by Kate Stewart
“Things are fucking fantastic, sis, thanks for asking.” I took a long look at the thin ghost of my past in the passenger seat. She winced under my scrutiny. “Shit, Taylor. I’m sorry.”
“No, Amber, I’m sorry. I should have come sooner . . . but why didn’t you show up when I came for you?”
She let her eyes drift down my tailored suit. “I was still angry with you for leaving. I was scared Momma would catch me. I was just . . . scared, period.”
I nodded, knowing she was telling the truth. The state I had seen our mother in when I had attempted to come back for Amber was downright terrifying. Still, I pressed on.
“And you didn’t think to leave? Ever?”
“I’m not like you, Taylor. I just can’t leave everyone I care about.” I gestured to the parking attendant as we exited the Mercedes, our conversation paused as we entered the elevator.
We rode up in silence, an uncomfortable and expectant air between us until I spoke up. “I did come back . . . for you.”
She bit her lip around her words. “I know.”
When the elevator opened, we were met by Nina and her brother, Aaron, who took one look at us both and smiled deeply. “Hello,” he said directly to Amber.
“Hello,” Nina repeated, her smile just as welcoming.
“Nina, Aaron,” I introduced, “this is my sister, Amber. Nina is my partner, and Aaron is her brother. He’s visiting from Florida.”
“Just moved here, actually. Nice to meet you,” Aaron said, sticking out his hand to take Amber’s. She hesitated briefly and took his with a small smile.
“Sister,” Nina said, widening her eyes at me. I flicked my hand at her as if to say I would explain later while Aaron made small talk and Amber gave polite replies.
“Well,” I interrupted, “we have a meeting in five.”
“Nice to meet you. I’ll be around if you need a tour guide. Taylor knows how to reach me,” Aaron offered, giving Amber a lingering glance.
“Would you stop drooling, you moron? She’s obviously shy,” Nina scorned him in a whisper as they entered the elevator.
“That woman will have my babies, sister,” Aaron said smugly.
I saw Amber’s eyes light as she caught his comment and turned to look back at him. He winked at her, unashamed, just as the doors closed.
I pressed my lips together to keep my laughter in from his cocky comment and felt a tug of recognition for Daniello as I made my way to my office. Amber took in her surroundings, her steps faltering slightly as we entered my expansive corner of the top floor. As soon as my door was closed, I briefed Amber.
“Your attorney’s name is Janet Adler. She specializes in family law and is the best in Charleston. I’m assuming the grandmother isn’t well off and can’t afford much in the way of representation.”
“She’s broke,” Amber agreed, taking a seat behind my desk.
“And the father?” I stared her down as she twisted in her seat and darted her eyes to me. “Tell me, Amber, what is Joseph’s last name?”
I could feel it. The name pained her. “Walker.”
“Jesus Christ, Amber!” Despite my suspicion, instantaneous anger boiled through me.
I knew it.
Laz was the father.
“That’s the only reason he didn’t kill me last week.”
“Yes and no. I never thought he wanted to kill you,” she defended weakly.
I crossed my arms and sat back in my chair. “And you two thought, what? That I wouldn’t put this together until after you got your son back? Did you think I would just throw some money at you and not be involved? Are you both that ignorant?”
Her posture stiffened in ready defense. “I planned on telling you. I just didn’t know how. I thought Laz might’ve told you when you spoke to him, and that was maybe why you had avoided me all week.”
“We had no chance to discuss paternity, Amber, considering he was kicking the shit out of me!”
How the fuck did this happen?
The intercom interrupted my next question.
“Taylor, your nine o’clock is here.”
“I’ll be there in a minute, Ross,” I snapped and looked back at my sister, who was watching me with guilt-ridden eyes.
“So, what’s the plan, Amber?” I crossed my arms. “If you think I’m going to help you regain custody of your child so you can go back to that monster and to meth, you can forget it.” I paced my office, furious I hadn’t seen it more clearly. I looked out my window and down at a few bustling tourists and shook my head, trying to take calming breaths.
“Listen, Taylor—”
“I’m listening,” I said, keeping my back to her.
“Laz and I aren’t together,” she assured carefully. “It was only one night, and it was a mistake. I love him, but not in that way.”
“Uh huh, and now this is where you tell me that he’s a good father.” I turned to her, noting the color coating her cheeks. She didn’t like defending herself. It ran in the family.
“No, this is where I tell you that I will do whatever I have to do to get Joseph back. That I will never set foot in Dyer again, and that for the first time since he was born, I feel like I may be able to be a decent mother.”
“And you think Laz will just let you have his son?”
She blew out a breath and slunk back in her chair. “No.”
Hands on my desk, I leaned forward. “And what do you propose we do when he comes for him?”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” she said exasperatedly.
“But he has. What’s the plan, Amber?” I gritted out, knowing this whole setup stunk of preparation. Probably the weeks that led up to her phone call.
The intercom interrupted us again. “Ms. Adler insists she only has twenty minutes.”
I reached over and picked up the phone. “Then make her wait another minute and send her in.”
I slammed the phone down, trying to get a grip on every emotion I had. I was boiling.
