Leo cleared his throat, and said, "Your personal assistant will coordinate with mine, making sure we can get maximum efficiency with our social gatherings. They have already started working with a wedding coordinator, and you'll just have a few decisions to make."
"Oh, I get a say?" It came out sharper than she intended, but she was so unsettled. A personal assistant? "I have a personal assistant? What on earth will I use one for?"
"It's going to be a whirlwind. As my wife, you'll be expected to be involved in various charities, fundraisers, that kind of thing."
She breathed out heavily and said, "Will any time be my own?"
Leo reached out and drew her closer to him. "For a while? Very little of your time will be your own. We have goals to accomplish in the time we have."
"Time we have?" She hated that she was echoing him so weakly, but it was hard to think when he was so close. She could smell his cologne, a little woodsy and heat emanated off him. He stroked her cheek softly and whispered, "We aren't bound together forever. Just until the Breckenridge deal is complete."
"How long?"
"One year." He rested his arms on either side of her, trapping her against the counter. "We can separate after one year. By then it will be The DeSilva-Holmes Group, and after the first contracts, no one will even remember when it was just The Holmes Group."
She tried to keep herself from sinking in to his warm flesh. She could remember what his hands felt like against her, how he would catch her around the waist and slowly sink into her. She counted herself lucky when a voice called out from the bedroom.
"Leo, you're late!"
He grabbed Anya's chin and made her meet his eyes.
"Tonight." And he dropped a quick kiss on her forehead.
She stayed leaning against the counter, until she could catch her breath. Her sister was taken care of and Anya was, if not happy, at least well taken care of. She just had to make it a year.
***
Anya finally wandered out of the bedroom and back to the living room, where she was confronted with a flurry of activity. There were people bustling back and forth, bringing rack after rack of clothing into the living room. She stood at the edge of the chaos, until a cheerful blond woman, roughly her own age, came over to her.
"Hi, you must be Anya, I'm Shayna, and I’m your new personal assistant." She extended her hand to Anya.
"Hi Shayna. Uhm, I've never had a personal assistant before." Anya accepted the handshake, pleased at the woman's strong, sure grip. You could tell a lot about people from their handshake. She wasn't trying to compete or overpower her. She also didn't have a terrible dead fish handshake.
"No worries! I'm just going to help you keep everything sorted, make sure you have what you need."
Anya smiled and gestured to what seemed like an endless stream of clothing racks. "I wasn't quite expecting all this." The bubbly young woman grinned.
"When I got a hold of all the stuff they wanted to schedule you for, I called the stylist and told her to bring everything she could get her hands on. You’re going to need a lot of gowns." Anya crinkled her nose and the curvy woman laughed. "I know, but that's the unique pleasure of being on the arm of what was the most eligible bachelor in town."
Anya let herself be guided to a sofa that was all harsh edges and metal tubes. She laughed when she settled into it, and at Shayna's look said, "Sorry, it's just more comfortable that I expected." Anya realized she'd given herself away as never having sat on it before, and hurriedly said, "How are we going to do this? This could take forever!"
"Worse, we don't have forever!"
Anya sighed and wished she'd been better able to sleep last night. The adrenaline from the awful morning was wearing off, and she wished she could just find a corner to curl up in and nap.
Shayna smiled, pointed at all the clothes and said, "The good news is, this stylist is the best. She'll take your measurements, since it was guess work, get rid of the stuff that won't fit, and we'll just focus on the stuff you need for the next week. She'll keep pulling stuff until we have everything handled."
Anya tried to hide her dismay and failed. She slumped as much as the sofa would allow and covered her face with her hands.
"Shayna, this is my version of hell. This will never end."
"It won't be so bad. Promise you won't tell Leo this, but I already made some adjustments to your schedule."
Anya sat up, leaned towards Shayna and said, "What do you mean?"
"The initial schedule was insane. Barely time to get from place to place, up at the crack of dawn, rarely bed before midnight. So I shifted things."
