by Lara Earlman
“You don’t have any idea…” she grumbled out loud, still pacing back and forth, waving the letter in her hand. “I bet you’d be conniving along with the rest of them if you were here – old man! ‘Forever pleased’… What’s with that line, anyway? Are you playing the dead card? I can’t believe you’re playing the ‘I’m dead’ card!”
So, if the boy means nothing to you, why are you getting so bent out of shape? She could almost hear her father’s voice spouting out his favorite idiom while laughing at her discomfort. Her mouth lifted into a reluctant smile.
“I miss you, Daddy,” she whispered. Plopping down in the cushioned chair, Lexi turned her attention back to the papers in her hand.
Alexiah, place your full attention on what follows. I’m sure you’re aware, to some degree, of my deleterious feelings toward my errant brother. It is not without cause. Although, I have made every attempt to steer him on the right path, each time he has chosen to find the easy, less honorable way out. It pains me to admit that I have given up, allowing him to fall in with others of unsavory methods. Do not permit him to insert himself back into your life. Angel, Richard is worse than a plague of locus, eating through everything of value, leaving nothing but barren waste behind and mark my words, he will not give you a second thought. I have no doubt that he will crawl out of hiding the moment he learns of my demise – beware. I cannot stress that enough.
Lexi’s heart lurched, it was too late. His warning came too late! If only… Oh, Daddy, I’m so sorry.
I know that I leave Alberton Technologies in capable hands. You have proven to have a great instinct for business. I like to believe you inherited it from your old man! Even so, there were times when your old man needed the wise advice of friends, and the support of your mother. One other has proven to be an invaluable help, especially now in these last days before your mother’s demise. I’ve watched the two of you form a tag team, of sort (isn’t that what you young people say?) Reginald Mangus has been as close as I’ve come to having a son. I trust him with my life, and I now trust him with my most valuable possession – my daughter. The two of you will be an unbeatable force as you work together guiding Al-Tech into the future. Our legacy is in the very best of hands!
I close with one last request. Enclosed you will find letters addressed to my dearest friends. It is with great remorse that I bowed to Alicia’s wishes which resulted in shutting them out of our lives. I could not be there for Lee after the tragic accident that permanently injured his eldest son and took his beloved wife from him; nor for Marta when Henry passed. Do not follow in your foolish father’s footsteps. They will welcome you with open arms. To aid in the reunion, I ask that you call them together as you hand them my last words of friendship and regret.
My Angel, surely I am the most blessed man in the universe to have been given the privilege of fathering you. Never once have you disappointed me, instead you never ceased to make me proud. I love you.
As always, Dad
Lexi cried herself to sleep, clutching the handwritten pages to her chest.
Chapter Seventeen
Lexi woke with a feeling of anxiety boiling in the bottom of her gut. She shifted, pulling a pillow over her head with the desire to hide from whatever it was her insides were warning her about. Her phone buzzed.
“Go away!” she commanded. As if in defiance, it repeated the annoying alert. Thoroughly awake, now, and totally aggravated, Lexi sat up to grab the offending unit, promising herself that she would immediately change the ringtone or better yet silence it permanently.
“What!”
“Whoa girl, no need to get hateful with me,” Reg’s indignant voice countered. “Just because you went to bed unsatisfied…”
“Reginald!” Lexi chastised.
“What? Girl, I saw the way you were glued to the hip of that tasty hunk of a man.”
“You mean lips?” Reggie’s words mirrored her father’s – your mother and I always believed that you and the little Wellesley boy would remain attached at the hip forever – bringing his letter to mind. And the anxiety rose again.
“That too,” he answered. “So, are we working at the warehouse today, or your home office – please say home… please say home…”
“Home,” Lexi sighed. “I’ll inform Edith that you’re coming, since I know you just want some of her pampering.”
“Tell her I’m in the mood for one of her bacon and cheese Danishes,” he replied shamelessly.
Lexi ended the call, shaking her head. At least he’d buffered some of the remorse she carried after reading her father’s last words.
