by Sienna Ciles
He nodded. “That's right. When I saw the article today, when I saw those slanderous lies printed about you, it was as if a blindfold was lifted from my eyes. I finally realized just how evil Marsha really is, and felt like a terrible fool—and a terrible father—for trying to force you into a marriage that you neither wanted nor needed. I've been a selfish, foolish old man. And I hope that you can forgive me for that.”
I couldn't believe that I was hearing this. “I... I feel—”
“You don't need to say anything at this point, Kain. I messed up, and I messed up bad, and I can't expect you to forgive me just like that. But what I am going to offer you is this: my help. I'm going to get the very best lawyers I know on this case, and we're going to force the Financial Times to retract that article and make a formal public apology to you and Miss Benson, or sue them for everything they're worth. And as for Marsha, I've got a top private investigator on that. He's going to make sure we find the proof we need to demonstrate without any shadow of a doubt that it was her who was behind this whole thing. She thought she could ruin you and your company—but now she's woken the bear. And I'm gonna make sure that she doesn't get away with this.”
“Thank you, Dad. I really, really appreciate that.”
I said this with a calm, genuine sincerity, and really, it was the only thing I could say at this point. I was still taken aback with real surprise and shock at this very unexpected act of generosity from my father.
“Don't you worry, Kain,” he said. “I'm going to make sure you weather this storm. And that's what being a CEO is all about, really: weathering storms. Because a lot of dangerous weather is going to come your way. This is just a taste of how things are gonna be. But you're tough enough to handle this, aren't you?”
A new sense of iron-hard determination took hold of me. He was damn right that I was tough enough to weather this storm. And hell, I wasn't just going to weather it, I was going to emerge even stronger than before. I was going to triumph against this adversity.
“Yes, Dad,” I said. “I'm man enough to handle this. We're gonna hit Marsha with our best shot—and she's gonna drop like a sack of potatoes. Hendrikson, Inc. is going down.”
He smiled. “That's the spirit, my boy, that's the spirit!”
Suddenly, I felt a new sense of pride, a new sense of happiness and respect for this man, my father.
“Thank you, Dad,” I said, looking into his eyes with a gaze of genuine admiration. “I'm glad you're in my corner. In fact, there's nobody else I'd rather have in my corner.”
He nodded and smiled. “You're my son, Kain, and I'll always be in your corner. Oh, and there's something else.”
“What’s that?”
“The girl, Miss Benson. Do you really care about her? Deeply and loyally?”
“Yes,” I answered without a moment of hesitation. “Yes, I do.”
He nodded, smiling. “Then you have my blessing to be with her, and to marry her, if that is what your heart truly desires.”
“It is, Dad, it really is.”
“Then go get her, Champ,” he said enthusiastically. “Time waits for no man, so go get that girl. Make her yours, and make sure that you two have a beautiful future together! But first, before you do that, there's something that you and I have to do.”
“That's right,” I said, nodding grimly. “We have battle plans to lay out.”
“That we do, and we don't have any time to waste. We need to get started right away.”
“Yes, we do, Dad. So, let's get on that right now. Marsha Hendrikson is going down.”
Chapter 19
Mandy
I ran out of the office building, tears burning my eyes and sobs choking my throat, and I just got into my car and drove. I didn't know where I was driving to, only that I needed to run, to get far, far away from Kain, this place, and everything that had happened in the last couple of hours.
I found myself on the freeway heading out toward the ocean. I had always loved the ocean. Perhaps I would find some sort of peace and solace in the Pacific.
I couldn't believe how awfully everything had come crashing down. For a week, I had been riding a wave of unexpected happiness after Kain and I had officially gotten together. Of course, we had both been very busy with work, and neither of us had had many opportunities to enjoy each other's company but in the rare moments of freedom we’d had, things had been good. We had had some amazing chats and had really opened up to each other.
