Chapter 12
Siena
I hadn’t been able to sleep at all. Nothing about the previous evening was normal, and in the morning, I woke up with a light throbbing ache at the back of my head.
I showered and changed into fresh clothes, still wary of stepping out of the room. I was anticipating seeing Ivan. I was aware that being around him would probably feel differently now. I knew I shouldn’t have slept with him. As magical as it was, it had also changed everything.
I had spent the entire night, reliving every move he made, and thinking about how sweet that kiss was, and how quickly he had made me come. I felt like I could still feel his hands pinning me down on the bed. I could still feel his cock moving inside me. I had to press my thighs together from time to time to stop it from throbbing so maniacally. It was like my body didn’t know it was a one-time thing and that it was over now.
Ivan had made it very clear the previous night, that us having sex was just to get it out of our systems. He hadn’t wasted one extra moment in the room with me. To him, this was business. I was in his house to perform a task, and he needed me fresh and ready for the night so that I could help him secure the deal.
With a lump in my throat and my heart heavy, I left the guest room, with no idea what the rest of my day was going to look like. The least I could do, to calm my madly beating heart, was to explore the house so I could collect more details about the Lockner family and for the article I was going to write.
The house seemed empty. I couldn’t hear Cora in the house or see Ivan anywhere around. May, the housekeeper, and nanny found me in the living room, staring keenly at the paintings on the walls and she offered me a cup of coffee and a plate of assorted breakfast sandwiches, from which I picked one to nibble on.
I was glad that there was nobody else in the house. I wasn’t sure how I was going to face Cora or Ivan this morning, without feeling like I could melt into a puddle. I was having so many mixed feelings about Ivan now, and I was feeling guilty for the article I was going to write about them.
I roamed around the rooms, admiring how beautifully and tastefully decorated it was. The place reeked of wealth, and despite myself, I was a little disappointed at the thought of Ivan having to give up all this if the meeting with the investors didn’t go according to plan.
When I found the door to a room upstairs partially open, I gently pushed against it, hoping to find a study or a library, but instead, I saw an old man, sitting upright on a large four-poster bed, with his back supported by pillows.
He looked like a man who might have been strong, even handsome in his youth, but now was too sick and too frail to even get out of the bed unassisted. There was a wheelchair beside him, but he didn’t look like he was going anywhere.
He had seen me already, and I was too surprised to move or say anything and instead, remained frozen to the spot at the door.
“Who the Fuck are you?” the man barked, shocking me into further silence. I guessed it was Ivan’s father, Robert Lockner. He had a prickly white beard growing on his haggard chin, and was in his pajamas. Beside him on the bed was a tray containing an elaborate breakfast and that morning’s newspaper. A television set was switched on somewhere in the room, and I could only hear the sound but couldn’t see it yet.
“Oh, my apologies. I was looking for Cora, and I stepped in here by mistake,” I said as I grabbed the doorknob again, to pull the door back shut.
“Looking for Cora? Why? Are you a new nanny? Has my son fired the previous one?” he barked, and some spittle flew out of his mouth. I gulped, realizing that I had now found myself in a very sticky situation. I shouldn’t have poked my nose around the house, and now I had no idea how Ivan was going to take the news when he found out.
“You mean, May? No, she’s still here. I’m not a nanny, I’m just Ivan’s friend,” I said and apologetically clasped my hands together.
Robert Lockner, who shared his son and granddaughter’s piercingly blue eyes, scrunched them at me and studied me from head to toe. Every inch of me was being assessed by him, and I felt embarrassed. My cheeks were flushed to a deep red.
“You’re a friend of my son’s huh? What kind of bloody friend?” he hissed, and his foul-mouth rattled in my ears. There was no warmth to him, and now I could see what Ivan had meant when he said that nobody wanted to work with him, and guests didn’t like being around him at his resorts.
I licked my lips and breathed in deeply, running out of ideas of how to explain the situation to him.
“Just a friend, Mr. Lockner. I’m just Ivan’s friend…from before,” I said, trying to think of what exactly Ivan would have liked me to say to his father.
“Just a friend huh? Like a special friend? A one night stand? What do you call yourselves these days? A fuck buddy?” he hissed, and I could feel my skin tingling with rage. I couldn’t believe that I was having to stand here and listen to his foul mouth.
“No Mr. Lockner. I’m just Ivan’s friend. You’re mistaken,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to keep my cool. After all, I was still just a guest in this house.
“So, you’re telling me that you didn’t spend the night here? That you didn’t sleep with my son?” he continued, allowing his gaze to flit all over me again. I had to do everything in my power to not explode and just give him a piece of my mind. He must have seen the flushing of my cheeks and deduced that he had hit the nail on the head.
“That’s what I thought. Are you going to do what that girl Anna whatshername did? Saddle my son with another kid he doesn’t know how to take care of?” Robert continued, and now I felt like I’d had enough. I folded my arms on my chest and glared back at him.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to judge someone. And for your information, Ivan knows exactly how to take care of Cora. She is a happy and healthy child and has nothing to want for in her life,” I snapped back, and Robert’s eyebrows squinted together like he wasn’t expecting me to retaliate in this manner.
