by Joanna Shupe
“Because accepting it was letting him win. Allowing him to buy me off to walk away from you. He didn’t deserve the satisfaction.”
Her gaze swept the office, this large, well-appointed room atop his building. “But your papers. How did you scrape together the money to first buy the Bugle?”
“Hugo.” She blinked, and so he explained. “When his owner died, Hugo was left with a modest settlement, which he reinvested in some . . . unsavory enterprises in Hong Kong. He became a very wealthy man. Even more so now that I’ve paid him back in Cabot Publishing stock.”
“So you did it all yourself? Through hard work?” When he nodded, she threw up her hands. “But I discovered you in an opium den!”
“Sorry to disappoint you, sweetheart, but I only visit Sing’s because I contracted malaria in China. I don’t want the stockholders to get nervous, so I hide out in Sing’s when the disease resurfaces.”
First her conversation with Hugo, then the shock of the afternoon edition, the fight with Calvin . . . now this. Hand on her stomach, she crossed to a chair opposite his desk and lowered herself. “This has been the most topsy-turvy day. Do you have any more surprises for me?”
Chuckling, Calvin slid off his desk and knelt by her chair. He clasped one of her hands between his own, his skin warm and soft against her. He threaded their fingers together and held tight. “There’s one more thing you should know. I always wanted you. Never think I didn’t. In fact, I still do.” He bent to kiss the top of her hand, the feel of his lips sending a shiver through her. “I want you more than anything in the world. More than my papers. More than air itself.”
Sometimes words were just words, sounds that came out of a person’s mouth. Other times, words changed everything, their meaning upending the universe. Calvin’s declaration was most definitely the latter, a sentiment she never thought to hear from him again. A rush of tenderness wrapped around her insides and centered near her heart. This caused pressure to build behind her lids, a horrible burning sensation.
Bright blue eyes squinted at her face in a dramatic fashion. “I didn’t think Lillian Davies ever cried.”
“I do when the only man I’ve ever wanted uses his superlative language skills for good instead of evil.”
He chuckled and tugged her closer, raising a hand to cup the back of her neck. “I have other superlative skills I can also use for good.”
“Is that so?” She stroked his cheek with her fingers and whispered, “I might need a demonstration, because I’m still furious with you.”
He gave her a seductive smile that caused her stomach to flutter. Lowering his head, he said, “I would be happy to oblige.”
He fitted his mouth to hers, instantly forcing her lips open to allow his tongue inside, as if he’d been starving for the taste of her. She met his eager stroke with her own, and the kiss deepened, their breath mingling, his familiar taste filling her senses and causing her head to swim. Her fingers glided through his hair, nails digging into his scalp, anchoring, as the kiss dragged on.
A warm palm cupped her breast over her clothing, squeezing gently. The nipple pebbled and Lily moaned into his mouth. The sound seemed to trigger something inside him. He kissed her harder, almost punishing, and Lily loved it, arching toward him.
Desperate to touch him, she dragged her hands down the lines of his neck, the short whiskers covering his jaw, then over his broad shoulders. Her hands slid under his coat and started working it over his shoulders. He pulled back, panting heavily. “What are you doing?” He helped free his arms from the fabric and then tossed the coat onto the floor.
“Touching you.” She caressed his arms through his fine shirt, feeling the sturdy muscle and bone shift as he moved. She slid her nose along his jaw, breathing in the spice and cigar that always clung to him. Then her lips moved to the rough skin of his throat, nipping and biting the strong column.
“And while I like you touching me—I love it, actually—we are in my office. In the middle of the—”
She snatched his necktie and jerked him in for another kiss, silencing his protests. She needed a little longer. Just a few more minutes to satisfy this insane yearning for him.
Without breaking from her mouth, he grasped her elbow and helped her to stand, then kicked the chair out of the way with his foot before bringing her flush with his frame. She clung to him and rose up on her toes, her arms sliding over his shoulders and around his neck.
