Tangled Vows

by Yvonne Lindsay

  He’d planned to tell Yasmin everything tonight. To lay his own misjudgment of Jen’s character and his involvement with Yasmin’s hazing on the table and beg her forgiveness for both not telling her sooner and for not reporting Jen long ago. But with Yasmin as shell-shocked and vulnerable as she was, how could he throw that in her face now?

  The way he saw it, there was only one person who could be attacking Yasmin and that was his ex-fiancée. If he’d acted earlier none of this would be happening now. But one thing was for sure. It stopped now. He’d track Jen down and he’d make sure she faced the full consequences of her actions. But first he had to make things right for his wife.

  “We’ll work something out,” he said firmly.

  “There’s nothing left to work out. I’m going to have to wind up. Not immediately, but over the next couple of months. We’re barely making enough to cover fuel and wages as it is.”

  He’d had no idea that things were so bad.

  “We’ll find a way, Yasmin, I promise.”

  “You can’t promise something you have no control over!” she retorted, pushing herself away from him.

  Ilya reached for her hand, determined to keep a connection with her. To try and infuse in her some level of trust that together they could sort this out.

  “Let’s go into your office. We can talk better there and you can show me Carter Air’s current financials. There must be something we can do.”

  * * *

  Several hours later Ilya pushed back from Yasmin’s computer and rubbed at the tension in his neck. It was a miracle Yasmin had held onto Carter Air this long. He’d suspected the company had been in a bad position long before she’d taken over and he’d speculated that the only way she’d survived was by shaving costs dramatically to be able to undercut her competition on contract bids, but he’d had no idea by how much.

  She’d barely been drawing a salary. Probably only enough to cover her utilities, food and fuel for her truck and the Ryan. But she hadn’t stinted on costs where it mattered most: staff and maintenance. And then there was the loan she’d admitted to taking out to go ahead with the wedding. He sighed in frustration. He could see why she’d done it but she’d had no safety net in case things fell through. And they had fallen through.

  There was a way forward, but only if she’d put her pride and fierce independence aside. Would she go for it?

  For a brief moment, he wondered where she’d be right now if Carter Air had closed before she’d taken it over, if her grandfather had let go of his own inability to admit defeat when the writing had been on the wall for more years than Ilya cared to think about. It seemed so grossly unfair that Jim Carter had pushed the yoke of expectation onto his granddaughter. What would she have wanted to do if this hadn’t been the expectation thrust upon her most of her adult life? And what kind of a husband was he, that he hadn’t even asked her that simple question?

  “It’s bad, isn’t it?” Yasmin said.

  “Yeah, I can’t sugarcoat it, Yasmin. You’ve done a great job keeping things going so far, but as you pinpointed a while back, you need a long-term, steady flow of income to push you over the hump and into a more viable position.”

  “And I don’t have that anymore.”

  “Are you sure you’re not willing to discuss it further with the Hardacres?”

  She vehemently shook her head. “I tried. They won’t even take my calls. As far as they’re concerned I’m in breach of contract and, Ilya, to be honest, I don’t want this to blow up any further than it already has.”

  “And you’re not prepared to let me have my legal team look at it?” Maybe if he got his people onto this they might be able to confirm his suspicions about who was responsible for sending the photos and video. But Yasmin was adamant.

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Then there’s only one thing left.”

  “Declare bankruptcy.”

  “No, not yet, anyway. I have some ideas that might allow you to continue operations and get you on your feet. But you’re not going to like them.”

  Yasmin chewed on her lower lip. “You’re not going to offer to buy me out, are you?”

  “That is an option. Do you want me to?”

  “No. I’d rather close tomorrow than do that.”

  Ilya took the blow like a punch to the gut. “That makes your feelings pretty clear.”

  “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t. You don’t understand. My grandfather—”

  “Your grandfather let his pride and bitterness get in the way of far too much. Are you going to do the same?” he demanded, too frustrated with himself to realize he was beginning to lose patience with his beautiful but stubborn bride. “He’s dead, Yasmin. And you’re not. You’re facing some serious financial issues here—it’s not just you, it’s your whole staff and the clients you currently have who will be affected—and yet you’re just as stubborn as the old man was. You need help.”

  She blinked and looked away. Oh, hell, no. Not tears again. His mother’s tears had always been his undoing and he’d never felt so helpless in his life as when he faced a crying woman—especially one he had feelings for. He hated that he had to be so blunt, but there was nothing else left to do. He watched Yasmin as she pulled herself together and turned back to face him.

  “What’s your suggestion?” She enunciated carefully, as if every word had to be pulled from her.

  “That Horvath Aviation assign our smaller contract work to you.” He held up a hand as she started to interrupt. “No, hear me out. It’s not a pity offer. It’s purely a business decision we’ve been batting around in the boardroom for a while already. We considered branching out with another arm of Horvath Aviation that concentrated solely on the kind of work you do. As you know, it’s a fiercely competitive niche and after completing our studies, we decided it wasn’t viable for us to pursue it with our existing fleet. So this is what I suggest.”

