* * *
Dante glanced over to his right at Cynthia typing away on the computer. She was supposed to be contacting some clients and then buying some equipment that they needed for the office. Her first three days had been strange with her barely saying a word to him. She seemed incredibly uncomfortable even though she was performing the job duties well. There was a strange tension between them like she had an unspoken problem with him or their arrangement.
Had he offended her in some way, or was she bothered by his lifestyle, or all the rules and work he’d thrown at her the first day? He had been sure that the weekend would make a difference, but it was Monday, and she was still acting strange. He had to find a way to ease the tension or he wasn’t going to able to handle working with her.
He was nervous about how it was working, but didn’t know how he was going to talk to her about it. But he had to try.
“Cynthia,” he called, trying to get her attention. She looked up from the screen and paused whatever she was doing. She seemed perfectly polite but still said nothing. “I was hoping that we could do lunch today. I would like to get to know you better, you know. Like we discussed. I feel strange enough having my stepsister as a personal assistant and neither of us really even knowing much about each other. Would you mind that?”
“I don’t have any special plans today, Mr. Cross.”
“Oh, please, just call me Dante. We don't have to be THAT formal. Besides, calling me Mr. Cross makes me feel old and I'm not much older than you, you know.”
He was pretty sure he caught a small smile on her face. “Sorry, Dante. Things are odd for me, too. When did you want to go?”
“I was thinking around 12:30?”
“You’re the boss,” she responded. She smiled quickly before looking down, so he hoped that meant she was teasing him a little bit. He definitely didn't want to think he was coming off as the hard ass boss. Maybe his MC personality was leaking into his work. He’d have to find a way to put that to rest. He’d always wanted to be a bit of a laid back employer, but he wasn't use to dealing directly with employees. And because of their special relationship and history, it made it even more confusing in terms of how to act.
He watched as she went back to work, and then went to check in with his CEO to see if he had any decisions to go over. It was hard trusting another man to play the part for him, but so far his John had never let him down. He had always voted the way Dante wanted him to and kept and fired staff within reason. He had been so lucky to find such a good man, and he hoped to eventually have that kind of relationship with Cynthia. Closer, even. But first they had to learn to trust each other and get along on more than just a professional level. He didn’t want work to be boring and silent.
He tried to bring what he knew about his MC family into the mix as much as he could allow himself to. They were the only real family he’d ever had, the only good example he had to go on. At least since his father had basically cast him off. His mother hadn't been much better.
It was something he didn’t talk about very often with anyone, but that’s why it was so hard for him to have dealings with people. It was why he needed a personal assistant so badly to help with client relations. A woman’s touch was always a good thing to have in a company anyway, even if it was a company that made engine parts.
He stepped into the CEO’s office and took a seat backward in the chair so that he could lean his arms and chin on the back. “So, how’s my company? Have you run it into the ground yet?” he joked.
His CEO, John Saltzman, scoffed at him. He was a little older than Dante and wore huge bifocals. He always had on a pinstriped suit. He looked more like he should have been running Macy’s in the 1930s than Essential Steel in the 21st century, but he was a pretty good guy and a great business man.
“So, you’re a jokester today, I see. How is the new girl working out? I’d love if you could send her my way as soon as she digs her way out of your mess. I do actually work here, you know?” He looked at Dante over his glasses making Dante chuckle.
“Of course I know that, and I’m thankful for it. I’ll see what I can do about Cynthia. So, what’s on the agenda today?”
“I’m actually about to go into a meeting now if you’d like to join me.”
“Will it be out within an hour.”
“I hope so, Mr. Cross, because my stomach is growling.”
“Then, I’m in. You can fill me in on the way to the conference room.”
The two men left the office together, and talked on their way to the elevator. Dante, however, was too preoccupied by thoughts of lunch to really pay attention. And he was pretty sure it wasn't because of a growling stomach.
Chapter 9
Dante tapped on the door frame of his office and popped his head in. He saw Cynthia jump a little. Headphones fell out of her ears, and he realized he had startled her. “Didn’t mean to scare you; I just wanted to see if you were ready for lunch.”
He watched her glance at the time and then start shutting down her computer. “Yeah, I suppose. I’m just trying to find the supplies you need. It looks like one of the sites has shut down and another has raised their prices. I wanted to find you a better deal.” He smiled at her as she grabbed her purse and walked toward him.
“Well, after we get back I’ll see if I can help you out a bit. I appreciate you caring about the business like that.” He ushered her out the door and to the elevator. Once inside she gave him a look like he was crazy. “What?” he asked, wondering what he’d done this time. He really didn’t understand what was going on between them.
“That’s sort of my job, isn’t it?”
He chuckled and nodded. “I suppose it is, but not everyone cares to do their job all the time, I guess. So, how do you feel about food trucks? The park across the street always has a couple around this time. I thought we could get a bite and take a walk.”
