Andre turned in his chair and leaned back. “And throw in a little blackmail.”
Curtis’s dark eyes hardened. “I do what’s necessary to ensure success. It’s not always pretty, but the strong survive, and the weak wither.”
“I’ve always supported you and this family. I want C.E.S. to survive as much, if not more than you do.”
“No, you don’t. You’re willing to toss everything I worked for aside because of the sweetness you’ve found between a woman’s thighs.”
Isaac spun to Andre. “What’s he talking about?”
Curtis’s thin lips rose into a dirty grin and he turned to Andre. “You haven’t told your brother you’re willing to bring down the entire family business because you’re sleeping with Ryan’s leftovers?”
“It’s not like that.”
Isaac sat forward in his chair. “Then what’s it like. Because it sounds like I’m being left out of some important discussions.”
Curtis pointed at Andre. “Your brother here wants us to forget the fact that Dalmtrix may move to the low country after all.”
“I know, and I agree,” Isaac said. “We’ve found an alternate landfill in Virginia that’s a perfect fit for C.E.S.’s expansion into landfill gas.”
“But you know it’s more than that,” Curtis said with a vengeance. “It’s about putting my brother in his place. They think they’re better than us. Ruining their new development deal proves we have the upper hand.”
“Do you hear yourself?” Andre bolted from his chair. “This rivalry is stupid, it’s old and it’s time for the nonsense to end. You want to prove you’re better than Philip, then live your life and make C.E.S. successful. Hell, you’ve already proven you’re more than a garbage man. Forget this competition and move on.”
“He’s right dad,” Isaac said quietly.
Andre wanted to collapse with relief, and surprise, when Isaac agreed with him. Andre guessed Isaac was as tired of the rivalry as he. Although Andre also knew anything that distracted their dad from the true purpose of growing C.E.S., would annoy Isaac.
Curtis pointed a finger at his oldest son. “So you’re ready to walk away from me, too?”
Andre slapped the back of one hand into the palm of the other. “It’s not about walking away. It’s about focusing on what’s important and C.E.S. is important. Not fighting with our cousins.”
Curtis’s eyes narrowed to razor sharp slits. “Your brother threatened to report all of our not so savory dealings to the authorities.”
Isaac stood. “Tell me that’s a lie, Andre.”
“I said I’d leave the company if he kept pursuing this. My threat came after he threatened to blackball me.”
“Regardless,” Isaac said. “You’re willing to compromise everyone here for what?”
“That’s what I said. He’s lost his mind.” Curtis cut in.
Ignoring his dad, Andre turned to his brother. “You’d stand back and let him smear my name?”
“See,” Curtis yelled. “That woman’s already tearing this family apart. Is this woman worth it?”
Andre frowned at his dad then his brother. Wondered how he ended up in this position. When he’d issued his threat he’d barely considered the effect on Isaac. Or the hundreds of people employed by C.E.S.
“I won’t tear down the company or betray my family,” Andre said. “Your secrets are safe with me.”
Isaac’s shoulders relaxed. A calculating gleam lit Curtis’s eyes.
“But my promise hasn’t changed,” Curtis said. “You chose this woman over the family and I will make sure you never work again.”
Isaac shook his head. “Dad—”
“No!” Curtis pointed at Andre. “You’re either with us or against us. You decide.”
Curtis strolled out of Andre’s office as if he hadn’t threatened his son.
Frustration itched along Andre’s body and grew until he thought he would tear off his skin. With one angry sweep, he knocked all of the papers off the table.
“Whoa, calm down!” Isaac raised his hands.
“I’m sick of playing his games.”
“You and me both, but he’s our dad. He built this company for us. It’s shocking to know you’d suddenly give that up for some woman.”
“It’s more than that…”
“I don’t care what it is, it’s not worth it,” Isaac said. “Family is more important. The business is important. This woman isn’t.”
Isaac’s face, full of confusion and disappointment brought home the degree to which his father and brother refused to comprehend what Andre felt for Mikayla. Which meant eventually, he would have to make the choice between love and loyalty.
CHAPTER 31
By Thursday afternoon, Mikayla wished the plane to Miami was waiting for her right outside of the office. Bags packed and in the backseat of her car, she hurried out of the office without saying goodbye. She planned to meet Andre at the Columbia Owens Airport where his private jet waited.
The tension in the office during the week was thicker than congealed bacon fat. Renee was angry at Ryan. Ryan was angry at everyone. And Philip’s frustration with his family came through in every conversation. The dynamite on the bomb came when Mikayla learned Charity had filed a complaint against her claiming she’d been attacked.
All the tension from the week evaporated when she spotted Andre leaning lazily against his car. He wore a denim shirt that clung to his broad shoulders and khaki cargo shorts. His enticing lips spread with an effortless sexy smile that sent her heart into overdrive. She barely shifted the car into park before jumping out.
He strolled over and wrapped her into a warm hug before sliding his delicious lips over hers for a deep soul-stirring kiss. Everything that happened over the week no longer mattered. All that mattered, was this weekend with the man who loved her.
