by Emma Harley
“You’re the last person I expected to see here General,” he boomed, standing back from Raina and looking her over with a proud expression on his face. She beamed back at him with a happiness Logan had never seen before.
“I can assure you I’m as surprised as you are Captain Green, how have you been?” she grinned. The Captain turned to the other man and guided him to Raina.
“Raina this is my husband Erik, Erik, this is the woman that pulled me from a sinking ship the week before I married you,” he boomed proudly. Erik’s eyes widened and he pulled Raina into a gripping hug.
“You are the reason I have my soulmate beside me safe and soundly, I cannot possibly express the words of my thanks,” he said with a thick accent, he released a blushing Raina but kept a grip on her hand as the captain laughed heartily.
Kalen and Logan stood by, gobsmacked. Before any explanation was given, Elias strode up to them, seemingly uncomfortable in his tightly fitted suit.
“Sorry to interrupt, but would you care to move to the dining room? Dinner will be ready shortly,” he puffed his chest out as he spoke.
Raina couldn’t hold her laughter at his brother’s awestruck faces as she led the men to the dining room. Erik pulled a chair out for Raina and sat himself beside her. Kalen sat opposite the captain at the head of the table while Logan and Elias sat themselves opposite Raina.
No sooner were they seated than Cole, dressed up in a tuxedo style outfit, presented small bowls of soup before them while another waitress poured wine for them all. Kalen cleared his throat before addressing the captain.
“Well this is certainly a surprise Jonathon,” he chuckled, “how do you and Miss Phoenix know each other?” The captain almost choked on his wine.
“Miss Phoenix?” he gasped at Raina with a booming laugh, “I recall a tale of a grunt in training who called you miss once before you ground his face into the mud!” Raina chuckled lightly.
“Different circumstances,” she quipped with a wink at him. Logan couldn’t look away from her, he was still processing the earlier outbursts. The captain sipped at his wine before regaling the table.
“I was Captain of a naval destroyer for several years, three of those years happened to be during that nasty war with the midlands. One night, we were compromised, three ships attacked us, and the only allies close enough to respond was a small team at the coast. We knew we would lose, and I watched half my crew get blown to bits that day. We were carrying classified information on the positions of our subs during that mission, so the bastards sent their men aboard to take the rest of us out. I couldn’t let them take it, so I put the ship into self-destruct, fully ready to die rather than hand anything over. I had shrapnel in my leg and two bullets in my gut, I was never expecting to leave the ship that day. One of the last things I seen was one of their ships turning its missiles on one of their own and sailing for our wreck. This little hellraiser,” he pointed his soup covered spoon at Raina, “had commanded her team to one of the enemy boats, and took out the fleet.”
The entire table had frozen stiff, hanging on every word he said, his husband had only moved to place his dark hand on Raina’s. The captain shook his head and sipped his wine.
“I had passed out by the time she reached me, but her team trawled those waters for me and my crew to bring as many of us home as she could. I woke up on a conquered enemy ship, and my first mate told me I had my sorry ass dragged out of the ocean by a five-foot woman. A week later I limped home to Erik and made him my husband, but not before I told my command that I wanted that girl honoured with everything we had.”
He finished his story with a sniff and wiped his eyes, while Erik just let his tears fall as he turned to Raina.
“My husband was almost gone, but you had brought him safe to me,” he beamed at her through his tears, “I had hoped always to meet you and thank you.”
Raina flushed as all eyes turned to her. She cleared her throat and swallowed her wine.
“I couldn’t stand by and do nothing, I’m glad you made it captain. Although I must admit, I went that day for selfish reasons. I was sick of people looking at me like some lost child, I felt like I had something to prove. It wasn’t until I arrived on the enemy ship that I realised how dangerous it was, and how unlikely it was that I would make it out of there let alone trying to get your crew out,” she confessed sheepishly.