  Ilya spent the next half hour outlining how he thought they could handle it.

  “And, in doing this, I want to make you a personal loan to cover the money you borrowed for the wedding.”

  “No!” She shot out of her seat.

  Ilya looked at her and willed her to understand where he was coming from with his offer. He had to make this right, even if he couldn’t explain the full reasons why right here and now. Guilt plucked at him. If only he hadn’t allowed Jen to persuade him not to report the hazing for what it really was. If only he could turn back time. Was this what Nagy had expected of him? That he’d finally repair the damage done to Yasmin more than ten years ago? Well, he accepted that challenge. Right here, right now. He put every ounce of persuasion he could into his voice as he continued. “It’s a personal loan, Yasmin. Between you and me. No one else needs to know about it. You can make payments to me when you’re drawing a regular salary again, which I’d advise you commence as soon as we’ve ironed out the finer points of the subcontracting deal. Either that, or you’re going to have to allow me to invest in Carter Air—either personally or through Horvath Aviation.

  “You can see the writing on the wall as well as I can, Yasmin. Without an injection of money somewhere, you have no choice but to close. You won’t be able to meet your loan repayments, you won’t be able to meet fuel costs, wages, insurance. It’s your choice. Are you going to insist on standing on your pride, or will you accept a hand offered in a genuine expression of help?”

  Fourteen

  None of what he’d said came as a surprise, and yet there was a part of her that still wanted to argue she could do this on her own. Sell a few planes, downsize and then just possibly be able to hang on by her fingernails for just a bit longer. But at the same time, she couldn’t let down the staff that relied on her to make the kind of sound decisions that would keep them in stable employment. And what would she be left hanging on to? A skeleton of what Carter Air had been?

/>   She felt sick to her stomach. She knew she had to accept Ilya’s offer of assistance—at the very least accept the subcontracting offer. It would be a start, even though it left her beholden to both him and his company’s largesse. A month ago she would never have considered this as an option, but right now, it was the only thing standing between her and bankruptcy. Yasmin forced herself to calm down and settle herself back in her seat. She pressed her hands down on the tops of her thighs to try and stop them shaking.

  “Okay.”

  She had to do whatever it took to make it all right. And hisgirl needed to be stopped before they did anything else. Maybe if she’d taken the earlier emails to the police this wouldn’t have happened. As soon as she’d ironed things out with Ilya, she was going to the police.

  “Okay?” Ilya repeated.

  “Yes, I agree to Carter Air subcontracting work to Horvath Aviation and I accept your offer of a personal loan to repay the bank for the money I borrowed for the wedding.”

  Even as she said the words she felt the weight of sole responsibility begin to lift from her shoulders. The sensation was such a release. She’d been so adamant about not involving Ilya in Carter Air in any way, but his insights proved invaluable. And there’d been no blame or recrimination from him, either. Just solid strength and support. Was this what a real marriage felt like? The knowledge that someone always had your back, without judgment or recriminations, no matter what?

  Ilya heaved a huge sigh and smiled. “We’ll work it out, you’ll see. Would you also consider agreeing to my financial people taking a look at the long-term situation for Carter Air?”

  Yasmin looked at him in surprise. In the back of her mind she could hear her grandfather’s howl of outrage that she could even consider relinquishing so much control to a Horvath. But, from what she’d seen in the past few weeks, Jim Carter had been wrong about Ilya and his family. All they’d done was be helpful. She firmly pushed the embedded suspicions aside.

  “Yasmin?”

  “Fine, do what you have to, but I insist on being involved every step of the way. No decisions will be made without my okay.”

  “And what about the information that went to the Hardacres? Will you let me look into that?”

  “No. Absolutely not. I will handle it,” she said unequivocally.

  Ilya reached across the desk and wrapped his fingers around her clenched fist.

  “I know this isn’t easy for you, Yasmin. I’ll make sure my people keep you in the loop. Now,” he said, rising from his seat, “shall we go home?”

  She looked at the clock on the wall and realized, in horror, that she was supposed to have picked Blaze up from doggy day care by now.

  “Oh, no, I’m running late!”

  “I asked Hannah to collect Blaze for us when you went to get the files from Riya.”

  “You think of everything, don’t you?”

  “Control freak, remember?” he said.

  His lips curved into a smile that, even through all the turmoil she was facing, managed to hit her square in the chest and spread warmth through her body. She laughed.

  “How could I forget?” she answered drily as she gathered her things. “You’re totally in your element.”

  “Let’s ride home together,” he suggested. “I can drop you off here in the morning.”

  She was about to protest but exhaustion pulled at every part of her. “Okay, thanks.”

  “What? No argument?”

  “I’m bowing to your control freakiness, all right?”

  He gave her another one of those smiles. “Yeah. And, Yasmin...” He paused reaching for her hand and threading his fingers with hers. “We’ve got this. Together we’ll get you through.”

