Authors: Brenda Jackson
“I’m not sure it’s your prayers they heard, Cord.”
Cord released a deep breath. Maybe now was a good time to remind Dev how he’d met Briana. Evidently Dev had forgotten that day he had seen Briana for the first time, immediately falling in love. He had gone after her with a vengeance and dared anything and anyone to get in his way, even an old jerk of a boyfriend who’d been determined to get her back.
Dev frowned after Cord’s reminder. “My situation with Briana isn’t the same. She knew from day one what my intentions were, but Amber Stuart doesn’t have a clue that you intend to have her flat on her back in four days or less. So I have no other choice but to protect her.”
Cord’s jaw clenched. Now was not the time for his best friend to play Saint Devin. “Protect her how?”
Dev smiled. “I’m including an additional restriction to my orders for you, restrictions I’m going to make sure Ms. Stuart is aware of just in case you get any ideas. But after hearing her comments there’s no doubt in my mind that she’s going to make sure you follow my orders to a tee.”
“What additional restriction?” Cord arched his brow and waited expectantly to hear something that he knew he would not like.
Dev leaned against the closed door. “Since you need to build up your energy level, you are restricted from indulging in any sexual activity with a woman for at least two weeks.”
Chapter 19
S
onya walked into the lobby of the exclusive St. Laurent Hotel thinking it comical that the hotel Jesse Devereau had chosen was one that belonged to a very good friend of Carla’s. Chances were he wasn’t even aware of that fact.
She strutted over to the station where a courtesy phone set and picked it up. Moments later a hotel operator came on the line. “Could you please ring Jesse Devereau’s room? Yes, I’ll hold.”
A few minutes later the operator returned to the line and advised her that Mr. Devereau was not answering his phone. Sonya raised a brow as she glanced her watch. It was barely eight in the morning and she wondered if perhaps he’d come down to the restaurant for breakfast and decided to check out that possibility.
Moments later she walked into the restaurant. It wasn’t hard picking out Jesse Devereau from what she remembered three years ago. Even from his side profile she could tell that time had definitely been kind to him. He was still a very good-looking man.
She frowned. He was dining with someone and she wondered if perhaps he was holding a business breakfast meeting. Well, as far as she was concerned that was too friggin’ bad. Whatever business he was conducting had to wait. Carla came first.
She started toward his table. The blond-haired, blue-eyed man who was sitting with Jesse Devereau looked up and gave her a smile. For a heart-stopping moment she was tempted to smile back then decided she didn’t want him to think she was flirting, since she was a woman who’d never been curious to know if it was true that blonds had more fun. “Mr. Devereau.”
Jesse looked up from his meal and Sonya knew the moment recognition hit. Both men stood. “Ah, yes, Miss Morrison. Sonya Morrison, right?” Jesse asked, giving her one of those charming smiles that she remembered so well. But the smile wasn’t working on her this morning.
“You do remember me?” she said coolly, accepting his handshake.
“I don’t think I could forget.” He then motioned to the man also standing. “And this is my very good friend, Mike Kelly. Mike, this is Sonya Morrison. I met her father a few years ago during my last visit to Orlando, and he was gracious enough to invite me to Sonya’s birthday party while I was in town.”
“Nice meeting you, Mike,” she said, offering the other man her hand.
“Likewise, Miss Morrison.”
Sonya frowned as a sharp sensation shot through her the moment she and Mike’s hands touched. She knew he’d felt it too and appeared just as startled.
“Would you like to join us for breakfast? We’re just getting started.” Jesse asked, sitting back down to continue eating, leaving her and Mike standing, still holding hands like two dimwits.
She quickly dropped her hand from Mike’s and gave Jesse her full attention. “What I would like is to have a private conversation with you if that’s possible.”
Jesse shook his head. “That’s not possible if you’re here to discuss your best friend. If so, then we have nothing to talk about.”
Sonya pulled out a chair and sat down. “That’s where you’re wrong. We have a lot to talk about since I’m the one responsible for you getting that letter.”
“You’re the one who sent it?”
Sonya lifted a brow. Mike, not Jesse had asked the question. Evidently Mike Kelly was privy to Jesse’s business so she decided to answer. “No, I didn’t send that letter but I know who did, and I feel responsible because the person who sent it got the information from someone I told. I’d promised Carla that I wouldn’t tell anyone the name of Craig’s father and I broke that promise.”
