Brandon (Members From Money Book 19)

by Katie Dowe

  “It is a busy time for the magazines and the media,” Leanne said with a shrug. She was as close to her brother as he would allow and they both had their busy lives. “I intend to sleep in late tomorrow and then get up to try and see if there is anything else I can do before Monday.” She got to her feet and leaning down, kissed her mother lightly on the cheek. “Don’t stay up too late,” she admonished as she made her way out.

  MaryAnn stared at her beautiful offspring with a gentle smile on her face and went back to what she was doing!

  *****

  “The sales of the women’s magazines are going through the roof but the sports magazine needs something more. It is getting stagnant,” The Editor in Chief of the offices in New York told the silent man anxiously. Marg Lowie’s job was hectic as it is. She ran the New York branch of Reynolds’ Publishing House and sometimes she wondered if Brandon Reynolds was pleased with the outcome. It was almost midnight and they had been in meetings first with the news media and now with the print media. Marg was used to the late hours and did not mind it. In fact she never left her elegant offices until the early hours of the morning. She was single and career driven and was heavily compensated for her time.

  “What do you suggest?” he finally asked. Most of the people had left the conference room and had probably gone for the night. An assistant hovered around in case there was anything they needed.

  “Portraying the basketball players in a more human light.” She spread a glossy page for him to look at. “Marlon Rickshaw is portrayed here as one of the biggest earners of this time but there is nothing else about him. I understand he is going through a very rough divorce.”

  “You want to put the man’s pain in print for everyone to see?” Brandon asked her coolly.

  “No! Of course not!” she said hastily. “We interview him and see if he wants people to see him for who he is. Not some tall handsome basketball player with a perfect life. He lost his mother last year and I am sure he is still reeling from it.”

  Brandon looked at the man who was a personal friend of his. “I will call and ask him.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Anything else?”

  “The sportswear is a little too every day. Romano’s is coming out with sportswear for him and her and they are flying off the shelves. We need to capitalize on that right away.”

  “Call and talk to Lorenzo on Monday or Monique.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He looked at the plain black strap watch on his wrist. “I suggest you go on home and get some rest, Marg. I will be flying back home early in the morning.”

  “Of course. I am sorry you did not get a chance to go and see the musical.”

  “I will see another time when I am in town,” he said with a faint smile as he got to his feet.

  “I understand Mark Seville has done the soundtrack for the new Christmas movie: ‘Love in the Snow,’” she said as she hurried after him.

  “So I gather.” He gathered up his jacket and put it over his arm. “Goodnight.” He nodded at the two women and made his way to the elevator.

  Marg stared after him for a little bit and sighed unconsciously. He was never going to notice her!

  Chapter 2

  Yanique had been working there for two weeks before she met him. She had seen his pictures in the papers and had seen him on television making some speech or accepting some award but she had never seen or spoken to him. She knew when Gabrielle was speaking to him because she would abandon everything she was doing and give him her full attention. It was the first week of December and the place was a hive of activities. She was planning on telling Gabrielle about her pregnancy before they went off and was very anxious about it. She had gotten to really love the job and she was going to need it to take care of her baby. She had not heard from Wayne and she did not expect to hear from him.

  “We have a lot of work to do,” Gabby said anxiously as soon as she hung her coat on the peg in the office they shared. “Mr. Reynolds is in town and he is coming here today.” She wrung her hands a little bit.

  “I have seen his photos in the papers and on television and he does not look like an ogre,” Yanique teased as she went towards her desk. She had a pile of things to proof and wanted to get them out of the way. Gabrielle had been giving her more and more things to do as she realized how thorough the girl was.

  “Don’t joke,” Gabby said a little sharply as Yanique took her seat. “We are doing pretty well but I want us to do more. I like the piece that you got on the wives so far. It makes an interesting reading.”

  “I am thinking of doing a double spread with them. You were right. They are a sensational group of women. And I was thinking of portraying each of them and chronicling their love stories.”

  Gabrielle looked at the woman sharply. “That’s a terrific idea!”

  “I think so.”

  Yanique was buried in work when he came. She had had some soup for lunch and then some herbal tea to settle her stomach. Gabrielle had gone to meet with Brandon Reynolds in the conference room and had left her alone. She had breathed a sigh of relief that she was not going to meet him but she was wrong. “This is our newest staff, Ms. Yanique Smith,” she heard Gabby’s voice just inside the doorway.

  Yanique looked up and stared at the larger than life man dwarfing the doorway. He was dressed in a dark blue business suit with his dark hair combed back from his forehead. Enigmatic blue eyes met and held hers as she got to her feet.

  “Ms. Smith.” He inclined his head as he came into the room.

  “Mr. Reynolds, nice to meet you.” She held out a hand for him to take and he shook it briefly.

  “Yanique was the one who came up with the idea of doing a double spread of the wives,” Gabrielle said hurriedly.

  Brandon turned to look at the woman briefly and nodded. “Good work.” His eyes held hers for a moment and then stepped back. “I will be back tomorrow morning to go through the layout in details. I have a luncheon appointment that I cannot miss.”

