Forbidden Awakenings (Awakenings #1)

by Lisa Bilbrey

  “Look, we know this is different,” Derek added, shaking his head. “But this is how we work. Sadie, Elle, and Callum make me happy; they give me a reason to laugh. I love them, all of them, and I refuse to give them up without a fight. And if that costs me my place in your family, then so be it.” He shifted his eyes to Elle. “It wouldn’t be the first sacrifice we’ve had to make, and I doubt it will be the last.”

  Samuel pushed away from the table and walked over to the grill, opened the lid, and checked on the steaks. As he closed the top again, he turned to face them. “Well, I won’t deny that I’m surprised. I mean, I assumed that Derek and Sadie were seeing each other while you and Elle were, Callum. I had no idea that you four were … more than just friends.”

  The four of them inhaled a deep breath, unsure what the man was about to say. After dealing with Helina and James, they were prepared for almost anything.

  “But,” Lydia was quick to add, “we’re happy for you, aren’t we, dear?”

  “Yes, honey, we are,” Samuel said.

  Elle blew the air out of her lungs, bringing her hand up to her mouth. She tried to keep her tears from falling, but the overwhelming emotions that welled up inside of her got the best of her and the moisture sprinkled down her cheeks. Scrambling to her feet, she choked out a garbled, “Be right back,” before rushing inside and searching for the bathroom.

  She found a small guest bathroom just off the kitchen and closed the door behind her. Bracing herself against the small, porcelain vanity, Elle struggled to calm her breathing and stop her tears. Lydia and Samuel accepted them without question, yet her parents had been so willing to let her go. Why couldn’t Helina and James love and accept her for the way God made her?

  “Elle,” Callum called through the door. “Are you okay?”

  Without a word, she reached over and opened the door. The moment he saw her, he sighed and stepped inside, wrapping his arms around her and cradling her against his chest. “Oh, baby.”

  “They’re amazing,” she cried.

  “They are,” he agreed. “Even when they’re embarrassing me.”

  Elle laughed, tilting her head back and looking him in the eyes. “All they see is that you’re happy. You’re lucky to have two parents who love you so unconditionally.”

  “I know,” he whispered, brushing his thumbs across her cheeks and wiping away her tears. “I’m sorry you don’t have that.”

  Elle leaned up and kissed him. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” he asked.

  “Just for being here.”

  “You’re welcome, I guess. Now, are you ready to go back out there? My dad almost had to sit on my mother to keep her from following you in here.”

  Elle snorted at the mental image of Samuel sitting on Lydia’s lap. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

  Sliding her hand into Callum’s, she let him led her back outside. Derek and Sadie were on their feet in a heartbeat and at their side, whispering sweet reassurances. Letting her free hand rest on Derek’s chest, she kissed him first, then Sadie, before turning to Samuel and Lydia, both of whom were watching her with guarded expressions.

  “I apologize,” Elle said. “I don’t know how much Mr. Alvarez told you, Samuel, about what happened at my sister’s wedding, but my parents made it clear that they don’t support our relationship.”

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Lydia gushed, rushing over and taking hold of her hand. “Don’t apologize. I can only imagine how emotional the last few days have been for all of you.” She sighed. “Samuel told me about Gabriel Alvarez taking his project away from the company. I don’t know what that man is thinking.”

  “Obviously he’s not,” Samuel grumbled and turned back to the grill. He flipped the steaks over before closing the lid again. “Never, in my thirty years in the business, have I ever had a client use such a lame excuse. It’s clear that the man never trusted my company with his project in the first place.”

  Elle wasn’t sure how to respond, so instead she sat back down at the table and picked up her drink, taking a large gulp. As everyone else returned to their seats, Samuel picked up his beer, but stayed by the grill.

  “You do understand, Elle, that his decision has nothing to do with you, don’t you?” Samuel asked, eyeing her. “Gabriel is a hard man to please. He expects perfection, and if you don’t give into his every whim, he makes a scene and throws a tantrum.”

