RISE - Part Two (The RISE Series Book 2) (9 page)

"I can water your plants while you're away." I glance around the bedroom realizing that I don't see one potted plant.

"I have someone who does that for me." He stands after putting on his shoes. "She comes in a couple of times a week when I'm away but I can leave you a key if you just want to hang out here."

"Are you ready to go?" I ask as I fling my legs over the side of the bed. I consciously keep my eyes to the floor wanting to mask all of the emotion I feel from his simple offer of a key to his place. "I can get dressed."

His breath stalls as his eyes rake over my nude body. "I can't wait to get back to New York, Tess. I can't wait to see you again."

I stand, walk over to where he is, and just as I wrap my hands around his neck, I whisper into his ear. "I'll be counting the minutes, Captain. I'll be counting every minute."

––––––––

"I
have to thank you, Tess." Gabriel moves towards me the moment I step over the threshold of the doorway and into his office.

"For what?" I stop mid-step. I've been working hard on the event in Los Angeles and even though we're still over a month away from launch, I've already created a buzz on social media. I anticipate that the interest in the pop-up lingerie shop is going to far surpass what happened after the lingerie show here in New York.

"My brother told me that you connected him with a music producer in L.A."

I scan his face wondering if he's mistaken me for someone else. The man has to meet countless people on a daily basis. "A music producer?"

"Ansel Rinaldi's producer," he clarifies as he motions towards one of the two chairs that sit in front of his desk. "My mother told me you gave her the number of his manager."

I'd forgotten all about that. I've been so fully immersed in the projects for Liore and Corteck that I feel as though I've been living in a bubble. "I did give her that number, yes."

"My brother is meeting with a producer the week after next. Ansel's manager set that meeting up." A broad smile courses over his lips. "I have you to thank for that."

I'm more in awe of how striking he looks when he smiles than the fact that Ansel's producer is actually meeting with Asher Foster. "I hope it goes well."

He nods in response before his gaze drops to the tablet on his desk. "I have the latest numbers for your expected budget for the event in Los Angeles. You're still under what you originally forecast."

I'm proud that he's recognized that. I've worked hard to keep the integrity of the event high without spending too much money. I have hired the best of the best in L.A. to help with the food, floral arrangements and transportation. Everything is falling into place and I couldn't be happier.

"Do you anticipate good coverage for the event?" he asks without looking up from his tablet. "You did remarkably well handling the event for us here. I'm expecting something even more far reaching."

"I'm expecting that as well," I say with every confidence as I tip my chin towards him. "I've been in close contact with many of the publicists there and I have a list of celebrities who have agreed to appear at the event."

"That must be costing us a pretty penny." His left brow cocks.

"Not a dime, actually." I lean forward in the chair I'm sitting in. "Most have agreed to appear in exchange for a tag to their social media feed. They recognize that this is an event that is going to be trending. It's free publicity for them."

He looks directly at me. "You're on top of this. I shouldn't be surprised by that."

"Are you surprised by that, Mr. Foster?"

"I'm surprised that it's taken Landon this long to find a woman like you." His jaw firms. "He's needed a woman just like you for years."

Those words mean more to me than any of the accolades about my work. He's Landon's friend and knowing that I have his approval plants a grin on my face that I can't erase.

***

"D
id the package my mother sent to you arrive in one piece?"

I turn from where I'm standing by the bank of windows that overlook lower Manhattan. He'd left the room to take a personal call on his smartphone. I'd told him when it rang that I needed to get back to work, but with a lift of his hand in the air to stop me in my tracks, he'd insisted I stay.

"I haven't received anything from Gianna," I admit. "What was in the package?"

He rounds his desk and punches a few numbers into his phone.  "Ivy had stopped by the day before yesterday with the jewelry pieces we commissioned for the L.A. event. My mother was here at the time and insisted on taking them with her. I made her promise to send them via courier to your office by yesterday afternoon."

I smile. Each time I've seen Gianna she's been dressed to the nines including extravagant, one-of-a-kind rings, bracelets and necklaces. It's no surprise that she'd take it upon herself to model each of Ivy's masterpieces before handing them over to me.

He sighs heavily as he swipes his thumb across the screen to end the call. His gaze falls to his watch. "My mother must be in the air. She's traveling back to California today."

As much as I'd like to have those accessories, there's plenty of time before the pop-up show to pair them with the model's outfits. "I can get them from her once she's back in New York."

"I want them in your hands now, Tess." His tone is firm and controlled. "I assumed you'd pull together the pieces from our collection that you're going to showcase during the event in Los Angeles. I'll need final approval on those."

Of course he will. He was just as hands-on during the planning of the fashion show here, in New York, last month. I had hired the same stylist to work with me on both events but obviously her word won't be the last. That belongs to Gabriel Foster. "I'll head down to the boutique here today with my stylist. We can choose some potential outfits."

"That will work," he acquiesces as he rifles through the top drawer of his desk. "My mother has been staying at one of the suites at our hotel. I'll send someone over there this morning to pick up Ivy's jewelry."

He's talking about the hotel that one of his company's subsidiaries owns. It was featured in a gorgeous photography spread in one of the premiere real estate magazines just last month. I know that because I stared at those pictures for hours wishing that my place had the same views of Central Park and the skyline of the city.

"I can stop there," I offer because I know it will make not only his job easier, but mine as well. If I have the jewelry in hand, I can head straight to the Liore boutique to get started on choosing lingerie pieces to highlight at the pop-up event.  "I mean I can swing by the hotel if you have someone bring the box down to the lobby from her suite."

He pulls a black key card from the drawer. "I don't want you to go out of your way, Tess. I can send someone over there now."

