Authors: Ella Celestine
It took Melanie an hour to stop crying. Tara was patting her back gently, letting her ruin her top with her mascara as she sobbed. She’d barely gotten everything out, but Tara had understood the gist of it and was shushing her gently.
“How could I be such a moron? How could i think he actually liked me?”
Tara sighed. “Can I be truthful?”
“Duh,” Melanie said.
“Kian does care about you. By what you said, he proved it. I mean, he made a mistake. A really dumb mistake, but he finally came clean.”
“How do I know he’s not lying about anything else?”
“Are you?”
Melanie poked her sister in the ribs. “Shut up.”
“Exactly.”
Tara cradled her sister’s face in her hands. “He cares about you even more than you know. I was going to let him tell you this, but I think you need to hear it…”
Melanie lifted her brow. “Okay… What?”
Tara sighed before she pulled out her phone and handed it to Melanie. There was a picture of Kian, but he didn’t look how she was used to him looking. He was wearing a tailored blue suit, a devilish smile on his face as he shook some guy's hand.
“What’s this?”
“That’s your boyfriend. Kian Sapir. He’s the third youngest billionaire in the world and head of Lasher Corp.”
“How?”
“It’s his father’s company. When his parents divorced, I guess he kept his mother’s last name instead, something about there being tension between him and his father. I found this a few weeks back and Kian begged me not to tell you.”
“Why would he do that?”
Tara shrugged. “He said he didn’t want you to see him in any other way than how you saw him now. He cares about you Melanie and you need to fix things with him. Why hold such a grudge against him? Besides, do you think it’s better to raise your baby alone or with it’s real father?”
Melanie stood up quickly. “I don’t know where he is.”
“I already texted him on the way over. I’ll drive.”
Melanie didn’t have time to react to Tara’s words. She wiped her face clean and followed after her sister quickly. What if he didn’t want to see her though? She’d pushed him away pretty hard, even when he tried to apologize for it all.
“There,” Tara said after a while pointing to a brightly lit bar with a neon sign. “DeLuca’s. I told him to give me some time, hopefully he listened,” Tara mumbled more to herself than to Melanie.
“Thank you!”
Melanie hopped out of the car before she made her way inside. There were people everywhere, a tv playing a football game loudly and music in competition pumping through the speakers. Melanie was worried that he would be drunk by the time she reached him or worse yet he’d have already left.
As she was beginning to lose hope, a hand rested on her shoulder. She turned around quickly. Kian. The expression on his face was a mix of disbelief and embarrassment.
“Hey,” Melanie said quietly.
“Hi.”
Kian slipped her hand inside of his. When she didn’t pull away, he smiled and led her outside. The air was cool, but it felt good in contrast to the room of warm bodies inside.
“I’m sorry.”
They both looked at each other in surprise. Kian started to talk again, but Melanie held up her hand.
“Look, you already apologized enough. I would rather we work through this then lose you.”
Kian grinned. “I love you.”
Hearing those words, Melanie beamed. “I love you too.”
Kian leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. She kissed him back, her arms circling his neck like they always did. Behind them, there was a loud whooping laugh and rapid applause. Melanie pulled back just long enough to shoo her sister away with a laugh.
“You still owe me,” Melanie said when she turned back to Kian.
“Oh, yeah? What do I owe you? I’ll give it to you.”
“If you did it right now, we’d both get arrested.”
“Oh,” Kian said. “Oh!” He laughed. “I think I that’s a fair punishment.”
They laughed as he pulled her towards his car and held the door open for her. He knew there would still be things they had to work out, but he couldn’t help but to feel optimistic.
She didn’t know it yet, but he was about to whisk her away for the most romantic getaway ever at his lake house. All he needed to know at that exact moment was that he loved her. The way Melanie grasped his hand, he knew she felt the same way too.
The End
Prologue
One month ago
There was no way in hell Xander could hire this woman as Kylie’s tutor. She was too attractive by half with those long smooth cocoa legs crossed at the knee and smooth brown eyes flecked with gold. She sat tall on the other side of his oversized cherry desk drawing his attention to the impressive swell of her breast, plump lips pursed in impatience as she waited for him to speak. Again. “Your qualifications are impeccable Ms. Johnston.”
“But,” she asked with a raised brow. Brandi Johnston was used to people underestimating her, despite the fact that she was the foremost educational expert with gifted children. They either dismissed her because of her good looks, which she played down just enough. Or they subconsciously dismissed her because she was a black woman. Judging by the predatory look Xander Northrop tried—and failed—to hide, it was the former rather than the latter.
“But I’m not sure if you’d be a good fit here.”
