Claiming Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy Book 2)

by Nikki Wild

  Dammit! I thought, my body betraying me.

  “Thank you,” I said, nodding. I wanted to get away from him, but I didn’t want to screw up this opportunity either.

  My own line? At fucking Armani? It was too good to be true. But as far as I could tell, he was genuine. I wasn’t entirely sure if he was trying to get into my pants or not, but that didn’t really matter to me, because it was never going to happen.

  The last thing in the world I would ever do is betray Bear. I loved him with all my heart and I couldn’t wait to tell him about this new development. So maybe Levi wasn’t his favorite person, but I was sure he’d still be happy for me.

  Not that anything was a done deal, at this point. It was all just talk right now.

  But a tiny spark of excitement was born and I couldn’t help but practically skip back to my apartment. I’d left my portfolio with Levi and he’d said he would get back to me as soon as he talked to some other people. Sure, I dismissed the way his hand lingered on the small of my back after he hugged me goodbye. It didn’t mean anything unless I let it mean something. I wasn’t about to do that.

  I made my way home feeling much better than I did yesterday.

  Chapter 18

  “What’s wrong, my love?” Bear asked. He’d called me as soon as I texted him canceling our dinner date. I’d been feeling sick about an hour after I left my lunch with Levi this afternoon.

  “I’m not sure,” I said. “I think I ate something that didn’t agree with me.”

  “That’s too bad,” he said, his voice sweet and concerned. “Do you need me to come over? Do you need anything?” I smiled, in spite of the queasiness in my stomach. He was so fucking sweet, it almost hurt.

  “I’ll be okay, babe,” I said. The last thing he needed to do was worry about me. He had enough on his plate. “How did your meetings go?”

  “They were successful. The guy I told you about has agreed to invest in the fishing resort at the island, and you know how happy that makes me. My vision is finally coming to life! I can’t wait to go back there with you, Beauty.”

  “I can’t wait, either,” I said, smiling into the phone. Our time at the island was something I’ll always treasure, and it warmed my heart knowing he felt the same.

  “How’s the business progressing?” he asked. “Is it time to start looking for a retail space yet? I’ve been emanating to tell you that I own a building on the West side of Central Park that has a nice spot that’s open. I think it could work well. You should take a look at it.”

  “Okay, thank you, I will,” I said. “Everything’s progressing, even if it’s slower than I wanted. It’s hard doing everything yourself.”

  “Of course,” he said. “It takes longer. Surely there are some tasks you could hire someone else to do? Or, are you a control freak when it comes to business like me?”

  “That’s not the only place you’re a control freak,” I teased.

  His laughter was like dessert to my ears. I loved knowing I’d made him laugh, that I was able to return all the good feelings he gave to me.

  “That’s a good point,” he said. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do, love.”

  “You say that every day.”

  “I mean it every day.”

  “I know, thank you,” I said. I was stalling. I wanted to tell him about my lunch with Levi, but for some reason, I was holding back.

  This is silly, I thought, just spill it.

  “Hey, babe,” I said, keeping my tone light and casual as possible. “You remember the guy I met at the club the other night?”

  “No, what guy?” he asked.

  “Levi Valenti, from Armani.”

  “Oh, right. Yeah, what about him?”

  “Well, he told me to call him, to talk about fashion, he wanted to see my designs.”

  “You don’t need Levi Valenti, Chloe,” he said. “You have me.”

  “Well, of course. But I did call him just to see what he had to say and we had lunch today.”

  “What?” he said, a twinge of anger lowering his voice. “Seriously? You had lunch with Levi?”

  “Yes, I’m serious,” I said. “And he liked my designs, Bear! He’s going to show them to his boss.”

  “Oh, that’s absurd,” he said. I frowned at the phone. This was not the reaction I was expecting. He’d been so supportive up till now.

  “Why is it absurd?” I said, defensively.

