by Unknown
He came back with boxer shorts on and a black velvet box in his hand behind his back. Shane made the jeweler speed up the work on Satra’s ring. He couldn’t quite decide on when to propose because every day he was with Satra he wanted to pop the question, and he wanted to have the ring whenever he decided to do so. Satra saw the happy smile on his face and the sneaky gleam in his eyes. She sat up with the sheet covering her breasts. She winced in pain at the small movement, her thighs and legs were sore and her poor pussy was tender, but she was very, very satisfied….and wanted more of Shane Evans.
“What are you up to?” she asked smiling.
Shane saw the small frown of pain on Satra’s face and decided that a long soak in his tub would be in order soon.
Shane walked to her side of the bed and got down on one knee. He brought the box from behind his back and in front of Satra’s eyes. Her mouth dropped open and then she covered it with both hands in shock.
Tears watering her eyes she whispered, “Shane…”
Clearing his throat Shane looked deeply into Satra’s eyes.
“I love you so much Satra. Until I met you I never believed in love at first sight. From the first day we met I knew you’d be mine, I knew we’d be together. Don’t ask me how, but I just knew. I tried to fight the feelings I had for you, mostly because of our working relationship, but the more we got to know each other and became friends, I fell deeper and deeper in love with you Satra. I can’t spend another day without you. Last night was……wow…….last night was phenomenal, and it also made me realize even more how much I want and need you in my life. Forever.”
He opened the box and revealed a four-karat solitaire diamond ring set in platinum with smaller diamonds encrusting the entire band. It was brilliant and beautiful. It sparkled beautifully in the sunrays filtering into the bedroom through the curtains. Tears were running down Satra’s face already from Shane’s declaration of his love for her. Now she was in total disbelief. She couldn’t believe this was happening, and she couldn’t be happier. She loved this man with all her heart and soul.
“Satra Sinclair, will you please bless me and do me the honor of being my wife, my best friend, my lover, my confidant, the mother of my children for the rest of our lives? Bella, will you marry me?”
“Yes. One million times yes!” Satra said through tears. Without wasting another second, Shane placed the ring on her left ring finger kissed her finger after doing so.
Smiling happily he brought her face to his and kissed her tenderly and then they hugged each other tightly.
“You’ve made me the happiest man in the world Bella.” He whispered in her ear.
“And you’ve made me the happiest woman in the world. I love and adore you so much Shane. I can’t wait to become your wife.” Satra whispered back.
When they released each other, Satra saw the tears on Shane’s cheeks. He had been crying too! Smiling she wiped them away and they both laughed.
“I’m gonna go run us a bath. I know you’re sore from last night, and I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t apologize. I was a very willing participant, remember?” Satra reminded him.
“Yeah, I do remember.” Shane smiled wickedly. “Well we both need to soak and wash up before we go to work,” Shane said before giving his fiancé a quick kiss on her lips and heading to the master bathroom.
Satra couldn’t take her eyes off of her ring. It fit her perfectly and it sparkled like a cluster of the brightest stars. “I’m getting married.” She whispered softly to herself. Then she squealed and fell back into the plush pillows on the bed. Shane was leaning in the doorway of the bathroom and saw the whole thing. He smiled and chuckled to himself. It made him so happy that she loved her ring, but it made him even happier that she was just as excited about marrying him. He couldn’t wait to make her his wife.
The soak in the Shane’s huge claw foot bathtub was just what the doctor ordered. Shane put bath salts and soothing bath oils in the water, which made the water soft, soothing, and relaxing. Satra sat in his arms and they talked about everything under the sun. They both agreed on a small, intimate wedding with only family and close friends, and they both wanted it to happen sooner rather than later. As far as the possibility of Satra being pregnant, they both acknowledged that they would be happy either way. Shane made it clear that if she weren’t pregnant now, he’d make sure she would be soon after they married.
