Charlie and Todd took her in as if she were insane.
“This looks like the suite in Pretty Woman.”
They continue to look at her in utter confusion.
Taylor became incensed. “It’s outdated!”
Both men then looked at her, exasperated. “Taylor, we can handle décor later, right now we need to—”
“Need to what? This corporation was founded by hotels, and we have one of the biggest hotels we own looking like this? In a suite? This is totally unacceptable.”
“It’s not a priority,” Todd says in a tone that expressed finality.
Taylor shot him a wild look. “Todd,” she said softly, too softly, like I’m-about-to-go-crazy-on-your-ass softly. “I will not be spoken to like a spoiled child. I also will tell you one more time that I am in charge.”
“No, what I mean is—” Todd started backpedaling.
Charlie cut in soothingly, “What he is saying, Taylor, is that we have other pressing mergers and acquisitions on the table that we need to see through before we can update—”
Taylor held up her hand, the left one with the big-ass diamond on it. It distracted her momentarily. Holy fuck, I am engaged, the thought ran through her mind. But then she realized the two advisers were staring at her. Why were the staring at her? Oh, right, because she had cut them off.
“Preston Corp. is not buying anything or merging with anyone until we fix what we have.”
The men were silent for a moment, regarding her hesitantly. “Taylor,” Charlie started in, “we have some pending arrangements from your unc—uh, from Cedric’s time as CEO that …”
“Did you not come to me saying that he had overspent and overrun and overruled? I am here to straighten this out. I believe Cedric has very nearly killed this company, and I intend to bring it back to what it was, to the place where it should have stayed. Preston Crop. has always stood for quality and for the fact that we could be counted on as a company. How do we look if we just keep buying stuff and not taking care of what we already possess?”
Todd and Charlie look at her like she had just explained the theory for time travel, shock and awe all over their faces.
“That’s good,” Todd said.
“It could be the next campaign,” Charlie quipped. “Taking care of our own is top priority,” he murmured with a dreamy look in his eyes.
Taylor had no idea what they were talking about, but she moved on. “We have designers on staff, right?”
“Uh …”
“Are you kidding? Well, get them,” Taylor snapped. “I want design ideas on my desk by Monday for every hotel that is over ten years old, and I want that report about costs and repairs by the morning.”
“Taylor, that is …”
“We can’t possibly …”
Taylor held up her hands. “Look, it can be done, and it will be done. I don’t care what we were buying, investing in, or collaborating on. You put the brakes on all of those things. Now,” Taylor instructed. “This company is on the brink. I will not let this company die.”
The two men nodded.
“Now, get me pictures, designers, and tell them I want redesign plans. And I want figures. I won’t be screwed on this deal. If they want the job, they better make it the best job they can, and they need to use the resources that are already within Preston Corp. I want them using Preston brand everything, so all those resources better be up to snuff too.”
Both men rapidly typed her commands into their smart phones.
“And Cedric needs to be found, like soon.”
The typing stopped, and both men looked up at Taylor.
“Well, see—”
Taylor slammed a palm down onto the stone countertop. “I do not care about opinions on this one. I am here to work with a company, not weave lies. As it is, I lied to one of my oldest friends about being engaged to Derrick for two days and not two minutes. I am done with lies. I will not lie about where Cedric is. He is dead. He is the past. I am moving on from the past. I need to work with facts.”
“He’s been found.”
Taylor felt her eyes bulge and then she forced them closed. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “And when was this little gem of information going to come up from you guys?”
“Well—”
“How did that happen?” Derrick asked, chiming in for the first time.
“We placed him at a location that wasn’t supposed to have anyone there for another few days. But the housekeeper went back to get something she had left and found him,” Todd explained to Taylor.
“When?”
“About a hour ago, we got the call and came over here. Kill two birds with one stone,” Todd said.
What a poor choice of words for this situation, Taylor mused, “So let me guess—police, the whole bit?”