She gave a crisp nod. Usually, if a man or woman was worried that much about her presence in their home, they were right. She’d dealt with enough eager hands and unwanted advances to know she didn’t want to put up with it for at least six months. “Right.” Brandi stood and smoothed her skirt, extending a hand to the handsome man with the engaging silver eyes. “Thanks for your time Mr. Northrop and good luck with your search.”
Mahogany brows twisted in confusion. “That’s it?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? You don’t think I’ll be a good fit for your niece or your home, and I’m deferring to your knowledge on the matter.”
“Right. Okay.”
What an odd woman.
Most people bent over backward to win his favor, especially when those people were women. “Thank you for your time.”
“My pleasure.” Brandi turned to leave and noticed a pretty little girl with blonde pigtails looking up at her with her uncle’s silver eyes. “Hello. You must be Kylie.” She extended her hand to the nine-year-old girl who was small for her age. She found that all children, but particularly those with high intelligence, responded better when treated as equals.
Kylie took her hand and smiled. “Hi Miss Johnston,” she said, over pronouncing the ‘t’ adorably. “You’re leaving?”
Brandi nodded. “I am, but it was nice to meet you, Kylie. I can’t wait to see the things you do in this world.”
The little girl’s crooked smile warmed her heart. “Thank you. Why are you going?” She turned a sharp glare to her uncle. “Why is she leaving Uncle Xander.”
Brandi bit back a smile. The contrast of small barely developed bodies with such grown up brains never failed to delight her. “Your uncle will find a suitable fit for you. I have already recommended several of my colleagues.”
She frowned again at her uncle. “Uncle Xander, Brandi is the best in her field. I want
her
!”
Xander scowled and stood, looking down on the tiny child. “That is my decision to make, don’t you think?” Everything he’d done for her over the past year was for her own good. He’d given her everything she could possibly want to make up for the death of her parents, his younger brother and sister in law. They’d died when their private jet had gone down somewhere over the Middle East. Their bodies still hadn’t been recovered.
“No, it’s not. I have to work with her, not you, and I want the best.” She crossed her arms and gave back the same stubborn look. “I can pay her from my trust.”
“You need my approval for all transactions since I am the executor of your estate.” He raised an amused eyebrow at his precocious niece.
“I’ll have it ‘cause I won’t work with anyone else.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Brandi watched the standoff, amused by their debate. “Well, it’s been nice meeting you both. Goodbye.”
Chapter One
Three weeks. That was how long it had taken little Kylie to wear down her uncle. Brandi wasn’t surprised in the least when her phone rang late one evening a week ago, and she answered to the deep, confident voice of Xander. Without preamble, he asked her how soon she could move into his French provincial mansion. “One week,” she’d told him, and now here she was, unpacking in a large red guestroom complete with an en suite bathroom.
Walking into her room, Brandi paused with a smile as Kylie unloaded a suitcase filled with her silky undergarments. When the little girl noticed her, she lit up with that adorable gap tooth smile. “Hello, Brandi.”
“Hey, Kylie. What’s up?”
She shrugged. “Just putting away your pretty things.” But she had done more than that. She’d organized the closet from left to right in the way one typically dressed each morning. Undergarments were at the farthest end of the closet and shoes were on the right just by the exit.
“Thank you, Kylie, you’re very helpful.” She hung her clothes up and went down for another box. When Brandi returned, Kylie had worked her magic again, organizing her tops and bottoms by hue. “You’re more organized than anyone I’ve ever met,” she told the girl.
Kylie acknowledged her words with a smile. “It’s probably because I can control the things in my world as a way to deal with the things I can’t control.”
Brandi bit back a smile. “Reading up on psychology books?”
“Yes,” she said solemnly. “I have to find a way to deal with losing my parents.”
Brandi set the box down and knelt down to the child’s level. “Look, I know you’re a genius, and I promise to help with all that. But I know something that could ease the pain for a little while.”
Wide silver eyes looked up at her hopefully. “What?”
She held her arms out. “A hug. Come here.” When the small body crashed into hers, Brandi held her closely. “I’m sorry for your loss Kylie.”
“Thank you, Brandi.” She frowned and pulled back. “Is it alright that I call you Brandi? As an adult, you are technically my superior and might prefer I address you formally.”
Brandi laughed. “I am not your superior, but I do hold a position of authority in this relationship. However, I want you to be comfortable because we will be working so closely together. So call me Brandi.”
“What’s going on? Kylie, what’s wrong?” Xander’s voice boomed loudly from the doorway, brows arched angrily.
