by A. C. Arthur
“Tell me what’s going on, Queen.”
“Please, Alex, not today. My name is Monica.”
She sighed and looked everywhere but at him. Alex stood up, slipped his hands into his pockets and continued to stare at her.
“The way I see it is you can voluntarily tell me about this Yates Hinton and why he’s sending you gifts you obviously don’t want and calling you like it’s a life-or-death emergency. Or I can keep digging until I find out what I need to know to get this fool out of your life.”
Despite Sam’s warning Alex knew how best to deal with Monica. She would definitely detest him investigating behind her back. But telling her up front what his intentions were and giving her the opportunity to tell him herself to back off would allow her to feel as if she still had some control. Even though he had no intention of listening to her about not getting involved. She was a part of his life now, a more important part than he’d thought just a few weeks ago. So she was going to have to deal with his interfering just like the rest of the people in his life that he loved.
“Karena has a big mouth,” she said. She tried to stand, but he wouldn’t move out of her way so they ended up closer than she probably wanted.
“Not Karena. Sam. When I told him about our issues in Aspen he told me about the guy desperately trying to get in contact with you back here. It’s logical to put two and two together.”
“It’s logical to let me handle my own life,” she said, using her palms to push against his chest in an attempt to move him.
But Alex wasn’t going to be moved. He grabbed both her wrists and when she struggled he simply lifted her hands to his lips and kissed each of her knuckles.
“We all need help sometimes. If this was one of your sisters you’d be doing exactly what I’m doing. So calm down and tell me about this guy so I can help.”
Her lips pressed together so tightly Alex thought they’d remain that way. Damn, she was one beautiful woman, especially when she was angry.
“You can’t help. Even if I tell you he’s a past mistake, the biggest one of my life, there’s nothing you can do to stop his current harassment.”
Okay, at least she wasn’t pushing back at him anymore. “Why’s he harassing you now? Does he want you back?”
“He never wanted me to leave.”
And that statement had Alex battling an array of emotions—jealousy, anger, fury.
“So why did you leave him?”
He let her pull her arms away from him and she sat back down in the chair. “Because he was married.”
Alex sat on the edge of her desk. “Did you know this when you started seeing him?”
“Of course not!” she retorted, looking at him as if he should have known that.
“I apologize. I knew the answer here,” he said, touching a hand over his heart, “but needed to hear it anyway.”
“It doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago.”
“When you were in college?”
“Yes.”
“He went to school with you?”
“He taught at the college. We started seeing each other then I found out he was married and ended it. Case closed,” she said with finality.
“For you but not for him.”
“I don’t give a damn what he thinks, Alex. I told him back then that I didn’t want to have anything more to do with him and I just told him again a few minutes before you walked in. It’s over and that’s that.”
But Hinton obviously didn’t feel that way. And, as it went with stalkers, her telling Yates to stop wasn’t going to be enough to keep the guy away. Alex kept that tidbit of info to himself.
“Have you had lunch?”
She blinked at him then sighed. “Adonna ordered me a sandwich.”
He nodded. “Then I’ll stay while you eat then you can show me around your gallery.”
“Alex, I have a lot of catching up to do today.”
He raised a brow. “My mother loves art. My brother is a sculptor. Do you really want to deny me a tour?”
One elegantly arched eyebrow lifted as she asked, “Using your family name and connections to get what you want, Mr. Bennett?”
Alex shrugged. “By any means necessary.”
She smiled and all the anger and jealousy inside Alex melted away. This was what it was all about, Monica’s happiness. Whatever he had to do to guarantee that he would, regardless of what she or anyone else said.
“And this is where I’d like to feature your brother Lorenzo,” Monica was saying as she and Alex entered the first-floor alcove, which housed the more risqué pieces.
“Warning—if you call him Lorenzo you’re never going to get him to show his pieces here,” Alex said as he walked around the room. “It’s kind of small in here.”
“That’s because we haven’t secured Renny’s pieces yet. Once we do we plan to merge this room with the two on either side to accommodate a larger showing. We’d also have a special event announcing his work is here. He’s picked up a huge following in the last two years and the Lakefield Galleries would like to show our support for him, as well.”
Alex nodded. He was looking at an oil painting of two lovers, African-American, on a white backdrop. The bodies were nude on a red couch, the position explicit and alluring, tasteful in a sensual way and enticingly erotic. Secretly, it was one of Monica’s favorites. Judging by the way Alex was staring at it, he was enjoying it, too.
“That’s by an artist named Zune. He’s fantastic with oils,” she told him.
Alex nodded. “He’s fantastic, all right. This is one realistic portrait.”
Was it hot in here? Or had the deepening of Alex’s voice simply jacked the heat up?
She cleared her throat. “You like it?”
He turned to her. “I do. You like it, Monica?”
He’d used her name and not Queen as he usually referred to her. She licked her lips and concentrated on keeping her eyes trained on his.
“I do.”
Alex took a step closer to her, touching the palm of his hand to her cheek. “What do you like about it?”
