by Jerilee Kaye
“I heard he got a very good deal for his glass factory.”
Julianne nodded. “Too good a deal. I wish Jin didn’t have to buy that just to shut my father up.”
“I’m sure he didn’t just buy it to shut your father up. Jin Starck is a brilliant businessman. When he makes decisions like that, it means he saw an opportunity.”
“I hope so. Twenty-five million is a lot of money.”
“Not to a man like your fiancé,” River assured her. “Be happy, okay?”
Julianne nodded. “You know I am.”
“Good. And you know I will always be here for you.”
“Of course, you’re my best friend, remember?”
“Always.”
Julianne looked up and saw Gian standing beside them, asking to cut in. River stepped away from her.
“I’ll see you later. I see a lone lady by the bar. Maybe she could use some company.”
With that, River gave her a salute and went off.
“Was he heartbroken?” Gian asked, taking her into his arms for a dance.
Julianne shook his head. “It would not have worked out between us. We tried to go out once. I really wanted to focus my affections on him. But… Jin Starck was one hard man to get over with.”
“Are you happy, sis?”
Julianne nodded. “Now, I am. Finally, I feel like I’m me again. My life has a direction again, and I learned that I didn’t need Dad’s love and affection nor his acceptance for me to be complete. I am slowly finding my footing without his shadow or the shadow of my fear of him.” She sighed. “How are they, by the way?”
Gian shrugged. “Dad is still busy counting the money that your fiancé paid him for the glass factory. Mom is, as always, busy having her nails done in the salon.” Gian sounded bored and disinterested.
“Aren’t we the lucky ones, huh?”
“Tell me about it.” Gian sighed heavily. “He isn’t mad at you anymore.”
“I would imagine. But knowing him, if he sounded interested in me, it’s not because he was really concerned about me. It might mean that he wanted access to my fiancé.”
“True,” Gian mumbled. “Look, I will turn the company around. I will do whatever I can to get the company back on the green again.”
“I believe you can do it.”
“I will do it for both of us. Because I don’t care what father says. He can give me all of our family’s wealth. But whatever he gives me, half of it is yours, and will always remain yours. He may have been unfair, but I’m sane enough to know what’s right and wrong. And what’s right is that we split everything fifty-fifty.”
“Gian, I don’t need…”
“I know. But please… let me right the wrong for you. I want to. It would give me peace of mind.”
Julianne nodded. Gian leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
“Be happy, okay?”
“You know I am.” She gave him a bright, reassuring smile.
Jin stood beside them. Gian turned to him.
“Your face still hurts?” Gian asked with a sober expression on his face.
“Not so much now, thank you very much,” Jin replied.
“Remember, that won’t be the last time I beat the shit out of you, if you hurt my sister.”
Instead of being offended, Jin offered his hand to him. “You have my word,” he said. “And a Starck’s word is gold. Only one woman made me break it. That’s your sister. And that’s the last time I will ever do that.”
Gian nodded and shook his hand. “Good. I’ll take your word on that.”
After shaking each other’s hands, Gian left and Jin took Julianne back into his arms.
“You okay?” she asked him.
“Yeah. Tonight was perfect, except for that two minutes that Jefferson danced with you, and that two five second occasions that your cousin and your brother threatened to end my life if I hurt you. As if I was ever going to do that.”
She intertwined her fingers at the back of his neck. “Well, you must know, I did have a bit of training in martial arts too. So, if you do hurt me… my brother or my cousins wouldn’t get to you fast enough. I’ll finish you off myself.”
He laughed. “Hmmm… I haven’t seen these skills of yours. What form of martial arts did you study?”
She shrugged. “Karate. A bit of jiu jitsu.”
“Really? Jiu jitsu, huh,” he murmured. “I’d like to see those skills. I know jiu jitsu too. Maybe we can grapple some time…” he leaned forward so he could whisper in her ear, “In bed.”
She hit him playfully on the shoulder as she laughed. “Someone might hear you.”
“Let them. I want the world to know how in love and happy we are.”
“I think they already know,” she whispered.
“Hmmm… good.” He leaned forward and kissed her lips. “Come. I have something to show you.”
He took her hand in his and led her towards the exit. Julianne looked up the balcony and saw Pierre and Arianna with one couple their age and another younger guy. They were chatting and laughing. The younger guy looked down at them and nodded at Jin. Jin gave him a salute before exiting the ballroom.
“Who are those people?”
“Richard McKenzie and his wife. The younger guy was his son, Rafe McKenzie, CEO of McKenzie Group.”
“But… weren’t they your competitors?”
“Yep. But now, it’s all just friendly competition,” Jin replied. “Rafe McKenzie was the reason we weren’t kicked out of Round Ten. When all the Bernards needed was their vote because they got the most shares, Rafe turned on them and took my side. Even I was shocked. And it usually takes a lot to shock me.”
“Well, it is the honorable thing to do,” Julianne commented. “Arthur Bernard was out of line when he mixed business with his personal agenda.”
“True. But, that’s all behind us now, thank God!”
They reached the main entrance and waited for Jin’s Bugatti. When the valet parked in front of them, Jin opened the car door for her to get in.
“Where are we going?” she asked as soon he drove off.
“It’s a surprise.” He winked at her. He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips to kiss her fingers.
Ten minutes after, they parked in front of a line of buildings. The shops around the area were already closed, save for a few coffee shops and bars. The street looked familiar to her.
