by Beth Mikell
Tony chimed in, “Yeah boss, you should go rest. If I need you, I’ll call.” He voiced on the tail end of irritating exacerbated confidence.
Both Savannah and Angelo looked over at the lapdog assistant and said, “Can it.”
Hiding and licking her wounds did sound good, but decided to call it rest and relaxation for the sake of sanity. “All right, I’ll go and come back in the afternoon.”
With a brief farewell to a stunned Dominic and Angelo, Savannah trekked back up to her hotel room. Once alone in the recently cleaned room, she found the table replaced and she believed that a step forward. Cleanliness next to restoration? Yeah, that so fit. Yet, nothing could make the ache in her heart dim or her headache pass. Without changing, Savannah flung herself down on the wide bed and curled up into a ball. She really was nobody’s girl and the sooner her heart accepted the fact, the sooner she could get back to her simplistic, uncaring life of sarcasm and shoddy wisdom.
In the end, sleep came filled with a beautiful man of startling blue eyes holding her with sweetness. Sometime later, she woke up with tears trailing down her face with a realization she may in fact love the bastard who succeeded in breaking down the walls of her cool reserve and planting more than pain within its depths. Fuck him…she somehow felt the seeds of love and hated herself for even admitting it. Bastard.
Reaching down to unzip her boots, she flung each out into the room uncaring where they landed and the distinct sound of glass shattered the silence. Pulling the top blanket over her body, Savannah cocooned herself and drifted off to sleep again. Yeah, hiding was good.
~~~
Hexon sat back in his chair balanced on two legs with his feet propped up on the balcony railing of his bedroom overlooking his pool and many acres of land. His favorite place is the world. He sipped on a beer, one of many he chose to drown in the last few hours. His insides bled out and it even hurt to breathe. Damn himself for the past and present, but he missed Savannah. Hell, he even found himself standing outside the hotel entrance earlier with intent to apologize, but ran into Dominic instead.
After the Spanish inquisition on why his cousin was there, Hex nearly wanted to pound the guy. Oh, Dominic just wanted to invite Savannah to lunch his ass! Territory had an edge of respect, yet territory had not been established. At least territory in the current instance had not been formally announced and he couldn’t very well make mincemeat out of Dominic for wanting to invite a beautiful woman to lunch.
His woman?
Hex shook his head...he was screwed. Why couldn’t he just walk away like every other time he was with a woman?
Because she wasn’t the normal kind of woman.
Savannah wasn’t like the ever elusive Jessica Childress that walked out on him. The young woman-child only had number one on her mind with a beautiful body she worshiped above anything else…even him…their baby. In retrospect, Jessica hadn’t even been bright. She hadn’t understood his humor, his mind or cared about anything except how much money he could spend on her. So, perhaps she could count money…yeah well so could Scrooge and both were about as stingy as could be with a root of selfishness to boot.
But Savannah…his sarcasm princess made his insides melt until there was nothing left of rational sanity. She was beautiful and ill mannered and met his bullshit head on without a blink. Granted she liked designer clothes, but she was successful and hadn’t rattled on about her next score of cash or gifts she wanted from him. She gave as well as she took…burning him with an unexpected load of desire and what had he done? Walked. He may never find another woman like her. Shit. Maybe he should make things right, or at the very least apologize. Hell, he deserved to be whipped for his treatment of her.
Before he could act on any decision, Annabelle appeared with the phone in hand, “Mr. Montgomery, excuse me, but you have call. It’s your sister.”
Perfect. No, not really, but he needed a distraction. Hex took the proffered handset, “Hello Katie.”
“Hexon?” Her voice was tear-filled and full of panic.
He immediately dropped his feet to the floor; the chair came down with a loud thump. “Katie? What is it?”
“I need your help, Hexon. It’s Jagger. He’s…he’s been arrested.”