Horror washed over Anya's face and she said, "Oh please, tell me I'm not still staying up all hours then up early. Can you actually fix that?"
"Well, the evening gigs are social whirl stuff. Pretty fixed in time. But no reason you needed to be booked at the gym at 5am."
"Booked at the gym?"
"The building has an excellent gym and spa, and it means we don't have to drag you all over. They were very understanding with what I needed them to adjust. And I made sure to put enough time in your spa appointments to get massages."
"Massages? Well, at least that part sounds amazing."
"Men so rarely understand exactly what it takes to keep up a certain look. They have straight forward suits that rarely change. Fresh gowns, jewelry, shoes, not to mention hair and makeup! No, I now have pros set up for all of that. We'll make sure you get some rest. And when we're done here, Miranda had one of the rooms converted to an office."
"An office?" She wanted to ask who Miranda was, cursing Leo for not giving her a rundown on who worked for him here. She'd look like an idiot if she had to keep asking who all these people were, worse - people would start talking.
“It will be easier for us to have a home base. For now you’re mostly doing appearances, but when you get back from the honeymoon, you’ll be happy for your own work space. Let’s get all these clothes picked out so we can go through your schedule.”
+++
Anya let Shayna guide her through the mounds of clothing strewn around the living room and down a hallway to her new office. Anya couldn’t hide her dismay at yet another frosty room. Shayna noticed, though, and said, “Not so much with the modern aesthetic?”
Anya couldn’t help but relax around the cheerful woman, smiled at her and said, “Well, no. I’m more overstuffed chairs I can curl up in, with a book and a hot cocoa.”
Shayna plopped on the stiff black leather sofa. “You know - we can redecorate this room anyway you want. I’ll have a designer-”
Anya interrupted. “No! Just bring me a few catalogs. I’ll pick what I want.”
Shayna looking very excited said, “Yes! I think I know exactly the place.” She paused for a moment before continuing, “You’re not going to make us paint it ourselves, are you?”
“Oh god no. I’ll pick colors and you can have whoever you want take care of the painting.” Anya shuddered at the thought of trying to squeeze painting the room into the hectic schedule of the coming weeks. “I just would really like this space to be a cozy retreat.”
“Good call. Now, tonight’s dinner was canceled, so you do get to relax for the rest of the day.” Shayna handed Anya a tablet with the upcoming schedule, and said, “Tomorrow you have a hair appointment with Stefon. Then dinner at Crash. It’s fancy, but supposed to be really good.”
“So, pretentious, but worth it?”
“No nouveau teeny portions of foam, you shouldn’t have to hit fast food on the way home. Friday is the first big event. It’s a charity gala. Mostly just pressing the flesh.” Shayna shifted, and twisted her face a bit before continuing, “I wasn’t sure if you needed or wanted it, but there is a workup of who is expected to be there. Just click through.”
“Oh, that’s pretty convenient. When I did the charity circuit before, it was more for my mother.” Anya was surprised that it didn’t upset her to talk about her mother’s work. It felt good to talk
about her again. “She loved using the glitz and glamour and trying to squeeze money for good causes. She could get the tightest billionaire to loosen the purse strings. Oh man, once, she made a bet with Duke LaForge and he LOST. Something about a horse race. Had to build a fancy computer lab in three local schools.”
“Wait, your mother bet against Duke and won?”
“He refused to bet against her ever again, but every year, he would be the top donor at her favorite charity.”
“She sounds like she was a great lady.”
Anya nodded. She hadn’t realized how much she missed talking about her mother. Anya let a little sorrow wash over her, her mother would have been so sad to see how thoroughly Anya had isolated herself. There was a silver lining to her arraignment with Leo: she could direct a lot of money to more important things. She was just grateful she’d finished the Women and Children’s Shelter new software. She would never be able to hide what she was doing from Shayna or Leo, and carving out the time to work on it would be impossible.
