Which had been stupid of me, because Hemi wasn’t a regular person. But unfortunately, I’d dressed for his eyes—later—or maybe for confidence, instead of for public consumption. I was wearing a lingerie set from Shades of V, in fact, a San-Francisco-based company Hemi had acquired six months earlier. He tended to bring me something new from the line every week or two, telling me it was for research, that he was “checking the look.”
Yeah, right. Checking my look, more like—especially when he’d summon me to his office during the workday for the “checking,” make me walk around in the underwear and my heels, then take it all off of me and give me his…opinion. His very tough opinion, after which I’d have to go back downstairs, try to pretend I hadn’t just been banged senseless by the CEO, and know I wasn’t succeeding.
He loved it when I left his office with my cheeks flushed, my hair slightly rumpled despite my efforts to tame it, my eyes soft and unfocused, and my knees still trembling. Even though I’d complain, “Everybody’s going to be able to tell what I just did. Or what you just did to me, more like.”
“And what exactly do you imagine is wrong with that?” he’d answer. “Works for me.” And I’d scowl at him and try to act aggrieved, when I was still swollen and aching from the endless series of orgasms he’d given me, and the hum had already started up again—or had never died down. Once he really had me going, he liked to keep me there, and by now, he knew exactly how to do it. I walked around in a state of perpetual arousal, obviously giving off some fairly potent pheromones, because I could swear that every straight man in my vicinity had started glancing at me in a way they never had before. And not daring to do anything about it, of course, because they knew I was Hemi’s, and that Hemi didn’t share.
It was all extremely reprehensible, on both Hemi’s part and my own. He apparently had to do it, but I didn’t have to allow it, let alone like it. Beneath all his success and sophistication, though, he was a throwback to some ruthless Maori-chief ancestor. Unfortunately, it seemed I had more than my own share of primitive instincts, because I loved it.
On the other hand, I also had a rockin’ underwear collection, which is why I was wearing white today, in preparation for—well, wearing white. But the lacy bralette that looked so virginal in front had a whole lot of unnecessary strapping in back, and the matching thong did, too. All right, I’ll confess—the thong tied in back. The whole thing was fairly bondage-y, in fact. Hemi hadn’t seen this outfit on me for months, though, and I’d known he’d love it seeing it again, especially if all I was wearing with it was his ring and some high heels. If he came into his childhood bedroom and found me walking around like that, breaking in my wedding shoes, maybe, and knew that he was about to make me his wife…
Oh, yeah. That would turn into Possessive City, and wouldn’t I love it.
You see what I mean? When I’d been thinking about trying on my wedding dress, that’s where my unruly mind had gone. Maybe because I loved to look innocent while I pushed his buttons, and maybe because thinking about marrying Hemi—or the reality of being married to Hemi—still made me more than a little nervous.
When I stood in the world’s largest dressing room and took off my boots, jeans, and sweater, though, Karen looked at me and said, “Whoa, mama. I did not need to see that,” which was fairly embarrassing. I couldn’t even hide those straps by keeping my back turned, because—mirrored walls.
Violet, on the other hand, just scrutinized me and said, “Small scale all the way around. We’ll have to keep it very simple,” which wasn’t exactly reassuring. After that, I stood there feeling like an extremely short, flat-chested Barbie as she and Fiona dressed me in one white gown after another that dragged on the ground and overwhelmed me in every way, as Karen said, “Well, maybe that one’s OK” in a dubious tone, and Violet said “No,” or “Horrible,” or, worst of all, “Gruesome,” and snapped her fingers at Fiona to take it off.
“We could do a short dress,” I suggested after seven or eight attempts. “Maybe that would be simple enough. I might look less like I’d chosen something from my mother’s dress-up box, anyway.”
“No,” Violet said with absolute assurance. “You’d look like a teenager, and people would think Hemi had got himself into dodgy territory. We don’t need the celebrant asking to see your birth certificate or the note from your mum.”
“I’m twenty-five,” I said with as much dignity as I could muster.
“Right,” Violet said. “Then let’s make you look that way.”
