Arousal
Page 18
“Please, sir.” She wasn’t taking no for an answer, which struck me as odd, since that was usually his approach. I guess he could submit, too. Maybe he was unable to say no to Romanian women who looked like they could kick his ass.
“Of course.” He guided me into the dining room. It was the most impressive one I had ever seen in a private home, with a long oak table and magnificent throne like chairs at either end. The fireplace had beautiful carvings and looked big enough for Santa and his reindeer to descend through. The fire was bright, casting a glow in the soft-lit room. I wondered if he would escort me to one end of the table and then seat himself at the other. I was relieved when we took seats next to each other because I wanted to continue my inquisition.
“Don’t think you can kiss your way out of this … Count.” I smiled, still feeling the results of said kiss between my legs.
“I had to try, Ms. Monroe,” he said, brushing his hand against mine and lifting it to his mouth to kiss. “I didn’t want you to faint, after all.”
“Perhaps it was not the worst distraction in the world.” I ran a finger along the smooth wood of the table. “So tell me, is this place one of your homes?”
“It is Grandmamma’s,” he said. “But, yes, it will transfer to me. To us.”
“Is the maid negotiable?” I was making a joke.
“She’s been faithful to our family for decades, so I wouldn’t want to displace her and disrupt her life,” he said, quite seriously. “I can set her up in her own place on the grounds, with a cushy retirement fund, if you would rather have a new staff.”
My chest tightened. He was still talking to me as if this was happening and that we would be together.
“Is that drink coming soon?” I calculated that I would need at least three shots of hard liquor to loosen me up. “Make it something with vodka, with a vodka chaser.”
He left my side for a small bar against the wall and came back with a cool cherry soda with a touch of vodka in it. I took a sip. It was the drink I tasted on his lips the night we met.
“Allison, my love, can we talk about this—all of this—without you throwing that drink at me?” He paced the room and seemed to organize his thoughts in his head.
“Okay,” I took a deep breath, and placed my palms down on the top of the table. “But you know this is all very weird, right? And it’s weird on top of odd when you think of our unusual courtship rituals. So I have the right to react.”
“Yes, I know it is, odd,” he said, smiling. “So react away, just don’t throw things or storm out.”
“I’d be within my rights, with all these late-breaking surprises, on top of you being my client,” I reminded him. It seemed like the least relevant part of the story right now, but it would be hugely important again when I returned to work Monday.
“Well, there is something you should know about that,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “There’s a bit of a back story.”
“You might as well tell me all of it.” I breathed in, trying to pull in as much oxygen as I could and braced myself.
“Grandmamma had a dream that an offer was coming to me that would bring me closer to my beloved,” he said. “A day later a group of tech developers approached me to pitch the e-reader. I have no business dealings in the electronic world, but it seemed like a sound idea, and I took the meeting. I followed my gut and agreed to back it. “
“How did you end up with Berke and Monroe for marketing?” I wondered if he’d seen my photo on our company website, or somewhere, and tracked me down in advance. I was bracing myself to discover he was a stalker, on top of all else, and that he calculated our elevator meet-cute up to the exact moment.
“I brought in other people to work on product development,” he said. “People who knew the business well. They warned me it would be a tougher market in the United States because it is saturated with devices, but they researched countries where we could potentially lead the market. I had the developers adapt products to work in other countries, but we had to have the right international marketing team. I had a short list of three companies.”
“I guess I know where this is heading,” I said, “but please enlighten me.”
“I met with them all. I thought your boss, Sheila, was a complete snake when I met her, but I got a good a feeling about the firm. I didn’t know why. I even tried to second guess myself, and brought the names of all three companies to my grandmother so she could tune in.”
I lifted the drink to my mouth and took a swig. And then another. “Holy crap,” I said. “Are you telling me that you people totally operate on gut instincts and that you paid three million to my firm on a hunch?”
“Yes,” he said, stroking his beard as he spoke. “Pretty much.”
I took another swig of the drink and rubbed my forehead as if it would take my disbelief away. “You need to get the whole bottle of vodka before you say another word.”
He walked over to the bar, snatched the bottle and the cherry drink, with another glass, and brought it over. He poured himself a drink while he refilled mine.
“I wrote the three companies down on a piece of paper,” he continued. “When I gave it to my grandmother, she closed her eyes and ran her fingers across the page. This is what she told me: ‘One of these has a woman you will hate, but will also have the woman you will love.’”
“Oh my God,” I exclaimed, trembling. The words hit like a torpedo. My stomach hurt and I realized my boss had inadvertently tipped him off to which company to pick.
“Yes, it was Sheila,” he continued, nodding his head. “I despised her the minute I met her. I hated the idea of working with her. She was the only one in all the companies who I had such a bad reaction to, so I knew that was the company I had to hire. But I had no idea you were who I was looking for. Not until the elevator. Not until that night. I just followed the signs that kept leading me down this path. The only thing I was sure of was that I would know you when I saw you. And I did.”
My heart opened when he said that, but my brain shut it down, hungry for more information to explain the crazy ride I had been on for the past few days.
