He frowned down at her, took her hand and led her back to their table. Once they were seated he took her hand in his.
“I warned you to tell me if you don’t feel the same, Brooklyn. I want it all I from you, nothing less and I am afraid it is way too late to pull away from me now. I won’t let you go … ever.”
“I … are we not rushing things, Mason? We don’t even know each other!”
“I am thirty five years old, Brooklyn. You are twenty seven. I know what I want and so should you. I don’t need to date you for years to know that I want you by my side always.”
He lifted her hands to his mouth and placed a warm kiss in the palm of her hand.
“I believe deep inside you also already accepted it. We have a lifetime to get to know one another, my love. I am not going to waste time … dating you!”
She opened her mouth, knowing this would the ideal time to tell him the truth, but before she could utter a word, another flash blinded her and she had to blink a few times to get rid of the purple spots caused by the bright flash.
Mason was annoyed and glared at the photographer who slinked away with a smile on his face. Mason paid the bill and they were soon on their way back to the hotel.
That night Mason made love to her so passionately and tenderly she cried. He could not get enough of her. He kissed her until her lips were puffed and swollen as he drank long and deep from her. He needed her … to touch her, to taste her with such intensity he hugged her tight against him to hold her and never let her go.
Brooklyn flowered in his arms and her body was on fire as he aroused her even more than he ever has. It felt as if her body belonged to someone else. She was just as greedy, as if she was a hunter that just found the biggest price. She ran her fingers all over his smooth torso and smoothed her palm down his satin steel shaft. She took his arousal between her lips and drew tortured moans from him.
They fell asleep in each other’s arms hours later; Mason still deeply imbedded inside her body.
Chapter Eight
Brooklyn fell asleep on the airplane on the way back to New York and only woke up when the plane landed. She rushed to collect her things and walked down the stairs, intending to take a cab back to her place, but Mason called her back.
“Zita, it is already quite late. Graham will drop you off at your place.”
“Thank you, sir.” He sighed and just shook his head, not even bothering to reprimand her on the ‘sir’ again.
“I scheduled a meeting for tomorrow morning at nine with Tiaan and Jason for feedback on this trip. Please prepare the analysis and project forecast we discussed today at the meeting before then and bind it in packs together with the project profile. I, unfortunately have to go to Australia to assist my father with property dispute he has a problem with. Graham and I are leaving as soon as he returns. I depend on you to give them proper feedback and assistance with the start-up of the project.”
She nodded and smiled briefly, handing her bags to Graham and watched him load it in the back of the SUV.
“Not a problem, sir. I have done some research myself and have a fairly good idea what is required after the meetings we’ve had with them. How long will you be gone?”
He frowned. “I am not sure. I only spoke to my father briefly over the phone. It might be a week or two. I will let you know as soon as I have an idea. I’ll call every morning for an update and instructions. I will still work from there.”
She turned away with a heavy heart and got into the waiting vehicle. Mason waved at them and walked over to the private hanger where his helicopter was parked to go and pack for the unplanned and undesired trip.
He was not happy when Brooklyn told him that morning she won’t be able to meet him tonight. Now he probably won’t see her for another week or two. Hopefully he would be able to sort the problem his dad had with the ownership dispute over his ranch in Australia sooner rather than later.
Brooklyn had a prior engagement with Michael. He was coming over for her to sign the ownership papers of the Camaro. For her, it offered the opportunity to get her thoughts together on how she was going to resign and tell him the truth without him regarding her as an out and out deceiver. Now, with him leaving immediately, she had a few more weeks respite.
Michael already waited for her when she arrived at her apartment and his mouth tightened when he noticed her still in her ‘work’ disguise.
“I thought you were going to tell him, Bee. The longer you wait, the better the chance that he will find out himself, especially now that you are splashed all over the tabloids.”
She sighed. “I wanted to tell him last night, but the paparazzi chased us away.”
“Come on, Bee, surely there was time after that?”
“I know, Mickey! I planned on telling him tomorrow!”
“Planned?”
“He is leaving tonight to assist his dad with a problem in Australia. He said he might be gone for a week or two.”
“Maybe you should not wait until he is back, Bee. Maybe this is the ideal time to tell him.”
“Not over the phone, Mickey! That would be the worst I could do.”
“Postponing it is the worst you could do Bee!”
“I am sorry I pulled you into this, but I promise I will tell him as soon as he is back.”
“You better, Bee, because if you don’t, I will. I refuse to lie to him any longer!”
He was so upset with her that he didn’t stay very long and left as soon as she signed the transfer ownership papers, having come to a decision. He would allow her grace to tell Mason the truth until the morning after he returned and then he would tell him if she still procrastinated. He loved his sister very much but judging by the pictures in the tabloids Mason has fallen for his sister … hard. He knew him well enough to know that he would not just accept her deceit, however much she felt it was justified.
His own sense of honor burned inside him since Brooklyn told him what she did and he could not continue hiding the truth from his best friend. He only prayed that the truth would not totally destroy their future together. Mason was a hard and ruthless man when crossed and he would retaliate, one way or the other. Unfortunately, Brooklyn did not know him well enough to realize it herself.
