Drako could tell the man had a deep well of pain that he was still fighting. But there was clarity in his eyes, strength to his gaze, which whispered that Jimmy was on the mend. At least for the moment.
“Good,” he finally replied. “So, here’s what I need you to do,” and Drako led Jimmy into his office, where he laid out his plan. Other people came into the office, led by Drako’s head of security.
As soon as Drako had realized who Lilly’s parents were, he’d set his plan in place, and had put everyone involved on hold. If Bernard Von Deuch, or the real person in charge, Janice Von Deuch, took any action against him, he wouldn’t hold back. Not where Lilly was involved! If the need arose, he would protect her with his life. But in this case, he didn’t have to step in front of a bullet for her. He just had to stop a vicious woman from destroying her. And him!
His cell phone pinged and he glanced at it, intending to ignore the message. There was still a great deal of work to get done, and his people needed guidance. Drako wasn’t sure from which direction Janice would attack, so he was prepared for anything.
But when he saw who the message was from, he picked up his phone and stepped away from the others, nodding to his head of security to continue giving instructions to the group.
The message was from Lilly and, as focused as he was on countering her family’s attack on his business, he was still very concerned about her well-being. Jimmy had mentioned that she’d been crying. He remembered the last time that she’d had lunch with her mother and how devastated she’d been after only an hour. Lilly had been in her family’s house for several hours today.
He knew that she’d left feeling happy. He’d ensured that this morning. Even the memory of her soft sighs as his hands and mouth…!
Clearing his mind, he focused on the message.
When he finished, he muttered a curse, furious. But at the moment, he couldn’t do anything about the resignation letter Lilly had sent. “Effective immediately” she’d written. That could only mean one thing. And it wasn’t good.
Janice Von Deuch had started this, he knew. Now he was going to finish it, and show those heartless, vicious, pathetic excuses for parents that he wasn’t one to mess with. He’d taken on bigger and more vicious competitors over the years. The senator’s machinations were pointless. And what Bernard and Janice didn’t know was that their attempts to hurt him had actually helped Drako. He’d come out of this battle stronger than ever!
Lilly stared down at the message that she’d just sent as a fresh wave of pain and tears washed over her. Drako was no longer in her life. She’d just severed the last connection that she had with the man she loved.
Damn her mother! Damn her for being such a political bitch!
But Lilly couldn’t lay all the blame on her mother’s shoulders. For too long, Lilly had bowed down to her mother’s pressure, allowing herself to be controlled. Yes, she’d forged her own path in college and then started her own career after graduating. If it had been up to Janice, Lilly would have gotten her degree in literature or a foreign language. Maybe even political science, but never with the intention of going into a government role.
Getting her degree in business administration had been a slap in the face to Janice Von Deuch, but one her mother could have lived with. It was the idea of marriage to a man that didn’t have political aspirations, a man that hadn’t been handpicked by her mother, a man her mother couldn’t control, that had been the ultimate breaking point. Not following orders, not wearing demure colors, not bowing and scraping to the queen of the family all added up to an unforgivable sin. Lilly was now condemned to a life beside a man that didn’t love her.
And she could never love those two spineless idiots that her mother had personally selected as potential husbands.
But she would. Yes, Lilly would marry one of them…she couldn’t even remember their names now. She’d marry one of them, either one, she didn’t care which, in order to protect Drako from her mother’s wrath.
For the moment though, Lilly curled her knees up to her chest, wishing that she could go to Drako and explain. Unfortunately, her mother had warned her not to go near the man. Lilly hadn’t known that her mother had spies. Apparently, the woman had an entire network. It was pretty shocking, the things that her mother knew. For instance, her mother knew that Lilly had been spending the night at Drako’s place, or he at hers, for the last several weeks. She’d also explained that Drako had bought the apartment complex in which Lilly lived.