Kylie’s blonde brows frowned up at him. “Nothing, Brandi was just offering comfort. You know,
actual
human affection.” She wrapped her small arms around Brandi again and squeezed. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, kiddo.” She watched the girl scramble off, but not before glaring at her uncle one last time. “What can I do for your Mr. Northrop?”
“She was crying.” He sounded stunned.
“That tends to happen when we think about things that make us sad. Like the loss of one’s parents.” She should know. Her parents had been taken from her when she was just thirteen.
“Kylie never cries. I was worried.” He’d been grateful at first that he wasn’t going to be saddled with another emotional woman. He’d dated enough to cure him of that desire. As months passed and she hadn’t cried over the death of her parents, he’d sent her to psychologists and therapists with whom she’d refused to speak.
“Maybe she just needed to be reminded that it’s okay to grieve. To feel.” She had a feeling Xander Northrop didn’t
do
emotions or feelings.
~
It’s okay to grieve
. Xander didn’t like the tone Ms. Johnston used, as though she were saying more than her words had conveyed. “I would never prevent her from grieving her parents.”
“I never said you would. But there’s a difference between
not stopping
and encouraging. Have you even cried over the loss of your brother?” She’d bet anything he hadn’t shed one tear.
“No, I haven’t, Ms. Northrop but,”
“Brandi,” she corrected him.
“Brandi,” he said in exasperation. “But I have mourned his death. We don’t all need to cry all over the place to show we’re sad.”
She stood and faced him. “Of course not. But for some, that’s exactly what they need. Especially pint-sized females.” She turned away and unpacked a box of her most beloved books, sitting them on her nightstand. The man was stubborn as hell, and she had a feeling, Kylie was starved for affection.
“Perhaps, but I’ve never raised a child, and I do have a business to run.”
Yeah, he had a multi-billion dollar empire that she sure took up at least twelve if not sixteen hours each day. “Here. This will take care of the first part. The second part is up to you.”
He accepted the book with a skeptical look. “I hired a tutor Ms. Johnston,
not
a child psychologist.”
She raised a sculpted golden brow at him. “Lucky for you, I’m both. Now if we’re done?” She wouldn’t allow herself to be bullied by anyone, not even a handsome billionaire with haunting silver eyes.
“For now,” he told her and silently went in search of Kylie. Just because she was a world famous educator of extremely bright children
and
a child psychologist didn’t mean she knew about his life with his ward. He’d make sure she stuck to her role, and he’d deal with everything else. Minutes later he found Kylie reading in the library. “Kylie.”
“Uncle Xander.” They were always so formal with one another, and she hated it. He used to at least be fun. Until she’d come to live with him. “Did you need something?”
What is it with all the women in this house acting as though I’m a bother?
He shook his head. “What are you up to?”
“Reading. Studies show that reading for recreation is as important as it is for academic pursuits.” She held up a copy of
The Hunger Games
. “I’m intrigued by the dystopian society.”
She sounded like such a grown up sometimes that it amazed him. He didn’t know what to say in response so he just nodded. “I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright, after the tears.”
She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. “Yes. I told Brandi I was struggling to make sense of my parents’ deaths and told me sometimes you just needed a hug to ease the pain. Then she did and offered condolences. It made me emotional. Is that a problem?”
“Of course not. Express yourself, however, you like, I was only concerned.”
She gave him an assessing look. “You don’t like Brandi. Why?”
“She’s fine,” he offered up dismissively.
Kylie wasn’t buying it. “She is the absolute best in her field, yet you didn’t want to hire her when we both know you get the
best
of everything from vehicles to household appliances and even servants.” Her head tilted as she took him in. “Is it because she is black?”
“What? No! Why would you even say that?”
“What other reason could there be?” She shrugged and waited for an answer.
“Sometimes I think you forget who’s the adult around here.”
In a rare display of her age, Kylie laughed like the little girl she was. “Daddy did say I was more mature than the both of you put together.” Her smile dimmed. “I miss him so much. Do you?”
“Of course, I do. I’ve been looking out for him since he was two days old, and I hate that I couldn’t protect him this last time.” It ate at him constantly. But crying about wasn’t going to bring his brother or Sylvie back. “I need to get to work Kylie. I’ll see you later.”
“Right. By Uncle Xander.”
~
“Doesn’t your boyfriend mind you living here with me for the next year?”
Brandi looked at Kylie over their shared lunch of gourmet pizza and salad and smiled. “Who says I have a boyfriend?” In the two weeks, she’d worked with Kylie, the little girl had definitely wormed her way into Brandi’s heart.
“You’re too beautiful to be single.”
She laughed. “Well, beauty is no guarantee of a boyfriend or a happy ending.”
