Lost Without You

by Yahrah St. John

  Shane stared blankly at the stage where Andrew stood as his family started firing questions at him all at once.

  Jax Cosmetics had a far-inferior chemist team than they had at AC. There was no way Andrew could have put together a fragrance, created the bottle and ad campaign and hired Noelle in such a short span of time. This had to have been planned for some time. He’d planned on stealing Shane’s work.

  “You don’t need me to say it, Dad,” Shane said.

  “Shane?” His mother looked at him, but he couldn’t meet her eyes. “Is it Ecstasy?” She knew Andrew hated their family, but just how far had he gone to hurt them?”

  Shane nodded. “Yes, that’s my fragrance up there.” Shane pointed to the bottles on the screens. “He stole my work!”

  “Ohmigod!” His mother’s hand went to her mouth.

  “That bastard,” Byron yelled. “I’m gonna kill him.” He charged toward the stage.

  “Me first,” Shane said, following his father. He would like nothing better than to rearrange Andrew Jackson’s face for stealing his work. Andrew might be several inches taller, but Shane didn’t care.

  “Shane!” Kayla called out to her brother, but he and their father were already climbing the stage. “Ethan, do something!” She pushed her husband forward and soon he, too, was following behind them.

  Andrew and Monica were standing on the stage looking smug when the men approached.

  “I want to talk to you now, Jackson!” Bryon yelled.

  “Not here,” Monica said, eyeing the reporters in the room. “Why don’t we take this elsewhere.” She and Andrew left the stage and reluctantly Byron, Shane and Ethan followed. Monica took them to a small room off the stage, where Jax Cosmetics was housing all its samples for the evening.

  “You don’t have any talent in your own family,” Byron yelled, looking around the room, “so you have to steal from mine.”

  Andrew laughed. “Byron, is there a problem? You might want to be careful there. You know we can have heart attacks at our age.”

  “You know damn right there is a problem.” Byron took a dangerous step forward and Andrew stepped back. “You stole our fragrance.”

  “Can you prove it?” Monica asked, folding her arms across her chest and standing by her stepfather. “Because I’m sure our attorneys will have a field day with this one.”

  “Proof won’t matter,” Ethan said, stepping forward. He walked up to Andrew until their faces were inches apart. “All we have to do is ‘leak’ it to the press and the appearance of impropriety will plunge your stock.”

  “Everyone in this industry knows that Jax Cosmetics is nothing but a two-bit copycat of Adams Cosmetics. You don’t have half the talent I have in my baby finger.” Shane held up his finger. “You may think you have gotten away with stealing my work, but mark my words, I will not rest until I destroy you.”

  “You both are using some mighty big words for a company that’s about to go under,” Andrew replied. “Perhaps you should be careful who you burn the next time around. Monica, let’s go.” He rushed his stepdaughter out of the room.

  “What the hell did he mean by that?” Shane asked. He’d never burned anyone, but then he noticed Andrew headed straight to Noelle, and that’s when it hit him. He hadn’t burned anyone, but Ethan had.

  “I could really kill that guy,” Byron Adams said, “but I promised your mother. I’m going to go find her before I do something rash.”

  “I think that would be wise,” Ethan replied. “What do you say we get out of here? I’ve had enough of Andrew Jackson for one evening.” They all headed toward the door, but once they reached the ballroom, Shane pulled Ethan aside.

  “Ethan, can I speak with you for a few minutes?”

  Ethan turned around. “Sure, what’s up?” He noted the serious look on Shane’s face.

  “I think we have our saboteur.” Shane inclined his head toward Noelle.

  “Noelle? What about her?” Ethan appeared to be confused.

  “I haven’t burned anyone recently,” Shane said, “but you…”

  “You think Noelle is somehow behind this?” Ethan asked. “Or is this your way of trying to absolve Gabrielle?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know what to believe,” Shane responded. “I could have judged Gabrielle too quickly, and I never did give her the chance to explain. And we both know Noelle had reason to be upset. But how could she have gotten access?”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Ethan said and headed toward the stairs.