Charlie nodded, “Yes. But she hadn’t been to the place for several days, and there were already empty bottles there when she found him. We merely added the ones we had found to them.”
Taylor opened her eyes and looked at Todd and Charlie. She decided that her new motto was “Move forward.”
“Well, that’s done. Now what?”
“You need security, Taylor,” Charlie said.
Taylor thought briefly, “No.”
Derrick made his way over to Taylor. “Tay, the press is going to be all over you. They know that Cedric’s death means you are coming back. You were so off-limits from the media as a child that they will be eager to get a glimpse of you now that you’re in charge … and add the engagement to that—”
“Which, by the way, your future sister-in-law has already tweeted, posted, and snapchatted to the world about,” Todd informed them.
“What?” Derrick and Taylor asked in unison. Taylor knew Marty liked gossip, but that was fast even for her. And what the hell was a tweet chat or whatever the hell Todd had just said?
“Not exact names,” Todd said, taking his phone out again and reading, “but she put, and I quote ‘Just got awesome news! Hate being in the dark, but this was worth finding out about two months late! #gorgeousring #perfectcouple #weddingbells.”
“What the hell is a hashtag?” Taylor asked.
All of the men turned to her slowly.
“What?” she demanded.
“I will pull you out from under your rock later,” Derrick told her.
“Just from her tweet the Internet is abuzz,” Charlie said, “and there was a paparazzi photo of her coming here before she dropped that loaded shell.”
As if on cue, Derrick’s phone rang.
“Shit,” he muttered, sauntering over to the phone. “Fletcher,” he barked in salutation. Everyone was silent as Derrick took in whatever was being said through the phone. “You have got to be kidding me,” he said, walking over to a wall of windows and then looking down. “Okay. Yes, I will take care of it.”
“They have shut the damn street down, nobody can get anywhere,” Derrick said.
“Who?” Taylor asked.
“Paparazzi.”
Taylor walked over to the windows he was looking out and gasped as she saw the street in front of the high-rise filled with people.
“We need to get you out,” Derrick said to Taylor.
Taylor shook her head, “Can’t we just stay here?”
Just then Derrick’s downstairs buzzer started ringing like crazy. “No, Tay, we can’t. They will find some way up, and it’s a safety thing for the other people in the building. No one can get in the doors, and no one can go out.”
Taylor couldn’t let anyone be hurt.
“Well, where do we go?”
“The mansion is—”
“No,” Taylor said firmly, cutting Charlie off before the idea was out of his mouth. She turned back to Derrick. “Don’t let them take me there,” she whispered to him, hoping she was quiet enough that Charlie and Todd couldn’t hear her. The horrors that she was fighting back just hearing them mention going back there again almost had her leaving the room. She ha
d to look like she was keeping it together; she needed to be in charge.
Derrick nodded to her, “I won’t, Tay,” he assured her, but his face reflected complete confusion. Just then his phone rang again, “Hey,” he answered this time after seeing the caller ID. He was silent as he listened to the caller and answered, “Yeah, I think you’re right. Thanks.” Derrick disconnected, “We are going to my dad’s.”
Taylor’s eyes widened. That place had been like a second home to her and held lots of emotions. She wasn’t sure she could handle that place either.
“Tay, it’s the safest place,” he told her then leaned in and whispered, “I need you safe, it’s the best I can do.”
Just then there was banging on Derrick’s door. “Mr. Fletcher, this is building security.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s go,” Taylor said. Her decision had been made for her.
* * *
It was the quickest Derrick had ever exited his home. He didn’t even get clothes. He and Taylor met building security, who escorted them down to the garage.
“This is unreal,” Taylor said as they crept out of the garage to hundreds of people, most of them with cameras flashing. She was wearing a Red Sox hat and aviators that Derrick had given her, and the windows of the Range Rover they were in were tinted, but the paparazzi still called out to her and Derrick by name as they rolled by.
“They are probably just hoping it’s you,” Derrick tried to assure her, but he knew that the flashing would make her visible.
