by Ruby Forrest
They approached a large building, with gloriously high windows, and a luxurious looking entrance hall. Janet barely got a glimpse of it, before Fang drove past into the parking lot. He did this quickly, hopping out of the car before Janet even realized he had turned off the engine.
He was grabbing her bag just as quickly, “We’re here.” He added over his shoulder as Janet hurried to catch up. They made their way into the hotel lobby and Janet felt a tingle move through her. It was gorgeous!
This place was full of luxury, with a huge and sweeping entrance hall, leading onto a dining hall and personal shops, right in the hotel. It was gorgeous and from the way the staff were dressed, Janet would have guessed that this was a high quality hotel.
Fang didn’t even pause at reception, simply going to the elevator with her bag. Janet hurried after him, slipping in just before the elevator doors shut. They rode the elevator in silence, Janet feeling a mounting tension in the air. She avoided glancing at Fang- she already knew that he was tense.
She was hit, anew, with the scent of his cologne and she bit her lip. At last, the elevator opened and Fang led her to her room. He opened the door and set down her bag, looking over at her, “Your room.”
Janet gasped. It was huge! She raced to the windows, taking in a breathtaking view of the water, a stunning balcony to sit on, a lavish lounge area and so much more. It was pure luxury, and not what she had expected for a hotel suite. She bit her lip, feeling a little giddy. Her parents had always tried to keep her down to earth, despite their wealth, so they had never stayed at a place like this before!
She turned to Fang, who was surveying her with a small smile on his face, “You like it?”
Janet nodded in agreement, “I do. It’s really lovely.” Her voice came out as a little bit breathless and she felt the excitement twist in her stomach. She was enjoying this more and more.
Fang nodded and went to sit down on the couch while Janet deposited her things in the bedroom. She sighed at the lovely views that she could see out of her bedroom window, she smiled at the lovely room and the gorgeous bedding that she was lucky enough to enjoy and to receive. It really was lovely and she found herself feeling very lucky for this opportunity, even though it was brought on by the most terrible tragedy. She wondered if her father stayed in a room like this, maybe even this very room, before he had checked out.
She felt like she barely knew him, barely knew this man who was such an important part of her life, such an important man in terms of her upbringing, her life, her very existence. Her father. And yet, she barely knew him, didn’t know what made him tick, didn’t know what he might like or dislike, didn’t know what he thought about so many different things. Janet sighed and looked around the room for a lingering moment.
She needed to talk to Fang about the security, find out what his schedule was for the meetings and other events that she had planned. She would then need to call up a few of her public relations team and talk things through with them for the meeting that was happening the day after. It was important that she got this sorted, that she understood what was expected of her, so that she could make sure everything went smoothly.
She adjusted her dress, freshening up her look and smoothing her hair out before she left the bedroom and went to the couch where Fang was sitting. She sat down, facing him and looked at him intently.
“So, what do I need to know about the security?”
He blinked and looked taken aback at her directness. Janet felt a surge of satisfaction but she didn’t let it show. Fang recovered quickly.
“What do you know about your father’s passing?” The question was sudden, but Janet found that she was prepared for it.
“I know he was killed by a very radical faction, who are opposed to the business, especially the diamond mining taking place in Kimberly.”
Fang nodded slowly, “You’re not wrong.” He leaned back and Janet saw something like pain cross his eyes, “It happened when I was out of town. I had to fly back to America to train new recruits for the security team, the company I work with.” Fang sighed as if a great weight was on his shoulders, weighing down on him. He shook his head slowly.
“I should have been there.” There was something like regret in his voice, some pain that was creeping in that Janet could never fully understand.
“But, I wasn’t. I heard the story second hand, from my team.” He looked at her intently, “They’re good, but no one is perfect.”
Janet felt something move in her chest. It was oddly refreshing. He wasn’t apologizing, he wasn’t trying to take the blame himself, not really. He clearly felt guilt, that he had not been there, but he did not try and shirk the responsibility, nor did he grovel. It was what it was. Janet liked that. She liked the honesty in his eyes.
She realized, suddenly and fiercely, that this was a man that she could trust. She could trust him with her life, and he would not let her down. He was honest and he seemed to have a clear picture of what happened. Janet listened with baited breath.
“He was leaving a meeting, one of the big ones.” Fang shifted, “Apparently, he wanted to make a detour. Now, we hadn’t had an incident in months, and I can only assume that everyone was feeling a little bit relaxed, a little bit at ease.” Fang shrugged, “Apparently, the meeting had gone well.”
He leaned back, “It was as he was leaving the car that they struck. He didn’t last five minutes.”
Janet felt a pang in her chest, a pain that she could not quite explain striking her between her ribs. She bit her lip and nodded, not trusting her voice.
“I told you that because I thought you deserved to know.” His eyes met hers and Janet was, again, startled by the brilliance of the blue, “You deserve the truth, not a watered down version of events.”
He leaned forward, “Secondly, I don’t want to make the same mistake twice, and I don’t think you want to either.”
“You need to make sure that you stick to procedure. I need to make sure that my team and I stay alert at all times, make sure that no one drops their attention, even for a minute.”
