Taming Mariella (6 page)

“Then you don’t know very much.”

“Do you want the job?”

Mariella stood. “It is a fantastic opportunity.”

He flashed a smug grin. “Once in a lifetime.”

“Yes.” She lifted up his gold-plated nameplate and studied it. “I’d be crazy to say no.”

“Yes.”

She set the nameplate down and glared at him. “Then I must be certifiably insane because I wouldn’t work
with
you,
for
you,
beside
you, or
above
you for any money in the world. I find your behavior appalling not to mention insulting.”

His smile fell. “Now wait—”

“You claim to know me, but I know you more. You’ve always gotten your way, spoken your opinion, bombarded people with your power, made quick judgments, all the while dazzling people with your handsome face.”

Ian rose to his feet and leaned toward her. “Kind of like looking in a mirror, isn’t it?” he said in a low silken voice.

“If the mirror were cracked.” She grabbed her handbag and portfolio, and headed for the door, nearly tripping over Sylvester, who had decided to lie sideways near it.

“Move,” she said.

The dog slowly rose and stretched then yawned. He glanced up at her and blinked, then trotted to Ian’s side. Mariella swung the door open.

“I’ll see you, say nine, Thursday for our first meeting,” Ian called after her.

Mariella turned, looked at him with pure venom, then slammed the door.

Ian sat back and laughed.

“Ian,” Shirley said, grasping the front of her chest as though experiencing heart palpitations. “I’ve never seen such a woman. It’s hard to believe your father had anything to do with her, although he was never particular as long as they were beautiful. And she certainly is.”

His good humor suddenly died, replaced by a pensive look. “Hmm.”

She fell quiet, her gaze worried. “Ian, what are you up to?”

“What do you mean?”

“You have that look. You wanted her to leave, didn’t you? Not that I blame you. She is obviously on something to behave that way.”

“Mariella has never taken anything stronger than cold medicine and she’s never been my father’s lover.”

“How do you know?”

“She told me so.”

“And you believe her?” Shirley sniffed at her son’s naiveté. “Don’t you know that women make it an art to say the things men like to hear?”

“She didn’t lie to me.”

“But the rumors.”

“Rumors mean nothing to me in the presence of facts.”

“What facts?”

“You just met her.” He gestured to the door. “Dad could never have handled her and Mariella likes to be in control too much to take anything that would make her lose it.”

“But what about the will? You can’t deny that evidence.”

“No, but I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

“When it comes to your father even an explanation isn’t good enough.” She shook her head. “I can’t see any man who would want that vain, obnoxious woman,” she said, adjusting her hair. She then applied yet another layer of brilliant red lipstick. Candy, used to the goings-on between Shirley and Ian, was resting peacefully at the end of the sofa, trying to go to sleep.

“You’re looking at one.”

“Ian, you can’t be serious. You plan to make her your lover?”

He laughed. “No, of course not.”

She smiled, relieved. “Thank God for that.”

“I plan to make her my wife.”

S
hirley gaped at him. “You shouldn’t joke like that. Someone might take you seriously.”

“I am serious.”

“But you can’t be. She’s horrendous, beautiful yes, but the beauty will pale in a few years. You couldn’t be in love with her. I know you too well. Is this a competition? Or are you more like your father than you’d care to admit?”

His brown eyes turned cold. “Do you want to have a place to stay tonight?”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Then don’t compare me to him again.”

Shirley was quiet a moment then said, “Not that it could ever be serious with you. You’ve never stayed true to anyone, except…” She stopped. He didn’t fill in the silence. He liked that she was uncomfortable. The Coopers didn’t like to talk about his first wife. Cathleen was ten years older, coarse, raw and brilliant. A photojournalist who’d competed with the men. She was as plain as she was courageous. She’d taken him out of his placid world of beauty and shown him what life was like for others. He’d met her at college his freshman year when she’d been presented as a guest speaker. She’d approached him and taken his picture then said, “Let me introduce you to life” and he’d taken her up on her offer. It had been the best pickup line in his life.

He remembered working with her on photo assignments. He found himself meeting people with no running water or plumbing—not in some third world country but right here in the U.S. They had traveled the globe, on several occasions, and over time he soon felt comfortable with what others turned away from, what made others cringe. He liked dark alleys, smoke-filled bars and subsidized housing. Cathleen had introduced him to a side of himself he’d tried to hide. They’d only been married five years when on a trip to Gambia their lives had changed…no, he wouldn’t let himself remember.

He glanced up and saw his mother’s worried look. She hadn’t even tried to like Cathleen. Both of his parents had thought he’d run off with her just to hurt them. As though he were some rebellious teenager, but it had been deeper than that, and he had vowed to never hurt like that again. Mariella was not Cathleen. That was why he knew she was perfect. He wanted her. He’d never be that vulnerable again, and with Mariella, he knew that wouldn’t be possible. She thrilled and excited him. There was also a fresh vitality about her that he wanted to protect. He didn’t know why, but he planned to find out. One thing he knew for certain—Mariella was the woman for him.