Kalen, Logan and Elias were looking at her as though she were an alien who crashed their dinner party. She smirked at them as the captain laughed heartily.
“I don’t care what your reasons were General, you still did it. Did you know that there was a boy on my ship, barely past eighteen? It was his first sailing, he was terrified, he had just had a little baby girl with his lady back home and signed up because they needed the money and security. You pulled him out of the water onto a tiny wooden boat and pushed a medic to check him over. He would have been ignored and assumed dead, but they worked on him for a few minutes and brought him back. The crew weren’t nameless soldiers, they had families, parents, children all waiting for them at home. If it wasn’t for you, there would have been a lot more families getting that visit at the door.”
The stories were put on hold as steaming plates of food arrived and everyone tucked in. The captain and Erik began discussing a contract with Kalen, while everyone else just remained silent.
Dessert arrived and Raina was regretting wearing high-waist pants. They had no give at all. The conversation had drifted into light chatter and entertaining anecdotes until the captain turned back to Raina.
“So General, what brought you out here? You marrying one of these boys?” Raina almost choked on her wine.
“No not at all, I’m going to university in September, and Kalen kindly offered me a room here while I work for them,” she explained, wiping a dribble off her chin. He lightly brushed his greying moustache as she spoke.
“You work for them? What are you doing with yourself?” he quizzed. Raina stuttered as she hesitated, “Well I’m not working right now, but um… I’m going to be tutoring their younger brother in September.” The captain chewed slowly looking at each of them in turn.
“A tutor? I never imagined you having the patience to deal with annoying little children,” he chuckled.
“I’ve had a bit of practice,” she quipped, locking eyes with Logan for a brief moment. Elias and Kalen caught the exchange and stifled their laughter.
The rest of the night went off without a hitch, and after a few glasses of whiskey and a few cigars between the men, the captain and Erik stood to leave. Kalen had been subtly hinting at the business side of the encounter, and he looked slightly defeated as they rose to leave. The captain was shaking hands with everyone, saluting and hugging Raina tightly as Erik, before he turned to Kalen.
“I know this is a first for my company, but I’ll happily sign that contract with you on one condition,” he stated gruffly. Kalen’s eyes widened and he froze, his brothers looking on in anticipation. The captain clasped Raina’s shoulders as his chin trembled slightly. “Look after this woman, she’s a diamond in a sea of glass. I don’t doubt she can take care of herself, but everyone needs a shoulder sometimes.” Kalen almost cried with joy as he shook the captain’s hand.
“Of course I will, I'll treat her like my own daughter,” he exclaimed, beaming with happiness, “I’ll have the contracts sent to your office first thing in the morning.” The captain and his husband left with another flurry of handshakes and goodbyes, not before he had pressed his business card into Raina’s palm and begged her to keep in touch with them. No sooner had the door closed, than Kalen had lifted Raina around the waist in a crushing hug, spinning her in the air.
“Raina you are my good luck charm,” he roared through the room as he set her back down, “We’ve been trying to get a contract with Erik’s company for almost ten years now!” Raina grinned at him.
“Even I have to admit, that was an amazing coincidence,” she breathed as Elias clasped a hand o
n her shoulder.
“If I give you a list of potential clients, can you pick out the ones who maybe owe you a life debt?” Elias remarked sarcastically, earning an elbow in the rib from Kalen.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like this deserves a celebration,” Kalen announced, running up the stairs. Elias and Raina looked at each other blankly as Logan sighed.
“He’s going to take us to that swanky bar he loves going to when he gets a big contract,” he explained. Raina shook her head.
“I’m just going to go to bed, it’s already late and I don’t feel like drinking anymore today,” she yawned, giving a small wave to the brothers as she made her way up to her room, “Have a nice night.”
Their overlapped farewells echoed in the foyer as she padded down to her bedroom. She locked the doors behind her and flopped down on her bed, kicking her pumps off. She wasn’t tired at all, but she didn’t feel like spending a night out with Logan. Raina glanced around her room listlessly before jumping up. She had bought herself a pamper pack because it was on sale, and with everyone out and unlikely to bother her, she could relax.
