The Darkest of Shadows

by Lisse Smith

  “I’m enjoying the show far too much to interfere. I’m laying odds on Lawrence winning, but then I’ve seen him give in to you on some pretty serious issues, so I’m not one hundred percent positive.”

  Nicholas’s usual carefree outlook took some of the edge out of the room. “Look.” I moved closer to Lawrence and rested both hands against his chest. “Let’s go back in, and I promise that as soon as I feel tired or unhappy, or even if I feel like sneezing, I’ll tell you, and we can go straight home. OK?”

  Lawrence took a deep, steadying breath before answering. “Fine,” he agreed. “But you’re not leaving my side, and if I so much as catch a hint that you’re not happy, we’re leaving.”

  “Fine.” I echoed his words. “But you’re going to have to let me freshen up first.” I grabbed my bag off the floor, and with both of them following, I hauled ass out the door and down the hall to the bathrooms.

  A quick glance in the mirror confirmed that my hair was a mess, but nothing unsalvageable. A few adjustments, a little makeup, and I was back to looking immaculate. A few minutes later, I was stepping back into the restaurant with Lawrence on one side and Nicholas on the other, just in time to see the serving staff clear away the dessert plates.

  Lawrence gave my hand a squeeze and left me near the door with Nicholas. He walked to the front of the room, where everyone would be able to see him easily. Patrick’s eyes flicked from him to me, but after Lawrence’s quick negative motion, he remained sitting with the others.

  “If I could have your attention, please.” Lawrence’s voice echoed around the room; even without the use of a microphone, his voice was clear and strong. “Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to apologize for missing dinner. Something came up that required my attention. However, when you are all ready, I would ask that you join me in the lounge, where we might all be more comfortable and share a drink.” He nodded and then walked back to where we waited, grabbed my hand, and walked back out of the restaurant and down the hall to the lounge, where everyone had originally been gathered.

  “Pick a good spot,” Lawrence told Nicholas, “before the hordes arrive.”

  “I’m thinking the loungers.” Nicholas led us toward the back of the room off to one side of the bar. There were several groupings of lounges in that area that were partially protected from the rest of the room. It would limit the number of people who could actually get near us, which was perfect.

  “Get rid of some of those chairs,” Lawrence ordered, and with a flick of his fingers, Nicholas’s staff materialized organized the loungers in a manner that only allowed a handful of people at any one time to join us. And because the loungers were low and designed for relaxing, if a person wasn’t sitting in one, he or she really couldn’t hang around. Standing would be uncomfortable, and towering above Lawrence wasn’t encouraged.

  Ten minutes later the room was buzzing with noise and movement. Lawrence’s invitation seemed to have been taken literally, and the restaurant must have evacuated almost immediately we left. At first there was a hesitancy to approach where we sat; only the directors felt comfortable crossing the room and plunking down in the spare lounges, so it was a relaxed group for the most part.

  I sat between Lawrence on my left and Nicholas on my right, our backs to the wall, facing out into the room. Charlie and Frost stood silently behind us, almost hidden by the darkness and the shade of two small potted trees. Most people wouldn’t have even realized that they were there.

  Allan sat next to Lawrence, and the rest of the chairs were filled with several of the other directors—and, surprisingly, one aspiring and brave young IT specialist from the States. He had found a vacant seat, and by the looks of it had absolutely no intention of relinquishing it to anyone. I gave him a supportive smile, and he raised his glass in salute to me. Good on him. As long as he could manage to keep his mouth shut and not annoy anyone, he might just learn something.

  “Lilly?” Allan leaned across Lawrence to talk to me. “Are you OK? You look a little pale.” His face creased in a worried frown.

  I gave him a smile to thank him for his concern. “I’m fine, Allan. It’s just been a long week.” I ignored Lawrence’s raised eyebrow.

  “Can I get you anything?” he asked.

  “I’d love a coffee.” I felt drained, but wasn’t about to admit that to Lawrence, so hopefully a coffee would help. Allan signaled a waiter; we had a row of them lined up on one side of the lounges, there no doubt at Nicholas’s request for our own personal use. Moments later a wonderfully rich latte was delivered into my hands. The drink did more than just warm my hands. It was exactly what I needed.

