by Marie Kelly
Silently the two had looked at each other, the tension high in the air between them, broken only by the sudden sound of a soft tapping at the door.
With a small smile curling his lip he quickly moved back, pulling open the door to let in a surprised Bill, who stared at the tall man before him.
“Erm….hi….you OK Kira” he asked in surprise, a note of concern entering his voice as he looked over at her
“I’m fine Bill” she replied gently
“Mr Kent was just leaving” she continued, her eyes never leaving the tall man before her. Looking in surprise from one to the other, Bill was shocked at the venom which she used to say his name.
“Goodbye Kira, I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other later” Craig had smiled softly, his voice low, his eyes narrowing, and without even a look at the other man who he had opened the door to, he left pulling the door closed behind him
“Who was that” Bill asked his eyes open wide in surprise
Kira however had rushed into the bathroom and Bill could now hear her being ill. Standing in total confusion he had not been sure what to do. When she had finally returned he was concerned to see how pale and upset she looked
With a hard edge to his voice Bill had demanded
“Did he do anything to you….because”
“No” she moaned, a long anguished sound breaking from her lips, before sinking down onto the bed and bursting into tears. Bill had stood in complete shock. In the two years he had known her, he had never seen anything which could shake the young woman before him. She had been someone who could always be relied on in an emergency due to her cool head and ability to put emotions aside to get on with any job. And now she was falling apart right before his eyes.
Slowly he sat down beside her, patting her shoulder as she sobbed uncontrollably her face buried deep in a pillow. It took several minutes for the sobs to stop racking her slender body, but finally she was able to sit up her eyes blotchy with the tears which streaked down her lovely face.
In a sombre voice Bill looked at her with deep concern
“What’s going on Kira” he asked
She looked at him her expression one of complete misery
“Oh Bill, Alex…” she said before another sob escaped her.
Realisation suddenly came upon the older man, who gently pulled her into his arms patting her shoulders in a fatherly way while telling her it would all be ok.
Bill stayed with her for over an hour pouring her several drinks and talking with her until he felt that she was calm. He had ordered room service for them both, as she was in no condition to go out to the restaurant in which he had booked a table, wanting to make sure that she ate something. Not that this made much difference, as she merely pushed the food around her plate. Finally he had left ordering her to make sure that she had a long bath and an early night. She had smiled thankfully at him
“Thanks Bill…for everything” she smiled weakly but warmly.
At the door he placed a small kiss on her forehead “goodnight Kira” he said softly, pulling her into his arms for a reassuring hug,
“It’ll be fine… wait and see”.
In a large office Craig Kent lifted the phone. On the other end a security guard informed him that the male guest in the room he was interested in had now left, and they were patching the video through. Looking at his watch Craig’s mouth tightened. The thought of a man spending more than an hour alone with her in her room causing him to feel a white hot anger which ate at his insides. As he watched the video of the unknown older man kissing her and holding her in his arms the anger coursed even hotter through his body
He couldn’t understand why this bothered him so much. He had put Kira Black behind him three years ago, or at least he thought he had, but when he had seen her standing in the foyer of his newly acquired hotel the emotions had washed over him like a tidal wave. He could feel the cold hatred he still held for her once more rising within him, his feelings proving that he would never be able to fully put this episode of his life behind him until he had dealt with Kira Black. Well fate had dealt him an opportunity to do just that and with determination and a sudden purpose he lifted the receiver and began to make calls.
CHAPTER TWO
The next day saw a still pale, but brighter Kira. She had taken Bills advice, and after a long bath had slipped between the cool sheets of the large king-size bed. As she lay there she had played with the locket at her throat, remembering the day Craig had first put it around her neck.
He had taken her shopping trying to buy her a diamond bracelet but gasping at the price of them she had refused, not really liking the flashy jewellery anyway. Craig however, had been determined that she should get something to celebrate their first month together and at that point she had noticed the small gold locket. The plainness of it had caught her eye and despite his pleas to get something more expensive, she had been determined that it was the only thing in the shop that she wanted and so he had bought it for her kissing her neck as he placed it around her throat.
Kira remembered how later on that night she had taken photos of them both, and using his specialist printer had carefully reduced the images before cutting them out and placing them together on either side of the locket, before snapping it shut and kissing him with the words
“So that you are always close to my heart” He had liked that kissing her gently
Turning onto her side she had brushed away another tear. Tonight she had seen a side of him she had never thought him capable of. Tonight he had been cold and cruel, and with a soft sigh she wished that he had just stayed out of her life. She had thought that the way he had treated her 3 years ago was bad, but now she knew that there really was worse. Closing her eyes it had taken a while for sleep to finally take her but thankfully when it did, seeing her fall into undisturbed oblivion, and the next morning seeing her rise with renewed hope.
