by Sofia Tate
I step to the back of the room and grab my phone. Davison picks up on one ring.
His deep voice rumbles into my ear, instantly warming me all over. “Hey, baby.”
“Hi. Listen, something odd just happened.”
“What?” I can hear the worry in his voice.
“Some guy just asked me about you and your father.”
His voice rises an octave. “What exactly did he say?”
“He wanted to know how both of you were doing. That’s it.”
“I’m coming over,” he replies firmly.
“Why? It’s only ten o’clock. We’re not closing for another two hours.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes. And if anyone else talks to you about me or my dad, tell me immediately. Do you understand, Allegra?” he demands.
“Of course I do, but—”
The sound of his phone hanging up clicks in my ear.
What the hell was that?
Chapter Thirteen
Davison
Last night, when Allegra told me about that man asking her about my father and me, my blood ran cold, and I gripped my cell so hard that I could’ve crushed it with my bare hands. I cut her off and called Charles to bring the Maybach around to get to Le Bistro ASAP. I wasn’t taking any chances. I managed to evade all of her questions on the way back to my place, and hopefully she’ll stop asking them because I want to keep her safe from whatever is going on with my father.
Which is why I’m rushing down the hallway again at Berkeley Holdings this morning, ignoring the pleas of my father’s assistant, and bursting through the doors of his office.
“I thought we went over this, Davison,” he remarks without looking up from his copy of Fortune. “Knocking before entering is preferred.”
I can barely contain my fury. “Look at me, Dad.”
“I won’t if you continue to use that tone with me,” he replies in a cool demeanor.
“It’s about Allegra.”
The mention of her name finally prompts him to steal his focus away from his magazine. He gives me an annoyed look. “What about her?”
“Someone approached her at work last night asking about you and me.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “So? It’s not a secret you two are dating, much to my chagrin, and that you’re my son. No big deal.”
He starts reading the magazine again, causing me to grit my teeth and clench my fists.
I slam my hand down on the page he’s reading to make sure he’s paying attention.
He jumps back in shock. “Davison! What the hell is your problem?” he yells.
With my jaw clenched, I spit out at him, “Let me be perfectly clear with you. It’s one thing to mess with me, but Allegra is off-limits. I don’t know what you’re involved in, but what you need to know is that there is nothing I won’t do to protect her.”
“You have nothing to worry about. It’s being handled,” he practically hisses back at me.
“And yet you won’t tell me what exactly ‘it’ is.”
“Because it’s none of your fucking business, Davison. Now if you wouldn’t mind, I’m busy.”
I realize asking him anything more is pointless. I turn on my heel and head for the door, but look back at him before I leave. “Just know this, Dad. I’m not letting this slide. If whatever it is involves the company, I’m going to find out, one way or another.”
I slam the door behind me, cursing my father all the way back to my office. I walk in and pull down the binder with the quarterly reports of the last twelve months from my bookshelf.
One way or another.
* * *
When I walk into my apartment around ten o’clock that night, I see abandoned floor cushions and candles sitting on my coffee table that are usually in my dining room. I check the refrigerator and see plastic containers of spaghetti and meatballs that weren’t there this morning when I left for work.
Damn it. She must’ve wanted to surprise me. I am such an asshole.
I tug on my tie as I head for the bedroom, stopping in the doorway when I see Allegra’s sexy naked form lying under my bedsheets, her sweet, luscious breasts poking out from under the cotton fabric.
I strip out of my suit, leaving everything on the floor and crawl into bed, joining her under the covers. I gently stroke her hair, stirring her awake.
“Davison? Is that you?” she murmurs.
“Hope you weren’t expecting someone else,” I joke.
She turns over to face me, immediately snuggling into my chest. “Why are you so late? What time is it?”
“Sorry, baby. It’s about ten. Did you want to surprise me?”
“Yeah. Wanted to do something nice for you. The doorman let me in since I’m on your approved visitor list.”
I really am such a shit.
“You’re at the top of it, Venus. Permanently.”
She tilts her head up so she can look into my eyes. She smiles slightly before a concerned look crosses her face. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” I reassure her. “Everything is perfect.” And it was. I was with her and that was all that mattered now. Thank God for the darkness, though, hiding from Allegra the worry etched on my face. The woman can read me like a book.
“You know, since you missed dinner, I think you deserve some dessert.”
Before I can stop her, she disappears under the sheet and spreads my legs open.
“Hey, you don’t have to—”
The feel of her warm tongue on the tip of my dick licking it like a lollipop instantly shuts me up. I fall back on my pillow, sighing from the pleasure she’s giving me. My Venus is the most selfless woman I’ve ever known.
I grow harder with each touch of her hot tongue, laving along its sides, cradling and rubbing my heavy sack gently.
Then she grips the base of it as she starts sucking on it, bobbing up and down. I reach under the fabric and run my right hand through her silky hair, moaning in sheer pleasure from what she’s doing with that skilled mouth of hers. “So good, baby. You are so fucking amazing.”
