by Mika Lane
He looked down at his hands. He had an expression on his face that I couldn’t read. Something was not right. “Well, I took out a couple lines of credit.”
“Okay. We’ve done that before, right?” I asked.
“Yes, we have. But this time, I didn’t put the money where I should have—to pay the hotel’s outstanding bills.”
“What do you mean? What else would you do with the money?”
His eyes got red, and he looked up at the ceiling.
“Dad? What happened? What’s going on?”
His voice cracked. “I…had to use it for some bills at home.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, I got behind on a few things and thought I’d be able to pay it back before anyone noticed.”
“You’re gonna pay it back, Dad, right? I mean, can’t you just pay it back?”
He shook his head and covered his mouth with his hand. “I can’t. I can’t.”
My heart started to pound. The line of credit wasn’t his to take. He had business partners he was accountable to…
“Okay. What do we do then?” I asked. I was sure there was a way to rectify the situation. We just needed to figure it out.
“It’s too late, Brodie. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” A sob escaped his mouth and tears ran down his face. The pain he was in hit me like a knife to my own chest.
He continued, “The business partners know. They’re pressing charges. I may go to prison.”
“Dad, how could you keep this from me? How could you…how could you…”
Somebody was shaking me but when I looked around my dad was gone.
“Brodie. Sweetie, wake up. You’re having a bad dream,” Nara said, stroking my hair.
I looked around the dark room, still disoriented. “But my dad…my dad…”
“Shhh. Let’s go back to sleep. It was a dream…”
* * *
Morning came too soon, the dream about my father still fresh as if Nara had woken me from it only five minutes earlier. She lay with her eyes wide open.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked her.
“Oh, not long. Just enjoying how sunny this place is.”
She sat up in bed and the sheet fell to her waist, revealing her delicious breasts. I felt a twitch as my cock said good morning. I reached for her and pulled her back down.
“Hey, I gotta get up soon,” she protested.
“I do, too. But we have a few minutes.”
I propped myself onto my side and made circles around her pink nipple, which immediately sprang to attention. Like something else in the bed.
“You had a nightmare last night,” she stated.
“I did. All that stuff from my dad came rushing back. Like your body stores it and springs it on you every now and then.”
“What happened in the dream?” she asked.
“He was telling me what he’d done. I was so devastated first, that he did it, and second, because it happened right under my nose.” I hadn’t realized how worked up it still got me.
“You don’t blame yourself, do you?”
I thought for a sec. “For the longest time, I did. I guess I still do to an extent. That’s why I want to repay my business partners, my dad’s partners’ sons. But Dad had done such a good job of hiding it; I don’t know how long it would have taken me to find the discrepancies. The business partners only found out by accident when the bank had called one day when they couldn’t get through to my dad. Guess it was a blessing that an end was put to it. But it was also the beginning of his being labeled a criminal.”
She shook her head. “That must have been horrible.”
“Still is. Causing nightmares and all. It’s funny. I haven’t had that dream in a long time.”
“Glad I was here to wake you.”
I pulled her close to feel those lush lips. They were comforting and a turn on all at once as evidenced by the way my cock hardened.
We both had busy days ahead. But they could wait a while longer.
* * *
I sent Nara home in an Uber since I liked to do a pass-through at the hotel on Sundays just to make sure the place was in decent shape after a busy Saturday night. As I settled into my office, my cell rang. It was my attorney, Joe. Why was he calling me on a Sunday?
“Joe? What’s up?”
“Did you have a run-in with a guy named Simon Robinson last night?”
That English shithead. “I did. He threatened my date, Nara. I slugged him.”
“Well, it seems he’s pressing charges.”
Oh, for chrissakes.
“That little fucker. You know what he’s doing to her—”
“Brodie, I don’t care what he’s doing to anyone. My job is to keep you out of trouble. Please don’t go hitting people.”
Goddamn. Why hadn’t I killed that little weasel? Well, because then I’d be headed to prison. Just like my father.
“Brodie? Can I get your word? That you won’t go hitting anyone else?”
“Yes, Joe, of course. You’re right. I had a lapse in judgment.”
“Cool. Okay, I’m getting back to my Sunday. Tomorrow I’ll work on getting the charges dropped. Be a good boy.”
“Will do, Joe. Thanks for calling.”
Perhaps I’d had a lapse in judgment in trying to take care of Simon on my own. Next time, I’d have someone else handle him for me.
* * *
“Dalt.” It was early to be calling my brother in San Francisco, but I really needed to talk.
“Bro, what’s up?” he asked with a big yawn.
“Hey man, sorry I woke you.”
“You okay? All good out there on the East Coast?” he asked me.
“Yeah. I suppose.” I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes.
“I’m glad you called,” he said. “I think I’ve got some investors for you to talk to.”
I sat up straight in my chair. “Get the hell out. You’re kidding me.”
“No, man. They’re heavy hitters and they trust my judgment. I think they’d like to invest in a property in San Francisco and New York.”
My heart was pounding so hard it made my head hurt.