“Hey you,” Even after breaking off the kiss his sensual baritone turned her insides to mush and skin to prickly gooseflesh.
Her face ached from the big goofy grin she wore. “Hey you.”
“Ready for the weekend?”
“More than you know.”
He frowned, “Bad week?” Andre motioned two attendants over that she hadn’t noticed before.
Mikayla handed her keys to Andre and he popped open the trunk. The attendants approached and retrieved the bags.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She rolled her eyes and pushed her bangs out of her face. “How was yours?”
A shadow crossed his face. She reached up and ran a hand across his cheek. “Forget it. This weekend isn’t about work.”
He smiled. “Then let’s get to it.”
*
Mikayla gasped at the spectacular view of the ocean from the spacious open-air living room of Andre’s home in Miami. She hurried across the brightly tiled living room floor to the large patio and pool. A lush wall of palm trees encased the outdoor space.
“The view is beautiful.”
He wrapped her hand in his and kissed the back. “I’m glad you approve.”
“Approve?” She turned back to face him with a smile. “I love it.”
“Enjoy the ocean now, because I’m not sure if you’ll see a lot of it.”
“Why is that?”
He slowly pulled her back into the living room. Desire brightened his dark eyes and sent heat skimming across her skin.
“Because I may want to keep you in the bedroom all day.”
She wrapped her arms around his trim waist. A gentle breeze mingled his cologne with the scent of the ocean.
“I may let you.”
He swept her up into his arms. She shrieked then giggled. When his warm lips kissed along the column of her throat her laughter turned into a low moan. The awesome view forgotten, he carried her up the stairs to the bedroom.
*
Finally, on Saturday afternoon Mikayla convinced Andre to leave the bedroom. They’d agreed to try and break their habit of smoking after sex, and as a result, had swe
ated off numerous nicotine patches. Spending hours in bed with him was wonderful, but she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to swim in the pool.
“You know you’ll have plenty of time to come back and swim.” Andre grumbled as they walked down the stairs.
“I don’t know. You may not invite me here again.”
“Hmm, and I was thinking of bringing you here every weekend.”
She grinned at him over her shoulder and caught his eyes assessing her backside in the new dark green bikini. The bikini that delayed the pool trip by forty minutes. The bikini that he’d stripped from her body in less than a minute.
“Let me guess, so you can see me in a bikini more often.”
They walked through the living area onto the sunny lanai. One of the housekeepers smiled at them and placed a tray with chilled champagne and strawberries on a table between the lounge chairs near the pool.
“That would be another perk.” He picked up a glass and handed one to her. “But that’s not the reason. Since we’ll be together for a while, it would be nice to get away more often.”
“A while…How long is a while?” She took a sip of the champagne. The bubbles tickled the inside of her mouth.
His face became serious. “A while. Indefinitely. Far into the foreseeable future.”
Time stood still before erupting in a sputtering of her heart and a rush of happiness. “That sounds a lot like forever.”
He tilted his head and gave her a teasing, puzzled look. “It does, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t tease me like this, because right now I want forever with you.” Her breath stuck in her throat after she blurted her feelings out. The guy just admitted, with great difficulty that he loved her and now she hinted at a lifetime together.
He didn’t smile, there was no teasing glint in his eye, and instead his eyes locked into an intense almost determined stare. “I’m sacrificing to make this work, so we can’t be for a fleeting moment. We have to be for the long haul.”
Screw the pool. Mikayla wrapped her arms around him so quickly he stumbled. He easily steadied himself then returned her kiss with full fervor. Her hand snuck past the waistband of his swim trunks to grasp the stiffness of his erection. Once again, he lifted her and headed back inside toward the stairs.
*
Andre watched Mikayla swim across the pool. Tomorrow they would go home and this fantastic weekend would be a memory swallowed up by the crap that came with being a Caldwell. He and his brother were leaving for Kansas City then Dallas on Monday. A last minute trip that would take him away from Mikayla and put his focus back on C.E.S., something he’d neglected in the past two months.
That’s why he’d needed her to understand where his feelings were. That he wanted to make their relationship last.
Her head, covered by the ugliest green swim cap he’d ever seen, popped out of the water. She blinked several times before opening her eyes and grinning. Who was he kidding? She could wear a hat made out of old banana peels and still look beautiful.
“Aren’t you going to get in?”
He spread his legs and rested his elbows on his knees. The tops of her breasts floated on the surface, their soft swaying stirring desire through his groin. “If I get in, it won’t be to swim.”
“You’d have to catch me first.”
In a flash, he sprang up from the chair and dove into the pool. The water muffled her delighted shriek and she scrambled to swim away. He caught her quickly and pulled her above the surface.
“You could have warned me you’re faster than a submarine.” She said breathlessly.
“Then you wouldn’t have dared me to catch you.” They were in the five foot section and he wrapped an arm around her waist and walked her to the side of the pool. The drops of water on her skin sparkled like diamonds in the afternoon sun. He lowered his head and kiss them away from her chocolate shoulders.
