Once he was home in New Orleans, it was unlikely someone would make the trip down there specially to challenge him.
Gabrielle did it. Don’t rule anything out.
* * *
After a leisurely lunch, Tara spent a blissful few hours alone in the pool. She swam laps until her legs and lungs ached and then settled into the hot tub where she relaxed uninterrupted until she felt like a lobster. She drifted to the steps and climbed out, her skin tingling in the cool air. She reached for her towel to find it missing. She looked around, in a panic. Not because she was worried about theft, it was the hotel’s towel, but because she didn’t like people sneaking up on her, or harassing her.
“Looking for this?”
She looked over towards the showers. “Dimitri.”
He was dangling the towel. “It’s yours, isn’t it?”
“Keep it. I’ll even toss you in the pool so you can make use of it.” She grabbed her bag with her key in it and turned to leave.
He whistled. “You’re going to make a lot of guys happy walking through the hotel looking like that.”
“I don’t care what any of them think,” she said over her shoulder, not stopping.
She made it to the door before he caught up to her. “You lover was disgraced today.”
“My fiancé lost a duel today. It was my father who was disgraced.” She yanked the towel out of his hand and pushed through the door.
“Fiancé? That was fast.”
“And I’m not one to change my mind. So if you want to continue this conversation, take it up with him.”
Thankfully he didn’t follow her any further. She hurried back up to her room and turned her phone on so she could text Remy. “Ran into Dimitri. Told him we’re engaged.”
When she got out of the shower, there was a message waiting for her. “That’s kind of sweet. Of you, not him. I’ll take care of him. Subtly.”
“My knight in shining armor,” she wrote back.
* * *
Remy dragged the chair along the floor so the legs grated, calling the attention of the blond man already seated there, and then sat down without waiting for introduction or invitation.
“Can I help you?”
“Dimitri?” When he nodded Remy went on. “Took me a while to find someone who could point you out to me, but I’m sure you already know who I am.”
“I do, yes.”
“I’m sure you can guess why I was looking for you.”
“Your girl tattled.”
“No. My fiancé complained. She’s not a child. She’s an adult with a mind of her own and some pretty strong opinions, opinions she made very clear to you. But, since you don’t seem to understand the English language when it’s spoken by a strong-willed, independent woman, I’ll explain it to you again. Tara is not interested in you, she never was. You are not pressing your case, or courting her, or wooing her – you are harassing her.”
“Why is she insulted that I was interested in her?”
“She’s not. She’s pissed off that you don’t understand what ‘no, thank you’ means. And since you don’t, I’m going to put this in terms you do understand. She’s taken. She’s no longer romantically available. Which means you leave her alone or you deal with me.”
“Maybe I’m not afraid to deal with you. I already saw you lose one duel.”
“Make your choice, right now. Are you going to leave her alone?”
“No, I don’t think I will. She could do a lot better than you.”
“She couldn’t do worse than you.” Remy stood and waved to the doorway of the cafe. “You got all that?”
The owner of the resort came over. “Yes, I did. I’m sorry about this. My staff made me aware of the situation but I had hoped it wouldn’t escalate to this.” He turned to Dimitri. “I will escort you up to your room to gather your things. We will stop at the front desk to settle any outstanding balance you have with us, of course. And then I will call you a cab, unless you have a vehicle of your own.”
“What is this?”
“This is the owner of the resort,” Remy explained. “And you’re being removed from the premises for the harassment of a guest. Guess it’s a good thing the conference is over.”
“You set me up.”
“Keep blaming others for your screw ups if you want,” Remy said. “It will keep coming back to bite your sorry ass.”
“This way, sir,” the owner said.
Remy watched them leave, then wandered over to the front of the restaurant. He ordered dinner to be brought up to the room and then made his way upstairs.
Tara was tucked into bed, watching TV. “How was your afternoon?”
“Satisfying.”
“Uh-oh. Should I be jealous?”
“Maybe a little.”
She shut the TV off and sat up. “Oh?”
He laughed. “Dimitri got himself tossed out of the resort. I’m sorry you didn’t get the chance to witness that.”
“Mmm, I see. You’re right, I am a little jealous.” She crawled over to the foot of the bed.
He leaned down and kissed her.
“What are we doing for dinner?”
“I already ordered. Should be up shortly.”
“You really do think of everything.”
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her thoroughly until room service knocked on the door with dinner.
Thursday
“Damn.” Tara came across the lobby and rejoined Remy.
Remy looked up from his phone. “What is it?” She didn’t need him hovering directly over her shoulder but he’d been concerned about her father, or about Dimitri trying to sneak back in, and had taken the elevator down with her.
“My father must have cancelled my bank card.”
“So how broke are you?”
“Not as broke as he thinks. I pulled out my daily maximum over the day yesterday and managed one transaction this morning before the system locked me out. I only got about a third of my savings but it’s more than enough to get me to your place.”