The beauty of living within a strange family was not only the mixture of weird personalities, but their birth names. Hexon for a start ranked right up there as something out of a medical textbook their mother was fond of reading while she was pregnant with him. Isis Katherine preferred to be called Katie because she refused to succumb to the Egyptian goddess taint and their baby brother, Jagger Michael…named after the iconic superstar Mick Jagger.
Hexon and Katie shared the same set of parents--only their mother died after Katie was born due to complications. A year later their father, James married again to Deborah, a woman twenty five years younger than him and had another son…Jagger or also known as Jay to his friends. It was fact through the Montgomery household Jagger was treated differently by Deborah as her only son, but Hexon and Katie oddly hadn’t allowed that to affect them. They treated Jagger no differently--half-blood was just as good as full.
Now, Katie and Jagger were of college age, yet as different as night and day. Katie was calm and soothing in temperament whereas Jagger tended to be the life of the party and then some—raising some kind of hell, much to their parent’s disapproval--yet miraculously condoned by his mother. And their father had only one rule while growing up other than the standard rules…if any child of his was ever arrested, then there they would stay…and rot in jail to learn a lesson. One Hex acquired once after a frat party and a police raid. Yep, the elder Montgomery never set foot inside the police station to bail his son out. Lesson learned.
But, Jagger was a different story. By nature, he was different from Hex and couldn’t handle a parking ticket, much less possible jail time. “What happened Katie?”
“Deborah pushed Dad to allow Jagger to go on spring break in Cancun of all places! You know what Jagger is like…it’s like releasing a demon in hell. No holds barred.”
Hex grunted and reached up to run his hand over his face in frustration, “Or worse.”
Crying, Katie sniffled in the phone, “Apparently Jagger and his band of asshats were caught with drugs, like cocaine and meth. The Mexican police are just as stupid and only allowed one phone call. But, you know Dad. He won’t help him. Deborah is sitting in her room, crying all the damn time. God…” she hiccupped through the phone.
Translation, Deborah was a basket case and Dad was being stubborn…no other explanation required.
Just what he needed right now--on top of everything else in his life! “Okay, baby girl. Try not to worry. I’ll go see if I can fish his butt out of jail. Then, I will drop kick his ass into the Gulf.”
“I knew you would help, Hexon.” Katie’s grew stronger with hope. “But, please don’t tell Dad I called you. He already warned me.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle everything.”
Hexon hung up with Katie and knew what he had to do. The distraction or in this case, problem couldn’t have happened at a better time. But, he knew deep down after his trip to save his brother he would have to deal with his feelings for Savannah. For now, he was going to escape…and he turned tail.
Chapter Eight
When you get to the end of the rope, tie a knot and hang on. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
The home stretch.
A week before deadline and Savannah looked around the new banquet hall transformed from raw construction to an elegant, modern hall of sophistication. From the ground up, the room screamed refined quality of gracefulness and good taste. The smell of fresh paint filled the air with an acrid, crisp scent, glittering chandeliers winked above as diamonds and the musical sound of a new water fountain flowed sweetly. Red, black and white threaded through the color scheme that shouted boldly of polished urban. The look was very similar too…a very intimate Brazilian restaurant haunting her memory…yet she pushed it a
side.
However, the room didn’t mirror her mood one bit. In fact, she was downright bitchy…to everyone, including her guys, especially Pete who tried to overcompensate with wise-assed comments. Lapdog assistant Tony knew to scatter, leaving her daily report on her desk and hiding. If she bellowed he came running, but for the most part he was incognito, which suited them both fine. Every nuance of her personality fluctuated between pissed to downright belligerent. If some unlucky soul dared question her, she snapped. If they so much as challenged her creed, hell parted and her inner Hex demon emerged. Yet, it was no one’s fault, but her own.
She had fallen in love and it was just…craptastic.
She wanted to hate Hexon James with an inch of his miserable life, but she couldn’t. Whatever supernatural hold he casted over her in their brief affair, struck hard and wouldn’t let go. By day she became an evil bitch, but by night…her longings and dreams were filled with her biker god. A man rich in passion, melting over her body and heart like the subtle tears of her weeping soul. She stopped damning him…okay, not completely, but for the most part. She wanted to see him. She craved him like an addictive drug, shaking her endless hours in bed alone with need, tears and sorrow.