Brooklyn closed the door behind Michael with a heavy heart, more upset about Mason going away for so long, than she wanted to admit, even to herself. Her cell phone rang and she picked it up with a heavy heart.
“Hi Mason. Did you have a good flight?”
“Hi Honey, yes it was fine. What are you doing?”
“Michael just left. Are you home yet?
“Yes and busy packing again. I’m on my way to Australia to assist my dad with ownership disputes on a ranch he owns there.”
She remained silent not wanting to divulge her upset to him over the phone. They met less than two weeks ago and already the thought of not seeing him for two weeks left a void in her heart.
“Honey? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing … I just … I am going to miss you.” She decided to be honest about what she felt and heard his harsh intake of breathe over the phone.
“Not as much as I you, my love. Hopefully, we’ll be able to resolve it within a week, maybe two. I will phone you every day.”
“It’s not the same.”
He groaned. “Honey, don’t make it harder for me than it already is. I tried to postpone leaving until the weekend, but there is a court case already on Friday, so I have to leave tonight.”
They chatted for another short while and then he had to go. Brooklyn felt lost with the knowledge that she won’t see him for so long. Good, Lord. How could it be? How could she have fallen in love with him so deeply in such a short period of time?
The following two and a half weeks were the longest of her life. She lived for Mason’s phone calls, especially the ones late at night when they were already both in bed and he seduced her over the phone. Guiding her and talking her in touching herself, groaning when his
couching in her ear drew gasps from her as she climaxed following his instructions to please herself.
She still breathed hard when he told her he would be arriving following day.
“Really, baby? What time?”
“We are already in the air.” He smiled at her happy gasp. “Will you wait for me at the airport? We should be there around six tomorrow evening. Will you spend the night with me?”
“Try and stop me!”
She packed a bag immediately and went to bed with a smile on her face. The following day dragged by so slow, she sighed in relief when the clock eventually turned to five and she could leave. She cleared her desk and rushed to the airport, where she quickly changed into jeans and a tee with sneakers, cleaned her face and eagerly went to wait for his plane to arrive.
Mason stepped off the plane, his eyes eagerly searching for Brooklyn, disappointed that she was not waiting outside to meet him and then he smiled when she tore through the one door and ran towards him. He met her halfway and his arms folded around her to hug her tight. His head lowered and his lips slanted over hers, his tongue surged past her lips and the passion of the kiss they shared drove them to groan simultaneously as their mouths smashed together. They pulled apart and he looked into her beautiful silver grey eyes, smiling happily into his.
“God, woman, I missed you!”
He pulled her to the waiting car and Graham dropped them at the private hangar where the chopper stood. That night they could not get enough of each other and Mason spend most of the night making love to her. He marked her neck again, harder and deeper than before. An ancient medieval desire in him to show the world she was his.
Mason told ‘Zita’ to prepare an update on the progress of the Cleveland project including a slideshow on the summaries they discussed via a Skype conference with the Cleveland office the day before. She told Mason she had a very early meeting with one of the sponsors for Hadley racing and he took her back at first light. He also had a quick meeting with a lawyer and his Dad so he went directly there. Brooklyn arrived at the office just after six dressed in her usual office wear.
After another long chat with Michael the previous day she spent hours contemplating the best way to approach Mason and still did not know what would be the best way to tell him the truth. He warned her that if she did not tell him first thing the next day, he would. She considered dropping the disguise and go to work as herself, but decided against it.
She prepared all the reports and analysis he asked for the afternoon before already. Armed with a strong cup of coffee she settled behind her desk and started compiling the slide show Mason requested as well. She was so entrenched in what she was doing she did not notice him standing in the doorway.
“Did you sleep at the office, Zita?”
“Mason!” She got such a fright she forgot to ‘sir’ him and he smiled.
“Glad to see you at long last remembered my name. Since what time have you been here?”
She raised the pitch of her voice slightly higher and avoided his eyes. “Since just after six. I just needed to complete the slide show you asked for.”
“I also said if you had the time. I did not expect you to spend the whole night working. You look tired and pale. Anything wrong?”
She looked up at him and hesitated when she noticed the tired lines around his eyes. Neither one of them had any sleep the night before!
“I … uhm … there is something I need to discuss with you.”
“How about a cup of coffee first?”
She nodded but before she could rise to fetch his coffee, Tiaan and Jason walked in.
“Mace, welcome back, big brother! I just spoke to Dad and he is very relieved that you managed to resolve the problem with the Browns.”
“Yes, luckily for us, they never lodged the original claim they were basing the whole ownership issue on, so it was fairly easy to turn the court order over.”
“Is everything now legally resolved?”
“Yes, they have no further claim on the land.”
“I know we are slightly early, but is it possible to have that meeting now? I have another meeting that I can’t get out off at twelve.”
“No problem brother. Are you ready, Zita?”