“Oh, that sounds nice.”
He looked at her, trying to get a read but ended with nothing. It was like she was a brick wall. Maybe he just wasn’t good at figuring out the mystery of women in general. They stayed silent as they walked to the park, and she always stayed a few steps ahead or behind him. He wasn’t getting anywhere, but hopefully some food in their stomach would change the mood.
He walked up to one of the food trucks; a pink one that read Du Frommage on the front and had an Eiffel Tower painted on the side. “That’s my favorite food truck!” Cynthia exclaimed suddenly, practically skipping up to the counter where an older woman was taking orders. It was a food truck where everything was covered with cheese of some kind. Perhaps the right food was the answer to Dante’s problems. “I’ll take a chicken bacon cheese Panini, please,” she told the woman.
Dante pulled out his wallet, bumping her to the side. No way was he going to let her pay for it. “I’ll take a foot long cheese dog,” he ordered, slapping down the cash. He could feel her eyes burning a hole in him, but he kept a kind smile on his face and looked straight ahead. “So, I guess I made the right choice for lunch, then. Maybe it’ll bring you out of your grumpy mood so you’ll stop filling my office with doom and gloom.” He chuckled and looked at her as they were handed their food.
She looked almost embarrassed, and kept her gaze on the ground as they began walking and eating their cheesy food. “I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you,” he apologized immediately. He wanted to make it clear he was only trying to lighten the mood.
“No, it’s okay. I was afraid you’d notice how I was acting. I just... never mind.”
“No, you can tell me. I told you I don’t want to be the big stuffy boss man. I want to be your friend as well.” At least. He heard her giggle a little into her food, and he couldn’t help but think it was the sweetest sound he ever heard. What was wrong with him? Why did he want her to like him so badly? It certainly wasn't because she was his sister. He didn't want her thinking of him in that way. Definitely not as a brother.
“Well, it’s a little embarrassing,
really. I hate to admit this to you, but there was a good reason I left my last job. You see, I actually got involved with my boss.” And there it was. Dante knew something was up with that guy. What an ass. Before he could say anything in response, she kept going.
“I have this tendency to go for the absolutely wrong guys for me. I’ve dated abusers, alcoholics, co-workers. I was with Winslow, that’s the CEO at Vosh, for several years. He was involved with a lot of things that weren’t morally right and got me involved and then I caught him cheating on me in his office, no less. It was just a lot of pain to go through, and it almost cost me my career rather than just my boyfriend. I’m just concerned that the same type of thing might happen again, that I might get too involved in your bad boy world and take it too far. I mean, I don’t want to assume that you’d ever be attracted to me. I just don’t want to be involved with that type of guy in any way again because it’s always a temptation. And then, of course, there's the fact that you're my stepbrother as well...”
Dante took a bite of his hot dog, contemplating what she’d just said. Had she admitted having an attraction to him somewhere in there? He looked at her for a second, in her slacks and tight jacket, her hair in a severe bun and began to transform it into the way she looked the first night at the bar. He hadn’t really spent a lot of time paying attention to how he felt that night, but he was beginning to see it; why he hired her and why he wanted her to like him. She was a compelling personality for sure, but her body was even more amazing. How many guys’ wet dreams had she starred in. While he hated that stupid CEO, he couldn’t blame him for wanting her, only for letting her go.
He suddenly felt nervous, walking so close to her. He felt like his tongue was twisting in knots. It was humiliating considering he was the president of Devil’s Pirate MC, but beautiful women could still get him choked up. What should he do about his attraction to her? Should he act on it in any way? Her history and fears told him that maybe it wasn’t quite the right time, but he found himself hoping there would be a right time. But they'd really need to address the whole stepbrother issue.
“Please say something,” Cynthia piped up, stopping to throw away her empty paper plate in a trash can. He’d obviously been silent for too long, and he could feel his face getting hot.
“Sorry, I was just thinking of the right thing to say, but I suppose there isn’t a right thing. I have to admit that Devil’s Pirates MC were involved in some shady dealings in the past. When I was just a regular member I began repairing the bikes and really got into it, and it got me in good with the president. I moved up the ranks quickly, and now that he’s retired and I’ve taken over, I want things to be different. I know that it’s hard to believe that there’s a motorcycle gang out there not engaged in nefarious activities, but I try my best to keep everything legitimate."
They continued walking as he spoke, but he kept his eyes downward, focused on the sidewalk in front of him. "I recently bought a bike repair shop, and I have a couple of my boys working there. I have them help out with real shipments and private security since many of the boys have experience similar when they used to run drugs from Mexico and Colombia. I’ve even considered that once the repair shop gets going real good that we can do customization as well. I have to admit, though, that I’ve helped some things along using my business connections and with some personal investments, but they don’t need to know that. It keeps their motivation up.”