“I guess your dad feels it was his money in the first place?”
“Some of it wasn’t. I won’t mention what I already pulled out, but I will call my mom and tell her to send what would equal my savings from my freelance gigs. I won’t even press for various birthday presents, they can keep that as ‘rent’ payments.”
“Did they charge you rent?”
“Nope, but my father’s not above back charging me out of spite. I’ll be right back.”
“Go ahead, I’m almost done.”
When Tara came back, her face was carefully neutral. She smiled but Remy could see it was strained.
“Not all good news, I take it?”
“She’ll send me a few grand, but that’s it. Between that and what I pulled out, I’d say I can live for about six months. I need to change over my banking information on my freelance contracts so any new money comes to my new account, and not the one I’ve been locked out of or I’ll never see that money.”
“You’ll have income from the freelance and it won’t take you six months to get a job.”
“In this economy?”
“It’s who you know as much as what you know.”
“What have you been up to?”
“Plenty, but among other things I can arrange for you to have a job interview at Tandell Corporations. That’s as far as my influence can go. You’ll have to wow them all on your own.”
“You haven’t even seen my work.”
“But I know you’re brilliant and passionate so I know you’ll do just fine.”
She kissed his cheek. “Thanks. So, what else were you up to? You’ve been a busy bee all morning.”
“Well, I booked you a flight to New Orleans.”
“Remy, I could have done that.”
“And then your money would only have lasted you four months.”
“A flight is not that expensive.”
“Maybe not, but all the extra last min
ute fees add up.”
“So how much was it?”
“No idea.”
She stared at him. “What do you mean you have no idea?”
“I didn’t pay for it. Brock did. And before you yell at me, I argued long and hard with him. He’s rich, Tara, he doesn’t view a few hundred dollars the way I do, or the way you’re going to have to now.”
“Great,” she muttered. “More meddling rich guys.”
“He’s not your father. You owe him nothing for this trip, no money, no favors, nothing. He has never flinched at donating or lending money.”
“I’m not a charity case.”
“You’re his Chief’s mate, his best friend’s mate, and he’s desperate to meet you. And I’m sure Gia had something to do with it. You’ll get along well with Gia, she’s a lot like you. He wanted to do this and short of ordering him I couldn’t dissuade him.”
“You give your people a lot of leeway, don’t you.”
“I’m in charge, yes, and I’ve put my foot down and punished people before. But we’re friends, too. I trust them, so why would I meddle in their affairs? And why would I let my position get in the way of my friendships?”
“I think I’m going to be getting used to a lot more than just the change in weather,” she said.
“Hopefully they will all be good changes.”
“I think they will be. So, when does my flight leave?”
“Our flight leaves in a few hours. We need to pack and say our good-byes and get to the airport.”
“Our flight? I thought I’d be stranded here another day at least. How did he pull that off? We’re not going by private jet, are we?”
“No. Unless I’m travelling with Brock, I do not travel by private jet. Brock may have exaggerated your situation ever so slightly.”
“What did he say?”
“That you’re leaving an abusive situation and it’s important that you leave town as quickly and quietly as possible. The airline was happy to help and got you onto my flight. No, no one else lost their seat. They’ve been told you want this as quiet as possible so they’re not to hover over you before or during the flight. They’ve also been given a description of your father and his name so if he tries to locate you in the airport or if he comes to bother us at our gate they’ll remove him for you.”
“You did all that for little old me?”
“You’d better believe it.”
She laughed. “Then I guess we have a lot to do this morning. Let’s get back upstairs.”
* * *
They managed to pack without too many personal distractions but with both of them moving around the confined space it was impossible not to bump into each other and bumps often led to hugs or to kisses of apology. Remy got a baggage cart and they hauled everything downstairs. Daniel and Marnie were waiting for them.
Daniel held out his hand, shaking Remy’s, then Tara’s. “Remy, it was good to see you again. I suggest you call your mother as soon as you get home or I’ll be forced to give her all the details.”
“I will, I promise.”
“Tara, it was good to meet you. I’m glad this all worked out with a happy ending.”
“So am I.”
“So, when are you two getting married?” Marnie said.
Remy laughed. “Let me get her settled in New Orleans first.”
“Don’t make her wait too long,” Marnie said. She held her arms open. “Tara, I’m glad to have met you.”
Tara stepped into the hug. “And you. Good luck. I hear your situation isn’t the most pleasant.”
“Well, as we get rid of more and more of these old-fashioned, arrogant Chiefs things will improve for all of us. But, no politics now. I’ll not spoil your day. Jane has all my contact information. You keep in touch.”
“I will, I promise.”
“Oh no,” Remy said, looking skywards. “I’m doomed.”
Marnie poked him in the ribs. “You should call more often, too.”
