“Have you heard from the museum, yet?”
I shook my head. “No, and to be honest I really like the job I am doing now. If they called I can’t say I’d take the job, plus I am making a lot more money at the hotel.”
“Well, as long as you’re happy.”
“I am.”
This was the happiest I had been in a long time. Work was good, despite the slight worry of people finding out about me and Jax before we were ready. I missed him. Emotion welled in my chest at the thought of seeing him soon. We agreed to exchange gifts after Christmas and tonight I couldn’t wait to hold him in my arms.
My mom smiled and merged into the lane for the airport. “Stevie, I’m glad that we have a private moment. I wanted you to hear it from me.”
My heart slammed into my ribs. Closing my eyes, I braced myself for the news. He did it, he actually told her about him and Darlene.
“Your father and I are getting a divorce.”
My head snapped to look at her. “What? I have like a million questions.”
“Caught him and Darlene together in his office around Halloween.”
I swallowed past the shock. “Does he know that you know?”
“No, but he will soon. He’s getting the papers today.”
“You’re serving him with the papers today?”
She nodded and I swore I saw a hint of a smile on her lips. I’m glad I kept my mouth shut. It could have ruined everything for my mom. I’m not sorry that I stood up to my father. I had a thousand more questions, but only one seemed to hold any value.
“Are you going to be okay, Mom?” I asked, as she pulled up to the curb.
She grasped my hand giving it a tight squeeze. “I’m going to be better than okay, I’m going to be great.”
“I don’t doubt that one bit.”
Mr. Lin had called me and asked if I could come by the restaurant at some point. So once I unpacked, I trekked downstairs. The restaurant was relatively quiet, aside from music coming from the kitchen.
“Mister Lin, it’s Stevie,” I called out from the dining room.
“Oh hello, Stevie,” he said, appearing from behind the bar. “Did you have a nice Christmas?”
“I did. What about you?”
“It was good, yes. The whole family gathered around the table, even my sister came all the way from New York.” He smiled and gestured for me to take a seat in one of the booths.
“Full house, huh?”
He chuckled. “Oh yes. Good though. Children’s laughter is good for the soul. Family is the most important thing in the world.”
My family was never particularly close but I couldn’t stop grinning, the joy in his expression gave me joy.
“Well, I will just get right to it,” he said, sliding a manila envelope across the tabletop towards me.
“What’s this?”
“Open, please.” He gestured towards the package.
I cocked a brow and pulled back the metal clasps. What I pulled out was a very large check and some paperwork. My eyes scanned over the words. The bold face type explained that my grandmother and Mister Lin co-owned the restaurant.
“You and Ruby were business partners?” I shook my head in disbelief.
“Your grandmother was a silent partner.” He tapped his finger against the table. “When I was about to lose this place your grandmother helped me out.”
This must be the extra money that Dad and Darlene were talking about. How much did they know about Gran and the restaurant?
“Does anyone else know about my grandmother helping you out?”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe that she told anyone, but her lawyer and now you know.”
“And this very large check made out to me and signed by you? What is this from?”
“Per my agreement with your grandmother, this is her profit from the sale of the restaurant which as you can see belongs to you.”
I blinked unable to process what Mr. Lin was telling me. My grandmother did a very generous thing by helping Mr. Lin. They weren’t having an affair they were business partners. Megyn and I would have a good laugh about this situation.
“I have a confession to make, when I found out the restaurant was for sale, I thought about buying it from you.”
Mister Lin cocked a brow. “Really? You wanted to run a Chinese restaurant?”
I waved him off with a laugh. “No, I wanted to turn this place into another apartment or an art gallery.”
He smiled and stood. “New owners take over in thirty days. This place will be a cupcake shop.”
“Great, the smell alone will cause me to gain ten pounds.” I gathered the contents and shoved it all back into the envelope. One of his staff came out from the kitchen carrying a brown bag. “I put all your favorites in here, Stevie and two eggrolls.”
“Thank you, but you didn’t need to do that.” I opened the bag and took a deep breath. I would miss these noodles.
After I said goodbye to Mister Lin I walked back up to my apartment. It was just after three in the afternoon. I devoured one of the eggrolls and shoved the rest into the refrigerator. I needed to get to the bank and deposit this check. Having that much money lying around my place wasn’t the brightest idea. Flipping the check over, I smiled and signed the back.
“Thank you, Gran.”
My phone buzzed across the counter.
Jax: My flight has been cancelled. Snow storm. I will call you tonight.
Me: Bummer. Do you have to sleep in the airport?
Jax: No. I’m at a nearby hotel.
Me: Stay warm. I miss you.
Jax: I miss you too.
ON FRIDAY, I ARRIVED AT work early and dropped Jax’s Christmas present along with a card onto his desk. He’d been snowed in for two days in Montana. It was slightly disturbing that four days without him left me feeling twitchy.
We talked briefly. I filled him in on the family drama saving the part about Gran’s business and Mr. Lin for when he returned. Jax told me about his uncle gifting him a piece of land in Montana that his mother had originally wanted to purchase. Apparently, he spent a majority of the snowed in days working and looking at home designs via Pinterest with his sister. The thought of him making Pinterest boards made me smile.
