by Ana E Ross
At the knock on his door, Adam walked back to his desk and set down his scotch. He glanced through the one-way mirror at his assistant. She’d just left him half an hour ago. He’d already signed away his life for the day. Why was she back? He hit a button on his desk. “Yes, Ms. Jenkins,” he said, as she stepped inside.
“A messenger just delivered this, Mr. Andreas.” She held out a large brown envelope.
Adam took it, his heart rocking in his chest when he noticed that it wasn’t addressed. He was about to rip it open and stopped, staring at the curious expression on his assistant’s face.
“Is it anything I need to be aware of, Mr. Andreas?”
“No. It’s personal. Thank you, Ms. Jenkins. That’ll be all.”
“I’ll be leaving in a few minutes, sir. You know how to reach me if you need me.” She gave him a professional smile and a nod and left him alone.
Adam dropped his weight into the chair behind his desk. He closed his eyes and took some deep steady breaths to slow his racing heart. When he thought he was prepared to take whatever the news was, he opened the envelope, and then the smaller one inside that he’d included in his outgoing message. Keep secured. Trust no one. Won’t be long. Cease contact.
Adam dropped the note into the shredder beside his desk and, leaning back against his chair, he gazed off into space. He still had no idea if Paul was dead or alive. Didn’t Jake, the partner Paul had told them to contact if he ever fell off the grid, understand his question about the buzzing flies? Last year when Massimo had been trying to reach Paul, he hadn’t bothered to contact Jake because his situation wasn’t that dire, and he’d already decided to marry Shaina anyway. Perhaps they should have been a lot more worried about their friend.
Adam pushed to his feet and began pacing. In two days, Pastor Kelly would have to officially file his and Tashi’s marriage certificate, making it a public record that anyone with good or ill intent could access. Adam bunched his mane in his hands and tugged on the strands. He’d never felt more helpless in his life. He couldn’t fight since he didn’t know what or whom he was fighting. His actions were limited to maintaining a semblance of serenity and balance in his and Tashi’s lives while they waited for the roof to cave. The fact that Jake was on the case didn’t ease his anxieties, but it was nice to know he wasn’t alone.
To help him with his mission to keep his and Tashi’s marriage from the public, Bryce had suggested moving his parents’ anniversary party from Hotel Andreas to Mountainview Café. Trusted members from each of their household staff would manage the serving of the five-course meal that would be catered in from Ristorante Andreas. Galen, who had some experience as a DJ, would take charge of the music and entertainment, and instead of nannies, the grandparents, and older kids would help look after the little ones.
Bryce had also suggested that since Mountainview Café was where Adam and Tashi had met, it would be the perfect venue for their first formal evening out together. Adam had agreed. Tonight, they would all be able to share each other’s happiness in splendor and elegance without worrying about the local press and prying strangers snapping pictures of Tashi. He and his friends had vowed to make this a night their wives would never forget.
There was no reason not to start the fun early, Adam thought on a smile. He pulled his jacket from the closet and walked to his private elevator.
***
Tashi stepped through the door of Mountainview Café as one of the guards on duty opened it for her.
“There you are!” Kaya said, switching Elyse from one hip to the other. “Girl, look at you. Told you you’d be stunning in that dress.”
“Wow. You guys look lovely, too.” Tashi grinned at the three women hovering in the small foyer. Like her, they were dressed to kill in Zac Posen floor-sweeping evening gowns of silk and chiffon that were studded with precious gems: Michelle in a low-cut, spaghetti strap, thigh-high split warm gold, Kaya in a sleeveless V-neck champagne, Shaina in a red hot, short sleeved scoop neck, and Tashi in a strapless, backless, diamond-studded V-neckline emerald chiffon that Adam said enhanced the color of her eyes. Except for Michelle, who wore a sleek short haircut, they all wore updo hairstyles with curly tendrils brushing the sides of their faces and down their necks. Sparkling diamonds and pearl earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, along with high stiletto heels topped off their attire.
