For His Keeping (For His Pleasure, Book 3) (8 page)

***

The next morning started off well.

At about nine o’clock in the morning, Red had his laptop open and he was playing a streaming Internet program called The Street Sweep, a show about the stock market. It was a repeat of yesterday’s show, since right now it was about three in the morning back in the U.S.

While the Internet show played in the background, Red and Nicole were eating the breakfast they’d ordered from room service.

Red was having eggs Florentine and Nicole was eating the Eggs Benedict. They were sitting at the small table in the living room next to a large picture window overlooking the street.

It felt very European, Nicole thought with a smile, as she sipped the delicious dark German coffee. She’d never even had room service before in her entire life.

She took a forkful of egg and dipped it in the hollandaise sauce, savoring the bite as it melted in her mouth. “This might be the best breakfast I’ve ever had,” she told him.

“I’m not going to mention that to Chef Roland, he’d be very hurt,” Red replied with a wry grin.

Suddenly she had a thought that bothered her a little. The thought was that, as fun as eating breakfast in a fancy hotel room was, she didn’t want it to become her entire life.

Casually, she said, “I’ve been thinking your mother might have made a good point.”

His eyes narrowed a fraction. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“How she said this life gets boring.” Nicole toyed with her eggs briefly. She wasn’t even sure why the thought had come up in her mind. After all, she was having a grand time in the scheme of things. Sure, there was a lot of stress right now about Red’s company, but flying around the world, eating different cuisine, meeting people from different cultures—Nicole found it all exciting.

But she wondered if long-term, it would really be enough.

“Boring?” he said, sitting back with his coffee cup and taking a dramatic sip.

“Was last night dull for you?”

She felt her face flush as she recalled what he’d done to her in the middle of the night. Even thinking about it got her wet, and right now she was only wearing a hotel bathrobe. Nothing at all underneath. “Last night wasn’t boring,” she said, smiling and avoiding his gaze. “What I meant was that maybe after some years, it could get repetitive. There has to be more to life, don’t you think?”

He put his cup down and looked at her. “Of course there’s more to life. That’s why I have you.”

She smiled again, but shook her head. “No, that’s not what I mean either.”

“Well, then, what exactly are we talking about?”

Finally Nicole met his eyes. “I mean a family.”

Red nodded, considering the question for a while. Nicole started to wonder if she was scaring him off. They’d never ever discussed the idea of children, and this was probably a bad time to bring up the subject. “I want to have a family some day,” he said.

“I never really thought much about it until you came into my life. I never really had an answer in my mind until this very moment, sitting and looking at my beautiful fiancé.”

“I don’t want you to do it just for me,” she said.

“It wouldn’t be,” he said. “But I’d never met anyone that made me think I wanted to have children until you came along. I know you’d be a loving, kind mother. You’re gentle and sweet, and I think I’d like to see a little girl version of you running around our house.” He smiled.

Nicole’s heart was beating faster. “I’m not saying we have to do it anytime soon.”

“I wouldn’t mind trying right now,” he said, his eyes hungry as he looked her up and down.

“Red,” she giggled.

And then they heard someone on the Internet radio show mention “Red Jameson’s free falling company.” Both of them fell silent.

“You know every day,” the radio announcer said, “I like to talk a little bit about stocks that are going to have a lot of action. Sometimes it’s because they’re announcing positive earnings, or it could be a piece of street gossip.”

Red glared at his laptop. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“In this case,” the host went on, “it’s a mix of two pieces of information that have hit Wall Street. Red Jameson and his billion-dollar business, Jameson International, have rarely taken a wrong step since he started the company nearly a decade ago. But recently, things have turned ugly. For the first time last quarter, they posted earnings significantly below what was projected. And then, Jameson spent almost a hundred million dollars to acquire a German advertising firm, which was since reported to have lost nearly two-thirds of its top executives to European mogul Kane Wright. And now it’s being reported that Kane Wright’s firm has also stolen Jameson’s biggest German advertising client, and the company is on the brink of collapse. As a result, we expect that tomorrow’s trading will show a huge downturn for Jameson International’s already ailing stock price…”

Red turned the show off with a quick motion and got up from the table, muttering and swearing.

