Determination

by S. E. Rose

  My mom has whipped up eggs benedict, scrambled eggs, pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausages, and an array of fruit and drinks. I grab a mimosa and sit at a bar stool watching her as she dishes things in serving platters.

  “Sleep well, sweetie?” she asks with an arched eyebrow that says she knows I wasn’t sleeping that whole time.

  “Yes, Mother,” I say as I wink at her, and she laughs.

  “I miss you, Jesse, you need to come down and visit soon,” she says and hands Vanessa and me plates. The entire family surrounds the buffet of food like vultures and within minutes we have loaded our plates and found places to sit and eat. Lily goes around pouring coffee, and Lance comes around topping off mimosas with champagne. Everyone is laughing and having fun. I want to enjoy the moment, but I’m also aware that this may be one of the last moments like this for a while, until Jack and Bryce can solve my issue.

  After breakfast, we all head down to the beach and enjoy building sand castles and playing beach volleyball. It’s nearly midday before Jack and I trot back up to the house to get the crabs going and Laura joins us, so we can prep for the last dinner we have together before we all head out in our various separate directions.

  “I loaded the tracking software onto her phone,” I tell Jack as we help Laura prep food.

  “What software is that?” Laura asks.

  Jack puts his arms around her and kisses her forehead. “Just some new tech stuff Jesse is working on, my love. It’ll be hard for him and Vanessa to be apart.”

  “Oh? She can’t come to New York with you?” she asks.

  “No. She’s finishing up some things in the recording studio, and I have some work to do. We’ll try to meet up in a few weeks.”

  “Long distance is tough,” Laura says and leans against Jack as she cuts vegetables.

  “No shit,” I mutter.

  “You really like this woman, huh?” she asks me with a raised eyebrow.

  I swallow. I can’t lie to my sister. She sees right through me. “Yep,” I decide to keep my answer short.

  “I like her too,” she says, and we start discussing the logistics of everyone leaving. Jack and Laura will stay one last night and get the house back in order.

  I watch the security guys, including Silas and Dexter, as they walk the perimeter of the property and another one sits down by the family at the beach.

  “Let’s go do a security debrief before everyone comes back in,” Jack says, nodding toward the kids out on the beach. I know he doesn’t want to alarm Lily or Nick.

  I follow him into the study and sit down. A minute later, Dean and Pierce arrive.

  “I have some connections working on things as does Bryce, but in the meantime, Vanessa will be going home and Jesse as well. It’s better this way. I’ve asked Bryce to keep me abreast of all his security protocol for both of them. This is a joint venture, and Jesse can also be included in our discussions. He has security clearances and quite frankly, I won’t be discussing anything of the highest security levels with any of you anyhow.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “And what won’t you be discussing exactly?”

  “There are things you aren’t privy to, Jesse. Trust me, if I can tell you, I will.”

  I hate when people keep shit from me, so I grunt my understanding and listen as Jack talks with Dean and Pierce. It only takes thirty minutes to devise security plans for both Vanessa and me. We get Bryce on the phone, and by the time Laura is calling us back to the kitchen, I feel much better about sending Vanessa home. At least I know she’ll be safe until I can be with her on Moorea. We briefly discuss that as well. There are two plans of action depending if the current situation is resolved. I’m happy with what is planned, or at least as happy as I can be considering.

  We head back out to the kitchen and help Laura set up the crabs, corn, and other food out on the several picnic tables dotting the deck. It’s a low-key and early dinner, but it is typical Maryland and makes my heart swell a bit with pride for the place where I was raised.

  I spend the next hour teaching Vanessa how to eat crabs. She’s covered in Old Bay, and I have to laugh at how cute she looks when she sighs with frustration each time a piece of meat seems unattainable. I help her pick her crab legs and by the end of the meal, she’s actually doing pretty well with it.

  The youngest members of the family are another story all together. Leidy is a disaster and looks like she rolled around in Old Bay and butter and the twins are covered with mac and cheese, but everyone is again laughing and having fun. The beer is flowing, and we all reminisce about past beach vacations until the sun begins to get low in the sky.