Jesse stared at Sonya long and hard. What she’d said verified that Carla’s child was his, but he wanted to hear it from Carla. She owed him the courtesy of that. “As far as I’m concerned, it should never have been a secret. I had every right to know I had fathered a child. The least Carla could have done was be up front with me when I asked.”
Jesse’s words pissed Sonya off. “Carla would have told you when she first found out she was pregnant had you not lied to her that night about not being involved with someone else. She found out the truth.”
Jesse stopped chewing his food and glared at her. “Involved with someone else? If that’s what she told you, then she’s the one who lied.”
That statement angered Sonya even more. “One thing Carla doesn’t do is lie which is why your name is on Craig’s birth certificate instead of the phony name I told her to use. I know for a fact you were involved with someone when you told her you weren’t because I read it in the newspapers while on a business trip to L.A. less than a couple of months later. Carla was crushed when I brought back a copy of the newspaper for her to read. She couldn’t believe you were nothing more than a gigolo and were the lover of some old wh—”
Sonya stopped, quickly remembered her audience and amended what she was about to say. “That you were the lover of some wealthy, old woman.”
Both men stared at her for the longest time and said nothing. She saw blatant anger in Jesse Devereau’s eyes and what appeared to be amusement in Mike’s, which confused her.
That confusion was cut short when Jesse stood and threw his napkin on the table. “I refuse to sit here and talk to you a minute longer, Miss Morrison. It’s Mike’s business if he wants to stay and listen to what you have to say, but personally, I’ve heard enough. Have a good day.” Without waiting for her to respond, he angrily walked off.
Sonya watched his retreating back until he was no longer in sight. Sighing deeply she then turned to Mike Kelly. “Damn, he’s pretty upset, isn’t he?”
Mike Kelly laughed. For some reason he liked this woman. She was cocky and had plenty of spunk. “Yes, I guess you can say that he is. He tried on two occasions to get Miss Osborne to talk to him and she refused to do so which was unfortunate. Now he intends to take drastic steps to force her to tell him what he wants to know.”
Sonya frowned and tried not to be drawn in by the deep blue of Mike’s eyes. “By taking away her company?”
“Yes, for starters.”
Sonya sat up straight in her chair. “For starters?”
“Yes. Like you said, he’s pretty upset right now and you pretty much confirmed Miss Osborne’s child is his, so he’s angrier than before because he feels she should have told him. There’s no telling how far he’ll go now.”
Sonya instinctively reached across the table and grabbed Mike’s hand. She almost let go of it when she felt that same sizzle of awareness she’d felt earlier. “Then we have to do something.”
Mike raised a brow.
“We?”
“Yes. He and Carla need to sit down and talk.”
Mike shook his head. “Like I said, Jesse tried talking to her, but Miss Osborne refused to have anything to do with him. In fact she had him kicked off Osborne Computer Network’s property. He won’t make another attempt to see her. Instead he’ll let their attorneys battle it out and it won’t be pretty.”
Sonya sighed. “You’re his friend, Mike. Can’t you get through to him and try deflecting some of his anger?”
Mike met her gaze. “And Miss Osborne is your friend, can’t you get through to her as well?” he countered, smiling.
“I’ll try.”
“And so will I.”
Sonya returned his smile but it faded the moment she noticed that they were still holding hands. She quickly pulled her hand back and decided it was best to address this attraction between them before he got any ideas. “Just to set the record straight, I’ve never liked vanilla.”
“It’s straight,” he said grinning at her. “Because I’ve never developed a taste for chocolate.”
She nodded and thought,
good.
Just so they understood each other.
An hour later Mike was in the suite talking to Jesse. “You heard Sonya Morrison for yourself. The reason Carla Osborne didn’t contact you to let you know she was pregnant is because she assumed, like a number of other people, that you and Susan Brady were having an affair.”
Jesse eyes narrowed. “Even if that was true, she still had no right to not tell me she had gotten pregnant.”
“But if she thought the only thing she had meant to you that night was nothing more than a one-night stand, she would have felt she did have that right.” When Jesse didn’t say anything, Mike added. “But then you and I both know she was more than a one-night stand that night, don’t we, Jess?”