  “But it was because of me,” she said. “And Sadie. If we hadn’t gotten caught by my mother, she never would have lost her shit on us, and Gabriel would never have felt that we’d ruined his nephew’s wedding, therefore he wouldn’t have taken his account away from your company.”

  “That may be true, but it was only a matter of time before he had another reason to be unhappy,” Callum stated. “This is not the first project we’ve worked with him on, Elle. Trust me when I say that he’s an asshole. He’ll be back in a few months, maybe a year, with a new project in the works.”

  “Not as long as Elle and I are working there,” Sadie groused. “Which is why we should leave.” Before Samuel could utter a sound, she continued to speak. “We were hired to work on his project. Now that his project is no longer available, it makes sense that we end our business relationship with your company, Samuel.”

  He pursed his lips together as he turned back to the grill and checked on the steaks again. “Honey, will you go get the potatoes?”

  “Of course,” Lydia murmured, standing up.

  She rushed into the house, coming back out a moment later with a large platter filled with aluminum-wrapped potatoes. She handed the plate over to Samuel, who leaned in and kissed her cheek before turning back to the grill. Once he’d placed them on the rack, he closed the lid and turned back to everyone.

  “You’re right,” he said, nodding his head. “It would make sense for you two to leave my company, but I have a better idea.”

  “What’s that?” Elle asked.

  Samuel smiled as he sat back down at the table. “Come work for me on a permanent basis.”

  “What?” Sadie blurted out.

  “Look, I’ve been in this business for a long time, and I’ve never seen a team with the potential that you and Elle have. Before our initial meeting, I talked to every client you worked with, every professor you had at Berkeley, and all of them sang your praises. Now, that alone caught my attention, but it wasn’t until our meeting that I saw just how amazing your work is. You both have so much potential, and you go beyond the normal parameters that come with design and find the real heart of a building.” Samuel stood back up and turned his attention to the grill. “But I understand your company is important to you, so I’d like to make it worth your while.” After he checked on the food, he faced Elle and Sadie once again. “I’d like to buy your company from you, but instead of dissolving it, I’ll merge it in with my firm, creating a division run by you two, Callum, and Derek. You’ll get your pick of projects, and you’ll have full control. What do you say?”

  “You can’t be serious?” Elle asked.

  Samuel crossed his arms in front of him. “Why can’t I?”

  “Because we just cost you a multi-million dollar account!” she exclaimed, leaning forward and placing her hand on the table.

  “You’re awfully hung up on that,” he mused. “I don’t care about losing Alvarez’s account. Would it have been nice to have completed the development? Sure, but I’m not about to let it cause me to lose sleep tonight, Elle. Now, I’ll understand if you’d prefer not to work with me, but don’t let that man stop you from a promising career.”

  Elle shook her head and looked at Sadie. “What do you think?”

  “To be honest, I think we need to consider his offer. I mean, having someone like Samuel backing us will help us immensely.” Sadie shifted her attention to Samuel. “Not that we’d be using you, of course.”

  “Of course not,” he snickered as he opened the grill and began pulling the steaks onto the platter. Setting it in the middle of t
he table, he turned back to the potatoes, poking them with his fork. “These need a few more minutes.”

  “I’ll go get some plates,” Lydia murmured before she stood up and rushed back into the house.

  “And I don’t think of it as you using me. In fact, you’d both be helping my company,” Samuel said.

  “How?” Elle asked.

  “Well, for one thing, it’d be nice to have one team able to focus on special projects. It will help me be able to balance the work load between my other teams. Also, I’d have one less company to compete with.”

  Lydia came back out with her hands full of plates, silverware, knifes, and a large bowl of salad. “Cal, sweetie, will you go grab the butter, cheese, and sour cream. I left them on the counter.”

  “Sure, Mom,” he replied, before standing up and going into the house.

  “Oh, and the dressing for the salad, too.” Lydia sat at the table, smiling at each of them. “Please, help yourselves to whatever you want.”