Raina changed out of her fancy clothes and slid into red satin pyjama shorts and a matching flowy top. She piled her hair into a messy bun on top of her head, put on some metal music on her laptop and ripped open the box of goodies. Mud masks, foot masks, eye creams, lip scrubs, it had everything for a full night of leisure.
Sharp knocks at her door interrupted her bubble of peace. She padded to the door, muttering under her breath about learning a witch’s curse to turn people to stone. Logan was standing there, with a pink gift box, a wrapped gold box and the same stony expression that gave her a sense of déjà vu.
“Logan,” she huffed, “What can I do for you at this horribly unsociable hour?” He ignored the inhospitable tone and handed her the box.
“I wanted to say thank you, for putting up with me. And also I’m sorry for being a jackass,” he mumbled, passing the boxes to her. “Uh, thanks,” she stuttered, “I didn’t get you anything.”
He smirked and shrugged.
“I just wanted to say I was sorry, after earlier it just felt like everything was awkward with us,” Logan turned to leave before twisting back to her. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” she called quietly, before closing her door quietly and turning the lock.
She padded back to her bed and set the boxes down gently on the bed. Gift-giving made her uncomfortable. Gifts from barely acquainted men at her bedroom door made her even more so. She gingerly peeled back the gold paper and opened the sleek black box to reveal a decadent array of chocolates, she popped a white chocolate truffle in her mouth and pulled the ribbon off the pink box.
Nestled on a black cushion lay a sparkling silver bracelet dotted with deep blue sapphires, surrounded by twisting halos of diamonds. Wide eyed, she stroked the cold gems and lifted the bracelet out of the box. It felt heavy in her hands, the jewels sparkling in the warm glow of her lamp. Raina grabbed the box and stormed out of her room, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door across the hall from her.
Logan opened the door, clearly in the middle of undressing. His tie was hanging loose down the open sides of his shirt. Raina pushed the bracelet into his palm.
“A box of chocolates is an acceptable gift to say sorry to an employee,” she breathed sharply as he raised an eyebrow at her, “expensive jewellery is what you buy your wife when she’s mad at you, not your staff member.”
Logan looked out into the hallway and pulled her into his room. His reception room was larger than hers, grey walls and black leather sofas with grey throws and a pool table. She struggled out of his grip.
“What the hell…” she snapped as he closed the door and gestured to the sofa.
“I’d rather not have the staff spreading more rumours about you, how would it look if you were seen at my door in skimpy clothes after Kalen and Elias left?” Speechless, she sat down carefully on a throw blanket so she wouldn’t stick to the leather. Logan flopped down on the sofa opposite her, holding the bracelet out to her on one finger.
“It’s rude not to accept gifts,” he smirked. Raina sighed.
“Logan I accept your apology okay, we got off to a rough start I get it. You don’t seem to realise that you’re my boss, you can’t buy me things like that just to say sorry. The chocolates were enough. Hell just saying sorry is enough. Keep the bracelet for someone important, give it to your girlfriend or something.”
She had been getting louder during her rant, and she took a few deep breaths to regulate herself. She was getting worked up and her traitor heart skipped a beat as he laid back and his shirt fell open, exposing an incredibly muscled torso. Logan had just been bobbing his head randomly through her speech. He kept his eyes on the bracelet as he twirled it around his fingers.
“Actually Raina, I’m not your employer. My brother is. I didn’t hire you, I don’t pay you and you don’t report to me. So don’t worry about that,” he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and looked her in the eye, bracelet dangling from his fingers, “you know damn well I don’t have a girlfriend, and I didn’t buy you the bracelet.” Visibly confused, she opened her mouth to question him but he answered her first.