  They returned to Kayla, Courtney and their mother, who were standing at the edge of the steps.

  “I’m glad to see you didn’t come to blows with Andrew,” Elizabeth said. She was appalled by Andrew’s behavior. He certainly held no resemblance to the man she’d once cared about.

  “Trust me, I wanted to,” Byron said, kissing her cheek. “But I promised you, and I don’t lie to my wife.”

  Elizabeth smiled and brushed her lips across her husband’s cheek.

  Kayla looked back and forth at Ethan and Shane. Although they weren’t speaking, their eyes said volumes. “What’s up? What are you two not saying?”

  “I think I know who’s behind the theft,” Shane whispered, “and we’re going to go check out a hunch.”

  “Then you think it’s not Gabby?” Courtney asked, eavesdropping on their conversation.

  “Courtney.” Shane sighed.

  “Don’t ‘Courtney’ me,” she responded. “I have told you from day one that I thought you were wrong about Gabby. And I think you realize it, too.”

  “Now isn’t a good time,” Shane replied and headed toward the ballroom exit.

  “There’s never going to be a good time, Shane,” Courtney returned, “especially when Gabby is gone.”

  Shane stopped in his tracks and spun around on his heels. “What are you talking about?”

  “Gabby is leaving tonight. The company jet is scheduled to take off at 10:00 p.m. for an overnight flight.”

  “Leaving?” Shane asked, walking back to Courtney.

  Courtney nodded. “Yes, she’s had enough of you and her family and she’s headed back to Paris, indefinitely.” She added the last word for effect. She didn’t know for sure that Gabrielle was leaving for good and not coming back, but Shane didn’t need to know that. Maybe it would light a fire under him if he knew he stood to lose her.

  “I have to go.” Shane abruptly fled the room.

  “What was that all about?” their mother asked, coming toward her.

  “I hope Shane is on his way to get his woman,” Courtney replied as she watched her brother’s retreating figure.

  * * *

  Shane and Ethan hailed a taxi and made it to Adams Cosmetics corporate offices in record time. They’d had to leave the limousine for the family’s ride back to the mansion. Shane didn’t care what time it was—he had to find out the truth. He had to find out if Noelle had stolen the fragrance and if he had falsely accused the woman he was in love with.

  On his way to AC, he’d called ahead to the pilot and advised him to stall. He prayed that would buy him enough time to find out who was behind this mess. And if his gut instinct was right on this, he would have to plead for his life and beg Gabby not to leave him.

  “Mr. Adams, Mr. Graham.” The security guard sat up straight when they entered the building. “What are you doing here so late?”

  “We need to ask you some questions,” Shane said, “and see some security footage.”

  “Yes, sir, whatever you need,” the guard replied.

  “Has Noelle Warner been in this building in the past few months?” Shane asked.

  “Sir?” The guard clearly was taken aback, and his eyes began shifting around the room instead of focusing on Shane.

  “He asked when was the last time Ms. Warner was in the building,” Ethan repeated. “And you’ll want to answer this question honestly. Otherwise, there will be severe consequences.”

  “Well…” The guard
looked down. “Ms. Warner came by the building a couple of months back claiming she’d forgotten some items she’d left behind when she was working here.”

  “Oh, she did, did she?” Shane looked at Ethan. They were finally getting to the truth.

  “And?”

  “And I let her upstairs in the executive offices.”

  “And what happened?”

  “And then nothing,” the guard replied. “I had to come back to my desk because the janitorial crew needed access to a locked office, and I keep the keys here. A little while later she returned with a box and then she was gone.”

  “Ohmigod!” Shane couldn’t believe the guard’s lackadaisical response, and he ran his fingers through his short fro. He’d accused Gabrielle falsely. She hadn’t stolen the fragrance after all. Noelle had. “And you never thought to tell us this during our investigation of the leak of the prototype design or the formula theft?” Shane asked. “The incompetence here is unbelievable.”