  Samuel began pulling the potatoes from the grill. Once he had all of them on a plate, he turned the grill off, closed the lid, and placed them in the middle of the table. Callum came out a moment later with his hands full. As they filled their plates with steaks, potatoes, and salad, Elle thought about Samuel’s offer. When she and Sadie started Reid Williams Design, they knew it would take years to achieve the type of acclaim that Samuel’s company had, but here he was, offering to buy them out and give them the chance to work for him.

  Sighing, Elle shifted her attention to him. “So, let’s say we come to work for you.”

  “Not for me,” he said. “With me. You, Sadie, Derek, and Callum would have complete control of your division. I would just be the man behind the curtain.”

  Elle nodded and said, “What happens when word of our relationship causes other developers to pull their business away?”

  “It won’t,” he said.

  “You can’t know that,” Sadie replied.

  “Today, I received half a dozen phone calls, all of them wanting you, Sadie, Derek, and Callum to come work on their projects. Now, I can’t promise that your … unique … relationship won’t ever be an issue at some point and time, because the world is full of assholes who refuse accept the unconventional, but I can assure you that it won’t cost you your positions within my company. And if anyone inside my company gives you trouble, I will deal with it swiftly and harshly.”

  Elle pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and shifted her attention to Callum and Derek, before looking at Sadie, who tilted her head in agreement. She addressed Samuel again, asking, “How much are you offering us for our company?”

  “Fifty-percent of what you would have made on the commission from the Alvarez project,” he responded. “Including the bonus, and a five percent raise to your current salary.”

  Elle’s eyes flew open. “But —”

  “We’ll take it!” Sadie exclaimed, causing Elle to gasp as she turned to her. “Sweetie, we both know this is an amazing deal. Come on, you know I’m right.”

  “I know, but you could have at least asked me first,” she chortled.

  “I don’t need to. I know you better than anyone.” Sadie winked at her before turning back to Samuel. “We’ll take it.”

  “Excellent!” he hailed. “I’ll get the contracts drawn up this week and then we can make it official.” He lifted his beer, tilting the bottle toward Elle and Sadie. “Welcome to the family.”

  As each of them lifted their drinks and toasted to one another, Elle’s eyes once again filled with tears. She may have lost her mother and father over her decision to love Sadie, Derek, and Callum, but she’d gained a new family in the process.

  Nineteen

  When Elle and Sadie arrived at the office the next morning, they were prepared for the awkward stares and hushed whispers that followed them. Of course, it might have been the fact that they were holding hands. Everyone knew about their relationship, that much had been made clear to them the day before, and if they were going to stay with Davis Architecture and Design, they needed to know that they could be themselves without worry about repercussion.

  Though, to be honest, the whispers and looks were difficult for Elle to handle. She struggled with the way they looked at her. It made her feel like they were judging her, which they were. She loved Sadie, Derek, and Callum more than anything in the world, but she hated the attention they received now that their relationship had been made public.

  What she couldn’t understand was why people cared so much? Was it really such a big deal that she and Sadie had sex? That Derek and Callum were lovers? Or that the four of them had found a way to make their unconventional relationship work? Perhaps, it was as simple as them being jealous. While they couldn’t keep their partners happy, Elle managed to satisfy the yearning of three lovers. Whatever the reason, it seemed pointless to her that they cared so much. None of these people knew her, the real her. Most of them had never spoken to her outside of the occasional hello when they were waiting for the elevator, and maybe that was Elle’s fault. She’d been so nervous about them seeing right through her, that she’d often closed herself off to people. Had she come off as being a bitch? A snob? Was she the reason that people gawked at them?

  “Why are you scrunching your face like that?” Derek asked from his position behind his desk. He and Callum hadn’t made any effort to hide their relationship, either. Like Sadie and Elle, they’d walked into the building holding hands, proud smiles on their faces, and a bounce in their step. They made it look so easy, so effortless. Elle envied them, even though she’d always found it easy to love Sadie, too.