That had been a shock, she’d thought. Lilly laughed damply, wiping at her tears as she stood up and walked into her bedroom. Carefully, she unzipped the back of her pretty, blue dress and hung it carefully in the closet. She’d wear that dress again, Lilly vowed. Probably to her father’s next campaign announcement. Yes, that would be the perfect revenge. In fact, Lilly considered buying a whole new wardrobe, filled with colorful dresses and eye-catching shoes.
Then the image of Drako popped into her mind. No, she wouldn’t do that. Janice had explained exactly how she planned to destroy Drako’s business if Lilly didn’t comply with appropriate behavior.
Her wedding would be in six weeks. Six weeks of freedom before she would be handed off to her jailor. Looking around at her bedroom, the room that she’d carefully decorated with all of her favorite colors of pink, blue, and yellow, was to be dismantled. Her mother had even picked out her house. It was a four bedroom in an exclusive, but not too pricey, neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia. Janice had shown Lilly pictures. It had a tidy front yard that was perfectly landscaped with a large, fenced in backyard that would be perfect for children.
“Do you have the genders picked out for my children too?” Lilly had asked, practically dripping with sarcasm.
Janice hadn’t bothered to respond. In fact, she’d ignored Lilly entirely and flipped to the next picture.
“Your wedding colors will be fern green,” she’d announced after putting the tablet away. “It’s a lovely color for fall. The color also looks very nice with Sylvia’s coloring. Jennifer and Carol will just have to deal with it and change their makeup.”
Lilly had bitten back the laugh. Janice had already planned out the entire wedding. Three bridesmaids. A “small” wedding with only two hundred, carefully selected guests. The press would be avoided, of course, although there would be a press release of the wedding pictures after the fact.
Lilly wondered about that as she pulled on a pair of shorts and a baggy tee shirt. As soon as she considered the reason for not allowing the press to publicize the wedding, Lilly realized exactly why. Janice didn’t want to risk Lilly backing out at the last moment.
What her mother didn’t understand was that Lilly truly, completely, and unconditionally loved Drako. She hadn’t meant to fall in love with him. But with someone like Drako, who was kind and gentle and…well, an extraordinary lover…how could she not have fallen in love with him? He was everything Lilly hadn’t known that she’d wanted in a man!
So, even with all the ways that she’d avoided falling in love, and all the times she’d resisted marriage plots, Lilly was now in love with a man she couldn’t have and engaged to a man she didn’t know or want.
Sometimes, life could be perfectly miserable!
Chapter 17
“Senator Collins,” Bernard heard his assistant call out in greeting. But Bernard didn’t stop puffing on his cigar, practicing his smoke circles as he leaned back in his leather chair. His idiot wife kept trying to take his chair away, stating that it was too ragged. But Bernard was sick of his wife’s sanitized décor. She could have the chair after she pried his long dead corpse from it! And hopefully, he’d die here in his office instead of that miserable mausoleum Janice called a house. Christ, she had so many rules that it was a pain in the ass to even breathe in that place! Which was why he had a secret apartment two blocks away. No one knew about it except Janice and the few women that were well paid for their discretion…and expertise.
He smirked, leanin
g a bit further back in the chair as he contemplated the expertise of the woman who had come to him last night. Damn, she’d been good! The things she’d done with her tongue had been awesome! Bernard chuckled, enjoying the freedom of relaxing in his favorite recliner in his apartment while various hookers serviced him. Yeah, he knew that they didn’t like it. But he didn’t give a damn. They were paid, he was their client, they’d do whatever the hell he demanded of them!
He was grateful that Janice, the cold bitch, didn’t care about his preference for cheap hookers. She’d spread her legs exactly four times for him over the years. The woman had produced beautiful children that were perfect for parading out during campaign rallies, and she threw a hell of a good party. But other than that, she was pretty useless.
