by Lisse Smith
They were very different businessmen, but both exceedingly intelligent and very alike. The more I learned about Nicholas, the more I liked him.
Charlie and Frost had moved much closer to us as the evening wore on; the more people left, the closer they could come, until they had taken up position against the wall on either side of where we sat. Their presence was comforting for me, but more than that, they managed to keep the rest of the room away from us, because after all, Lawrence and Nicholas weren’t in any condition to deal with the general population right at that moment. I would have been surprised if either of them could have managed to stand, at the rate they were going.
It was just past two o’clock in the morning when I finally called the party to a halt. “I think it’s time we went home, Lawrence,” I told him as he signaled a waiter for another round.
He shot a glance between Nicholas and me, then back again, before he finally registered that he was going to get more out of me tonight than Nicholas. Men are so predictable.
I was already standing, waiting with Charlie and Frost, by the time they both managed to extricate themselves from the lounges and stagger over to us.
“Ah, Lilly,” Nicholas groaned. “You have changed my life.”
I laughed at his slurred words. “How did I manage that, Nicholas?” I asked curiously, but when he looked at me blankly, I realized that he had forgotten what he said. “How did I change your life?” I prompted.
“Yes, you did,” he agreed. “Before I met you, I was happy, or I thought I was.” He ran a hand through his hair, making a shocking mess of it.
“You’re not happy now?” I asked.
“Hell, no!” He nearly shouted his denial, then slapped a hand against Lawrence’s shoulder. Frost had to snap out a hand to keep Lawrence upright. “You made me like this man. It’s a travesty.” At least, that’s what I think the last word was; it came out very garbled.
“It’s all your fault,” Lawrence agreed with a nod. “And now you have to put up with him in our lives.”
“You might regret that yet,” Nicholas assured me and then wandered off with a slightly wobbly gait.
“Charlie, can you please make sure he gets home?” I nodded after Nicholas.
“I’ll see you at home.” Charlie handed Lawrence off to Frost and disappeared out the door after Nicholas.
“If you vomit on me, I’m going to be very upset.” I shook a finger at Lawrence and towed him by the hand out of the hotel.
“I’m never sick. Ever,” he grumbled; but by the time we were home, he had made a liar out of himself. Frost had to stop the car three times so that Lawrence could be sick, and then we won’t even go near what happened in the elevator. I felt sorry for the person who was going to have to clean that up.
“Geez, Lawrence,” I grumbled, as I stripped him out of his clothes. “At least I made it home before I started vomiting.”
I was beginning to realize that maybe Nicholas was a bad influence on both Lawrence and me. The only time either of us had been drunk, really drunk in the last year and a half, was when we were with Nicholas. It was a bad precedent.
It turns out that both Nicholas and Lawrence had been accurate in their assurances that he would now play a much bigger part in our lives. Within the space of a month, Nicholas was an almost constant companion; probably the only thing that kept any distance was the fact that both he and Lawrence traveled all the time. But if we were in London, or any other city for that matter, at the same time, then we dined together or met up after or during functions.
I found that I genuinely liked Nicholas in our life for the simple fact that when he and Lawrence were together, I got to see Lawrence relaxed and unguarded. It was rare to see him out in a public arena and have someone there who wasn’t trying to use him in some regard, someone he could talk to without having to guard his words.
Previously it had just been me there to help him, but now, with Nicholas around, I watched with fascination as they both used each other as cover. As often as not, they would bail each other out of situations, and more importantly, Nicholas’ used his own authority taking some of the heat and pressure from Lawrence.
Astonishingly, they appeared to have found in each other a real friend, and I knew how truly rare that was in this world.
Fourteen
The day before the next MDs’ meeting dawned cold and wet in London, and as much as I tried, I couldn’t find much enthusiasm for what was coming. The meeting itself would be fine; everything was organized, double- and triple-checked. I had no doubt that everything would go according to plan; it was the inevitable meeting with Patrick that stood like a looming black cloud of worry over my mind.
Allan, Lawrence, and the other directors who had arrived the night before were already in Lawrence’s office by the time I made my reluctant way to my desk that morning. Frost had been lucky enough to be on duty this morning and had to listen to my moaning for the last half hour while I got ready. He was a rock, that man. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could ruffle him or cause him to break his cone of silence. If I hadn’t actually heard him speak previously, albeit rarely, I wouldn’t have believed him capable of the act. This morning was no exception. He remained as stoic and silent as always. But damn, that made for a good listener.
Every time the elevator chimed with a new arrival, my heart nearly burst out of my chest; and each time one of the other directors stepped into the office and not Patrick, my tension level escalated just that much more.
Not surprisingly, it was when I least expected to see him that we finally did have the confrontation. The meeting of the MDs would be held in the same boardroom that we usually occupied in the corporate offices; however, the overall contingent of people arriving with the directors was larger than normal. Lawrence was using this meeting as a bonus for some of our more aspiring employees from around the globe, and each of the MDs was asked to invite two individuals from their offices whom they thought would benefit from a networking exercise over the two days of the meeting.
