Nicholas (Members From Money Book 10)

by Katie Dowe

  “So I take it that’s a no?” she teased.

  “A definite no,” she said firmly. “We have not sorted out our situation, Mom, and I would never want to bring a child into this confusion.”

  “Give it time, honey,” Karen told her sympathetically. “He is going through a rough patch right now, you just need to be there for him.”

  “I am trying mom, but he’s making it hard.” She took the salad bowl and went with her mother to the dining room.

  *****

  She had not told him she would not be there and when he went inside he was surprised to find the place in darkness. He had left a little late because there had been a meeting that had ran over. His father was used to doing things his way, but he was implementing some changes in the company where the board members had more say to what goes on in the business.

  He had come home at seven-thirty expecting her to be waiting for him and was surprised she was not. He knew he had been holding himself aloft from her but he had so many things churning inside him that at times he felt as if he was going to burst right open. He watched his mother go to the hospital faithfully each day and had stopped asking her why. She was free to do whatever she wanted to. He dialed her number and it went straight to voice mail. Where the hell was she?

  He took a shower and made a sandwich from some lettuce and cheese he saw in the fridge and was reminded of the first time he had been invited to have dinner with her and she had told him that take-out was her best option because she was not into cooking. He wandered around the room, picking up a t-shirt she had left on the sofa, inhaling her scent of some flowery body wash. She had asked him if he wanted out of the marriage and he had felt himself getting scared. He could not lose her but he also could not stop himself from keeping her at a distance. As long as he did not know where he stood in the company he could not relax. What if his father woke up tonight or even in the morning? Every time his phone rang he was expecting to get a call telling him to get out of Kamato Holdings and never return. He had told Kimberly that he was willing to walk away from it and he had also told his father that as well, but was he?

  He glanced at the clock with a frown noticing that it was almost eight-thirty and dialed her number again, but it went straight to voice mail. He was just about to call her friends when he heard the key turn in the lock and she came in. He sat there while she took off her jacket and hung it up revealing the dress she was wearing. She was stunning! He never got used to it, no matter how many times he saw her. “Where were you?” he asked her softly.

  “I was at my mom’s,” she answered, looking at him briefly before going into the kitchen to put a container on the counter. “Are you hungry? She sent over pot roast for you.”

  “Thanks, I ate a sandwich.” He had followed her inside the kitchen. He blocked her exit as she made to leave the room. He had put on a loose bottom and his upper body was bare, his chest smooth and finely muscled. “I called you twice and your phone went straight to voice mail.”

  “My battery died.” She looked up at him with a level stare.

  He stood there staring at her and she returned the stare without flinching. “I have been pushing you away because of how mixed up and confused I am, please forgive me.”

  “Okay.” She nodded.

  He took her shoulders and brought her closer to him. “I don’t want to lose you,” he murmured huskily. “Please bear with me, I cannot lose you.”

  “You won’t.”

  *****

  That night he made love to her so tenderly that it left both of them shivering with need. He undressed her slowly, kissing every exposed inch of her body and had her so fired up with desire that she could not keep still. It was then and only then that he entered her slowly, his movements measured as he thrust inside her, holding her to him tenderly, kissing her face and holding her to him for the entire night.

  *****

  She rushed into his arms and he held her tightly. She had called him and told him she was coming over and he had told her yes. She had decided not to go to the hospital tonight because she wanted to be with Charles. Her husband’s condition was still the same and she was tired of wondering if he was going to wake up and what would that mean.

  “I am glad you came.” He hugged her tightly, lifting her into his arms he carried her off to the bedroom where he laid her down gently on the bed. He had told her that he could not continue like this, but the past few days he had not heard from or seen her had been very hard on him. For now he was going to take what he could get.

  “I missed you so much,” she murmured, opening her arms to him. He climbed on top of her and entered her gently, feeling her close around him tightly. His big frame shuddered on top of her and he took her lips with his in a tender yearning kiss and as she moved with him, he knew he could never let her go!

  *****

  She went to the hospital without telling him. They had spent the night cuddled together and he had made love to her early in the morning telling her that he would be coming back later.

  She gave her name at the nurses’ station and was told that his wife was in there with him. She stood at the doorway and watched the petite woman sit there on a chair, a newspaper in her hands. She looked up as she sensed her presence and stood up.

  “Hi my name is…“

  She did not get any further because to her surprise the woman came forward to meet her with open arms. “You are Kimberly Kamato, Peter’s wife.”

  She looked at the woman in surprise. “He told you about me.”

  “He did.” She glanced around at her husband and instinctively she saw the fear there.

  “How is he?”

  “Still the same.” She squeezed the girl’s hands. “Do you mind if we go and get some coffee?”

  “Of course.”

  *****

  “I told Peter I wanted to meet you, but I guess he is trying to protect you from the unpleasantness of the situation.” She stared down into her coffee, her expression pensive.

  “Peter needs to stop deciding what is good for me,” Kimberly said dryly. “I know I just met you, but I have to ask you something. Why do you stay?”