“Oh, is that right?” Satra sassed. She was only playing with him though. Shane had stated to her several times how badly he wanted a family, and how he wanted one sooner rather than later.
“You’re still young Bella, I’m not,” he said chuckling. “I don’t want to be one of those old fathers that get mistaken for the grandfather instead of the father.”
“Besides, didn’t you just say that nothing would make you happier than having my babies?” Shane moaned into her ear.
Closing her eyes and smiling Satra said, “Touché my love, touché. And for the record, I don’t think you’re even close to being old, but I understand what you’re saying. I want us to have our babies sooner rather than later too. I’ve been working nonstop for so many years that I look forward to being a housewife and mom.”
“Besides, it’ll allow me to help you get your business up and going too. I’ll be your naughty little secretary.” She purred as she brought his hand to her lips to kiss sensuously.
Shane chuckled and said, “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”
“Speaking of secretaries, Casey is going to be my assistant at my new company, and I’m bringing Alice with me as my receptionist.”
“Shut up!” Satra yelled.
“Di Amato is going to have a cow when he finds out you took Alice from him. She’s been with him for what – twenty years or more? That man loves her!”
Shane knew this all too well, which made the satisfaction he felt in taking something that Di Amato loved feel even better.
“He may love Alice, but in a different way than you think. Alice is a good woman. She deserves better, and I can give her better.”
“What do you mean he loves her in a different way? Oh my god, are you telling me that Di Amato is in love with Alice?”
“He’s been in love with her for a very long time. Alice knew he was a playboy and would most likely never be faithful to her, so she never gave him the time of day. Since he could never have her he made sure he kept her employed at his office. Whatever Alice asked for or wanted he gave it to her so she’d never quit working for him. Their relationship is weird, and I know it goes much deeper than I know about. Honestly, I think Alice stayed all those years because she loves Di Amato just as much as he loves her. But something happened that kept them from being together. Alice won’t say what it was, but I know it’s something big. I’ve watched that man look at Alice like a lovesick puppy for the past couple of years that I’ve worked for him and it boggles my mind. And you know Alice, always prim and proper and professional. A few times I’ve caught some lingering glances from her towards Di Amato too. What I do know is that not being able to see Alice’s face every day is definitely going to kill him,” Shane said with a dark gleam in his eyes.
After they cleaned each other and got dressed Shane drove Satra home. He walked her inside and made sure she got in safely and gave her a long, lingering kiss good bye. He left with the biggest smile on his face and was ready to tackle his day. He was almost to his car before he heard someone calling his name. Turning around he saw Cole dressed in all black getting out of a car that was parked further down the street. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked towards Shane. He could barely make eye contact with Shane, but once he got in front of him he squared his shoulders and looked Shane in the eyes.
Shane stood with his legs apart, his hands clinched into fists ready to beat the shit out of Cole if he came looking for a fight. His eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared.
“You have a death wish Cole? What the fuck are you doing here out
side of Satra’s place?” Shane demanded in a steely tone.
Putting his hands in the air in surrender Cole said, “I didn’t come for Satra, I came to see you. I figured this would be the best place to catch you….since y’all a couple and all.”
Shane saw the disappointment in Cole’s face even though Cole tried his best to keep his jealous feelings contained.
“Besides, you don’t work for Di Amato anymore so my options were limited in where to find you.”
Shane frowned even more as bad vibes began to course through him at what Cole had to tell him.
“What’s going on Cole?” Shane asked impatiently.
“Look, man…” Cole started as he looked down at his shoes. “I’m sorry about the whole Satra thing, disrespecting her, showing up at her place, calling her a liar….all of it. I deserved to get my ass whooped for that. If I were in your shoes I would have done the same thing.”
Shane said nothing but stared the man down, waiting for him to get to the point of this impromptu visit.
Blowing out a breath, Cole continued. “What you don’t know is that all of this was set up by Di Amato man. From me seeing Satra back in Milwaukee and then showing up at the ball. Di Amato has been watching her; he’s been watching the both of you. He’s using y’all man. He’s about to do something bad.”
