by E A Hunt
“When did Gary put in his retirement papers?” he asked. Their current shipping manager was in his late sixties. He’d been a retired driver when he applied for the manager position, eight years ago. He’d been bored staying at home doing nothing but didn’t want to get back out on the road.
“Last week. His wife mentioned his eyes weren’t as sharp as they once were, and he should be at home resting. I believe he got tired of her nagging, so he put his papers in.” Sax replied. He was good with Gary retiring. The man had got their shipping department in better shape than either he or Gideon could ever have done.
“I’m still not sure I want Nia here working around all these guys,” Gideon replied. There were a few women who worked in their offices, but it was more men than women and he didn’t want any of them thinking his Doll was available. He’d seen the way the men looked at a new female employee. Like she was a sheep and they were wolves ready to pounce.
“Nia will be fine,” Sax replied. “Most people here know who she is and those that don’t will be told,” he assured his brother. Nia had come to the office a few times with the girls. Almost everyone in the executive office knew who she was. So there was no chance that anyone would be taking away Gideon’s woman – if that was even possible! He’d seen his brother and Nia together. They were so in love that they were in their own little world whenever they were around each other.
“Still not happy you talked to Nia without me knowing,” Gideon griped.
“I knew you wouldn’t agree,” Sax shrugged. “I made an executive decision.”
“One that could easily get you harmed!” Gideon replied.
“Neither Sookie nor Nia would ever let that happen,” Sax replied with a chuckle. He sobered, “Gid, I would do nothing to put you, Nia or those girls in jeopardy of losing what you have. But you yourself said that Nia was going a little stir crazy in the house. And the fact that she’s making so much food shows that she needs this.”
Sax was right and Gideon knew it. Nia was used to leaving the house and working. Staying at home, no matter how much he wanted her to, was not an option. “We’ll talk when I get home tonight but I’m making no promises. I want her to be available to our girls and any other children we have.”
“Why do you think I offered her part-time?” Sax chuckled. “If I know you, and I believe I do, you will have the woman barefoot and pregnant so many times she won’t have time to think about working.” He turned to head out of Gideon’s office. “We have a meeting with Sabine in fifteen,” Sax called over his shoulder.
Gideon nodded, eager to get this meeting over with so he could get home to his girls.
“Girls, get inside and out of those uniforms then come help me with the groceries,” Nia said as she pulled into the drive of Gideon’s home. Parking, she opened the garage door to allow the girls to go into the house before opening the trunk and getting out of the car herself. She needed to get these things in the house before she headed over to her place and checked the mail.
Pulling out a few bags, Nia headed into the house. It hadn’t escaped her attention that she had more things at Gideon’s than she had at her own home. She and her daughter’s rooms at their old house were practically empty. She only went by there now to check on the mail and do some light cleaning. Placing her load on the kitchen counter, she headed back outside to gather another load. She really did need to call her landlord and tell them she wasn’t going to renew. There was no point. She’d slowly moved into Gideon’s, much to his happiness and almost unbeknownst to her.
It was nice though living with Gideon. Every night when he came home from the office, he’d walk into the kitchen, give her a kiss on the cheek before greeting the girls and listening to them happily tell him about their day. Then, later in the evening when she’d walk into the master bedroom after her shower, he would be in the bed waiting for her. He would have his tablet in hand, working until she made an appearance.
Once she slid into bed, he would turn off his tablet. Pull her under him to make the sweetest love to her. After they’d turn out the lights, wrap their arms around the other before drifting off to sleep. Every night she went to sleep with a smile on her face and Gideon’s contented sigh echoing in her ear. It was all so domesticated. So lovely and so very much the happy life she’d always dreamed of. She had two children now, a nice home and a man she loved.
Smiling, Nia had known she’d fallen in love with Gideon all the way back at the Peony. She’d been slightly in love with him just from talking to him on the phone! Then once she’d met the man and poured her soul out to him, she knew she loved him even more. Gideon Price was it for her.