  With that he was gone with Gabrielle hurrying after him.

  Yanique shook her head and went back to work.

  *****

  Brandon sipped his whiskey broodingly as he sat at one of the tables in the main restaurant at the Elite Club. He had become a member several years ago and maintained his membership whenever he was in town which was not very often. He tried to attend the various functions but his business took him away most of the time.

  “You look like a man who has lost everything,” Mark Seville’s deep voice sounded in amusement at his elbow.

  “Far from it,” Brandon said sardonically. “I thought you were in Europe?”

  “Just got back yesterday. I promised Latoya I would not stay out late.” He slid into the opposite seat and beckoned for a drink. “That spread your papers in New York did on me was quite candid.”

  “That’s what we do,” Brandon said with a little smile. “How is the beautiful Latoya?”

  “My wife has finished law school after saying for years that she has no intention of being a lawyer,” Mark said with an indulgent smile. Brandon stared at the goofy expression on the international songwriter’s face and wondered at it.

  “What kind of law?”

  “Civil suits. She does not have the stomach for criminal law.”

  “Leanne seems to handle it very well,” he said referring to his sister.

  “I see where she is handling a high profile case.”

  “She hates to lose,” Brandon said wryly remembering that he had not called her nor his mother for a week.

  *****

  “We are beginning to think you don’t like us anymore, Brandon,” Leanne said half seriously as she took the call in her room. It was very early in the morning and she was getting ready to go into her office to tie up some matters before going to court. Her case was hanging in the balance and she was looking more on losing than winning.

  “You know better than that,” he told her in amusement. “W
hy are you not kicking butt in court?”

  “Because my star witness bailed,” she said in frustration as she dug around for her matching diamond earrings. “I am running out of options.”

  “Have you put a P.I. on her?”

  “Wow! Thanks for that useless information. Of course I did and he came up with nothing.”

  “Just trying to help,” he said mildly. “You will think of something.”

  “I am not so sure. How are you?”

  “I am in town for a few weeks.”

  “When are you coming around?”

  “Over the weekend. I already told Mother.”

  “We miss you.”

  “I know.”

  “Talk to you later.”

  *****

  “Mr. Reynolds.” Yanique had been so absorbed in what she had been proofing that she had not heard him come in. Gabrielle had gone out to meet with a publisher and had left her to manage.

  “Ms. Smith.” His presence filled the large room and made her feel slightly uncomfortable. “I had not told Gabrielle I was coming by today and I don’t want her to hurry her meeting and rush over.”

  “What do you need?”

  “To see the layout for the magazine.”

  He had pulled up a chair next to her desk. She handed him the mockup and watched as he glanced through it swiftly with a small frown on his brow. Yanique was determined not to allow herself to be intimidated. He was just a man after all! He looked up suddenly and caught her brown eyes and his gaze held hers. “Love story?” he asked raising thick black brows.

  “I thought it would add a nice touch,” she said seriously.

  He stared at her for a moment and noticed that her thick black hair was loose and went past her shoulders. She was quite a looker, he thought suddenly before reining in his thoughts. “Leesa agreed to this?”

  “She did. She said she wanted their stories to get out there. Apparently people are saying that they are weaving some kind of spell on the men they marry,” she said with a laugh. He stared at her dimple and could not stop.

  “What do you think?” he asked her softly.

  She shrugged a little bit and forgetting who he was for a moment she responded candidly. “I think that love exists in some cases and you just have to make the right connection.”

  He was just about to ask her if she had when they heard someone at the door. “Oh, I am sorry, sir,” one of the men who worked in the printing department muttered. “I was just coming to see when Yanique will be finished.”

  “In another couple of hours, Clark,” she said to the nervous man.

  “Thank you,” he said and hurried away.

  Brandon got to his feet and looked down at her. “I will be seeing you,” he said and then walked away.

  *****

  Yanique stared at herself in the full length mirror in her bathroom. She had taken off her clothes and was staring at her still flat stomach critically. Her breasts felt tender at the touch but apart from that she looked like she always looked. Shelly had always moaned about the fact that she had such generous breasts and she could barely fill a size A cup. “I hate you seriously,” she had always declared. She stepped into the shower and adjusted the spray accordingly. She had no idea what she was going to do yet and she did not want to think about it just now. She was working at the biggest publishing house in the country and was excited about her job. She allowed the warm water to beat into her skin and take away the weariness from her body. She had decided not to call Wayne again because he had made it so painfully clear that he wanted to have nothing to do with her and his child!

  *****

  “Darling, it is so good to see you!” MaryAnn hugged her son tightly and took his coat as they went into the living room together. Leanne had just come home and had changed out of her red suit jacket into loose pants and a sweater. “We thought we would have dinner in the living room in front of the fire for a change.”

  He went over and kissed his sister on the cheek briefly before sitting next to her. “That sounds good.” He looked up as the housekeeper hurried in with a tray on wheels.

  “Thank you, Darlene,” his mother told the woman. “We will help ourselves.”

