Blood

by Ivy Nelson

  When they were all seated, someone else took the stage and introduced the first speaker. As the evening wore on, Elijah slung an arm across the back of Holly’s chair. At first, her shoulders tensed up and he started to pull away. That was until he saw Grant’s glare. He leaned down and whispered in Holly’s ear. “You look gorgeous tonight.”

  Heat crept up her neck and cheeks and he had to resist the urge to brush a kiss to her temple.

  “Our next speaker is one of tonight’s guests of honor. We were sad when she put in her resignation with the Sutton Foundation, but we know she’ll go on to do some great things. Help me welcome the lovely Miss Holly Sutton to the stage.”

  Elijah looked at her in surprise as he pulled his arm away and stood to pull her chair out.

  “You amaze me, Holly,” he said, this time giving in to his desires with a feather soft kiss to her hair.

  For the next fifteen minutes, Holly spoke eloquently about the work being done in Africa and the needs that still existed. Tears glistened in his eyes as he listened to her honor her mother and others before who had paved the way for the people there now. Why wasn’t he honoring his own mother that way? He quietly made donations in her name every year but anything else had proved too painful for him.

  Now, as he listened to Holly speak with such passion, he felt like an asshole for making her give this part of her life up for a job with him. His company did a lot of work in Africa, and he vowed to find ways for her to continue her charity work under the umbrella of the Barrett Corporation. Perhaps there was a way to tie the diamond production to a new charity.

  He would work on it this week.

  As the night wound down, Elijah watched Holly float from table to table thanking guests and charming them out of more money than they’d already spent.

  Her speech played over and over in his head. The Barrett Corporation gave plenty of money, but Holly could bring more to the table than just charming checks out of rich people. He would show her that.

  If Patrick would tell her the brutal truth about their father and his involvement in her mother’s death, she would view the work on lab produced diamonds as a vital part of her work. But Patrick was adamant that now wasn’t the time to tell her and Elijah could do nothing but respect that.

  Holly returned to their table interrupting his thoughts, and Elijah smiled up at her. “You’re absolutely stunning, Holly. I’ve enjoyed watching you tonight. When we get to the office in the morning, I have some things I’d like to discuss.”

  Holly gave him a quizzical look. “What sort of things?”

  “Let’s just say, you’ve inspired me,” he said with a wink.

  Her lips turned up in a shy smile. “Then I can’t wait to hear what you have on your mind.”

  “Would you like to go for a drink? I know a great little lounge where we could just sit and talk.”

  Her gaze shifted to a group across the room. One woman waved at her. “I would, but a few of my old coworkers want to take me out for a drink. You could tag along if you wanted.”

  Elijah picked up her hand and pressed it to his lips. “No. Some other time. You go have fun with your friends. I don’t want to share you on our first date. Besides, I’m technically on a date with Patrick,” he said with a salacious grin.

  To his delight, her face turned a lovely shade of pink. Standing, he kissed her cheek,

  “Goodnight, Holly. I’ll see you at work in the morning.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Holly arrived at work on Wednesday with less dread than the previous day. After their awkward trip out of town, it had been hard to face Elijah. But she had enjoyed his company at her final Sutton Foundation event last night. He’d made a sizeable donation to Aid for Africa and he’d done it in his mother’s name. Drinks with friends had been fun, but she wished she’d taken her boss up on his offer of a quiet drink together.

  Now, she was in her office before him waiting for his arrival. Settled at her desk, she checked her e-mail and Elijah’s as well as their calendars and the calendars of the various department heads. She knew there were at least two last-minute meetings people wanted to squeeze in with Elijah.

  As she was sipping the last of her morning coffee, a shadow crossed over her desk and she looked up to find Elijah smiling down at her. He moved so quietly.

  “Good morning, Holly. You’re here bright and early.”

  “Yes, Si…” she stopped herself. “That’s right. I just wanted to get a jump on things and I’m nearly finished reconstructing your filing system. The next time you have an all department meeting with your department heads, I would like fifteen minutes to give them a demo of how the new system works. I could send an e-mail but in person instruction is usually more effective.”

  Elijah smiled kindly at her. “Add it to the next meeting’s agenda and the time is yours. When you finish what you’re doing come talk to me in my office. You can transfer your phone in there.”

  When he was gone, Holly stayed where she was for a few moments even though she was finished with her morning routine. What would he want to talk about? With a deep breath, she transferred her phone and pushed back from the desk to head into Elijah’s office.

  With a quick two tap knock on his door, she pushed it open and poked her head in. “Are you ready for me?”

  “Always,” he said with a wink and motioned her in.

  Closing the door behind her, she made her way to his desk and sat in one of the comfortable chairs. When he sat, he pulled out three binders.

  “As you know, I work with your brother and Eastman Enterprises to manufacture lab produced diamonds. The reason for this is that it’s the only way to be positive that any diamonds I trade in are conflict free.

  I work with a variety of diamond producers around the world but as of now, the lab produced diamond market only has about a one-point five percent share of the diamond market as a whole. We want to change that. To have any real impact, we need to get closer to eight percent of the market share.