When I got to my desk, there were several emails from Jax. The email he’d sent to the executive team outlined a portion of his duties be split between me and Carol in his absence. Carol took control of the weekly staff meeting, while I walked the property with Maria going over the maintenance checklist.
I powered through my morning, closing out an auction for a set of Japanese Cloisonné vases from the Meiji period. Things were all falling into place where the Chicago property was concerned. The hotel was slated to open this summer and I couldn’t wait to tour the space.
“Miss Brockman, it’s Calvin at the front desk. The weekly floral delivery is here, but my paperwork shows berries, greenery, and pink ranunculus. The flowers on the truck are white. I wanted to double check with you before signing.”
I perused my paperwork, confirming that I had in fact ordered pink ranunculus. “I will be right down, Calvin. Thank you.”
It’s going to be a three cup of coffee kind of morning.
Needing a change of venue, I found myself sitting at a table in the executive conference room after lunch. As it would seem, my office was lacking inspiration for the Valentine’s installation. On the flipside it could be due to the fact that I was missing my own personal inspiration and a decent orgasm. Along with an orgasm I was chasing a decent night’s sleep. I should be sleeping soundly at night due to my recent inheritance. Thanks to Gran I was going to be able to pay off my car, pay off my student loans, and still have enough left over for savings. But, before I made any major moves, I wanted Jax to look over my spreadsheet calculations. I trusted his financial savvy.
“You have a perfectly nice office with a door, Miss Brockman,” Carol said as she strolled in with an armload of file folders.
“Right, right, well, if you don’t mind my department has a human resources training session scheduled for two p.m. I’m going to need you to clear out.” Carol hefted the binders out of the filing cabinet.
Knock. Knock.
“Miss Edgerton,” Beth said from the doorway. “Mister Biesemeyer is on line two.”
“Thank you, Beth. I’ll take the call in here.”
I closed my iPad and gathered my belongings. Curiosity had me lingering in the conference room.
“Hello, Stan, this is Carol, how can I help you?”
“Hey, Carol, Jackson has me looking into commercial spaces, I’ve got a lead on a five thousand square foot space, but as of right now, there’s nothing in between. The next best location is twenty thousand square feet, which seems rather large for his needs.”
What are his needs that are between five thousand and twenty thousand square feet? Not a hotel.
“I’d send him everything you have. At this point, he will want to evaluate all the options. The planning stage is going to be fun.”
“Don’t I know that?” his voice was light with laughter. “All right, thank you, Carol.”
The call ended and Carol scurried out of the room. I hauled my bag onto my shoulder and stared at the phone for a few minutes. I wandered down the hallway in a sort of daze. The last place I thought I end up was standing in Carol’s office.
“Why is Jackson looking for commercial property in Montana?”
“Campaign headquarters.” She looked up from her desk, sliding her jet black hair over her shoulder. “He’s considering running for Governor of Montana.”
My brows pinched together in confusion, the obvious shock written all over my face. Carol looked at me as if she actually enjoyed delivering this news, like she was happy to have the information before me.
“So, he didn’t tell you.” She folded her arms a top her desk.
“He hasn’t told me, yet.” My voice was calm despite the emotion hammering through my veins.
“And why do you think that is?”
“Because he’s been hard to reach and I’ve been busy. Or here’s a thought, he respects me enough to tell me in person.” It was the only thing that I could think of that made any kind of sense.
She rolled her eyes. “Do you really think that you’re first lady material?”
I stood there like an idiot dumbfounded by her question. Say something.
“You know my sister fell in love with him,” she said, eyeing me up and down. “All it took was a few conversations and a couple of society events. Toss in an afternoon on his yacht and Trina was hooked. I’m sure you’ve experienced the same thing. He’s very charming that way, a true gentleman.”
Still I said nothing. Jax told me it was nothing serious between the two of them and I chose to believe him.
“When it comes to selecting a wife, a partner . . . someone to be by his side, do you really think that Jackson will choose you?”
Her words cut me, the pang in my chest sharpening. Don’t cry. Don’t break.
She stood and yanked the top drawer of her desk open. Carol tossed a stack of magazines onto her desk and her dark eyes met mine. “You’re no different than any of these ladies.”
I winced staring down at the glossy covers. “What are you saying that Jackson is a ‘use them and lose them’ kind of guy?”
“No, I’m saying it won’t be his choice. Once the press finds out about your background they won’t stop digging. Jackson won’t choose you—to protect you.”
I blinked back the hot tears that welled. “Stop talking in circles, Carol.” I spat, my voice taking on a harsher tone than I intended. “Fucking spit it out. All of it.”
She scowled at me. “What do you think will happen when some reporter starts digging up your past? I’ll tell you, the first thing printed will be about your affair with Cord Robinson. That story could go a few different ways. My guess is they will choose to paint you as a gold-digger or fame whore.”
“But, that’s not true!” I shouted.