These lucky individuals, while not invited to participate in the actual directors’ meeting with Lawrence, were going to be shut away with each other in a conference room nearby and would spend that time brainstorming and swapping ideas and concepts from around the globe. It also gave them an opportunity to put a face to the other directors during the two social events that were planned for the weekend. So now, rather than the relatively small dinner that we usually have for about twenty of us, we had to book out an entire restaurant, and there were more than fifty of us—and that was just for the welcome dinner on Friday night.
I was still finalizing the details on the dinner function and had a last-minute meeting in the restaurant at lunch that day. I’d arranged to have most of the directors and their staff stay at one of Nicholas’s hotels nearby, and we were using the restaurant in the hotel for the dinner. We had pretty much taken over his hotel, actually, which he was more than happy to oblige on the proviso that we understood that he would be crashing the party later that night. The main event of the two-day conference was the formal dinner that Saturday night, but that was being held at a much larger venue in town and was being catered by a contractor, so not my responsibility. The dinner on Friday was mine, however, which was why I was heading over to the hotel.
I left Frost with Lawrence in the office, and Charlie and I traveled the ten minutes or so to Nicholas’s hotel, the Gateway. I must have been in a total daze, my mind on the issues for dinner; in any case, I was totally unprepared when I came face to face with him in the lobby of the Gateway.
“Lilly.” I didn’t have to turn around to know that voice. I did, however, stop dead in the middle of the room, and for a long moment I wondered if it was possible to pretend I hadn’t heard him. But the choice was taken away from me when he moved to stand in front of me. I felt Charlie tense beside me, but he didn’t say anything, just waited to see what would happen.
“Patrick.” Even to me, my voice sounded strained as a
lump of cold lead settled like a dead weight in my stomach.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, then looked around the entrance for a moment.
“I’ve got a meeting here.” He looked good. Tanned and bright; obviously Australia agreed with him. I hoped it was good enough that he had finally decided to move on from me. “Lawrence is at the office,” I added a moment later.
“Oh.” He seemed surprised, no more so than I was after having come face to face with him.
I moved to step around him. “I’ll see you later, then.” I so didn’t want to do this here.
“Lilly.” He reached out to grab my arm, stopping me from moving away.
“Don’t touch her,” Charlie said, stepping up to stand beside us. Patrick completely ignored Charlie’s presence and instead pulled me across the foyer toward a corner of the room, where a screen of plants protected a quiet corner.
Patrick’s grip wasn’t painful; his fingers were gentle on my arm, but not loose enough for me to pull my arm from his grasp. Other than screaming and making a terrible scene, I had little choice but to follow. Charlie was following a few paces behind, but his attention was focused on his phone that was pressed against his ear.
It wasn’t until my eyes happened to focus on a point over Charlie’s shoulder that I noticed Nicholas standing by a door across the room from us. I hadn’t expected to see him here, and I really didn’t want him to know about Patrick, but I’d take what help I could get. He was watching the exchange with a slight frown, obviously unsure of what exactly was happening, but my frantic eyes must have told him enough, because he moved quickly across the room to intercept us.
Patrick didn’t see his approach, so he was surprised when I suddenly came to a stop as Nicholas latched onto my other arm.
“What’s going on here?” he asked, in a low serious voice.
“Nothing.” I tried again to pull my arm out of Patrick’s hold, but he refused to budge. “Nicholas, I was just coming to find you,” I added hoping that the reference to knowing him would make Patrick pause. It worked, enough so that after the next tug on my arm, he released it so suddenly that I stumbled against Nicholas, who had moved closer while he watched the scuffle take place.
His face creased in a frown and he moved us both back a pace. “Who are you?” Nicholas asked, every line of his body now alert and aware of the tension in the exchange.
“Who are you?” Patrick eyed Nicholas warily.
“Seriously, Patrick,” I sighed and moved a step away from Nicholas. Christ, I felt like I had just been in a tug of war. “Do you really want to do this here? Lawrence isn’t going to be happy as it is; please don’t make it any worse.” He must realize that I couldn’t stop Charlie from telling Lawrence what had happened, and there was no point in continuing this, now Nicholas had intervened.
Patrick turned his attention from Nicholas and focused on me. “Lilly, I just want to talk. You owe me that at least.”
I didn’t feel like I owed him anything; in fact if anything, he sure as hell owed me a lot more. “You left me, Patrick, remember? You swapped me for a fucking job. Where the hell do you get off saying that I owe you anything?” Now I was the angry one.
Nicholas looked horrified and surprised at the same time. “Yes, this definitely isn’t the time for you to have this conversation, and you’re sure as hell not causing a scene in the middle of my hotel,” he announced and without waiting for Patrick’s response, he grabbed my hand and walked back the way he had come.
