He slams his fist on top of the desk and growls. “I cannot do this! I will not allow this! She is my wife and those are my children and I am going to take them home. I am not a man who can be pushed around. Fuck you, Girard!”
I let him get up and walk to the door, then I say, “Have it your way, Peter.”
He stops and turns back to me, slowly. “You don’t mean to let me leave this building without signing that contract, do you?”
“If you walk out the door of the main lobby, without having signed that contract, I’m afraid a terrible accident will happen to you. But that’s your choice to make. It doesn’t matter at all to me.” I lock eyes with him to let him know I’m the one who’s calling the shots, not him.
Getting up, I make my way to the door and open it, walking out, I find him following me. I assume he’s made his decision. It’s too bad he had to be made to do the most basic thing in a marriage, be faithful.
As I open the door to the meeting room and see my lawyer sitting at the table, waiting for us, I notice a smile is on Peter’s face. Maybe he’s decided to be happy about things. He should be. He’s getting more than he’s ever dreamt of, after all.
I hope I’m doing the right thing…
Chapter 2
CAMILLA
“I’m meeting Catarina for lunch, you should join us, Cyprian,” I tell him as I’ve called him to see how his day is going. “I don’t have another class until two, so I have a couple of hours to kill.”
“We’ll meet you two then. I have Peter with me. I took him to see a building I think might be good for the hotel. Meeting with you girls will give me the opportunity to let you in on the name I’ve chosen.”
“Great, see you soon then.” I end the call and pull up in front of my sister’s house and honk the horn.
She hurries out, leaving the kids with a nanny she found soon after moving to Clemson. She looks happier than I’ve ever seen her as she gets into the car. “God, this car is so badass!”
“It turns heads, let me tell you,” I say as I pull away. “Our men are meeting us at the restaurant. Text yours, tell him where we’re going.”
She pulls her cell out of her purse and taps in the information then puts the phone in her lap and sighs. “I’m so happy, Camilla. Happier than I’ve ever been.”
“Good,” I say and give her a smile. “It makes me happy to see you this way, Catarina. It’s been a week since I’ve seen you. How’s it all going?”
“Great.” She nods as she looks out the window and sees people pointing at the car. She waves at them like they can see her, which they can’t through the darkly tinted windows. “Peter has been a bit cloudy-headed with all the changes but he’ll come around. He’s never been given such an opportunity before. I think he’s kind of blown away by it all.”
“Cyprian has been very generous, I admit.” I look over at her as I’m stopped at a red light. “But I have to tell you, it makes me love the man, even more, knowing he’d do anything for me and my family. He’s a keeper, that’s for sure.”
Taking off from the light, I find a car full of young guys pulling up next to us and gesturing for Catarina to roll her window down. She giggles as she sees them too and rolls it down. “Hey, boys!”
They laugh and hoot and holler. She laughs and rolls the window back up. “You have a fan club, Camilla.”
“I know. So, has Peter said anything about Cyprian? You know, does he like him?” I ask as Cyprian’s not said much.
“I suppose he likes him. Peter’s never been the type of man who lets me in on things. He’s reserved and I have to say, I like it that way. The man remains a mystery to me and that keeps my interested in him. But, I’m sure he likes all the things Cyprian’s doing for him.” She pulls her lipstick out of her purse and pulls down the visor to look in the mirror.
“Cyprian’s good at talking and telling me things. But he’s not said much about Peter, even though they’ve spent some time together, looking for places to make the hotel. Cyprian doesn’t know how to make friends. It wasn’t a thing his father thought was good for him. He was groomed to take over his father’s role as CEO of his company. Making friends would’ve gotten in the way of that.”
She puts her lipstick away and looks at me. “Camilla, have you met his family yet?”
“No,” I say and don’t want to say any more about it. I’ve kept Cyprian’s family and past, hush, hush.
The restaurant comes up and I pull into the valet lane and find Cyprian’s BMW pulling up behind us with Ashton at the wheel. Two men open our doors and I look the one, who will be driving my baby, right in his eyes. He nods before I say a word. “Got it, ma’am. Be extra careful with this little beauty. No need to worry. I’ll treat her like she was my own.”
Placing a twenty in his hand, I say, “Please do.”
Catarina laughs at me as we step up to the entrance and watch our men get out of the car behind mine. “You’re moving into the role of a wealthy wife quite easily.”
“It’s weird, I know. But being with Cyprian is rubbing off on me. Is that a bad thing?” I ask her.
Shaking her head, she says, “I don’t think so. He’s a great guy. I hope he rubs off on Peter, to tell the truth.”
Our men meet us with kisses to our cheeks and we all go inside. Cyprian’s arm runs around my waist as we’re led to a table by the hostess. His lips touch my ear as he whispers, “Did you miss me, baby?”
A chill runs through me and I smile. “I did. And you?”
“I did and I have great news. I had my follow-up appointment this morning and have been set free. Prepare to be devoured tonight, all night long.” He leaves a bite on my earlobe and I go all wet in an instant.
Holding the chair out for me, I sit down and find him sitting next to me and moving his chair so close to mine, our legs touch. His hand runs over my thigh, resting on my knee and making me crazy for him.
