Betrayed (The New Yorker)

by M. O. Kenyan

  “Fifteen minutes.”

  “I’ll call you in fifteen minutes and please, for my sake, drive carefully.”

  Lisette nodded, her stomach knotted with nerves. She pulled away and from her rear-view mirror she saw him standing underneath a lamp post, the light forming a halo around him. She smiled as her fingers touched her assaulted lips, laughing at how her body still seemed to be humming from his touch. This was what she wanted to do every single day of summer.

  Lisette got home in ten minutes, arriving just before dinner. She still had five minutes before her call with Reno and about fifteen before she was called down for dinner. She ran past her sister and her mother and disappeared into her room. She stared at her phone until the second it rang. She took a second to calm her nerves before she picked it up. Lying down on her bed, her feet lifted to the wall, Lisette felt her heart soar as Reno’s rich baritone filled her ears and her soul.

  * * * *

  Reno stood under the spray of the shower and let the cold water pound the desire out of his system. He thought he had put a cap on his desire, enough to restrain him from mauling Lisette the whole time they were together. What he hadn’t expected was her to be so hungry for his kiss. It was crucial that he didn’t pull back a second too late. He knew he would have had her flat on her back in an instant, her tiny shorts in shreds and his body buried inside her to the hilt. He had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Lisette. After tasting her lips, he knew he was addicted. There was no way he would be able to let her go now. Somehow he would find a way to get even with Dennis, and Lisette would just have to find a way to forgive him, because he was never letting her go.

  Reno walked out of the shower and into his room. On his laptop he saw he had a new message. He knew his life had just got complicated when he scrolled the email.

  Dear Mr. Kanaloa,

  We would like to inform you your application to intern at Ross and Kent Legal and Financial Firm has been accepted. Please report to the office on the Monday the 6th of June.

  Welcome to one of the world’s leading firms.

  From the office of Dennis Kent.

  “It begins.” Reno grabbed his phone and checked the text message Lisette just sent him. It was a picture of her blowing him a kiss. He chuckled at how adorable she looked. Somehow, he swore to himself, somehow he would be able to get both the things he desperately wanted.

  Chapter Three

  “Lisette!”

  “Papa!”

  Lisette ran out of her room to the den where she expected to find her father. She was still in her pajamas and had been speaking to Reno for the better part of the morning. She found her father behind his desk reading a newspaper. He was fully dressed in his suit and had a steaming cup of coffee in front of him. The old man looked up from his paper and his face scowled.

  “You are not yet dressed, Lisette.”

  “Dressed for what?” Lisette asked stunned.

  “Your brother is already at the hospital, Catalella has left for community service and you are still in pajamas,” he scolded.

  “Oh no!” Lisette slapped her forehead.

  “You are going to make me late, Lisette.”

  “I’m sorry. Go ahead and I will follow. I promise I won’t be late.” Lisette rushed to her room and took out one of her suits. She was supposed to start her internship at her father’s office today. She wasn’t going to work directly with her father but with her uncle. Lisette wasn’t comfortable with working for family, but it was the only firm that would hire her. Everyone else was afraid that she was going to take company secrets and give them to her father.

  She got ready in half the time she usually did. Her mother dried her hair for her as she brushed her teeth. Lisette grabbed her shoes and ran for her car as her mother followed behind with her briefcase. She took a second for a blessing from her mother before she drove out. Lisette had her fingers crossed praying that the traffic wouldn’t be at a standstill. But when she was about two blocks from the office, traffic did come to a standstill at an intersection. She parked her car on the curb and ran the rest of the way. Once she was in her father’s building, she took a second in the elevator to right herself.

  She confidently walked out the elevator and past a group of interns. Already she knew they were going to be her responsibility. An intern would be assigned to an associate but they always reported directly to her. She had been there longer than some associates.

  “Miss Ross.” She heard Dennis’ secretary call to her. Lisette picked up the tray of coffee being handed to her and walked confidently into her uncle’s office without missing a beat.

  “Mr. Kent, your coffee.” She set the coffee tray down on the desk and took a step back.

  “One, Miss Ross you are five minutes late and two Mr. Ross would like to know where your car is.” Dennis spoke his eyes still on his morning paper.

  “I parked it—somewhere. It was getting later so I decided to run the rest of the way,” she said.

  “It’s been towed.” Dennis said with a smile as his head lifted.

  Lisette bit back an oath and was just about to start to grovel. He knew her father would give her a hard time about getting it out, but her uncle Dennis could get it out for her immediately. Unlike her father, he was still weak to her charms.

  “Please, uncle Denny.”

  “Tell Marie to call someone to get it out for you.” He cleared his throat and looked to the other side of the room. “Meet Mr. Kanaloa, he is one of the new interns, but like you he will be working directly under me.”

  Lisette’s head whipped to the other side of the room and there she met Reno’s gaze. She smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back. He had a serious set to his face, like he was angry. No—like an enraged volcano about to erupt.

  “I look forward to working with you, Miss Ross.” he grunted.