Fiona hung up the latest reject, and Violet pulled out the last lonely dress from the rack, having pruned the collection considerably after her assessment of my less-than-considerable assets. “I was saving this one,” she said. “Maybe not willing to put it to the test, because if this doesn’t work…” She shrugged. “Well, if it doesn’t, we’ll find something else. But it’s brand-new, and my favorite, so I may be a wee bit prejudiced.”
I couldn’t tell from looking at it. It looked much like the others when it was on the hanger, except even simpler. A warm winter white, sleeveless—and “simple” was right.
And then Fiona put it on me and zipped it up the back.
“Oh,” Karen said with a sigh. She’d long since sat down on a stool in the corner, but now, she stood up and said, “It makes me want to touch it.”
“Bias-cut,” Violet said. “Silk charmeuse.”
It was all that and then some. The dress sported a relatively modest V-neck in front and back, and the cut was absolutely simple, the lustrous silk unadorned except for a two-inch band of translucent lace just below my breasts. But the exquisitely cut fabric draped as if it were caressing my body, somehow managing to look both entirely sensual and devastatingly classic, and my hands smoothed over it for exactly the reason Karen had said. Because I had to touch it.
“Yes,” Violet said with satisfaction. “Absolutely. No veil, of course. Too fussy.”
“Oh?” I asked. I had no idea. I was just relieved I’d found something to be married in. “It’s beautiful. Of course it is. But…will it look like a nightgown?”
“No,” she said. “Or only in the very best way. It’ll look perfect. Your hair pulled up, white rosebuds and pearls in it. You’ll look so virginal and delicious, every man there will wish he was Hemi. And Hemi will love knowing it, because he was born about three centuries too late.”
“Oh,” I said again. The look in her eyes—it was like she knew exactly how reprehensible Hemi could be, and I had to wonder how she did. And how suitable this conversation was in front of Karen, especially with me blushing pink. “I could probably find something like that online,” I said, to steer the conversation in another direction. “A hair ornament.”
“Oh, I think Hemi can do better than that,” Violet said. “I’ll tell him what you need, no worries. And he’ll get your hair and makeup sorted as well. If he hasn’t already made arrangements for that—let’s say I’d be surprised. Most managing fella I know, or let’s call him what he is. Absolutely, positively alpha, and aren’t you the lucky girl. And now, Fiona,” she went on briskly, “go on and take her measurements and get that off her, and we’ll do Karen.”
It had all taken barely half an hour, I found when I’d restored myself gratefully to some dignity by getting dressed again. I took Karen’s place on the stool, then, and watched Karen getting put through the Dress Grinder.
Karen had nice underwear, too, although much more modest than mine. Hemi hadn’t bought hers for her, or not exactly. He’d just taken her to the Shades of V store in San Francisco on a Valentine’s Day trip that had included her, because Hemi was sweet that way. He’d handed her over to an assistant, told them both to go wild, and taken me out for an impossibly romantic lunch at Sons and Daughters in Union Square, where he’d fed me lobster and champagne under glittering chandeliers, held my hand across the table, and looked at me like I was all he wanted to see.
You can see why I had no choice but to love him. And now, Karen was get
ting the full treatment, and the full enjoyment, too, with none of my mixed emotions. She ended up, after a half hour of her own, with another perfectly simple dress featuring a draped neckline and cap sleeves that flattered her slim figure through the torso, then flowed into a graceful bell shape beneath.
“In a buttery yellow,” Violet said, “it’ll be perfect. Still young, but with some sophistication to it. A string of pearls, maybe, and yellow rosebuds in her hair.” She made a note on her phone.
I would have said, “I’m sure I can find something,” except that I’d figured out by now that I wasn’t going to be the one receiving the shopping list.
“So,” Violet said after snapping her fingers again at Fiona, who didn’t need the reminder, since she was already taking the dress off Karen, “are you ready for lunch, and then the next bit? We need to keep moving if we’re going to get it all done today.”
“Uh…get what done?” I asked.
“Shoes, of course,” she said as if I were dim. “Now that I know what will work with the dress. Underthings. Stockings. All that.”
“But…” I said, “surely you don’t, um, make all that. Or sell it, or whatever.”