Shane’s blood was boiling and his eyes turned into ice. His jaw clenched and unclenched.
“What the fuck are you talking about Cole? What is Di Amato about to do?” Shane asked angrily.
“He hates you man. He’s jealous of you, your family, the money you have. And he hates Lucas and Daniels even more. He always wanted to buy them out and put them out of business. He says Grayson is some do-gooder who double-crossed him some years ago when he had all those mob ties. He thinks Grayson snitched on him or some shit. He goes into these rampages about all the people he feels did him wrong and how he’s going to make all of them pay. The man is crazy. He’s lost his mind. He puts on a good front with you and others, but for some reason he shows me the real Frank Di Amato, and it’s not pretty.”
Shane was dumbfounded. What reason did Di Amato have to hate him and his family? Yes his family is wealthy, but so is Di Amato! And he’s never mentioned anything to Shane about hating Grayson. Ever.
“So what is Frank planning to do?” Shane asked.
“He got Daniels to get the board to out vote Grayson to sell the company to him, only he’s going to completely destroy the company, not make it grow and make it a global company like he promised Daniels and the board. You and Satra were simply pawns in this whole Vandalay take over. He doesn’t give two shits about Vandalay. That was just a distraction for taking down Lucas and Daniels so he could get his twisted revenge. I’m starting to believe that all of this stuff is in his head. The man is crazy.”
“And why should I believe you?” Shane asked as he stood closer to Cole and looked him in the eyes.
“That’s a fair question, and I haven’t exactly been a model citizen in all of this either, but I truly did hook up with Di Amato with the intention of being mentored by him and learning from the best. But that day you busted into the hotel and told him off – when you left he went nuts. He went into this rage and started saying all this stuff about you and Satra, and Lucas and Daniels. It was like he forgot I was even there. And that’s when I realized that I was nothing but a pawn. I was being used in his sick, twisted game.”
“Where does Satra fit into all of this?” Shane asked, his face still frowned up angrily.
“She’s the one thing that he knew could hurt you and Grayson the most. He knows Satra is like a daughter to Grayson, so snatching her away and having her work for him was his original idea. Then you two fell for each other and then he wanted to get Satra away from you. That’s when he brought me into the picture. I had reached out to Di Amato almost a year ago about working with him, shadowing him, and the possibility of him mentoring me, and he never responded. Then out of the blue I get a call from his assistant. Suddenly Di Amato is interested in having me on board. But first he wanted me to get close to Satra. He did his background work on me and knew that I was already good friends with Satra’s brother Sasha. So he arranged for me to go to Milwaukee with the hopes of hooking up with her. The bastard didn’t even care that her father was sick.”
Shane was disgusted. Di Amato was the lowest scum on the earth.
“I always thought Satra was pretty, but spending that night with her bowling and getting to know her, I ended up falling for her. But I could tell she was hesitant. She wasn’t feeling me the way I was feeling her, but I thought if we spent more time together she’d see that we were good for each other. In the mean time you two were getting closer, but I didn’t know that until I saw you two at the ball together.
“You showing up at her door. Was that part of the act? Or was that you just being a jealous pussy?” Shane snarled.
Rolling his eyes Cole said, “I deserved that. That was me being a jealous punk, not pussy. I really liked Satra, and I really thought we connected. When I saw her with you…I don’t know. I just kind of snapped. I’m not some psycho stalker man. For real.”
Shane said nothing as he stared the man down.
“Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what’s going on. He’s gone crazy and there’s no telling what he’s going to do so you need to be on the lookout. He’s a ticking time bomb. I gotta go catch my plane. I’m moving back to the Midwest, Chicago to be exact. I’m setting up shop there. New York just ain’t for me anymore. I wish you and Satra all the best.” Cole said before he turned to walk back towards his car.
“Cole.” Shane yelled.
