by Unknown
He stood up first and held his hand out for Satra to help her up as well. She took it and they began walking back towards the ball while having easy conversation and laughs. He linked his fingers through hers, and the electricity between them was intense…but it felt so right. Though Shane’s need and desire to kiss Satra senseless was still there, he kept his urges under wraps. What they shared tonight at the ball was special and he didn’t want to risk ruining it by moving too fast. Honestly, Shane was afraid of whether or not he’d be able to control himself once he kissed Satra. His attraction to her was like nothing he’s ever experienced, and he knows once they cross that line there will be no turning back for him. He knew in his heart that Satra was the one for him, forever. Slowly they walked back to the ball, cherishing each other’s company…and touch.
****
They managed to slip back inside the ball relatively undetected and decided to split up for a moment and meet back up at their table in ten minutes. The DJ was playing up-tempo songs and the party was in full swing with dancing and laughter. Satra could tell instantly who had too much champagne, and it made her smile at the convulsive gyrations they were making on the dance floor. Miranda found Satra and they chatted for a few minutes, and Miranda introduced her to a few other couples. Satra had a good time with everyone she met and was truly enjoying herself.
Ten minutes had passed and Satra and Shane found each other in the crowd. Shane motioned with his head to their table. Satra nodded and began making her way over to the table when she heard her name called in a voice that sounded oddly familiar. When she stopped and turned around, she received the shock of her life. It was Cole DaCosta, Sasha’s friend that she went bowling with when she home to see about her father. Cole was standing with Mr. Di Amato, both of them grinning from ear to ear. Shane saw when Satra stopped walking and turned around, and his eyes followed hers to the tall, handsome dark skinned man standing with Mr. Di Amato. The man had the whitest, straightest teeth Shane had ever seen, and he felt the jealousy in him rise quickly and his jaw tighten. It wasn’t just the fact that Satra knew this man, but seeing this man and Di Amato together only spelled trouble. Something about the whole scene didn’t feel right, and the way this man was grinning at Satra put Shane in attack mode. He changed his route and cut through the crowd of people to head in the direction of Satra, his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared.
“C...Cole? What are you doing here?” Satra asked as she walked towards him and Mr. DiAmato. There was no way she could hide her shock and utter disappointment of seeing him at the ball, and with Mr. Di Amato of all people. She put her hand out to shake Cole’s hand, but Cole dismissed it and pulled her into a tight hug instead. Now Shane was fuming. He wanted answers and he wanted answers now. Satra quickly pulled away and took a few steps back from Cole. She felt dirty and disgusted that he had the nerve to touch her in that way.
“Wow, you look more beautiful than I remember.” Cole said just as Shane walked up.
Shane put his arm around Satra’s waist and pulled her possessively against his side and said, “There you are Bella.” He then placed a lingering kiss on her cheek that warmed Satra to her core. Shane Evans was going to be the death of her. But right now, she needed to get to the bottom of what was happening between Cole and Mr. Di Amato.
Shane’s eyes locked with Satra’s for a brief moment, but in that moment Satra saw the storm brewing in his now darkened brown eyes. Cole’s arrogant grin disappeared when he saw Shane and the very familiar way that he put his arm around Satra and the kiss that followed. He came late to the ball, really at the last minute request of Di Amato, so he didn’t know that Shane and Satra were together. Shane made it very clear for him just now.
“I just ran into someone from my home town. Cole DaCosta this is my date Shane Evans, Shane this is Cole DaCosta. Cole is good friends with my brother Sasha. He and I just met the first time I went home to see about my father.” Satra explained to Shane.
The two men tensely shook hands and stared each other down.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about you from Mr. Di Amato Mr. Evans.”
Cole said pasting on a fake smile.
“Is that right? I’ve heard nothing about you.” Shane stated as he pinned Di Amato with an angry glare.
Satra could feel the anger radiating off of Shane as the seconds ticked by. ‘This isn’t good.’ She thought to herself.