She looked at me in surprise. “Didn’t Hemi tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“That I’m your personal shopper today. And we’d better get our skates on, like I said. Things to do. Chop-chop.”
“But you can’t…you must be busy,” I protested.
“Too right I am. I wouldn’t do it for anyone else, either. Got to help him get it right this time around, though, if I can. We want the second time to be the charm, so let’s go make the magic happen.”
Hope
My first impulse was to let it go.
Well, no, that wouldn’t be quite true. My first impulse was to put my hands over my ears and sing. My second impulse was to run away. I didn’t give in to either.
Karen hadn’t noticed anything, was just putting her clothes back on and looking happy. I wanted her to be happy. I wanted me to be happy.
That would be why I didn’t say anything all through lunch. I told myself that I didn’t want to talk in front of Karen.
That wasn’t the real reason, of course. Oh, well.
When Violet was flipping her way through the racks in a lingerie store on a narrow street lined with boutiques, though, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. Karen was safely ensconced in a cafe, because: “No offense, Hope, but I don’t really want to look at your sexy underwear anymore. Awkward.”
No excuses. I summoned my courage and asked Violet, “What did you mean, ‘This time?’ About Hemi? What second time?”
Violet looked up from where she was studying a particularly fetching garter belt, then rejected it and moved on to another one that looked the same, only even more fragile. She’d already picked out the sheerest white stockings I’d ever seen. If all of this didn’t rip when I put it on, it was surely going to rip when Hemi took it off.
Do not go there. Be strong. Face facts.
“Oh, bugger,” Violet said, fingering a tiny scrap of lace that I knew would carry a price tag to make my head spin. “I don’t go in for the marriage bit, despite doing the dresses and all. I forgot the rules. No referring to the ex.”
“What ex?” I asked through a mouth that had insisted on going dry even as I thought, You know how many women he had before you. Nothing new here. Move on.
“Whoops,” Violet said. “I have put my foot in it, haven’t I? Never mind, darling. All done and dusted. His first marriage, that’s all. Anika. Now, that was a stormy one. No wonder he’s gone for somebody so…” She broke off and laughed. “Better quit while I’m behind, I guess. Come on. I’ve found the right ones at last. Let’s try them on, though I already know I’ve hit it, and then we’ll do shoes. Except…nightie, maybe. Hmm. Yeh. We’d better do that. Long, of course. Lace, or dots, maybe, I’m thinking. White, naturally. Maybe some stretch. Totally ladylike, but not one bit ladylike, because transparent. No undies. Yeh. We’ll let Hemi despoil his gorgeous little bride. He’ll love it. Let’s go look. Somebody else will have had ideas as good as mine. And if we buy it today, I’ll have time to get it shortened for you.”
I stood my ground. “When would that have been? His first marriage?” I knew why I’d been so nervous this morning, why everything had felt so off. Why Hemi had been so strange.
At least, I thought I did.
Her eyes narrowed the tiniest bit, and she studied me for a moment, then said slowly, “It was yonks ago, honestly. Water under the bridge. When we were at design school, here in Auckland. Until she wanted the baby, I guess.”
Hemi
I was in a quick goodwill-cementing meeting with the lead buyer for Smith & Caughey’s when my phone buzzed.
Normally, I’d have turned it off. Today, I hadn’t. Instead, I’d left it sitting on the conference table. Now, I glanced at the screen. It wasn’t my attorney. It was Hope. I hesitated a second, then said, “Excuse me a moment,” and walked out of the room.
I never did that. Interruptions were rude, and they were unprofessional. But I did it today.
“Sweetheart,” I said the moment I was outside. “How’re you going? Finished already?”
“I need you to come pick me up.”
She almost barked it out, sounding completely unlike Hope, and I blinked. Was she getting nervy again? Overwhelmed?
“Of course,” I said. “Give me half an hour to finish here, and I’m on my way. Have a coffee, or better yet—do some jewelry browsing for me, eh. I’d like to get Violet’s ideas on earrings, maybe a necklace as well, depending on your neckline. They’ll need to be right for the dress, and as you won’t let me see it…Where are you?”
