by Alexa Davis
"Okay," I said eyeing him warily. "If you say so."
We hopped into the waiting limo and were swiftly driven through the streets of Manhattan arriving at the front door of the restaurant in less time than it usually took to exit the packed stadium. We were quickly seated and our server had drinks on the table before we knew what we even wanted to eat.
I loved this part of being married to Austin. Everything flowed smoothly and life seemed to just work. It had been a long hard climb to get to this point, but as I looked at my husband and our friends, I thought about how different my life had been two years before, and marveled at how much had changed since I said yes.
I reached out under the table and grabbed Austin's hand and squeezed it as I looked up at my handsome husband and smiled.
Chapter Seventy-One
Austin
After dinner, we said goodbye to Bax and Anna and headed home to our condo at 530 Park Avenue. I'd bought the place just after Emily had accepted my proposal, thinking that we'd need something better than a string of hotel rooms to settle down in. I wanted to provide her with everything she ever wanted, but she said all she wanted was me.
I looked at my wife as we rode the elevator up to the top floor. She was beautiful in every way imaginable and the day that she'd walked down the aisle and said yes to me was still the best day of my life. Despite my protests, Emily had continued to fly for Marks Air after we were married. It drove me crazy that she was working, but she insisted that she needed something to do, otherwise she'd go stir crazy. I'd hired a security firm to fly on every one of her hops, and while it had cost more than what she made, it made me feel more confident knowing that she was always safe. I had never told her about it, though.
We'd introduced our mothers as soon as we'd returned from the island. Emily's mother took a bit longer to come around because she was worried about what Tommy was going to do now that she knew the extent he would go. I assured her that it was all taken care of and that Emily would never have to worry about him again. I'd sent Tommy off to work with Buck in Sydney and the change had actually done him good. He'd quit drinking and with his gambling debts paid off and a generous nest egg buffering his shift in careers, he'd done very nicely for himself down under.
"Austin? I'm asking you a question," Emily said as she tugged on my sleeve. "Did you call your mother?"
"I did not," I said as I checked my phone and found several text messages from Bax. "Do you want me to?"
"No silly," she laughed. "We're almost home, so it won't matter now!"
"Sorry, Em," I said sheepishly scanning the messages.
"You're such an absent-minded professor, sometimes," she teased as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. I let the messages go and wrapped one arm around her before dipping her slow and low right there in the elevator. She let out a shriek of glee and faux terror as I held her parallel to the floor before kissing her deeply.
"You are crazy, Mr. Morning!" she laughed as she swatted me after I'd set her back on her feet. "You shouldn't do such dangerous things in an elevator!"
"Oh, so I should do safer things?" I said as I slid one hand up her thigh and under her skirt. "Like this?"
"Be careful," she said with a knowing grin. "That's what got us into this mess in the first place."
"Mmmmm," I murmured as I bent to nuzzle her neck my insistent hand inching up just a little further. "I like the mess we're in just fine."
"Yeah, but you're not the one who has to pay the price, now are you?" she laughed as she pressed her pelvis against my hand before the elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
"No, I am certainly not," I agreed. We held hands as we walked down the hall and when we turned the key, I heard my mother's footsteps crossing the foyer. "We're home!" I called.
"Well, now that was quick!" my mother said as she hugged both of us.
"Everything go alright?" Emily asked as she set her purse down and headed to the back bedroom.
"Oh it was just fine," my mother called. "Slept like an angel and didn't make a sound!"
I kissed my mother and asked, "You want me to ride home with you?"
"Don't be foolish," she told me as she hugged me again. "Silas is downstairs waiting for me. He'll make sure I get home safe and sound."
"Alright, well, if you say so," I said eyeing her. "Thank you, Mom."
"Oh, it's entirely my pleasure!" she said as she gathered her purse and headed of the door. "I've always dreamed of being able to do this, I just didn't know it would be like this!" she said as she waved around at the apartment.
"Well, no matter how it is, we're so grateful that you can," I said. "To the moon and back."
"To the moon and back, baby," she called as she stepped out into the hallway and headed for home.
I set my phone down and unloaded my pocket before I joined Emily in the back bedroom. When I entered, I saw her sitting in the rocking chair in the corner near the window that looked out over the city singing a lullaby to our tiny daughter.
"You two make such a beautiful picture," I said.
"Well, it's easy when you have a baby who takes after her father," Emily smiled then cooed, "Isn't it, little Sydney? Do you want to hold her?"
"I will in a minute, I need to take care of some business first," I said as I looked at my wife and my daughter and felt my heart swell with love.
#
"Hey Bax, what's up?" I said as my friend picked up the phone.
"Austin, we need to talk about this Barcelona deal," Bax said in a tired voice. "It's not going smoothly and I'm not sure I can fix the problems from here."
"So, go there," I said matter-of-factly.
"I can't," he reminded me. "Anna is due in the next couple of weeks and if I leave, she'll kill me. Plus, there's rebellion afoot in the IT pool, and I need to deal with that. Unless you want to manage that little skirmish?"