  I had just finished it when I felt Lawrence tense beside me. I watched as he sat more upright in his chair, and because I was looking at him, I didn’t see Patrick when he squatted down on the other side of me.

  “Are you OK?” he asked quietly.

  I nearly had a heart attack. Luckily, I had finished my drink, or I probably would have worn it. “You scared the life out of me, Patrick.” I turned to find him resting on his heels beside my chair. I noticed that he choose Nicholas’s side, rather than confront Lawrence.

  “Sorry…I just wanted to make sure you were all right.” He spoke softly and calmly; for once when he was around me, he wasn’t freaking out.

  “I’m fine.” One of Patrick’s hands rested on the edge of my seat, and I placed my hand over the top of his and gave it a friendly squeeze. “Are we good?”

  He stared at me for a moment, then his gaze flicked to Lawrence, where he sat behind me. “Yeah, we’re good,” he agreed. “I’d rather have your friendship than nothing.”

  “I’m glad.” He moved off almost immediately; much to my relief, he seemed to be almost back to his normal calm self. I’m not sure that he and Lawrence would ever be actual friends, but I was sure that they would be able to deal much better with each other, now that Patrick was reasonable. He might even keep his job.

  The talk around me swelled and ebbed, and the people came and went, all except our determined little IT man. He stuck it in there with the big boys and made it work. He kept his comments neutral and didn’t press himself into conversations that didn’t include him or offer comment about anything unless he was absolutely sure of the facts. And he didn’t overindulge. In fact, he kept the same drink the whole night, and I wasn’t altogether sure that it was even alcoholic.

  But by midnight, I had just about reached my limit. This was only the welcome dinner; there was a much more formal evening planned for the following night, which would include speeches and a presentation and would also include a bigger contingent from the London office. Partners of those who had them were also invited to the party; so there would be more than two hundred people dining with us then. This necessitated a move to a bigger venue. Nicholas’s boutique hotels weren’t big enough to cater to that crowd, not comfortably, so we had booked a hotel in town for that event.

  I was tired and was happy to admit it. I still had to get through the meeting the next day and the dinner, which would likely go much longer and require much more of my attention before I would be done.

  I waited for Lawrence to finish his discussion, something about a new train network in the south of France, before I reached over and touched his arm. I didn’t need to say anything for him to understand my request, and without any delay he rose, startling a few of the men seated around us.

  “If you’ll excuse me gentlemen.” He gave a general nod to the group, and various generic responses echoed back at him. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.” He placed my hand on his arm, and with Nicholas in tow, we started to walk across the room, only to discover that escaping the lounge was much easier than getting out of the room. Many people stopped to have a quick word with us as we moved, but many people, each having a quick conversation, adds up to a long delay. Nicholas found the whole situation amusing and eventually gave up waiting.

  “I’ll meet you in the foyer,” he whispered in my ear, and disappeared into th
e crowd.

  “Cheat,” I whispered to his retreating back.

  “Good evening, Miss Owen.” A voice spoke from beside me, and when I turned toward the sound, I found our little IT man.

  My face broke into a grin, and I excused myself from the group around Lawrence and turned my attention toward him. “Good evening to you.” I stretched out my hand, and he engulfed it in his. “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure that we’ve been properly introduced.”

  “Oliver Chestwick.” He nodded in greeting. He must have been all of twenty-five, if that. He wasn’t terribly tall; he was thin and had straight, ordinary brown hair. Nothing remarkable, except when you looked into his eyes and saw a wealth of intelligence reflected back at you.

  “Hello, Oliver.” It was nice to have a name other than “IT man.” “You did well tonight.” I gave congratulations where it was due.

  He looked surprised. “Do you think so?”

  “Absolutely.” I grinned. “You held your own better than I expected.”