  “I think we need to clean this up,” Lily says. “We have to get on the road.”

  “Me too,” Nick echoes as he helps Lance and Lily clean up plates. My mom assists, and Jack and Laura pull out trash bags as my mother and I start doing the few dishes we needed for the meal.

  After dinner, I find Vanessa upstairs packing. She’s taking the red-eye back to LA. Her record label has sent a private jet for her and Dean. I finish my packing and watch as she loads her makeup bag and hair products into a bag.

  We say our goodbyes to my family and head out to the car that awaits us. Dean and Pierce sit up front as we drive in silence for about forty minutes to the airport. The other security guards are in a second car behind us. There’s a special area for private jets, and we make our way there. Her jet is conveniently parked next to mine. I want to laugh at the ridiculousness of his and hers private jets, but I’m too sad to poke fun at it.

  I pull Vanessa into my arms as Dean loads her bags. I kiss the top of her head. “That was a fun trip, sweetness. Thanks for coming with me.”

  “Thanks for taking me home, Jesse,” she says into my chest.

  “You’re welcome, baby.”

  “I’m going to miss you,” she whispers as she looks up at me. I can see the tears in her eyes, and I wipe away a tear that manages to trickle down her cheek.

  “We’ll see each other in just a few weeks,” I say. “Plus, you’ll be busy with the album and putting together a new team. It’ll go by fast.”

  I haven’t told her that I am going to help her with the new team. I decide that can wait. I don’t want to tarnish our last few moments together.

  “I’ll see you soon, mon étoile,” I whisper as my lips brush hers.

  I can see she struggles with a response for a moment before stopping herself. “Yep, see you soon, Jesse,” she says. I want so badly to tell her that I love her, but I chicken out at the last minute.

  “Safe travels,” I say after I give her a long kiss and pat her butt as she turns to walk up the stairs to the plane.

  “You too,” she says as she turns and blows me a kiss.

  I pretend to catch it and place it against my heart. I feel like a fucking cheesy prick, but I don’t care. This woman is quickly wrapping herself around my little finger.

  Irma greets me as I board my plane, and I take my seat, still staring out at Vanessa’s plane. I watch as it taxies out to the runway and takes off and a small part of me feels better while a much larger part feels like my heart just got ripped out of my body. I sigh and sit back, waiting for our takeoff.

  Once we are in the air, I use the quick flight to New York to do some emailing. I get a text from Bryce that he will be meeting with me this week. He doesn’t say why and doesn’t respond to my request for information. My anger begins to boil over as we land, and I stew in the back of the car as Gianni drives me home.

  “Everything alright, Mr. Ryder?” he asks as I get out.

  I give him a fake smile and nod. “It’s fine, Gianni. Tell Lillian I said hello,” I say as I head up to my apartment, Pierce following and Silas and Dexter behind him.

  I head to my study when I get in and Pierce follows me inside. “Pierce, please make yourself at home. You can use any of the rooms down the hallway past the kitchen. I’m assuming you’ll rotate shifts with Silas and Dexter?”

  “Sir, yes, s
ir. Bryce wanted me to let you know that he is pre-occupied and can’t speak with you today, but he will be contacting Rick to set up a meeting for later this week.”

  “I know, he texted me,” I answer. I give Pierce a look that says, “fuck off” and he nods and leaves the room.

  I lean back in my chair and spin around to face the windows of my study. I’m not sure what Bryce has found out, but he clearly is working on something and it bothers me. I don’t like to be left in the dark. I text Jack, and he replies that he too is busy to talk now and will speak with me later this week.

  I groan and toss my phone on a small table as I stand and walk to the windows that overlook the city. I don’t like any of this. Something feels off and I’m beginning to grow concerned. I turn on my app and see that Vanessa’s plane is now somewhere over the middle of the U.S. I send her a text that I am home, and she replies immediately.

  Vanessa: I miss you.

  Jesse: I miss you too.

  I want to say more. I start to type again and then delete it and then type again and then delete it once more. Finally, a text pops up on my screen as I contemplate whether to send another text.