  Mitsui looked up at the exquisitely beautiful black girl with her sense of independence that she wore like a shroud around her.

  “I stay because I am duty bound to do so,” she said with a sad smile. “There has been no love lost between us and I had gotten used to the way he treated me which of course is very sad. I was getting ready to tell him I was leaving when he had the accident.”

  “Oh my,” Kimberly exclaimed. “I am so sorry. And now you feel guilty about that,” she added shrewdly.

  “Please don’t tell my son,” she pleaded. “I was not only leaving him, but I have fallen in love with someone and I want to be with him.”

  Kimberly stared at the small beautiful woman before her and realized that she must be suffering so much. “Happiness is fleeting and I understand that he is your husband. I want you to grab that happiness with both hands and don’t feel guilty about it.”

  Mitsui reached across the table and held Kimberly’s hands briefly. “I am so happy I get a chance to meet you.”

  “So am I.”

  Chapter 10

  John Kamato died the 30th of May without waking up. Both Peter and his mother were there. He died in the late afternoon just as Peter got there from work. He had been in a coma for a month and a half.

  He left his mother and the doctors in the room and went outside in the waiting room to make a call. “He is gone,” he told Kimberly abruptly. They had been getting along tentatively and he had finally confided in her about what he was going through. Some nights she would wake up to find him still awake and staring up into the ceiling.

  “I thought you could walk away from the company?” she had asked him with a frown.

  “It’s the not knowing that is killing me.” He turned to face her. “I have made some positive changes to the place, baby, and I know if my father wakes up he is g
oing to go back to the old ways just to spite me.”

  “It’s going to work out,” she had assured him.

  “Do you want me to come over?” she asked him now. She had her hands full with some new clients and their pets but she would if he wanted her to.

  “No I will see you later. We are talking to the doctors now and we are going to be making arrangements for the funeral.”

  “Come home when you are done,” she told him softly.

  “I will.”

  *****

  Kimberly hung up and took a moment to consider. The man had been her father-in-law and learning of his death she had felt nothing but relief. He had held their lives in his hands and now they were free to do what they pleased. She had told him about meeting his mother at the hospital and he had looked at her contemplatively for a moment and then nodded, saying he was happy they had met. She had not told him about her mother wanting to leave and that she had met someone.

  The man had been a menace and a stumbling block to all of them so she was not going to pretend she was sorry he was gone.

  *****

  Mitsui stared at the man she had known and been married to for most of her life. Even in death he looked arrogant. She had asked them to let her look at him before they put the sheets over him. He was gone and he had never spoken a kind word to her or even told her he appreciated her not even once. She finally left his bedside and walked out to the waiting room. She had not called Charles yet preferring to tell him in person. Her son was on the phone when she got there and he hung up when he saw her. “How are you?” he asked her briefly noticing that there were no tears.

  “I was used to him always being there so it’s kind of strange to know that he is gone,” she said with a sad smile. “And I am afraid that I am not regretting that he is gone.”

  “Neither am I,” Peter said grimly. “Let’s get out of here.”

  *****

  He had to deal with the Hiroshi’s about the arrangement they had with him marrying their daughter. Luke Hiroshi was furious that he was not going to honor their combined wishes. “You had an arrangement with my father, Mr. Hiroshi, and his death has now made that agreement null and void.” He had come over to the house as soon as he had heard the news of John Kamato’s death.

  “So what am I supposed to do now?” he asked in a belligerent tone. He was very small and stocky and his face had turned red with anger.

  Peter wanted to tell him that he did not care but he took a deep breath and realized that the man was irate for a reason. “Make new arrangements. Your daughter is a nice girl and would make a suitable wife for someone else but not me. I am truly sorry.”

  The man turned on his heels and walked away.

  “You handled that very well,” his mother said coming inside the room. They had not too long come from the hospital and she had gone and taken a shower.

  “Thank you,” he told her quietly. “I promised Kimberly that I would be home tonight, are you going to be fine by yourself?”

  “Why don’t you invite her over?” Mitsui suggested impulsively. “That is if you don’t mind.”

  “I will call and ask her,” he said quietly, his expression unreadable.

  “Do you know he was going to change his will?” she asked him as he turned to leave.

  “I suspected,” Peter said with a grim smile. “How did you find out?”

  “I saw some documents in his office.” Mitsui sat on one of the sofas and folded her arms. “He did not keep anything locked away because to his thinking, I am a woman and I did not really understand any of those legalities. He had papers drawn up ready to take to the lawyers, the night before he had the accident. He was doing it out of spite.” She raised eyes quite like his own to his. ‘The original will leaves everything to you and an allowance for me. It also states that if I got married again I was to be given a million dollars in cash and I should vacate the premises immediately.”

  “What a charming man,” Peter said scathingly.

  “I have met someone, Peter,” she told him and saw the shock on his face. “I was going to tell John that I was leaving him the night of the accident because life is too short for me or anyone to be living the way we lived and I was not going to miss out on my chance of being happy.”