Her speed increases, and I’m about to explode into her mouth. I roar as hot spurts flow into her mouth, my heart beating like a fucking jackrabbit’s.
When she appears from under the covers, her face is flushed, bits of her hair sticking to her forehead. I take my thumb and wipe off her mouth.
“Come here, Venus.”
She settles onto my chest, our pulses matching each other’s beat for beat.
“I worry about you, Davison,” she whispers.
I don’t like the sound of that. “Why, baby?”
“You’ve just seemed preoccupied lately. Like you’re not telling me something. You know you can tell me anything.”
Her concern makes my heart soar. I swallow in my throat and answer her lightly, “It’s nothing. Honestly. It’s just been insane lately, you know, ruling the universe and all.”
I sense her burrowing farther into my arms, which hopefully means she won’t ask any more questions. I won’t have my father’s problems harming her in any way.
I lift her chin with my index finger so I can see her beautiful brown eyes. “Kiss me.”
Our tastes mingle as my tongue tangles with hers. We kiss long and deep until I stop so I can tell her something.
“I promise you, Allegra. Nobody will ever hurt you again. You are mine and there’s nothing I won’t do to protect you.”
Her eyebrows furrow in concern, but she doesn’t say anything except, “I love you, Davison.”
“As I love you,” I tell her, cupping her face with my hands.
She leans into my touch, kissing one of my palms and settles on my chest. I hear her deep breaths as she falls back asleep.
I realize I just told her what I told my father about protecting her.
And it’s true. There’s nothing I won’t do to keep her safe.
Nothing.
* * *
Allegra
I’m rubbing my eyes open th
e next morning as I’m walking toward the kitchen when something grabs my attention from the living room.
A baby grand piano is standing in one corner of the wide space, its black color glistening in the sunlight streaming through the windows.
“You like it?”
Davison’s voice beckons from the kitchen entryway.
“It’s amazing. When did it get here?”
“Early this morning.”
I step toward it, running my hand over the smooth wood. I sense Davison’s chest against my back.
“It’s for you,” he whispers.
I spin around to face him, my mouth dropped in shock.
“What do you mean?”
He smiles. “What part of It’s for you did you not understand, Venus?”
“Explain, Harvard,” she demands pointedly.
“You’re probably going to be practicing now to enter some competitions, right?”
I nod.
“Well, in order to spend more time together, I figured you could practice here too, as well as at your house.”
I cup his face with my hands, running them over his smooth skin. “You are too much, you know that?”
He grins at me like the damn cat that devoured the poor canary. “I know.”
I bring his head closer to me so I can give him a long, wet kiss. “Thank you, Davison.”
“You’re welcome, baby.”
I stare down at the shining piano keys, begging to be played. “Can I ask you something? And I want a straight answer.”
“Of course,” he quickly acquiesces.
“I know you have far more to handle at work than I could ever imagine, but you’ve never let it get to you the way it has been lately. Is there something more serious going on? Maybe I can help you in some way…”
As I’m saying all this to him, his jaw visibly clenches and his eyes grow serious. I know without a doubt that he’s keeping something from me.
“It’s nothing to worry about, Allegra. It’s under control. And you do help me. Every moment you’re with me, I know everything is right with the world.” But even as he says this, worry etches into the lines of his forehead.
I take a deep breath, doing my best to keep myself calm and collected. “Damn it, Davison. I wish you would tell me. You know you can tell me anything.”
He grabs me and envelops me in his arms, not saying a word. His grip on me is tight as I wrap my arms around him.
“Just remember I love you,” I whisper to him.
He burrows his head into my neck. “I know.”
We remain like that for a few minutes until he pulls back. “I have to get ready,” he says, kissing me softly on the lips before turning for the bedroom, leaving me standing by the new piano alone.
I’m not keeping a scorecard of how many times we say those three words to each other, but he usually reciprocates when I say it first.
Could he be…
No. Impossible. Of course it is.
Isn’t it?
Chapter Fourteen
Davison
Two days later, I’m back at my desk at Berkeley Holdings trying to focus on work, which I’m finding futile thanks to my frustration with my father, Dominic, and whatever the fuck is going on with them.
My desk phone rings, which means Eleanor must’ve stepped away momentarily.
“Davison Berkeley,” I answer firmly.
“Mr. Berkeley, your father is playing a dangerous game,” a deep male voice says on the other end. It sounds like the man who called me before. I grip the phone to keep my cool and decide to play along.
“Why don’t you tell me about it?”
“I see your father isn’t very forthcoming with you if you’re asking me that question. And he should be if he knows what’s good for him.”
“Look, I’m sick of playing this game with you. You have no idea who you’re messing with.”
“I hope Allegra is doing well. She looked lovely when I spoke to her at Le Bistro.”
WHAT THE FUCK?!?!
Holy shit.
It’s the bastard who asked her about us that night.
“Listen to me, you asshole—”
He hangs up before I can finish.