The month has been long and I’m more than ready to spend a sleepless night with him, even though I have classes tomorrow. I move my hand over his leg too and take in his musky aroma and find myself breathing harder than one should while sitting at a table with her sister and brother-in-law.
When I look away from Cyprian, I find Peter watching us. “We found a place today,” he says. “Cyprian has named the hotel. He’s named it after your sister. What do you think about that, Camilla?”
I turn to Cyprian to find him smiling. “What’s the name?”
“Catarina’s Quarters,” he tells me, making me and my sister smile but Peter’s face remains emotionless.
“How sweet, Cyprian!” Catarina gushes as she runs her arm around Peter’s. “I love it.”
“I thought you might,” he says and leans his shoulder against mine. “Do you like the name, Cami?”
“I do. I think you have to be the nicest man I’ve ever known.” I kiss his cheek and he looks at me with gleaming eyes.
“To make you happy makes me happy,” he says then kisses the tip of my nose.
“He is the absolute sweetest,” Catarina says and I catch Peter making a quick frown.
“That, he is,” I agree and give Cyprian’s knee a little squeeze.
“Baby, I have something to ask you and you can say, no, but I really want you and I to make an appearance,” Cyprian says. “It’s my father’s birthday. He’s having a party, which I don’t want to stay at but maybe an hour or so. We should go for a short while.”
“A party? At your fathers?” I ask, hesitantly.
“Camilla, what’s wrong with you?” my sister asks me then looks at Cyprian. “Of course, she’ll be happy to go with you.”
He looks at me, though, waiting to hear it come out of my mouth. “Baby? What do you say?”
What can I say?
“Okay, I guess it’s time to meet your family.”
He pulls me in for a hug and kisses the top of my head. “I can’t wait. He’s been wanting to meet you.”
“Is your mother going to be there
too?” I ask as meeting the two people who screwed him up isn’t a thing I want to do.
“She will,” he says. “So, you can get meeting them both out of the way. I can’t wait!”
His enthusiasm doesn’t help me at all. I don’t know if I can control my mouth with them. The fact they didn’t want him to have friends is huge, when you add in the fact they taught him to be a sexual deviant, well, there’s no getting over the damage they did to him.
Can I actually hold my tongue with them…
Chapter 3
CYPRIAN
Despite the signing of the contract, Peter seems to be handling it well enough. The main thing is Cami’s sister looks happy about things. As lunch wraps up, we all go back to get in our cars and get back to work.
“Can Catarina catch a ride with you guys?” Cami asks. “We hung out a bit too long and I have to make my next class.”
“Sure,” I tell her then give her a kiss goodbye as Ashton pulls up. “See you at home around five. We’ll be expected at Papa’s at eight.”
The frown on her face was expected. I didn’t think she’d be down to going but I need her to. I need her to show my parents that she loves me. They’ve both been on my ass about how much I’m doing for her family. They think I’m jumping the gun.
I don’t, though. Nothing has ever felt this right. It’s like I’ve finally stepped into the man I could’ve always been. A family man who handles things with ease. The man everyone looks to, to make sure everything is okay.
I let Peter and Catarina get into the car first then slide in, sandwiching her between us. Peter whispers to her, “Did you get what I asked you to?”
“I did,” she says and seems like she doesn’t want to talk about whatever it is. In front of me, anyway.
“Good,” he says then places his hand on her leg.
She cuts her eyes at me and I see something in them that tells me she’d like to say something. “So, how are you liking Clemson?”
“I like it. I really do. It’s great. What you’re doing for us is great. I’m so glad you came into my sister’s life. She’s needed a man like you. She’s had nothing but shit heads.” She stops and looks at Peter who’s frowning at her. “Sorry. A bunch jerks who broke up with her without seeing fit to give her any reason why.”
“I honestly can’t see why any man would ever break up with her. She’s amazing.” I look away as I can’t imagine what she could’ve possibly done to make three men just dump her. It makes no sense.
“In her past, she’s acted very differently with men than she does with you. In my opinion, it was her way of not giving all of herself to them that ended them all. She was reserved most of the time. I’m glad you think she’s amazing,” Catarina says then pats me on the leg. “She’s as lucky to have you and you are to have her.”
Peter clears his throat and I see him looking at her hand as she taps it on top of my leg. She quickly moves it and seems a little nervous. “On another note, what do you think about getting online to look for a place to buy in Paris to make a hotel there too, Catarina. I want it to be small, quaint, like the place I found here. No more than fifty rooms. Both will be exclusive places to stay. We’ll cater to the rich. So, look for something along those lines, will you?”
“That sounds fun,” she says as she pulls her phone out to start searching, no doubt.
I smile as she looks so excited then Peter says, “I will do that when we get home.”
“Of course, you’ll have the last say, Peter. But I’d enjoy looking too,” she says as she continues to tap in what she wants to search for.
“When we get home, I’m going to send the nanny home and you will need to see to the children,” he says.
He sounds irritated with her for some reason. And I find that not making me happy at all. “Let the nanny stay for a while. What will that hurt, Peter?” I ask as I look past her, at him.