Slowing her pace, Nia looked at the woman walking up her drive. She was dressed in a designer suit with heels that looked as if one good breeze would tip her over. She was sporting a short curly bob and her amber-colored skin looked as fresh as the new day.
“Can I help you?” Nia asked. She would help if she could, but she wasn’t going to have trouble enter her home with her girls present.
“I was looking for Gideon Price,” the woman said, looking over Nia’s shoulders.
Nia turned to see Esme standing in the door of the garage looking at the woman before her. Esme’s eyes were wide and looked fearful. What was going on? “Honey, go back into the house, Momma will be there in a minute.” Whoever this woman was, she was frightening Esme. Turning back to the woman Nia replied, “Gideon isn’t here at the moment. Would you like to leave your name or number?”
“Was that Esme?” the woman asked sharply.
“That’s none of your business,” Nia replied, getting tense now. The woman was staring at the door like she was trying to decide if she could get around her, Nia, and get into the house. Reaching into the car, Nia hit the garage door opener, blocking the woman’s only entrance into the home since the front door was locked.
“Valencia?”
Nia looked around the woman to find Gideon walking towards them with a shocked and angry look on his face.
“What are you doing here, Valencia?” Gideon asked, walking past her and coming to stand beside Nia. He hadn’t expected to find his ex in front of his house, talking to his woman. Especially since the last he’d heard from the PI he’d hired was that Valencia was in South America behind the gates of a compound and couldn’t be seen.
“Your PI informed me you have Esme,” Valencia replied. She’d been in South America with Juan Diego having a grand old time when a PI saying he worked for Gideon had cornered her in a boutique, telling her that her daughter was with her father. A father who shouldn’t have had her child in the first place. Once the revelation of her child reached Juan Diego, he cut her loose. Damn, Gideon. Juan Diego was her biggest fish yet and she had almost reeled him completely in. At least she’d been able to keep the engagement ring he gave her. It was worth a few million.
“Yes,” Gideon replied.
“I would like her back.”
He laughed. A full belly laugh. “You think I’m going to let you have Esme back after all this time?!” Gideon scoffed.
“I’m her mother. I have every right –”
“You have nothing,” Gideon cut her off. “You gave birth to her, that’s it. But you are not her mother and you never will be. Now leave, Valencia. Before I call the police. I’m sure whatever man you’re screwing wouldn’t think kindly of having to bail you out of jail for child abandonment.”
“Are you trying to shame me?” Valencia scoffed.
“Save the dramatics,” Gideon countered. “I’ve had my share of women. So I would be the last person to shame anyone about that but if you think for one minute I’ll allow you to take Esme from me after what you did to her, you are mistaken!”
“I’ll see you in court. I will get her back and once I have her you’ll never see her again!”
Nia stepped in front of Gideon before he could lunge at Valencia. “I think you should leave,” she told Valencia firmly.
“I will, but I’ll be back
,” Valencia promised. She wasn’t going to lose her daughter. She needed her. Esme was a meal ticket she wasn’t going to give up so easily.
“Before you go.” Gideon ground “Why?” He’d wondered for so long and now he was going to get his answer.
“Why not” Valencia scoffed she knew what he was asking. “She wasn’t supposed to be yours anyway. You were just a place holder for the man I wanted to catch” she smirked. Valencia gave a little lift of her shoulder “but once she was born I knew you were the father and not the man I wanted. That I’d been chasing.”
“I would have –“
“Taken her” Valencia finished for him. “I know you would have but you didn’t deserve her. I’d lain in your bed. Listened to you drawl on and on about absolutely nothing. Esme was my reward for dealing with a man who could give me nothing. Who’s company was nothing. Who was and always will be nothing” she spat
“Leave” Gideon seethed “and before you even think about coming back you better have a court order and the Sheriff,” Gideon replied, wrapping an arm around Nia. He turned them towards the front of the house. “That will be the only way you’ll get within a hundred feet of my child,” he called over his shoulder. Gideon opened the front door of the house and before it was fully closed a caramel blur came rushing towards him. Gideon caught his daughter, her tears breaking his heart. He placed a hand on the back of his daughter’s head as her muffled cries hit him.