  I hope so, Yasmin thought to herself as they exited the building and got into Ilya’s car to go home. All the way back to Ojai she remained silent, her mind churning with the day’s events, how Ilya had strode in like some knight in shining armor and saved the day. Was that what their marriage was to be like? Her making mistakes, him coming along and solving her problems and making her depend on him more and more? It felt so unbalanced, so unlike her to rely so heavily on another person.

  No, whichever way she looked at it she had no other choice than to accept Ilya’s offer of help. She made the right decision for her company and her staff. But there was one thing she would do on her own—tomorrow she would contact the police.

  * * *

  Yasmin went to bed early that night but Ilya wasn’t far behind. She felt the mattress dip slightly as he got under the covers. They hadn’t made love for days and right now she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to, but her body craved him. Craved being close to him. Craved that sense that no matter what was wrong, she was safe in his arms. When he reached for her she went willingly, curving her body against his and resting her head on his chest.

  Beneath her ear his heart beat was strong, steady and true.

  “You okay?” he asked in the dark, the rumble of his voice tickling her ear.

  “I’ll be fine. It’s a lot to get my head around.”

  “You’ve made the right choice.”

  She nodded. She knew that. Sometimes the right choices weren’t the easy ones, were they?

  Ilya stroked the back of her head. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I wasn’t the one who pulled away.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I had some stuff to work out.”

  “And you couldn’t discuss it with me?”

  He huffed out a breath that could have been a laugh. “Seems we both have a lot to learn about being married and sharing, doesn’t it?”

  He was right, as much as she hated to admit it. He spoke again.

  “Shall we agree that in the future, if you need anything, any kind of help, you’ll come to me. In work and here, at home. I’m your husband. You need to tell me when something’s wrong.”

  She stiffened, her extreme self-reliance protesting. But, she reminded herself, without Ilya’s help and suggestions today, Carter Air would be facing a very different future.

  “Okay, yes, I agree.”

  The words came from her reluctantly. Years of being her grandfather’s sounding board and right hand had left their mark. You didn’t just undo a lifetime of conditioning in one horrible day.

  Ilya’s arms squeezed her tight. “Thank you,” he murmured against the top of her head. “We can make this work, if we work together.”

  Despite his reassurance, Yasmin realized he hadn’t mentioned anything about coming to her if the need for support was reversed. Did he still expect to be there for her, while not needing her in return? Or maybe there was something else holding him back. Something she didn’t know about. Maybe he had some other agenda behind his offer of help? She told herself to stop being so silly, to simply take his very generous offer at face value. But she wasn’t Jim Carter’s granddaughter for nothing, and even though Ilya had come through for her today in ways she’d never have anticipated, something felt off.

  * * *

  Ilya woke to the delicious heaviness of Yasmin still sprawled across him. He traced one finger down her back. Her skin instantly broke out in a trail of goose bumps following the path of his touch. She stretched against him and his body quickened the way it always did when she was around. His hand continued on its journey, his fingers tickling the base of her spine where her back curved in just so, then traveled lower to cup the curve of her bottom.

  “Good morning to you, too,” she murmured against his chest.

  He rolled Yasmin onto her back and bent to nuzzle the side of her neck. “It’s about to be a very good morning,” he whispered in her ear.

  His phone rang.

  “Ignore it,” she whispered in his ear.

  Her hands moved swiftly to his body, skimming his shoulders, his chest, his belly. The phone continued to ring.


  “I’m going to have to take it,” he groaned in frustration and dragged himself away from her.

  He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and, seeing it was the general manager of his East Coast subsidiary on the line, stabbed the screen with one finger to accept the call. It was hard for him to concentrate on the message being relayed to him as Yasmin sat up on the bed and whipped her nightgown off in one sleek movement. She tossed the garment at him and he caught her scent as he snatched the slip of silk from the air and let it slide through his fingers onto the bed. There was already a flush of arousal on her chest and her nipples were taut. He felt the deep throb of need pull through his body.

  But suddenly the words “heart attack” and “hospital” caught his attention and he realized what was being said to him.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said, disconnecting the call.

  Guilt and regret rippled through him at the thought of leaving Yasmin so soon after the turmoil of yesterday. Plus, as he’d finally drifted to sleep last night, he’d promised himself he would talk to her today about the secret he still withheld. Now he wouldn’t have time to do either as his presence was urgently required in New York. He stopped her hands as they skimmed over him and dragged them to his lips, kissing her knuckles.

  “I’m sorry. I’m going to have to take a rain check. Emergency at one of our subsidiaries.”

  Yasmin’s demeanor changed in an instant. “Is it really serious?”

  She slipped from the bed and pulled on a robe, tying the sash tight at her waist.

  “Unfortunately, yes. The general manager of our East Coast office has had a massive heart attack. I need to go and fill in for him for a few days until we know what’s happening.”

  “There’s no one else you can send?”

  He heard the silent plea in her voice and her vulnerability struck him to his core. If only it had been anyone other than Zachary Penney. He quickly explained to Yasmin. “This guy is a close friend of Nagy’s. I owe it to his family, and mine, to be there.”