“Doesn’t matter. Your relationship with Cord will segue to your hometown. They’ll go after your family, spilling everything about your middle-class upbringing and your father’s blue-collar business. When some young and hungry reporter needs a breakthrough story, they’ll write about your father’s alcoholism. They’ll drag your mother’s broken hip into it painting a story of abuse and how you targeted Jackson hoping he’d pay the bills. And if you have anything remotely scandalous on your social media, they’ll find it.”
I held up my hand. “Stop. I’ve heard enough.”
“You asked,” she reminded.
“How do you know all of this, Carol? I never told you about my father’s drinking.”
“No, you didn’t but Cord is a talker and when I called the country club for references. It was easy to get information. Being from a small town people like to gossip whether they know that they are doing it or not—sweet Stevie Brockman, we’re so happy she made her way out of Kennesaw. That father of hers is a real piece of work. The drinking and gambling.”
I rolled my eyes. “You can’t believe everything you hear, Carol. Surely you know not to fall for petty gossip.”
Carol stared at me for a beat, her expression grew hard. “A few weeks after Trina and Jackson were spotted together, a reporter called threatening to break a story about my sister.” She came around to stand in front of her desk. “In college, Trina had an abortion. She was raped by the professor that she was assisting. An ex-friend of hers was looking for a payout and told the reporter that she could give him any dirt he wanted for a price.”
I wasn’t even sure what to say to that.
“Jackson was sick about the whole thing and managed to kill the story. It cost him a pretty penny, but he wouldn’t allow Trina to relive that nightmare. Then, the press found out about our mother.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
“Our mother is in a sanatorium. She’s a schizophrenic.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
She waved it off, her dark eyes piercing me. “You see there’s always something from our past that we don’t want dragged out into the light. Trina’s philanthropic work has done a lot of good for mental health issues. She hasn’t needed to bring our mother’s condition into it in order to raise money. When and if she does decide to do that, it will be on her terms not when the press dictates it convenient to sell papers. Jackson was built for a life in the spotlight. He’s prepped for it his entire professional life. He knows what he’s getting into, but for people like you and the rest of the lot, it can end up being miserable.”
Carol paused glancing at her watch. “No matter what you think that you’re working towards,” she continued. “It won’t happen. End it now, before you fall in love with him.”
Too late. I didn’t utter a word. I just watched her walk toward the door.
“Oh, Jackson’s plane lands at six eighteen p.m. tonight.” She flipped her glossy strands over her shoulders and walked away.
STEPPING OFF THE PLANE, I realized that Stevie never responded to any of my text messages or my last email. Sliding into the driver’s seat of my Range Rover, I tried calling her again. Still no answer.
My fingers tapped along the steering wheel as I navigated through the heavy flow of traffic. A line of cars slowly drove over the bridge to Salissa Island. Friday night, and the Island was hopping with pre-New Year’s celebrations.
Instead of going home first, I dropped by the hotel. Stevie’s office was my first stop. The lights were off and the door was closed. I trekked back down the hallway to my office to find a bottle of Ardbeg Single Malt Scotch on my desk with a card. Using my letter opener I pried back the seal.
Jax,
I’ve been good all year. Bring this bottle back to your place and let’s be naughty together.
Merry Christmas!
—Stevie xx
“Minx, I’m on my way,” I murmured, tucking the card back into the envelope. When I left the hotel, a downpour of heavy rain unleashed over the city making visibility low. It was after eight by the time I arrived home. Stevie’s car wasn’t in the garage, but she could have taken the car service.
“Stevie, I’m back, finally,” I called out, slipping my shoes off in the mudroom. With my luggage in tow, I walked up to my bedroom and deposited my suitcase into the closet. Stevie was nowhere to be found.
Now, I’m worried.
Braving the rain I sped out of my driveway and down the streets of Salissa Island heading towards Stevie’s place. Halsey’s “Now or Never” pumped through the speakers. The light for The Golden Dragon’s awning was out and a large sign with the words: SOLD covered the front windows. The alley was dark and there was one street light. The city should have more lights along these streets.
I climbed up the wooden stairs and knocked on the warped wooden door. Nothing. Her car was not in the parking lot. That should have been my first fucking clue.
Trekking back down the stairs, I tried texting her again. There was only one other place I could think to look for Stevie before I called Archie and launched a statewide search—Quench.
I slid my Range Rover into a parking space and then jogged towards the front door. The place was packed, but I saw Stevie right away. Still in her work attire, she sat at the bar wearing a grey sweater and black pants. Her blonde hair pinned up showing off the slope of her neck. I desperately wanted to kiss that neck.
The lights from the bar glinted off her gold starburst necklace. Stevie and I were two tiny stars in a constellation in the same galaxy, connected. I stared at her for a long moment, studying her beauty. I moved through the crowd zig zagging through the throng of people to get to her, to touch her and hold her in my arms.
“Stevie.”
Her blue eyes met mine instead of the usual beam they held a cold vacancy void of emotion. Distant. Far away from me.
“Oh, hello, Mister Hart.”
Wicked Gentleman Page 20