“Shh. I have you,” he said, turning his head to kiss her hair. He was her father. Her protector. And nothing and no one was going to change that.
“Momma!”
Nia turned from father and daughter to look at her own child who also had tears brimming. Crouching before Anessa, Nia reached out and wiped at the tears which escaped. “No crying now,” she said gently.
“Is Es leaving?” Anessa asked in a small voice.
“No, darlin’ she’s not going anywhere,” Gideon replied before Nia could. He crouched before Anessa. He gently removed Esme’s arms from around his neck and sat her on his thigh. Then he grasped Anessa’s hand before speaking, “Esme isn’t going anywhere. This is her home just like it’s yours,” he told the girls, looking at each of them in the eyes.
“We’re sisters?” Esme hiccupped.
“Not exact –” Nia started before Gideon cut her off.
“Yes,” Gideon said. He knew what Nia was going to say. She was going to try to explain to the girls that they weren’t siblings. Weren’t a family. But they were, and she seemed to be the only one who didn’t see what was happening here. “Why don’t you and Esme go play while Momma and I talk?” Gideon requested, placing Esme next to her sister.
“Ok Daddy,” Esme replied as she looked at Anessa.
“Daddy?” Anessa tested.
Gideon smiled before he leaned forward and placed a kiss on Anessa’s forehead. “That’s my baby,” he replied before turning each girl around and sending them off to play, hand in hand.
“Gideon,” Nia started. They had a lot to talk about.
“I need to make a call, then we’ll talk,” he replied, before kissing her lips gently.
Nia watched him straighten and walk down the hall, dialing his phone. Yes, they definitely did.
His daughter was safe. No one could take her from him. He knew that – but it didn’t stop him from wondering whether Valencia would try and regain custody of Esme. His lawyer had assured him that Valencia didn’t have a case.
But the child abandonment charges had somehow been dropped. His lawyer wasn’t sure how that had happened, but it had. Still, they could prove that Valencia left Esme alone more than she was with her. They had affidavits from neighbors, social services and the police report. Their case to have her parental rights severed was solid.
Sitting back in his home office chair, Gideon released a tired breath. He’d been on the phone with his lawyer and then his brother. He understood everything his lawyer was saying but he was willing to run with his family if he was told he would have to give Esme back to her mother. Esme was happy with him. Thriving. He was not about to let her go back to the way she was. Fending for herself. Missing a mother’s affection. No, Esme was his and she would remain his.
“Are you ready to talk?”
Gideon turned his gaze to his office door. Nia was standing there in a long cream-colored silk robe. It matched the silk, thigh-length nightgown she had on underneath. She had several of these nightgowns and he loved each and every one of them. They gave him easy access to the woman he loved plus it kept her clothed in case one of the girls came into their room crying because of a nightmare. It had happened a few times now with Nia comforting them while he searched under the blankets for his boxers.
“How are the girls?” he asked. Though he’d been on the phone, he’d heard the solemnness in his home. His girls weren’t laughing or running through the house like they usually did or chattering about what they wanted Santa to bring them for Christmas. His house was becoming sad, and he didn’t like it.
Nia walked into Gideon’s office. She’d heard him as she settled the girls. He’d been frustrated with whoever was on the phone. Demanding answers and action when it came to Valencia and her presence. She stopped at his side. “The girls are fine. They’re sleeping in Esme’s bed,” Nia said, reaching out a hand. She placed it on Gideon’s head. “Talk to me,” she requested.
