“Oh shit.” She murmured, and Tony stirred next to her.
“Sophie?” he whispered in enquiry reaching out a hand to her.
“We had unprotected sex.” Sophie said.
Tony smiled, his eyes still closed and his hand squeezing her thigh, “Yes we did.”
“That’s not a good thing Tony!”
He shrugged, not opening his eyes, “Don’t worry. If you get pregnant, we’ll be married long before the baby comes.” He murmured.
“Are you dreaming or drunk?” she asked him amused in spite of her worry.
“Neither. I’m serious.”
“Well, either way, being married won’t help either of us if we infected the other with HIV.”
“I don’t have HIV.”
“How do you know?”
“I get tested regularly,” he said finally opening his eyes and sitting up to stare languidly at her.
“You get tested...” she echoed and then cut herself off, “Well anyway, you don’t know if I have it. And if you go about having unprotected sex with strange women-“
“A. You’re not strange and B. No, I don’t,” he replied.
“Oh, so I’m just lucky am I?”
“No, I’m the lucky one.”
“You’re seriously not bothered about this? Aren’t you fairly well off? I could be a gold digger using you for child support for the next 18 years. Haven’t you heard the song?”
“You’re not a gold digger.”
“You’re so sure?”
“Yes.”
“Humph. No wonder you’re getting robbed.”
Tony smiled and ran his hand up her thigh, caressing her. He widened her legs, leaning forward to kiss her neck as he did it. His fingers made circles on the insides of her thighs and a trail of fire followed everywhere they touched. She moaned softly and his body arched in response straining toward her. He leaned down, placing himself between her thighs and whispering in her ear, “Here I go again,” before sliding smoothly into her.
“You seriously don’t care if I infect you with STDs?” she asked him as they lay gleaming with exertion afterwards.
“Okay I’ll bite. Do you have an STD Sophie?”
“As far as I know, no.”
“Great. So can we move on now?”
“I’m also not using any form of birth control.”
“I see,” Tony said staring at the ceiling with his hand behind his head. He didn’t look too bothered at this news.
“Would you like to get some maybe? There is a pharmacy down the road,” he asked belatedly.
“Sure.”
“Great. I’ll get some tomorrow.”
“What about today?”
“Hasn’t that ship already sailed?”
Sophie turned her head in the bed to stare at him, “Apparently.”
They got up in time to have dinner with Sophie’s grandfather in the establishment dining room. He smiled in amusement when he saw them, but refrained from making any comment. Sophie glared at him just on principle, but it just made him smile even more. Her insides were sorer than she could ever remember them being and she was afraid that she was walking strangely. Luckily the resort was deserted, it being low season so there weren’t many people around to care; just a solitary man in the corner buried in his laptop and an old lady sipping tea by the window. Elijah leaned in to Sophie as she took her seat and whispered in her ear.
“Check out the broad by the window. You think I have a chance?”
“G-Money you better keep it in your pants,” Sophie whispered back.
“Look who’s talking,” Elijah replied making Sophie hit him in the arm.
He turned to Tony who was smiling into his glass of wine.
“So Tony, is it time to have the ‘what are your intentions’ conversation?”
“Yes,” Tony said with an enthusiasm that took Sophie aback a bit. She chalked it up to good sex though and figured he’d be back to himself by the time the weekend was up. All this talk about marriage was just…ridiculous.
“Okay then I’ll bite,” Elijah was saying, “What are your intentions?”
“Well, that depends on her doesn’t it? It’s not just on me.”
“We get that. And I’m sure we’ll get to Sophie and her intentions in a minute, but for right now, you first.”
“Okay then.” He looked at Sophie as if he was assessing her ability to bear what he was going to say, “I want to marry you.”
Sophie started out of her seat surprised that he should say such a thing so boldly, “What?”
“Sophie I’m not one to beat around the bush and I know what I want. I believe I told you that the first time we met.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Don’t I? Let’s see, nothing is more important to you than family, you’re a hard worker, you’re funny, witty, beautiful and you know it. You don’t suffer fools gladly, but you’re friendly and kind. Does that cover it?”
“You forgot my vices,” Sophie drawled wryly.
“You have a tendency toward self-deprecation. Happy?”
“You forgot my potential gold-digging ways.”
“From my perspective that’s not a vice if it’ll inspire you to marry me.”
“Idiot.”
“Alright enough you two with the flirting. This is a family show,” Elijah teased making Tony laugh. Elijah turned to him, a serious look on his face, “So Tony, seriously what are your intentions toward my grand-daughter?”
“Seriously. Marriage, a couple of kids, house in the suburbs, all of that.”
“Did Sophie tell you about her parents and her brother?”
“Her parents yes.”
“She did?” Elijah exclaimed in surprise, “I thought you just met.”
“Well yes, but things escalated quite quickly,” Tony replied wryly. He turned to look at Sophie, “What happened to your brother?”