  “Calm down, Shane.” Ethan placed his hand on his brother-in-law’s shoulder. “Let him finish.”

  “Don’t calm me,” Shane replied. “We accused Gabrielle of stealing when Noelle’s the culprit!”

  “We need to know more than just the guard’s word,” Ethan replied. “We need the camera footage. Do you remember the date Ms. Warner came in? And you had better not lie, because this is serious and could be criminal.”

  “I think so.”

  Ethan didn’t waste any time contacting the head of security and, with his help, they figured out how to access the footage in question. The video showed Noelle in the AC lobby cozying up to the guard and then spilling his coffee over the counter. When he wasn’t looking, another man took his security badge to access the lab. Minutes later, the DVD showed Noelle and the man in Shane’s office. After zeroing in with the camera, it was revealed that the man, most likely a safecracker, manipulated the lock to obtain the combination to open the safe. Noelle then snapped a photo of the formula and planted it in Gabrielle’s desk.

  “This entire scheme was elaborate and deliberate,” Shane replied.

  “Noelle couldn’t have thought of this on her own,” Ethan replied. “She had to have had help.”

  “You know as well as I do that tying this to Andrew will not be easy,” Shane said. “He’s too slick and has covered his tracks.”

  “Even the slimy ones get caught,” Ethan returned. “But if we have Noelle dead to rights on this, perhaps she’ll give him up?”

  “For you?” Shane’s brow rose. “I doubt it.”

  “Her acts were criminal,” Ethan replied harshly. “We can and will press charges. She’ll have no choice.”

  “I’ll let you handle that,” Shane replied. “Right now, I have someplace to be.” He glanced down at his watch and started retreating toward the door. The pilot had agreed to stall for a couple of hours, but said he’d have to take off since there were no more departures allowed after midnight.

  Shane glanced down at his watch. He had only half an hour to get to the private airstrip. The guard had already called a taxi for him.

  “You’re going to get Gabrielle, aren’t you?” Ethan asked, falling in beside Shane.

  “How did you know?” Shane asked.

  “I can tell a man in love. Because I had the same look when I thought I’d lost Kayla.”

  “I made a huge mistake accusing Gabrielle of stealing from us,” Shane said once they’d made it outside. Thankfully, the taxi was waiting at the curb. “I should have known better,” Shane said, opening the taxi door. “She doesn’t have it in her to be deceptive.”

  “Sometimes it’s easier to believe the bad in people versus the good,” Ethan replied. “But you’ll fix it. Go get her, tiger!”

  Shane glanced sideways at Ethan and his pointed statement. It was the first time that they’d bonded over something other than work. “Thanks, man. I just pray it’s not too late.”

  * * *

  Gabrielle sighed as she looked around the lush private jet that belonged to Adams Cosmetics. She doubted the family would be happy about it, but it was a very generous offer from Courtney. She hadn’t been looking forward to the long commercial flight in coach.

  The evening had not gone as she’d planned. Her mother had shown up out of the blue to apologize and start anew. But Pamela Burton was finally showing some backbone and Gabrielle was impressed.

  It wasn’t going to be easy trying to forge a relationship after fifteen years, but Gabrielle had agreed to try. She told her mother she wasn’t sure when she was coming back, but even if she didn’t, she would fly her out to Paris so they could spend some time together.

  And now she was sitting on the tarmac waiting. The pilot had informed her there was some kind of delay due to mechanical issues and so they’d sat for the past hour. Gabrielle was fine with it, as it gave her a chance to finally turn on her phone. There were several calls from Courtney and one from Shane that she promptly ignored.

  Shane. The man she’d come to love, but who believed she was capable of sleeping with him one minute and deceiving him the next. Why would he call? Though she wasn’t innocent by any means, since she hadn’t told him the truth about her father leaking the bottle design, it still hurt knowing that he thought her capable of such manipulation. She’d given herself to him in every way imaginable. She’d held nothing back. Perhaps she should have protected herself better, but she hadn’t.