I didn't know what it was about Kain but something made me feel as if I really could trust him, as if I could open up to him completely and reveal my deepest secrets—and this was something that he had said to me as well, about how he felt about me. I guess we were meant to be together, considering that both of us felt like this.
At least, that's what I had thought up until today, when my entire world came crashing down around me—as a direct result of my relationship with Kain. Now I wasn't so sure about being with him anymore. In fact, I wasn't so sure about anything anymore. Should I even continue to work at this company, after what had been written about me in the Financial Times? How could I ever show my face at that office again, when everyone now believed that I had only gotten the job because of sex?
Hell, how could I even show my face around this town anymore when everyone believed that that's how I had gotten my job?
I sobbed and beat the steering wheel with my fists as I thought about all of this. I had known that Marsha Hendrikson was capable of evil, and in the back of my mind, I had been worrying about what she was going to do to us—but I never expected that she would go this far. I never expected that she would be this cruel to me.
But it had happened, and here I was, my reputation in tatters, my spirit broken.
“You won, you evil, psychotic bitch,” I muttered. “You won, and I hope you're proud of what you've done. I hope your triumph is worth the lives you've ruined.”
I started crying again but then my phone started ringing. I pulled off the road and got it out of my bag to see who was calling. If it was Kain again, I was just going to ignore the call, as I had with all his calls that afternoon.
As I looked at the phone though, I saw that it wasn't him—it was Ellen. I answered the call.
“Hey,” I said softly, still sniffling a little from the crying.
“Hey, Mandy,” she said gently. “Are you all right?”
“No,” I said, telling her the plain truth. “No, I'm not okay, and I don't know when I will be okay, or how to make myself okay.”
“Where are you right now, and what are you doing? Just tell me, and I'll come to you, okay?”
“I'm just... I'm driving. Driving somewhere. I'm not sure where. The ocean, the beach. I... I want to be by the water.”
“All right, I can do that. Meet you at our old spot by the pier?”
“Okay. Yeah. I'll meet you there.”
“You're gonna be okay, Mandy. I know that things must seem like the world is ending right now but you're gonna be okay. Please trust me on that. Don't do anything stupid now, all right? Just go straight to our spot by the pier and wait for me there. I'm leaving now.”
“All right, Ellen. I'll do that. See you soon.”
“I'll see you soon.”
I drove down to the pier, feeling a little better now that I had a specific place to go to and wasn't just driving around aimlessly. I was also glad that I would be seeing Ellen. She had always been a rock for me in rough times, and her support and care had gotten me through many difficult situations in the past. And now, I needed her more than ever. I knew that much.
I got to the pier and walked out onto the beach and sat down on the sand, and for a while I just stared at the ocean, watching the waves as they rolled in. There was something deeply comforting about staring at something as vast and infinite as the ocean, and my problems did seem a little smaller in the presence of the Pacific.
After a while, I heard footsteps crunching through the sand behind me, and I turned aro
und and saw Ellen approaching. I got up as she got closer and we hugged tightly.
“I'm so, so sorry about what happened,” she said to me. “It's awful, it really is.”
“I know,” I murmured. “It feels like everything has come crashing down around me, like it's all gone up in flames.”
“I can see how you would feel like that.”
“Yeah...”
“But,” she continued, her voice bolstered by conviction and determination, “it's not the end. Your life isn't ending, even though it might feel that way right now. And like a phoenix emerging from a fire, you're going to emerge from this whole mess stronger and more focused than before.”
“It's easy to say that, Ellen, when it's not you who—”
“No, no, hold up there, Mandy, hold up. I'm saying this from experience, and from how well I know you. I'm saying this not from my perspective but from yours! I know how strong you are, how determined you are, and how able you are to overcome adversity and power through challenges like this. I know that you're going to get through this, and I know that you're going to become even stronger because of it. Because that's what I've seen you do time and time again. You've got this.”
I gave her another hug. “Thank you, Ellen, thank you so much. I'm so lucky to have a friend like you.”
“And I'm lucky to have a friend like you, Mandy. You've been there for me just as many times as I've been there for you.”