  Vanessa: I wish you were with me.

  I sigh and run a hand through my hair.

  Jesse: Me too, mon étoile, me too.

  I put my phone back down. I walk back over to my computer and turn it on and stare at the icon that had been moved. I open it, and using my latest encryption technology, I pull up the file Zoe had sent me all those months ago. I had hidden it away in a server where I didn’t think anyone would ever look for it. I see it’s been untouched since I last worked on it. I open it and pull up the files. I scan through them, over and over, looking for something, anything that might explain why these fuckers are now on my ass.

  I spend the next several hours milling around in the files. I decrypt them again, but I don’t see anything. I’m beginning to see double when Evelyn comes in and asks if she can clean my office. I nod and shut down my computer. I’ll need to get back to that later. I have this feeling that I’m missing something, and I don’t like it.

  I grab a shower and hit my gym. Rick texts while I’m on my bike.

  Rick: You got time to run through your schedule?

  Jesse: Yep.

  Rick: Calling now.

  My phone dings and I hit the Bluetooth button on my exercise bike.

  “What’s the damage?” I ask as I take a sip of water and begin my cooldown.

  “Well, you have meetings on that merger possibility tomorrow at ten. I kept today freed up because, well, because you were traveling. However, I would look through the email I just sent you tonight, so you’ll be prepped for tomorrow.”

  “All the figures are updated from last week?”

  “Yes, of course. Let me know if you need anything else and I can have it ready for your review by nine tomorrow.”

  “Alright, what else?”

  Rick proceeds to run through a bunch of mundane meetings that block out the rest of my week. I half pay attention until I hear Bryce’s name.

  “…Bryce at one o’clock Thursday.”

  “Wait, repeat that.”

  “You have a meeting with Bryce at one o’clock on Thursday. He just called me last night and had me pencil him in. I had to push your staff meeting back an hour, but I figured it must be important if he asked for an entire hour and he’s coming in person.”

  “Well, shit. OK. Continue.”

  Rick goes through the rest of my week.

  “Bryce has increased security protocol at the office. We are updating all the employees’ clearances and putting in a new ID system. It should be up and operating within two weeks. He also added some bells and whistles to your apartment and both houses.”

  “Even the beach house?”

  “Yes, even the beach house.” I sigh. I have a small beach house in the Keys, and I like to think I keep it off the grid a bit. The fact that security folks have been there doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy.

  “Bryce will go over all of that, but I have it detailed in an email I sent you this morning. Also, I still have you heading out to Moorea a week from Saturday for one week. Is that still the case?”

  “Yes,” I say adamantly. “Why?”

  Rick pauses before answering. “Just wondering.”

  I roll my eyes. “Just say it.”

  “Nope, none of my business,” he says.

  “Rick, so help me,” I start.

  “I just…well, I was curious I guess.”

  “Why, you planning on leaving Cain?”

  “Yes, domineering type A presidents of companies are just my type, so I figured I’d try to convert you to the dark side,” he sneers.

  “Fuck off, man. What’s with the twenty questions?”

  “You like her?”

  “Yes, I fucking like her a lot. OK,” I say drawing out the last two syllables.

  “OK,” he says. “She’s cute.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know.”

  “She has an amazing voice. I saw her in concert two years ago. OMG, she was amazeballs!”

  I’m fairly certain I’m going to strain my eyes from all the eye rolling. “Anything else you’d like to add about my personal life, Rick?”

  “Why’d she not come here?”

  “Safety concerns.”

  “I see. Bryce’s people are on her detail now, yes?”

  “Yes, she’s living in Fort Knox out there and I’d like to keep it that way.”

  “Shit,” he says, sucking in a breath. “You do have it bad.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, hot damn. I never thought I’d see the day.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess hell froze over or pigs started flying, or some kind of shit. Anything else we need to go over, I have to grab a shower?”

  “Well, geez, just invite me over. You don’t have to be all subtle about it.”