Not waiting for him to respond, Mike turned and walked through the doorway that led to his connecting suite. He threw his sports jacket on the bed and walked over to the window and thought about Sonya Morrison and her rather frank way of putting things.
He smiled and decided for the second time that day that he liked her.
Chapter 20
A
nd you have no idea why Thomas Reynolds makes it his business to drive by the hotel every so often, to check and make sure your car is here?”
Brandy glanced across the table at Grey and thought long and hard about his question. Once they had gotten out of bed that morning, they had showered together and ordered room service for breakfast. He had just finished telling her about what he’d found out about Thomas Reynolds.
“No, although if he’s doing it, it really wouldn’t surprise me. Thomas is very protective of me, Grey.”
Or very jealous
, Grey wanted to say but decided not to. He knew she still didn’t want to consider the possibility that Thomas Reynolds might be the one sending her those messages. “What’s on the agenda today?” he asked instead. It was hard to sit across from her and not think about everything they had done the night before. They had made love in just about every room in this suite, even in the kitchen on this very table. He didn’t know any other woman who basked in her sensuality like Brandy, who was so open and uninhibited. Each and every time he’d come inside of her, when groans of pleasure rumbled deep in his throat, he would ride the waves of the most earth-shattering orgasm known to mankind, then he would inhale her scent, their scent, and would become thick, hard, and fully aroused all over again.
“Things are going to get pretty busy around here today,” she said. “The game is next weekend so many of the committee members will check in, as well as members of the media. This is the first year the St. Laurent has been a host hotel and I’m very excited about it.”
Grey nodded, deciding that with all the activities at the hotel it was going to be difficult to keep her well protected. But he was determined to do so and had even called in a few other contacts he had for backup. “I need to know where you are at all times, Brandy. Most of the time I’ll be with you except for when you’re involved in all that committee stuff. It won’t bother me that people will began to wonder why I’m not letting you out of my sight. I’m sure they’ll start thinking that I’m a very jealous and possessive lover.”
Grey sighed. In a way he felt just that way. The thought of another man anywhere near her made his blood boil. But then, a part of him believed that what they’d shared last night had been unique, special and just between them.
“And it wouldn’t bother me in the least if they think of you that way, too. I’ll be the envy of all the women around here, and they’ll wonder how I got so lucky,” Brandy said smiling.
A seductive smile tilted the corners of Grey’s mouth. “Do you have any regrets about last night?” he murmured questioningly.
Brandy leaned back in the chair. “No, I have none.”
At that moment the phone rang and Brandy stood to pick it up. “Yes?”
She nodded. “They’ve started arriving already?” A few minutes later she said. “All right, that’s fine. Most have been given rooms on the tenth floor except for a few. Make sure all their wishes are met.” Then she quickly amended. “Within reason.”
After hanging up the phone she glanced over at Grey. He was looking at her with those deep, dark eyes of his. “Don’t look at me that way, Grey.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “And what way is that?”
“Like you want to take me back to bed.”
He chuckled. She was beginning to read him so well. “But I do want to take you back to bed.”
She nodded. To be completely honest, she wanted him to take her back to bed, too. But she had a lot of work to do and like she’d told him, with the Florida Classic next week things were already getting chaotic. “There’s always tonight,” she said saucily, as she slipped into her jacket.
He chuckled. “Yes, and I’m looking forward to it.”
“The Man” looked at the vial of acid that would be used to teach Brandy Bennett a lesson. Brandy thought she had it all but would find out she was wrong when what she considered her most valuable asset, her beautiful face, was destroyed. No man would look at her with wanting and desire in his eyes, ever again.
Now all that had to be done was to calculate things just right to get her alone, which might be hard since her current lover was always hanging around her. But a way would be found around that.
It was time to make a strike.
Brandy pushed the papers on her desk aside. She knew without being told that Grey was on the other side of her closed door, probably reading a magazine or something, waiting for her to come out.
She glanced at her watch. It was almost noon and she was beginning to feel hungry. The phone on her desk buzzed and she reached over to pick it up. “Yes, Donna?”
“I have Ms. Osborne on the line for you.”
Brandy sat up straight in her chair. She had tried reaching Carla earlier. “Thanks, please put her through.”
