The Arrangement

by Cassie Verano

  Xiomara’s breath was warm and mint-scented. Pushing against the plumpness of her swollen lips, I continued brushing them softly, encouraging her to open them. And when she finally did, I slid over the edge, tumbling down a great big old hill that I knew I wouldn’t likely come back up soon.

  She was sweet, soft, and warm. My arousal thick, pressing against my pants, demanded to get in on the action. But that would not happen. Not tonight.

  I needed time to seduce her again. To remind her of our bond and show her what could be.

  My thumb caressed the delicate skin of her temple as my hand guided her head’s movements. And before long, Xiomara was following my lead, exploring, and delving deeper into the kiss. No longer hesitant about what she was doing, I could tell she sought to uncover long lost answers.

  The combination of her submission and my deep desire for her was intoxicating. This strong, passionate woman was pulling me into her drunken well, even if I were the one who initiated the kiss.

  I couldn’t pull back, not even when my phone began ringing. I couldn’t pull back even when it started buzzing seconds later with a voicemail alert.

  And when she moaned into my lips, that was almost my undoing. I nibbled on her bottom lip and licked along the inside, sampling the soft tissue there.

  Her sweet sigh against my lips was enough to force me back. I’d already gone too far, wanting more of what she’d given to me a few nights ago. I knew that I’d opened Pandora’s box with this woman.

  No matter what denials she issued from her mouth, she could never be the same. If she walked away from me again, she’d always wonder what if?

  My forehead rested against hers as she sought to regain her breath and, eventually, her composure. But before she could pull back, before she broke the spell completely, I had to finish my question.

  “Tell me now...what you just felt, was it the emotions of the day?”

  I saw her eyes close and long lashes block out the brook of tumbling emotions behind them.

  “Honesty, Xiomara. That’s all I ask,” I said in a tone barely above a whisper.

  “I cannot do this with you, Lake. I have to stay the course.”

  “But why?”

  “It’s my life’s dream in collaboration with honoring my parents’ culture. I’ve sacrificed so much for this. Come too far for this. I enjoyed the night of the masquerade ball, but now...well, now I need to place a wall up between us. My feelings are getting out of control again, and I’m losing focus here. I made a promise to Russell, and he made one to me. We might not be in love with each other or have the chemistry you and I do, but we have a common goal in mind that we’re both committed to. I’m not a fool, I know he’s with other women, and I’m okay with that. But his are casual flings. When we marry, it’ll be just him and me. I’m not free to give my heart away. I owe him better than that because I expect better than that from him!”

  Fury rushed through me. She owed nothing to no one except for herself. I hated that they had subjected her to this way of thinking that would not allow her to consider her needs.

  Gaurav Sheffield was a controlling, dominant man who selfishly secured his needs over his daughter’s.

  “You have wronged no one, Xiomara. You’re not married to him.”

  “But I am engaged to him!” she argued back.

  “Tell me this. Has he ever kissed you?”

  Her eyes blinked rapidly. Hesitantly she answered, “Yes, he’s kissed me.”

  “The way that I have?”

  “What?”

  I pressed, “Well, does he?”

  “Well...uh. We...”

  “Has he had sex with you?”

  Anger narrowed her tilted eyes into slits.

  “Don’t you think you’re going too deep, Lake?”

  “I just want to know.”

  “It’s not your business who lays in my bed. I’m finished with this conversation,” she said, turning her back to me.

  I turned the car back on and drove the last few minutes to her parents’ home.

  Xiomara placed her hand on the door handle and pushed it open. I grabbed her wrist at the last minute and stopped her from leaving.

  “When you’re ready to acknowledge what we have, call me.”

  She slammed the car door and stormed off.

  CHAPTER 13 – XIOMARA

  “...THERE ARE SEVERAL ISSUES that we need to be aware of,” I said, looking at the group assembled around us.

  Fourteen pairs of eyes were on me, including my father’s. I knew that he was assessing my every word, posture, and how I commanded the room.

  I also knew that he assessed the managing directors' body language assembled in the conference room with us to determine how well they received me.

  Today was the first time that he had allowed me to lead a meeting at Sheffield Tech. Although the first half of this meeting had gone over well, with everyone providing the requested updates on their department, and the finance department giving us good news on where we were at this quarter versus last year this time, I knew things were about to shift.

  “We have two board members that will leave us this January.”

  A few eyes shifted away from me, and I saw body postures changing. I refused to read anything into that and continued with what I wanted to say.

  “Craig Newby and Harold Whitaker have chosen not to continue in their roles. With their resignation, we have already begun searching for their replacements, and I’m proud to announce that Joanne Stinchcombe and Stephanie Sherrell will replace those members. We are grateful for the years of service those gentlemen have provided, but we look forward to the new direction we’ll be moving in.”

  I gave background information on our two new board members without divulging the details behind why the other two had tendered their resignation. It was pretty easy for anyone to determine why that was.