“Senator!” Monica called out, her voice edged with panic. Bernard ignored the scuffle. Monica was an excellent assistant. She wouldn’t let anyone into his office without an appointment. He’d made sure that Monica understood the consequences of failure. He chuckled again, thinking about the various punishments she’d endured over the years. He loved doling out those punishments. He liked keeping the woman under his thumb even more! Hell, the pictures he had of her in the positions he’d posed her in would keep her in line for as long as he wanted to keep her. It didn’t matter that the pictures had been photo-shopped. The pictures of Monica’s face matched the bodies of several of the hookers he’d known and had worked perfectly. They kept the prissy bitch in his employ and under his control!
“Senator, you can’t go in there!” Monica yelled. A moment later, Bernard heard some odd thumping and he pictured Monica literally throwing herself in the path of that yellow-bellied ass. Senator Collins was another of his lackeys. He owed his entire political career to Bernard and would do what he was told. If it weren’t for Bernard arranging the funding every six years for Collins’ campaigns, the guy would be back in his home state, twiddling his thumbs.
So what the hell was the guy doing here? How dare he interrupt “an important meeting” as Monica had explained.
Bernard chuckled and blew another smoke circle, then picked up his glass, and downed the rest of his scotch. Perhaps poor Mikey Collins needed advice. Bernard knew how to dole out the pointless “words of wisdom” bullshit better than anyone else. So, if a lackey needed reassurance, then Bernard was fine with that. Just so long as it didn’t happen too often. If Mikey couldn’t handle the pressure here in the Senate, then Bernard would get Janice to find a better candidate and groom them to handle things.
In the meantime, Bernard dropped his feet to the floor, stubbed out his cigar, and sprayed the room with the air freshener. No need to let the little guys know that Bernard was a fan of a good cigar. Or that he drank scotch at ten o’clock in the morning, he thought, popping a mint into his mouth. Always keep breath freshener in his pocket, Bernard had learned. Talking to reporters with bad breath was a bad call.
Opening the doors, he chuckled at the scene in front of him. As expected, Monica was literally in front of the double doors to his office, warding off not just Mike Collins, but also two more of Bernard’s “protégés”. Another came stumbling through the door a moment later. Bernard’s nose began to itch. Something was wrong.
“What the hell is happening out here!” he bellowed, silencing the room. When they all froze mid-tussle, he felt a bit more in control. Bernard hated not being in control almost as much as he hated people ignoring him. He was at his best with the spotlight on him.
Damn, he loved politics! The power and prestige was better than sex! Well, almost.
“Gentlemen, if you’d like to step into my office, we can discuss whatever problems each of you are dealing with, one at a time.” He eyed them sternly, wishing that he had his glasses on so that he could look over the top edge, reinforcing his next statement. Unfortunately, the damn things were a nuisance since he didn’t need corrective lenses. So, he kept forgetting his glasses. Right now, they were probably on his desk. “But we will do so with civility!” he continued, minus the glasses. But his words held every man under his control. One by one, they stood, adjusting their ties and settling their suit jackets back into place.
“That’s better,” Bernard said in a softer, friendlier tone that emphasized his southern accent. Most people didn’t know that he was actually from South Dakota. He’d moved to Virginia to attend the University of Virginia when he was eighteen and had learned how to use his adopted accent to its best effect.
“Now, let’s all go into my office and Monica will get us some coffee,” he announced. Stepping to the side, he waited as all four men trooped into his office. With a pointed look at Monica, he said, “Excellent job, my dear.” He almost snickered at the relief mixed with hatred on her face. The woman was about as plain as could be, but she was an excellent assistant. Hell, the woman literally ran his whole office. She even worked on political bills, analyzed the polling data, and…okay, if the truth were known, the woman did just about everything. She was at her desk hours before he arrived and stayed well past when the rest of the office left for the night. She even worked weekends.
He liked those days the best. He loved walking into the office on a Saturday afternoon and seeing the fear in her eyes. He also loved the freedom on the weekends to do whatever the hell he wanted with her. There were fewer interruptions on the weekends, so he could be extra harsh with his demands.