She named a café in Chancery Square, then said, “I’m not going jewelry shopping. Please come get me. I need to talk to you.”
Her voice was all wrong. Tight. Cold. “Hope,” I said slowly, “what’s wrong? Couldn’t find the dress? It doesn’t matter. I told you, I want you to feel proud when you come to me, that’s all. I already know I’ll feel that way to get you.”
A fella was walking by me in the corridor with a stack of papers, and he glanced at me sharply, then looked away. I never said things like that, let alone in front of anyone else, but that didn’t matter, either.
“Please come get me,” she said again. “I’ll be waiting for you.”
Then there was only silence. She’d rung off.
I didn’t even finish the meeting. Five minutes later, I was back in the car, and fifteen minutes after that, I was walking into the café.
I’d resisted the temptation to ring Walter on the drive over. My attorney knew the meaning of “urgent.” If he hadn’t rung me back, it was because he didn’t know the answer yet. I also resisted the urge to dwell on the negative possibilities. Every problem had a solution, and as this was a simple problem, it would have a simple solution.
Hope, though…not so much. She defied me, and frustrated me, and exasperated me, and then she did it again. She pushed me past every rigid barrier I’d ever placed for myself, and I kept coming back for more.
Just now, she was looking up as I walked through the door, her flower of a face tight and closed, exactly as her voice had been on the phone. I headed over there fast, and she stood up, moving as jerkily as a puppet on strings. Karen rose as well from her spot opposite her. As soon as I got there, I said, “Something’s wrong, eh. What?”
“If Hope tells you,” Karen said, “we’ll both know. You keep screwing this up,” she told her sister, “and I don’t get it! Hemi’s great. He’s perfect. He makes everything happen like magic, and you don’t want it? Why not?”
Hope said, “There’s no magic. It doesn’t exist. There’s no fairy tale.”
“Rubbish.” I was suddenly furious. I had enough on my plate just now. What more did I have to do to prove myself to her? “There’s magic, and we’ve got it. You know we do.”
“Oh?” She’d crossed her ar
ms, and her big blue-green eyes were flashing seven kinds of danger signals. If she tended to look like a kitten, the kitten’s claws were in full evidence now. “Is that what you told your first wife, too?”
It knocked the breath out of me. That was the moment Violet chose to walk in and try to hand Hope a carrier bag.
Hope turned those eyes on her, and Violet said, “Whoa,” swiveled, thrust the bag at me instead, and said, “She wouldn’t try anything on, so I got a couple versions, plus a little something extra I thought up. Call it a wedding present, assuming you get this sorted.”
Good. I had somebody new to take my temper out on. “How does Hope know,” I asked, “about my first wife?”
She laughed. That was the problem with people you’d gone to Uni with. No matter how successful I was; no matter, even, that I’d helped Violet establish herself in her business—to her, I was still that bloke she’d done her group projects with, the one she’d argued with and shouted at and stayed up half the night with, whose shoulder she’d fallen asleep on. The one she knew far too much about. “Darling,” she said, “come on. Girl talk. If you didn’t want me to mention Anika, you should’ve said. Except that you shouldn’t have. Did you imagine that you’d get your whanau up for your wedding and none of them would’ve dropped a hint that they’d done this before? Not what my family’s like when they’ve been at the wedding champagne. Would you rather your bride run away from you at your reception, or at the altar, maybe?”
“I’d rather,” I said through a jaw that had tightened, “that she not run away at all. I’d rather she trusted me when I told her I loved her and that I’d take care of her, and left me to sort out the rest.”
“And I’d rather you talked to me,” Hope said, “instead of talking about me like I’m a child.”
“Then stop behaving like one,” I said, and could have sworn that three women sucked in their breath at once. I went on anyway, because I’d lost the battle for self-control. “Calling me out of a meeting like something’s horribly wrong instead of trying on your…” I took a quick look into the carrier bag. “Bridal lingerie? Which is heaps more important to me, and should be to you, too. So I was married before. What does it matter? And I notice you haven’t even bought shoes, for you or Karen. What are you planning to wear? When were you planning to buy it?”
Fractured (Not Quite a Billionaire #2) Page 6