  Both Craig and Harold had been on the board for years, and neither of them was happy to see me being groomed to take my father’s place. In their mind, the position should have gone to Charles Washington, my father’s VP. They also had reservations about a woman being in a leadership role.

  Unfortunately, not only did Charles lack the vision that this company required to lead it into the future with an aggressive approach towards growth, but he also had a drinking problem. One my father had tried to cover up for many years, and the time for that had passed.

  Alternatively, no one knew that if those factors weren’t in place, the role of President and CEO was still coming to me. I was on a first-name basis with most of the board members and had been for years. My father ensured that he positioned me to work closely with them in other capacities in the industries I was trained in. Except for two of the board members, they all wanted me in the role of President and CEO.

  After five years, or upon my father’s passing, which I hoped didn’t occur, I would assume ownership of the company in tandem with Russell.

  My father had never shared the details of the upcoming merger between Sheffield Technologies and Darden Innovative Solutions with most of the staff.

  No one knew the intimate details about Russell and me, nor that our pairing led to the merger that would be happening.

  That had only come about in the last five years. Discussions had turned into concepts, which had turned into research that led to proposals, and now it seemed as if we were on the brink of making it official within the next two years.

  No one knew that both he and I would be in parallel leadership positions to ensure both companies' interests while making it a powerful conglomeration. Yet, I would have authority over Russell.

  I, of course, was just fine with leaving those details out of the public spotlight.

  The last thing that I wanted was for anyone to comb through my private life or assuming that I couldn’t find a man of my own. Or worse yet, realizing how greedy I was to gain the reins of this company even at the sacrifice of my personal life.

  After I’d given the update
s about the board changes, I looked around the room expectantly to see if anyone had questions.

  A red-head male sitting at the opposite end of the table warily raised his hand. Andrew Letteral was the managing director of supply chain management.

  “Yes, Andrew,” I said, refusing to call him Andy as he’d frequently asked.

  He needed to understand that we were in two unique roles, and just because I wasn’t my father didn’t mean that I wouldn’t command the same level of respect. It didn’t matter if Andrew was two years older than I was or not. I was still the incumbent CEO, and he needed to respect that.

  Too often, he’d tried to get on familiar terms with me, commenting on my attire, asking why didn’t I sit in the cafeteria with the rest of the staff and just a general lack of respect entirely.

  “Excuse me, Miss Sheffield, but if you don’t mind me asking...is the reason they’re retiring because they have a problem with your leadership skills.”

  A smirk crossed my lips as I leaned forward in my chair with my hands clasped together. I refused to be the bitch I wanted to be and cut his ass down. Especially while my father was watching, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t about to hand his ass to him on a plate.

  “I’m not sure where you received your information from, Andrew, and I’m not in the business of entertaining rumors. We have a seven-hundred-sixty billion-dollar corporation here. We don’t make our decisions lightly, and they aren’t based on who’s in popular demand. While I will be more than happy to take this discussion offline and into more depth after this meeting, I won’t allow it to derail this meeting. And perhaps the most valuable takeaway for you, Andrew, is that if people choose to retire based on that interest alone...then perhaps, they never had the allegiance to their positions required, nor the best interests of the company at heart after all.”

  I reveled in the fact that he’d turned extremely red under my mild tongue-lashing, but I didn’t show it outwardly. Instead, I looked around and asked, “Will there be any more questions?”

  Eyes shifted around the room, and there were only two gazes that remained on me, my father’s and Elaine White, his secretary of six years. She gave me a proud wink and smile before shifting her gaze to her iPad.

  I couldn’t quite get a read on my father’s look and decided not to think about it too long. Instead, I focused on wrapping up the meeting as tidy as I could.

  Once everyone had gathered their items and left the room after having one-on-one discussions with me, I grabbed my things and prepared to go, as well.

  A slow, loud handclap stopped me. Turning around from where I’d just removed my charging cord from the wall, I saw that my father still occupied his seat at the other end of the table.

  “Sugar Pop, you’re doing me proud.”

  I wasn’t sure whether to smile, laugh, or cry. Gaurav Sheffield barely administered praise.

  “Thank you, Daddy.”

  Pushing back from his seat, he met me at the other side of the table as we stopped at the doorway.

  “The entire time you ran this meeting, I visualized you and Russell. The places that you two will take this company and what you will do with it brings me great joy like nothing else. I cannot express to you how anxious I am to see the two of you married off.”

  I shifted my gaze away from his and smiled nervously.

  “Honey, are you okay?” he asked as I grabbed the doorknob to the conference room.

  “Yes, Father. I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, just a little hungry. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning. After this long meeting, I’ve just got a bit of a headache. Nothing a little food won’t cure,” I said with a weak smile.

  “Hmm. Well, why don’t you have lunch with me?” he suggested.

  Any other time that would have been a perfect idea, but I didn’t think my stomach could handle one more word about Russell. And I was sure that’s what would happen at lunch; I’d hear all about the praises my father reserved only for Russell.

  Damn, I didn’t even have the guts to deal with my Daddy on this subject? And using worrying about his health wasn’t a valid excuse, but that didn’t stop me from using it.