He shuts up and looks out his window. No one speaks while we make the rest of the ride. When we pull to a stop in front of their house, he gets out and she quickly follows. “Thank you, Cyprian. I’ll send you links to what I find,” she says as she looks back into the car.
“Come!” Peter says and she hurries to walk a step behind him.
As I watch them go into their house, I have to wonder if he’s always treated her that way or if it’s something new. She doesn’t seem the type of woman to put up with that. I know her sister isn’t.
As we drive away, I find Ashton looking at me through the rearview mirror with that expression on his face that tells me he has something he’d like to say to me. “You have something you want to say, Ashton?”
“It’s none of my business,” he starts to say.
I finish his sentence for him, “But you’re going to say this anyway.”
“I am,” he gives me a nod. “You should stay out of their affairs, Cyprian. I can see you not liking how that man treats his wife. It’s written all over your face. But she married that man, so she knows who he is and what comes along with him. You need to butt out.”
“She is going to be my sister-in-law, it’s my responsibility to make sure she’s happy.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “Cyprian, that’s not your responsibility. She’s a grown woman who has made her own decisions. This will not end well if you get between them. I don’t suppose you saw how dominant he is over her. You will only make things harder for her if you don’t stop butting in.”
“I have Peter where I need him. If he’s mean to her, I’ll find out and deal with him,” I tell him as my insides begin to quiver with anger at how obvious it is he’s dominating her.
“What does that mean?” Ashton asks with concern etched into his voice.
“It means, I have the man, handled.”
He goes quiet and says no more as he drives me back to the office. I know he must have an idea about how I have handled Peter. But he’s not asking anything else about it. I wouldn’t tell him, anyway.
I won’t be telling anyone about that…
Chapter 4
CAMILLA
After a nice long, hot bath, I feel a bit more relaxed about meeting Cyprian’s parents. The half bottle of wine didn’t hurt, either!
Pulling on a deep blue dress, I find some heels to match it and turn to find Cyprian has finally come home. “I thought you’d be here hours ago.”
He smiles and comes to wrap me up in his arms. “I went and picked up some naughty things for later.” The bag he was holding drops to the floor behind me and I turn to look at the things he brought home.
But he catches my chin, stopping me from seeing into his bag of goodies. “I have to approve of everything,” I tell him as I eye him to let him know I mean I will be looking over everything to determine if it’s a thing I want or not.
“I promise you, I’ll never do anything to hurt you again. I swear it,” he pulls me close and kisses me not so soft or sweet but hot and demanding.
His tongue moves into my mouth as he maneuvers my hands until he has them behind my back and holds them with one of his. I can see we’re headed for a night of restrictive touching, on my part. When his mouth leaves mine, we’re both breathing heavy and my heart’s racing.
He moves me backward, still holding my hands behind my back until we get to the bed. He sets me down and goes back for the bag. The first thing he takes out is a pink silk bra and panty set. He doesn’t say a word as he holds the panties up and pulls the crotch and I see it split open as Velcro sides split down the middle. He tosses them to me with a grin on his handsome face.
“You want me to put these on now?”
He nods and shows me how the bra opens in the front and tosses that to me too. “And that. And one more thing.” He reaches back into the bag and pulls out a silver ball. “We’ll start with one for tonight. I want you to put this inside you, to keep you stimulated.”
“You certainly are setting things up, aren’t you?” I ask as I walk toward the bathroom.
His hand o
n my shoulder stops me. “Let me help you.”
“That’s kind of nasty, Cyprian.” I look at him with more than a bit of apprehension.
He shakes his head. “Not nasty. Just dirty.” He chuckles as he pushes the sleeves of my dress down and undoes my bra. He looks at my bare breasts then runs his hands over them. “I can hardly wait to feel these in my mouth.”
“Cyprian!” I say as he stares at my tits like they’re made of gold or something.
He ignores me as he puts the new bra on then pushes the dress all the way off and takes my panties down with it. I step out of them and hold up one foot so he can put the quick release panties on me, only to find him shaking his head.
Picking me up, he lays me down on the bed, pushing my legs up until my knees are bent. His eyes stay on mine as he takes the ball and inserts it. I gasp a little with the cold and the odd weight of it. Then he puts the panties on and picks me up.
He holds me close, our lips but a breath apart. Then he moves me back to where my dress is on the floor and has me step into the middle of the pool of fabric. Moving his hands down both sides of my body, he goes all the way down and grabs my dress, slowly moving it back up to cover my naughty underwear.
My body is hot and I would like nothing more than to forgo the evening with his parents and climb right into the man’s arms and stay there for the duration of the night. “Cyprian.” His fingers touch my lips, stopping me.
“Shh. I’d like for you to remain perfectly silent. I want to hear only one word from you tonight. When you’re asked anything, I’d like you to answer with one word. Do you want to tell me what word it is I need to hear come from those juicy red lips?”
“You want to hear the word, yes,” I answer him and watch his light brown eyes light up.
He nods and pulls me close, hugging me and making me wonder what all this is about. But it seems he really wants me to keep it quiet until he asks me something. Which seems kind of steamy and intriguing, so I’ll play his naughty game.
The Reconstruction of Cyprian Page 25