  There are several marketing teams working on it and we’ve got several campaign ideas to move more diamonds, but I have another idea.”

  He paused and flipped open one binder. Holly still wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about, but she waited patiently for him to continue.

  “I want to launch a line of man-made diamonds that will help raise funds for organizations like Aid for Africa and other charities that work over there. We want to help defund the continuous wars by selling more man-made diamonds. It will not only help me achieve my goal, but it will provide much needed aid to places like where our mothers worked, and my mother died. Their work connects us you know.”

  Holly hadn’t thought about just how connected they were. She felt a pang of grief as he slid the binders to her. Squashing it down, she pulled them closer to her. “OK. That all sounds really wonderful but what does any of this have to do with me?”

  “You’re good at charity campaigns. I want to run this marketing campaign as a charity drive. If we can make this campaign a success, not only are we helping the region, we’re helping the company so it’s a win-win.”

  Holly picked up the first binder and flipped it open.

  “And hurting my father,” she observed as she read the sales projections.

  Elijah had the decency to wince. “Well, there is that.”

  Holly wanted to ask more questions but wasn’t sure where to begin, so she flipped another page in the binder and read.

  “What kind of things did you have in mind for me to do?”

  “I want you to design and launch the campaign. I’m making it your personal project if you want it. You have a ton of experience. I think you can guide a marketing team to come up with something that would really resonate with people and convince them to buy lab made diamonds instead of mined ones.”

  Holly nodded as she moved to the next binder—already filled with market research she could use.

  “I love the idea. I’ll need to dig into this resea
rch as well as research on why people have the inherent bias against lab produced diamonds. If we can get to the heart of that, we can help eliminate some of that bias with the right campaign.”

  Her wheels were turning as she mulled over the possibilities. This was the sort of thing she’d wanted input on at the Sutton Foundation but wasn’t allowed. The fact that Elijah was giving her this opportunity was overwhelming.

  When she glanced up from her reading, Elijah was staring at her intently. She blushed under his gaze.

  “I think you’re perfect for this, Holly. I’ll put you in touch with the marketing team and let them know you’ll be in charge of this project from now on. I’ll still want updates, but I’m trusting you with this project.”

  Holly beamed at his praise. “This means a lot to me. Thank you, Elijah. I won’t let you down.”

  Her phone beeped and she glanced down at the alert.

  “You have a call with the president of the European Union and his translator in ten minutes. Do you need anything for that?”

  “So efficient,” he said with a smile. “I have no doubt you will handle this project effortlessly. I should have everything I need. Thank you, Holly. You can take the binders with you, but you also have access to digital copies in the cloud.”

  Holly gathered the binders. “Thank you. I’ll leave you to your phone call then.”

  In her office, Holly pulled up her internet browser and typed in Elijah Barrett’s name again. This time, she went straight to his Wikipedia page and found the section labeled, ‘early life’. Sure enough, she found the information she wanted. Eleanor Barrett died when Elijah was just seventeen.

  The page was light on details about her death, so Holly went to Google again and typed in her name and date of death. A click of the news button brought up dozens of articles about the tragic kidnapping and subsequent murder of Eleanor Barrett.

  The woman had been traveling with a charity organization committed to helping orphaned children in the region. They had wondered into a conflict zone where her group was kidnapped and held for ransom. The ransom wasn’t paid, and they launched a rescue effort, but the hostages didn’t survive. Holly cringed as she read about the way the hostages died. It was not pretty.

  The organization Eleanor worked for was one her own mother had worked with on multiple occasions. Thoughts of Mellissa Sutton had her fighting back tears.

  Dabbing at the corners of her eyes, she turned her attention back to the article on the screen. It felt uncomfortable, like she was snooping into Elijah’s private life, but she felt like she needed to understand her boss and it was hard to imagine she would work up the courage to ask him the questions she had.

  Patrick might have some answers since the two seemed close. She would have to call him. As her mouse hovered over the X to close the window, a line of text caught her eye. It was an article about the kidnapping and hostage situation.

  Sutton Jewelry, who had representatives in the region, have extended their deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and will pay for all funeral expenses.

  Holly stared at the words again. Her father and his associates often made trips to Africa to meet with the locals, but she had no way of knowing if he was there at the time. Holly was young, her mother had just returned from a trip to Africa herself and would soon be killed in a mugging.

  Either way, it looked like her father at least had some knowledge of Elijah’s mother and the rest of the volunteers. Why would he pay for the funerals? Holly felt knots forming in her stomach and she hoped his reasons were magnanimous and not selfish.

  “Have dinner with me.”

  Holly’s head jerked up to see Elijah standing in her door.

  “I…” Holly stopped when Elijah prowled to her desk.

  “Don’t make up excuses. If you don’t want to see me outside of work don’t, but I want to take you to dinner, and I think you want to say yes. If you tell me I’m wrong, I won’t ask again.”

  Holly closed her eyes. She really wanted to say yes. “OK. I’ll have dinner with you.”

  Elijah’s face lit up with a wide grin. “Excellent.”