  They ate in silence for a moment and then Leanne spoke up. “I see where you are thinking of buying that online company that is going bankrupt. Is that a good idea?”

  “It has potential,” Brandon said with a shrug as he drank his wine. “It was poorly managed so I am thinking of getting rid of the management staff and starting over fresh.”

  “Have you looked into the various legal issues?”

  “You know I have.” He stared at her in amusement. “Pity you practice criminal law or you could work out the legal side of it.”

  “You don’t need me, you have Wayne Barrett for that.” She looked at him. “I understand he is getting married in January?”

  “So he told me.” He turned to his mother who had been listening and not contributing. “Mother, I understand that your client is demanding more of the vases you found in that little store in Italy?”

  “He wants five more and he does not quibble on costs,” MaryAnn said with a smile. “He also wants mirrors.”

  “When are you planning on going to Italy?” Brandon asked her.

  “Sometime during the holiday.”

  “I will make sure the jet is at your disposal.”

  “I can fly regular,” she protested.

  “Mother, for goodness sake, take the offer! I have gotten so used to traveling in style that I cannot bear to go commercial,” Leanne said with a wave of her hand.

  “Okay, you sold me.”

  *****

  “How is she working out?” Brandon asked Gabrielle abruptly as the conversation they had been having lulled for a moment.

  “Yanique?” She looked at him startled for a moment. The girl had gone into the library to do some serious editing for the magazine coming out in two weeks.

  He nodded.

  “She is a gift.” Gabrielle beamed. “The best I have ever worked with. I am afraid she is quite the workaholic.”

  “I see.” He played with the pen in his hand. It had been two weeks since he had been in town and he was somehow finding it hard to leave and go back home. He had been to see his mother and sister for the past two days much to their delight. “Where is she?”

  “Oh, she is in the library getting the editing done.”

  He got to his feet.

  “Would you like me to go and get her?” Gabrielle asked a little anxiously.

  “Don’t bother yourself,” he told her coolly. “I know my way there.”

  Gabrielle fidgeted and wondered if she should warn Yanique that he was on his way to her but just then a call came in for her and she attended to it.

  Yanique had taken off her boots for comfort and was sitting on one of the comfortable sofas with her feet curled beneath her. She had been given a company iPad and was using it to make her corrections. They were running on a tight deadline because one of the writers had come down with a debilitating flu and had to be in the hospital. Yanique had completed what she had started to write and it had been hastily slotted in. She looked at the article that talked about the possibility of love at first sight and frowned thoughtfully. It did not ring true. It was mechanical and stiff and needed something more. She was staring at the article and reading it for the third time when she heard someone at the door. Without looking up she murmured to the person thinking it was Gabrielle who was the only one who knew she was there. “Listen to this, Gabby: ‘Many people would shun the idea that love at first sight really exists but taking into consideration attraction at the outset then one would say that it was really love at first sight because love starts with the physical and then moves on to the spiritual’ end quote. It sounds corny and evasive. What do you think?” She looked up then and her heart quickened as she saw the tall commanding figure of Brandon Reynolds. She cursed inwardly wondering why she had not looked first before speaking
.

  “Does my opinion count?” he asked as he came into the quiet tomb-like room that was filled with books from floor to ceiling.

  “Of course.” She forced herself to remain where she was and not jump to her feet like a soldier encountering her commanding officer.

  He sat on a sofa opposite her and his blue eyes met hers. “I am biased where that is concerned. I do not believe in love at first sight.”

  “Why not?” she asked before she could stop herself.

  His eyes wandered over her exquisite face and lingered on her full bottom lip that had a coral sheen to it. Her hair was coiled at the nape of her neck exposing her neck and the high cheekbones. She was certainly a looker, he thought.

  “I believe in physical attraction at the first glance.” His tone was soft and sent shivers down her spine. “You cannot love someone you do not know.”

  “I disagree.” She had leaned forward automatically. “There can be a certain connection, whether it is physical or spiritual or a little bit of both. You don’t have to know the person to love them.”

  “Are you speaking from experience?”

  “No.” She looked back down at the device in her hand as she thought about the baby she was carrying without a father. With her and Wayne it had been lust, pure and simple, and she regretted that her child was being born out of something so frivolous. “Was there something you needed?”

  Brandon realized that there was something there and wondered what it was. “I just needed to see where you are in the editing.”

  She looked at him in surprise. “I thought that you would not be concerned with something like that. As I understand it you have television stations as well as publishing houses much bigger than this to take up your time.” The minute she said the words she realized she had gone too far.

  Before she could apologize he got to his feet. “I am interested in everything that goes on in each of my businesses, Ms. Smith, please remember that,” he said coolly. “Carry on.” He turned and walked out, his feet muffled by the tan carpet.

  Yanique bit her lip and almost raced after him and apologized. She had always been a person who spoke her mind and had forgotten that he was in fact one of the most powerful men in the world! She sat there thinking for a moment and felt the wave of sadness hit her so severely that she had to blink away tears. She ended up staying late because when she got to her place the memories would come and she would be reminded that she had lost her best friend and she was having a baby by a man who did not give a damn!