Mr. Di Amato seemed unfazed by Shane’s anger. If anything, he seemed to enjoy the show-taking place before him.
“Cole here might have a future at Di Amato and Associates.” Mr. Di Amato said as he patted Cole on the shoulder.
“He’s looking to get into the world of business acquisitions. With my mentoring and guidance he’ll be a rising star just like you were Shane.” Mr. Di Amato said proudly as he rubbed his chest.
“Well like I discussed with you Satra, I am looking to start my own firm, and being mentored by the best like Mr. Di Amato is a great place to start. Who better to learn from, right?”
“I’m sure Mr. Di Amato will fill you in more about the company if he hasn’t done so already.” Shane said as he kept his angry gaze on Frank Di Amato. Now Mr. Di Amato was fidgeting under Shane’s cold stare.
Cole’s sudden appearance at this ball and hooking up with Di Amato to be mentored wasn’t adding up to Shane. Something wasn’t right. In fact it smelled downright rotten.
“Satra, I never heard from you since we went bowling. I just figured you were busy. We had such a good time, and I don’t know if you guys knew this, but this girl has got some skills when it comes to bowling!”
Now it was Satra’s turn to be pissed. What she wanted to say was ‘You didn’t hear from me because you creep me out you weirdo, and I only went bowling with you because my brother begged me to go!’
Instead she said, “Yes I had a good time bowling with you and family and my brother as well. And I have been very busy with seeing about my dad, who as you know have been very sick, and with work. I’m sure you understand.”
That wiped the smile off of Cole’s face. Good.
She knew Cole was trying to make Shane jealous by making it seem like they were on a date when they weren’t, and she was not going to let that fly.
Taking on a more somber tone Cole said, “Yes, I know your father has been sick. Sasha told me he’s doing better. I’m happy for you all.”
There was a brief uncomfortable silence before Satra broke it.
“It was good seeing you Cole. Now if you’ll excuse us,” Satra said as she took Shane’s arm gently tugging him to leave.
“Nice meeting you,” Shane said dryly as he looked Cole in the eyes one last time, his eyes sending every dagger and warning to him to stay away from Satra.
“I can’t believe him!” Satra spat out angrily.
Shane didn’t respond. He thought it was better to keep quiet and let Satra tell him what was going on. He didn’t trust what he’d say because he wasn’t thinking straight. Between this Cole person practically undressing his woman (yes, she’s my woman!) with his eyes and foaming at the mouth with lust, and Di Amato being up to no good, Shane knew he was liable to blow a gasket of epic proportions. Thankfully the other couples were still mingling and they were able to have the table to themselves. Shane pulled the chair out for Satra and sat her down before seating himself, turning his chair so that he could face her.
“The first time I went home to see about my dad, my brothers and their families were all over my parent’s house for dinner. After dinner my brother Sasha started bugging me about dating like he always does and told me about Cole. Apparently Cole knew about me, had seen pictures of me through Sasha and he started bugging Sasha to introduce us. Sasha was trying to sell me on Cole, telling me he was a good guy, had a great job, etc. They were going bowling that night and Sasha begged me to go with him so I could meet Cole. I figured there was no harm in it and it wasn’t a date by any means, just a bunch of people going bowling. Cole’s sister,
husband and nephew came as well. We did have a really fun time, Cole and I talked throughout the night and he seemed like a really nice person but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. It was like he was trying too hard to impress me. But something else about him reminded me a lot of Matt and I refuse to deal with another Matt. He wanted to exchange numbers but I didn’t feel comfortable doing that so I gave him my email address instead. I told Sasha how I felt about Cole, how he creeped me out because he reminded me of Matt and Sasha told me he understood and we haven’t talked about Cole since.”
“Did he email you?” Shane asked with his brows furrowed in what Satra couldn’t figure out if it was a frown of anger or a frown of concern.
“He did a few times but I ignored them and eventually deleted them. I know that was probably rude but I didn’t want to give him any signs of hope with me.”