  “Do you really?” Lisette quickly asked. Her question met by a raised black eyebrow.

  “First things first Lisette: intern rotation. I don’t know why they are on this floor, but you should take them down to the second. Make sure you don’t get them mixed up with the legal department. Michael Mathews is coming up for them.”

  “I forgot that bastard applied for an internship here,” she sneered.

  “Lisette, watch your language.” Dennis put his paper down and leaned on his elbows. “Why is he a bastard? What did he do to you, piggy?”

  “Maybe I should step out,” Reno suggested.

  “No need to. I will tell you later, uncle Denny.” she smiled. “About the car…”

  “I won’t tell your father, pinkie swear.”

  Lisette chuckled as she led Reno out of the office. Every inch of her wanted to turn around and plaster herself on his hard body. But when she looked into the other corner office on the floor she saw her father briefing Michael. She needed to get off that floor.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you worked here?” Lisette asked once they got into the lift. It was just about to fill with half a dozen interns when she shook her head. “Get the next one.”

  “Why did you do that?” Reno asked.

  “Because I want to do this.” Lisette dropped her briefcase to the ground and leapt into Reno’s arms, her skirt rode high, exposing her thighs as her legs locked behind his back, while her lips claimed his. They were plastered to each other for a second before he lowered her to the ground and righted both their suits.

  “We shouldn’t do that here.” Reno said as he cleared his throat.

  Lisette could see that he was trying to be serious, but he couldn’t hide that smile from her. “Football Pro by night, financial adviser by day. Actually I want to be an investment banker. The football was the only way I could afford to come to school.”

  “You got a full ride on a sports scholarship.”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t you have to practice every day? When are you going to find time for that?”

  “Practice is at five. I will be able to do both, I can m
ulti-task.”

  The elevator doors opened and they stepped out. As they did, Lisette remembered something. She walked over to the receptionist. “Call Marie and ask her to get someone to take my car out of impound. I will be in my office if she needs anything from me.”

  * * * *

  Reno stood aside and watched as Lisette controlled the second floor. It helped that she was related to the owners but the associates seemed to respect her. He wondered how long she had been there. She delivered each intern to their associate and wondered how the firm was able to do as well as they did with such a skeleton staff.

  “We invest in interns.” Lisette said as she gave him the tour. “There are two other floors for the financial department of this firm, the investors and the analyst. They have their own bunch of interns.”

  “What are the other floors?”

  “The legal department.Interns, paralegals, associates and the junior partners and different departments.” She smiled at him. “But the top floor is for the senior partners.”

  “What does Michael do here?” Reno couldn’t ignore the annoyance he felt when he realized that Michael would be working in the same building as Lisette. He would have to keep an eye on him.

  “He’s an intern. He works directly under my father. Guess he finally got to meet him. He might be a jackass but apparently he has a very promising career in the legal field.” Reno stopped just as she did in front of a large office, just as big as the associates’ offices. “The cubicles are for interns—this is my office.”

  Reno took a step back and read the name on the door, and true to what she had said, her name was on it. “You have an office?”

  “I have been working here since I was sixteen, longer than some associates. At year five I demanded an office.” she shrugged.

  “Demanded?” Reno didn’t doubt it.

  “There are two desks in here, so I am assuming one is yours.”

  “I didn’t know they were going to put me in your office. If you want I could go to the cubicles,” he offered.

  “No, I would much rather have you close to me. Just in case I want to kiss you, or that intern wants to kiss you.” Reno smirked when he saw Lisette scowl at the pretty little intern checking him out. “I would definitely rather have you close by. For the safety of all the other skirts out there. I would hate to have to throw someone out the window.”

  “I bet,” Reno teased. “What do we do first?”

  * * * *

  Lisette was still scowling at the bunch of files on her desk. Having Reno work on them with her had been a blessing. Sure, at first he had slowed her down with all the questions, but she was patient with him, and soon he was getting through them almost as fast as she was.

  “You want to get lunch?” Reno asked as he exhaled and leaned back in his chair. He stretched his arms, and then his hand fell to the back of his neck—a sign of exhaustion and frustration.

  Lisette looked to her desk and a pang of guilt hit her. “I would love to but I can’t. I need to get done with these, if we want Friday off.”

  “Why would we take Friday off?” he asked, his eyebrows pulled together in a questioning frown.

  “I am taking you out on a date.”

  “The whole day Friday?” he asked with a smile.

  “If I could I would abduct you and take you away for the rest of our lives. But we both have responsibilities and goals which do not include wasting away on an island making love every single second.” She stared into his hooded eyes and she knew his imagination was beginning to run away with him.

  “We wouldn’t need any clothes.” He conceded a smile. “We would eat the fruits we would find there. We would definitely be busy exploring each other’s bodies.”

  “Definitely.”

  “I think I’ll stay back and help you with these.”

  “I don’t want you to lose that beautiful body, so I’ll order in some lunch.”

  “It’s a date, piggy.” Reno laughed as Lisette groaned. She didn’t need him to start using her nickname too.