Gen let out a startled scream when Mariella stormed through the door of their condo.

“What happened?” she asked.

Mariella threw her purse on the dining table. “Ian Cooper.”

“Didn’t it go well?”

She tossed her portfolio on the couch. “No.”

“What did he want?”

“He wanted to offer me an exclusive six-month contract to complete Jeremiah’s project.”

“You accepted, right?”

“I certainly did not,” she said, offended by the suggestion. “I would never work with such a—well, I can’t call him a man because he isn’t one. He’s a…a bastard completely impossible to be around. Condescending, rude, utterly without civility.”

“But he’s successful and could really help your career.”

“I don’t need his help,” she said through clenched teeth. “Even if I did, I would rather hang on to a broken branch over a fifty-foot cliff or face falling into a sandpit than grab a hand he offered.”

“You’re just upset.”

Mariella raised her hands to the ceiling. “I’m furious. I hate him.”

“Think of your modeling career,” Gen said softly. “Didn’t you have to work with people you didn’t like?”

“Not often.” She flexed her fingers. “He kept me waiting for over an hour.”

“But Mariella, you did leave home rather early.”

“He wasn’t busy. He could have seen me.”

“Sometimes, Mariella, you have to compromise. I know you’re not used to doing that, but—”

“This man doesn’t know the meaning of the word. I’m sick of talking about him.” Mariella kicked off her shoes, and went to open her portfolio. She noticed two glasses on the side coffee table. “You’ve had a visitor.”

Gen suddenly looked shy. “Josh came by.”

“I see. Don’t let him monopolize your time. You should see other men. You might get attached too easily. It isn’t that way for men.”

“I want to see Josh.”

“The Cooper men are sly.”

“Josh isn’t like Ian.”

“No, but he falls prey to Ian’s influence. You wouldn’t want your life dominated by the opinions of someone else, would you?” Mariella said.

“No.” She sighed. “There is no way it will work anyway.”

“Why not?”

Gen sent her a glance. “You know. We talked about it. Remember?”

“Maybe Josh wouldn’t mind,” Mariella said, thinking that having a sister-in-law with Gen’s past would be a stain on Ian’s image in his mind.

“But Ian would and you just said Josh listens to him. Ian wouldn’t want someone like me married into his family.” She bit her lip. “But if you could persuade him—”

Mariella widened her eyes and rested a hand on her chest. “Do I look like a magician? I couldn’t persuade that man to do anything.” She waved a dismissive hand. “You wouldn’t want him as a brother-in-law anyway.”

Gen shook her head as Mariella sat down beside her. “I think you’re making a big mistake. What is six months to a lifetime of success?”

“I’ve already said no and I couldn’t go back.” She felt some of her anger ebbing as she thought of the possibilities. “He would love to see me grovel and I’ll never give him the satisfaction of seeing me do so.”

“Well, I guess that’s that.”

“Yes,” Mariella said with a twinge of regret. She then felt annoyed with herself. She’d done the right thing. Her mother had taught her and her sisters about the important things in life. Being born beautiful had its downsides, her mother had always said, and since Mariella was considered the most beautiful, her mother had taken much effort to indoctrinate her regarding how and when to use her natural given power.

Men like Ian liked to dominate and she would not be dominated by anyone no matter how much he could help her career. She’d seen what women, especially beautiful ones, had done to succeed. She’d seen models sleeping with flabby, lecherous men in order to secure a contract; marry controlling older men who kept them as prisoners in order to access their fortunes and live well. She, and her youngest sisters, Daniella and Gabriella had known from an early age that they had been blessed with good looks, and their mother had raised them well. Growing up, she remembered the lavish balls, and countless courting, by wealthy men, who wanted her as their showpiece. Unlike her two sisters, who had succumbed to love, she planned on avoiding it at all costs.

“Remember, Mariella,” her mother had said, shortly before she died, her lyrical island voice now weak, “you are the most beautiful flower in my garden, don’t let just anyone pick you. When the flower is plucked from the branch, at that moment, it begins to die. You have been blessed with incredible beauty, don’t ever give it away. Keep it, and use it to get what you want, but never let it be taken from you.”

Mariella took a moment to reflect. Unlike her sisters, she had always been given whatever she wanted, but there was something that she knew she lacked. Had the way her mother raised her made her different? Why was it that in spite of having the best dress, the very best of everything, at times she wondered, what would happen to her if her looks failed?

She’d once caught the way her brother-in-law, Alex, looked at Isabella. Lovely, small Isabella who couldn’t hold a candle to her looks, had a man gazing at her in a way no man had ever looked at Mariella. Briefly a jealous pang had gripped her and then left. Isabella needed a look like that from one man, but Mariella could elicit the admiration and desire of many men. Men who’d wanted to own her, but never would.

Men still ruled society, but no one would rule over her.

“Mom, will you stop worrying?” Josh said that evening, trying to soothe Shirley, who’d called him in hysterics.

“How can I help it?” she wailed.

“I’m sure he was kidding.”