“If money is what you want, Amber, I will give it to you. I was hoping to—” I dug my nails into my palms as I tried to find the right words “—to know you again.”
“I want that too,” she said softly. “This is my mess. I can clean it up.”
“No, you can’t, not alone in a city where you know no one and still have addiction running through you. I just want to know right now—”
“Ms. Adler,” my receptionist, Ross, interrupted.
For eighteen minutes, I listened to Amber recall the events that led up to her losing her two-year-old son. Apparently, Lucy Hardin had run her mouth to a grocery store clerk about what a shame it was that “Amber Ellison had the most beautiful baby boy. Too bad his mother was a druggie” while Laz’s mother stood in the checkout line behind her. Child Protective Services was called, and they located Amber smoking a meth foil in her car with Joseph in the back seat. I sat back and watched the remorse intensify on my sister’s face and knew she was telling the truth. Still, a part of me condemned and convicted her for falling victim to meth after all we’d been through at the hands of our addicted parents.
The lawyer instructed her to do exactly as we’d planned: obtain a job and residence. Apparently, there would be several months of counseling, along with random drug tests. And then there was the issue of bringing him out of state. It was a process, but one the lawyer was confident about as long as the rules were followed.
When the door was shut after the lawyer’s farewell, Amber turned to me with a heartfelt smile and a thank you.
Unable to hear anything more about Laz with my mind still reeling, I sent Amber down to HR for job placement, unsure if she would qualify for anything. I was already exhausted, and it was only ten thirty. I would get everything from her later. At that moment, I couldn’t look at her without feeling resentment, and I didn’t want that for our newly kindled relationship.
Laz was a father.
What. The. Fuck.
Sitting at my desk, furiously ru
shing through my workload, I remembered Ray’s words to me the first time he saw my temper.
“Presentation is everything, kitten. You can make your point without having to act out like an animal. If you lash out that way, the reaction will more than likely mirror yours. Nothing gets resolved, and you are left having to explain yourself, and we both know you hate that.”
I sat back in my chair, thinking of Ray and the proposition he’d made me exactly one year after I met him.
“You are a lot thinner than I remember,” Ray remarked, circling me.
“I don’t eat much,” I offered as I stood in the foyer of his expansive house, as if my eating habits would be reason enough to keep me there. I felt filthy even though I had washed off the bus ride before taking the cab to his address. I spent a few minutes just standing at the entrance to his massive mansion before finally coming up with the courage to knock. I had no idea what was about to happen. I felt like there were eyes on me as I stared at the lion’s head doorknocker that seemed to smile as it held the metal ring in its mouth.
“You will eat here,” Ray declared with confidence. “And you will eat well. The body is a temple. Did you know that, Taylor?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, sir,” he scorned as he stopped in front of me. “And you will treat it as such. What makes you think your parents won’t come for you?”
“They won’t. They will never come looking,” I assured him then added, “meth.”
Realization dawned on him as he scrutinized me. “And do I need to worry about your drug use?”
“Never,” I assured adamantly.
“Never, sir,” he corrected again with slight agitation. His eyes lasered their way down my body. “You’re too young.”
I winced. The night we met, Lucy Hardin had painted me up to look a little older. I took in his sharp black suit and perfectly cropped hair while he circled me. His steps were precise, purposeful. I could feel his hesitation.
“I’m an adult.”
“You’re a baby,” he concluded. “Have you ever been fucked, Taylor?” My eyes widened at his sudden change in conversation.
“No . . . no, sir,” I answered back, suddenly on the defensive. I crossed my arms over my chest, and he quickly pulled them back down to my sides before resuming his intimidating dance around me.
I saw his eyes light and a small smile grace his full lips before it fell away. He looked entirely comfortable in his skin. It was the first time in my life I had ever envied a man. I assumed he was just home from work considering the hour. He was far better looking than I remembered with deep blue eyes and sharp features. His light brown hair was tamed and perfectly shaped to suit him. He was half a foot taller than me with a strong build, but it was the air about him that was intimidating. I wanted to have that air.
He commanded respect at all times and would not settle for anything less. This I knew from our brief meeting a year ago and even more so as I stood under his scrutiny.
“So, you want to attend Harvard? By my calculations, that’s four years at around sixty-five thousand dollars, an apartment around another hundred and twenty. Prep school is going to cost me around another fifty thousand. Then there are your tutors, which will be another thirty or forty grand.”
I stood as he listed just how expensive Harvard would be and felt the large lump of defeat fill my throat. I knew it would be impossible. I mentally kicked the imbecile in me that wanted to believe that I had a chance. The endless hours of studying I did in Dyer. All the extra attention and effort I put into my education would be fruitless.
“I understand, sir.”
“You understand what?” he asked, discarding his jacket. He rolled his sleeves up while he tilted his head at me in question.
“Harvard, the cost, it’s too much.”
“So, you are saying you aren’t worth half a million dollars, Taylor?”
I was finally free from the hell I’d endured for eighteen years. I was free from Dyer, from my mother, from Laz. I had nothing to fear except where to find my next meal, and I had absolutely nothing to lose either. Digging in, I suddenly had the courage to answer him.
