Shark’s Rise: Shark’s Edge: Book Three

by ANGEL PAYNE

  “Then I’m going to turn in. We have a big day tomorrow with the party planning. What time is Rio getting here?” Dori asked.

  “After the lunch deliveries are loaded and she drives up from Inglewood. So hopefully by noon. I’m so excited. I still can’t believe we landed this event. It’s easily the biggest contract in Abstract Catering’s history. I have a million ideas.”

  About a month ago, Rio caught wind of one of Hollywood’s most influential power couple’s annual extravaganza almost going belly up because they parted ways with their long-time trusted caterer. We discussed submitting a proposal and threw caution to the wind and went for it. The party was known throughout socialite circles as the “party to be seen at” for the movers and shakers in Los Angeles, and it had the potential to take our business to the next level if we could get our foot in the door.

  “Have you been putting them in the Dropbox so Rio can review them? Remember she asked you to do that.”

  “Thank you. I knew my pregnant brain was forgetting something! Woman, I don’t know what I would do without you.”

  “All right. Good night.” She smiled and gave me a quick hug on her way out. One of the security guys walked her out to the pool house and made sure she was safely inside before coming back in through the slider in the kitchen.

  “What time did Pia think she’d be home from this date?” I asked Sebastian.

  “It’s not a date,” he was quick to remind me.

  “It’s totally a date.” I grinned. “But Vela should just spend the night so Pia doesn’t have to rush home.”

  “I told my sister she was welcome to spend the night, but she has school in the morning, and Pia wants her to sleep in her own bed.”

  “Dori could’ve gotten her off to school, I’m sure. The woman is capable of just about anything, it would seem.”

  “Abbi, I told her all of that. But there is no convincing Cassiopeia when she has her mind made up. Don’t stress yourself over it, babe.”

  “Okay. Okay.” I put my hand up in surrender. “Then, on to more fun things. Do you have your list ready? Are we going to end this tonight?” We hadn’t come to an agreement on a name for our little boy so had come up with a less conventional way to choose.

  Of course, Sebastian wasn’t happy with that either. “Are you sure this is how you want to do this? Leaving our son’s name to random chance?”

  “It’s not random chance,” I defended. “If we can’t agree on one together, and these are all names we love equally, then we should still be happy with any of them that are picked.”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure it feels right.”

  “What if we say we each get one veto?” I offered as a second-level solution.

  “Explain.”

  “Well, if one person isn’t completely enamored with the name that’s drawn, we pick again. We each get one chance for a redraw.”

  “Fair enough. Let’s do this,” he said, standing and rubbing his hands together.

  Bas went to the kitchen and got a small container for the slips of paper. We each had three and folded them the exact same way, per his instructions. We called Vela back into the room and let her have the honor of choosing the piece from the bin.

  “Really? This is going to be my baby’s name?” she asked, hopping from one foot to the other.

  It was adorable the way she had taken to calling our son her baby, and we just stopped correcting her about a month into the habit. No matter how many times we did so, she just kept doing it. Stubborn Shark genes were not to be reckoned with. Bas just rolled his eyes every time, and I giggled harder.

  Vela reached her little hand into the bowl and swirled the papers around. She pulled one out and handed it to her uncle. He unfolded it, eyes fixed on me the entire time.

  “Are you ready for this?” he asked, taking a big breath in. This was really working him over. Surprisingly so.

  “Yes! What does it say?” I asked, as impatient as Vela now.

  His gaze shot down to the paper and then back to me. I couldn’t tell if he was happy or not though, and he came striding across the room to where I was still lounging on the sofa and pulled me to my feet.

  “It’s Kaisan. Our son will be Kaisan Albert Shark.”

  “I love it.” As soon as the whisper spilled from me, tears did the same out of my eyes—of course.

  “So do I,” he said against my lips before rolling his head and deepening the kiss. At once, my pulse sped and my blood heated—but Vela’s whooping reminded us to keep the passion somewhat under control.

  “I picked a great name!” She skipped around the room, still excitedly yelling, as Bas and I kept a tight embrace on each other, savoring the special moment.