“Well, I’ll have the catalogs and paint chips ready for you to choose tomorrow. Oh, and the dressing room computer will be set up by then.”
“Why do I need a computer in my closet?”
“Oh, it’s super cool. It will help us keep track of what you wear when. Plus your maid can have your day’s clothing set out for you. Less important for quiet days, but a real life saver when you have a packed schedule.”
Anya shook her head. It was annoying that she wouldn’t be able to just pick her clothes out on the fly, but she had to admit that it would be nice to have it all taken care of. The women said their goodbyes, and Anya was left to her own devices for a few hours.
***
Anya slipped away to the bedroom, where she skirted the bed and bee-lined for the over the top bathroom. She filled the tub with steaming hot water and a generous serving of rose-scented bubbles. The entire apartment was overwhelming with its decadence, and all Anya wanted to do was escape. She found the sound system, and selected her favorite rendition of Bach’s concertos. The music swelled as she rummaged through the drawers, smiling as she found candles and matches. She set them up around the tub, and killed the lights. In the darkened room, she could pretend she was anywhere, for at least a few moments. She slipped out of her clothes and into the tub. With a flick of a switch, the jets rumbled to life, and she sunk back, letting the foamy water surround her and she relaxed enough to fall gently asleep.
“Well, if I’d known you’d be waiting like this, I would have been home hours ago.”
Anya jerked awake at Leo’s words. She pulled her legs up, grateful the jets had kept the bubbles high. Between the bubbles and the soft candle light, she felt less exposed. Leo leaned against the door jamb, silhouetted by the soft light from the bedroom. She just stared at him, disoriented.
He slipped out of his jacket and tossed it behind him. Anya’s mouth went dry as he stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. His eyes never left hers, as he pulled off his tie, then began unbuttoning his shirt. As each tantalizing inch was revealed, she remembered how it felt to run her hands down this chest, the smooth skin and the electricity that shot between them. Her breath hitched as he paused to uncuff the sleeves.
She hated that she still wanted him. That the simple act of removing a shirt aroused her. That he was staring into her eyes and it felt like he was reaching into her soul and knocking down all her defenses. He controlled her life for the next year, and she still wanted to have him between her legs.
When he undid his belt buckle, Anya closed her eyes. She started shaking at the sound of the leather belt whispered through the fabric loops. The dim light and bubbles no longer gave her the veneer of protection. She felt so exposed and vulnerable. Her eyes flew open at the gentle touch on her forehead. Leo knelt beside the tub, his expression soft in the candle light, and he softly stroked her forehead with his thumb.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I know you’ve had a hell of a day.” He altered the path of his thumb, stroking up from the bridge of her nose and Anya felt her body relax and stopped shaking.
“It is a bit of a delight coming come to a beautiful woman in my tub. I’m just going to change for dinner. Think you can be ready to eat in, say, twenty minutes?”
She nodded against his hand, enjoying the tender touch. He gave her one final stroke then stood.
Leo walked over to a rack, and pulled a fluffy robe down, setting it next to the tub, and said, “I guess you haven’t gotten a robe yet, feel free to use mine.” He walked out of the bathroom and shut the door firmly behind him.
Anya stood up, not entirely trusting him not to return, dried off and slipped into his robe. She quickly shut off the jets, started draining the tub and blew out all the candles. When she heard him leave the bedroom, she slipped out of the bathroom and headed to the closet. She laughed to herself as she stepped into the room. Calling the massive room a closet seemed like overkill. Someone had emptied her suitcase and hung all her clothes. Her personal items where set on a shelf, the picture of her mother looking out to her.
She stopped and tapped each of the faces on the picture. Her mother, gone. Vikki, off at school. Rob, missing. Her fingertip lingered over her own image. Her mother would be appalled. She sighed and turned back into the room, hunting down her favorite jeans. She had to laugh at herself as she slipped into her serviceable cotton panties. They were cute enough, but no silk seduction for Leo to peel off.