Kylie sighed wearily. “Then what hope do I have?”
Brandi frowned. “Are you kidding? You are going to be the ultimate threat when you start dating. I almost feel sorry for your uncle. Beautiful and brainy, you’ll have your pick of the boys.”
“I’m not beautiful.”
“Sure you are. Don’t ever doubt that. I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“Thanks, Brandi. Too bad we can’t hang out after trigonometry today.”
“Why not?”
The little girl’s face brightened. “I’m going to a sleepover at my Cousin Tabitha’s house. She is my mom’s sister.”
Brandi nodded her understanding. “In that case, I hope you have a great time. Maybe you can guys can watch the movie adaptation of the book you’re reading.” Her job was to educate the girl, but she also thought it was important she could relate to kids her own age.
“I will, but what will you do?”
Brandi shrugged. “Maybe go see a movie or catch up on some reading. I don’t really know, but you worry about having fun with your family.”
By the time seven rolled around Brandi was bored out of her mind and lonely. So she grabbed the bottle of white wine from the wine fridge—a wine fridge!—and headed out to the terrace. The gardens were beautiful during the day, and Kylie had promised that at night they were magical. Tonight she would see for herself.
Leaning back in a cushioned lounger, Brandi enjoyed the twinkling stars above and the rainbow of flowers below. The garden was the absolute best part of living in the giant, practically empty house. “Ah, nice,” she said in a rush of breath. “Beautiful,” she moaned.
“Is this a private party or can anyone join in?” Xander watched from the window as Brandi lay back and stared at the stars, a glass of chilled wine by her side. She looked beautiful, especially when she wasn’t offering up unsolicited advice.
“It’s your house, do as you please.” She waved a lazy hand at the seats on either side of her.
“A dangerous proposition if I’ve ever heard one,” he chuckled when she glared at him. “I think I will join you if you don’t mind.”
Oh, she minded alright. She’d already had two glasses of wine and Xander was just her type. Ridiculously handsome, successful and totally aloof. Unfortunately, Brandi didn’t date the parents of her clients. It made things complicated and in her personal life, she didn’t do complicated. “Sure. Bring your own glass.”
Xander did just that, returning with a glass as well as another bottle. “My donation to the evening.”
“Thanks.” Damn if the man didn’t look as good in jeans and a green tee as he did in his expensive suits. “Have a glass of the cheap stuff if you’re bold.” Her hand held the bottle out to him.
Xander’s dark brows rose at the challenge in her voice. “Cheap? This is a hundred dollar bottle of wine.”
“And your bottle is?” She looked over in time to see a blush stole over his face, and she laughed. “Just as I suspected. It’s okay if I had your money I’d drink the really good stuff too.”
She was definitely as odd as she was beautiful. “I don’t know how to take that.” Most women either coveted his money or hated him for having it.
Brandi sat up slowly and swung her legs to the cool grass. “It wasn’t a dig. Just a fact.” She shrugged and took a sip. “Why the garden?”
He shrugged. “I love flowers. My first love is science, and most of the flowers you see were from seeds I created with my very first company. These are all hybrids so they can grow in all climates.” He stood and plucked a rose from a bush. “See this rose? It’s actually a tulip rose, that’s why the petals are so unique.”
“Gorgeous. So you’re a scientist? Was anyone else in your family of superior intellect?”
“My mom,” he smiled. “She was a neuroscientist. Came so close to finding out the why behind Alzheimer’s before she died. Now I help fund research so her work doesn’t die.”
“So you really are a nice guy.”
“I am,” he said warily.
“Then please, tell me what I’ve done to offend you.”
“Nothing.”
“Right.” The man had been icy since her interview and despite the progress she made with his niece, he hadn’t thawed one bit. Well, that was just fine. Brandi was used to people not liking her, most of them for their own reasons.
“Why would you ask that?” He shouldn’t be surprised, though since Kylie had asked the same thing.
“I don’t know, your words, your actions, and your demeanor. Pick one.” The wine had loosened her tongue, but she’d wondered about his behavior towards her since she arrived. If she had to guess, Brandi would say he was attracted to her and trying to keep his distance, or he’d never been with a black woman and wasn’t sure how she would respond.
“Tell me how you really feel,” he replied sarcastically.
“It was just a question. Feel free to ignore it.”
“I like you just fine Ms. Johnston.”
“Brandi,” she corrected him.
“Right. I like you just fine, Brandi.”
She stood and grabbed the empty wine bottle. “Good. I like you just fine too, Mr. Northrop.” She sauntered into the house, unaware of the silver gaze tracking the sway of her hips.