  I didn’t even recognize this weak woman I was becoming, scurrying away from facing my father and refusing to deal with my feelings about Lake.

  “Um, you know, Dad. I just need to grab a quick bite and get to working on some of those contracts that I need to sign off on. Tomorrow morning’s the deadline.”

  Squeezing my shoulder and smiling down at me, he said, “That’s my girl. No rest for the hardworking.”

  And with that, he left, and I stood alone...battling back tears of frustration.

  I was tired of always fighting to get my father to see me as more than just his little girl. If he truly saw me for who I was, then he would know that I didn’t need Russell by my side to run his empire.

  I loved my mother, but I admired my father. Not that I didn’t love him, too. But from an early age, his work fascinated me, and I always wanted to be just like him.

  I watched stocks, studied mergers and acquisitions, researched technology and software because it was important to me. My father’s blood flowed strongly through me, and in some ways, I was the son he’d never had.

  It was only natural that I’d wanted to follow in his footsteps.

  And somehow, I was my mother’s daughter, too. I hungered for love, romance, and happiness in my life.

  It was as if the two were mutually exclusive. They simply could not coexist.

  And yet, I had to make it happen; running Daddy’s empire while having the love I deserved.

  CHAPTER 14 – LAKE

  “SURE, I CAN THROW IT together. What’s your purpose?” Harlow asked, hopping onto the counter and popping a chip into her mouth.

  “I just want to have a nice dinner party for my friends, my team, and the staff, along with a few business constituents.”

  Harlow finished chewing her chip and pulled her legs up onto my counter with her, crossing them.

  “Bullshit!”

  “What?” I asked as I bit into my sub sandwich that my cook, Rosie, had prepared.

  “Don’t give me that shit, Lake. I’ve been your sister for thirty-one years. This do-gooder that you’re putting forth is a means to an end, and I’d like to know what that is.”

  “That’s not true,” I said, swallowing the last of my sandwich. Grabbing my water bottle, I took a sip and set it back on the counter before finishing my statement.

  “I’m honestly looking to spend some quality time with the folks that matter to me.”

  “Lake, you’re an asshole. You’re just like your father. Wait,” she said, holding up a hand to stave off the defensive comment she suspected I was about to make. “You do care; I give you that. But you allow no one into your private sanctum, not even those you consider business associates and so-called friends. Hell, most of your players have never been invited here and neither have some of your managers. So, for you to want to do this, there’s something more to it.”

  “No, there isn’t. I promise—”

  “And I promise, if you’re not honest with me, I will not pull together this party for you. I’ll just call it and let you hire someone to do it. I refuse to be a part of you hurting anyone, Lake. I’ve seen Dad do it enough, and I will not let you become that. I might not even stick around to see it, but head back home to London where I belong,” Harlow threatened.

  She had me where she wanted me. I was enjoying having my sister around before she had to leave for her next assignment. We seldom had time to spend together, and I wasn’t trying to rush her away. So, for the second time in one day, I confessed the truth.

  “Okay, okay, okay. There’s this beautiful woman—”

  “Ahh, I figured as much. There’s always a woman at the heart of it all with men.”

  “Do you want me to finish or not?” I asked, giving her a blank expression.

  “Yes, I’m sor
ry.”

  “So, there’s something between us, and I know it, and she knows it, but she won’t own it. I don’t have excuses to be around her other than once a week when she volunteers at the children’s home.”

  “In Durham?”

  “Yes, but she doesn’t live there. Going around her will entail involving her family because she still lives with them. And I know they won’t accept that.”

  “Wow! This sounds like a poverty story if I’ve ever heard one,” Harlow said grimly, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “It’s not that. Totally different. She’s engaged to a man, and she’ll be living with her parents until she’s married and moves into her fiancé’s house.”

  “Wow! So, you’re moving in on a woman that’s already taken? How noble of you, dear brother, who likes the community to think you’re a charitable being.”

  “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s not like that at all. She’s in an arranged marriage.”

  “A what?” Harlow scoffed, spitting her juice out.

  “Hey, watch that!” I shouted, jumping back.

  “Sorry,” she said, wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her sweatshirt and reaching for a roll of paper towels.

  “She’s engaged to this guy she doesn’t even love.”

  “Did she tell you that?”

  “She didn’t have to. I could feel it when I kissed her, and whenever I’m in her presence, I feel her energy. I know how she responds to me, and I see how she reacts to him.”

  “Wait, you kissed a woman that’s engaged to another man? How much lower is this story going to get, Lake?”

  Pulling my hand over my face, I said, “Come on, Low, don’t judge me. Just listen. She’s not happy, and I’m not giving up on her until she makes the stance she needs to.”

  “Oh, I get it. And you decide to come along and open her eyes to the ways of the world to enlighten her?”

  Sighing, I’d known that it would sound bad, which was why I hadn’t wanted to share it with anyone. However, I felt that I couldn’t ignore what was happening between us either.