He sighed and shook his head, “We have more men on now. That doesn’t mean an increase in security, but rather, an increase in rotation, so each guard gets more time to rest, sleep and recoup. We were running low on men before, so I cannot say that the men were at their best, you understand?”
Janet nodded. The lump in her throat still stung, but she felt relief at his words. He had a plan. He knew how to fix the previous mistakes and he wasn’t ashamed of letting her know that there had, indeed, been mistakes in the past.
She felt reassured and she nodded, “I’ll stick to the plan.”
Fang nodded, “Good.”
He looked at her again, for a long, lingering moment. There was something intense about his gaze, something incredibly focused, “As head of security, I don’t usually play bodyguard.” His voice was soft and quiet, very measured.
“John was good to me, and I needed this job.” He cut himself off, as if he didn’t want to say more, “I’ll be watching you personally, on guard twenty-four seven, but it’s only as a favor to him.”
Janet nodded. She didn’t know if she was grateful or offended, but she settled for the former, “Thank you.”
Fang shrugged, “Miss Delphare that means that I will be staying in this apartment.” He looked at her for a long, piercing moment, “There’s a spare room to the left of yours.”
Their eyes met for the longest time before he spoke again, “If you have a problem, speak now and I will arrange for a female member of the team to standby instead.”
“I’m fine with you staying here.” It felt odd, inviting a man to stay like this. It had never happened before. Sure, she had hookups in college, but she hadn’t exactly invited them to stay with her. Besides that, she was aware of the fact that this was a completely different course of action. She needed to make sure she was protected and he was just the best man for the job.
Fang nodded with satisfaction, “Tomorrow, we will be ready to take you to the meeting. I recommend we leave an hour before it is time to get there. Traffic is hell and I’d like to take the extra time to get you there in one piece.” Janet nodded again.
“I will be there to escort you and my team will be monitoring the car and monitoring you from a distance. Once we arrive, I will escort you in.” He looked at her hard, “I will not accompany you into the meeting itself, but please rest assured that we will be monitoring the windows.”
Janet nodded, feeling a twinge of fear. She finally asked the question that had been hammering at her chest for the longest time, “Do you think the chance is high? Of someone trying to kill me?” Her voice came out softer than she had intended it to.
Fang looked at her for a long moment, “Honestly, I cannot say.” His voice was quiet, “You are the head of the company now, so it seems logical that they would have you in their sights. However, there is always the chance that they were simply targeting your father.” He shifted and looked at her dead on, “There’s more than a seventy percent chance that they want you dead, and, personally, I don’t like to gamble with odds like that.”
Janet felt cold ice slide into her stomach and she nodded, “Thank you, Fang.”
He nodded, “I will be around, making sure that you are safe. We have guards watching the windows, so please shut your curtains if you require privacy. Your safety is the most important thing, but I understand you will want your space.”
He stood up and stretched and Janet was reminded forcefully of a cat, a big cat, stretching before the hunt. He seemed so confident, so comfortable in his own skin. Janet shivered, feeling an unusual longing twinge in her stomach. She shook her head and tried not to think too hard on it.
Fang made his way to the room beside hers and Janet watched him go. With shaky hands, she pushed herself up. She had work to do and she wasn’t about to be spooked by Fang’s information.
She had the protection she needed, now it was time to prepare for the meeting itself. She was determined to do this right.
Chapter 4
Janet went over the minutes of the previous meeting, scrolling through on her phone and double checking everything. She made a couple of notes and sent through a few emails with her questions, to her public relations team. She had to make sure that she was ready for this. She did a little bit more reading on cultural norms and the diamond industry in South Africa and found that things were not as complicated as she thought (when it came to language and other potential barriers). The diamond situation, however, was even more complicated that it first appeared.
It seemed that people were claiming that there were highly unstable mines, unfair working conditions and a lot of death and injury, making this a very challenging place to work indeed. Janet scanned the words. There were claims of the diamonds being blood diamonds in some of the mines and that made Janet feel exceptionally uncomfortable.
At the same time, there were condition reports that stated that the mines were in perfect order, when it comes to legislation and that they didn’t fall under the title of blood diamonds, or unfair working conditions. The dispute was making Janet’s head hurt.
Before this, she hadn’t looked so in-depth to all of the details and she wasn’t sure which side of the story to believe. She frowned in thought and stood up. Her team would call her soon, when business hours resumed in America. Right now, though, she needed to try and sort her head out. A shower would help settle her, and Janet decided that was what she needed.
When she got to the bathroom, however, she quickly changed her mind. The bath dominated the room, luxurious and gorgeous. She smiled, feeling herself relax. A nice, long, hot bath. She’d get her head in order, practice for the meetings and get ready. Maybe she’d wash her hair and style it tonight to save herself some time, or maybe she would just enjoy some of the peace. She smiled to herself, humming a little as she went about running the bath.
The hotel had supplied bath oil and other products and she used some in the bath now, including the bubble bath that frothed. Between that and the sweet smelling oil, Janet felt like she was in heaven.
Remembering Fang’s words, she shut the blinds before she undressed, also making sure that the door itself was locked. Then she shed her clothing and stepped into the deliciously warm bath, sinking beneath the bubbles and letting out a sigh of pleasure and relief. She had needed some time to relax, needed some time to settle herself and work through the information buzzing around her head.