Pushing back his chair, Gideon grasped her hand, pulling her onto his lap. He kissed her neck. “Valencia Santa Domingo was the name she went by. I met her seven years ago at a fundraiser GidMaron was co-sponsoring. She was this beautiful Instagram model who every man in the place wanted. Sax thought I was crazy for getting involved with her. She was several years younger than me and she only dated rich men or celebrities.” He lifted one shoulder. “I was rich, but I wasn’t a celebrity. I worked for my riches. Spent more days in the office than I did at home. But that’s what it takes to build a successful business like GidMaron.
While I was working, Valencia took revealing pictures of herself and took other people’s money to maintain the lifestyle she wanted. I didn’t judge. We were all young once and did what we needed to do to survive. Plus, I wanted her. I wanted her to be mine. I wanted the spoils which came with building a successful company and having a woman to share it with.
That was my first mistake. Thinking Valencia was a woman. The woman I needed her to be.” Gideon shook his head. “We were a volatile mix. She wanted to keep Instagramming and I wanted her to tone it down. Not be so revealing. We went back and forth like that for months before I called it quits.
I like my privacy that’s why the picture on our website is from college. And generally, when there are pictures of the company, it’s Sax who is in them. She didn’t understand and I couldn’t expect her to. She wasn’t ready to understand. We were separated for a month before she came back telling me she finally understood and wanted to make it work. Again, Sax thought I was crazy for taking her back –”
“But you loved her.”
“Mistakes two and three,” Gideon replied and continued. “We were back together a few months when I got a call from Sookie saying the account I had set up for the renovations at the Peony was bouncing checks. Then, when she went to pay the taxes on the winery and inn, her card was declined. Which shouldn’t have happened. Sax and I made sure Sookie had everything she needed, especially in the slower months when she didn’t have as many bookings. Plus, Sookie kept her own books. She said it kept her mind active. So we never pushed to have the Peony’s accounts watched over by GidMaron’s accountants.
After clearing up things with the contractors and paying the taxes, we had an outside accounting firm go over the books for the Peony and they discovered someone was writing checks on the account and cashing them into an offshore account.”
“Gideon, no!”
“It was traced to an account in the name of Val Domino. Valencia’s real name. I was livid but before I could confront her with what we’d discov
ered, she disappeared. I tracked her to a home in the Hamptons and I was ready to kill her. She’d placed my mother’s livelihood in jeopardy and almost had her living on the street. Sax wanted to press charges but Sookie told us to leave it be. That the money may have been traced to the account but there was no guarantee we would ever see it again.”
“How did she gain access?” Nia wondered.
“She seduced a young woman in our accounting office,” Gideon replied. “We had to fire her. She gave Valencia complete access. And since we didn’t monitor the Peony account until Sookie went to look at it…”
“Nothing seemed off,” Nia finished.
“Correct. We were paying contractors, so the numbers were going to be off until checks cleared. It was easy for her to take. She pretended she was Sookie’s assistant and used a bank in Atlanta and not in Pinewood. Everyone knew Sookie and our family so Valencia knew they might have questioned the deposits.”
“Esme. How did you find out about Esme? I’m guessing Valencia didn’t show signs of pregnancy before she left you.”
“No. Valencia said she didn’t want children and at the time I was ok with that. But once I saw Esme, I knew I wanted to be her Daddy – that I was her Daddy,” Gideon replied, telling Nia how he came to have Esme.
“No wonder Esme clings to me so much.”
“You’re basically the only mother she’s had in her life. She wants your love.”
“I do love her,” Nia replied. “I love her so very much.”
“I know you do, Doll,” Gideon replied, kissing her lightly on the lips.
Nia was deepening the kiss when something came to her. Pulling back, she looked at Gideon in confusion “All this with Esme happened seven or eight months ago, right?”
“Yes,” Gideon replied, wondering why Nia was looking at him like she’d never seen him before.
“GidMaron was co-sponsoring an event, introducing Sookie’s Vodka and you were giving out samples at said event?”