He rolled his hips and she felt his erection, hard and insistent, at the juncture of her thighs. A wave of lust careened through her and she gasped. Calvin sucked on her bottom lip, murmured, “God, Lily. I want you.”
“Yes, so you told me. I’ll never get tired of hearing it, though.”
He kissed her jaw, working his way toward her ear. “I mean, I want to have you,” he said softly, his tone low and seductive. “Bury myself inside your body while you sit on my desk with your legs spread. Right now.”
Goodness, that was certainly specific. Flames licked through her veins, her blood turning thick and hot at his lurid, crude words. “Oh.”
“Is that oh as in never? Or is that oh as in, Oh, Calvin, what a fantastic idea?”
“Oh, as in the idea hadn’t occurred to me, but now that it has, I think you should lock the door.”
His eyes flashed and he grinned. “Then I suppose I should lock the door.”
“Yes, you should,” she said, sliding her hand over his silk vest.
A minute later the lock had been secured and Calvin had her backed up to his desk. Instead of kissing her, he bent to place his nose in her hair. “I love the way you smell. Like lavender and sunshine.”
Her palm found his cheek. “I missed you,” she whispered. “I would strangle my father were he still alive.”
“No, you wouldn’t. Because I would do it first.”
“He didn’t like you, did he?”
Calvin huffed a laugh as he spun her around. “No, he did not. And the feeling was definitely mutual.” He reached under her outer skirts and began lifting them until he found the ties to her petticoat and bustle. She placed a hand on his desk, steadying herself as she stepped out of the loosened pieces. He didn’t bother to remove any other clothing before lifting her up onto his desk.
“I am furious with him over what he did, but he was a good father, believe it or not. Misguided in some respects, but he loved me.”
“Misguided?” He shook his head. “You are perhaps the only person on the planet with a favorable impression of him.”
“Well, he shouldn’t have threatened you.” She draped her arms around his neck, teasing the ends of his hair with her fingers while he worked her skirts higher, revealing her drawers. “And you shouldn’t have believed him without talking to me first.”
He stepped squarely between her thighs where his erection, stiff beneath his trousers, lined up to her core. She bit her lip in anticipation. She felt so empty. God, he needed to hurry.
His touch found the heart of her, one finger sliding inside her slick channel. She threw her head back, the aching fullness pleasurable yet not nearly enough. “You’re so wet,” he murmured, his eyes trained on her uncovered sex as he added another finger, stretching her. “You’re soaked.”
Before this went any further, something else needed to be said. She caught his arm and held his gaze. “No more lies, Calvin. I need you to always trust me, to be honest with me.”
His throat worked, but he did not flinch, his stare holding steady. “I will. And I won’t give you up, Lily.”
Satisfied, she lay back on top of his desk. “Then you may commence with your demonstration.”
* * *
Calvin hadn’t planned on traveling to Brooklyn that day. He had an endless list of things to do—a list that did not include chasing down one stubborn, foolish, spoiled young man. Taking the stairs two at a time, he arrived at the top floor, Hugo fast on his heels. Calvin rapped on the door with a special pattern of knocks.
A series of locks
disengaged and an older Chinese woman appeared. Mrs. Cheung was a great-aunt of Kwan’s and was helping to care for Lee’s daughter. Her dark eyes shone with relief when she saw Calvin and Hugo. Stepping back, she allowed them in. The front room was empty, save for her.
“Mrs. Cheung,” Calvin said, bowing. “Thank you for contacting me,” he added in Cantonese.
“I am sorry” Her hands fluttered. “She made me open the door and let him in.”
Calvin nodded. This woman was not to blame. This was the work of one man, the one Calvin was about to pummel. “Where is he?”
She pointed to the rear of the four-room apartment. “In back. With her.”
He clenched his teeth, trying to rein in his fury. “Guard the door,” Calvin ordered Hugo before making his way to the large bedroom.