“No, absolutely not!” Lexi’s tone was emphatic. “What are you supposed to live on? As it is, you refuse to take a paycheck.”
“Then say we call it a stock option,” Reg urged. “I’ll buy a thirty-seven percent stake in Al-Tech.” Lexi shook her head.
“At this point, you could use the loose change in your pocket to buy the entire company,” she exaggerated. “No, we don’t even have assurance that the profit from this house will put us on solid footing.”
“I don’t think Alex would want you to sell the house!” Reg was being stubborn. “It’s only right that I use the inheritance he left for me to help save his legacy.” He wasn’t playing fair, and he knew it. Lexi’s eyes teared up.
“It’s too late,” she informed him, “I’ve already texted Jean and the house is on the market as we speak. I just need you to help me find an affordable apartment near the warehouse. I’m afraid I’ve no experience in that kind of thing.”
Reggie slammed his fist on the desk, startling Lexi. He’d never shown any hint of a violent streak, before. “It can be taken off the market!” The phone rang as he spoke.
“Lexi Alberton,” she said into the receiver. “Wow that was fast.” She looked up at Reg. “She has a buyer, and he’s willing to pay the asking price. Apparently he’d already put the word out that he was interested, should the estate come on the market.” She turned back to the realtor. “How soon must I vacate? Oh, that’s very kind, thank you.” Lexi hung up the phone and faced her friend. Reggie looked forlorn. “I’ll be okay, Reg… it will be okay,” she assured him.
“What about Edie,” Reggie asked, “did you consider what she and her husband will do?”
“Of course I did – the Jensens are family. They have a daughter in Georgia and Daddy left them enough money to buy a house or condo near her. This is just a house, Reg, with a lot of ghosts. Now…” her mind turned to business. “I think we can go ahead and upgrade the modifications on the 3D printers, and I want to talk to Fenwick about micro-robotics. Robots are all over the internet and I think it’s something Al-Tech should look into.” Lexi locked eyes with her friend. “Are you with me?”
“Robots?” His eyes reflected boyish glee. “Yeah, I’m in.”
Lexi let out her breath, good because she definitely needed him.
»ɞ»ɞ«ɞ«
“She’s busy and would like you to leave,” Edith hesitantly informed him.
This wasn’t the first time the poor woman was forced to send him away. Dane had dropped by several times, hoping to have that promised talk with Lexi. On his first visit he was given an enthusiastic welcome by the Alberton housekeeper. With each subsequent visit she became more apologetic. He’d tried calling Lexi, but she refused his calls. Well, he was through playing games and tired of waiting.
Dane came prepared this time. He sent Edith away with two tickets to a dinner theater, guaranteeing privacy, and marched up the stairs to Lexi’s bedroom. Barging in, he strolled determinedly to the bathroom door.
“Lexi if you don’t come out here, I’m coming in there,” he threatened, banging his fist on the door for emphasis.
“Go away, Dane,” she said, almost pleading. Dane hesitated, but only for a moment. He turned the knob, stepped into a cloud of steam, and closed the door behind him.
The room was softly lit with candles, while mellow saxophone music streamed in through sp
eakers, mingling with a light floral scent to complete an atmosphere of serene calm.
“Not locked?” he observed, surprise in his voice. His eyes moved to the large marble tub secluded in the far corner. It presided over its own walled alcove apart from the main portion of the bathroom. The subject of his attention was ensconced amid a mountain of fragrant bubbles. Her red hair, loosely piled atop her head with tendrils escaping into the steamy froth, added bright color to the pastel tile background. His body responded with desire.
“I’ve never found a reason to lock the door in my own home,” Lexi answered crossly. Although her voice held resolve, Dane watched her posture stiffen with discomfort. He crossed the room to teasingly flick a few of the bubbles with his fingers.
“I gave you fair warning,” he said, his voice husky with passion. Dane pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it out of the alcove. Slipping off his shoes, his hands immediately began working on the fastenings of his pants.