  We finally loosened our hold when one of the night security guards led Pia into the room. “Well, goodness!” she exclaimed, shrugging out of the cute jacket she wore over a trendy, lightweight blouse. “What did I walk in on?” She bent lower to receive an affectionate hello from her daughter.

  “I picked the name for my baby!” Vela announced. “It’s Kaisan! Isn’t that a great name for him?”

  “That’s a beautiful name! Congratulations to the actual mama and papa!” Pia winked at us over her daughter’s head. A few tendrils escaped the messy bun into which she’d pulled her dark waves for the evening.

  “So how was your date?” I asked with an answering wink. Sebastian squeezed me a bit harder, but I didn’t care. A date was a date, and I didn’t understand what the big deal was. Pia deserved a little male company in her life, a man other than her brother to affirm she was beautiful, talented, and admired. Vela was nine years old now. That was more than enough time for her mother to forego physical…outlets…of any kind. I almost laughed as my brain autocorrected to the tactful version of that, but the underlying truth remained the same. It was time for a little rainstorm over Pia’s dry spell—which, according to her confessions during our few personal conversations, was seriously closing in on its ten-year anniversary.

  “Well, things weren’t so bad.” Pia laughed lightly and smiled coyly. “It was nice to get out and do something not soccer or work-related. And the movie was pretty good. Not sure I’ll be looking for the sequel, but it was kind of nice to be out among the living.”

  Vela was still too busy dancing, and Bas too much her devoted audience, that neither of them noticed the woman giving up her mirth to a distinctly painful expression. I’d seen the look on Pia’s face before and had been tempted to ask about it, especially because it happened more frequently as Kaisan’s arrival drew near. But I also noticed how she always tried to hide it from Bas, so the timing had to be right. And this moment definitely wasn’t one of those times.

  “All right, kiddo,” the woman declared, stowing her sorrow as swiftly as she’d exposed it. “Let’s get out of your aunt’s and uncle’s hair. I’m sure they want some time alone. Use your best manners, please.”

  At once, Vela tamed the jumping beans in her blood long enough to pivot and face Sebastian and me. “Thank you for having me—and for letting me help pick my cousin’s name. I appreciate being part of your history.” She gave us both hugs and kisses and then turned to Pia, ready to leave. Her mother stood with her hand covering her mouth, tears filling her eyes. Pride radiated off her in waves so strong, I could feel them across the room. And very rightly so. She had an extraordinary child on her hands.

  “Vela?” I called as the girl skipped toward the front door.

  “Yes, Aunt Abbigail?”

  “Come over anytime, okay? Even if your mom doesn’t need a babysitter. We love having you here.”

  She came running back to hug me again. “Love you,” she said.

  “I love you too, little lady. Next time we’ll make brownies, okay?”

  “Deal!” She held her hand up for a high-five, and I couldn’t leave her hanging. “Brownies!” she yelled as we smacked hard. “Yay!” She gave Sebastian another quick hug, and they were off.

  “Wow. I’m begi
nning to really see why you adore that child so much,” I said to him.

  He chuckled into my hair. “She’s one of a kind.”

  “Pia is doing an amazing job with her.” I winced, fighting a pang of stress in the middle of my chest. “I hope I’m as good of a mother.”

  Bas wrapped his arms back around me. He pulled me in and kissed me softly. “You’re going to be the absolute best, baby—because you’re one of a kind too.” Another kiss now, with a little sweep of his tongue and nudge of his hips. “Are you ready for bed?”

  I smiled and nipped at the stubble along his chin. “Is that a rhetorical question?”

  “Depends on how you answer it.”

  “Well, do you mean bed, like let’s go lie on pillows and go comatose for the night, or bed, like let’s get naked and fuck until I’m crying in ecstasy?”

  “Is that before or after I lick your cunt until you scream your way through your third orgasm?”

  A long, low moan left me. “Ohh…Mr. Shark.”

  Bas scraped his teeth down the column of my neck…and then lower. “Hmmm; yes, Ms. Gibson?”