"Oh hell, no," I said. "You know how I hate having to deal with those code-breakers and their nerditry."
"That's what I thought," he laughed. "So, what do you want to do? Go over there?"
"Let me check with Em and see what her flight schedule looks like," I said. "I'll let you know when I can get there."
"Austin, have you ever considered selling the business to someone bigger and letting them deal with these skirmishes?" Bax asked in a very tired voice. He had been run ragged by the Paris-Berlin projects and although we'd gotten rid of Daniel Wentworth by letting him know we were on to his Camorra, the work that had to be done landed squarely on Bax's shoulders.
This wasn't a problem until Anna had pegged him as her Mr. Right and convinced him of this fact. It was truly a match made in some kind of alternate universe – prom queen marries the AV nerd – but for some reason, it worked. Now, they were expecting their own bundle of joy and Anna was in charge of everything. Bax loved it, but it was putting a strain on our ability to do business.
"I have not," I said. "Why, do you think I should?"
"I think it's worth exploring," he said. "I've got someone in mind. Someone who will let us run the company, but who will pick up the slack so we can actually live our lives, you know?"
"Yeah, I do know," I sighed. "Okay, put me in touch with him and I'll see what I can do about a deal."
"I knew you'd see things my way, boss," Bax said. I could hear him smiling into the phone.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said. "Not a word of this to the wives, you hear me?"
"Aye aye, captain," Bax said.
Three nights later, I was sitting across the table from Reginald Harrison Beaufort laughing as his wife, the beautiful Honey, poured us a couple of whiskeys and then told us to take ourselves out on the balcony if we intended to smoke the disgusting cigars Reggie had tucked in his pocket. He gave her a sheepish grin and then ushered me outside.
"I never know how she knows as much as she does about what I intend to do," he drawled. "But I'll tell you one thing, son, it's kept me an honest man for the past thirty years!"
"Oh,
how's that, sir?" I asked.
"I knew that with that sense of smell and her woman's intuition," he said as he cut the ends off of both cigars and handed one to me. "If I ever cheated, she'd know immediately and with her upbringing, I'd be castrated faster than a loose thread in a garment factory!"
I burst out laughing. I'd only known Reggie for a few hours, but already I liked him immensely.
"Son, here's the deal," he said getting serious for a moment. "I'm not going to beat around the bush about this. I want to buy your company, but I want you to keep running it. You'll have free reign to do what you do best, you'll just have my pockets and my muscle to back you up. What do you say?"
"I say we have a deal, sir," I said as I held out my hand and shook his firmly.
"Son, stop with the sir bullshit," he said as he lit the end of his cigar and then offered me the lighter. "It makes me feel older than I am. Just call me Reggie and we'll be fine."
"Yes, si-Reggie!" I said as I flicked the Zippo and lit my cigar. The end burned brightly as I looked out over Central Park and smiled.
"Now, about this mess in Barcelona," he said. "Can you go out there for a few weeks and smooth it over? Hell, take your wife and call it a second honeymoon, for all I care. Just get them to stop threatening to strike!"
"I think I can take care of that for you, Reggie," I said.
"Excellent, that's what I like to hear," he said as he raised his glass and declared, "Here's to productive new partners and the barrels of cash they bring with them!"
"To new partners," I echoed as I clinked my glass against his.
"And cash!" he laughed. "Don't forget about the cash, son!"
Chapter Seventy-Two
Emily
We settled into the cabin of Marks Air's private jet and smiled at each other. I had wanted to take a commercial flight, but Austin had pointed out that if we were traveling with Sydney, we'd be smarter to utilize the privacy of the jet. I couldn't disagree with him, so I'd packed our bags and gotten us ready for the trip to Barcelona.
Austin had told me about the plan to sell Marks Enterprises to Reggie Beaufort, and once I'd met him and Honey, I'd agreed wholeheartedly with the plan. I'd also seen the look of relief on Bax's face and had realized that the pressures of running the entire show while Austin put out fires around the globe had really taken its toll on him. Anna would be glad to have him home at night for dinner and in town when the baby arrived.
As Austin secured Sydney's carrier in the seat closest to him, I smiled and felt incredibly grateful that fate had thrown us together and that we'd decided to give in and let it do it's magic.
"Are you ready, Mrs. Marks?" he smiled.
"I'm ready, Mr. Marks," I smiled back. "With you, I'm always ready."
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BILLIONAIRE’S FIANCE
By Alexa Davis and Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Alexa Davis
CHAPTER ONE
Max
"Listen, zhopa," Kristov said. "Papa is giving you a chance to prove that you're capable of handling this part of the business, so handle it!"
"Asshole? I'm an asshole now?" I said without looking up. I pulled several small jewelry boxes out of the larger box that had been delivered a few hours earlier and began examining the contents of each one. "Why am I an asshole for wanting to do something different?"
"Because Papa is giving you the opportunity of a lifetime to prove yourself," he replied as he slipped a cigarette between his lips and flicked his lighter. "You'll earn your stars, bratik. Don't you want to earn your stars?"