“And now he’s all buddy-buddy with Di Amato. Something about this whole thing stinks. The sooner I get away from Di Amato the better,” Shane said as he looked at Mr. Di Amato and Cole yuck it up with other guests.
“Whatever Di Amato and Cole are brewing let them brew it. You’ll just need to bump up your plans of getting out of there and I’ll do whatever you need me to do to help you. Don’t let whatever they’re up to stop your plans.”
“You’re right Bella and I appreciate your support, but I’m afraid me leaving Di Amato’s firm won’t be the end of whatever he’s planning.”
“Why do you say that?” Satra asked confused.
“Di Amato is a very smart businessman, but he’s also a very ruthless and spiteful businessman. I’ve had a haunch for quite some time that he was up to something very underhanded with regards to Lucas and Daniels and Vandalay. I just haven’t quite figured out what his angle is in all of this.”
Satra’s heart sank as the thought of Di Amato trying to buy out Lucas and Daniels from under their noses hit her. But where would Vandalay fit into all of this? Would he merge the two firms? Would he completely dismantle L & D? What would he gain from that? The questions were swirling in Satra’s head and she was feeling sicker by the minute.
“I think Vandalay is just a distraction for what he’s really trying to do which is to buy out Lucas & Daniels and possibly merge it with Vandalay or sell it to some rich buyer overseas,” Satra said in almost a whisper of a voice.
Shane’s eyes got big as her words registered with him. He had already thought the same thing earlier, but the part about selling Lucas & Daniels to an overseas buyer never crossed his mind.
“Just think about it,” Satra continued. He has us doing all of the dirty work for him, and once Vandalay is secure that’s when he’s going to drop the bomb. What I want to know is how could he possibly buy out Lucas and Daniels? They would never agree to sell the company, and especially not to him. They’d fight him tooth and nail.”
“And why has he kept this and this slime ball DaCosta a secret from me?” Shane wondered out loud.
“Because he knows you’re not ruthless and heartless like he is. He knows you would object to this dirty scheme of his and he didn’t want you throwing a wrench into his plans.”
“No I’m not like him, but my voice of reason never stopped him from some of his past heartless takeovers. He wouldn’t listen to me even if I did know what he was doing. If he has a conscious he rarely, if ever, shows it.”
“I’m going to keep my eyes and ears open on my end. I have to figure out a way to feel out Grayson. I have a feeling something is going on that he’s not aware of. He’s put his blood, sweat and tears into that company. If a takeover is happening I know he’d fight long and hard to prevent it.”
“Be careful Bella. We’re just going by gut feelings with no proof. If you go to Grayson he’s going to go straight to Daniels and possibly the board. What if Grayson is the odd man out and his partners are all in cahoots with Di Amato? Grayson wouldn’t stand a chance against those odds.”
“And it would crush him Shane.” Satra whispered. Now she really felt sick and was ready to go home. “But this is all the more reason to give him the heads up isn’t it? At least he’d be able to look into things himself before he approaches Daniels or the board with anything.”
She made sense, but even still Shane wanted to be very careful on how they handled this.
“Let’s just keep this between us for now Satra. Let me do some investigating on my end. Then we’ll go to Grayson together.”
“Ok,” Satra said quietly. Her mind was racing and she was angry and scared. Scared for Grayson more than anyone else because she knows what his company means to him.
Shane reached out and took her hand into his and caressed the top of her hand with his thumb in a slow, circular motion.
“You look tired, are you ready to go home?”
“I am. Can I bum a ride home from you?” Satra asked.
“I was taking you home anyway. Let’s go.” Shane said as he smiled and winked at her.
Cole watched the couple from across the room and he was seething. He knew they were more than just each other’s date for the night. They were very into each other, and the way Shane walked up and put his arm around Satra’s waist let Cole know right away that he had competition. ‘She’s been ignoring me because of him? Who the hell does he think he is? I’m not done with you Satra. Not by a long shot.’ Cole thought bitterly to himself as he downed his third shot of whiskey and asked the bartender for another.