“Dude. Are you shitting me?” I asked.
“Put together a proposal, show off what you’ve done with Hotel Vertigo, and I think you’ll be able to sell them.”
“Holy shit, Dalt. You are fucking kidding me.” My head reeled with the possibilities.
Maybe everything would be okay. Could I even hope? It had been so long.
Chapter 23
Nara
I lowered my voice so the rest of the office wouldn’t hear me.
“Mom, I have to be honest with you. I’m not coming back for the reunion. I don’t care that Becca told everyone I’d be there.” How many more times did I have to say that?
Mother sighed loudly. “Everyone is counting on seeing you. I don’t see how you can let your friends down.”
Ugh. She killed me.
“I saw Becca the other day. Her children are beautiful, and she seems so happy,” she continued.
“Good. I’m glad she’s happy. She doesn’t need me to come to town. No one does. They’ll have the reunion and no one will ever miss me.”
My mother was silent for a moment. “I’ll miss you.”
There it was. “Oh, Mom, I miss you, too. Just let me know when you want come to New York. We’ll have a great time. And please stop telling Becca I’m going to come. Because I’m not.”
“If that’s what you want, sweetie. But I think you’ll be missing out on a lot of fun.”
We obviously had different ideas of fun.
* * *
I figured I had some version of “survivor’s guilt.” Obviously no one had died, but the guilt of having escaped my hometown, having left it behind like I did, made me feel like the world’s biggest scumbag. But I’d had no choice—I would have slowly died there. My only ties to the place, Becca and my mom, were growing weaker every year
. The longer I lived in New York, and the more life rolled onward, the more unlikely it was I’d ever go back. There was no going home, as the old saying went. I didn’t know who the hell would want to, anyway.
I hadn’t heard from Simon since the night Brodie had punched him out. I honestly wished it had never happened, but I had to admit—it did feel good to have someone defend me. Problems like Simon were a lot easier to contend with when someone had your back.
Especially someone like Brodie.
But I had a nagging feeling that Simon wasn’t out of my life yet. Hard as I tried to shake it off, it followed me around like a dark cloud.
* * *
Joi poked her head into my cubicle.
“Hey,” I said.
She bounded in, blond hair flying, scooping up a pile of papers to make room for herself.
“So, how are you feeling about things? I mean, are we ready for our meeting?” she asked.
“I think so. At least as ready as we’ll ever be.” My head was pounding, but everything else was great.
We had investors from a venture capital firm coming by in an hour along with several beta testing moms who’d be joining to help demonstrate the Mommy Knows software app. Well, their babies would be helping, too. Mimi had lined up ten moms; out of the group, someone’s baby would certainly pee or poo. In a show of support, some even offered to give their little ones an additional bottle just prior to the meeting to help facilitate the messy diapers we so desperately needed. It was a real team effort.
This was an all-hands-on-deck type of day. Even the introverted software engineers tidied up their work areas, wore something other than ratty hoodies, and were ready to be friendly with our guests. There was plenty of grousing about that, but when I had reminded the complainers about their stock options and the potential for making money, they had shut right up.
Mimi had arranged for catering, so we had snacks and beverages to offer our guests. I didn’t want to go too crazy, though, since we would be talking about dirty diapers. We’d researched the team coming in, and several of them were parents—what luck. They’d get the gist of what we were doing in a second. Moms and dads always did.
“Anyway, what about the new guy, Mr. Hotel?” Joi asked with a raised eyebrow.
She knew me well.
“He’s great,” I said simply.
She rolled her eyes. “C’mon. Don’t be stingy. Share.”
The thought of Brodie made my heart race—not a comfortable state for me. “We’ve had some really nice times together…”
“Oh, I can hear it,” she said. “Here it comes…dum da dum dum…what’s wrong with him? What did he do?”
“He’s fine, he’s done nothing wrong. I’m just not sure about getting involved. I can’t afford any time away from the business right now.” There was more behind my hesitation, but I hadn’t put my finger on it yet.
Confusion marked Joi’s pretty face. No, she didn’t know how relationships took time. She’d always had Jack, so she had nothing to compare it to.
“Well, there was also an incident,” I added.
She scooted forward on her chair, eyes widened. “I knew it! Tell me everything.”
“He punched out Simon.”
“Oh. My. God.” She looked as though she’d just won the gossip lottery. I told her the whole story while she shook with excitement. “That is so badass. Nara, you gotta give this guy a chance. He sounds awesome.”
“Yeah, thanks. I think I’ll be able to figure it out.”
Hurt crossed her face. I needn’t be such a bitch to her.
But I hated being pushed.
* * *
Two hours later, I was fairly floating. Not only had several of the babies done both number one and number two, the sensor strip in their diapers had communicated perfectly with the moms’ smartphones. Things could not have gone better, and if these investors weren’t all over the promise of Mommy Knows, well they could go to hell. They’d be missing the opportunity of a lifetime.
My phone buzzed.
how was the big meeting, beautiful?