  “I didn’t realize that I was,” Elle replied.

  He laughed. “Hmm. Well, okay then.”

  Sadie’s attention was on the pile of mail stacked up in front of her. Because she and Elle been spending all their time at Derek and Callum’s house, they’d neglected their mail, and now, they had about three weeks’ worth to sort through. Most of their bills were automatically drafted from their checking accounts.

  Falling back in her chair, Sadie groaned. “Oh, fuck.”

  “What’s wrong?” Elle asked,

  “Our lease is up next week. I didn’t even think about it,” Sadie explained with a shake of her head. “According to this letter from the management company, we needed to let them know last week whether or not we were renewing for another six months.”

  “Which means we’re too late.” Elle sighed, scrambling to her feet and rushing over to Sadie’s desk and taking the letter from her. “Great. So now, we have to find a new apartment.”

  “Or,” Callum said, drawing everyone’s attention to him, “you two could move in with us.”

  “What?” she asked, facing him. “Are you serious?”

  “Very,” he murmured, leaning forward and smiling. “You and Sadie are already at our house most of the time anyway. The house is plenty big enough for the four of us, and it would save you a large chunk of the money my father is paying you for your company.”

  “Oh, so this is just a way to help us save money, huh?” Elle smirked and shook her head. “You’re so considerate.”

  Callum laughed as he stood up and walked over to her, placing his hands on her hips and sliding them around her back. One of his hands landed on her ass, causing her to moan. “I want you to move in because I love you. Every second that we’re apart, my heart aches. We need you and Sadie with us, right, Derek?”

  “Hell yeah!” he exclaimed, opening his arms to Sadie. “Come here, honey.”

  Sadie snickered as she pushed away from her desk and rushed over to him, plopping herself in his lap. “I think it’s a fabulous idea.”

  “I do, too,” Elle admitted. “But you have to let us help pay the bills. We’re equal partners in this relationship.”

  “Okay, I guess we can agree to that, not that we have a lot of expenses. The house is paid for, so it’s just upkeep, taxes, insurance, and utilities. Between the four of us, we�
�ll barely pay anything.” Callum pressed his forehead against hers. “Thank you.’

  “For what?” Elle asked.

  “For saying yes without an argument,” he teased. “And for being you.”

  “You’re welcome, I guess,” she whispered, leaning up and kissing him.

  “Oy,” Derek called out, causing them to look at him and Sadie. He had one arm wrapped around her torso, his hand cupping her breast, while his other hand had slipped down the front of her pants. “What happened to our rules about not kissing in the office?”

  “Oh, lover, the rules are useless,” Elle replied, winking at him. “Besides, seeing as you have your hand between her legs, I doubt you’re all that concerned with the rules.”

  Derek laughed and kissed the side of Sadie’s neck, causing her to moan as he touched her.

  —FA—

  Friday morning, Elle followed Sadie, Derek, and Callum to the conference room and settled at the table and tried to calm her racing nerves. She knew Samuel was planning on announcing his buyout of their company, along with the merging of a new division inside the company.

  Just the day before, Elle and Sadie signed the contract, making the sale of Reid Williams Design official. It was a bittersweet moment for Elle. She and Sadie had put so much of themselves in their company, but in her heart, she knew that Samuel Davis would protect their interests. Once they had signed on the dotted line, he passed them a check for more than a million dollars. That night, after they deposited the check with shaking hands and nervous laughter, Elle and Sadie treated the boys to dinner, dancing, and spent the rest of the night making love.

  While people still stared and a few whispered, the majority of their co-workers seemed to get over the fact that the four of them were together. Elle, Derek, Callum, and Sadie weren’t flashy with their relationship; they didn’t flaunt how happy they were, but they weren’t hiding, either. Maybe it was a kiss or a hug, a simple smile in each other’s direction, they found little ways to remind each other how much they were loved, how much they were wanted.