  “I’m absolutely ready for bed.”

  The next day, Rio was propped in the overstuffed chair in my bedroom by lunchtime. We finished the light meal Dori had fixed for us—an outstanding Mexican soup recipe she promised to share—and now it was time to get down to business. The rain had finally let up outside the windows, and my little man was kicking up a storm from the warm broth I just sent his way.

  I stretched back on the bed. “Oh, someone likes pozole too,” I said while rubbing my growing middle. Dori grinned wider at the comment, but my sister-in-law’s reaction was markedly different. Rio seemed to shrink into the safety of the corner, and she got very quiet.

  I didn’t push her for an explanation. She didn’t owe me one. I knew what I needed to and accepted her even with all the default baggage she brought to this situation. It had to be a hard combination of feelings for her to handle, despite the brave face she put on most of the time. And though she and Sean were starting regular visits to a fertility specialist, the doctor’s recommended medication wasn’t covered by the insurance policy at Sean’s current job. Of course, I offered to pay for the drugs, but she and my brother shut me down before the words were even finished. And while Rio and I were fifty-fifty business partners, we’d just started to see a sliver of black on the P and L statements—enough breathing room for us until another piece of equipment broke, or the van needed new tires, or any one of a hundred possible business emergencies.

  Contingencies we might not have to stress about in another month if the news Rio had just laid on me was totally on the level.

  “So…we’re really going to be stepping up to the big kids’ table.” I sat back up and directed my twentieth gawk of the day at the event contract in my hand. A document I almost never thought I’d see. That, in many ways, I still couldn’t believe I was looking at. “It’s so surreal. Practically impossible to believe.”

  Changing the subject—necessary on a bunch of levels—worked the right magic for yanking Rio back out of her shell. “Well, believe it, sister. And enjoy it.” The confident fire returned to her dark-honey gaze. “We’ve worked hard for this.”

  “I still think I owe you my left eye for it.”

  “No giving up eyeballs until you’ve signed on the dotted line.” Pushing her spikey hair up off her forehead, she added, “On second thought, just keep your eyeballs to yourself. You’ll need them both to race after your little Speedy Gonzales.” She nodded toward Kaisan’s continuing sprints across my belly. “Plus, I’m going to be an upstanding citizen here. The get on this gig wasn’t all me.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “That I think I had some behind-the-scenes help—though our fairy godfather refuses to admit it.”

  “Now I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Grant.”

  “What about him?”

  “I mean that I’m talking about him. I think he pulled some strings. Not sure who he knows or from where…” She trailed off for a moment that lingered a few seconds too long. “But all I can say is that the contract was messengered over within hours after I mentioned that the client mysteriously dropped Sparkle City Catering for their party. Just seems a little too coincidental.”

  “Interesting,” I said. “Well, I’m going to go on believing it was the amazing food samples you prepared for their whole staff that closed the deal. Not to mention your amazing salesmanship.”

  “I agree with Abbigail.” Dori made the statement as she settled onto the bed next to me and took out her trusty smart pad. “Everyone at the tasting was posting pictures of your beautiful trays as fast as they could, Rio. You made them feel special and important.”

  Rio whisked a semi-bashful grin at us both. “And that’s how we want everyone at the party to feel, too. Right?”

  “Exactly.” Dori beamed and tapped in her passcode, preparing to take careful notes of our first—and only—event-planning meeting. She had quickly picked up the ins and outs of my catering business too—thank God. The woman was amazing. Bas kept joking he was going to steal her to be his own assistant at Shark Enterprises, but Craig was filling in that job more regularly since Dori was handling more responsibilities in Calabasas. So far, it was all working out great.

  “Okay, so scoot your asses over. I want to sit here too.” Rio laughed while nudging her way onto the bed. “We should all be looking at the same set of notes here. Because of course, the most important event of our career is also going to be a last-minute whirl.” She rolled her eyes. “Aren’t we the lucky ones, hmmm? Can you believe the size of the venue?”