“Why didn’t you mention this count thing?” I questioned. “I mean, don’t you think it’s information I have the right to know? I asked you if you were a vampire, and you said no. Why couldn’t you say, ‘I am not a vampire, but coincidentally, I’m a count, but not Count Dracula?’”
“Allison, think of how you would have responded then if this is how you are taking it now.” He sounded irritated. “I sensed it would be overwhelming, but I didn’t think you would be mad at me for having a title.”
“I’m not mad at you for the title; I’m upset to hear about it as an afterthought since it is apparently an important part of this,” I said, making air quotes, “‘transition of power.’”
“There are a lot of things I wish I’d done better,” he said, taking a deep sip of his drink. “I’ve been trying to figure this out as I go along, trying to keep you interested and aroused. I didn’t know Grandmamma was so close to the end, or that you’d be here today, or that we would even make it to this point. I planned on telling you everything on the full moon. But maybe now you can see why I wanted you to love me first, so you were less likely to walk away.”
He looked at me with those eyes and took my hand.
“But that’s so manipulative, to try to hook me first.” My voice was a few octaves higher because of the alcohol. “You know this looks like a setup, right, as if you need a female to put into place to hold the title and inheritance and a breeder to get you some heirs eventually.”
I didn’t truly believe that, but I wasn’t quite sure what to believe. I couldn’t simply accept this crazy story, could I? My option to mistrust him was like a safety net. He’d topple all my walls if I didn’t challenge him. I wasn’t ready for that yet.
“I have my own money,” he quickly asserted. “A lot of it. I don’t need the additional inheritance for personal use.”
“I wish you would let me explain more about my financial situation,” he said, exasperated, grasping his beard. “I want to tell you everything. I’ll even set up an appointment with my financial advisors so you can review all my holdings, properties, real estate, and other assets.”
I reclined a little in my chair as if I were about to see a PowerPoint presentation.
He stared at the fire for a moment. Then he turned his gaze to me with a look that begged me to please listen and let him finish. So I did.
“My father and his brother inherited money from their grandfather and, after the war, established a business in the United States that became worth millions of dollars,” he said.
“My uncle, Vlad’s father, died suddenly, and my father decided to retire. He sold the company and made sure our mothers, Vlad’s and mine, would be taken care of for life. Grandmamma has her own fortune, so when we became of age he gave the rest of the money to Vlad and me. I was twenty-four. Vlad was twenty. My father told us to find a way to invest it so we would never have to rely on anyone else for an income. It was twenty million dollars. We could have lived on it forever, but we turned it into billions, investing in other people and companies. My father did not want me to follow in my grandmother’s footsteps. He thought she was wacky, quite frankly. He raised me to become a successful businessman.”
“So now I don’t feel so bad for my initial reaction,” I said, slightly vindicated. “But why are you doing it?”
“My grandmother. She is all the family I have left now, except for Vlad and you, I hope.” He seemed sad and reflective. “I’ve been successful in business, and I want more out of life now. I want my true love. I want my own family. And I want to do things to help others, the way Grandpappa and Grandmamma always did.”
“But wait, do you run a business with Vlad now?” Somehow I did not picture the dark-haired Petre as a business whiz.
“No,” he said shaking his head. “My cousin likes to model and party, and not deal with business, so he sold his interests to me. Our financials are pretty much separate at this point. He does his thing, and I do mine. But of course, there will be matters of inheritance to deal with when Grandmamma is, well…” He stopped and took a sip of his drink, savoring it before speaking. “Do you feel a little more informed now?”
“Far more than I was five days ago when you made your first appearance and your first pitch,” I laughed. “But tell me again why everything hinges on tomorrow’s full moon. I’d like to spend days and weeks talking like this and getting to know you and it feels so rushed.”
“It’s about the prophecy.” He plunked his glass down on the table and stood to pace around the room.
“What about the ‘prophecy’?” I made double quotation marks in the air to stress my frustration. I was beginning to understand bits and pieces, but it was still a mystery to someone not raised in the same mystery school as Nicolai and his grandmother. “Why is there such a mad dash to be bound to one another?”
“The full moon tomorrow gives us a window of time when the aspects favor us, as Grandmamma pointed out.” He walked to the head of the table and sat on the arm of the big throne chair. “I don’t understand all the astrological and spiritual aspects. I simply know my grandmother’s dream became part of our family prophecy, and she has guided me toward it since I was young. I wasn’t ready until recently, and when that happened, the wheels were put into motion and I was able to enter the world in which you dwelled. I have been preparing for you for many years. I loved you before I met you. This is easier for me. I felt everything I needed to feel about you in that first kiss.”
“But were you really doing this for love?” I couldn’t let it go. “It seems you were looking for me to fulfill the prophecy or please your grandmother. Isn’t it a bit unromantic, trying to rope me in like that?” My mind drifted to Nostradamus’ predictions. It dawned on me that Nicolai might also believe there was a bad thing that would happen if we didn’t fulfill the prophecy.
“Five days or five months, it has the same end result,” he said, sounding practical but annoyed again. He seemed to think I should move on already. “I will make sure there is time on the other end of things for you to adjust and be happy about your choice. For whatever reason, the clock is ticking for us.”