“I guess that’s a question you should be answering . . . sir.”
“You do understand what I am proposing here?” he asked as he stood in front of me.
“Yes, sir.”
With a snide smirk, he looked me dead in the eye. “Well, if I do decide you are worth it, I think that may just make you the highest paid whore in Tennessee.”
With confidence I didn’t know I had, I gave as good as I got. “A whore that is going to attend Harvard, sir.”
Nina walked in just after my lunch hour and sat across from me without a word, but expectant just the same.
“I have a sister,” I said absently, clicking my emails to avoid her confrontation.
“I saw that one that looks very much like you,” she said in a way I knew she was chewing her cheeks off to keep from prying.
“She’s staying with me now,” I added, giving her more.
“Taylor,” she warned.
“When I took time off, I went to get her. She lost her son in a custody battle, and she’s here to get him back. She needs my help, and I want to help her.”
“Wow, a full confession in less than a minute. I’m impressed,” Nina said, standing. “Whatever you need, whatever resources we have.”
“I am giving her a temporary to permanent position with us. I cannot vouch for her character.”
“And I don’t need you to,” she said confidently.
“Why thank you, Mrs. McIntyre,” I said, getting a playful dig in.
“Bitch . . . I’m leaving,” she huffed and shut the door behind her. I laughed softly as I thought of the hundred and one ways things could go wrong having Amber in Charleston.
I texted Cedric, who was probably ready to strangle me for lack of communication. And the irony was he was my protector and the person I trusted most in the world.
Me: Amber is here.
Cedric: That is good news.
Me: Laz may not be far behind.
Cedric: I’ll see you tonight.
Me: Wait. I’ll call you.
Cedric: No.
Me: I’ll call you.
I wanted to give Amber a chance to explain without assuming the worst, which was hard for me because, as far as I was concerned, everyone had an agenda. The broken little girl I left had turned into a broken woman; a woman whose past had yet to be buried and future lay in limbo.
Why had I expected any differently? There was so much to be said for the hell she’d endured. I could only imagine the thoughts that raced through her head daily. And coming off an addiction, in a new city, living with me—practically a stranger—I was sure she was shell-shocked. I just needed a little time to assess the situation. To see if her loyalty truly resided with Laz or if she genuinely wanted a new life.
I owed it to her. And I would give it to her.
“Taylor, line one,” Ross chimed into my silent office.
I picked up the phone to lay into her. “Ross, I’m out of patience. I am not to take another phone call without an announcement of who is calling and what it’s regarding. Am I crystal clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I waited impatiently, and soon after, she buzzed back in. “He said he’s your dance instructor and would like to schedule a lesson.” I scrambled to pick up my phone quickly with an embarrassed and curt, “Thank You.”
“Taylor Ellison,” I announced through gritted teeth.
“I take it you are having a rough day, Taylor Ellison.” I cursed the instant smile on my face and the fact he was the one capable of putting it there. Still, I kept my tone impatient.
“Daniello, I have a cell phone.”
“And I have that number,” he mused. “I think we should discuss last night.”
Interest piqued, I took the bait. “Which part?”
“The part where you asked me not to stop.”
&n
bsp; “Okay.”
“Meet me downstairs.”
“Daniello, I’m at work.”
“I know. And I am becoming impatient outside of your door.” He hung up without my reply, and I cursed as I looked at my schedule and saw I didn’t have another meeting until later that day. I briefly entertained the consequences of ignoring him altogether and dismissed it. If he wanted a quick, satisfying, afternoon fuck, I would happily rid myself of the tension building in my shoulders.
I made my way toward a different SUV than the one I had become accustomed to and ignored Rocco as I climbed in.
I narrowed my eyes as I saw the small victory in Daniello’s. He was gloating at my appearance.
“You are the most arrogant ass I have ever met.” Dark locks of hair rested neatly on the top of his head. His suit was an immaculate black. He looked every bit business as I did sitting opposite of him.
“I need an opinion,” he replied, ignoring my statement.
“Yes, you could use a new driver,” I said loudly, knowing full well Rocco had heard my comment due to the open partition.
“That is one mutt you should not tempt to bite,” Daniello reminded as his eyes darted over my dress. It was if he was visually deciding how he would remove it. Heated by his attire, his smell, his demeanor, I did my best to try to hide it.
“How can I be of service, Mr. Di Giovanni? As you know, I have a corporation to run.” Our eyes remained locked, both of us filled with renewed desire yet neither of us acting on it.
“Just a few minutes of your time.” He winked as we entered a private parking lot. When we exited, I looked around the empty garage at the construction going on then back to Daniello, puzzled.
“It is almost finished,” he remarked as Rocco eyed us with distaste from the front seat and we made our way to an elevator. Once inside, I couldn’t help but note Daniello’s size in the small space. We stood opposite each other in the elevator until I took a step forward and unbuttoned the top of his collar.
“You have no patience today, Taylor?”
Rolling my eyes so he could clearly see it, I examined the cut underneath his bandage.
“It is fine,” he protested, grabbing my hands and holding them in his. “Your concern is not necessary.”