  She’d allowed herself to fall in love with Shane, with his brilliance, his caring nature, his gentleness, and it had all been snatched away from her in a heartbeat. Gabrielle didn’t know what she was going to do, but she did know she needed some time and distance to figure it out. Meeting Mariah in Paris for some R&R sounded exactly like what she’d need after such a tumultuous few months back in the States.

  Had she made a mistake in coming back? She’d tried to correct the mistakes of the past by reaching out to her parents, and it had nearly destroyed her. And Shane… Had it been a mistake to get involved with her boss and the one man she’d always secretly desired?

  Suddenly, the jet door sprang open and Shane came running up the steps. He glanced around, and when his eyes landed on Gabrielle’s, they lit up like a Christmas tree.

  Gabrielle was momentarily shell-shocked and leaned back in the reclining seat. Was she imagining Shane because she so desperately wanted him to come for her and make a grand gesture?

  “Shane? What are you doing here?” Gabrielle finally found her voice.

  “I came here because I made a mistake.”

  “About?” His presence filled her with hope and apprehension.

  “About you.” Shane rushed toward her and kneeled down so he could face her.

  “I don’t understand.” Confused, Gabrielle’s eyes darted restlessly around the jet.

  “I know you didn’t steal the fragrance,” Shane responded.

  “You do?”

  “It was Noelle Warner.”

  “The actress?” When Shane nodded, she asked, “Why?”

  “It had nothing to do with me. She was once the face of Adams Cosmetics and we fired her because she tried to break up Ethan and Kayla’s marriage. Needless to say, there’s bad blood between her and Ethan.”

  “But how could she have gotten into the lab?”

  “She used her feminine wiles on the guard, claiming she left something behind, and when his head was turned, she snatched his access card. Then she and a man accessed the lab and he cracked my safe.”

  “Ohmigod!” Gabrielle released a sigh of relief. “So, are you going to press charges?”

  “Absolutely, Ethan was adamant about it, but I wasn’t about to stay and find out,” Shane replied. “I just knew I had to catch you before you left.”

  “You should have just let me go,” Gabrielle said, pushing up from the chair and rising to her feet. Shane did the same.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “Because nothing has changed,” Gabrielle replied. “So, I’m
not guilty of stealing the fragrance, but what about the photo of the prototype?”

  Shane paused. Gabby was right. There was the issue of the prototype design, and there was no evidence that Noelle had leaked it to the press.

  “Ask me, Shane,” Gabrielle taunted. “Ask me again.”

  “Okay, Gabby, why don’t you tell me what happened with the photo of the prototype?”

  “Are you finally ready to listen?” Gabrielle inquired.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Good, because I didn’t do it.”

  “I know that,” Shane replied. “But you know who did. And knowing all of that, I am still here asking you not to leave. I believe we have something special, Gabby, but I need you to trust me. I need you to tell me who did it, Gabby.”

  “And how can I believe we have something worth salvaging when you can so easily believe that I deceived you and stole from your family? Why don’t you tell me that, huh?”

  Shane paused for several long seconds. “That’s a fair question. And I guess we’re both going to have to take a leap of faith and trust in each other. I’m not perfect, Gabby. I’m going to make mistakes, and I admit this one is a doozy. In my heart of hearts I knew you weren’t capable of lying to me.”

  “Then why did you believe it?”

  Shane shook his head. “I don’t know if I ever really did. I was just in so much pain. I think it was easier for me to believe the worst in you, because if I did, then I wouldn’t have to confront the feelings I was having for you.”

  “Which are?”

  “That I’ve fallen in love with you, Gabby Burton.”

  Gabrielle looked at him with surprise and utter astonishment. She hadn’t in her wildest dreams expected Shane to admit he loved her as she loved him. It filled her with so much joy that she felt she might burst. But it scared her, too. She knew all too well what it was like to have love and lose it. Her relationship with her parents had taught her that. “Love?”

  Shane smiled. “Yes, love… I think I knew when we were at the chateau. My family sure as hell saw it, but I think I was afraid to believe it, to let it in.”