  “I can’t believe I’m here,” he admitted in a rush of words. “It’s surreal. Do you think he noticed me?” he asked, seeming suddenly shy, unsure, and his gaze flicked over my shoulder to where Lawrence stood speaking with others.

  I laughed aloud, then nodded. “Yes, Oliver, he definitely noticed you.” He noticed everything. My laughter must have disturbed Lawrence, because I felt him stir beside me, and then a large, warm hand slipped around my stomach, drawing me back against his chest.

  “Oliver.” It didn’t surprise me that Lawrence knew who he was; it did surprise Oliver, whose face paled slightly under the force of Lawrence’s undivided attention.

  “Hello, Mr. Monterey.” He held out a hand, and they shook; even as intimidated as he was, his hand didn’t tremble a bit.

  My amused gaze met Lawrence’s. “Oliver wasn’t quite sure that you would notice him.”

  “I notice anyone who makes Lilly laugh,” he said. “I especially notice young men who have the skill to sit through that discussion and not look like a fool.”

  Oliver face gravitated between astonishment and awe. “Thanks.” He finally managed. “I think.”

  “Definitely, take it as a compliment,” I assured him. “You deserved it, and I’m pretty sure there are a few people much higher in the company than you are, who should be very wary for their own jobs. You have a bright future ahead of you.”

  Oliver looked set to burst.

  “Come see me on Monday morning, before you leave,” Lawrence threw over his shoulder as we walked away. I couldn’t see Oliver’s face, but I could have imagined it. I chuckled quietly as we walked way.

  “You are very special,” I told Lawrence, as we walked purposefully toward the door. He didn’t accept any more interruptions now.

  “Why am I special?” he queried, sidestepping a woman who moved into our path.

  “Because you could have just as easily ignored that kid, but you didn’t.”

  “It’s self-serving,” he corrected. “Why would I ignore talent like that? With a little coaching, that kid could be exceptional in the business world. I’ve never seen someone who could keep calm and focused in such a pressurized situation, especially someone that young and inexperienced.”

  “You want to mold him in your image.”

  “Something like that.” He smiled.

  “You still didn’t have to, but I’m glad you did. He was pretty impressive.”

  “He had to be.” Lawrence and I finally made it into the foyer. “That kid had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to impress the biggest names in business. It was all or nothing, and he knew that if he didn’t take the chance now, he wouldn’t get another one.”

  “He took it.”

  Lawrence nodded. “He did.”

  Nicholas met us near the outside doors, and Lawrence’s first words to him had me laughing. “You can’t have Oliver Chestwick,” he announced.

  Nicholas grinned in response. “I only really considered it for a moment,” he admitted. “But I realized that I don’t have enough to offer him that would entice him away from you.”

  They both shook hands, then Nicholas kissed me gently on the check. “How much longer are you both in town?” he asked.

  “About a week,” Lawrence answered.

  “I might see you before you go then,” he suggested.

  “Definitely,” Lawrence responded, and then we were finally heading home.

  I reluctantly opened my eyes the next morning and realized I really didn’t want to get up.

  “Stay here.” Lawrence sat down on the edge of the bed beside me; he was already dressed.

  “Why do you look so bright and cheerful this early in the morning?” I groaned, and buried my head back into the pillow.

  “Because I wake up next to you every day.” He kissed the back of my head, the only bit that wasn’t still buried in the pillow.

  “That’s hardly a reason to be happy.” I spoke into the pillow.

  “I beg to differ.”

  “Maybe if you hadn’t have kept me up half the night when we got home, I would be just as bright and cheerful,” I snapped, rolling over to frown at him.

  “It was totally worth it.” He grinned and placed a lazy kiss on my lips. “I’ll happily give up your company this morning for a repeat of last night.”

  Lawrence had barely managed to wait till we got into the bedroom the night before. He seemed to need the comfort of touch, maybe to reassure himself that I was indeed OK. By the time we finished it was nearly three am, hence my far from alert state this morning.