“I’m not sure I can deal with all this, Derrick,” Taylor told him as she held her head in her hand.
“They are just hungry for something, Taylor, and when things are hidden it becomes more delicious. You are the hidden Preston Princess.”
“I know.”
They drove in silence the rest of the way. When they arrived at the Fletcher mansion, there were paparazzi everywhere too, but security was better equipped to handle them there, and the crowd was much smaller than the one that had descended on Derrick’s place.
They drove into a garage elevator and were lowered into a parking area.
Derrick blew out a breath, “Well, that could have been worse.” He laughed and turned to find Taylor white-knuckled on the door of his Range Rover. “Tay? What’s wrong?”
She didn’t speak; she just sat and stared straight ahead.
“Tay? Talk to me.”
She let out a shaky breath. “I just … I hadn’t ever thought about coming here again, you know? It holds so many memories, and I just …”
Derrick reached and unclenched Taylor’s hand from the door. “It’s going to be okay, Tay,” Derrick assured her, rubbing her hands to ease the tension.
Taylor turned her face up and looked at Derrick, “Stay with me, Derrick?”
“Yeah, Tay, I will—”
“No, like don’t just drop me off. Don’t just settle me in, please stay with me. Don’t leave me, okay?”
Derrick furrowed his brow. This was weird; he wasn’t sure where her new panic had come from, “Yes, Tay—”
“Promise?” she practically begged, squeezing his hand to emphasize her need.
With his free hand, Derrick touched her face lightly, “I promise, Taylor. I will stay here with you, and I won’t leave you.”
Taylor nodded, still looking quite skittish. “Okay,” she said and took a deep breath. “Okay,” she repeated. After several seconds, Taylor looked at Derrick. “Why haven’t we gotten out?”
“Uh, because you have a death grip on my hand,” Derrick replied, looking down.
“Oh right, I’m sorry,” she exclaimed, throwing herself backward and knocking her head on the passenger window.
“Easy, killer,” Derrick laughed and got out. He walked around and opened Taylor’s door.
“Geez, it’s so dark in here,” Taylor commented as she got out of the SUV. “Can’t you guys afford lights?”
Derrick laughed full tilt this time.
Taylor glared at him. “What’s so funny?”
Derrick took a step closer to her, feeling her tense a bit, and removed the sunglasses from her face. “Better?” he asked, making absolutely no attempt to cover the smirk on his face. He then pulled the hat from Taylor’s head and ran his fingers through her blond waves. The feeling of her silken strands was better than any cashmere or satin Derrick had ever touched. They stood silently, taking each other in.
“There you are!”
Both Taylor and Derrick jumped from the shrill intrusion of Marty’s voice.
“Christ, Derrick, don’t keep her here in the garage all damn night,” Marty chastised, pulling Taylor forward. “God, give him a few more minutes and he probably would have jumped you on the hood of a car!” she told Taylor.
Taylor smiled at Marty, but she turned over her shoulder as she was propelled forward. “Come on, Derrick,” she called, holding out her hand to him.
Derrick smiled and took it. “Coming, my love,” he said, kissing her hand and enjoying the momentary glare Taylor gave him.
* * *
Taylor had vowed never to step foot in this mansion again.
This was yet another thing she had not wanted to let happen that was happening.
Taylor went along willingly with Marty, but she had felt so much better when Derrick was with her. He was the only one who really understood and the only one who was breathing confidence into her when she doubted. He could read her and knew when to shut her questioning mind down, and reluctantly, she needed him.
“Let’s go get you some tea. I can’t believe that Cedric is dead!” Marty rambled on as they went. “How just like him to ruin your trip!” Taylor smiled at Marty; it seemed she had competition for being Cedric’s biggest hater.
In a blur, Taylor accompanied Marty and Derrick up the elevator, and they were now entering the luxury kitchen. A familiar figure turned as they came in, and Taylor stopped in shock.
“Nan?” she asked quietly.