They had taken every precaution to protect Ming Zhu. Calvin never visited in case Lee was having him trailed, and Hugo only came occasionally at night. Mrs. Cheung was here to cook, clean, and provide company to the younger woman. Never did Calvin think the location could be in jeopardy.
But he hadn’t counted on the idiocy of young love.
He pounded on the bedroom door with a closed fist. “Open up right now before I break the lock!”
Silence.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know you’re here. And I’m giving you to the count of ten and then I’m coming inside, no matter who is decent.”
“Wait!” Tom Davies shouted, and Calvin heard the rustle of clothing. “Just one damn minute, Cabot.”
“Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six . . . five . . . four . . . three—”
The door flew open and Tom, wearing a woman’s red and gold dressing gown, blocked the space with his body. “What are you—”
Calvin snatched a handful of silk and jerked, pulling Tom into the hallway. The bedroom door closed, giving the girl some privacy, and Calvin shoved Tom up against the wall. “You idiot,” he snarled in the younger man’s face. “What the hell are you doing here? In broad daylight, no less? Have you lost your mind?”
“Let me go.” Tom struggled, but he didn’t stand a chance. Not only was Calvin bigger and stronger, he was powered by intense anger.
He gave Tom a shake. “Not until you tell me why you are risking everyone’s lives by coming here. Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?”
Tom swallowed and closed his eyes, regret washing over his features. “I couldn’t help it. I had to see her. I’ve been dying without her!”
Disgusted, Calvin released Tom and stepped back. “I told you why you needed to stay away. Lee needs to see you in New York, where his daughter isn’t, to believe you’ve had nothing to do with her disappearance. You can’t visit her. I thought we agreed!”
“I know, but I couldn’t do it.” Tom dragged a hand through his hair. “If anyone can understand, it should be you. Think of how hard it was to stay away from Lily after the annulment. How you ached for her.”
“Yes, it was hard, but I stayed away because I loved her.” Calvin smacked the wall with an open palm. “And this is not the same thing at all. If Lee finds out where his daughter is, everything will be ruined.”
“What will be ruined?” Davies asked. “I’m willing to face Lee, if it comes to that.”
Calvin shook his head at Davies’s brash, misguided nobility. “Lee will kill you, then he will kill her.” And Hugo would never see his wife. “You have to trust me, Tom. I know patience does not run in your family, but you must keep your distance a little while longer.”
“For how long?” Davies thrust his hands on his hips, a move made slightly less intimidating by his choice of wardrobe. “For how long am I supposed to follow your demands, Cabot?”
“Until I’m certain no one is in danger, and that includes your sister. Or need I remind you that someone broke into your house and almost attacked her a few nights ago?”
Davies winced but did not back down. “Yes, convenient you were there to stop him. How can you dare to admonish me for coming here today when you cannot keep your hands off Lily?”
“It’s hardly the same thing, Davies. My relationship with your sister does not affect anyone but the two of us. No one is in danger if we see each other.”
“No one except Lily. I told you to stay away. You’re no good for her.”
Calvin’s eyes unfocused for a moment, memories from the day before bombarding him. Lily on his desk, her pale white thighs parted invitingly for him. The sight of her channel swallowing his cock, the tight, wet heat engulfing him as he pumped in and out of her body. His skin prickled with a telling sizzle just recalling the exquisite feeling. It had been utterly inappropriate to take her in his office, in the middle of the day, with hundreds of people on the other side of a locked door. But he and Lily had never been capable of reason when it came to each other.
“What happens with your sister is my business,” he growled. “Not yours. And it has nothing to do with Lee.” Of course Lily wouldn’t see it that way if she ever learned the truth about what was happening. But Calvin couldn’t think about that just now. “And you should be more worried about protecting Lee’s daughter than your sister’s romantic life.”
Davies sighed, his shoulders slumping. “You’re right. Of course I’m being foolish. What will you do now?”
“Move her to another location. One you won’t discover. By the way, how did you find this apartment?”