A few moments later she heard Carla’s voice. “Carla, you okay, girl?”
Carla sighed deeply. “Yes, I’m doing fine although stress levels and tensions are high around here. And to make matters worse, my attorney called a few minutes ago to let me know Jesse had obtained a court order to see Craig tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes, tonight at my place.”
Brandy frowned. “When he sees Craig he’ll immediately know that he’s his, Carla.”
“Yes, I know,” Carla said, shifting uneasily in her chair, wondering what Jesse would do after finding out the truth.
“Have you spoken to your mom yet?” Brandy asked, recapturing Carla’s attention.
“She’s supposed to return home today and I plan to go see her later.”
Brandy could clearly hear the anger in Carla’s voice. Deciding to change the subject she asked, “Have you heard from Amber?”
“No, have you?”
“No, not yet,” Brandy said. She looked up when Grey opened the door, walked into her office, and closed the door behind him. She watched as he sat in the chair on the other side of the room. “I’m hoping she’ll give us a call with an update on Cord Jeffries’ condition.”
“Me, too. Well, I got to run. I’m meeting Sonya for lunch.”
“Okay, you take care, and if you need me always remember I’m just a phone call away.”
“Thanks, Brandy. I appreciate that.”
Michelle buzzed Carla the moment she ended her phone conversation with Brandy.
“Yes, Michelle, what is it?”
“Ms. Morrison called while you were on the phone with Ms. Bennett. She said that the two of you would be doing lunch at her place instead of at a restaurant and she expected you there at noon.”
Carla nodded. “All right. Anything else?”
“Yes. Mr. Devereau’s attorney also called to confirm that Mr. Devereau would be at your house at six.”
Again Carla nodded. “Thanks for the messages, Michelle, and when I leave for lunch I won’t be back until tomorrow.” She needed to go home and prepare Craig for Jesse’s visit.
After ending her conversation with Michelle, Carla got up from her desk and walked over to the window. It was such a beautiful day outside, another beautiful day that the Lord had made, and no matter what, she had to believe things would work out for her.
She had to believe it.
Carla arrived at Sonya’s place exactly at noon. “Hey, what gives? I thought we were meeting at Macadia for spaghetti,” she said entering Sonya’s condo.
“We’re still having spaghetti from Macadia but I decided to do the take-out thing instead,” Sonya said. “This gives us privacy. Besides, I rather not be in a public place when you kick my butt.”
Carla turned around and lifted a brow. “Kick your butt? Sonya, what are you talking about?”
Sonya sighed. “You’re going to find out soon enough. The question is, do you want me to tell you on a full or an empty stomach?”
Carla noticed just how nervous Sonya was, which wasn’t at all like her. Maybe they needed to talk before eating. “I think you better tell me now.”
“Are you sure? You may want to leave as soon as I tell you what I did.”
Carla chuckled, trying to bring a lightness to their conversation. “Hey, remember I’m the one who loves to eat. No matter what you have to say, I still plan to eat my spaghetti. So come on, let’s sit down and you can tell me what’s going on.”
The two women sat on the sofa facing each other. A few moments later, after Sonya got the nerve to speak she said. “I’m the reason Jesse Devereau is here, Carla.”
Carla’s forehead bunched into a curious frown. “How are you the reason? Are you saying you’re the one who sent him that letter?”
Sonya shook her head. “No, but I know who did.”
“Who?”
“Your mother. At least that’s what I’ve been told.”
Carla nodded. She had figured as much, although she hadn’t wanted to believe that her mother would do such a thing but after reading the newspaper article about her mother selling her stock to Jesse, nothing surprised her. “And how did my mother know about Jesse? Did you tell her?”
Again Sonya shook her head. “No, I would never have done that.”
“Then how did she find out?”
“She heard it from Dalton Gregory.”
Carla’s eyes widened. “Dalton Gregory? But—but how would he know anything about Jesse being Craig’s father?”
Sonya glanced down at her hands that she had folded in her lap. “I told him.”
The room got quiet and Carla thought she had misunderstood what Sonya said. “You told Dalton Gregory my secret? Our secret?”