  * * * *

  “Did you see him?” Dennis was pacing back and forth in Adrian’s office. His heart hadn’t stopped beating a mile a minute ever since Reno walked into his office. It was like looking at himself in the mirror. His first-born son was here. Why?

  “I only caught a glimpse of him.” Adrian paused and Dennis looked on expectantly. “He definitely looks like you.”

  “I knew it.” Dennis sat agitating for a minute, his foot gloved in Italian leather tapping on the expensive leather. He had been keeping tabs on his son ever since Kono, Reno’s mother, sent him a letter saying that they couldn’t find Rhyne. Kono had claimed that she didn’t have a choice but to give their little girl away. She couldn’t afford to keep both children. He felt his gut twist when he found out the conditions his children were living in. And the disappearance of one had him springing into action. No one but his three friends knew he had four children instead of the two publicly recognized. He hadn’t told Issadora, his wife, either.

  “I thought you said your guy spotted him in Honolulu?” Adrian asked.

  Dennis jumped to his feet and began pacing yet again. Dennis had put a tail on Reno ever since he was in high school. Without him knowing, he had paid for his schooling supplies, medical bills, birthdays and anything else that came up. But he knew that Reno would only see the emotional and physical deprivation instead of the monetary benefits. He’d been in a college in Honolulu under a ‘scholarship’ program. All of a sudden Reno was out of school and in his office.

  “Yes, but now he’s here.”

  “You gave him the job.”

  “I had to.” Dennis scrubbed his face with the palm of his hand. “I saw the name Reno Kanaloa and I had to know if it was him. He dropped Kent for some reason. He was using it back on the island but dropped it now.”

  “Maybe he’s here to settle a score. What could have made him come here?”

  “I thought that maybe he was looking for some family. His mother died a few months back. She was killed by her boyfriend.” Dennis let out a labored breath. “You might be right. He’s here to settle a score.”

  “And you put him in the same office as my daughter.” Adrian growled. “I don’t care if he’s your son, if he hurts my little girl—”

  “Lisette is like my own! All your children are as much mine as they are yours, and vice versa. I would never let anything happen to them.” Dennis knew he had to figure out Reno’s motive quickly, before Lisette was caught in the crossfire. “We shouldn’t let Lisette know that anything might be amiss.”

  “Yeah, she has a thing for the forbidden.” Adrian chuckled. “I hate seeing you hurt like this. I think the best approach is to tell Reno you know who he is. Maybe you two can work from there.”

  “He’s a big guy; he’ll snap me in half,” Dennis said, pride filling his voice.

  “Let’s just hope he’s not that pissed.”

  * * * *

  “Why are you dressed like that?” Reno scanned Lisette’s attire and when his eyes fell on the slit of her skirt, his heart and groin jumped. Her shapely brown thigh peeked from the black flowery material where the slit began. Her frilly top hung loosely on her shoulders and exposed the top of her full breasts. All he wanted to do was to bury his hand at that juncture of her skirt and run it a little further up. A whistle from a passerby had him wanting to do something else.

  He watched as Lisette responded to the cat calls with a curtsy and a wave, as if the men were her adoring fans. Reno knew what they wanted to do; it was the same thing he wanted. If he could, he would lift her onto the bonnet of her car, push her skirt up, and let her luscious thighs cradle him as he buried himself deep within her.

  “It’s cultural day—National Puerto Rican Day Parade. I thought you could share a piece of my culture with me.” She smiled up at him.

  Reno’s eyes were fixed on her lips as they moved. He barely heard what she said. When another whistle filled the air, h
e hustled Lisette into the car. “I think we should get going.”

  “We are going to have loads of fun. My family is going to be there. I hope you don’t mind.” Lisette cast a glance at him as she pulled out of the parking spot.

  “Are you sure I’m dressed appropriately?” Reno looked down at his flannel shirt and his jeans, not sure he looked his best for a meeting with the family.

  “I think you are overdressed. If I had my way you would be naked.” She winked at him as a sly grin claimed her lips.

  “Lisette, you sure know how to get a man’s blood boiling.”

  “I hope so. That way you will stop seeing Bitch-toria. I’m sure her street corner has been missing her,” she grumbled.

  Reno could see the flamed fury and jealousy on Lisette’s face. He hated thinking of her with another man so he had to assume she felt the same way. “I am not seeing Victoria—or anyone else.”

  “Good.”

  Reno watched as Lisette drove in complete silence, something very rare for her. He could tell she was struggling with something—the furrow in her brow was a dead giveaway. He almost wanted to tell her to spit it out. They drove in silence until they arrived at an apartment building parking garage.

  “I need to ask you something. Please don’t say no.”

  “All right, I won’t,” he said, amused and curious at the same time.

  “I would like you to be my boyfriend. I am asking you to be my boyfriend.” Lisette took in a deep breath and he could see how uncomfortable she was. She was probably used to guys asking her but Reno had thought it was too soon to establish a relationship. He was about to say so when she started to talk again. “Please let me finish, you need to know what you are getting yourself into. I am not sexually active, in other words what I am trying to say is that…is that—”