He breathed in deeply and tightened his lips. I still had no idea why I was defending Ivan. I had no reason to. Just a few minutes ago, I wanted to hate him with all my heart, and now I was supporting and protecting him to his father.
“You’ve got a mouth on you,” he said, and I saw a grin forming on his face. It was almost like he was enjoying this. This was a game for him. Nothing about the Lockner family was the way it should be, I realized.
“Not like yours!” I huffed and allowed my arms to drop back to my side. I knew that I was a strong woman and he would have to deal with that.
“So, you’re not here to manipulate my son? Is that what you’re trying to tell me? Because let me tell you right now, you’re exactly his type. I watch him, I know my son,” he continued, and I rolled my eyes.
“Mr. Lockner, I can assure you, that I’m not here to manipulate your son. You can rest easy now,” I said, meeting his eyes firmly. I didn’t necessarily like this man, but I was beginning to not hate him either.
“Okay, so who are you then?” he asked again, looking at me intensely. I let out a deep sigh and relaxed my shoulders.
“I told you, I’m just Ivan’s friend. I’m only visiting, and I’ll be gone soon. Don’t you worry,” I replied, and Robert didn’t stop staring at me.
“Yes, I know, you said that already. I want to know your name,” he insisted, and I pressed my lips together, trying to think of what he could do with that information. Whether it was safe to tell Ivan’s dad my name.
“Siena Jenkins. I went to school with Ivan. So, there, you know now,” I told him, and the minute those words had left my lips, a sudden change started to overcome Robert’s demeanor.
His narrowed eyes became wide. His forehead wasn’t creased anymore, and his face took on an immediate apologetic expression.
“Siena Jenkins? From Ivan’s school?” he asked, and now I was the one who looked confused. He looked like he recognized me, but I had never come across him before. All the years that Ivan had been in scho
ol with me, it was only his mother we had seen around in town. His father had always been absent. So, there was no way that he remembered me because we had never met before.
“Yes,” I replied, in a low hollow voice and Robert shifted on the bed, allowing his shoulders to droop and his body to relax.
“I’m sorry for my behavior. I hope you can forgive an old man his bad manners,” he said quickly, and I was too taken aback to respond. There was a change in Robert Lockner which had occurred in less than a few minutes. Why was he apologizing to me? He didn’t strike me as the kind of man who readily admitted his mistakes. That went against everything that Ivan had told me about his father.
“Do you forgive me, my dear girl?” he spoke again, and I couldn’t say or do anything. Nothing about his behavior was making any sense.
“Siena!” it was Cora’s voice down the hallway that snapped me out of my freeze.
“You should go to her. She’s calling for you,” Robert said, and I shook my head.
“But…” I began to say, but he interrupted me again.
“Go to Cora!” he snapped, and I turned on my heels and stepped out of the room, shutting the door of Robert’s room behind me.
Cora was bounding down the hall towards me. She was showered and changed and back to sporting her cute little pigtails.
“I was out in the snow. We should go make snow angels now!” she declared and threw herself at me. I had no other choice but to lift her up in my arms and smile at her, even though I couldn’t really think about anything other than Ivan’s father’s strange reaction towards me.
“Okay, we can go, but where’s your daddy?” I asked her, as I walked with her down the hall and towards the staircase.
“He’s working. He told me that I should give you a tour of our resort and I should give you some company,” she said, in her sweet voice and I laughed.
“He wants you to keep me company?” I said, correcting her and she nodded her head enthusiastically.
“We will have a great fun day together!” she clapped her hands and together, wrapping ourselves in our coats and hats and scarves. We stepped out of the cabin into the snow. I had no other choice but to dedicate my time and energy to Cora now, and I did it gladly, welcoming the distraction with open arms.
Chapter 13
Ivan
The group of five investors had arrived at the resort at noon. I made sure that they had a look at every nook and cranny of the resort. Then I gave them a formal presentation of my proposed plans for development in the coming month and my projected success. My feeling was that they were reasonably happy with my ideas, but they were skeptical and watching me closely.
I had been successful till now at painting a picture of a resort that had great potential. This resort was capable of being restored to its former Golden age when my grandfather was still in charge. As long as I could keep questions about my father out of the conversation, I was pretty confident that these investors would like what they were seeing.
I had not seen Siena or Cora yet, so I didn't have the chance to prepare them for what was to come. Now we were going to have to freestyle the whole evening, but I trusted Siena. I had a feeling that she knew what she was doing and she wasn’t going to disappoint me.
The fact that we had sex the previous night was on the back burner for me. I didn’t want to think about that or the possibility that it might have ruined our plan. I was going to have to trust her. She was doing me a massive favor by pretending to be my wife and painting a picture of a happy family to my guests.
In the evening, after a busy day of entertaining my potential investors and having my hands full, I eventually brought them around to the house. Besides our housekeeper, May, I had also hired a team of caterers and servers for the cocktail party I had planned. May had strict instructions to make sure that my father remained in his room for the duration of the night. I left it up to Siena to prepare Cora for the act we were going to put on.