She became her worst nightmare, a total stalker missing the mark of her prey. She tried to find him, but no listing for Hexon James. She tried to find his house again, but though she had lived in Georgia little over a year, she couldn’t remember the location. The night Hex had taken her to his home had been dark and quite honestly, being snuggled up against his back more important. Falling down inside living death described her to a ‘T’ and she didn’t know how to fight it. She had never been in a relationship, much less in love to know how to handle rejection or the deep sadness eating through her spirit.
Not to mention her general health was suffering too. She still had bouts of nausea, but it had tapered off for the most part. Caffeine, her once favorite thing was now replaced with green tea…easy on the stomach. And eating? Not that she cared one flipping bit to indulge in the waste of time, but if the moment arose, she ate quite a lot of chicken soup or mangos. God only knew why…the basic bland diet suited her. Whatever.
Turning away from her thoughts, Savannah grabbed her purse off her desk in preparation to leave for downtown Merrick offices. She had a few video conference meetings with other hotel locations for upcoming construction and renovation after this project was stamped completed. Like she really gave a total shit, but shrugged to herself inside her bad attitude. The only redeemable quality in work was that it kept her busy, but it didn’t take away her inner thoughts.
She was still plagued by her tall, dark and handsome biker god until she wanted to puke. Whoever said love and romance was wonderful…yeah, it was probably a man and should be drawn and quartered and then burnt to a heavenly crisp. After all, wasn’t Satan of the male persuasion who tempted Eve down the path of destruction? Yeah, her attitude probably needed an adjustment, but not likely.
After a few video meetings and a ripping headache later, Savannah wanted nothing more than to run to her hotel room and hide. She was so pathetic it hurt to even be around herself. Yet, instead of escaping, she had been summoned to Sean’s inner sanctum by the lovely and efficient Marguerite, his assistant. The woman in question was on the phone as Savannah appeared in the doorway and waved her through to Sean’s office with a smile.
With a quick rap, she pushed open Sean’s office door, “You wanted to see me boss?” she asked, foregoing the usual handsome banter…totally not in the mood.
Yet, nothing could have prepared her for the shock of her life…there in the flesh the object of her obsession…Hex, sitting leisurely across from her brother-in-law, relaxed and at ease. The room spun out of balance and she gripped the handle of the doorknob to keep from falling and embarrassing herself.
He looked…different.
Her dark eyes narrowed on him, gone were the scruffy jeans and t-shirts, replaced with a black GQ suit straight off the cover, an expertly smoothed light, gray tie with polished Italian leather shoes. His dark hair hung a bit longer than she remembered, curling over his white collared shirt and thinner, but his eyes were the same electric blue that haunted her for the last few weeks. His lips the same rich fullness, which had tempted her dreams with obsessive warmth and sweetness over every inch of her body. She wanted to hate him in one breath, yet her heart swelled in joy despite her pain. Love sucked.
“Savannah.” Sean waved her in, “This is my good friend from college, Hexon James Montgomery, owner of MK Steel. He also moonlights as a regular Joe construction worker when he’s bored, which is often. Yeah man?”
Well, wasn’t that just the icing on the cake of ‘oh my’ god?
She only took one-step forward, but stopped, drawing in a deep breath as her heart pounded hard against her ribs. What the hell was she to say to that introduction? The floodgates of wrath opened inside her heart, condensing on a plain somewhere between calling him a liar and complete douche bag. If Sean hadn’t been in the room she would have crossed over to him and slapped his face and gloried in it, but instead she cleared her throat. Lame.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Montgomery” Of course her voice reverberated artic clarity and she moved her gaze off his to cut off any reply he might spew and shot her eyes back to Sean. “Did you need to see me? I need to get back to the trenches and finish some things up.”