I nod as his fingers fly over the screen of his smartphone. He talks brusquely to the person who answers the call he just made. His jaw tenses as he's explains that it's an errand that needs to be run within the next thirty minutes. He dismisses the call curtly before he turns back to where I'm standing. "No one is free at the moment. I'll ride with you to the hotel and grab the box for you. I need to be a few blocks from there in an hour for a meeting."

––––––––

I
'd used the time in the car on the ride from the building that houses Gabriel's office to the suite where his mother has been staying to look through the lingerie that is featured on the Liore website. I'd listened half-heartily as he made one call after another all while telling his driver his schedule for the day. It was exhausting just listening to him.

"Tell me what you think of the design of the website, Tess." He tips his chin towards my smartphone. "Be honest."

He's not asking because he's pleased with it. I've worked with him long enough to know that the question is ripe with suggestion. I glance down at my phone one last time before I turn towards him.

"The flow is awkward." I point to the cart feature. "I put a few things in my cart to see how seamless the ordering process is but the software won't allow the option of viewing those items until I'm ready to check-out. It could stand to be improved."

His full lips curve into a sly smile as his dark eyes drop to my phone. "I've had those same thoughts since the design was unveiled. We've made improvements but the designer we have on staff can't grasp exactly what I envision."

"My best friend is a software wizard," I say proudly. "I know she could fix this right up."

"Does she need a job?"

I chuckle softly as I turn to look out the window at the busy mid-morning streets that are beginning to fill up with pedestrians. "She has a job but I can ask her if she knows anyone who can help."

"Give her this." His hand disappears momentarily into the inner pocket of his suit jacket before he pulls out a business card. "Ask her to call me."

I stare down at the raised lettering. "I will, Mr. Foster. I definitely will give this to Lilly."

***

"I
have to take this, Tess. It's a call from our distributor overseas. I've been anxious to speak with her regarding our new line."

I look down at his smartphone. He'd answered it quickly when it rang and after speaking fluently in Italian briefly, he'd put the call on hold. We are standing just outside the double doors of his mother's hotel suite in a quiet corridor. The only other person I've noticed is an older woman dressed in a housekeeping uniform. She's busy organizing folded white towels on a metal cleaning cart.

"I can wait for you to finish the call." I point towards the elevator we just rode up in together. "I can go back down to the lobby."

"There's no need for that." His hand falls to the small of my back as he gestures towards a door at the end of the corridor. "That's our corporate suite. You'll find it comfortable."

I wait in silence as he speaks gently to the woman near the cleaning cart. She smiles brightly when he hands her a bill he pulls from his wallet. He nods towards me as she approaches.

"If there's anything you need, Ms. Marlow, please let me know." She opens the heavy wooden door with a swipe of the key card hanging from a chain around her waist. "Just dial '0' on the house phone."

I thank her quietly as I step over the threshold and into a small, beautifully decorated suite. If this is where Gabriel wants me to hang out, I'm not about to complain. I scan the view of the city that greets me as I walk towards the windows. It's breathtaking and as I stand in silence staring at it, I realize that I can hear muted voices.  I turn to the left and that's when I notice the doors that lead to the adjoining room are both slightly ajar.

––––––––

I
've never been the type of person to stand close to others just so I can overhear a conversation. My father always told me and my siblings that if a person has something worth saying to you, that they'll say it to your face. I carried those words with me through high school and into my friendships in college as well. It wasn't always easy to turn the other cheek and ignore the whispers of others, especially when I knew the gossip they were spreading was about Ansel and me.

The voices I hear are coming from Gianna's suite. In my mind that can only mean one of the two things. Either she missed Gabriel's call earlier and her flight hasn't left yet or the lovely woman who let me into the room has started her daily routine of tidying Gianna's suite. If that's the case, it would only take a slight push on the door that separates the two spaces for me to retrieve the box that contains Ivy's jewelry.

It also would mean stepping into Gianna's private space, which is something I don't want to do. I'm not as anxious to get my hands on that box as Gabriel is. All I really need to do is ask Ivy to send me snapshots of each piece and I can pair them in my mind with the lingerie I think they'll compliment. I doubt that Gabriel will agree to that. The man isn't flexible especially when it comes to how he wants his business, and his events, run.

I scoop up the remote for the television in my palm, knowing that if I turn on the news that I'll be able to drown out what's happening in Gianna's suite. I'm hopeful that Gabriel is in there now, with the box in his arms. I want to get my day started.

The screen flickers on and I'm greeted with a video tutorial of the hotel. It's going to be years before my budget affords me a one night stay in a room like this, so I don't need a rundown on the thread count of the sheets or where the private elevator is that will take me to the rooftop garden.

I settle on the sofa as I press the circular button on the remote moving the channels up one-by-one. I skip past an array of children's programming including one in which a purple life-sized kangaroo is doing magic tricks. I finally find one of the morning news programs. I slide my finger to the volume button when I notice the backdrop. It's some sort of news conference.

I lean forward as a man in a suit takes his place behind dozens of microphones all situated on the top of a podium. He looks to his right before he thanks the reporters for attending and introduces himself as the head of a joint task force. I strain to hear what he's saying over the noise of a vacuum cleaner in the hotel's corridor.

My breath catches when a photograph of Frederick Beckett appears on a screen next to the man speaking. I push the volume button to its loudest setting, not caring that everyone on the floor will be able to hear the broadcast.

"Mr. Frederick Beckett was offered a plea deal in exchange for information that has helped us gather the evidence we need to bring this organization down." The man behind the podium sweeps his hand through the air towards the picture of Landon's dad.

"Within this past hour, with Mr. Beckett's valuable assistance, we served five separate arrest warrants on various members of the organization responsible for these crimes." The man pauses briefly to look over a stack of notes in front of him. "Each arrest was carried out without incident."