“Oh, Marcel and Solomon bought him out. Guess he decided he didn’t want to be in the entertainment business, after all. Frankly, I think he’s finally gotten it through his thick skull that Ophelia was never going to crawl back to him.”
Toni’s heart plummeted and knocked around somewhere in her knees. She had forgotten all about Ophelia Bassett and the real reason Jonas had moved to Atlanta in the first place. How in the hell did she manage that?
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Somehow she managed to keep her self-disgust from cracking her professional calm, but what raged inside of her was another story altogether.
“Speaking of the devil,” Nora said as they stepped into the break room. “Good morning, Ophelia.”
Toni glanced up then felt the air rush out of her lungs when recognition surged through her brain.
Chapter 28
Ophelia was more beautiful than Toni had imagined. And no matter what she did, she couldn’t stop her jealous gaze from desperately seeking a flaw to verify that she was, indeed, human. She couldn’t find one.
Damn it.
“Hello.” Ophelia smiled, but then her finger waved like a baton between them. “Haven’t we met before?”
Nora’s curious gaze shifted to her attorney.
“You’re not an employee here, are you?”
“She’s my attorney, Ms. Toni Wright,” Nora announced. “She’s about to make me a rich woman.”
Ophelia’s friendly demeanor shifted. “Toni?”
Without warning, the first words out of Toni’s mouth took everyone in the room by surprise. “I used to date Jonas Hinton.”
The silence that stretched between the three women last so long, Toni worried that she had temporarily gone deaf. However, it was Nora who was the first to find her tongue.
“Come again?”
Toni’s forced a smile on her lips and calmly turned toward her client. “Would you give us a few minutes?”
The look on Nora’s face clearly said hell, no, which caused Toni to quickly add, “Please.”
After drawing in a couple of deep breaths and tossing a pointed look at Mrs. Bassett, Nora finally caved. “A few minutes,” she emphasized. “And then we need to talk about conflicts of interest.”
Toni nodded and then waited patiently for Nora to exit the room. “Mind if I closed the door?”
Ophelia hesitated, but then acquiesced with a slight nod.
The door closed with a soft click and when Toni turned to face Jonas’s ex, she honestly didn’t know what she was going to say and until it tumbled out of her mouth. “What I should have said was that I’m in love with Jonas Hinton, and though I don’t want to face it, I believe there’s a part of him that is still in love with you.”
Ophelia’s gaze dropped like a stone. “I don’t know what to tell you about that.” Her shoulders tugged slightly. “Only that it’s over between us. It has been for some time.”
“And yet, he bought interest in your husband’s company only to be near you.”
Ophelia’s head snapped back up. “Did he tell you that?”
“He didn’t need to,” Toni said, pulling out a chair. “Just like he didn’t need to tell you.” She sat down and made herself comfortable.
“Or my husband,” Ophelia tossed in, drawing out her own chair. After a few wild heartbeats the silence grew awkward, but then Ophelia confessed, “Jonas told Solomon about you.”
Toni lifted her chin, but she couldn’t mask her surprise.
A pleased smile touched Ophelia’s lips. “He may have bought his way into T&B Entertainment for me, but he most certainly sold it because of you.”
An unexpected wave of relief washed over Toni, but it quickly receded when her old fear returned.
“You said you loved him...so what happened?”
Toni blinked. She did admit that, didn’t she? What the hell was she thinking? Regardless, she couldn’t get herself to take the words back. Instead, she continued with her confession, “I don’t want to love him. Love is...tricky. Messy. Temporary.”
Ophelia’s expression twisted. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Don’t you?” Toni clamped her mouth shut and mentally berated herself for the careless admission.
“No. I don’t,” the golden beauty answered. “Love is the most beautiful gift you can give or receive from a person. Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.”
Despite being touched and even stirred by the short speech, Toni couldn’t banish her mother’s voice from her head.
Love is a woman’s greatest downfall.
Ophelia leaned across the table and covered Toni’s hand. “I certainly can’t tell you what to do and I don’t know the details of what’s happened between you two, but walking away from love doesn’t seem to have made you too happy. But I can guarantee you if you run towards it-your heart-your life will only be rewarded. Love in the moment and the energy of the moment.”
Tears burned the back of Toni’s eyes and she sandwiched Ophelia’s hand.
“It’s never too late,” Ophelia added. “Trust me. I know. If you love him, go get him.”
When Toni emerged from the break room, she was in a rush to reach a settlement with the partners of T&B so she could get home and develop a plan to win her man back. However, her mind was wiped clean when she opened the door to the conference room and found Nora and Willy making out on top of the conference table.
Nora’s eyes bulged as she made a lame attempt to cover her breast and scramble off the table.
A sweating Uncle Willy only smiled and said, “Come on in. The more the merrier!”
“What?” Nora popped him over the head.
Behind Toni, Solomon and Marcel approached and apparently became just as speechless.
“I guess this means I won’t be getting a settlement?” Nora inquired, red-faced.