“I swear, I’ve accumulated more women into my life in the last year than in the rest of my life combined.” Remy was smiling as he said it, then added, “I will try to call. I’m busy, you know.”
He hugged her and then turned to Daniel while Marnie and Tara chatted about the flight and about Jane.
“I’ll tell Mom every detail I can when I call her but reassure her and Dad that she will be invited to help plan the wedding and I expect them to attend.”
“Just them?”
“Yes, I’ll invite you, too.” Remy sighed. “You know, you’d better just bring the whole damn clan with you or I’ll never hear the end of it. Shit, that’s the alarm on my phone, we have to go.”
“Get out of here. We won’t be far behind, I’m sure. Good luck, you two.”
There were more handshakes and hugs and waves as Remy and Tara wrestled their luggage out to the car. The roads were better heading back to the airport. The rain over the week had cleared away much of the snow and though it was still cool the sun had come out Wednesday and the roads were mostly dry. They listened to the blues CD Remy had picked up or talked, laughing often.
They were rushed through airport security and straight to their gate with a staff member at their side. “Will you be okay here?” he asked them.
Remy nodded. “I know how to call for security if anything happens but we aren’t expecting any trouble. Thank you for your concern.”
“Anything we can do to help.” He turned and smiled at Tara. “Good luck, ma’am.”
Tara managed to keep a straight face until he was gone and then she started giggling. “What did Brock tell them?”
“I don’t know, but that’s the best service I’ve ever had at an airport. Of course I wasn’t planning on getting through security that fast so now we have a lot of waiting ahead of us.”
“Why don’t you go grab us some coffees then?”
He kissed her cheek. “I can do that.”
He wandered off into the crowded airport, leaving her with their carry-on luggage. She settled into one of the seats, thankful there were outlets everywhere, and plugged in her phone so it would charge while she was checking her emails.
Someone stopped in front of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw dark dress pants and a large body mass. She waited a moment but the legs didn’t move. She smiled.
“Back so soon? The line must -” She stopped as her gaze came up from her phone to find it wasn’t Remy in front of her, but her father.
“You’re a hard girl to find. I didn’t know when you were leaving the hotel.”
“You don’t want to be here.”
Charles went on as if he hadn’t heard her. “You made a fool of me yesterday. I needed those notes.”
“Why didn’t you have a copy of your own?” She kept her voice sweet. “When I left your clan, I also left your service as your secretary. I was no longer required to be at your beck and call at all hours. I didn’t want to deal with anyone so I turned my phone off.”
“And I’ve spoken with your mother. Now you’re trying to rob me?”
“Just trying to get my things shipped to New Orleans. I’m not taking the TV from my room or any of the furniture, just my clothes and my shoes and what not.” He was hearing her speak but not really listening to the words, that much was obvious.
“I paid for all that.”
“I worked for years, Dad. I had money of my own. You’ve frozen my account, taken my money, so let’s just assume the clothes were bought with the freelancing income you don’t want to release to me and call it even.”
“We’ll see about that. I hope you have all your accounting records in place.”
“I do, yes. I’ll send you a copy.”
He changed subjects. “Dimitri was removed from the hotel yesterday.”
“I was in my room most of the day. I didn’t see that.”
“But you knew about it, didn’t you?”
“Only after the fact.”
“Are you denying that yo
u were the cause of his humiliating treatment?”
“Yes.”
They stared at each other for a long moment.
“So, this had nothing to do with Dimitri asking you to dinner?”
“No, Dad. This was about Dimitri not taking no from an answer, not from me, and not from Remy.”
He opened his mouth to speak but a hand tapped his shoulder.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.”
Remy had returned with a coffee in each hand, a frown on his face, a flight attendant, and two men in security uniforms. The flight attendant, the one who had tapped Charles’ shoulder, was the one that was currently speaking to Charles.
“I haven’t harmed her. And I’m going.” He looked back at his daughter one last time. “Good-bye, Tara.”
Remy sat down beside her and handed her a coffee. “Figures, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. I don’t think this is over, you know. I’m going to be fighting him for every scrap of clothing and every penny for as long as he can drag this out.”
Remy wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We’ll figure it out and we’ll make it work, I promise.”
“I don’t want to borrow any more money from your friend.”
“I’ll let Brock know. But expect an elaborate ‘welcome to New Orleans’ gift to show up.”
“More meddling rich men.”
“He doesn’t meddle. He’s generous. I know you don’t trust his motives yet and I understand why, but trust me, you won’t ever owe him anything more than what is pre-agreed upon at the beginning of a deal.”
“I don’t like being a charity case.”
“I’ll tell him that, too.” He kissed her temple. “Things will be a lot better now, I promise.”
* * *
The flight, once they got boarded and off the ground, was uneventful and relatively short. It was already dark when they made their way through the airport and rescued their bags from the luggage carousel. Remy turned his phone back on and it immediately binged at him.
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