Even little Elyse in a cute pink dress made from satin and French netting looked sophisticated. Anyone seeing them would think they’d walked off a Paris runway and were en route to some ball of the century. And they smelled amazing. When they’d been shopping together yesterday at Joanne’s Boutique, Tashi had learned that sometimes these ladies took pride in dressing up, just for their husbands’ pleasures, and their families’ admiration. This was one of those times, and they’d all decided to wear Zac Posen dresses. Joanne was grinning from ear to ear when they’d left her boutique.
“Why are you so late?” Michelle asked, leaning in to hug Tashi when Kaya stepped back.
“Do you really have to ask?” Shaina, who was holding baby Aria in her arms, brought up the rear. “They’re newlyweds. Did you forget what it was like in your first few days of marriage?” She tossed Tashi a knowing wink, making her blush.
“Girl, try after a few years,” Michelle said with a chuckle, patting her flat belly they all knew would be rising into a little baby bump soon. “Where’s Adam?” She stared out into the empty parking lot which would have been overflowing if the café hadn’t been closed in order to prepare for tonight.
“He had to take a call from his father.” Tashi had an uncanny feeling that the call Adam had received just before he dropped her off wasn’t from his father. He’d looked worried, almost terrified as he’d listened to the speaker on the other end.
“Well, with Uncle Alessandro, he might be a while,” Shaina said.
“Yeah.” Tashi tried to shake off her misgivings with a smile. She tucked her clutch under her arm and kissed Aria on the cheek. “She’s such a gorgeous baby, Shaina,” she said of the curly black-haired, brown-eyed baby girl, wearing a pink satin ruffled dress with a matching band around her head. “I think she looks like you,” she told Shaina.
“Me, too. But don’t let Massimo hear you say that. He swears she looks like him.”
“Well, she can’t lose either way.” Michelle ruffled the baby’s hair, which caused her to whimper and clutch the front of her mother’s dress.
“She’s a little cranky tonight,” Shaina explained, soothing her baby. “Had her shots today.”
“Hmm. I remember those days. Only mine were double the trouble and sleepless nights.”
“Aaahah!” Elyse exclaimed, flashing her black button eyes and a four-tooth grin as if agreeing with her mother. As they all laughed, she reached out her little arms for Tashi.
“Aha, indeed,” Tashi said, hugging her tightly and smoothing her straight dark hair. She was starting to love the feel of babies in her arms. They were so helpless and trusting, and impish, she thought as Elyse made a grab for her hair. No wonder all the little ones loved Adam. He let them pull his hair like a kitten pulls its mother’s tail.
Come to think of it, he allowed her to pull his hair when she was caught up in the throes of passion. When he’d complained that his head hurt, she’d told him that he should think about cutting his hair, to which he’d responded that she sounded like his father.
“Come, let’s introduce you to everyone else while we wait for Adam.” Kaya placed her arm around Tashi, her voice and touch bringing her back to the present.
“Who’s everyone?” Trying to control the blush creeping up her neck to her face, Tashi followed the women into the front dining area of the café.
“Well there’s my brother, Robert,” Michelle began…
Tashi’s heart jolted as she passed the place where she’d bumped into Adam almost a month ago, and where the spark had started between them—a spark that had blazed into a fiery, inextinguishable furnace.
> She and Adam were late for Bryce’s parents’ anniversary party because they’d been making love all afternoon. It had begun in her studio when Adam walked in, still wearing the suit he’d worn to the office, and without saying a word, picked her up from her chair and began kissing her passionately.
He’d taken her the first time against the wall of the studio while they were still fully clothed. He’d just hiked up her skirt, pulled her thong aside, unzipped his trousers and shoved himself deeply and firmly into her. Tashi shivered as she remembered the hot ache in her throat and belly at that initial conquering thrust.
The fact that the door was wide open and that any of the servants could have walked in on them had only amplified the thrill of their erotic coupling. It hadn’t lasted long. A few more deep powerful thrusts and Adam was coming, groaning loudly as he emptied himself inside her. He’d instantly pulled out and as his hot seed dripped down her thighs, he’d zipped up his fly and carried her down the hall to the master suite and stripped them both naked.