“Taylor?” returned the woman who was before Taylor, her voice breathless and disbelieving. Not even a second went by before Taylor was enveloped into the arms of the softly rounded woman. “I thought I would never see you again, lass,” Nan cried into Taylor’s hair, her Irish brogue so familiar and comforting.
And Taylor returned the tears. Nan had worked at her family’s home for as long as she could remember, but when her grandfather died, Cedric had fired Nan and all the staff that had been with the Preston family forever.
“I didn’t know where you went,” Taylor sobbed at Nan. Taylor had been so overwhelmed at the time, she didn’t know some staff was gone until months later.
“I came to work here after, well—” Nan stopped, took a breath, and then hugged Taylor tight to her again. “Oh, I thought you’d never come back. When you left, oh, when you left …” Nan rambled in between tears.
“I’m back,” Taylor said, her head still buried into Nan. She leaned back. “I missed you. I’m sorry I didn’t try to find you …”
“Shhhh. It’s okay, my dear,” Nan soothed in her soft Irish accent. “I am just so glad you’re back.” She held Taylor back in her arms, swaying like a mom as Taylor fiercely returned the hug. When she looked up and saw Derrick, she looked surprised. “Derrick! Well, lad, I had no idea you were here. I thought … that is, last I knew you and my Taylor …” Nan’s voice trailed off.
The blush in her cheeks and the loss for words was telling to Derrick. Nan was vocal, really vocal; she didn’t care about saying what was on her mind. So, for her to hold her tongue meant she must be protecting someone, and it wasn’t Derrick.
“Uh, yeah, well, Taylor and I—”
“Derrick and I reconnected a couple of years ago,” Taylor finished. “We’ve been seeing each other for a while.”
“Show her, Taylor,” Marty said in a stage whisper, about to pop from the excitement.
“Oh, yeah, uh, now we are, uh … he gave me this,” Taylor pulled her hand out and showed Nan her ring, unable to fin
d the word “engaged” in her vocabulary.
Nan’s eyes widened, and her lips moved, but words didn’t leave them. Her eyes jumped from Taylor to Derrick and then back to Taylor. “Taylor, my goodness. Are you sure? Are you happy?” she asked in utter disbelief.
“Yeah,” she said, but it sounded hesitant. Then she smiled wide, “I’m very happy, Nan. He makes me happy—he understands.”
Nan looked between the two again, unconvinced, “Okay, my dear. As long as you’re happy.”
“I am,” Taylor said again, nodding.
“Well, then let me get you kids something to eat,” Nan announced, turning back toward the kitchen.
“Oh no, Nan, you don’t have to,” Taylor said.
“You’ll not be brushing me off. I am quite certain you haven’t eaten enough tonight.”
As if on cue, Taylor’s stomach growled.
“There, you see! Come on now,” Nan said, opening the door and stepping back.
“I’m right behind you, Nan!” Marty said. She would never turn down a meal.
“Derrick?” Taylor said, turning to him.
“Right here,” he said, following obediently, and happily, behind.
* * *
Nan whipped up some homemade pizzas, and the trio was soon bursting from overindulgence. Derrick watched as Taylor—with her stomach now full and yet another long day behind her—drifted off to sleep on her hand. Derrick smiled as he remembered how he watched her sleep the night before, watched the furrow leave her brow, watched her as she remained asleep in his arms as he carried her to his bed. She probably would not have been happy to know that Derrick had held her after getting into bed with her, held her against him and kissed her hair. He had loved every second, but now that he reviewed it he sort of felt like a serial killer.
Marty’s phone rang, playing Beyoncé’s “Run the World,” and she hopped up and out of the room to answer it, but Taylor slept right through it. Nan came over to the table beside Derrick, watching Taylor.
“She is an angel, I am so glad she came home,” Nan whispered as she looked at Taylor and smiled wistfully. “Thank you for bringing her home, Derrick. This is where she belongs.”
Inevitable Inheritance: The Inevitable Series | Book One Page 9