He’d remembered.
beyond perfect. seriously
i knew you’d knock it out of the park
thank you
Oh my god, I was melting. He did that to me, dammit. My resolve to remain single and unfettered was weakening by the day. I hadn’t been this terrified of anything in a long, long time.
you should be getting your divorce papers soon from simon. then you’ll never hear from him again.
what do u mean?
I had some friends take care of the matter.
Oh my god oh my god oh my god.
brodie what did u do?
don’t worry about it. ur all set now.
What the hell? Did he kill the guy? Or just turn him into a vegetable?
can you call me?
My phone rang right away.
“Brodie, what do you mean, I won’t hear from Simon anymore?” My heartbeat pulsed in my temple for the second time that day, only this time, it was worse. And on top of it, I felt like vomiting.
“Baby, I told you I took care of it.” He sounded as casual as if he’d just carried in the groceries or some other sort of task you did every day.
“Tell me what is going on. Did you do something to Simon?”
He laughed. “I guess you could say that.”
But I wasn’t laughing.
“I don’t like the sound of this. Tell me what happened.” My voice shook, and I swallowed hard to hide it.
“I sent someone to have a talk with him. That’s all. But it was a firm talk. It was made very clear he wasn’t to bother you ever again. And if he did, the consequences would be very, very serious.”
No fucking way.
I exploded. “What are you, in the mafia or something? You break people’s legs?” I was so pissed I gripped the edge of the desk until my knuckles whitened.
“Hey, what’s the big deal? I had a problem taken care of. Apparently the asshole was scared shitless. It’s over.”
“I don’t appreciate that.” I said.
There was silence for a moment.
“What? What do you mean?”
Amazing how clueless guys could be.
“It was not up to you to resolve my problem with Simon. You may have just made a bad situation much worse.” Shit, I needed to lower my voice.
“You’re joking right?” Now his voice was tense. “You’re not happy that asshole is off your back?”
“I am not happy you interfered with my situation. I appreciate your wanting to help but threatening him was completely inappropriate.”
“Wow. Okay,” he said. I could picture him running his hand through his hair, baffled beyond understanding.
“Okay,” he began slowly. “I…guess I fucked up. I…I am sorry. I overstepped.”
Brodie had overstepped because I’d let him overstep. He thought I was a damsel in distress. That I needed saving. Well, he was wrong. And I’d been wrong to let down my guard.
Chapter 24
Brodie
Well, I’ll be damned. It had never occurred to me that Nara might not want me to rough up the little English punk who’d been making her life miserable.
My hotel security had tracked him down. While I wasn’t there to witness the conversation, they’d apparently put the fear of god in him as per my instructions. If there was one thing I couldn’t stand it was betrayal. I was all too familiar with it, having experienced it in the depths of my soul. I didn’t want to see Nara suffer it.
But Christ if she wasn’t pissed that I’d tried to help. I just hadn’t anticipated that. Maybe I was so caught up being a knight in shining armor that I’d lost my perspective. And maybe I was so unused to dating smart, confident women I hadn’t realized one of them might not need the kind of help I could offer.
Now I was kicking myself. Why hadn’t I thought things through more carefully?
Protecting someone I liked was instinctual. S
o was making a messed up situation right. That’s why I was working so hard to ensure the guys swindled by my father were made whole. And sometimes it seemed that as hard as I tried, I wasn’t making anyone happy in the end. Now I was in the doghouse with Nara, and it looked like I might be there a long time, if not forever.
There was a knock at my office door, and Trudy stuck her head in. “I’m getting ready to head out for the night. Do you need anything else?”
“No, Trudy. Thank you.”
I needed something, but not anything Trudy could give me.
* * *
The hotel lobby was in its usual pristine state. The marble shone like glass, the huge flower arrangements were balanced to perfection, and the staff floated across the floor, making sure every guest need was attended to. It was no accident this was the best hotel in town.
I watched the front desk from across the floor where Sonya was checking in some young actor whose name I couldn’t recall. Always the professional, she didn’t bat an eye at celebrities, showing no more reaction for a famous rock star than she would for a mom from New Jersey in for a girls’ weekend. I appreciated that about her.
“Sonya, how are you today?” I asked when she was free.
She licked her full lips, and I felt a twitch in my trousers.
“Oh, Mr. Harcourt. Hello.” She looked down at her hands as her face turned a bright pink. Her coworker, Scott, summoned the next guest over so she could speak with me.
“Sonya, I told you to call me Brodie.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just that in our staff meetings they refer to you as Mr. Harcourt. So that’s just what I automatically call you.”
“I see. Hey, is your shift ending right about now?” I asked.
She looked at her watch and her eyebrows rose in a knowing look. “Wow. I guess it ended about five minutes ago.”
Finished with his guest, Scott said, “I’ve got it under control, Sonya, if you’re wanting to take off.” Awesome guy.
She looked at me and smiled, straightening up her workspace. Without a word, she exited through the door behind reception using her security key card. She held it open for me and I followed her in.