  I laugh. “Goodbye, asshat. Call me if the report changes for the ten o’clock meeting.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  I head to my shower and let the cold water run over me as I contemplate what could be going on that would require an in-person visit with Bryce.

  The remainder of my day gets sucked up going over the report and a million other emails I need to respond to before various meetings this week. A ping on my phone alerts me that Vanessa is back home. I get a text a minute later.

  Vanessa: I’m home.

  Jesse: Good. Sweet dreams, sweetness.

  Vanessa: You too…although I don’t think I’ll be sleeping for a while, too much work to do.

  Jesse: Try to get some sleep.

  Vanessa: So bossy.

  I smile.

  Jesse: Me?

  Vanessa: Yes, you.

  Jesse: These next two weeks are going to kill me.

  Vanessa: [photo]

  I about drop my phone as I look at a photo of a drawer filled with vibrators and dildos. She’s going to kill me.

  Jesse: Are you trying to give me a coronary?

  Vanessa: [winking smiley face]

  Jesse: Dammit, woman, if I wasn’t worried about your safety, my ass would be on my plane right now.

  Vanessa: Well…there’s always…you know.

  Jesse: I do?

  Vanessa: Video…

  I suck in a breath.

  Jesse: Name the time, baby.

  Vanessa: Uh, now?

  Jesse: Alright, give me thirty minutes.

  Vanessa: OK.

  I try my best to concentrate, but I can’t do it. The thought of Vanessa with all those sex toys is making my dick press uncomfortably against my jeans. How had I not seen that drawer when I was out there?

  The minutes tick by as I scan through more emails and respond to a few in short sentences, completely not like me. After twenty-seven minutes, I can’t take it any longer and I use my software to send a secure video chat.

  She picks up immediately. She looks beautiful. Her blonde hair is falling around
her shoulders, and I think she’s wearing a robe.

  “Hey,” she says shyly.

  “Hey,” I say. “So, you failed to mention you had a drawer full of sex toys.”

  She smirks. “I may have failed to do that, but things were, well, busy.”

  I nod and swallow as I see her shrug out of her robe. She has her phone sitting against something, and I can now see her entire body. She’s perfect.

  I suck in a breath. “You’re perfect,” I manage to say.

  She blushes. “You have on a lot of clothes,” she says.

  I pull off my t-shirt and pull down my jeans and boxer briefs. I set my phone back, so she can see me, while I rub my hand up and down my cock. I am rock hard just from looking at her.

  “I want to see you get yourself off with your favorite toy,” I murmur as I watch her. She nods shyly and reaches into a drawer. She pulls out a rather large rabbit vibrator with some sort of anal stimulator. I raise an eyebrow and file that small tidbit away for future use.

  “Show me, baby, show me how you make yourself come,” I whisper. I watch as she runs a hand over her right nipple and then reaches down between her legs. She spreads her legs, and I about blow a load when I see how wet she is. I grasp my cock tighter and watch as she uses her fingers to spread her sex open for me. I want to give her directions, but it’s like she knows exactly what I want. She sucks on her first two fingers and then runs them over her clit in small circles before plunging them into her tight pussy. She closes her eyes and moans and I speed up my movements.

  After a few moments, she reaches for the vibrator and turns it on, slowly sinking it into her. It is the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen. The vibrator is about the same size as me, perhaps a bit wider and she has to work it in an inch at a time until it fills her completely. The anal stimulator vibrates against her and her swollen clit barely fits within the grasp of the rabbit ears. She’s sex on fire, and I know I won’t last long.

  Her eyes close as the rabbit ears press against her clit, and I watch as she pushes herself further and further, pulling the vibrator in and out, over and over until she’s on the brink. I can see her body stilling as she presses it in all the way and changes the speed. She grabs a nipple in her other hand and pinches it between her finger and thumb and then she cries out and I watch as her juices slide down the vibrator and my memories of how she tastes and smells pushes me over the edge as I watch her come completely undone. My cock twitches in my hand as my come shoots out onto my stomach. I keep my hand tightly around myself as I watch her switch off the vibrator and slowly pull it out of her.