They spent the rest of the afternoon sitting around on the patio drinking hot cups of coffee and talking about family. Sophie told Tony about her brother being an artist whose favorite art form was graffiti. He had been just fifteen years old when Katrina hit, and they had not been able to find him. None of his friends were able to give them a clue where he might have got to. They had tried the police stations – since he’d been arrested for spraying graffiti more than once – the hospitals, even the mortuaries. They had posted photos on Facebook and on the message boards that showed up in the refugee camps as well as the websites. But they had no news of Solomon from any of these sources.
Tony listened intently as they told him, thinking about his own brother and how painful it had been to lose him. He couldn’t imagine how much worse it must be not to know what had happened to his brother. His respect for Sophie’s resilience grew.
“Do you think he’s still alive?” he asked her then could have bitten his tongue. What a thing to ask!
Sophie grimaced, but answered readily enough, “I do think he’s alive and I believe that one day we’ll find him.”
Elijah leaned back and sighed deeply, making Sophie glance at him and then look back at
Tony, “My grandfather disagrees. He feels that we should let him go. It makes for awkward family disagreements.”
“Do you know where he was last seen?”
“Yes. He was spray painting a building over in the 4th quarter when a cop came up to him. They were having a conversation that was turning acrimonious when the first levee broke. That’s the last thing we heard,” she explained.
“I am really sorry that you had to go through this. I can’t imagine a worse pain,” Tony apologized, dividing his look between her and her grandfather. The old man was contemplating his cup like it held the secrets to the universe, but he nodded his head in acknowledgement. Sophie tried to smile at him, but couldn’t quite manage it.
She took a deep breath and blinked the moisture from her eyes, “Well, this is getting maudlin,” she said brightly, “how about we talk about something happy?
Like how beautiful it is around here.”
“It is picturesque isn’t it?” Tony agreed smugly, looking off into the horizon like it was a picture he himself had painted.
“Yes, it is. Now I’ll leave you two crazy kids to enjoy it. It’s time for my nap.”
“Since when do you do naps G-Money?” Sophie laughed.
“Since I have the softest mattress I’ve ever slept on in my room. I’ll see you kids later,” he grinned as he stood up and left. As soon as Elijah was out of sight Sophie leaned forward to whisper confidentially to Tony.
“I don’t really want a house in the suburbs.”
Chapter 5
Tony had one stop to make and then he was headed to the offices of Rodham, Clarence and Haggerty. Curtis had a report to give him; or at least that was the pretext. He was finding it hard to care about thieving accountants just at this moment. The weekend had been exceptionally marvelous and Tony was still quite hung-over over it. In fact, he was more than a little dizzy. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this happy. It was probably before the deaths of his mother and brother.
*****
Sophie was humming as she made some toast to go with her coffee. Clearly her grandfather was sleeping in as she hadn’t heard a peep from him all morning. Of course she had checked if he was still breathing and clearly it was just the hangover from the weekend. She left him some waffles to eat when he woke up and headed to work practically floating on air. She knew that the bubble inside her would burst eventually, but right now nothing could touch her. Her happiness was enhanced by the fact that she was wearing sneakers this morning. Tony had suggested it to her and she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it before. She could change into her heels when she reached the office.
As she took the last set of stairs to her floor, she saw him standing outside the office with a package in his hands. She smiled, shaking her head as she walked toward him.
“Couldn’t stay away could you?” she teased.
“I actually came by to see Curtis,” Tony replied, straightening up off the wall.
“Oh? Is that his office then there by the wall?”
“I thought I’d wait and see if you took my advice about the sneakers.”
“Oh really? Well, now you have, you can go on your merry way,” Sophie said airily sweeping past him to enter the office. Tony followed behind grinning widely.
“I have a present for you.”
“Aw, you shouldn’t have,” Sophie said as she sat in her chair and leaned down to change her shoes.
“Don’t you want to open it first before you say anything?” Tony asked leaning on her desk.
“Sure,” she said, straightening up and reaching for the package in his hand. It was a box inside a paper bag and she lifted it out and put it to her ear, shaking it cautiously.
“So… not a bomb.”
“Why do you think so? Because it’s not ticking? It could just be C4”
“And what do you know about C4?”
“Hey, I saw Burn Notice,” he argued, making Sophie laugh. She removed the lid off the box to find a pair of wedge shaped shoes nestled inside. She put her hand in the box and delicately caressed one of them. The leather was so soft and luxurious she immediately felt like Cleopatra just touching it. The shoe had a heel made of a springy material that Sophie had never touched before.
“They’re beautiful,” she murmured.
“I thought that since you said you hate heels, these might help you out. It has a heel, but it’s shaped to cradle your foot and remember the exact shape. So they’re comfortable to walk in and stand in.”
Sophie was floored by his thoughtfulness and she felt tears sting her eyes. She looked down to avoid meeting his eyes, trying to compose herself. It had been a hard slog since her brother’s disappearance trying to pull the pieces of her life and her grandfather’s life together. Trying to keep going after all the loss and pain. Now to have someone who cared enough for her to notice the little things and look out for her welfare like this…it was almost too much to bare.
“Thank you.” She said huskily at last.
“You are very welcome. Now I’ll leave you to enjoy your shoes while I go talk to Curtis. Will you allow me to take you for lunch after?”
“Aren’t you sick of me yet?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“Okay, we’ll do lunch, but it’s my turn to treat.”