  “I would like to meet him.” Peter sat beside her and took one of her small hands in his. He was thrown a curve about what she had told him but did not feel one ounce of resentment, she deserved some happiness in her life.

  “I would like that,” She said with a tremulous smile. “Go and call your wife.”

  *****

  He gave her the tour as soon as he brought her back to his place. Mitsui had embraced her and after talking to her for a little bit she went upstairs to her suit of rooms.

  “How are you?” Kimberly looked at her husband quizzically. They were in his bedroom and he was undressing her slowly.

  “I am relieved that he is dead.” He paused what he was doing and looked down at her. “Is that bad?”

  “He was a tyrant and I only met him once,” She murmured. “Your mother suffered the most I think. I am glad she told you about the man she is in love with. It must be so romantic to fall in love at this stage in her life.”

  “She is not a doddering old woman, Kimberly,” he told her in amusement, lifting her chin to look at her face. “I am so glad I met you,” he said soberly. “I saw the way they lived and even when I was a little boy I saw how unhappy she was. I was prepared to settle because I never knew better. I want to ask you something.”

  “Go ahead.” She held on to his hand.

  “Will you marry me again? This time with a wedding for everyone to see?” he asked her tenderly.

  Kimberly looked at him in surprise. “Are you sure?”

  “I am positive,” he said with a smile.

  “Then by all means, let’s get married again.” She clasped her hands around his neck. He lifted her and put her on the bed before joining her, undressing her slowly, his gaze lingering on her breasts.

  *****

  The funeral arrangements were made there was to be a cremation. The ceremony was very somber and everyone was dressed in black. Mitsui was wearing a black kimono with a veil covering half her face. The board members and staff of Kamato’s Holding were present and Peter had closed the company for the day in observance of the founder and former CEO of the company. It was a beautiful June afternoon and there had been rain in the morning but had cleared up by the afternoon.

  There was a repast at the house and it was a catered event which ended an hour later.

  The lawyer was there and after the people had left he suggested that Peter and his mother come into the den so he could read the will. “You can do it right here, Kimberly is my wife.”

  The man looked at him in surprise then a slow smile lit his craggy Caucasian face. “Your father thought he had you right where he wanted.”

  “I know,” Peter said grimly. “Go ahead Dave.”

  “As you know, Peter ,he left the entire thing to you,” Dave looked at the papers in his hands briefly. “The controlling interests in the company, the stocks and bonds and this house.” He glanced at Mitsui briefly and looked away straight away.

  “It’s okay Dave,” she told him quietly. “I already know what it says about me.”

  “Ah well yes, Mitsui, I am sorry, I tried to get him to change his mind but he would not hear of it. “He paused and looked at Peter. “He had every intention of changing his will because you would not come to heel. He had the papers all drawn up but did not get to do anything about them because of the accident. So, you are the owner of the company fair and square.” He shook his graying head. “For what it’s worth and despite the fact that I admired him as a business man, as a human being, he was a complete failure. I beg your pardon,” he said with a small cough.

  “Never apologize for telling the truth, Dave,” Peter told him with a wicked grin. “Thank you.”

  He left shortly after.


  “I want to sell the house,” Peter murmured, looking at his wife and then his mother.

  “I think you should. You both deserve a new start,” Mitsui said with a smile. “And I am telling you both now. After the appropriate mourning period, I am going to marry Charles.”

  “And I wish you all the best, Mother,” Peter went over and clasped his mother’s hands briefly.

  *****

  They were married again on the last day of June at a small chapel nestled in the middle of the woods. She wore white this time, a flouncy white dress that came just above her knees and dangerously high heels that brought her to her husband’s chin. He had bought her another set of rings: a princess-cut diamond set that dazzled the eyes. His mother was there as well as Charles and several people from his company. Her friends stood with her at the altar while they repeated their vows.

  Afterwards they had dinner at a quaint little inn near to the chapel. He did not have time to go on a honeymoon just then because of the changes in the company, but he promised as soon as he was able he was going to take them somewhere special. She was happy they were not leaving then because she would have missed her friend’s departure for Tuscany on the third of July.

  They threw her a going away party the night before at the house. She had officially moved over and had given up her apartment. They were going to be looking for an appropriate spot to build their house but in the meantime they were staying at his original home.

  Mitsui had left a little while ago and her husband had told her he would be working a little late so they could have their party in peace.

  “I am going to miss you,” Kimberly told her with a sigh. They had opened the gifts already which ranged from lingerie to cookbooks to an Italian dictionary. “Who is going to intervene between Deidre and me?”

  “I am only a phone call away.” She was very close to tears. Her students had made her a collage of pictures with all of them on it and she had looked at it and almost broke down right then. Several of the teachers were also there and one of them spoke up, “Who is going to speak up for us for better classrooms and the amount of stationery we are supposed to be allotted?” There was a chorus of agreement which was interrupted by Deidre. “Enough! This is supposed to be a joyous occasion for Simone and I am very happy for her, we all should be.”