During the night she had analysed the situation and come up with less threatening scenarios of why he was there. His business would require him to meet up with other hotel owners on a regular basis she had rationalized, and obviously he had recognised her and followed her to her room. She had frowned not sure why he would bother, considering the last time they had been together it had been he who had made it clear that it was over between them. Frowning slightly she felt comforted that her research into the hotel had not shown any link with him, so it made sense that he was only there himself on business.
On seeing her enter the restaurant, Bill had smiled warmly.
“That’s better” he said as she smiled up at him letting him pull out a chair for her to sit, his expression kindly.
Their presentation was in one hour, which gave them time to eat a quick breakfast and go over the order of the delivery. Kira had spent a great deal of time preparing the details and was pleased with the results of the multimedia elements which she had created herself, feeling that they brought a slick element to the delivery, which Bill had completely agreed with.
Sitting in the waiting room, Kira had pulled out a notebook from her briefcase and began sketching some details from the ceiling. She had done this all her life, her way of dealing with stress as she found it relaxed her and kept her focussed. In his office, watching the security footage, Craig Kent smiled remembering how that little book went everywhere with her. He also remembered how good an artist she was. The older man who he now knew to be Bill Thomson sat quietly reading the presentation material, every now and then prodding her to make some comment which would make her smile. Frowning he had thought how they didn’t act like a boss and employee, thinking that they were closer, much closer, his mouth once more tightening.
When they were finally called into the conference room Bill and Kira were introduced to the panel members, who were friendly and at pains to put them at their ease. This brought renewed hope to Kira, as knowing him she had been sure that Craig would have had them out of the building that same morning had he had anything to do with the Superior.
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Going first, Bill introduced the company and provided details of their background along with a comprehensive breakdown of how they could deliver the planned development. He was a charismatic and engaging speaker and the panel members had seemed impressed with him. Kira had then stood to present the overall plan and vision for the development. As she started talking, the door had opened and Kira could feel her voice falter, the blood draining from her face as Craig Kent walked in. With only a casual look in their direction he had quietly and calmly walked to the back of the room and taken a seat.
The panel members had all looked at each other in surprise at the appearance of the new owner, the deal having only been completed the day before, and looked uncomfortable and a little shaken at his presence. Bill was looking with concern at Kira, who while feeling that her legs might turn to jelly at any second suddenly began to get angry. So he wanted to see them fail did he, was he getting some perverse pleasure in putting them through the wringer. Gritting her teeth Kira ignored Craig, who watched her solemnly, and gave the presentation she had worked so hard to prepare. If she was going to lose then she was going to do it proudly and with style.
Craig looked at the young woman at the front of the room. Today she had put her hair neatly in a bun, which while making her more professional, did not suit her, except, he admitted to show off her long graceful neck. The demure black suit and stiff white shirt which she wore still couldn’t hide her perfect figure and he could feel a stirring within him. He was surprised to see how slick and professional a presentation she gave, and couldn’t help but be impressed with their plans. He had to admit that many of their ideas were fresh and innovative and knew that they had won the contract very much on their own merits, as he saw the way the still rattled members of the interview panel reacted.
There had followed a ten minute period of questions from the interview members which Bill had mainly answered. Craig did not participate in this but had watched Kira, who was doing her best to ignore him. He had smiled, catching her every now and then peeking over at him, her eyes quickly darting forward when she saw him openly watching her. She was fighting hard to hide her nervousness, moving a little closer to Bill he noticed with little satisfaction. Well Bill Thompson wasn’t going to save her this time he thought to himself.
After they had finished he moved over to shake hands and talk to the panel members, smiling and laughing with them for a few seconds, before leaving without a second look at the pair who were so closely watching his every move. The panel had been very complimentary and smiling happily, had informed them that they would hear by the following afternoon. Kira had smiled professionally back, knowing that the project was dead in the water the moment Craig had entered the room.
On leaving Kira looked over apologetically at Bill
“Oh Bill, I’m so sorry” she cried
“You know he will kill our involvement don’t you”
Bill had smiled weakly back at her
“Not to worry Kira” he said trying to hide the concern in his voice
“I’m sure there will be other hotels, and wasn’t our plan to go round them anyway to see if we could get some more business”
She had bit her lip. Damn Craig Kent. She knew how much Bill had sunk into this project and in a small voice offered
“Maybe if I pull out, you might still get the job”
Bill had smiled warmly at her
“No Kira...but thanks, if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t even be here”
Together they had sat down, dejected and quiet, drinking coffee. At any other time they would have been ecstatic at how well the presentation had gone, but now the whole trip seemed a pointless pipedream. Sighing they had moved off in their own directions planning to meet up again that night for dinner, both agreeing to spend the rest of the day doing their own thing. Bill had wanted to explore some of the casinos to look at the different architecture, something that had made her laugh
“Bill, of course I don’t think it’s geeky” she had said her eyes twinkling with mischief causing him to chuckle back at her
“Of course you don’t” he smiled “I’ve seen your notebook”
Kira had laughed back before kissing him on the cheek, still feeling guilty at having lost them the much needed contract.
