Authors: Laura Carter
Chapter Twelve
It’s Monday and time to deal with the hangover from Friday night. I pull up Outlook Contacts and dial the number provided for Eclectic Technologies. The receptionist places me on hold while she tries to connect me. It’s before nine in the morning and I wonder if he’ll be in the office. My blood pulses through my veins quicker with each beat of the incredibly annoying hold music. The weight of my decision draws my head down into my hand as I wonder for the last time whether I’m about to do the right thing.
“Scarlett.”
“Hi.”
“I didn’t know if I’d hear from you again.”
I sit straight in my chair. I’ve turned myself inside and out for two days and now the moment is here.
“I need to return my dress.”
His exhale is louder than he probably intends it be down the telephone, like he’s also been holding his breath. “It’s yours, keep it. No one else would do it justice. Is that the reason you called?” There’s hurt in his words, the confirmation I needed. I won’t be another person who lets him down.
“No. I—I wanted to let you know that I’ll finish my markup of the Sale and Purchase Agreement and send the latest version to you before lunch. If you’re free, we can walk through the changes this afternoon.”
“You’re going to stick with us?”
“No. I’m going to stick with
you
.”
After a silence he says, “Thank you, Scarlett.”
I close my eyes and listen as my name rolls off his velvet tongue. I could listen to him call my name a thousand times a day and never tire of it. But that’s not the deal I made with myself and after this transaction closes, he won’t be saying my name again.
* * *
The leggy blonde snarls at me and flashes a toothy grin to Jack then leads us, Jack first, following her perfectly formed arse, to the Eclectic boardroom. Before I have a chance to say hello to Lawrence and Williams, who are already sitting at the table, a hand grabs the bare flesh of my wrist. The sensation ignites my skin, telling me instantly who it is. My body reacts before my mind. I stagger back against the glass pane of the empty office adjacent to the boardroom. Everything I felt on Friday night as he held my body to his and moved us around the dance floor is still there. I close my eyes and swallow hard.
“I just want to say thank you.”
When my eyes open, his face is close to mine, closer than it ought to be and he’s looking deep into my hazel-greens. His chiseled jaw is tight. His Adam’s apple slowly moves up and back down his clean-shaven throat as he swallows.
“Gregory, you should know that I’m here as your lawyer.
Only
your lawyer. What your father did...no child should have to see that. But after this deal, I think you should find another lawyer.”
I press my fingertips to his dark blue blazer and keep my gaze down, too afraid to look up and be hypnotized.
He holds open the boardroom door for me. As we step inside Williams gives Gregory a questioning look, which is no match for the
what was that about?
glare I receive from Jack. Gregory takes a seat next to me as we walk through the key provisions of the Sale and Purchase Agreement. Our eyes meet on numerous occasions and he seems more engaged with the deal than the last time I saw him. It’s a good thing. He’s my client and this is a corporate transaction. Yet I can’t help feeling bereft.
After an hour or so, a loud snort followed by Lawrence jerking himself awake in his chair, makes us all turn toward him. He wipes his mouth and looks at the saliva on the back of his hand like someone else must have put it there.
“Nice one, old man!” Williams laughs, patting Lawrence’s belly.
“Terribly sorry, Scarlett,” Lawrence says to me. He sits up to attention in his chair and feigns excessive interest. “Carry on, it’s excellent.”
I will myself not to giggle but the stress of the last few days gets the better of me. My laughter bursts from me like helium from a popped balloon. It’s loud and childlike and feels amazing. I place the tips of my fingers in front of my mouth but the laughter keeps coming. I stop when I hear Gregory laughing with me, a soft but masculine sound. Looking at one another, we laugh again, harder. Williams joins, followed by Lawrence and, with the exception of Jack, who seems to have missed the joke, we laugh until my ribs ache.
Gregory shuffles in his chair, regaining composure. He straightens his trousers and spreads his knees apart. I gasp when his knee touches mine and glance in his direction, hopelessly wishing it were intentional. His face gives nothing away. I should break our contact but my limbs don’t move. With my knee pressed lightly against his, I continue to trawl through the provisions of the Sale and Purchase Agreement.