“It sounds like a fairytale,” I said, nervously draining my glass with a large sip and refilling it with vodka straight up. “Am I going to turn into a pumpkin at midnight tomorrow?”
He looked at me, his beautiful eyes staring deep into mine. He smiled, yet it was a sad smile. “Maybe this can be our fairytale.”
“What if I still can’t believe in happy endings?” I started to feel a buzz from the vodka, enough to say things I wouldn’t normally utter. “Look, you’re handsome, rich, tall, titled, own property, and you’re a fucking good catch,” I said, taking another swig. “I have feelings for you—deep ones. I dream about your penis at night. And even the non-sex I’ve had with you has been the best sex ever. On top of that, your grandmother is really cool and she thinks I’m great. But I’m pissed.” I pointed my glass in his direction. “Do you want to know why?”
“I want to know everything.” He came back and sat next to me, but he folded his arms across his chest so I wasn’t sure he really wanted to hear it. Liquid courage was helping me along.
“You seduced me and made me fall for you,” I said, wielding my drink in hand as I spoke. “At the very least, you created conditions in which I could find you nothing less than irresistible. And once I was hooked and here at your grandmother’s house in the middle of nowhere, you people start letting me in on the secrets. Shouldn’t I have been the first person to know the important stuff, before I was hooked? Before it became almost impossible for me to separate myself from you? Before I fucking fell in … in … fell for you? I mean, who does that to someone?”
He quickly moved his chair so it was sidesaddle to the table and turned me around in my chair to face him.
“Go back to the second to the last thing you said.” He took the drink from my hand and leaned in. “You’re right. I fucked up. I manipulated everything, but tell me that part again. Please.”
“I think I’ll wait.” My speech was a little slurred and from the way my stomach was rumbling I realized I need some food. And that I probably should have refrained from drinking on an empty stomach. “I should save at least something that you don’t know for the coronation or consummation or whatever you think we may do tomorrow to fulfill the prophecy.”
I excused myself to go to the bathroom under the stairway. I hoped no one heard me throwing up the last two glasses of vodka. Gross. Fortunately, I’d left my overnight bag in there when I showered and it contained needed supplies. I brushed my teeth, my hair, and washed my face. I reapplied my lipstick. At least I felt sober again.
Chapter Twenty
When I came back to the table, there were three place settings—two in front of where Nicolai and I were sitting, and one across from us. The cook had come in and was apparently getting ready to feed us.
Someone had turned the chairs back and Nicolai sat facing the fireplace. His hands were steepled, prayer-like, in front of him. I sat down next to him and his arm gently brushed against mine.
I gazed at the fire too, waiting in silence for his next move.
“Allison,” he said, turning toward me and taking my hand. “My parents were both killed in a plane crash when I was still in my twenties. Vlad travels the globe, doing his own thing. The only person who has given me love and comfort is my grandmother. When you have wealth, everyone wants a piece of you, of it, and you are surrounded by takers, users, and unsavory people—the Sheilas of the world. It is so hard to find someone you can trust with your life. I was lucky my grandmother’s dreams helped lead me to you. In my enthusiasm to lock things into place, I may have acted
like an alpha. Okay, maybe I was an asshat. But can you let me off the hook for that?”
“Possibly.” I wanted to let him off the hook and return to his arms, but I felt there was still a missing piece of information.
“I hope you can,” he said, squeezing my hand. “Because there is only one I want, need. Deep down, in a place where there are no words. Don’t you feel it too?”
“Crazily enough,” I sighed. “I do. But I need more words. Tell me one more thing. What is the spiritual component you mentioned?”
Nicolai looked at me as if he was about to reveal something I might not like. Just then, Vlad wandered in. Nicolai stood, seeming relieved, and walked to his cousin. Together they were like a matched set of dark and light gorgeousness. Was it possible there could be two human males as handsome and hot, not only in the same room, but in the same family? Well, maybe the Hemsworths.
“So what did I miss, cousin?” Vlad said with a grin, slapping him on the back. He was much more jovial in nature.
“I was just catching Allison up on some family history.” Nicolai opened a new bottle of vodka and poured Vlad a drink.
“Ah, you mean The Transylvania Saga?” He gave me a sly, sexy look. I folded my arms over my chest. He had those sexy Petre eyes too, but more mischievous. “There should be a book on it.”
“Vlad,” said Nicolai. “Please, go easy on the TMI. I don’t want Allison to run screaming out of here. She’s had enough for one day.”
I realized Vlad, who was younger and seemed much more easygoing, may have some family secrets to share. I intended to pump him for some.
“What do you know about this prophecy?” I insisted, looking him square in the eye.
“My grandmother hails from a long line of seers, and healers, and has the gift,” he said. “Her father was also rich. He saw her destiny with a man who had favor with a branch of royalty and somehow made connections to find him through a Romanian family. Grandpappa came into his land, title, and money at seventeen. He needed a wife and heirs to his title and estate. Our grandparents accepted their destiny, no problem. Grandmamma gave birth to Nicolai’s father, and then mine, but they are both deceased. This is where my dear cousin comes in. He’s the oldest grandchild.”