"Not particularly," I said as I avoided his gaze. He knew how much it irritated me when he called me little brother, and yet he did it anyway. "I don't care about any of that bullshit. I don't want stars or crosses or churches or any other ink on my body. Can't you understand that?"
"I can," he nodded as he inhaled deeply and then blew the smoke at me in precisely formed rings. "But Papa can't, so it falls on me to entice you back to the fold."
"Kristov, I don't know how to say it any more clearly than I already have," I coughed as I shot him an annoyed look. He smiled like a Cheshire cat and waited. "I don't want to have anything to do with the family business. I don't want to be part of the gang or be vory v zakone. I want to start my own jewelry business and operate it legitimately. I don't want help or muscle or anything at all. I just want peace. Can't you understand that?"
Kristov silently watched me unpack the boxes and smoked as he considered my rejection of his offer. We'd been like this since we were children. He was the older brother who was always charged with bringing me into line when I decided to go my own way, and when I had been younger and weaker, it had worked. But now we were adults and, while I would always be younger than he was, I would never be weaker again.
"Bratik, you can do whatever you want, but you owe Papa," he said as his smile shifted from brotherly to something more sinister.
"Owe Papa what?" I asked.
"He gave you the money that you used to buy that beautiful place you live in and start this business," he said before taking a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaling in my face. "And now, you owe him some respect and reciprocity; got it?"
"Kristov, I'm going to say this one time and one time only, so listen well, my brother," I began as I stopped unpacking boxes and looked at him. "I don't want to be a thief-in-law, I don't want to run with the bratán, and I don't owe Papa anything. Not a cent. Mama gave me what was rightfully mine and told me to do with it what I wished."
We stood in the small space staring each other down as we waited for the other to look away first. Kristov finally looked away and shrugged as he chuckled. He threw the still burning butt of his cigarette on the floor and ground it into the carpet as he stared at me, smiling. I willed my face to remain impassive and waited for him to speak. He said nothing; he only smiled, shook his head, and moved toward me so he could roughly pat my shoulder. He walked to the door, turned and looked at me one more time, then shook his head as he smiled and walked out the door.
"You'll regret this, bratik," he tossed over his shoulder as he exited, leaving the door wide open.
I quickly crossed the room and shut the door behind him before I turned and leaned against it as I sunk to the floor and put my head in my hands. In my heart, I wanted to believe that my father would never do anything to hurt me, no matter how pissed off he was, but my logical brain, the one that had grown up with a father who led the South Side Chicago Russian Mafia, knew that my father would do whatever he had to in order to protect the brotherhood – even if that meant neutralizing his own son.
CHAPTER TWO
Lexi
"Josh?" I called as I entered the apartment and saw suitcases sitting near the door. "Josh? What's going on?"
"Oh hey, Sugar," he said as he flashed me his biggest and brightest toothpaste-ad smile. "I wasn't expecting you for another hour!"
"How many times do I have to ask you not to call me that? You know I hate it," I said, then turned and looked at the packed bags."What's going on? Are you going somewhere?"
"Uh, yeah," he replied as he dug through the junk drawer in the entryway table, pulling out rubber bands, a comb, a handful of peppermints we'd gotten at an Italian restaurant in the Chicago Loop, and a stack of notepads from every hotel we'd ever stayed at. "I'm going on a trip. I was kind of hoping we wouldn't have to do this, though. Not tonight."
"Do what? Where are you going?" I asked as I watched him dig deeper, looking for something specific.
"Um, well, see…" he trailed off as he pull
ed out a rainbow-colored super ball, a travel flashlight, and a handful of AA batteries. “Look, I didn't want to do it this way, but since you're here, I might as well go ahead."
"Josh? You're scaring me," I said. I looked from him to the contents of the junk drawer that now laid spread out on the top of the table.
"Lexi, I got a call from an agent in LA. I got a part in that sitcom I auditioned for last fall and they want me in LA by next week to get fitted for the wardrobe and do some readings with the rest of the cast."
"That's great news!" I exclaimed. "We've been waiting for this break for so long, and now, you've got the part! Oh, Josh, that's so awesome! When do we move? God, I'm going to need to get boxes and call the movers! How much time do we have?"
"Well, see, that's the thing," he shrugged hesitating a little. "Look, it's been a good run, Lex, we were good together, but this is where our paths diverge and we go in different directions."
I stared at him in stunned silence.
"Wait, are you trying to tell me that you're breaking up with me?" I said. To say I was surprised was the understatement of the century.
"Yeah, I guess I am," he shrugged. "It just seems like the right thing to do at this point. I don't want to keep you hanging on here in Chicago while I head to LA and pursue my dream job. Long distance never really works, you know."
"So, you're breaking up with me as you’re packing to leave?" I shouted. "You couldn't have given me any kind of warning that this was coming?"
"No, not really," he said calmly. "I mean, I didn't know if I was going to get the part or not, so I didn't want to act prematurely."
"So you thought you'd just hang on until you heard yes or no, and then you'd break the news?" I was furious, but tried to channel the calm that I'd learned in my improv classes. "And now that you've found out that the answer is yes, you're leaving me behind?"