Bernard absolutely loved the fact that she did the job of three, maybe even four people, and for a salary so low, it was probably illegal. With a satisfied chuckle, he walked into his office and closed the doors.
“Gentlemen, let’s hear what’s got your panties in a twist, shall we?” he announced, his twang extra strong. He didn’t see the fifth man, who had come through the double doors and sat quietly off to the side, observing everything.
Mikey, the first one to try to break into the sanctity of his office, and the only one who had refused to sit down, was the first to speak. He even dared to step forward, aggressively making his presence known.
“I want to know what the hell you’re playing at, Bernard!”
“Playing?” Bernard asked, leaning back in his leather chair and folding his hands over his stomach, feeling a surge of power as the four men glared at him. “I play all sorts of games. You’ll have to be more specific.”
James, a lackey from Mississippi, leaned forward. “I’ve gotten calls from four different labor unions demanding about a hundred and fifty contract concessions or they’re going to strike. I thought that you had this under control, Bernard! I wanted to give those union workers some of their requests. They made sense! They were fair! But you told me that my voters wouldn’t want me to look weak! You said that I had to stand up to the unions and tell them to vote me into office and then I could work my magic from the senate! Now they are threatening to strike if I don’t give them ALL of these demands!”
Damn, that wasn’t good, Bernard thought, but managed to keep his expression bland. “James, those unions aren’t going to strike. I’ve had a little conversation with the top brass and they all agree that it’s in their personal best interests to keep the workers quiet.”
James was shaking his head even before Bernard stopped speaking, which really pissed him off.
“It’s the top brass that are revving the workers up, Bernard! I’ve been getting calls from their offices. I’ve already booked my flight home so that I can deal with this mess! You’ve put me in the middle of this crap with your ‘holier than thou’ attitude! Now, I have to deal with it!”
Bernard laughed. “James, that sounds like you are going to go at this alone! Are you seriously threatening to do something by yourself?” he teased.
That probably wasn’t a good move, he realized when the other three men got to their feet. James stood up and walked to the door, pausing with his hand on the brass handle. “Bernard, if you can fix this from your end, then I’ll be back under your thumb. You got me here by controlling the unions. But I like it here. If
you can’t fix this, then I’ll have to go it alone.” He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Actually, don’t even bother!”
“What the hell are you talking about, boy?” Bernard huffed, leaning forward slightly. “You can’t do this without me!” The door slammed closed as James walked out.
“I can!” Tom Jenkins from Kansas stated, perfectly calm as he glared at Bernard. “You’ve manipulated too many officials over the years. You paid them off, blackmailed them, threatened and belittled them. But it seems they aren’t too happy with the current situation.”
“I pay everyone off, you ass!” Bernard yelled. “How the hell do you think we got your name on the ballots after the deadline?”
Tom stood up, hands fisted on his hips. “Yeah, well someone talked!” he snapped. “And now I have an investigator breathing down my neck! They’re threatening to dig into the campaign details.” He leaned his fists on Bernard’s desk. “You and I both know that the details won’t stand up to closer scrutiny!”
Bernard was fully aware of that fact. He hadn’t just paid off several officials. Bernard had done it in Tom’s name, not his own. That evidence was one of the ways Bernard kept Tom in line and voting properly.
“Just keep your–”
“Don’t!” Tom snapped, cutting him off. “Just don’t go there!” He stood up, breathing heavily. “Just stay out of this mess. I’ll clean it up myself!”
And then he stalked out of the office as well.
Bernard glared daggers at the man’s back, vowing to put the ass in his place. The guy wanted to go out on his own? Fine! Bernard would throw a barrage of crap in his way, unlike anything the poor sap had ever encountered!
Turning his head, Bernard noticed that Mikey was leaning against a bookcase, looking smug. “What the hell are you so happy about?” he growled.
Mikey pushed away from the bookcase. “I just realized that you’re losing your touch, Bernie,” he sneered mockingly.
Heated Secrets (Rose Garden Apartments Book 1) Page 14