing is more important to me than marrying you, Lee.”
She inched closer. His body felt hard and solid against hers. “So, if you think you can get rid of me, think again. Do you honestly think I’d let all this passion go to waste?”
His gaze held steady to hers. “I hope not.”
“I won’t.”
And then she leaned up on tiptoe and kissed him. Her intent was to deliver a slow, lingering kiss, but Lee took over and deepened the kiss, sending every inch of her body into a tailspin of desire.
* * *
Lee’s arms spread across Carly’s backside as he pressed her body closer to his. He needed this kiss as a way to affirm what would always be between them. He needed her to know that nothing her mother or stepfather said had any bearing on their relationship.
“Carly? Lee? Where are you guys?”
He broke off the kiss upon hearing Shundra’s voice but kept his arms around Carly’s waist.
“We’re over here,” Carly called out.
Moments later, Shelton and Shundra appeared around the corner of the house. They were smiling. “We’re getting married,” Shundra announced. “But there was a stipulation I made.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me? Sisters who look alike and think alike,” Lee whispered close to Carly’s ear.
“Shundra wants to finish college, and I support her doing that,” Shelton said.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Carly said.
“If you need a job as a pilot, Shelton, I can sign you on,” Lee offered. “My partner, DeAngelo Di Meglio, and I own the Grand MD in both Dubai and here in Vegas. Sometime next year, we’ll begin construction of a Grand MD in Paris. That means we will be increasing our international travel. Kevin, my present pilot, has requested a backup so our expansion won’t take more time away from his family. The job is yours, if you want it.”
Shelton was shocked. “You’re offering me a job? Just like that?”
Lee smiled. “Thrasher fired you and I’ll hire you. Yes, just like that.”
A huge smile spread across Shelton’s face. “Yes, I would love to come work for you. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Have the two of you decided when you plan to marry?” Carly asked, smiling. She couldn’t believe the job offer Lee had made to Shelton, and she could tell from the looks on the couple’s faces that they were appreciative.
“Tonight. At a chapel here that stays open twenty-four hours. I’ve already called, and they are expecting us,” Shelton said, smiling. “I don’t want to discount Mr. Thrasher’s threat to have Shundra kidnapped. Then tomorrow we’ll fly to my home in Charleston so she can meet my family.”
“Charleston is a beautiful city. I’ve been there a number of times,” Lee said.
“Well, if my grandmother has her way you might be visiting there again for our wedding. Although we’ll marry here in Vegas, I’m sure my grandmother wants us to have a more traditional wedding when I get home,” Shelton said, laughing.
“Your grandmother’s name wouldn’t happen to be Felicia Laverne, would it?” Lee asked, grinning.
“No. It’s Ollie Mae. Why?”
“She sounds a lot like my great-grandmother.”
Lee glanced down at Carly and smiled. Then he looked back at the couple. “We would love to.”
* * *
A few hours later, Carly and Lee witnessed Shelton and Shundra pledge their lives to each other. Things had happened so quickly that Carly still couldn’t believe it.
Her sister was getting married. Shelton had taken Shundra shopping for a wedding outfit—a beautiful blue dress—and Lee and Carly had met the couple at the designated chapel a little before midnight.
Carly wondered if the chapel where she would be getting married on Saturday was similar to this one. Lee was making all the arrangements. He said his business partner, Angelo, and Angelo’s wife, Peyton, would be their witnesses. Heather and Joel would be flying in to attend too. Her best friend said there was no way she would be left out. Because the wedding was a secret, Carly couldn’t tell Shundra about it, much less invite her to attend.
When Shelton and Shundra were pronounced man and wife, Shelton kissed his bride. Carly smiled at how happy her sister seemed to be. Shundra was young; it was a month before her twentieth birthday. Carly hoped things worked out for the couple. Thanks to Lee, Shelton had a job, which meant Shundra and Shelton might make Vegas their home. Tonight, compliments of Lee, they had the honeymoon suite at the Grand MD.
“Ready to go?” Lee asked her.
Carly and Lee would celebrate with the newlyweds before the couple headed to their suite and left for Charleston the next day. Shundra promised to call Carly when she and Shelton reached his parents’ home. Also compliments of Lee, the Grand MD company jet would fly them there.
Carly looked up at Lee and smiled. “Yes. I’m ready.”
He took her hand and leaned over to whisper, “In four days it will be our time.”
Chapter 17
“Last chance. Are you sure you want to do this?”
Carly smoothed down her dress for the hundredth time, loving the feel of silk and lace beneath her fingers. Heather and Joel had arrived on Thursday, and Heather had brought the perfect dress from Spain. Heather had asked what colors she preferred, and Carly had chosen her favorite color, yellow, and the color Lee loved seeing her wear, green. It was a beautiful combination.
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