Nicole’s appetite was gone. “Red, what does this mean?”

He smiled tightly, his cheeks red with anger. “What it means, is that last night while he was wining and dining us, the delightful Kane Wright had already stolen the biggest German client we had. I should have known that would be coming, but I made a rookie mistake. I was so busy trying to gather my guns for the big battle that I forgot to lock the doors and windows in my house. Kane Wright came in through the back entrance and robbed us blind.” Red folded his arms and looked up at the ceiling. “He didn’t even need to fire a shot to kill us dead.”

“What do we do now?” Nicole asked.

“Now?” Red laughed hollowly. “There’s nothing left for me to do. Next week, when the board of directors of Jameson International meets, I’m going to be fired. And then I imagine they’ll structure some kind of buyout deal with Kane Wright.”

“He told you this would happen last night,” Nicole said. “Kane warned you that if you didn’t agree to a partnership, he would destroy your company and you along with it.”

“I know,” Red agreed. “I just underestimated how fast he’d do the job. It’s basically game over. Now I just wait for my pink slip.” He laughed again, shook his head. “Kind of a funny way for everything to end.”

“Will this ruin you financially?” Nicole asked.

He looked up at her. “And what if it does? Will that change anything between us?”

“Of course it wouldn’t. I don’t give a shit about your money. I love you.”

He stared at her, as if not trusting what she’d just said. “You’re absolutely certain of that?”

Nicole stood up and walked toward him, her chin held high. “Who do you think I am?” she said, her eyes focused on him, standing her ground completely. “My father is a mechanic. My mother works at a tiny little office supplies store in upstate New York. I never had much money and I don’t care if I ever do. As long as I can eat and have a roof over my head and someone who I love that loves me back—I couldn’t care less whether or not I own a private jet.”

“God, that was sexy,” he said, leaning in and kissing her hard on the mouth. She met him with just as much enthusiasm, and soon his hand had reached into her bathrobe and was touching her, pulling her closer to him.

“I love you,” she said.

“I love you too,” he told her. “And by the way, even if I lose my company and my job, I still have forty-nine percent of Jameson International. With a buyout, we’re going to be very financially secure for a long time to come.”

“Whatever,” she shrugged, and then his tongue was in her mouth, and he’d pushed her against the wall, opening her robe entirely. His hands ran up and down her torso, as if he couldn’t get enough of her. His mouth was on her neck and breasts, and then he was licking her pussy, as she stood and her legs flexed and shivered.

She cried out once, twice—and then she lost herself in his touch, in his kiss, lost in such a way that she knew she’d been found.

When it was over, Red told her he needed to go down to the AK offices for yet another meeting, and crack some skulls over losing their number one client to Kane Wright.

“Should I come with you?” she asked him.

He looked at her. “Honestly, it’s not even worth your time, Nicole. Go out and see the sights. Or better yet, stay in the hotel and relax. They have a full day spa downstairs. Make use of it. I’ll be back for dinner.”

She shrugged. The truth was, although she’d have gone to AK if he’d needed her to, she was more than happy to stay back at the hotel and just enjoy some peace and quiet.

After he’d left, Nicole lounged in the room, watching a German-subtitled Raiders of The Lost Ark on TV. A few hours later, she napped, and then ordered more room service. This time, it was a fruit plate and a tuna salad sandwich.

At about two o’clock in the afternoon, her hotel room phone started ringing. She stared at it, wondering who it could be. Perhaps the concierge? Maybe something urgent, she thought. She decided it was best to answer, and so Nicole picked up the phone and gave a soft “hello.”

“I thought you might be in,” came the even, deep reply from the familiar voice. It was Kane Wright—his accent was unique, and completely unmistakable. “I hope you don’t think it rude of me to call like this,” he said.

Nicole’s hand shook. “Red’s not here,” she said. “You should try his cell phone.”

“I didn’t call for Red.”