Sean’s jaw dropped half an inch in disbelief at her rudeness, but recovered. He knew enough of her temperament to know when to wisely steer clear. “No, no, I just thought if you were free, you could go to lunch with us.”
Yeah…she so wanted to self-inflict her heart to another round of burning coals from hell. She smiled thinly, barely holding on to her anger, “Thanks, but I’m busy. I’ll just be on way.” She turned to leave.
“Hey, are you okay?” Sean asked, his question preventing her from leaving.
Savannah glanced back, her eyes skipping lightly over Hex in a caustic slight until she met Sean’s eyes. “What is it you Georgia folks say? Peachy keen? Yeah, I’m great.”
“Well…I mean…you seem irritated,” Sean stated, noticing how cool the room had grown between his friend and sister-in-law--their heated gazes alone sent up a red flag.
She rolled her eyes, “Please. Try three video conferences and one perky redhead in the Bahamas location who wouldn’t know a faucet from a light bulb. The hits just keep on totaling.” But, Sean was the only one expressing a sense of humor, while Hex only stared a hole through her. She totally ignored him as her heart went up in flames--she had the whole relationship thing in a heavy-duty trash bag, but it hurt like a son of a bitch.
Without waiting for dismissal, Savannah booked out of there with steam rolling out her ears. Damn, damn, damn! Now she was back to damning him. At least before, she could claim his ignorance of a low class bastard, but now he was rich bastard…whom she totally fell for. God…she was such a wuss and ached to know when she became a woman without a backbone!
~~~
Downing his fifth Mojito in the first class section of the airplane, Hex glanced over at his brother Jagger sleeping in the seat next to him as the flight attendant replaced his drink with another. Not that he cared how much alcohol it would take to burn his ass into oblivion, but he just wanted the refreshing nap to kick in soon. He rubbed a tired hand over his tired face and wondered how tired he was. Three weeks of Mexican hell with a police chaser even Freddy Kruger couldn’t top on his best day. It took five hundred thousand dollars paid under the table to a corrupt police captain to reclaim the hide of his brother and all his strength not to open the plane door and kick his butt out over the Gulf! Yep, that probably wouldn’t go over too well with Deborah and Dad, but hey…it would sure be the highlight of the trip and soothe his nerves.
But, in Jagger’s defense, he was more than remorseful, falling all over Hex in equally disgusting appreciation. Jagger claimed he would walk the line and listen to whatever Hex said, ev
en change his college, friends and anything else that would prove his sincerity. So, he offered Jagger deal…move to Georgia and enroll in a college where Hex could watch over him. Not even the slightest hesitation from his brother's lips uttered—and Hex’s title went from brother bear to papa in 2.0.
He sighed, downing his sixth Mojito.
The turn of events was not what he wanted at all, but neither did he want his kid brother to end up ruined over bad decisions when he could help him with an intervention.
Yet…family troubles were the furthest thing from his mind. All he could think about was his sarcasm princess and how he had spurned her in the worst possible way. Finesse was definitely not his strong suit and a current deal breaker in his current no relationship status quo. The hardest part of everything was his inability to forget her or shake the memory of her from his mind. The way she rippled over his skin or her sleek body within his arms…damn he was a jerk. The only thing he had been thinking of was protecting himself, yet all his mind could do was fantasize about the one woman to break through the steel plating protecting his heart. He was an official asshole.
The next few days would not alleviate the stress of the unknown. Deborah and Dad were mixed on the family reunion with Jagger, but both more than upset after Hex announced his plans to move Jagger to Georgia for a stint in stupidity recovery Hex-style. After a couple days and few arguments later, Hex took his brother to Georgia and settled him into his house. Not the greatest plan, but better than shelling out X number of dollars on Jagger’s future lapses in judgment. He owned his brother’s stupidity clause and planned to make sure he towed the line.
Only now, sitting in Sean Merrick’s office staring at his sarcasm princess did the world fall into place, but she was…pissed. More than that…she was riding hell’s version of the apocalypse and he was public enemy number one. He knew he deserved it.