At Sonya’s nod, Carla stood. “Oh, Sonya, how could you have done such a thing? You know how that man feels about me. He thinks he had every right to take control of the company after Clark died, and you know how he and Clark as well as my mother manipulated things to keep me out.”
Tears misted Sonya’s eyes. “I know, I know, and my only excuse is that I was drunk that particular night that he ran into me at a Sylvester’s. It was that same night I was upset because I felt you were spending more time with Brandy and Amber than you were with me. Dalton caught me at one of my weakest moments, I was both drunk and horny and you of all people know how I have a tendency to think with my thang and not with my brain. Had I been in my right mind that night, Carla, I would have seen that he only wanted to screw me to get information about you. But I didn’t see it then. I saw him as a man who wanted to spend time with me. I’ve always known he was a jerk but that night it didn’t matter since I was so depressed about things.”
Sonya inhaled and tried to stop tears. “And now that I know how much damage I’ve caused, as well as how much I’ve hurt you, I can’t stand it. You’ve always been my best friend and now I’ve screwed up things and know you’ll think that you won’t ever be able to trust me again. I’d never do anything to hurt you or Craig; you have to believe that. And when I realized what I’d done, I confronted Dalton about it and he’s the one who told me about your mother’s part in it. I even tried making things right by going to see Jesse Devereau, but that man is as stubborn as they come and he wouldn’t listen to anything that I had to say.”
Carla breathed in deeply. Sonya was crying in earnest now, and Carla gathered her friend in a hug. “Hey, it’s all right, Sonya. I know you didn’t mean to tell but you’re going to have to stop doing that, you know.”
Sonya pulled away slightly to wipe tears from her eyes. She looked at Carla. “Doing what?”
A small smile touched Carla’s lips. “Thinking with your
thang
instead of your brain.”
Sonya couldn’t stop laughing as she wiped her eyes. “God knows I’m working on it, believe me.”
Carla nodded. “And for Pete’s sake, in the future try to be more selective.”
Sonya saw amusement lurking in the depths of Carla’s eyes but she also saw seriousness there, too. “Trust me, I
was
drunk that night. Otherwise, I would not have given Dalton Gregory the time of day. But you’re right, and I promise I’ll do better.” She then studied Carla. “What about us? Are we okay?”
Carla leaned back against the sofa. “Yeah, we are. I’m not saying I’m not disappointed…but then I’ve been disappointed with you before, Sonya, like the time you set me up on that blind date and told the guy that I was you.”
Sonya couldn’t help but laugh out loud when she remembered that. Moments later when her laughter subsided she looked at Carla. “Forgive me?”
Carla nodded. “Yes, I forgive you. No matter what, you’re my very best friend who has a problem she intends to work on, right?”
Sonya smiled. “Right.”
Carla nodded again. “I know you love me and Craig and wouldn’t intentionally do anything to hurt us. In fact, I know how protective you are of us and I appreciate that. I always have.”
After saying all of that, Carla sighed. “So come on and let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Sonya laughed as she and Carla embraced again.
Carla went to see her mother as soon as she left Sonya’s place. She could tell by the look on her mother’s face when she opened the door that she was surprised to see her. Without waiting for an invitation to come in, Carla walked passed her.
“Mom, we need to talk.”
“No, we don’t. In fact I’m expecting someone, Carla. Maybe some other time.”
Carla met her mother’s gaze. “Just answer one question for me and then I’ll leave.” She tightened her hand on the straps of her purse. “Why, Mom? Why did you do it? Why did you send Jesse Devereau that letter?”
Anger filled Madeline’s face. “I sent it because I felt that he had every right to know. Every man should know about any child he fathered.”
Carla shook her head in disagreement. “That was my decision to make and you should have respected it. You had no right to send him that letter.”
“I had to tell him. I wanted to contact him and tell him about our baby but your father wouldn’t let me.”
Carla gazed at her mother. There was a faraway look in her eyes and Carla suddenly knew that her mother wasn’t talking about Jesse Devereau any longer but about someone else.
“Who, Mother? Who did you want to contact?”
“Mark Singleton.” She said the name like she expected Carla to know it. “I met Mark one night at a charity event and fell in love. We had a brief affair and I got pregnant. But I made a decision not to tell him about the baby since I was engaged to marry your father.”
Carla gasped. “You had a baby from another man?”