  “Yes, well, as much as I don’t want to admit it, if you want me to go out tonight, I’m going to have to sleep.” I shouldn’t be missing the morning meeting, but he had left me with little option. I was drained from the events of yesterday with Patrick, and then add the lack of a proper sleep. I was not going to be anywhere near able to back up to a formal function tonight without more rest.

  “I’m the reason you’re tired,” he said. “Well, a good part of the reason. So I’ll take the consequences. Sleep. I’ll handle the boys today. I’d rather have you alert and happy tonight than stuck in this meeting today.”

  I was asleep before he left the room.

  By the time I woke, it was past three in the afternoon, and I was positive that Lawrence had been in to check on me, probably more than once, because there was a collection of things on the bed beside me that could only have come from him.

  One was a cup of coffee that was still hot, thank God, and that got first priority. The rest were gifts. Lawrence didn’t normally buy me clothes, but somehow he had managed to find time, or maybe he just ordered it in; regardless, he got me a stunning Armani dress, very formal, very couture, and very beautiful. It was a dull gold color, made of silk. From what I could see of it—and there wasn’t much of it to see—it had a halter neck with a dramatic plunging neckline that would probably expose my belly button (I was going to need the magic tape for that one) and was totally backless; it hung over my hips, where it seemed to all clasp together over my stomach with a huge diamond brooch, then would fall with easy grace to the floor. And if I’m not mistaken, it had a very small train. Holy cow!

  Matching shoes and a pair of diamond earrings finished off the image and would have me looking like a movie star walking the red carpet. I wasn’t quite sure how well I was going to pull this all off, but he got it for me, and I couldn’t not wear it. I hoped it warmed up a little, however, or I was going to be very, very cold tonight.

  I found a folded sheet of paper under some of the boxes, and scrawled in Lawrence’s broad handwriting was instruction for me to rest. We would be leaving for the dinner at 5:30 p.m., earlier than usual for dinner, but it wasn’t a normal function for us, so it would take some extra attention. I had a few hours, and I would need all of them to get ready.

  I ordered up something to eat and set about making myself beautiful. I had a stylist coming to do my hair and makeup, something I was now im
mensely thankful for, considering what I had to wear. I knew my own attempts wouldn’t do it justice.

  When I was dressed, the stylist gone, and everything ready, I snapped a picture and texted it off.

  REED: Oh, my god!

  TEXT: Lawrence got it for me. There is no back.

  REED: I could imagine. You suck!!!

  TEXT: Do I pull it off? Truthfully.

  REED: Yes. Definitely a yes. I’m speechless.

  TEXT: Thanks, I’m a bit worried. It’s a very couture dress.

  REED: Im going to show everyone in the office tomorrow.

  TEXT: Fabulous!

  I was waiting in the lounge when Lawrence finally made his appearance, just before five o’clock. I turned from the view out the huge windows and watched as he walked into the room. He obviously wasn’t expecting me to be waiting, because when his eyes flicked toward me he stopped dead. I watched with a growing sense of pride as his eyes widened and his mouth nearly fell open. When I smiled at his reaction, he seemed to shake himself out of it and crossed the room to me.

  His hands reached out and ran down the sides of the dress, gently running over the exposed skin at my sides and finally coming to rest on my hips. He growled low in his throat and pressed his forehead against mine. “Jesus Christ, woman,” he ground out, the words sounded almost painfully forced. “You are so beautiful. Do you have any idea how good you look in that dress?”

  “I’m beginning to see,” I told him truthfully. His reaction was heartwarming and honest. “I’m glad you like it.”

  “I think it might have been a mistake to get you to wear that tonight,” he admitted, as he stepped back a few paces, and I could see his hands twitching beside him. “How on earth am I going to keep my hands off you?” he asked seriously.

  “Just think about a repeat of last night when this is all over,” I teased.

  “Oh, there will be a repeat,” he told me, as he walked toward the bedroom to get ready. “There will be more than one, I assure you.”

  “Geez, Lilly.” Charlie’s voice interrupted my happy thoughts. “You look great,” he announced as he walked into the lounge, closely followed by Frost. They were both dressed in a formal tux, no doubt so that they could blend in with the invited guests tonight.