“Hugo. I followed him here last night.”
“Shit,” Calvin muttered. If Davies had trailed Hugo so easily, Lee could as well. Calvin would need to speak with his friend about taking additional precautions. “Say your good-byes,” he told Davies. “You’re leaving in five minutes. You’ll see Ming Zhu again after this is all over.”
“Do not be angry with him,” a voice on the other side of the door said in Cantonese. “We are very much in love.”
“Loving him will be impossible if you are both dead.”
“If my father kills me for this, it will have been worth it.”
“What is she saying?” Davies asked.
Instead of answering, Calvin leaned his forehead against the wall, then banged it twice. “Get dressed, Davies. I’m taking you back to the city.”
* * *
The Davies Mining board of directors met once a month to vote on decisions that shaped the future of the company. Though Lily was well acquainted with the company’s large meeting room, she’d never been summoned there like this before.
A special session had been called that afternoon, an event guaranteed to bring unwelcome news. Lily made certain to be seated in her usual place at the scheduled start time, nerves jumping in her stomach as she waited.
Familiar faces began trickling in, men her father had assembled over the years to protect the interests of his company. No one met her eye, despite the fact that she’d known these men her whole life. Knew their daughters and wives. Had been invited into their homes.
Perspiration broke out on her brow and she drew in a deep breath. Readied herself. This would not be her first battle in this room. When her father died the board had not been receptive to Lily’s involvement in the company. They had been eager to sell to another larger mining company, one that would have absorbed and eliminated all traces of Davies Mining. Only after a passionate argument by her uncle Edward, the company’s vice president, had the board allowed Lily a chance. Still, through each step of the way, they had second-guessed her decisions. Pushed back on her ideas.
Whatever happened here today, she would not allow them to take the company away from the family.
The meeting room was nearly full. Uncle Edward appeared at Lily’s elbow, winking at her as he took his seat. He’d been an invaluable resource in the last three years, guiding her and patiently answering her questions. Never once had he belittled her or caused her to feel inadequate.
One seat at the table remained conspicuously empty. Monty’s chair. She hadn’t heard from him since the article had appeare
d—not that she wanted to, if Calvin’s claims were to be believed. Monty had seemed such a normal, quiet man. Thank goodness she had learned of his proclivities before she married him. Calvin found out to protect you. Because he still loves you.
And she still loved him. So where did that leave them, especially after what had happened in his office? A conversation regarding their future was long overdue.
One thing at a time, she thought, glancing around at the board of directors.
“Good day, everyone,” her uncle said in a deep, authoritative voice. “Thank you for coming.”
“I wish someone would tell me what this is all about,” she said. “Why are we here?”
“It seems a few members of the board have an issue to address. Harrison,” he said, gesturing to the other end of the table. “Care to explain why you’ve requested this meeting?”
Mr. Harrison was the vice president of an oil company and had vehemently opposed all of Lily’s mine reforms, including the pay increases and better working conditions. Now Mr. Harrison leaned in and made eye contact with everyone at the table, save Lily. “Warren Davies was a great man. A visionary. And all of us have worked hard over the last three years to see that his legacy continues to thrive.”
Nods erupted around the table and Lily folded her hands in her lap. Tried to remain calm and not worry about where this speech was headed.
Harrison continued. “We’ve set certain expectations and standards for Davies Mining. These have helped to maintain investor confidence and ensured that the stock price continues to climb, despite the loss of the company’s figurehead.”
He tossed a newspaper onto the table, and Lily didn’t need to study the headlines to recognize yesterday afternoon’s Mercury. Her stomach dropped.
This wasn’t about the company. This was about her.
Chapter Nineteen
Lily straightened in her chair, sitting tall and proud, as Mr. Harrison gestured to the newspaper on the mahogany table. “I think you will all agree that the standards we’ve maintained have now come into question. This company has been tainted by scandal, the Davies name associated with a shameful—”