Cole stopped and turned around and looked at Shane.
“Thanks for letting me know. I know you didn’t have to and could have left town without saying a word,” Shane said.
“I’d like to think that you’d do the same for me if the tables were turned Shane.” Cole said before smiling and getting inside of his car and taking off. Shane turned around and looked at Satra’s condo building and then looked at his watch. He had a lot to do in a short period of time, but the first thing he had to do was meet with Grayson and let him know what was happening behind his back. Then they needed to figure out a way to shut down Frank Di Amato for good.
Chapter Twenty
At work Satra noticed that Mr. Daniels wasn’t in the office much, and when he was he didn’t seem himself. He seemed nervous and agitated, and she even overheard him and Grayson having a heated discussion in Grayson’s office when she went to return a file. The door was closed and she started to knock but stopped when she heard their raised voices. As much as she wanted to stay there and listen she knew she couldn’t because too many people would’ve seen her blatantly eavesdropping. When Satra did go to Grayson’s office later that day he was in a weird mood. Something was terribly wrong, but she didn’t dare ask him what it was. He made sure she dropped off the file and left his office right away – something he’s never done to her before in all the time she’s worked for him. That alone alarmed her and she immediately went back to her office and called Shane.
“Baby, something ain’t right. Something is very wrong, I can feel it and I can see it,” she said nervously into the phone.
“Grayson and Mr. Daniels both are both acting funny, but Grayson? He is barely speaking to me! He’s never behaved this way towards me Shane and it’s scaring me.”
That got Shane to wondering. Maybe Grayson already knows what’s going on? Either way Shane had to find out, and find out soon.
“Just keep your eyes and ears open baby. Let Grayson have his space. I think something is going on too and I’m going to get to the bottom of it. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” Shane said smiling.
“Ok. I love you,” Satra said with worry still in her voice.
“I love you too Bella. Trust me, I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
“Ok.”
“Bye Bella,” Shane
said before hanging up.
He immediately called Grayson directly but his call went to his voicemail.
Shane left a message.
“Grayson, this is Shane. We need to talk and soon. Please call me back as soon as you receive this message.”
After Shane confronted Frank Di Amato and Cole DaCosta a few weeks back, Frank called an emergency meeting with Mr. Daniels. He informed him that he wanted to move sooner rather than later with the buyout. Mr. Daniels wasn’t prepared for this. He thought they had more time and was very upset. He fought Di Amato about it because he wanted to approach Grayson and give him a chance to get on board with the buyout before it happened. He felt Grayson deserved that much instead of having the rug pulled from under him out of the blue. Even though Daniels was essentially double crossing Grayson, he still felt loyalty towards Grayson. They were best friends for over 40 years; they started their company from scratch and were there to celebrate every wedding, birth, birthday, graduation and anniversary with each other’s families. The last thing he wanted was for Grayson to look at this as the ultimate betrayal, even though that’s exactly what it was. In his mind he had convinced himself that he was doing this for the future of their company and their legacy. They could leave their families richer beyond measure after they retire or are dead and gone. Their great, great, grandkids would never want for money if everything went according to plan. Grayson just had to see it his way.
Now Daniels was in a panic and Di Amato left him no choice but to approach Grayson now. It didn’t go as planned. Grayson was enraged and devastated at the same time. He knew something was going on with Daniels; he had been distant and nervous for a long time, but even more so now. He had his suspicions that he was keeping something from him, some business deal of some sort. This isn’t the first time Mitchell has done this, but never did Grayson expect treachery of this magnitude.
“For three years Mitchell, three long years I courted this man trying to get his business. I put hours and hours of time and money into getting this account, time away from my wife and family! Not just my time, but also the countless people on our staff that I had working on this account, and for what? So you could waste away all of our sweat and hard work for some underhanded deal to fatten your pockets? What is it? You don’t feel that you’re rich enough man? When will it ever be enough for you?” Grayson yelled.