Monica’s nipples tingled beneath the thin coral camisole she wore beneath her black suit jacket. “I like the imagery, the way he uses stark colors to portray the sensual air in the room. Sometimes an artist will use dark colors to portray romance and sexuality. But Zune goes for the opposite, the bright to accentuate the obvious. It’s fantastic.”
“You accentuate the obvious,” he said, his thumb brushing over her gloss-coated lips.
“We were talking about the painting,” she said. As she opened her mouth to speak her tongue swiped the pad of his thumb.
His eyes darkened, lust clearly taking hold. With his free hand he pulled her to him. “I’m talking about you and I creating our own erotic scene.”
“Alex, I’m at work,” she said breathlessly.
“Queen, I’m falling in love with you,” he whispered before his lips touched hers, pulling her into a deep, heated kiss.
She loved his kisses, absolutely craved them when he wasn’t around. Who would have known a man could kiss like this, in a way that had her knees going weak and her center pulsating. As her eyes closed she saw clearly the erotic scene they could create, whether on a kitchen counter, in a bathtub full of bubbles or in a hotel room. It was like fire with them. Fire in the midst of winter, kisses that heated, devoured and destroyed.
“Monica!” The stern voice broke their contact instantly.
Monica knew that voice and she knew the person it belonged to was beyond pissed. Turning slowly, she faced her father, Paul Lakefield.
“If you have a moment to spare from your…activities,” Paul Lakefield said in the stern way he was used to talking, “I would like you to explain this package I just received.”
Straightening her back the way she always seemed to do when confronted, Monica cleared her throat. “Hello, Dad. This is Alexander Bennett of Bennett Industries. You know, the communications—”
Paul
cut her off. “I know all about Bennett Industries. Marvin and I have been longtime business associates. It’s nice to meet the son who’ll be taking his place as head of the company soon. I can only hope you have your father’s dedication to the business,” Paul said, extending a hand to Alex but giving him a less than confident look.
Alex smiled and reached for Mr. Lakefield’s hand. He knew of Paul Lakefield, as well, from both his father’s mention of the man and Sam and Max’s briefing about the father. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. I can assure you that Bennett Industries will be in good hands when I take over. Monica was just showing me your gallery. It’s a great collection of art, sir.”
“Never mind what my daughter was showing you, Mr. Bennett. We have a private matter to discuss, so if you’ll excuse us.”
“You can say what you have to say in front of Alex,” Monica intervened to Alex’s pleasure and surprise.
“I said it’s private,” Paul insisted.
Alex reached for Monica’s hand. She laced her fingers through his in a show of solidarity. “Alex is a personal friend, Dad. It’s okay to talk around him.”
A personal friend. Alex figured that was better than nothing at all. Would he have liked for her to say he was her man, her lover or something of that nature? Sure. But that would be pushing Monica too fast, too soon. He’d accept what he could get, for now.
“Fine. What is this?” Paul asked, thrusting an envelope toward Monica.
She reached for it and pulled out the contents. Her gasp had Alex holding her hand even tighter as he looked over to see what she’d seen.
They were pictures of a much younger Monica, a much happier one, walking hand in hand with a man. Instinct told Alex this was Yates Hinton but he remained silent.
“Where did you get these?” she asked in a strangled voice.
“They were delivered to me just about a half hour ago, along with some sort of threat against the gallery,” Paul replied.
“What type of threat?” Alex asked.
“The letter asks for Monica’s resignation from the gallery because of moral conflicts,” Paul informed them.
“What? Moral conflicts? What does that mean?” She’d leaned into Alex, probably inadvertently, but he was glad he was there to support her.
Paul frowned. “I was hoping you could explain that, Monica. What have you done?”
“Me?” she asked incredulously. “I haven’t done anything except work my butt off for this gallery, for the Lakefield name. You know that’s all I’ve done since I came back from college, Dad.”
“Obviously you were doing something else while you were at college,” Paul retorted.
Alex took the envelope and its contents out of Monica’s hands. The pictures went from innocent walks to candlelight dinners, to a bedroom shot that could have been hanging on the wall right next to these other erotic paintings. A muscle in his jaw ticked as he reigned in his anger and strived for calm. Getting angry was not going to help deal with Mr. Lakefield, who was already plenty pissed off.
“This man has been harassing Monica, Mr. Lakefield. He’s sending her unwanted gifts, calling her repeatedly making idle threats. This looks like he’s trying to step up his game.”
“And what game would that be, Mr. Bennett?” Paul asked, dragging his angry gaze from Monica to the man standing beside her.
“He’s trying to intimidate her into coming back to him.”
“Oh, God, why won’t this go away?” Monica sighed. “It was years ago. I’ve moved on. He should, too.”
But she hadn’t moved on, not really. Alex knew that and he suspected Monica did, too, but now was neither the time nor place to discuss that.
“You were intimate with this man. So what? You broke up and he’s still holding on. I understand that but how does that relate to a morality issue?” Paul inquired.
Alex didn’t answer. It was Monica’s story to tell, not his, even though he’d already been given a quick synopsis of what was going on in this chapter of the story.