He led her to a bench, and they sat down watching the ducks swimming around in the pond, looking for food. “Wow, that’s pretty impressive, but the way you say it makes it sound like it isn't working completely? Is something wrong with the club or with the investments?” He let out a sigh. She had guessed what he’d been avoiding for a while. He’d had trouble with some of the members for the past year, and it was starting to get out of hand.
“You’re quite insightful. I knew there was a reason a hired you,” he joked, trying to avoid talking about it, but it was only fair since she admitted what was going on with her. “For obvious reasons, not everyone agrees with us going the legitimate route. For that matter, I am not sure everyone agrees with me being their leader either.”
“It sounds like you almost think of them as family, though. That’s why you gave me all those rules, right? So, it’s not so obvious to me why they would be so upset or why anyone wouldn’t like you as their leader if you’re all like family.” He felt her touch his shoulder in an act of comfort, but he could feel a burning under his shirt where her hand sat. It was such a small gesture, but he wished he could grab her hand and hold it, tell her she was driving him crazy in the best way.
“Well, think about it. A lot of the biker gang stereotypes are true. Drugs, sex, and illegal activity are rampant in my world, even if I don’t like to admit it or partake personally. A lot of people get involved because of all of that. They want to live this crazy lifestyle and be these bad guys for real. They don’t like that I’m ruining their fun and asking them to give up easy money. You wouldn’t believe how much money there is in some of the most illegal things, and they don't have to work nearly as hard for it as they would with a real, legit job.”
“So, how are you going to handle it? I mean, are you going to kick out the people that don’t agree with you, or punish them in some way? You seemed pretty harsh with that girl at the bar. They must fear you enough to do what you say.”
He had been afraid of her getting an impression of him by how he talked to Liz that night, but it was part of being their president. He had to be rough, especially when there were so many of them rooting against him. “Honestly, it is still unclear as to which ones are on my side and which ones aren’t. They’re keeping it under wraps for the most part. Very few openly show their dissention, and the ones that do don’t seem capable of really staging any kind of rebellion. But I think someone is, and I have no idea who to trust.”
Dante was getting lost in his thoughts, wondering who in the world was so against him. The MC was his family and had been for a very long time. It was hard to think of any of them going against him. “And about me being tough, it just comes with the territory, Cynthia. I don’t really treat women like that outside of the gang. It’s the way they want it, trust me.” He hoped that didn’t come off as misogynistic.
“Oh, I see. Yeah, you don’t really seem that way at work." She looked down at the ground quietly for a moment. "I’m sorry I’ve been so weird. I’ll try to act more normal, but maybe we should head back. We’ve been out here almost an hour, and I still need to make those orders. Plus, we have a new client coming in to meet with me at four.”
Dante nodded and smiled, leading the way back to the office. He felt a little lighter on his feet than he was on the way there, and he was pretty sure it had something to do with Cynthia. But he still had to address the growing feelings he was having for her. And hopefully the ones she might be having about him.
Chapter 10
“I’m heading to the conference room to get ready for the new client. Do you need anything before I go?” Cynthia asked, standing up with her laptop in hand. The tension had started to subside after lunch, and the silence didn’t seem purposeful anymore while they worked. He had even been able to help her find a new vendor to contact for supplies.
Just as she walked out the door, a familiar man popped in beside her. He could see her nose wrinkle in disgust. It was the P.I. he hired to follow her. He had missed their meeting on Friday, and he half expected that the guy would just run off with the money, but it was irrelevant since he was confident now that he could trust her.
“Do you need any help with this one, Dante?” she asked. He brought himself down from the high of hearing his name roll off her tongue so he could answer. As soon as he admitted to himself his attraction to her, he couldn’t stop pining for her. He felt like a teenage boy instead of a man in his late thirties.
“No, I’ve got this one. You go meet with that client.” He winked at her as she turned around again and headed o
ut the door with a curious look on her face. Meeting with this guy at the office obviously wasn’t a good idea.
“So, are you banging that yet?” The man crudely said, making Dante feel like knocking his teeth out. If it wouldn’t expose him, he’d offer him a spot in the club just so they could beat the shit out of him.
“So, what did you find? You’re several days late, so it better be good.”
The man began picking at his teeth. It must have been some kind of tick. He set an envelope on the desk with photos sticking out. “What are you, the Paparazzi?” Dante asked as he began going through the dozens of photographs of Cynthia. The P.I. was turning into more of a stalker than an investigator. Most of the photos were of her along at the store or talking on the phone or even some headed to the office. None of it gave away much of anything other than that she spent most of her time alone, which made him a little sad for some reason.
Billionaire Stepbrother - Secret Lives Page 5