“I wouldn’t be in this state if I knew he was kidding. You know Ian. To think he would consider linking up with that woman.”

“I’ll handle it.”

“How?”

“You’ll see.” Josh hung up the phone and stared at his father’s papers. He’d been shifting through them over the last week. “I bet you think this is funny. I’d probably laugh if it were happening to someone else.” But he knew that handling Mariella was no laughing matter. She had her addictive charms and he’d built up his immunity by watching her around his father, but obviously Ian hadn’t had that opportunity.

She was a Venus flytrap. He needed to give his brother some protection. He searched through the papers hoping for some damaging proof that his father and Mariella had been more than friends. He didn’t care what she claimed, the will was proof that there was something more, he just had to find it. “Come on, Dad. I know you have something.” At that moment he saw something and smiled. “Eureka!”

However, he wasn’t in the same high spirits early that Thursday morning.

Josh hated meetings. What he hated more were meetings with his brother. What he hated more than that were meetings with his brother when someone didn’t show up. Josh knew better than to look around the conference room at the others, who tried not to squirm in their seats, in the silence with the ominous ticking clock in the background. He didn’t glance at the clock or his brother; instead, he pretended to type on his laptop. He resisted the urge to say “I told you so,” because he had. He had warned Ian not to be overconfident when it came to Mariella.

“She’ll show up,” Ian confidently told him only two days before in his office.

“But Mom said she stormed out of your office and you’ve admitted that she didn’t sign anything,” he said, hoping to force his brother to see reason. He wasn’t sure when to tell him about the evidence he’d found against her. He’d use it as Plan B if his brother refused.

“She was just upset.” Ian stroked the top of Sylvester’s head. “Once she’s thought things over she’ll come back.”

“No,” Josh said, grimly staring at Ian’s smug companion. “She won’t.”

Ian clasped his hands together. Sylvester looked at both of them with hope, that maybe they’d acknowledge him and give him his afternoon treat, but when they didn’t he rested his head back down on his crossed paws, resigned. “She stormed out of my office once and returned. She knows how much this contract means to her career. Trust me, she’ll come.”

“Look, she can’t ruin this for us. Did you tell her everything?”

“No.”

“Should I?”

“No. The less she knows the better. Don’t worry. She’ll come.”

But she hadn’t come and Josh knew she wouldn’t.

“Where does she live?” Ian asked, his low voice piercing the quiet of the room.

Josh hit a key on his laptop, his mind racing for the right words to calm his brother’s anger. “I think we need to use a different tactic with her.”

Ian rested his palm on the table. “Where does she live?” he repeated in the same low voice, which could be both frightening and soothing at the same time.

“Perhaps you should buy her something or take her out to dinner. I can think of a few great places.”

Ian slowly stood. “Josh.” He walked over to his brother, closed the laptop and shot him a glance. “Where does she live?”

Josh gave him the address.

Ian looked at the rest of the group. “This meeting is over.”

Everyone hastily gathered their things and scurried out of the room.

“I told you she would be difficult,” Josh said, following his brother out of the conference room. “You can’t—”

“I can handle her.”

“She could destroy this project.”

Ian spun around. “Are you suggesting that she’s more powerful than I am?” he said, a deadly edge hardening his tone.

Josh halted then shook his head, realizing his blunder. “No, I didn’t mean that. I just—”

“Then stop worrying. I underestimated her pride.”

“You underestimated
her
.”

“Relax. She’ll show up next time.”

“You haven’t even gotten her to sign the contract.”

“She’ll sign it.”

Josh followed Ian to the elevators. “Don’t fall for her ploy. You even had Mom afraid that you were interested in Mariella. You know…as a woman,” he said as though the idea was preposterous. “Fortunately, I know that you’re not. I know that it’s just a strategy.”

Ian pushed the Down button.

“It
is
just a strategy, isn’t it?” he said, now unsure.

“No,” Ian said softly, staring at the elevator doors. “It’s not.”

“What?” Josh jumped in front of him and waved his hands in his face. “Are you out of your mind?” Ian moved to the side and pushed the button again. “She’s dangerous, not to mention she was Dad’s lover.”

“She said that she wasn’t.”

“She might say it, but—”

“But what?” Ian challenged. “You think she’s lying?”

“Dad never had just female friends. I saw how he looked at her.”

“So?”

“I saw how she looked at him.”

“Yes?”

“And I found pictures.”

Ian paused, then said, “How convenient.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I believe you found pictures, but they’re probably doctored.”

Josh pulled out the pictures determined to prove his brother wrong. “That’s not doctored.”

Ian looked down at the series of photographs of Mariella in intimate lingerie in Jeremiah’s bedroom.

“That’s evidence,” Josh said tapping one very convincing picture. “Don’t get involved with her. I want this project to work.” He shook his head. “No, I want this project to
end,
but first we have to get it started.” He sighed. “I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but trust me on this. I know Mariella more than you do. She’s manipulative, vain and spoiled. The behavior she displayed today by not arriving, is just the tip of the iceberg.”