by Alexa Davis
"You are crazy, Mr. Morning!" she laughed as she swatted me after I'd set her back on her feet. "You shouldn't do such dangerous things in an elevator!"
"Oh, so I should do safer things?" I said as I slid one hand up her thigh and under her skirt. "Like this?"
"Be careful," she said with a knowing grin. "That's what got us into this mess in the first place."
"Mmmmm," I murmured as I bent to nuzzle her neck my insistent hand inching up just a little further. "I like the mess we're in just fine."
"Yeah, but you're not the one who has to pay the price, now are you?" she laughed as she pressed her pelvis against my hand before the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
"No, I am certainly not," I agreed. We held hands as we walked down the hall and when we turned the key, I heard my mother's footsteps crossing the foyer. "We're home!" I called.
"Well, now that was quick!" my mother said as she hugged both of us.
"Everything go alright?" Emily asked as she set her purse down and headed to the back bedroom.
"Oh it was just fine," my mother called. "Slept like an angel and didn't make a sound!"
I kissed my mother and asked, "You want me to ride home with you?"
"Don't be foolish," she told me as she hugged me again. "Silas is downstairs waiting for me. He'll make sure I get home safe and sound."
"Alright, well, if you say so," I said eyeing her. "Thank you, Mom."
"Oh, it's entirely my pleasure!" she said as she gathered her purse and headed of the door. "I've always dreamed of being able to do this, I just didn't know it would be like this!" she said as she waved around at the apartment.
"Well, no matter how it is, we're so grateful that you can," I said. "To the moon and back."
"To the moon and back, baby," she called as she stepped out into the hallway and headed for home.
I set my phone down and unloaded my pocket before I joined Emily in the back bedroom. When I entered, I saw her sitting in the rocking chair in the corner near the window that looked out over the city singing a lullaby to our tiny daughter.
"You two make such a beautiful picture," I said.
"Well, it's easy when you have a baby who takes after her father," Emily smiled then cooed, "Isn't it, little Sydney? Do you want to hold her?"
"I will in a minute, I need to take care of some business first," I said as I looked at my wife and my daughter and felt my heart swell with love.
#
"Hey Bax, what's up?" I said as my friend picked up the phone.
"Austin, we need to talk about this Barcelona deal," Bax said in a tired voice. "It's not going smoothly and I'm not sure I can fix the problems from here."
"So, go there," I said matter-of-factly.
"I can't," he reminded me. "Anna is due in the next couple of weeks and if I leave, she'll kill me. Plus, there's rebellion afoot in the IT pool, and I need to deal with that. Unless you want to manage that little skirmish?"
"Oh hell, no," I said. "You know how I hate having to deal with those code-breakers and their nerditry."
"That's what I thought," he laughed. "So, what do you want to do? Go over there?"
"Let me check with Em and see what her flight schedule looks like," I said. "I'll let you know when I can get there."
"Austin, have you ever considered selling the business to someone bigger and letting them deal with these skirmishes?" Bax asked in a very tired voice. He had been run ragged by the Paris-Berlin projects and although we'd gotten rid of Daniel Wentworth by letting him know we were on to his Camorra, the work that had to be done landed squarely on Bax's shoulders.
This wasn't a problem until Anna had pegged him as her Mr. Right and convinced him of this fact. It was truly a match made in some kind of alternate universe – prom queen marries the AV nerd – but for some reason, it worked. Now, they were expecting their own bundle of joy and Anna was in charge of everything. Bax loved it, but it was putting a strain on our ability to do business.
"I have not," I said. "Why, do you think I should?"
"I think it's worth exploring," he said. "I've got someone in mind. Someone who will let us run the company, but who will pick up the slack so we can actually live our lives, you know?"
"Yeah, I do know," I sighed. "Okay, put me in touch with him and I'll see what I can do about a deal."
"I knew you'd see things my way, boss," Bax said. I could hear him smiling into the phone.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said. "Not a word of this to the wives, you hear me?"
"Aye aye, captain," Bax said.
Three nights later, I was sitting across the table from Reginald Harrison Beaufort laughing as his wife, the beautiful Honey, poured us a couple of whiskeys and then told us to take ourselves out on the balcony if we intended to smoke the disgusting cigars Reggie had tucked in his pocket. He gave her a sheepish grin and then ushered me outside.
"I never know how she knows as much as she does about what I intend to do," he drawled. "But I'll tell you one thing, son, it's kept me an honest man for the past thirty years!"
"Oh, how's that, sir?" I asked.
"I knew that with that sense of smell and her woman's intuition," he said as he cut the ends off of both cigars and handed one to me. "If I ever cheated, she'd know immediately and with her upbringing, I'd be castrated faster than a loose thread in a garment factory!"
I burst out laughing. I'd only known Reggie for a few hours, but already I liked him immensely.
"Son, here's the deal," he said getting serious for a moment. "I'm not going to beat around the bush about this. I want to buy your company, but I want you to keep running it. You'll have free reign to do what you do best, you'll just have my pockets and my muscle to back you up. What do you say?"
"I say we have a deal, sir," I said as I held out my hand and shook his firmly.
"Son, stop with the sir bullshit," he said as he lit the end of his cigar and then offered me the lighter. "It makes me feel older than I am. Just call me Reggie and we'll be fine."
"Yes, si-Reggie!" I said as I flicked the Zippo and lit my cigar. The end burned brightly as I looked out over Central Park and smiled.
"Now, about this mess in Barcelona," he said. "Can you go out there for a few weeks and smooth it over? Hell, take your wife and call it a second honeymoon, for all I care. Just get them to stop threatening to strike!"
"I think I can take care of that for you, Reggie," I said.
"Excellent, that's what I like to hear," he said as he raised his glass and declared, "Here's to productive new partners and the barrels of cash they bring with them!"
"To new partners," I echoed as I clinked my glass against his.
"And cash!" he laughed. "Don't forget about the cash, son!"
Chapter Seventy-Two
Emily
We settled into the cabin of Marks Air's private jet and smiled at each other. I had wanted to take a commercial flight, but Austin had pointed out that if we were traveling with Sydney, we'd be smarter to utilize the privacy of the jet. I couldn't disagree with him, so I'd packed our bags and gotten us ready for the trip to Barcelona.
Austin had told me about the plan to sell Marks Enterprises to Reggie Beaufort, and once I'd met him and Honey, I'd agreed wholeheartedly with the plan. I'd also seen the look of relief on Bax's face and had realized that the pressures of running the entire show while Austin put out fires around the globe had really taken its toll on him. Anna would be glad to have him home at night for dinner and in town when the baby arrived.
As Austin secured Sydney's carrier in the seat closest to him, I smiled and felt incredibly grateful that fate had thrown us together and that we'd decided to give in and let it do it's magic.
"Are you ready, Mrs. Marks?" he smiled.
"I'm ready, Mr. Marks," I smiled back. "With you, I'm always ready."
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Alexa Davis