“Still, I have to say thank you. Thank you for just being you, and for helping me see straight after all of this craziness.”
“How did this happen though?” asked Ellen. “I mean, obviously, it's a pack of lies but why was it printed? Who would want to do such a horrible, mean thing?”
“Marsha Hendrikson, CEO of Hendrikson, Inc.,” I answered, absolutely sure that it was indeed her behind this scandal.
“Wow. That's the mother of the woman Kain's father was trying to pressure him into marriage with, right?”
“That's right. What I didn't tell you was that she made threats against me. She said that she was gonna get me, was gonna get us. I knew it was coming, kinda—I just didn't realize how quickly and how severely she would hit us. I didn't realize how low she would go.”
“Some people are just pure evil,” said Ellen sadly. “And that's the truth of it. But, the article is a bunch of lies, and once that's cleared up, once the public knows that it's nothing but lies, you'll be okay. You and Kain. And then you can be together again, and you can put all of this behind you.”
I sighed. “I don't know if there's going to be 'me and Kain' after all of this.”
“What?” she asked, shocked. “But you were so, so happy with him! You've just been gushing about how amazing he is, this whole past week. And from the sounds of it, you two are perfect for each other. But now you want to end it?”
“What else can I do? Everyone's going to think that he and I are just together for... that I'm some sort of gold-digger slut, that—”
“No,” she said firmly, “they're not going to think that. This is going to blow over, and you're going to be okay. You're both going to be okay. And your relationship is going to be stronger than ever before. You can't throw in the towel just because you hit this one hiccup. Don't give up just like that. He's worth fighting for! Your relationship is worth fighting for!”
The more I thought about this, the more I realized she was right. Kain and I had a connection that was special—no, that was beyond special—and it wouldn't be right to simply throw it away. Yes, this scandal had thrown us into chaos but it wouldn't be right to let it devour us.
“Thank you, Ellen,” I eventually said. “You've always been great at helping me to put things into perspective.”
“And I'm happy that I've been able to do that for you,” she said. “So, you're ready to get back on your feet now after being knocked down, and keep on fighting?”
“I'm gonna fight,” I said, feeling a powerful sense of determination growing within me. “I'm gonna fight.”
* * * * *
It had taken a long time but I had finally worked up the courage to call Kain. I dialed his number and waited for him to answer.
“Mandy,” he said as soon as he picked up. “I've been waiting for you to call.”
There was no hint of annoyance or impatience in his voice. There was only kindness and compassion.
“I'm sorry I've been ignoring your calls and messages,” I said. “I just... I needed some time on my own.”
“I understand.”
“Can I... Can I see you now? Do you want to see me?”
“Of course. Where are you?”
“I'm at my place.”
“I'll be right over.”
“Thank you, Kain. I'll see you soon.”
I sipped on the glass of wine I'd just poured and went out and sat on my porch, staring out into the night as I waited for him to arrive. After around twenty minutes, I heard the roar of a sports car howling down the street, and soon the bright beams of its headlights stabbed through the dark as it rolled up to my house. The car stopped and Kain got out. He was still dressed in his Armani business suit, tailored to his broad-shouldered form, and he looked great. I felt a surge of physical desire shooting through me as I watched him approach.
I stood up, ran over to him, and embraced him tightly. “I'm sorry I ran out earlier,” I whispered.
“It's okay,” he said, hugging me tightly. “And now we're together again, and that's all that matters.”
We stared into each other's eyes, and a deep, powerful attraction glowed like a fire in the night between us. My blood was hot in my veins, and delightful thrills rippled along my skin. I slipped my hands down over his lower back, pulling him in closer to me. In turn, I felt his strong, manly hands sliding down over my back, lower and lower.
And then, suddenly, our mouths were together, our tongues dancing with furious passion in one another's mouths, our bodies pressed together. We were kissing with a desperate, ravenous hunger. Releasing all the intensely pent-up tension that had built up to boiling point over the course of this difficult day.