“He was married when I was seeing him,” she replied in a surprisingly strong and level voice, as if she dared her father to cast blame on her.
Paul sighed, running a hand down his face. It was then that Alex saw something he suspected Monica couldn’t see. Her father was worried. He was angry about the pictures and the threat on the gallery—no matter how frivolous and inappropriate—and he was also worried about his child.
“Did you know?”
Monica sighed again. “I guess everybody who finds out is going to ask me that question. No, I didn’t know he was married. When I found out I ended it. But he’s not letting go.”
“It’s been years since you left South Carolina—why is he surfacing now?” was Paul’s next question.
Alex waited for that answer, as well.
“He thinks I’m seeing someone else.”
Paul looked to Alex, who looked to Monica, wishing she’d told him this before.
“And he doesn’t want you seeing anyone else, even though he’s still married? Dumbass games men play,” Paul said.
“It doesn’t matter, Dad. I told him it was over between us. I told him not to bother me anymore.”
“And yet he sent these to me anyway. He’s threatening to slander the gallery’s name, to contact all our contributors, our artists, to attack our credibility in the art world.”
“He can’t do that,” Monica said, sounding horrified at the thought.
Paul shook his head. “I don’t think he’ll do much damage seeing as he’s the one that was married at the time, not you. But it’s a hit I don’t want us to take, especially considering how close we are to expanding.” Taking a deep breath, Paul looked directly at Monica. “I want you to take a leave of absence.”
“What? Are you kidding? You’re firing me because of this maniac?”
“Mr. Lakefield, with all due respect, sir, I don’t think giving in to this guy is the way to go.”
“And how do you think we should handle this, Mr. Bennett? Since it seems you’re the man she’s seeing now, how do you suppose I keep my company’s name in good standing with this type of scandal looming over us?”
“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. So she slept with a married man—it was almost ten years ago and she hasn’t had any contact with him since then. These pictures seem bad but we could always claim they were altered. That’s a normal occurrence nowadays. I think you should be looking to prosecute him for harassment instead. Fight back instead of backing down.”
Paul shook his head again. “Young men, I tell you. You have the energy and gumption to suggest fighting back. Well, I’m a businessman and I’m thinking about my business.”
“But what about your daughter? Did it occur to you that firing me plays right into his hands? He wants me vulnerable because he thinks that’ll run me right back to him. Apparently he’s been keeping close tabs on me. He had to if he found out about me and Alex when there wasn’t even a me and Alex. If I’m not at the gallery it won’t stop him, but it’ll devastate me.”
“I’m sorry, Monica. You’ll have to deal with that on your own. And I’m not firing you. I’m simply asking you to take some time off, distance yourself from the gallery for a while.”
“You want me to go away so you don’t have to deal with me or the issues you believe I’m bringing to your precious gallery. Never mind that I’m the one who put the wheels in motion for the expansion to Miami and to Atlanta. I found the location, I personally interviewed the managers, I’ve been developing the marketing plans and searching out new artwork to show. I’ve worked my butt off for this expansion, for this gallery all my life and this is how you repay me? Well, thanks a lot, Dad. Thanks a whole helluva lot.”
Alex let her hand go and she stormed out of the room. She needed to be alone to get herself together. Breaking down in front of her father was not an option for Monica. He got that. What he didn’t get was Paul Lakefield’s attitude toward a child he so obviously love
d.
“She’ll get over it,” Paul said when it was just him and Alex.
“You sure about that, sir?”
“Are you questioning my judgment? I’m her father, for goodness’ sake! I know what’s best for her.”
“I don’t think you know her very well, Mr. Lakefield. And that’s the real pity of this situation. She’s your daughter and she’s dedicated her life to pleasing you, but you can’t see that. Or you’re too stubborn and egotistical to acknowledge it.”
“Now, wait a minute, young man. You might be sleeping with her, but I’m her father. I’m the man who raised her, who taught her everything she knows about this business.”
“And you’re the one who just broke her heart, again.”
Alex left Paul Lakefield with those words to chew on as he headed to Monica’s office.
He wasn’t surprised to find the door closed, but it wasn’t locked so he walked in. She was packing, throwing things from her desk into a box, tears streaming down her face.
Touching her wasn’t going to be a good idea even though all Alex wanted to do right now was hold her. She’d rebel and push him away, so he didn’t bother.
“I’ll take you home,” he said instead.
“I can get a cab.”
“You can, but I’m here so I’ll take you.”
She looked up at him as if she was going to argue but stopped. “I can’t believe this is happening. I want to kill Yates Hinton, that bastard!”
Alex nodded, knowing exactly how she felt. “Let’s just get you home then we’ll figure out what to do about Yates Hinton.”
But Alex had already figured it out and while he’d walked to Monica’s office from the lower level of the gallery he’d sent Sam Desdune a text message letting him know what his plan was.
Chapter 20
Alex parked in the garage located on the first two floors of Monica’s apartment building. On the elevator up he held her hand even though she didn’t want him to. He was good at doing things she didn’t want. And she was getting even better at letting him.