“What… what are you doing?” Lexi stammered. Her wide eyes melded to his exposed chest. “I… I’ve never…”
Fully unclothed, Dane watched Lexi as she soaked in the sight of him. Seeming to forget her own discomfort, her eyes slowly eased to his lower torso as if controlled by some unseen force. He grinned inwardly as she moistened her lips with a stroke of her tongue. She had no idea how she was affecting him. He followed her gaze to his stiffened manhood – or maybe she did.
“Never what,” he asked, “…seen a naked man before?” he supplied, finishing her sentence. She hastily turned her head away.
“Of course I have,” she said, lifting her chin in indignation. Still, her gaze remained averted.
“Pictures… paintings?” he guessed. “But not in the flesh,” he stated with certainty.
Dane wanted to goad her heated gaze back onto him. Not in an exhibitionistic way. Actually he’d never really considered himself modest, either – hadn’t thought about it one way or another. He just felt chilled, almost vulnerable, repressed from her desire.
“I’ve seen nudity before,” she retorted. He sensed she was trying to portray indifference, but gave her true feelings away by continuing to keep her eyes averted. “I think you’d better leave now, before I embarrass you further by asking the Jensens to call the police.”
God she was beautiful. His body reacted, sure, but there was something more. A magnetic pull to his core, a possessiveness, a knowing that this woman was his by rights. By every rule of nature – of God – this woman had been appointed to him from the day she first opened her eyes to this world. He realized that he loved everything about her – her stubbornness, her naiveté, her fierceness, and her intelligence. Beauty was just the icing on the cake, and he wondered what he had done to deserve the adoration she had always placed on him. Even now he could see her struggle to tamp the old feelings down and he vowed to never let anyone harm her again. She had been damaged, and fury rose up in his gut at the thought of what she had gone through and his part in it. Determination to put things right became his focus. Dane stepped into the deliciously warm, delectably large pool of bubbles.
»ɞ»ɞ«ɞ«
Lexi’s peripheral vision worked just fine, even so, she found it hard to believe that she was seeing a very naked, very virile Dane settling himself comfortably across from her. In the bathtub. Naked! Apparently the sight of a nude Dane sent her brain on hiatus. She scrambled to pull up a complete sentence − find words − English, anything. Her mouth was dry, she licked her lips and tried to speak, but no words came out. Just a strange sound which brought a cocky grin to his face. Indignant, her temper took over. She reached for her wine and took a sip. Swallowing, she found her voice.
“What are you doing?” she breathed. Had she been holding her breath?
“You already asked me that,” he said. Leaning forward, he slid the glass from her hand and sampled it. Raising an eyebrow in appreciation, he helped himself to another swallow. Was he was mocking her?
“And, you never answered,” she huffed. Lexi tried desperately to regain the upper hand, it was her bathroom, her refuge − he was the unwelcome intruder. Remembering her earlier threat, she reached for the intercom button.
“Won’t do any good,” he said in a lazy voice. “They’re out enjoying an evening of fine food and entertainment.” His eyes lowered to her breast, exposed from its bubbly nest by her raised arm. She hastily brought it down, crossing it to cover herself. Dane took another sip of wine and graciously held it out to her. “This is really quite nice,” he said, gesturing to encompass the room. “Do you do this often?”
“It was my sanctuary,” she replied pointedly.
“Yes, I can see where you would have needed one, not being able to stray far from home.” Dane deliberately misunderstood.
Fine! Lexi made a decision. One moment of embarrassment would be easier than sitting across from a smug, arrogant, sexy, naked, masculine, sexy… Crap, she had to get out of there! She turned and started to stand when a hand grabbed her and pulled her back down. Only this time she was seated between his legs with her back against his chest and his arms wrapped snuggly around her. He breathed into her hair.
“What are you afraid of, Pips?”