* * *
Lawrence calls a break a little after six-thirty and I excuse myself to the ladies’.
Jack’s standing outside, staring at me, when I open the door back into the hallway. I assess the corridor. We’re alone.
“Jack! You gave me a shock.”
He continues to glare but says nothing. The sound of the lift crossing between floors is the only noise. I make a move to step around him but he blocks me with his arm, forcing me to back into the cold metal wall. The sensor ceiling lights to our right go out. He’s been waiting for me for at least five minutes, long enough for the sensors to detect a lack of movement.
“Excuse me,” I say, lightly pushing at his chest, trying to move along the wall. He slams his left hand on the wall close to my head, blocking my path.
“Running off to your boyfriend?” His voice is hoarse. His breath is hot and stinks of tobacco.
“Jack, please, you know he’s not my boyfriend. He’s a client, that’s all.”
“You know what the problem is, Scarlett? You lead everyone on. You make men think that you’re desperate—desperate to spread your legs.”
He moves his mouth so close to mine I can taste his breath.
I turn my head away from him. The lights next to us flash on. Gregory stands in his black suit, legs parted, shoulders broad. Protective and intimidating all at once. Jack drops his arm from the wall, opening my escape route. I want to run to Gregory. Instead, I nod in gratitude as I walk past him. He doesn’t acknowledge me. He doesn’t even move. His eyes are locked on Jack.
I pause before reentering the boardroom, taking deep breaths, waiting for my hands to stop trembling. It must be five minutes before Gregory returns, maybe longer.
He examines me from afar and I hang my head, shamed and embarrassed. Gregory lies that Jack was feeling unwell. Williams looks confused but asks no questions. Not knowing what else to do, I go back to working through the Sale and Purchase Agreement. From the corner of my eye, I see Gregory take off his silk grey tie, undo the top button of his white shirt and rest back against his leather chair. I quickly cast an eye in his direction and see red swollen knuckles on his clenched fist. My distraction causes me to pause, giving Gregory time to check his watch and call time on our meeting.
* * *
“Jackson will take you home.” Gregory’s hands rest on the frame of the back door to the Mercedes. I look from his red knuckles to his eyes and wonder just how many sides to this man there are.
“Thank you.”
He watches me, his face constricts. Then he closes the door, locking me within Jackson’s care. He has an agitated conversation with Jackson. Gregory shakes his head then rubs his knuckles. Jackson gets into the car and we drive away, leaving Gregory watching from the street. I turn to look at him through the rear window as he grows smaller and eventually disappears.
“Are you okay?” Jackson asks, addressing me through the rearview mirror.
I nod. That’s all I can do.
* * *
As I walk the corridor to my office with Amanda, who’s discussing her date last night with Williams through a bite of breakfast bagel, a man from General Office wheels a stack of boxes labelled
Jack Jones
past us and in the direction of the exit.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I place a hand against the tower of boxes until the man stops. “Margaret,” I call toward the secretaries’ station. “Margaret, where are these boxes going?”
“You haven’t heard?” she says, toddling toward me. “Jack resigned from the partnership last night. Well, rumour has it he was pushed.” She taps her index finger to one side of her nose.
“What?”
The image of Gregory’s angry, swollen fist comes crashing to my mind and I stomp to my office. Livid, I pick up the receiver from my desk.
“Ryans.”
“Tell me this is nothing to do with yesterday.”
“Pleasure to hear from you, Scarlett. It would be more pleasant, of course, if I could know what you’re talking about.”
“You know
exactly
what I’m talking about. Jack Jones. You’ve had him fired haven’t you? Christ, how hard did you hit him?”
“He’s a sick fuck, Scarlett, and I won’t have him anywhere near you. He’s going to get what’s coming to him.”
My head jerks in shock at his venom first but the adrenalin coursing through my body has nothing to do with that.
“He didn’t touch me, Gregory.”
“I’m not taking any chances with your safety and that’s the end of it.”