“Aw. Don’t worry, B-pie,” Uncle Willy gushed. “You still have me.”
When it comes to women, keep your emotions out it, Jonas reminded himself as he clinked glasses with Patsy Nelson.
“I have to admit, I was a little surprised to hear from you today.” She glanced around Silk, her favorite Japanese restaurant, and then beamed her smile back at him. “It’s not my birthday so what’s the special occasion?”
“No special occasion,” Jonas assured. “After what happened at Club Secrets I figured I should make it up to you.”
A saucy smile slithered across Patsy’s face while her eyes lit with renewed interest. “Does this mean you’ll be coming back to my place after dinner?”
A soft rumble of laughter rolled inside Jonas’s chest. “No. That won’t be happening.”
Patsy’s face fell with disappointment.
“I was hoping you would come back to my place,” he said, watching her eyes reignite.
“It’s about time you came back to your senses,” she gloated, sipped her champagne and encouraged him to, “Eat up. You’re going to need the energy.”
After dinner, Jonas and Patsy started making out as soon as the door slid closed in the lobby of his penthouse building. Patsy’s lips were nice, even pleasant, but they failed to heat his blood or quicken his heart rate the way...
Keep your emotions out of it.
He tried his best to recreate the sparks he’d shared with Toni, but to no avail. The more he deepened the kiss, the emptier he felt.
Seconds later, the elevator delivered him to his floor. Patsy continued to kiss and tear at his clothes while he wrestled to reach for his keys.
“I’m going to give you a night you’ll never forget,” she promised, between gentle pecks while he fiddled with the door.
Upon opening it, the couple tumbled into the condominium laughing, kissing and pulling at each other’s clothes.
Don’t think. Keep your heart out of it, Jonas recited. He could do this. He had to do it in order to purge Toni from his mind and body.
But it wasn’t working.
Pats
y broke the kiss to stare curiously up at him. “Is something wrong?”
Jonas coughed and cleared his throat. “No. No. Everything is fine.” He pulled her close and tried kissing her again. Again, nothing.
Patsy didn’t quiver like Toni.
She didn’t sigh like Toni.
And her strong perfume was nothing like the soft floral scent of...Stop it.
He deepened the kiss, but soon realized that it was hopeless. “I’m sorry, Patsy,” he said, breaking away from her. “I can’t do this.”
Patsy heaved a frustrated sigh. Her beautiful face was now a mask of frustration and irritation. “Let me guess. You’re in love with another woman.”
Toni entered the lobby of Jonas’s building wearing a slick, silver raincoat, a matching pair of silver pumps and a smile. Underneath: she was stark naked. She was surprised that no one was manning the desk, but she still remembered Jonas’s elevator code and went straight up.
She didn’t have much of a plan. Only to show up, say she was sorry and open her coat. Past experience told her this would be enough to get back in the good graces of any man. As soon as that thought drifted across her brain, a voice in the back of her head reminded her that Jonas was no ordinary man.
He could be moody.
Stubborn.
And even carry grudges too long.
“Don’t think about that now,” she coached herself. Her plan had to work. She wanted him back. She needed him.
Jonas felt like a complete ass. “I’m sorry, Patsy. Really I am.”
Patsy tried to remain angry with him, but it just wasn’t working. She exhaled a long sigh and gave a careless shrug. “It’s all right. I should have known this night was too good to be true.”
She headed back toward the door while Jonas followed silently behind her. When she crossed the threshold, she turned a final time to face him. “I think you should get a new attorney.”
Jonas opened his mouth to protest but she placed a silencing finger against his lips. “I insist.” She smiled. “Whoever she is, I hope she deserves you.” Leaning up on her toes, Patsy kissed him goodbye.
A soft gasp caught their attention.
Jonas looked up and felt his heart lurch. “Toni.” Before he could finish whispering her name, she was gone.
Chapter 29
The Carolina Panthers’ first game of the season against The Atlanta Falcon in Charlotte was a tragedy to behold. The Hinton men moaned and groaned inside Jonas’s box seats like they were all experiencing one gigantic bellyache. By halftime, the score was 13-3 with the Falcons posting 159 rushing yards.
“I sure hope this isn’t an indication of how the whole season will pan out,” Q said, tossing back the rest of his beer. “If so, you’re looking at one looong season.”
Jonas viewed everything that was being played out on the field as an omen. This would be how the year would turn out, he decided. Why would this season be any different than the past three months since he’d last seen Toni?
The stricken look on her face was something he couldn’t banish from his thoughts or his dreams. Her eyes had been bright with unshed tears-her full lips trembled at the sight of him with Patsy.
At the time, pride forbade him to give chase; but now, he was certain he’d made yet another colossal mistake. His mind filled with so many wouldas, couldas, shouldas that it was impossible to think of anything else.
“Maybe you should look into replacing the coach,” Sterling commented after watching the team failed to execute yet another play. “I know Fox is a good man and all, but...”