Kain slipped one hand down onto my ass cheek and gripped it hard, letting me know how intense his desire for me was. I felt a blast of heat shoot through my body as he did this, and down at the meeting of my thighs, a hot moistness was growing. We staggered back inside my house, still kissing and moaning and gasping as we went, and we started undressing each other as we moved, throwing and dropping items of clothing all over as we stumbled toward my bedroom.
My pulse was pounding, my blood was hot in my veins, and a delectable wetness was soaking through my panties. I wanted him, I wanted him so badly, and I could feel, from the throbbing hardness in his pants that was pressing with such eagerness against my belly, that he wanted me just as badly.
We reached the bed and he pushed me down onto it, standing there panting with lust as I lay there on my back, dressed only in my bra and panties. He was shirtless, and his chiseled muscles, so sharply defined, glistened in the soft light with the thin layer of sweat that coated his darkly-tanned skin. In his pants was the outline of his fully hard member, tracing a tantalizing passage down one leg of his pants. He dropped to his knees, reached up, and slid my panties off, and then gripped my knees, one in each hand, and opened my legs. I was steaming hot, swollen and wet, and definitely ready for him. He moved in, closing his eyes as his face reached me, and he closed his mouth over my wetness, kissing it and sucking gently on it, and swirling his tongue softly into me.
His tongue on me, inside me, sent shivers of utter bliss coursing through my body, and I let out a long, soft moan. As he continued to explore the center of my femininity with his eager tongue, he reached up with his hands for my chest. I undid my bra and pulled it off, and then his large, manly hands were on my breasts, gently squeezing and gripping and massaging. My nipples began to swell with a delightful stiffness at his touch, and a hot flush reddened the skin of my chest.
The waves of
pleasure from the actions of his tongue on my clit were becoming more and more intense, driving pulse after pulse of ecstasy through my body. An orgasm was beginning to build, and I wanted more. As he continued to caress and grip my breasts with increasing pressure and fervor, I slid my own hands down and gripped two fistfuls of his hair, pulling his head closer into me, and arching my hips and slowly grinding myself against the motion of his firm tongue.
Oh, yes, yes... this was it, this was getting me there. The ripples of pleasure became waves, giant, thundering ocean waves, and now the orgasm was building in force like a head of steam. I gasped and started breathing harder and harder, moving my hips with more and more vigor, feeling the buildup growing within me until it got to explosion point.
And then, with glorious force, the orgasm tore through me, and I cried out and arched my back, allowing it to rip through me and saturate every nerve ending in my body with its electric joy. Wave after wave of sheer bliss tore through me, and I cried out again and again until finally the waves began to die down.
Now I wanted him—all of him. I couldn't wait a second longer.
“I need you, Kain, I need you inside me... now, right now,” I purred.
He stood up, dropped his pants, and then his massive manhood sprang out, proud and stiff and beautiful with its throbbing hardness. I opened my thighs wider and he stepped in, slipping the head into my hot wetness, which welcomed him. I let out a long, slow moan as he slid inch after steel-hard inch into me, and felt a shudder of pleasure rippling through my whole body as he filled me up completely.
Then, when all of him was inside me, he leaned forward and started to kiss me deeply and passionately, and as our tongues danced in each other's mouths, he started to move himself slowly inside of me. Not quite thrusting but just a gentle rocking motion that sent shivers of ecstasy rippling through me with each movement. I moaned into his mouth as we kissed, and then he slipped his fingers into mine and we gripped each other's hands tightly.
Now he started to thrust in and out of me, and he stood up straight. Each thrust brought a fresh boost of pleasure, and he lifted my legs up over his shoulders so that he could get in more deeply. And as he started thrusting with those deep, powerful thrusts, intense waves of bliss began to tear through me. Another orgasm was building, this one with even more power and force than the previous one, and I cried out and moaned and writhed beneath the power of what his hard length of flesh was doing to me.