There were still no words between them as they’d made slow love to each other. Their eyes and hands and mouths and sighs and moans had said what needed to be said: I want you. I need you. I desire you. I worship you. I love you, until the silent words themselves had materialized into tiny floating matter between them, growing, thickening, lengthening, wrapping around them like sweltering mist, melting them down, then bonding them together into one rolling, heaving liquid globe of flesh.
“And then there’s Cameron and—”
“Did somebody call my name?”
Tashi snapped out of her daydream and turned to see a handsome young man in a tux, and an attractive young lady in an orange gown approaching them. The girl was giggling and leaning against the young man’s shoulder.
So this was Shaina’s brother and his girlfriend, Monica. Shaina had told her that they’d been away visiting Monica’s family on the island of Dulcina in the Caribbean. They just returned yesterday and were spending some time with her and Mass before they left for MIT in Boston to begin their second year of college. They were both pursuing engineering degrees.
“What have you two been up to? Why did you leave the party?” Shaina asked, frowning at the young couple. “What were you doing in that dark empty room?”
“We’re both over eighteen. We don’t need your permission for anything,” Cameron retorted, his hand on his hip.
Monica giggled, flipped her hair over her shoulder, and burrowed closer to him.
Shaina crossed her eyes at them. “Cameron, don’t think you’re too old for me to ground. As for you, Miss Hamilton, in your culture, you’re not an adult until you turn twenty-one. Do I need to call your father?”
Cameron flashed a boyish grin that made his gray eyes sparkle. “Oh come on, sis. You know I’m just messing with you.” He gave Shaina a peck on her cheek, and then pinched Aria’s cheeks and tried to pry her away from her mother. “Give Uncle Cam some sugar.”
Aria whined and, yanking the band from around her head, she threw it at him, her bright brown eyes flashing under her long eyelashes.
He stepped aside and, just before it landed in Monica’s face, she caught it and swung it around her forefinger. “Look, Cameron, I caught the garter. You know what that means,” she said, her brown eyes flashing impishly at him.
“Teenagers. Teenagers in love.” Shaina growled and snatched the headband from Monica. She turned to Tashi. “I guess you figured out that this is my pain-in-the-butt younger brother.”
“Oh, yeah, you must be Uncle Adam’s new bride,” Cameron said, smiling at Tashi.
“Yes, I’m Tashi. It’s nice to meet you, Cameron, and you Monica.” She offered her hand to them.
“Hmm, hmm, hmm. Uncle Adam is one lucky devil. You are hot!” The next instant Cameron was groaning and dropping Tashi’s hand as Monica’s fist went flying into his chest. “Girl, you trying to break my ribs? Football season is around the corner. What’s wrong with you?”
“That’s what you get for ogling another man’s wife, especially when you have a lovely, intelligent girlfriend of your own.”
Tashi took a deep breath, trying to conquer her spontaneous reaction to Adam, as his well-muscled body, clad in a black tuxedo, moved with easy grace toward them.
“Thanks, Uncle Adam.” Monica poked her tongue out at Cameron.
“Cameron’s right. All you ladies look stunning. Even you, little sweetie,” Adam added, kissing Elyse on the cheeks.
Elyse hung on to Tashi as if to tell him that she preferred his wife tonight, but the other little lady in their presence reached out for him.
“Hmm…hmm. I see how it is. She likes her white uncle better than her black uncle.” Cameron scowled.
“Well, her white uncle doesn’t pester her like you do.” Shaina glared at her brother.
“Come on, Moni. When our brown little babies shun their white uncles in favor of Uncle Bryce and the black part of Uncle Erik, let’s see how that goes down with them.”
They laughed when Monica made the crazy person gesture with her finger and allowed him to drag her toward the room from where music, laughter, chatter, and the delicious smell of gourmet food made Tashi happy that she’d come to Granite Falls.
“We’d better get back inside before Mom and Dad think we ditched them for a better party,” Kaya said, taking Elyse from Tashi.
“We’ll just be a minute,” Tashi said.