I grab my cell and send my fingers flying over the screen.
Her name comes up and I press the number.
One ring…two rings…
“Goddamn it, Allegra! PICK UP!”
* * *
Allegra
As Lucy plays Davison’s baby grand, I use the view from his apartment as a focus point, singing “Song to the Moon” from Rusalka, which I worked on with La Diva. Tomas is here as well because I need his feedback on my Czech pronunciation.
Lucy brings the aria to a close in time with me as I sing the last line.
“God, this is a beautiful instrument,” she comments on the piano. “And yours isn’t bad either, Alli.”
I roll my eyes at her. “Ha-ha. What did you think?”
“I guess just always remember what the aria is about—asking the moon to tell the prince that she loves him.”
“I will. Tomas, what about my Czech?”
He doesn’t reply right away.
“Yo, Prague Boy, how was her Czech?” Lucy snaps at him, trying to shake him out of his stupor.
Prague Boy. She has a nickname for everyone.
Tomas shakes his head. “Oh, it was fine.”
Lucy and I look at each other, then back at him. “‘Fine’? What kind of fucking critique is that?” Lucy shouts at her boyfriend. “Were you even paying attention?”
He jumps from his chair. “Luciana, stop…what is the word…nagging me!” he yells back at her.
We watch as he takes off for the bathroom. Lucy leaps from the piano bench and follows him. A door slams and I can hear shouting from behind it all the way from where I’m standing in the living room.
I sink to the piano bench, stunned at Tomas’s sudden outburst. I instantly begin to feel awkward, wishing I were somewhere else.
My cell starts to vibrate on the coffee table. I turned off the ringer before we began rehearsing.
When I step over to pick it up, Davison’s face is on the screen.
“Hey, Harvard.”
“Where are you right now?” he demands from me.
I’m not crazy about his rather impatient tone. “Davison, what’s wrong?”
“Damn it! Answer me, Allegra!”
What the hell is with him?
“Will you stop yelling at me for crying out loud! I’m at your place.”
“Doing what?”
“Practicing with Lucy and Tomas. Here, listen.”
I put the phone on speaker before setting it on the piano and running my fingers over the ivory keys.
Once I finish, I grab the phone again. “There! Are you satisfied, Mr. Berkeley?”
He’d better be.
I hear him take a deep breath before answering me. “Yes.”
“Good. I hope you won’t be bringing that attitude home with you tonight. Otherwise, I’m not going to stay,” I inform him.
“I won’t. I promise,” he whispers.
He hangs up before I have a chance to say good-bye.
As I stare at my phone attempting to comprehend what the hell just happened, Lucy comes back into the living room, her face red and jaw clenched. “Jerk.”
I grow concerned at her appearance. “What happened?”
“Beats the shit out of me. He won’t tell me what’s going on with him no matter how much I try.”
My mouth drops in surprise. “Same with Davison. He just called me to find out where I was and who I was with. He was totally checking up on me. And something’s been up with him for ages and he totally evades my questions every time.”
“What is it with men?”
“I have no idea. This calls for one thing.”
“And that would be?”
“Cocktails. There’s a wine bar a few blocks down. But—”
“Not to
worry. I can’t deal with Tomas now. I’ll tell him I need to spend some quality time with my best friend.”
“And I need some liquid courage before Davison gets home, especially if there’s going to be a repeat of that performance.”
“Men…” we mutter simultaneously, shaking our heads simultaneously in frustration.
Chapter Fifteen
Davison
Plausible deniability.
That’s the way I rationalize how I’m dealing with Allegra in terms of my father’s situation and the threats. It’s my form of protection. I know I pissed her off when I called yesterday desperate to know where she was. But I needed to know she was safe. I managed to calm myself down and not come home agitated.
And now I’m making it up to her, her gorgeous body nestled into mine on the couch, watching a movie of her choosing, A Room with a View, to make up for the phone call.
I wasn’t too interested in it because I was more focused on Allegra—stroking her hair, caressing her soft flesh under my Harvard sweatshirt.
“Pay attention! This is the best part. George kisses Lucy in the poppy field!” she tells me, all excited.
She grips my hand as I glance at the screen. I have to admit that it actually is a beautiful camera shot of the actors in a field with red poppies sprinkled throughout the tall grass.
“I love that scene,” she says dreamily, sounding like a true fan. “It’s so romantic.”
“I guess,” I murmur.
“How come you don’t do romantic shit like that for me?”
My head rears back in surprise. “Excuse me?”
With my finger under her chin, I tilt her head toward me. A mischievous grin is spread across her face, with her eyes directed away from me, waiting for my reaction.
I start tickling her. “Say you’re sorry,” I order her as she squirms and fidgets like a fish out of water, screaming as she begs me to stop.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” she shouts. She falls back on my lap, her legs on top of my thighs with her breath panting.
Her deep brown eyes stare back at me, alive and full of laughter. “I should punish you some more,” I tell her.