“I’m not your responsibility.”
There’s silence on the line and so many emotions are mixing in my head, my body doesn’t know which to react to first. Part of me really wants to be his
responsibility. And the logical part of me remembers that I’m just his lawyer and that’s all I’m ever going to be.
“I can’t do this without him, Gregory. I’m not qualified enough or good enough to finish this deal alone.”
“You are good enough, Scarlett. I trust you and that’s not something I say lightly, believe me.”
With that, he hangs up, leaving me to wallow in my own panic.
So now I have two days to complete the Sale and Purchase Agreement and all the ancillary documents for the takeover. The hostile takeover. Alone.
My client thinks he can trust me but I can’t even trust myself. Thursday can’t come soon enough. I’ll go right back to ordinary Scarlett Heath and I’ll forget all about this man who’s sent my entire world spinning on a new orbit.
Chapter Thirteen
My palms are hot and damp as I lay out the completion documents for signature. I have thirty minutes before everyone arrives at Saunders to finalise the deal. Long enough for me to consider and get nervous about how the meeting will go.
It’s the first chance I’ve really had in the last few days to just stop and let my mind absorb what’s happening.
I’m about to do something unethical for the first time in my life. But as I lay pens beside each set of documents, I know that it isn’t just going through with the deal that’s got me on edge. I’m going to come face-to-face with the reason I feel compelled to go through with it. I’m going to meet Gregory’s father and I can’t stand the thought that Gregory is going to be stuck in this room with the man who destroyed his childhood.
He protected me with Jack, and it seemed absurd to me that he’d go to those lengths for a woman he hardly knows. Yet I’m standing here now trying to think of any way I can protect him, shield him from his past.
The spider phone in the middle of the conference table beeps, dragging me from my trance. A receptionist announces Williams and Lawrence have arrived.
My foot is bouncing as I unfold my arms to look at my watch for the third time in less than a minute.
Williams pours himself a glass of water and does the same for Lawrence, who’s red in the cheeks and perspiring, a reaction I don’t think is the result of him rushing to get here on time. He knows that the man who beat a woman, the man who ruined the life of his partner and stepson and forced them from their home, will be looking him in the eye in just minutes.
Williams’s usual easy manner is gone as we stand in the meeting room, waiting. We don’t move to sit and we don’t speak. Williams intermittently checks the time on his Blackberry. Lawrence stares out of the window at the darkening sky. Tension coats the room like gloss, making us sticky and hot. I pull at each of my nails in turn and roughly rub my hand across the flesh of my throat.
My Blackberry vibrates on the table, making us all jump.
To: Heath, Scarlett
From: Ryans, Gregory
Sent: Thursday 22 Oct 2015 14.58
Subject: Completion
I’m running late but I will be there. Get everything ready to go, I’ll be there to sign.
Gregory Ryans
CEO Eclectic Technologies
“That’s it? That’s all he can say?” I say aloud. Clearing my throat, I face the room. “Gregory’s running late, he said we should go on without him and he’ll be here to sign as soon as he can.”
There’s a knock on the meeting room door. The three of us shift our attention to the sound.
“I have Mr. Pearson and his lawyers for you,” the receptionist announces.
My breaths come shallow and fast and the receptionist makes way for two lawyers. Then my jaw drops as I stare at the six-feet-tall monster stepping into the room. His body shape and the way he holds himself are not dissimilar to Gregory. He has dark features, too, but it’s clear Gregory gets his looks from Lara. Pearson flashes me the sort of seedy smile that I’d love to wipe straight off his face.
My fists clench at my sides and I don’t return the hands offered to me by Pearson’s lawyers because all I can do is glare at Pearson and try not to hurl myself across the room and scratch out his eyes. My body is rocked by profound anger and my eyes burn. I don’t want Gregory to come here. I don’t want him to be anywhere near this man.
Pearson speaks with a strong South African accent, holding out a hand. “Stephen Lawrence, it’s been a long time.”
Lawrence doesn’t move to accept the hand but he does nod in response. He seems to have composed himself a little now. More than I can say for myself. Williams rolls his jaw and introduces himself with a clipped manner.