“Well, that was enlightening,” Nicholas said, as he shut a set of double doors behind us. He placed a gentle hand on my back and led me thought what looked like a lounge area, currently empty. He finally halted over by the far side near the huge windows that overlooked the street.
I sat down on a lounge and took deep calming, breaths while I tried not to meet his eyes. He knew far too much about my life now, and I really didn’t want to go into it with him.
“Are you OK?” he asked. He was sitting opposite me on the edge of his seat, his elbows resting on his knees and worry lined his face.
“Great.” What else could I say to that? “Just super.”
“Do you want me to call Monterey?”
I shook my head. “I’m sure he already knows,” I told him. I watched as he walked over to the bar and came back moments later with a glass of water, which he handed wordlessly to me.
“I was stupid.” I said more to myself than to Nicholas who remained silent before me. “I should have realized he might be here.”
“Who is he?” Nicholas asked calmly.
“Patrick Sloane. He works for Lawrence; he’s one of the Managing Directors of Monterey Enterprises.”
“Oh.” He nodded, understanding the connection to him being here at the hotel. “He’s staying here for the meeting.”
I nodded. “He’s from Australia, so he’s rarely in the country, and I don’t have to worry about him except for these meetings. I’ve been waiting for him back at the office; and then when I had to come here I relaxed, thinking that he would get to the office while I was gone. I totally forgot that he would probably come to the hotel first. I mean, what are the chances that he would be in the foyer at the exact moment that I got here?” I sighed. “He’s usually not a problem when Lawrence is around.”
“Most people do react differently when Monterey is around,” Nicholas confirmed. “Everyone but you, that is. He doesn’t scare you at all, does he?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Most people don’t know Lawrence enough to understand him, and that’s what makes him so scary.”
Both Nicholas and I turned when the door across the room opened suddenly. I felt both better and worse as I watched Lawrence walk toward me. His presence alone calmed me, which was great, but at the same time he had left work to come here, which was an inconvenience that I didn’t want him to have to do. I hated when my life caused him trouble.
He looked angry, and for him to openly show any emotion in public was rare and indicated the level of his frustration.
I watched him stalk toward us and had to resist the urge to run to his arms. I would not allow myself the luxury of having to rely on someone to that extent. He, however, had other ideas. He stopped before me and pulled me up into the circle of his arms. This close, this much comfort was way too hard to resist, and I gave into the temptation and settled easily into the safety of his arms. His head lowered to rest against mine for a moment, then he tilted my head up with one hand and pressed his lips to mine. It was a long moment before he tucked my head back against his chest.
“Thanks.” I knew he wasn’t talking to me when he spoke.
“No problem,” Nicholas answered. “Happy to help.”
“Patrick is an ass,” Lawrence added.
“I know it’s none of my business, but if he’s such an ass, why is he still working for you?” It was a legitimate question, and Lawrence must have thought the same, because he answered it.
“Because Lilly won’t let me fire him.” He shrugged, his chest moving against my face. “That, and he’s bloody good at his job.”
“A job you gave him in exchange for keeping Lilly?”
“He told you that?” Lawrence wasn’t happy to hear that.
“I guessed,” Nicholas admitted. “Lilly kind of let it slip during their argument, when he told her that she owed him a chance to talk.”
“She owes him nothing.”
“Kind of what she said.”
“I didn’t exactly swap Lilly for a job,” Lawrence reluctantly said, and I knew the only reason that he was explaining this to Nicholas was because he would rather Nicholas know the truth than for him to think that way. “Although, that was kind of what I was suggesting originally. It’s a long story, but it basically culminated with me offering Patrick a job in Australia to get him away from Lilly, and I offered her a job as my PA.” He leant his head down and rubbed it against the top of mine. “She told me to go fuck myself,” he added, with a smile
in his voice.
“She obviously warmed to you eventually,” Nicholas observed.
Lawrence nodded. “But it took a great deal of work and honesty before she would trust me. Patrick, on the other hand, took the deal and tried to persuade Lilly to do the same.”
“Bastard.”
“No more so than I was.”
“And now Patrick isn’t so sure he got the best deal?”
“Patrick wants the best of both worlds. I’m pretty sure that he believed that Lilly would never actually be mine, so he was confident that he could maintain a relationship, with her even while he pushed her toward me. But Lilly doesn’t trust him now, and she never loved him to start with. Patrick can’t accept that it’s over between them. He’s pushing her every time he’s here.”
“You’re a better man than me,” Nicholas confirmed. “I’d have fired him already.” Simple, easy, logical.
“No.” I pushed away from Lawrence, and he reluctantly let me go, but he kept hold of one of my hands in his. “No, I’m OK,” I told them both. “Let’s not overreact. I just wasn’t prepared for him. He surprised me.”
“He manhandled you, and if I hadn’t been here, he would have probably done a lot more than that,” Nicholas countered.
“He wants to talk, so I think it’s time we did that.”
“No way!” Lawrence refused point blank.