She took a long, shaky inhalation. “I don’t wish to speak to you.”

“You and I both know that Red is making a terrible mistake,” he said softly.

“And I have a feeling you’d like to protect him if you could.”

“How Red chooses to do business is his decision, not mine,” she replied, as evenly as she could, given her nerves.

“But he would listen to you,” Kane said. “He trusts you.”

“He trusts me because I know to mind my own business. I don’t tell him how to run his company.”

“Well maybe it’s time you started.”

She laughed at the man’s arrogance. “You’ve tried your best to destroy his company and you expect me to take your advice? You must think I’m a complete fool.”

“I have no interest in destroying him unless he forces me to.”

Nicole switched the phone to her other hand. It was slick with sweat. “You know what I think? I think you’re an arrogant asshole who believes having a lot of money makes you better than other people.”

This made Kane chuckle. “I like your style, Nicole. I can see why Red finds you so attractive.”

“You don’t know the first thing about Red and I.”

“So tell me. Why would it be so bad for Red to work with me? He could keep his beloved company, continue to be the CEO, continue to build his empire. And together we could be even stronger.”

“He’s not interested,” she said. “And you should have this conversation with him yourself.”

“He’s far too emotionally invested for me to have a reasonable conversation with him,” Kane told her. “He believes I’m the devil or something. The truth is, I’m just a competitive person who tries to win. I’m the same as him, but with a little more experience. I could teach him a lot if he’d let me.”

“I don’t think he wants to be your student.”

“Nicole, I don’t care what he’s told you. I’m sure right now he’s convinced himself that even if he loses Jameson International, he’ll be fine. He’ll start a new company, he’ll travel the world with you and begin a new life. But I’m here to tell you right now that if he loses this company, he will be a broken man.”

She laughed. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“Don’t be so quick to laugh,” Kane said. “Very few people know what it’s like to have made yourself into a billionaire from nothing, to build a company and a brand that’s known throughout the world. Very few people know what it’s like to lose that identity, to go back to being just a regular person that no one cares about.”

“Just because he’s not a CEO, doesn’t mean nobody cares about him,” she said, but a part of her was starting to wonder if Kane might have a point. Red’s entire adult identity was wrapped up in this business, and to lose everything so fast—to be suddenly considered a failure, might have devastating consequences.

“Of course he’ll have people who care about him in his personal life,” Kane said softly, gently. “You’ll be a comfort, as will some of his friends and family. But Red Jameson lives his life in the public eye, and he’s used to being treated like a god. To fall so quickly from grace will be a tremendous blow to his confidence. His ego will be shattered.”

“How can you be so sure?” she said.

“Because,” Kane replied, “I lost everything once, in my late twenties. And yes, I was able to come back from it. I came back stronger, in fact. But I almost lost my mind in the process. And I’m not sure I ever truly recovered emotionally from what it did to me. I think I’d like to spare Red some of that pain, if I can.”

Nicole wasn’t sure she believed him. She thought he must have an ulterior motive. “I don’t know what you want from me,” she said, finally.

“Just try talking to him,” he said. “Really see if he has a good reason to not come and work with me.”

“You mean come work
for
you,” she corrected him.

He chuckled. “Technically, yes, I would be his boss. But I’ll give him quite a bit of autonomy. I respect Red Jameson very much, and I think with a tiny bit of guidance he will be the best we’ve ever seen.”

“I’ll mention that you said so when I talk to him later,” Nicole replied drily.

“Obviously you can tell him what you want,” Kane replied. “But I’d suggest that if you tell him we’ve had this conversation, he won’t listen to another word you say on the matter.”

“Maybe that’s because he’s smart,” Nicole said.

“There’s a difference between being stubborn to the point of self-destruction, and being intelligent and strong minded. Maybe someday you’ll both be lucky enough to recognize the difference.”

And then he was gone.

***

Nicole agonized all day on whether or not to tell Red that she’d been contacted by his archrival. Back and forth, back and forth she’d gone in her mind.

But when he came back to the hotel room in a terrible, grim mood, she knew the answer.