Bile rises in my throat as I watch the monster’s two suit-clad lawyers explain the documents to him. My mind flashes to the image of the little boy from my father’s hospital and I close my eyes to make him disappear.
I take a seat, my focus held intently on the tabletop, and my hands tremble as I move the documents from one side of the table to the other for Williams to sign. He eyes me briefly. I know I can’t give the game away.
As Williams signs the final document there’s another soft rap on the door.
“I have Mr. Ryans for you.”
I swallow sick as it reaches my throat. My fingertips rise to meet my mouth. I want to run toward him and stop him from coming into this room. Chills pulse through my body. My head throbs as my heart pounds. I close my eyes and when I open them again he’s there, in the doorway, a man, a grown-up, taller than Pearson, broader and stronger.
There’s noise in the room but my ears hear nothing as I watch Gregory step inside, glaring at his father.
“Gregory, you need to sign here,” I manage through my dry throat as I shuffle the documents toward him.
He begins to sign. The Sale and Purchase Agreement is first. I can feel sweat beads forming at my temples. He pauses after signing the final document and looks up to the devil on the opposite side of the table.
Time stops.
Pearson’s face contorts as he realises he’s staring into the eyes of his son.
Gregory grins, a sick, sadistic grin, baring his teeth to his father. “Time to tear it apart.”
Pearson is out of his seat, sending the chair crashing to the ground. Water glasses shatter and documents fly as he launches himself across the table.
“Fucker! You fucker!”
He grabs Gregory’s tie, pulling his neck toward him. I can see and feel the rage build in Gregory. His entire body tenses as he clenches his fist and pulls his right arm backwards. Acting on instinct, I wrap both my hands around Gregory’s fist as his father is pulled back by his lawyers.
“You’re better than him,” I say, staring into Gregory’s eyes. “Don’t let yourself be like him. Don’t let him win.”
The fire in Gregory dissipates.
“Ja, controlled by a woman, huh?” Pearson yells. “A bitch’s boy again, Ja? Don’t worry, bru, I know exactly how to treat a woman.” He throws his head back on a sardonic laugh.
Gregory pulls from my grasp and dives toward his father; this time it takes Williams and Lawrence to restrain him.
Pearson’s lawyers drag him from the room. “You’ll regret this, boy! And so will your bitch!” he spits as he fights against them, his face red, his words menacing.
“Ja, ja!” Gregory yells, tearing himself away from Williams and Lawrence.
I realise I’ve been holding my breath. My shaking hands are now rocking my entire body. I fumble around the table and floor, trying to collect the scattered documents into a pile but dropping them. Gregory bends down with me to pick them up from the floor. I close my eyes to stop tears from running out, reaching up a hand to steady myself on a chair as I rest on my hunkers.
Gregory places his warm palm to my face. “Are you okay?”
My lip trembles as I nod unconvincingly. He strokes my cheek and I lean into his flesh. The warmth of his soft skin making everything feel better.
“I’m fine. Really.”
“We’ll be outside,” Williams says sheepishly. “Thank you for your help, Scarlett. I know what it took for you to do this.”
I nod, my mind drawing a blank on the most appropriate thing to say.
“Thank you, Scarlett,” Lawrence says, stroking my arm as he passes me.
“You should go too, Gregory.” He looks at me, hurt I think, as if I’m pushing him away. “I need to tidy all of this up now.”
“Have dinner with me tonight.”
I want so much to say yes. But I can’t. This is the deal. I wanted to help him. I needed to protect him. But it’s done. He lives in a different world to me. One that I’m not sure I can be part of.
“Gregory, I told you I was done after this.”
He takes my face in both hands. I gasp and close my eyes, anticipating the touch of his lips to mine but it doesn’t come.
“It’s a completion dinner, Scarlett. A thank you for closing the transaction, just the same as every other deal and every other client, that’s all. Jackson will pick you up from home at eight.”
I eventually open my eyes as the door clicks shut behind him, my body cold from the loss of contact.