“Don’t be too long.” Shaina took her daughter from Adam and followed Michelle and Kaya down the hallway, their long dresses making swooshing sounds as they hurried.
“Adam, what’s going on?” Tashi asked as soon as they were alone. “Was that phone call really from your father?”
He averted his eyes for a few seconds. “No. I lied because I didn’t want to upset you.” He placed warm comforting hands on her shoulders. “I just want you, us, to have a good time tonight.”
“Who was it from?”
“Someone I’m working with in New York.” He began leading her down the hallway. “A man has been asking questions about you. He’s been questioning your former neighbors and students at your university.”
“Well, we know people are looking for me, so—”
“No, this man was asking questions those people would already have the answers to.”
“You think it could be Agent Dawson?” she asked on a glimmer of optimism.
“Paul wouldn’t be asking questions about you. He’d call you on the phone he gave you.”
Tashi halted and stared up at him. “There’s another threat I have to be worried about?” When was it going to end?
Adam wrapped her in his arms. “No, cara. No one is going to hurt you. I promise. I’ve already given orders for the man to be picked up by some associates in the city. I will get to the bottom of this.” He eased her away to gaze into her eyes. “You are safe. Say it.”
Tashi swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “I—I’m safe.”
“Now put it all out of your pretty little head. Just have fun tonight, for me. I need to see you having fun. Especially when you look so sexy and hot.”
His irresistible grin snapped the burdensome chains of Tashi’s paranoia and fear. She’d lived for a year and a half by herself with danger looming over her. She was now married to one of the most powerful men in the world, and into a family that would pull out all the stops to ensure her safety. The least she could do was make her husband happy tonight. “Okay. I’ll have a good time tonight,” she said on a vivid, ecstatic smile.
“That’s my girl.” He kissed her lips and walked her to the door of the party room that had suddenly become very quiet.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Congratulations, Adam and Tashi!”
Tashi gasped at the loud cheer as she and Adam made their entrance. Before they had time to recover from the surprise, Monica took her clutch and placed a glass of sparkling cider in her hand while Massimo handed Adam a drink.
“It’s you
r night, too,” he said, giving them both hugs, before stepping back to stand beside his wife, along with Michelle and Erik, and Bryce and Kaya who’d formed a small circle, nearby.
Tashi took a quick glance around the room that was romantically decorated with flowers, balloons, red and white heart-shaped garlands, and two aesthetically set dining tables—one for the adults and one for the children.
But more importantly were the three generations of family and friends, dressed in elegant evening gowns and tuxedoes, holding glasses of wine, mixed drinks, sparkling cider, and milk, and chanting, “Adam, Tashi.” Even Eli, the smallest male present, was clapping his little hands and shaking his head from the safety of his father’s arms.
Tears stung Tashi’s eyes as she felt Adam’s warm hand in the small of her back. Never had she felt so wanted, and appreciated. These people didn’t even know her, and yet they were welcoming her into their family and close-knit circle, simply because she was Adam’s wife.
“Everyone, let’s get ready to toast the newlyweds,” Galen said, from a temporary stage on the far side of the room.
Tashi waved at him. He looked debonair in a beige tux, with his curly dark hair brushing the white collar of his shirt.
He winked at her and raised his glass. “To Adam and Tashi.”
The chinking of glasses filled the room, followed by another round of cheers and well wishes while Luther Vandross’ “There’s Nothing Better Than Love”, a song that was so appropriate for all the couples present, floated from the speakers.
Then one kid screamed, “Mommy”, and another “Daddy,” and her friends were rushing to the back of the room to take care of their children.
Adam hoisted two pieces of crostini topped with chopped clams sautéed with garlic from the tray of a passing waiter. “Try this,” he said, popping one into Tashi’s mouth.
“Hmm, that’s good,” she said as the flavor burst inside her mouth. She was starved, and she knew Adam was too, since they’d both worked up hearty appetites in their bedrooms. She was about to grab a bruschetta topped with tomatoes, when Philippe and Felicia—Erik’s parents—and Henry and Lillian, flocked around them, giving them hugs and kisses.