“This weekend was perfect. I don’t want to go home.”
He lifted his head, there was something more than just regret about returning to work. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
His need to protect, find out who or what threatened the smile on his woman’s face reared up. “Is there anything I can do?”
Water slapped against his chest and she readjusted her arms around his shoulders. “No. It’s normal work stuff. That’s all.”
The look in her eye said there was more. He pushed aside his annoyance she wouldn’t confide in him. He’d laid down the ground rule that if it didn’t concern her he wouldn’t bring it up. There was no doubt she’d call him on his own rule if he insisted she spill her guts.
He pulled her back to the middle of the pool. Kissed her and let his hands ease away the strings holding together the back of her bikini. She grinned and responded by pulling on the waistband of his trunks. All the encouragement he needed to make love to her in the pool, but beneath his desire he couldn’t shake the feeling he missed something by not being able to hear everything going on in her head.
*
“Ready to go?”
“Not really,” Mikayla said with a sad smile. “But, I might as well be.”
Andre gave her a knowing look before handing her bag to the waiting limo driver. He turned back to her. “I’m going to do one last check of the room before we go.”
“I never knew you were this OCD.”
He laughed. “You’ve got a long time to learn everything about me.” He turned and took the stairs two at a time.
Mikayla watched him go with what had to be the widest I’m in love grin on her face. She’d never been this happy. With Brenden, the love had come easy. They’d both been excited about their relationship, ending college and taking the next step. But the deep, overwhelming, hot burning feelings that were invoked when she thought of Andre made her relationship with Brenden seem like a high school crush.
Her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and Renee’s number flashed across the screen.
“He did it.” Came her friend’s frantic greeting. “That fool ran off to Vegas with that tramp.”
Mikayla turned to check for Andre. There was no sign of him, still she walked out the front door.
“That’s his mistake to make. Plus you gave him your blessing.”
“That was given in anger. He had no right to go there with me.”
Mikayla could imagine Renee pacing across the room. When riled up, she couldn’t keep still to save her life.
“I agree, but you said it yourself. Your brother can be an ass.”
“He’s still my brother, and I do care about him. Mikayla, I can’t let him marry her. She’s going to break his heart, again. You remember how torn up Ryan was when he returned from Paris. How’s he going to handle it when she’s back with Andre?”
“Hey! She’s not going back to Andre.”
“Well, if not him then someone else. What are we going to do?” Renee’s apologetic tone didn’t alleviate Mikayla’s annoyance.
“I’m not doing a damn thing,” Mikayla said. She tried to push back the anger. Tried not to let her friend’s flippant dismissal of her relationship with Andre bother her. But it hurt with the pain of a mutant bee sting.
“You should have told him instead of hinting around. It’s not my place. I’m out of this.”
“Mikayla, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You love Andre, and I made a promise to be nice. And after everything you’ve said, he has to care about you. Old habits die hard. But, please, you’ve got to understand this is driving me crazy. Ryan is making a terrible mistake.”
“I can’t help you, Renee. The moment Ryan stepped in that closet he relieved me of all responsibility toward him.” Andre opened the front door and stepped out. He saw her on the phone and frowned. “Look, Renee, I’ve got to go. I’ll be home soon. We’ll talk later.”
She ended the call and slipped it back in her purse. He glanced at her purse then met her eyes.
“Everything
okay?”
She nodded and gave him a tight smile. “Mmmhmm. Ready?”
His lips pressed together while he slowly tapped his phone against his hand. Questioning eyes bore into her, and she knew he waited for her to elaborate. Unable to take the scrutiny, she turned and strolled down the stairs to the limo. Mikayla wasn’t about to ruin a perfect weekend and mention why Renee called.
Several seconds later, she heard his sigh before he came down the steps. The driver opened the door for them and they slipped into the back of the limo.
CHAPTER 32
“Mikayla, come to my office.” Philip Caldwell gave the order and turned away taking long strides down the hall to his office.
Instead of dropping her purse to the floor and letting out a frustrated sigh, she gritted her teeth and followed. Easing into the week with a cup of coffee and the memories of her weekend in Miami with Andre was out of the question.
Philip sat behind his desk and motioned for her to sit across from him. She set her purse on the back of the chair and sat on the edge.
“Before you get started,” she said. “Renee called yesterday and told me about Ryan. My position hasn’t changed. I won’t get involved.”
Philip held up a hand. “Though I think you and Renee could have talked him out of being so foolish. That’s not the reason I called you in here. It’s about Charity.”
“What about her?”
“She’s threatened to sue the company if we don’t take disciplinary action against you.”
Mikayla slid back in the seat. She blinked several times as her mind tried to comprehend what she’d just heard. “You can’t be serious. She was blocking my way out of the office. She refused to let me pass.”
“That’s not the story she’s telling. I believe you, but she’s spoken to a lawyer.” Philip pinched the bridge of his wide nose. When he met her eyes, his were full of remorse. “She’s documented instances of our family showing favoritism to you. And gone so far as to say we encouraged you to prostitute yourself to Ryan in order to secure your promotion.”
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