Jin took her hand and they crossed the street.
“This area looks really familiar.”
Jin nodded. “Don’t you remember, my love? This is where we first met.”
She looked around and then her eyes widened as she remembered the street she ventured in, looking for souvenirs and glass perfume bottles.
“Yes, that shop was right…” she turned around and looked at the shop across the street. “There.”
But the shop didn’t look like a souvenir store anymore. It looked bigger, at least three times wider and one floor taller. The façade was painted dark gray on the side and both the top and bottom floor windows were fully made of glass.
“Oh, too bad the souvenir shop isn’t there anymore.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure the owners were compensated generously.”
“What’s that building now?”
“I heard it’s gonna be the latest furniture and décor design house, that would sell the most unique, exquisite and bespoke pieces.”
“Really? That’s exciting. What’s it called?”
Jin grinned at her. And then he took something out from his pocket. It was a small device that looked like a remote control. He pushed a button and the whole place lit up. The front façade had an LED light box signage that spelled the shop’s name.
The House of Arabella.
Julianne’s eyes were filled with tears.
“I know you’ve always dreamt of designing your own furniture pieces. I saw talent in you and since your father was stupid enough not to see it and support you, I thought I’d mak
e it happen for you.”
“Oh my God, Jin…” Her hand went to her throat as tears welled up in her eyes. “Is this… is this for real?”
Jin nodded. “Now, all you need to do is design and manufacture those brilliant pieces.”
“But who will manufacture for me?”
“You have a glass factory that’s fully operational, don’t you?”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Sanders Glass Factory?”
Jin nodded. “Except that it will not be manufacturing wine glass bottles exclusively now. You will venture on glass decors. And a part of the plant can be transformed to wood and metal works to support your business.”
“Jin, that’s too much of an investment! I don’t even know where I will get clients to trust me enough to make pieces for them?”
“You already have,” he replied. “Starck Corp. will open at least eight hotels in Europe next year. I’ll give you the concept and theme of the hotels. You will be my exclusive supplier.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded. “I mentioned the same thing to Rafe McKenzie. He sounded interested too.”
“I thought he was your competition.”
“Friendly competition,” he corrected her. “Don’t worry about getting orders. Your hands will be too full on Stark Corp. requirements alone.”
“Is this for real?”
He pulled her so she could stand in front of him then he wound his arms around her waist. She leaned on him as they looked at the building in front of them.
“When did you start working on this?”
“Some time ago, when I was looking for you,” he answered, kissing her temple. “You once told me about your dream of designing furniture and glass décors. I bought this because… of all the wrong places I could have been that day, I was led here, at the same time that you were here. I’ve kept this place all these years. At the back of my mind, I think I’ve always known you would come back. And when you do… this would be one way to convince you to stay.”
“But I already told you I would stay.”
“Yes. Then consider this an early wedding gift,” he said. “A very lucrative hobby.”
She turned around to face him. “Thank you. I don’t know how to repay you.”
“You know how I want to be repaid. You can do it every night for the rest of our lives. In fact, you can start tonight.”
She pinched him on the side.
“Awww! I meant I want you to love me. What do you think I meant?”
“That’s not what you meant, Jin Starck!” she accused him.
He laughed and hugged her to him again. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
He took a deep breath and then he whispered, “You’re mine, Arabella.”
She smiled as she looked up into his eyes. Then she said, “Forever.”
He smiled at her triumphantly as if he had been waiting for her to say that for a very long time. Then he leaned forward and kissed her passionately, lovingly.
Julianne poured all her love for him in that kiss. As she wound her arms around his neck, she realized that out of all the wrong places they could have been… they ended up right there, where they met in the beginning.
About the Author
Jerilee Kaye was born under the sign of Leo in the year 1979. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Management from De La Salle University. She has post-graduate qualifications in the fields of Product Management, Project Management and Procurement. She is a Certified Senior Professional in Supply Management from NLPA, Pennsylvania and is currently working her way to an MCIPS certification from CIPS UK.
She manages a global supplier portfolio for multi-national and government entities in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. She is also an entrepreneur, managing a photography and fine art printing company with her husband.
She is married to her first love, Sam, who she’s been dating since she was 16. They are blessed with two beautiful angels, MarQuise Justine Jerilee and Sir Alfred IV.
When she’s not buried under stacks of paper at work, or engrossed with her writing, she spends some down time playing golf, kicking her husband’s butt on a judo match and learning to play the piano.
Books by Jerilee Kaye:
Knight in Shining Suit:
Get up. Get Even. Get a Better Man.
Intertwined:
A relationship so beautiful, you can’t risk it, not even for love itself.
Destiny's Games Series:
All the Wrong Reasons
When something so wrong, could feel so right.
All the Wrong Places
She kept secrets. So did he. And then Destiny decides to play.
Somewhere in the Middle (Working Title)
Can you love someone more than a friend, but less than a lover?
Coming Soon:
Wingless and Beautiful
Extraordinary love can be found in the most unexpected places, with the most unlikely people.
Brother After Dark
When love ventures into the forbidden, is there hope for happily ever after?
Turning Princess Charming
Love can change anything: opinions, preferences, even gender orientations.
Taming a Princess
Sequel to Knight in Shining Suit
Stories by Jerilee Kaye
available on the Chapters Interactive Stories App
Knight in Shining Suit
All the Wrong Reasons
All the Wrong Places
Intertwined
Connect with Jerilee Kaye:
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