“Kalen wanted to thank you for tonight, but didn’t know how. I told him to leave it to me. The bracelet is a family heirloom, and before you start whining about how special it is,” he stood up and extended a hand for her to follow him, “let me show you something interesting.”
Clutching her tiny hand in his, he gently led her through darkened hallways, around twists and turns until they reached an older looking part of the manor.
“This house was refurbished a while ago, but we tried to retain as much of the older house as possible. It was a very old family home, and it won’t be a shock for you to learn that our money is old. At some point there was marriage to royalty in our family, so the riches have been there long before the businesses,” he reached a hallway with old brown doors and a lot of gilded picture frames with portraits and art pieces. He stopped at a battered door and shoved forcefully to unjam it.
Taking her hand again, he led her into a slightly dusty storage room, full of old wooden chests and old picture frames. Along one wall was just a row of slim mahogany doors with glass panels, he led her over to them and flicked on a switch. Spotlights lit up the glass panels, revealing row upon row of sparkling jewellery. Diamond tiaras, emerald chokers, ruby earrings befitting a queen lay nestled on velvet pillows and clay busts. Raina wandered along the row, mesmerised by the sparkling trinkets as Logan pointed out a few with some history behind them. He explained a tiara gifted by a duke to one of his ancestors, a necklace bought to his great great great grandmother by her lover and several large rings from marriages and engagements in their family.
Raina was admiring a finely arced tiara embedded with rose hued Padparadscha sapphires before her attention was drawn to a delicate necklace in the next panel. It was a simple gold chain with a tarnished gold pendant, three swirls meeting in the middle with a small purple stone. Among the diamonds and rubies embedded in precious metals, it seemed so out of place. It wasn’t to her taste either, the pendant was quite large and gaudy.
Logan nudged up against her shoulder, the heat from his body a welcoming warmth.
“See something you like? You can choose something other than the bracelet if you don’t like it,” he said, gesturing to the hoard. Raina shook her head slowly.
“No, the bracelet is beautiful,” she reassured him, “but it really is too much. Logan you’ve only known me for a short while, and you’re about to hand over an heirloom that’s probably worth more than I am. You’re crazy.” She laughed awkwardly as he chuckled. He took her hand and grazed his lips over her fingers, sending a wave of goose bumps over her arm that had nothing to do with the cold.
“Raina in one week you have pulled a gun on me, felt me up in a hotel room wearing nothing but a towel, shot two guys dea
d to save my ass, earned my family a multimillion mark contract. You think I’m pushing to be friends with you, but who wouldn’t? My life has been a mix of business women eyeing me for an affair or trying to worm their way into a contract or ditsy women who act like teenagers. I have never met a woman like you, can you really blame me for being interested?” he chuckled as she blushed furiously. Raina cocked her head and shoved him gently with her other hand.
“I don’t recall feeling you up in the hotel,” she countered, unable to stop the smile creeping across her face as she remembered, “you were imagining things.” He stared at her incredulously and scoffed. “You pushed me onto the bed, started taking my clothes off, kissed me and offered to shower with me,” he counted off each act on his fingers. It was Raina’s turn to scoff.
“You have obviously replayed this is your head as your fantasy but you have it twisted, I didn’t kiss you. Maybe the other stuff yes, but I didn’t kiss you,” she argued as he laughed.
“You were kissing my neck,” he teased, “That counts, so does all the other stuff.”
Raina huffed a laugh and jabbed him with her finger.
“That doesn’t count as me kissing you I was winding you up,” she giggled. Logan squeezed her hand and lifted to place it on his chest. His heart was beating wildly under her palm as he wrapped the sapphire bracelet around her slim wrist.
“It’s not a bribe, or anything else okay. It’s a gift. And if you won’t accept if from me, I’ll tell Kalen, he’s a master at guilting people into accepting gifts.”
He kissed her fingers again before lowering her arm so she could admire the bracelet. She gave him a beaming smile.