  “Levi is a nobody. He only got that job because he was fucking Georgio Armani’s cousin. He weaseled his way in and everyone knows it. He’s so far up Armani’s ass, it’s ridiculous. Georgio told me he wishes he’d never hired him.”

  “You know Georgio Armani?!” I asked, my voice rising.

  “Of course, Beauty,” he said. “I know lots of people.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me that?” I asked.

  “Who cares?” he asked. “Listen, sweetheart, you don’t need anybody. Not even Georgio Armani and certainly not Levi Valenti.”

  “But they’re one of the biggest fashion houses in the world, Bear! You can’t discount that.”

  “I’m not. Chloe, listen to me. All you have to do is put in the work. I’ll give you all the money you need. You can build your own house, Beauty. Then, if you do that, nobody else can tear it down.”

  I tried to muster a smile, but it was hard, because all I was thinking was that he could tear it down if he was the one financing it.

  He’d definitely burst my bubble, even though he was trying to build me up. I understood where he was coming from. He had a different perspective than I did. He’d always done everything on his own. It was a part of what made him who he was.

  But I wasn’t him.

  And to be perfectly honest, I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of him financing my career one hundred percent. I hated thinking about it, but marriages crumble and ours wasn’t exactly built on a solid foundation.

  What happened if we didn’t make it? What happened to my business that I was going to work my ass off for?

  “What happened between the two of you?” I asked.

  “Who?”

  “You and Levi. Why don’t you like him?”

  “He’s a hustler,” he said, exasperation filling his voice. “He grew up in the Bronx, got a scholarship to Yale. His girlfriend took a liking to me and Levi never got over it.”

  “So, you stole his girlfriend?”

  “No, Beauty. I don’t have to steal anything. If something is for the taking, I take it. There’s a difference. If she wasn’t available, I never would have touched her. Levi wasn’t taking care of her, so she left him. I didn’t steal her, she came willingly. It was for the best anyway.”

  “I see.”

  “Are we done talking about that prick? Can we talk about yesterday?”

  “Yesterday?” I asked, the old woman’s warnings echoing in my ears.

  “Yes, you never told me how the remote control toy worked out. Next time, I think I’ll have you wear a camera so I can see your reaction.”

  “It was an adventure, that’s for sure,” I said. I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t want to be upset with him. It was irritating that he was letting a past transgression with Levi get in the way of something that might be good for me, but he was incredibly hard to be angry with.

  “I had a wonderful time, imagining what was happening. It was a really powerful feeling knowing I could give you so much pleasure without even being in the room. We’ll have to do it again very soon.”

  “You got me good a few times,” I said. “Unfortunately, I was sitting in a restaurant at the time.”

  “That’s absolutely awesome,” he laughed.

  “I’m glad you had fun,” I said.

  “I’d have more fun if I could see you tonight,” he said, the sexy growl resurfacing in his voice. “You sure I can’t bring you anything?”

  “I’m fine, babe, thank you,” I said. “I’m just going to drink some tea and go to
sleep. I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow.”

  “Okay, Beauty,” he said, his voice a warm blanket on my heart.

  “I love you, Bear.”

  “I love you, Beauty. Forever and ever.”

  Chapter 19

  Two Days Later…

  Technically, I lied.

  But in reality, I was just avoiding the truth till a later time.

  Bear called me that morning to check on me after I’d spent the better part of two days in bed with what I’d decided now was some strange virus. I told him I was going to run to the grocery store and pick up some other things and run a couple of quick errands and coming right back home to bed.

  Which was true.

  I just happened to leave out the fact that I’d agreed to have dinner with Levi tonight.

  He called me twenty minutes before Bear had, telling me he had some good news for me. I couldn’t resist agreeing to meet him.

  I’ll just hear him out, I told myself.

  But now, here I was, all dressed up because the place he’d told me to meet him had a fucking dress code for fuck’s sake. It was a far cry from our lunch at the deli. I’d have much preferred meeting him in his office, but I had no choice. He’d already made reservations, he’d told me.