Satra cancelled her limo and let Shane drive her home. He took his time driving even though most of the drive was spent in silence. They just enjoyed the cool summer night and each other’s company. Every so often Shane would look at Satra and he could see the worry on her face. He knew she was thinking about Grayson and this attempted takeover by Di Amato. Shane wanted to erase that worry off her face but he knew that couldn’t happen until he found out more about what Di Amato was up to.
Shane made it to her place without asking her directions. Satra didn’t bother asking him how he knew where she lived. She knew Shane had ways of finding out many things.
“This is a beautiful building.”
He said as he helped her out of the car and closed the door behind her. He offered Satra his arm as they walked up the pathway to her building.
“It is, and the neighborhood is pretty quiet and low key too.” Satra offered.
She got her keys out of her clutch so she could open the lobby door. They slowly walked to the elevator, and once on the elevator they stood side by side.
Smiling Satra said, “Soooo…back at the party when you walked up to me talking to Cole and you wrapped your arm around me like we were a couple and kissed me on the cheek…what was that about?” Satra knew very well what it was about but she wanted to hear him say it.
The mere thought of Cole and that scene of him touching Satra made Shane angry all over again. He looked down at Satra, his eyes very serious.
“I don’t like men who force themselves on women. They aren’t men, they’re weak. The way he looked at you, the way he ignored your hand and insisted on hugging you when you clearly showed that wasn’t what you wanted – I didn’t like that. I didn’t like that whole scene and I wanted to punch his face in for doing it. I know his type well and I would enjoy beating him to a pulp.”
Satra had no doubt that he meant every word he said, and had they come to blows she wouldn’t have stopped Shane from beating Cole to a pulp. He’s slime like Di Amato and he proved it tonight.
“Well tell me how you really feel,” Satra said with an eyebrow raised before stepping off the elevator and into the hallway leading to her condo.
Looking at her Shane said, “I just did.”
Satra heard the serious tone of his voice and decided to let the subject die. Shane had his reasons for marking his territory with her, and he pegged Cole right. They continued their slow walk until they reached her door.
“I had a really great time with you tonight. I didn’t know what to expect with it being my first
ball and all,” Satra said with a shy smile.
As Shane looked down into her beautiful smiling face he was still kicking himself for not asking her to be his date. He thought he was doing the right thing at the time, but quickly realized that it didn’t matter what people thought. It only mattered what he and Satra thought and felt.
“I had a great time with you tonight to. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard,” Shane said.
To ease her nervousness Satra turned around to unlock her door and left the door half opened before turning back to Shane.
“Thank you for agreeing to be my date at the last minute. You shouldn’t have come alone; I should’ve brought you. I won’t make that mistake again. You looked absolutely breathtaking tonight,” Shane said in his deep, husky voice. His eyes showed the sincerity of his words and Satra couldn’t stop the instant blush if she tried. She put her head down and smiled, her pulse racing madly.
Her first instinct was to protest his compliment but then she remembered his words from earlier that night and instead said, “Thank you.”
Shane smiled at her. He knew it took a lot for her to accept his compliments. He saw her blush even when she held her head down. She was so adorable to him.
Finally Satra looked Shane in the eyes briefly before stepping closer to him and cupping both sides of his face with her soft hands. She pulled him down to her and sweetly kissed his cheek. His hand came to her waist and he took the opportunity to kiss her back on her cheek. They slowly pulled back, their lips just mere inches from touching.
Shane couldn’t take it anymore. Her perfume was driving him crazy and he had to let her know.
“God you smell good.” He rumbled in her ear before looking her in the eyes.
Smiling bashfully Satra said, “Thank you, so do you. I don’t know what you’re wearing but I love it.”
“I’m glad you approve.”
Shane’s hands were still resting on her waist while Satra’s hands were on his chest. Neither wanted the night to end but it had to.