Jonas just gave stubborn shake of his head and went back to nursing his ginger ale. This time around, he refused to drown his sorrow with alcohol. He didn’t want to forget any of his time with Toni. He treasured every memory: The good and the bad.
It also meant that he suffered through three months of his younger brothers campaigning to cheer him up. Q even went so far as to donate his personal black book with all his top play toys highlighted.
Sterling tried to exercise him to death, but no amount of hiking, biking or mountain climbing was going to purge Toni out of his system.
Why didn’t he chase after her that night?
The rest of the game passed was a blur. When the final score of 20-6 posted, the Hinton brothers stood and looked as if they’d survived the funeral service of a close relative.
After a quick meal, Jonas still didn’t want to talk about replacing coaches or team players. He did, however, wonder endlessly about what Toni was doing at this moment-and who she was doing it with.
He wasn’t a fool. A woman like Toni wouldn’t be alone for long. He experienced another painful squeeze in his chest. When he went to rub the ache away, it caught his brother’s attention.
“I wish you would go see a doctor about that,” Sterling said with real concern. “Chest pains are nothing to play with.”
“I will. I will,” Jonas promised for the umpteenth time in the past month.
“Please. There’s nothing wrong with him.” Q tossed his knife and fork onto his half eaten Porterhouse steak. “Just call the girl already!”
Jonas’s jaw instantly hardened as he gave Q a warning glare.
However, Quentin just waved the warning off and even rolled his eyes skyward. “Don’t give me that look. I’m tired of watching you mope around. Call her.”
“Q,” Sterling’s voice also held a note of warning.
“What? Are you going to pretend that you don’t know what’s going on, too? Or maybe you’ll just advise him to purchase the girl’s law practice so he can be close to her?”
Sterling’s face darkened from anger or embarrassment, Q didn’t know which and he didn’t care. All he knew was this madness must end. “Call her,” he said again. “Please. I’ll do anything if you’d just call. Hell, I’ll even get a job. Call her.”
Pure surprise blanketed the brothers’ faces.
“For how long,” Sterling inquired.
“I don’t know. A month.”
“A year,” Sterling negotiated.
“Six months,” Q countered.
Sterling turned to Jonas. “Call her.”
“What? I’m not calling her.” He shifted in his chair. “I can’t.” He wanted to call. “It’s too late.”
“Then just call and ask her for the time,” Sterling urged. “We may never have another opportunity to get Q to actually draw a paycheck again.”
“Amen,” Q quipped.
“As tempting an offer that may be...what are you doing?”
Sterling lifted his hips and scooped out his cell phone. “I know I still have her number listed in my cell.” He scrolled through the address book.
“Sterling-”
“Ah, here it is.” He handed over the phone. “Just hit Send.”
“I’m not calling.”
“You are calling or we’re going to have one hell of a fight right here in this restaurant,” he promised.
Q looked pleased with himself.
Despite being in pretty good shape, Jonas knew Sterling, with his ungodly amount of hours in the gym, could take him. Jonas took the phone. “What am I going to say?”
“I’m no rocket scientist,” Q jumped in. “But most people usually go with a classic like ‘hello.’”
“You look at little too smug for someone who’s going to have hold down a j-o-b for six months.”
“You haven’t made the call yet.”
He had him there. Jonas looked down at the razor-thin phone and stared at Toni’s name across the screen. Suddenly his heart raced, blood roared in his ears, causing him to feel light-headed. Maybe he was having a heart attack.
“Call her,” both brothers chanted in unison.
Jonas drew a deep breath, hit the send button and placed the phone against his ear. His heart continued to accelerate as he listened to the line ring.
“Hello,” a man answered.
Jonas’s voice seized up in his throat.
“Hello,�
�� the man said again.
“Yes, may I speak to Toni?”
“She’s, um, in the bathroom at the moment. Can I take a message?”
Jonas shook his head. “No. No message.” He quickly disconnected the call and tossed the phone back at Sterling. “Satisfied?” He held up a hand and flagged down their waitress. “Scotch on the rocks—and make it a double.”
“Was that my phone?” Toni asked, carrying a box of her toiletries into the living room.
“It was,” Isaiah said, returning the cordless to its cradle and turned and reclaimed the box he’d sat down on the table. “Guy didn’t want to leave a message.”
Toni’s heart quickened, but before she could question Brooklyn’s husband further, he was out the door and headed toward the moving van. She was lucky that Brooklyn and her husband were back into town for the week and could help her move.
“Are you sure you want to move back to California?” Brooklyn asked. “You haven’t even been here six months.”
“I should have never came back,” Toni said, moving over to the phone to screen the caller ID. “I’m lucky that Kaplan, Gray & Kaplan wants me back.”
“So you’re giving up on your own firm?”
“For now. Way too much of a headache. And now that I’m ...well, you know. I need something with a little less stress.” She hit the button to see the last caller. Sterling Hinton.
Toni blinked in surprise. Her curiosity churned out a million possibilities for the call. She picked up the phone and started to push the talk button to redial the number, but then stopped.
Feel The Fire (Unforgettable Series) Page 17