The house looked more shiny and polished than usual this evening. When I brought the men into our luxurious living room, the bar had already been set up by May with the help of the hired people. We had a bartender serving cocktails, and we had a pianist who was now playing Mozart in the foyer on a piano under the crystal chandelier.
I didn't have any time to change, but I was already wearing a three-piece suit so that would have to do. The investors gathered around the living room, admiring the art on the wall which had been my grandfather’s collection, and talking boisterously amongst themselves. They all seemed to be in good spirits.
“Where’s your family, Ivan? We thought we might get a chance to meet them,” Mr. Heffner, said. They hadn’t probed me about my family life or asked any personal questions yet. I still had no idea what was going on with Siena or Cora, so I just laughed nervously and nodded my head.
“I should check on them and make sure that they’re at home,” I replied, still hesitant to mention the lie that I had a wife. What if Siena had left already? What if she’d changed her mind? Our whole plan would come toppling down, even though I wouldn’t have blamed her if she did.
“Ah!” Mr. Brown, the president of the company’s board, exclaimed and we all turned in unison to see Siena and Cora entering the living room. She had Cora’s hand in hers, and just the sight was enough to take my breath away.
I felt a tug in my heart when I saw them, imagining how satisfying it would have been if this was all true.
Cora was wearing a frilly satin pink dress, with a magenta bow tied at her waist. Her hair was tied in a ponytail at the back of her head, with the same magenta ribbon and she looked adorable, just like a cute little doll. Siena, well, Siena looked like a woman any man would have been lucky to call his own.
She wasn’t overdone. She was wearing a plain black silk cocktail dress, with her endless legs showing. She was in high black heels that sparkled slightly when they caught the light. They matched her black sparkly earrings dangling within the golden strands of her hair. She had smoky dark makeup on, with a rich cherry lip that accentuated the curves of her mouth. She looked angelic and strong at the same time. The dress stretched over her breasts, the breasts I had in my mouth just the previous night. She was a vision, and I could sense that the rest of the men agreed.
“This must be…” Mr. Heffner said, his eyes riveted on Siena and Cora.
“My wife, Siena and my daughter, Cora,” I said, taking a few strides towards them. I noticed the way Cora looked up at Siena, who smiled and nodded at her with assurance.
“Ah, what a delight. So good of you to join us, Mrs. Lockner,” Mr. Stanley, another from the group said, as I approached them and placed a tentative hand on Siena’s waist.
She looked calm like this was a walk in the park for her. I hadn’t seen her since I had walked out of her room the previous night, but to the outside world, it appeared like we had woken up together, in each other’s arms.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, although getting this one to finish her homework on time was a task!” Siena said, with a laugh and smiled at the investors around the room. I couldn’t help but stare at how natural she was in this situation. I couldn’t believe that Cora was under control.
As I kept a firm hand on Siena’s waist, she leaned her body comfortably into mine and continued holding Cora’s hand.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us, honey?” she said to me, meeting my eyes. She was smiling pleasantly, even though I felt like I had the wind knocked right out of me. She was too beautiful, too poised and her manner was effortless.
“Of course!” I exclaimed, and I led Siena and Cora towards the investors. I took turns in introducing them, and Siena was a natural. She also encouraged Cora to shake everybody’s hands. The investors seemed charmed by both of them.
“Now Cora, run along to Nanny May, sweetheart. I’ll come up to tuck you into bed when it’s time,” Siena said to my daughter, and she kissed the top of Cora’s head, and I watched as she happily walked
out of the room, waving goodbye to my guests.
I couldn’t believe how well this was going. After Cora left, Siena pasted herself to me again. To an outsider, it would have appeared that we couldn’t keep our hands off each other.
“So, Mrs. Lockner, do tell us what life is like, living on a beautiful ski resort such as this,” Mr. Brown asked, just as one of the servers offered Siena a martini. She took the glass and then a sip of her drink and looked up at me with admiration in her eyes.
“It’s lovely. Switzerland was lovely too, but we wanted to return to the States so that Cora could grow up in her own country, you know?” Siena said, and the investors nodded. They were hanging on to her every word.
“And are you aware of these big business plans that Ivan has for this resort?” another one of them asked, and Siena glanced at me lovingly again.
“I believe that the resort is going to do wonderfully well now that my husband is in charge. Unfortunately, as you must have heard, Robert is too ill to take care of business, but Ivan has the experience and the inside knowledge, and he’s always bursting with ideas,” she replied and stroked her hand on my back.
I smiled at her, appreciative of how she was talking me up. The investors nodded, and I pulled her close to me by her waist. I had been waiting for a break in the conversation so that I could talk to her, and now that some of the investors were talking amongst themselves, it was my opportunity.
“What did you tell Cora?” I whispered in her ear, and Siena smiled and leaned away to look into my eyes.
“The truth. That we were going to have to pretend to be a family tonight, that she would have to call me mommy just for tonight, so that her daddy could impress the important investors,” Siena said, biting down on her lip.
I was surprised to hear it and wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that, but Siena leaned towards me again, bringing her lips close to my ear.
Protecting Her Page 6