She nodded and gathered all the prepared packs, her laptop, notebook and pen before following them into his office, emitting a loud sigh. Whether in frustration or relief that the discussion she needed to have with him had been postponed.
Brooklyn found the meeting extremely stimulating and even participated with some suggestions that everyone was very impressed with. It was during a debate in regard to the timeline for the changes discussed during the Skype conference that Mason looked at her and froze when he caught her profile. His breath caught in his throat and a tight band squeezed around his heart, crushing it slowly inch by inch.
“Mace … Mason!” Tiaan tried to get his attention, but his gaze was glued on Brooklyn’s profile. She looked at him and gasped when her eyes met his that were burning like black coal, his jaw rigid. Her eyes fell before his and she chewed on her lip.
“Zita, would you get us all some coffee, please.”
She nodded and hastened out the door aware of Mason’s burning eyes on her back.
“Jason, get me her personnel file.”
Jason frowned. “Whose?”
“Zita.”
Jason and Tiaan looked at each other, both having noticed his closed look and rigid jaw. Mason raised his eyebrow at Jason.
“You want it now?” At his nod, he called his assistant from Mason’s desk phone with the request.
The assistant walked in just ahead of Brooklyn with the tray of coffee and biscuits and Mason waved at her to hand him the file. He sat looking at the file in his hands barely acknowledging Brooklyn handing him his coffee.
“Zita, take us through the presentation you prepared. Tiaan, please make a note of the audit requirements as summarized. Zita will send all the information to you in soft copy as well.” His voice sounded hoarse and raw.
He made a point of ignoring her and his hands gripped the file in his hands, he already knew what he would find. He flipped open the file, hardly paying attention to Brooklyn, but listened to her presentation with half an ear. He turned past the usual company policies, employment contract, his mouth tightened and thinned when he turned the page and looked at the copy of her passport in the file, her picture and full names glaring at him, Brooklyn, Zita Hadley.
His hands tightened around the file and it crumbled between his fingers. Tiaan looked at him questioningly, but he ignored him and methodically went through her application form, realizing she would be twenty eight in four months. She lived in an apartment block in Brooklyn Heights, which he knew was next to the Brooklyn Bridge Park overlooking the East River.
The anger churned higher and higher inside him and he struggled to contain himself to not grab her and rip the tight bun from her head and the color lenses covering her lying eyes. His cell phone rang and his mouth tightened again when he read Michael’s name on the screen. He excused himself and left to take the call in the outer office.
“Michael.”
“Mace … how are you?” He asked hesitantly, recognizing the controlled anger in his voice. The silence stretched and Michael frowned.
“Have you spoken to Bee this morning?”
“Why?”
“She was going to talk to you first thing this morning.”
“Are we talking about Brooklyn your sister, or Zita, my assistant?”
“You … know?”
“Yes I know.”
“Is she … have you … damn it, Mace, is she okay?”
“For now, yes.”
“What do you mean? What did she say?”
“Nothing.”
“I don’t understand? If she did not say anything, how did you find out?”
“Her profile … I recognized her profile. What I need to understand is why you aided her in the deceit?”
“
I didn’t know at first and told her to tell you when she told me on the Sunday you left for Australia. I made it clear to her I will not lie if you asked me and I warned her last night I will be telling you if she did not do it herself this morning.”
Mason did not even try to get his anger under control; rather he kept feeding it higher until it bordered on rage inside him. He opened himself to her and she blatantly lied to him. That was something that ripped as his heart like the sharpened claws of a tiger.
“Mace … what are you going to do?”
“I think it is better for you not to know. Don’t expect to hear from her for a while. If she thought I would accept a lousy apology for this, there is a surprise in store for her.”
“Mace, I understand you are angry, but she is my sister and …”
“Who is nearly twenty eight years old and wise enough to make her own decisions, however deceitful they are and so will she also carry the consequences of the choices she made. You have been my best friend for most of my life and I appreciate that you intended to tell me, but in this and right now … keep out of it and stay away Michael. I have to go.”
He ended the call and walked back into his office just as Brooklyn finished the presentation. He stood straight and tall just inside the door, listening to her answering questions from Tiaan and could not help but be impressed with her answers. However much she might be a lying bitch, she was an excellent Executive Business Assistant.
“I think that is enough for now. Review the information and draw up the proposals we just discussed for finalization on Monday.” He sounded abrupt and he nodded them towards the door.
Brooklyn also rose and gathered her things. She looked up when she heard the door slam and watched Mason deliberately turn the key and lock the door. He turned and his eyes burned into hers then tracked a slow path down her body and back up. She swallowed when his eyes met hers.
“Come here.”
She stood frozen, realization rushed through her that he knew. His jaw hardened and looked as if cast in stone.
“I said, come here.”
She walked slowly towards him, his eyes held hers captive until she stopped a few feet away from him. He took a step towards her and his hands rose to the two edges of her blouse that were buttoned up high against her neck. He gripped the flimsy material and ripped it apart and she gasped when the top buttons popped off and flew to the floor.
The Tycoon and his Honey Pot Page 8