“Whatever you say darlin’,” Tony said before strolling off. Sophie watched him go, wondering what a white dude with such a cute little ass was doing with her.
*****
Tony knocked on Curtis’ door and waited. Curtis came to the door and ushered him in, smiling as he did so. There was a thick file on the table and Curtis picked it up and handed it to him.
“I’ve been doing research on the possible suspects. I have some leads.”
“Oh? Have you figured out who is stealing from me yet?”
“Not quite. I need access.”
“Access to what?”
“Your establishments. I need to follow the money.”
“One of the assistant managers at my Russian restaurant just had a baby. I’m sure he’d appreciate some time off to be with his family. How long do you need?”
“Two weeks should do it.”
“Done. Be there bright and early tomorrow morning and I’ll introduce you to the staff.”
“Okay.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to see Mr. Rodham.”
“Follow me.”
Mr. Rodham was not too thrilled to be disturbed during his morning ritual of coffee and the stock market openings, but he put his work aside to attend to Tony. Mr. Romanov was a paying customer after all, and in these hard economic times, it didn’t do to be rude to those so he sat up and prepared to be of service.
“Your employee, Mr. Jackson proposes to follow the trail of my money by infiltrating my organization. I need for you to vouch for him, that this is not just another attempt to steal more of my money. Who will be accountable for that?”
“Mr. Jackson’s methods are unorthodox, but they yield results I do assure you.” Mr. Rodham said.
“And I am just supposed to take your word for it?”
Mr. Rodham leaned forward, looking Tony in the eye. He stared without speaking for a long time and then he said, “Mr. Romanov, this firm has been in business for close to thirty years now. Our clientele is extremely exclusive. Do you think we would have managed to thrive if we were in the habit of stealing from our customers?”
Tony leaned back in his chair and stared at Mr. Rodham. After a while he nodded his head as if in affirmation, “Alright. We shall proceed.”
Tony left the office without taking his leave of Sophie. He had to go back to his restaurant and make some arrangements. Furthermore, he had another errand to run. He smiled to himself as he thought of it, glancing off to the side at Sophie, her head buried in paper. He would see her at lunch.
*****
The numbers floated in front of Sophie’s eyes, running together like a stream heading down to the bayou back home. She blinked rapidly, trying to focus, but it was difficult with her head still dizzy from Tony’s visit.
‘You. Have. Got. It. Bad. Devereux,’ she thought, smiling to herself.
“Oh, that smile is all cat that swallowed the canary. That good was it?” Curtis’ amused voice cut into her reverie, “You’re welcome by the way,” he continued as he perched on her desk crossing his arms.
Sophie looked up at him incredulously, “Welcome for what?”
“Introducing you to the man o’ your dreams of course,” Curtis drawled.
“Oh is that what you did?” Sophie asked as her brow rose.
“Yep. I seen the way y’all look at each other like you’d just like to eat each other up,” Curtis teased, his smile blossoming into a full-fledged grin.
“All these assumptions Curtis. You know what they say about assuming?”
�
��No need to assume. It’s clear as day how you both feel. So when’s the wedding?”
“Fuck off Curtis.”
“Oooh! Language sweetheart,” Curtis gasped in a faux shocked voice.
Sophie sighed deeply rolling her eyes, “What can I do for you Curtis?”
“Nothing really. I know you’ve been away for the weekend. I was hoping for deets. Aren’t I your best friend?”
“You are? Why am I always the last to know these things?”
“Come on Sophie, spill!” Curtis said leaning forward with a pouty look on his face.
“We went to his cavern by the sea. We went for walks on the beach. It was peachy,” Sophie replied, shuffling papers on the desk.
“Ha. Is that why you’re glowing?”
“The bracing air.”
“Okay Soph. Be like that,” Curtis said, straightening up, “Just don’t come running to me when he does something crazy and you need someone to talk about it to.”
“Okay Curtis I won’t,” Sophie replied with a small smile eyes on her keyboard.
Curtis walked away a slight hunch to his shoulders. Sophie watched him go, shaking her head at his craziness. Curtis was a good friend, but he was way too fond of gossip for her taste.
The morning flew by and Sophie was caught by surprise when a familiar shadow fell over her desk.
“Tony Romanov to see Ms. Devereux,” he drawled in a confidential whisper, leaning down to her. Sophie looked up at him and he closed the distance to fit his lips to hers. She pulled away; her office walls were all glass and she had just glimpsed Ms. Haggerty making her way past. She had a thing about female employees having relationships and was not afraid to cause problems if she thought it necessary. Tony gave her a quizzical look and she arched her brow in her boss’ direction in silent eloquence. He turned his head to look in the direction she was pointing as Sophie turned to take her coat from the rack.
“Don’t forget lunch is on me,” she said as she slipped it on and walked past him out the door of the office. Tony placidly followed without comment.
“Where are we going?” he asked as the elevator expelled them on the ground floor.
“It’s a secret,” Sophie winked reaching out to take his hand. Tony saw that she was wearing the shoes he’d bought her and smiled.
The Billionaire's Big Beautiful Bride (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 16