Left alone, Kira had decided on a shopping trip, thinking that perhaps some retail therapy might help lessen the disappointment of that morning. Returning to her room, she had quickly changed into more comfortable and casual clothes, happy to be out of the stuffy suit as she had pulled on a light blue summer dress which buttoned up the front, and releasing her hair, letting it flow down her back and around her shoulders. As she had picked up her over sized bag and sunglasses her phone had rang, and on answering was surprised to hear one of the panel members from the interview that morning.
“Miss Black”
“Yes” she answered
“Could you please come down to the Interview room again?”
Kira had frowned
“I’m not really dressed….” She began before the woman had cut in, her voice friendly
“That’s OK, It’s a more informal talk”
Hanging up she had made her way back to the requested room where she was met by the woman who had phoned her.
“Where is Bill” she had asked in surprise, no sign of him anywhere
The woman had shifted uneasily
“We couldn’t get in contact with him” she said, moving forward before Kira could ask any more questions
“Could you follow me please?”
The woman had led her to another room where she had knocked gently on the wooden door, before opening it and indicating to Kira that she should enter. She had been surprised that the women had not joined her, as she had moved into the wood panelled luxurious office. Looking around herself her eyes had been drawn to the desk which dominated the room gasping in surprise at seeing Craig sitting behind it.
“What the hell is going on” she demanded angry now at the way in which he seemed to be haunting her
Ignoring her question he had simply watched as she moved towards him
“Sit down” he finally said, as Kira had looked at him in disbelief.
“I think I’ll stand” she answered defiantly
“Suit yourself” he replied shrugging
“It was a good presentation” he said surprising her
She had looked at him her beautiful eyes full of suspicion; as he looked back holding her gaze, before very casually asking her
“Bill Thomson…. He is your lover”
Kira gasped in horror and surprise at his question
“No” she cried in outrage
“Not that it would be any of your damn business if he was. What kind of question is that?”
Fixing her with deadly eyes he had continued calmly
“Then why did he spend over an hour in your room last night”
She had looked at him a stunned expression on her face.
“Are you spying on me “she finally asked, as dumbfounded she had sunk down into the seat opposite him.
“Yes” he replied easily
“We had a lot to talk about” she found herself explaining, before stopping herself to ask in surprise
“Why are you spying on me?”
He however, had ignored her question, carrying on his tone business like.
“Do you know much about Bills business Kira” She sat silently a sinking feeling rising in her stomach
“No, I’m guessing not” he smiled, his handsome mouth curling into a smile
“Bill has taken out a sizable loan to finance the company....Did you know that?”
Kira still said nothing. She had suspected as much, but nothing had ever been said to her. Continuing Craig looked like a panther ready to pounce.
“He had to put up all his assets to get it – car, house ….. You know the kind of thing” he looked at her for a comment which never came as she sat silently listening
“Now I own that debt and according to the terms of the loan it can be called in at any time.”
Finally Kira had spoken
“You’re lying” she said huskily
In a low voice he answered
“I’m not the liar here” before throwing a folder at her to let her read the contents sitting back silently watching her face
She had looked through the paperwork which confirmed what he had just told her. Handing it back she had looked at him with concern
“Bill has nothing to do with this Craig. Whatever your argument is it’s with me, just leave him alone.”
Craig smiled
“Well that’s up to you sweetheart” he said in an unpleasant tone
“I can leave things the way they are and you and Bill win the contract to do the job…. Or I foreclose kicking poor Bill and his even poorer wife on the streets”
Kira looked at him in shock
“But why” she asked “What has he ever done to you”
“It’s not personal to Bill Kira….just you” he had answered levelly
Glaring at him and speaking between clenched teeth she hissed
“What do you want?”
He smiled in triumph his lips curling
“I want you” he said softly
Kiras eyes flew open in surprise and confusion
“What” she said
Rising he had walked around the desk to stand in front of her, making Kira swallow hard at having him suddenly so close to her. She could feel her whole being jumping in excitement at his long lean body which was now balanced against his desk, his arms folded over his broad chest and his legs crossing at the ankles. He looked relaxed, and yet his face stared down on her with a look which was following her every move.
“I just closed on the deal to buy this place” he gestured with open arms. “I feel like relaxing and unwinding, so I’m taking a few days holiday on my island and was looking for someone to spend it with …. Just something meaningless and casual and there you were…. you seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
He smiled seeing her flinch
“I want you to join me, and to be totally at my beck and call for the whole 6 days …. and 5 nights” he added the last part with a flick over her body