  Then he was gone again, leaving Holly to stare after him in shock. Had she really just agreed to a date with her boss? That was so unethical. Wasn’t it? Technically, the office didn’t have a no fraternization policy. They did have a no sexual harassment policy that had a zero-tolerance clause though.

  Now she just had to figure out how to get through the workday without obsessing over dinner.

  Thankfully, Elijah stayed in meetings most of the day. Some of them she tagged along to and others he went to alone.

  At four, Elijah announced that he was leaving.

  “Um…” Holly faltered, unsure of how to ask about the details of dinner. Why was she so timid about these things, but she could easily ask people to write checks were thousands with no problems?

  Elijah smiled. “I can pick you up at your house or we can meet somewhere.”

  Holly got the sense that him showing up at her house where she lived with her father was a bad idea, so she chose meeting somewhere.

  “There’s a great little bar off the beaten path that has amazing after work cocktails. We can meet there unless you have reservations for dinner somewhere.”

  “I do, but they aren’t until seven-thirty. We can meet at the bar at six if that works for you.”

  Holly looked at the clock. That was enough time to get home, shower, and change clothes.

  “OK, it’s a date then.”

  Elijah beamed at her. “Yes, it is, Holly. Yes, it is.”

  Holly just stared after him for the third time that day. What was he doing to her?

  With a sigh, she quickly finished her tasks and logged off her computer to head home.

  At the house, she took a hurried shower and pulled on a cute dress that could be fancy or casual depending on where they went.

  As she was coming out of her bedroom, her father rounded the corner to make his way downstairs.

  “Hi, Daddy. I wasn’t expecting you to be home already.”

  Nicholas smiled at her. “Just grabbing a suitcase before I head out of town, princess. How is your new job?”

  Holly stifled her grin. There was no point rubbing it in. “It’s going good, Daddy. It’s nice to do something different for a change. I’m sorry that there seems to be animosity between you and Elijah.”

  “You call him Elijah? That hardly seems appropriate.”

  Holly sighed. “He’s young, Daddy. Not old fashioned liked you,” she teased with a wink. “He asked me not to call him Mr. Barret because it makes him feel ancient.”

  Nicholas stood back and scrutinized her. “You like him,” he said after a beat.

  “I think he is an excellent boss,” Holly said, hoping that would satisfy him. “But I’m late for drinks with one of our clients.” Telling him she was going on a date with her new boss didn’t exactly seem prudent.

  “OK my princess. I’ll see you later then. Don’t drink too much.”

  Holly leaned up and kissed his cheek. “You know I won’t, Daddy. Have a good trip.”

  Part of her wanted to ask him about her mom’s time in Africa and his connection to the hostage crisis but it didn’t feel like the right time. Maybe when he got back into town.

  As she now navigated L.A. traffic, she grew more excited and nervous about dinner with Elijah. Getting to know him would be interesting and maybe even fun.

  The parking structure across from the bar she was meeting him at came into view and Holly switched her turn signal on to get over one lane. When she was parked, she checked her makeup one last time and stepped out of the car.

  As she crossed the busy street, her eyes landed on Elijah waiting just outside the door and her mouth went dry.

  His suits were hot, but this took his attractiveness to a whole new level. He wore a dark pair of jeans that hugged his legs deliciously and a button-down shirt that was more casual than the stiff white ones he
generally wore to the office. The top two buttons of the royal blue shirt were undone, showing off just a bit of his smooth chest. His sleeves were rolled up and showing off sculpted arms. Her face warmed as she remembered the feel of them wrapped around her on the dancefloor all those months ago. She wanted to experience that again. Perhaps with him shirtless.

  “Glad to see you found the place,” she said as she stepped up onto the sidewalk and tried to banish the inappropriate thoughts about his body.

  Elijah smiled as his eyes raked her from head to toe. “You look lovely this evening, Holly.”

  The heat that traveled up her neck and cheeks also traveled downward and warmed her belly. “Thank you,” she managed to say without her voice cracking.

  Elijah pulled the door open, and Holly fell into step beside him. His hand came to rest at the small of her back as they walked past the hostess station to the bar. He waited for her to get settled onto a barstool before he sat himself. A bartender appeared before them and snapped cocktail napkins into place as he asked what they wanted to drink.

  “I’ll have a Bowmore if you have it. Macallan if you don’t. Neat. And whatever the lady wants.”

  Holly leaned in so she didn’t feel like she was yelling. As she did, she caught a hint of his cologne. It was a heady smell that she could have inhaled all day, and it brought back memories of their first encounter. The bartender cleared his throat and Holly’s face turned crimson.

  “Sorry. I’ll have a dirty vodka martini please.”

  The bartender scurried away to make his drinks and Elijah quirked an eyebrow up at her. “I didn’t think you liked those. What’s going through your head that has your face turning red?”

  He was never afraid to ask the blunt questions. Holly started to make something up but changed her mind. “I was thinking about how good you smell.” Embarrassment flooded her system again and she dropped her head.

  Elijah’s hand came to rest where her shoulder and neck met, and she shuddered. “I had the same thought about you as you walked past me on our way in. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We’re two people who smell good and find each other attractive.