She had to be settled for tomorrow. This was a make or break meeting and she knew it. Janet took a moment to wash her skin, to scrub it and smooth it, before she tilted her head back and rested, shutting her eyes and letting the warm water soothe her skin and leave her feeling more comfortable, less achy and more settled. She lingered as long as she dared, before climbing out of the bath. She dried off her hair, styling it lightly with a brush, before rubbing cream into her skin.
Then she made her way to the clothing that she had brought. A few pieces were just for lounging around in, put together, but comfortable. She slid into a dress, making sure that she was presentable, especially if Fang was going to be wondering around. The dress was flowy and comfortable, shorter than she might wear out and a little more figure hugging, but Janet felt that it suited her. She put on a bare amount of makeup and headed out again, opening the blinds on her way out. She grabbed her laptop and went to the couch.
Making herself a cup of tea, she curled up and did the last bit of work for the day. She had only just shut her laptop when she got a phone call. Her public relations team. She picked up the phone and listened while they answered her questions. Even they could not do much to explain about the diamond problem, but they helped her make a few notes on what to say about the company and how to smooth things over a little more with the executives in tomorrow’s meeting.
She thanked them politely and put the phone down. She read over the notes a few times, trying to get things to sink in.
“Working hard?”
Janet glanced up. It was Fang, fixing her with a deep, penetrating look. Janet nodded, “Fang, do you have any idea whether or not the ethics of these mines are okay?” She lifted a piece of paper and Fang stared at it for a long moment, eyes scanning the page.
“You’ve been reading up on it.”
“Of course I have.” Janet frowned softly.
“So you’re not just a figurehead?” There was something almost like sarcasm in his voice and Janet felt a flash of anger. She pushed herself to her feet, matching his gaze.
“Of course not! I didn’t fly half way across the world just to sit and look pretty!” Janet didn’t know why she was getting so emphatic, but something about him, his tone, the way he was looking at her…it sent anger spluttering through her, ignited her in a way that she didn’t understand.
“Well, it’s not like you have much experience in business…” He trailed off.
“Excuse me?” Janet was almost spitting, the argument escalating quickly, “What do you mean I don’t have experience? I’ve been to college, I’ve worked hard at my previous position. Don’t you dare insinuate that I don’t know what I am doing?”
“If you knew what you were doing, you wouldn’t be calling up PR every two minutes.” His voice was unbearably condescending and Janet wanted to scream.
They were only inches apart now and Janet could feel the sparks, the anger that bounced off her and ignited him.
“You work for this company. Don’t forget that I run it.” Janet was seething.
Fang smirked and there was a darkness in his eyes, “You run it, but you sure as hell didn’t hire me, sweetheart.”
Janet could feel his breath, feel the heat of his skin, and feel the anger burning inside of her. Without knowing what had come over her, Janet found herself grabbing Fang’s shirt in her hands.
Then his hands were around her and suddenly, she was falling agains
t him as his back slammed into the wall. There was a moment of silence, a moment of nothing but the beating of their hearts and the tight, shortness of breath.
Then Fang’s lips were on hers and Janet was kissing him back. The tension between them was only growing, a fierce, thrumming heat that had no beginning and no end. There was only now, there was only this moment, the feel of Fang’s hand around her waist, his lips against hers.
He tasted like smoke. He tasted like smoke and something else, almost like alcohol and Janet didn’t know that a person could taste that way and still be so overwhelmingly intoxicating.
He kissed her deeper, passionately and Janet found herself leaning into the feeling. Her hands slid up his chest and his finger found her hair, threading through the strands, leaving her breathless and giddy, heat moving through every pore of her, moving through her chest and tingling down her skin. She gasped as he shifted, twisting so that Janet was pushed against the wall instead, the cool plaster against her back, pushing through the silky material of her dress.
When he finally broke the kiss, Janet was breathless, “Fang…” She gasped, her voice shaky, breathless.
She stared into his eyes, so blue that they might have been made of the depths of the ocean, out of the most precious tanzanite. She had never seen eyes that blue on anyone in her life, never seen eyes that were so blue, so cold and so hot all at the same time. It was intoxicating. Janet couldn’t pull away, couldn’t leave the safety of his arms, the passion of his body pressed against her.
Suddenly, Janet knew that she wanted him, wanted him with a burning passion, a fevering need, an overwhelming desire. She needed to feel his skin against hers, needed to know how he felt against her hands. She moved beneath the fabric of his shirt, sliding her hands across, feeling the tight tension of his muscles, the rolling of his skin as he took a deep, sharp breath. She felt scars beneath her fingertips, felt the muscles of years of hard work.
Her head was spinning and she was breathless with desire. Fang was pushing against her and she could feel the strength in his body. His lips were on her neck, kissing her, sucking her skin and nipping at her flesh. It left her a little bit breathless, her arousal surging powerfully within her, and she held onto him tightly, her hands pushing at his shirt, pulling it over his skin. He pulled back long enough to pull his shirt off, and she pulled him in again, without hesitation.