  The hostess led me to his table and my breath caught in my throat when I saw him spread out in a booth, looking as relaxed in his tailored suit as he had in his jeans days ago. He was incredibly handsome and the hostess winked at me as she turned away, leaving me there with him. His hair was down tonight, flowing around his face in loose waves, bordering his gorgeous face.

  “Chloe!” he greeted me, standing up and pulling me close as he hugged me then planted a kiss on my cheek. The smell of his cologne wafted over me and I couldn’t help but inhale a little deeper. Heat rolled off him and I resisted leaning into his warmth.

  “Hi, Levi,” I said, sliding into the booth across from him.

  “Have you been here before?” he asked. I looked around, taking the place in. Sushi Azabu was located in Tribeca and tucked underground. It was dark and intimate, with only a few tables lining the walls and three tiny booths in the back, one of which we were sitting in. Levi sat across from me, but we were very close to each other, our knees touching under the tiny table.

  “No, I haven’t,” I said, eyeing the enormous sashimi rolls at the next table. I was starving. I hadn’t eaten much in the last few days, because every time I put something in my mouth, I felt like it was going to come right back up. I was hoping for better luck tonight.

  “They serve the best sushi in town. You do like sushi, don’t you?”

  “I love it,” I said, smiling at him.

  “Excellent,” he said. “Sake?”

  “Sure,” I asked, as he poured sake in a teeny tiny cup for me. I sipped it, the bitter rice wine hitting my tongue. I put it down, reaching for my water instead. So far, it was the only thing that didn’t make me feel like I was about to lurch up my intestines.

  “So, you have news?” I asked Levi.

  “Yes, I do. And I think you’ll be very pleased.”

  I looked over at him, blinking, waiting, but he just smiled at me, not saying a word.

  “And?” I said, finally.

  “Oh! C’mon, Chloe, you know I like to keep business for the end. Let’s eat first, and then we’ll talk. It’s much easier to enjoy your food that way, don’t you think?”

  “Sure, I guess,” I said. I picked up the menu and scanned it, looking for the blandest thing I could find. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that qualified. I finally settled on a few simple rolls and some miso soup.

  “So, how’s Bear doing?” he asked.

  “Bear’s fine,” I smiled. “Very busy with work.”

  “Yeah, that guy’s a workaholic, isn’t he?”

  “I guess a little. It takes a lot of work to be that successful.”

  “Sure does,” he nodded. “He’s made a lot of sacrifices.”

  I nodded, not sure what he was referring to but wishing that he would stop talking about Bear because I still felt guilty about not telling him I was here with Levi.

  “He’s a strange bird, isn’t he?” he asked, not letting up.

  “How do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well, he’s always been a bit of a domineering ass, to be honest.”

  “Levi, listen, I don’t know what went on between the two of you, but I don’t need to get in the middle of it. It doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

  “What went on?” he asked, laughing. “What did he tell you?”

  “He didn’t tell me anything really,” I replied.

  “That means he told you something,” he said. “I bet he told you about Zoe, didn’t he?”

  My ears perked up at the sound of Zoe’s name.

  “Zoe Rothchild?” I asked.

  “You know her then,” he said.

  “I’ve met her a few times,” I said, trying not to clench my teeth at the thought of her.

  “Zoe and I are old friends.”

  “I see.”

  “We were from opposite sides of the city. I was poor. She was rich.”

  I nodded politely, wishing I didn’t have to hear anything more about Zoe.

  “We met at Central Park one sunny afternoon in the Spring when we were teenagers. We fell in love. She was everything to me, but we were still just kids. Still in high school. Her parents hated me, for obvious reasons. They wanted her to date someone with a pedigree, well-heeled. Someone like Bear.”

  I nodded again, not sure where this was going.

  “We all ended up together at Yale. I worked my fucking ass off to get a scholarship so I could be with Zoe. It worked. Things were great.”