“Don’t call me that!” She struggled to free herself, but she was at a disadvantage. And he felt so good…
“You trusted me before,” he continued. “I’m still the same person you knew as a child. We’ve both gone through… things that have affected us, but we’re still the same people down inside.” Lexi relaxed in his arms.
“I’m not afraid of you, Daney,” she insisted. “I’m just not in the habit of holding conversations without wearing clothing.” He chuckled in her ear.
“You’re the one who chose the venue,” he pointed out. “I gave you every opportunity…” Lexi slapped his arm.
“I did not! At least, I didn’t expect you to barge in here. A gentleman would have…”
“What? Come back at a more convenient time? I followed all of the protocols. I called, and because you wouldn’t talk to me, I left message that I would be coming by and at what time. It was up to you to inform me that the time was inconvenient.”
“I tried to get someone to call you, but they all refused,” Lexi admitted.
“Six times?” Dane accused. “I came by here six times!” He tickled her ribs.
“Well, then you should have gotten the hint,” she huffed out, squiggling from his fingers. He kissed her neck just under her ear, sending shivers up her spine.
“Well, I’m here, now,” he whispered huskily. He pulled her in closer his arousal obvious, but his hands never strayed from her abdomen. “To talk… to apologize.”
“To apologize?” she repeated, wishing his hands would stray, just a little. She settled back against him.
“For never looking back, after leaving for university. That is probably my greatest regret.” His index finger stroked thoughtfully back and forth on her skin. “Leaving you and the twins, out of touch. I would have known who you were, when… actually, it probably never would have happened. I could have been here for you when your parents died. I could have seen what a conniving bastard your uncle was. I could have prevented so much of your pain.” Lexi squeezed his arm.
“You can’t be sure of that, Daney. We all drifted out of touch from the family tragedies thrust upon us. We all have regrets and should-haves. You can’t beat yourself up over them.”
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were, Pips? What kind of a monster did you think I’d turned into?”
Lexi was quiet. How should she answer? She’d never really thought about it in those terms. Deciding that the truth was the only solution, she sighed, and turned slightly to look him in the face.
“I have a scrapbook in my room,” she told him. “I never stopped thinking of you, wishing we could just talk. I saved everything I found on the internet about you, and put it in the book.” She looked down shyly. “I never got over my childhood crush, and I dreamed,
fantasized, and talked to you when I couldn’t take… things. It helped me – my memories of you, helped me.” She paused, taking a deep breath. Dane stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.
“You have to understand, Dane, I was in a thick cloud of emotionless… limbo, by the time we met again. It wasn’t just that I didn’t care what happened to me – I didn’t feel anything. Nothing, Dane! I was depleted – empty…”
“Alveus,” he filled in.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I wasn’t looking for escape, not even death, cause you see, I’d already escaped. I’m sorry, but any hope you could have given me was quashed by your cold heart. It… it only pushed me deeper into the abyss.” She looked at him then, and placed a comforting hand on his cheek. “You weren’t to blame, it was Keith Ingram’s description of you that was planted in my head. How was I to know that you had no idea I’d been purchased like a slave? He told me what you expected of me, and what would happen if I disobeyed. I was to perform sexual…” the words came out as a gasp. “I never…”
“Oh God, Lexi,” Dane pulled her into his chest. “I honestly had no idea. It’s no wonder you confused the hell out of me. You drew out emotions I never knew I had inside me. You still do. When I found out who you were, it all clicked into place. I felt like a beast and just couldn’t face you. I figured you were better off with as much distance between us as possible.” He pulled back and looked into her teary eyes. “But, I can’t stay away, Pips. God help me, I can’t stay away.”
“Don’t call me…” Lexi didn’t get the rest of the sentence out, for another set of lips had quickly covered hers.
Surfacing from what she was sure had been a delectable dream, Lexi felt a finger lightly spiraling up the mound of her breast. Softly caressing, it reached the tip, sending a tingle which shot through her body and settled lower in a very sensitive, slightly sore part of her physique. She shivered, stretched, and turned to the figure lying next to her.