  I groaned aloud thinking of the property we toured a few days prior. The Greystone Mansion was a massive Tudor Revival in Beverly Hills, built in 1928. The clients planned on transforming the venue into a “Storybook Fantasy” for their guests and we were developing the menu accordingly.

  Dori tapped a finger on the air before reciting, “‘Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.’”

  “Ohhh.” Rio dashed a glance back at me. “We need that on the bulletin board at the kitchen.”

  “So I think we’ve nailed down most of the menu, right? Except for the third dessert, because there’s an issue with the macadamia nut supplier. So what’s left?”

  “Except everything?” I was glad to have my head resting against the headboard. The size and scope of this job was making my brain swim.

  Thank God, yet again, for Dori and her capable game face. “Don’t worry, ladies. We’ve got this. But first and foremost, we really need to start with a complete supplies and shopping list. I have to start placing orders ASAP. Since it was so close to the holidays, the prime produce and meat vendors are already getting slammed. Every caterer in town already wants plenty of the more exotic ingredients.”

  “Got it,” Rio said.

  “Definitely,” I chimed at the same time.

  “I kind of started, but I need a little help from you both. The recipes are vague in some parts.” Dori shuffled the stack of papers and recipe cards she had in her binder marked “Biggest Party Ever” in large, gold letters. “It looks like you ladies are like my mom and cook half by recipe and half by your hearts. You need to tell me what’s missing from these ingredients lists so I can be sure to place the proper orders for everything.”

  “Okay, let’s start there,” I agreed, pointing to my checklist. “After we get that done, we can start marking off the other items on this to-do list.” I heaved in a long breath, despite Kaisan fighting me about the effort. “I need to feel some accomplishment today.”

  We ran through the recipes, dictating item after item that was missing from the written instructions. But after the tenth recipe, as well as my third bathroom break, I was exhausted.

  “All right,” Dori abruptly announced and closed both her binder and smart pad. “Naptime for Mommy Shark. No arguments.” She wag
ged a finger. “If Mr. Shark thinks you are overworking, he will put the kibosh on you being involved in this event.”

  Rio arched a brow. “Okay, none of us wants Daddy throwing down that hammer. Besides, I need to get on the freeway before traffic gets too crazy. Sean and I both start so early in the morning. If I don’t see him when he gets home at night, I don’t see him at all.”

  “I’ll walk you out,” Dori said. “Sleep well, Abbigail.”

  They left the room quietly, and I was out before I even heard the door click closed behind them.

  I woke up with the need to pee so badly, it was a wonder I made it to the bathroom. But the physical relief was swiftly replaced by inner frustration. The clock on the marble counter revealed that I’d been out for two hours. That was a hundred and twenty minutes I seriously couldn’t afford. There were still so many things on the action list for the upcoming event.

  In the back of my mind—or maybe not so far to the back—I hoped we hadn’t taken on more than we could handle. If I were functioning with my normal full charge, the last-minute pace wouldn’t seem so daunting. I’d just suck it up, do whatever it took for knocking out the list, and get shit done. But with constant exhaustion pulling me under, I wasn’t sure there’d be enough hours in the days we had left. I couldn’t keep depending on Rio to take up the slack either. It wasn’t fair. Our business was a partnership. While she wouldn’t outwardly take the credit for it, we both knew she’d landed the deal while I was fighting morning sickness.

  I made my way downstairs just as Sebastian arrived home. He’d worked a little later than usual but would’ve just been sitting in traffic anyway, so the difference was the same.

  “Hey, my sweet Little Red.” With a delicious groan, he pulled me in and kissed me with sexy languor. “How was your day?” he asked tenderly. “What did you do today? I want to hear everything, but tell me in the kitchen. I’m starving.”

  I let him lead me across the foyer’s grand expanse and then through the formal dining room, until we were in the kitchen and he was heating up a big bowl of Dori’s soup. “The day was good,” I said. “Rio came over, and we worked on finalizing the event menu. Dori got together a full shopping list, and we double-checked her order form. Just basic stuff like that. All boring to the business mogul man that you are.”