  “That’s wonderful,” I said, sipping my water. I’d abandoned the sake completely.

  The waitress arrived and we ordered. She left quickly and he dove back into his story.

  “Bear grew up getting whatever he wanted handed to him on a silver platter. He had a bad habit of just…taking…whatever he wanted, with absolutely no consequences whatsoever.”

  He stopped, gulping his sake down and filling his cup with more.

  “If Bear wanted a good grade, he just had to be nice to the teacher. He was charming, I’ll give him that. Still is. He could charm the pants off the most stern professor and have them eating out of his hand in no time. Everyone loved him. That’s why they let him get away with things that most people wouldn’t. He was a like a snake that bit you while he was smiling at you, you know? You didn’t even feel the bite till he was way out of sight.”

  I nodded again, completely clueless how to respond.

  “Zoe fell for his charms. My beloved Zoe.” My stomach sank when he said that. I knew there was more between Zoe and Bear than just a friendship. I wished again that he would just stop, I didn’t really want to know all the gory details.

  “The girl I’d done everything I could to impress, the girl I’d fallen head over heels in love with. The girl who I thought loved me too. And you know, that was the hardest part of it all. I do know she loved me. But, it was like Bear put her under some sort of trance, where all she could see and think about was him. Not long after she met him, she left me, kicked me out of her life completely.”

  “That’s awful, Levi, I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “Thanks,” he nodded, his eyes clouding over. “It was really hard back then. I’m over it now, of course. It’s been years. And they didn’t last long at all. She came running back to me after a while, but the damage was done. I could never trust her again. We’re friends now, but that’s all it we will ever be.”

  “I see,” I said, nodding. “Maybe that’s the way it was meant to be?”

  “No,” he shook his head firmly, “it wasn’t. Bear changed everything. He changed the course of Zoe’s life. He changed the course of mine. We had all these plans. Marriage, kids, all of that. It was like he bulldozed over us and then just went on with his life like nothing ha
d ever happened.”

  I stared across the table at him, once again unsure how to reply. Bear had made it sound like his beef with Levi was no big deal. Obviously, to Levi, it was.

  “Anyway,” he said, sensing my discomfort, “let’s not talk about all of that unpleasantness.”

  I nodded, smiling across the table at him, agreeing. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about this. I didn’t like thinking about Bear and Zoe together, but now I couldn’t help it. She’d told me she’d just had sex with him once, that first time I met her in the bathroom. Now, it seemed like their relationship was much more involved.

  I pushed it all away, convincing myself that it was all in the past and none of it mattered anymore.

  Our dinner came and we dove in, talking about New York. He told me about all his favorite restaurants and the best places to shop in my neighborhood. Bear wasn’t mentioned again the entire night, and I was thankful for that. I felt bad for Levi. Obviously, the whole situation had affected him greatly and even though I didn’t want to talk about it, I still felt bad for him.

  Finally, after our plates were cleared, he changed the subject to business.

  “Okay, so I showed your designs to my boss. Technically, I’m the one who recruits new talent, but it’s a concerted effort with my team and we all have to agree on something before moving forward. There’s always a lot of push and pull in these situations and nothing is ever set in stone before a contract is signed, but this is how all this starts out.”

  “Okay…”

  “So, I showed two people your stuff and they loved it. In fact, they’re over the moon about it. Sara, my assistant, can’t wait to meet you. And, I’d love to get my hands on anything you have completed so we can show them to everyone.”

  “Sure, of course,” I said.“I have several pieces at home.”

  “Perfect,” he said. “I think this could really go somewhere, Chloe. We’ve been looking for someone like you for a long time.”

  “Someone like me?” I squeaked, my heart pounding in my chest.

  “Yes! An unknown name is very valuable in this game, if you can believe it. People are always looking for something new and fresh. New and fresh are synonymous with hip and trendy, you know?”