***
Anya wandered to the front of the apartment, to the kitchen. She was surprised to see Leo wearing an apron and pulling a dish out of the oven.
“What can I do to help?” she said.
“Can you grab the bottle of white in the fridge? I have everything else at the table.”
Anya pulled the bottle out of the fridge and followed him into the dining room. Leo put the dish in the middle of the table, gestured for her to take a seat and took the wine from her.
“I realized I don’t entirely know how you eat these days. Went with a veggie lasagna and Caesar salad. And, of course,” he paused as he unscrewed the bottle of wine, “only the finest of wines.” He presented the lid with a flourish, and Anya had to laugh, taking a deep sniff of the top. “It’s a decent wine, I swear!” Leo filled glasses for both of them, then settled next to her. He raised his glass and said, “A toast.” Anya lifted her glass as he continued, “A toast to our partnership.”
Anya’s smile froze a little as they clinked glasses. She took a sip and said, “Oh, this is nicer than I expected.”
Leo said, “Yeah, I don’t mind spending for a really great wine, but it just seems silly to not enjoy something just because it’s less expensive.” He served them both portions of the lasagna and salad. They were quiet for a few moments, until Anya finally broke the silence.
“This is absolutely delicious. I had no idea you were such a cook.”
“Homemade tomato sauce too!” Leo grinned, and then shook his head. “Homemade by Effie, the housekeeper. She’s a monster in the kitchen, and would never forgive me if I let you think I made this. She left it for us with very strict instructions.”
Anya took another sip of the wine, and said, “Oh, I didn’t meet Effie today. Shayna was keeping that stylist on her toes, kept us moving fast. Can you give me a rundown on who I should know? I almost blew it with Shayna.”
Leo nodded. “Well, Shayna knows it’s not completely as presented to the world. She signed an NDA.”
“What does she know?”
“That we reconnected after time apart, and fell hopelessly back in love.”
Anya winced as his phrasing, and said, “So she isn’t surprised by my getting lost in the apartment.”
“If she is, she’ll keep it to herself. So, you’ve met Shayna, are you happy with her?”
“So far, she seems like she’s going to keep me on track. Thank you, by the way.”
“Thank me? I’m surprised to hear that from you.”
Leo cracked a rather sardonic smile, and refilled their glasses.
“I meant thank you for canceling a dinner out tonight.”
“Shayna rather gave me the what for when she saw that. Told me Miranda was being ridiculous, and that if she was in charge of your schedule, it wasn’t just saying yes to everything. Said I should give you at least a moment to catch your breath, and a chance for us to be together, quietly.” Anya stared at him with eyes wide. “Miranda was all for me firing her on the spot.”
“You didn’t!”
“Of course not, gave her a raise. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find people willing to tell me no? Her job is taking care of you, not placating me. I have a pit bull of an assistant, you need one too, or you’ll get rolled over.”
“I didn’t really think I got that option.”
Leo paused, and said, “I don’t actually want you to be miserable. This has to look real, and if you’re completely unhappy, it will raise questions.”
Anya just looked away, finally saying, “Is Miranda your assistant?”
Leo took his time answering, before giving into her turning the conversation. “Yes, Miranda is my assistant. You’ll meet her sometime this week. She knows what Shayna knows.”
“She’s in charge of your schedule. Do you really think she believes that?”
“I’ve had plenty of time where it could happen. I don’t put everything I do in my schedule.”
“When will I meet her?”
“Probably at the Gala on Friday. I’ll introduce Effie to you tomorrow.”
“Any other staff?”
“Effie has a cleaning service, but I’m pretty low maintenance. If we host any events, she’ll handle catering, that sort of thing. If you think you need someone else permanently, she can arrange it.”
The Alpha's Touch Boxed Set (14 Book Bundle) Page 52
