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The One Where Her Secret Comes Out

 

I rub my temples harshly. This contract negotiation is such a fucking headache. If it weren’t the one that could push us over the billion-dollar mark, I’d hand it off to someone else. I’d let my employees do what I damn well pay them for.

“Five years is unreasonable. We’re offering one campaign, not several.”

“And we’re offering you more. I fail to understand why this is an issue in our negotiations.”

“I’d like to see the outcome of one campaign before hiring your services again.”

“Are you doubting our ability, sir?”

“Enough!” I raise my voice over the endless back and forth. The room immediately silences, and I turn my attention to the gentleman sitting opposite me. “Mr. Simmons, with all due respect, you’re asking us to put all our manpower behind this latest line. No one here is doubting the inevitable success your wife is about to have. Her designs are truly remarkable, and the interest she has already garnered for her next collection is impressive. This will absolutely cement her place in the fashion world, but from a business perspective, I cannot take just one campaign of this caliber.”

He opens his mouth to respond, but I continue.

“You are essentially asking me to turn away a selection of smaller contracts because of the scale of your own. I refuse to do this, but I’m willing to take on staff to accommodate for your needs. In turn, this will take time to hire them. Do you understand it from my perspective? If I’m going to do this, I need more than one campaign for you.”

“Five years is incredibly long, Mr. Stone. That’s ten collections of my wife’s.”

The door opens and Dottie pokes her head in. “Excuse me. Mr. Stone, there’s an important call for you.”

“Can’t it wait?”

Her eyes widen in a message I don’t understand and she shakes her head.

I sigh. “Excuse me, everyone. Let’s take ten minutes and come back to this. Dottie, can you have some coffee sent up?”

She nods, and I follow her from the room.

Loosening my tie, I pick up the phone in my office. “Aaron Stone.”

“Aaron.” Tyler’s voice is slightly panicked. “You need to come home. Dayton’s freaking out.”

I frown. “Freaking out?”

“She’s having a panic attack. I can’t calm her down.”

I drop the phone without responding and exit my office quicker than I entered it. “Dottie, clear my afternoon. We’ll continue this meeting in the morning. Nine a.m. sharp. I want every detail spread out before then.”

“Of course. Is everything okay?”

“It will be.”

I ride down the building in the elevator and climb into my waiting car. Panic attack? Dayton? She’s the most composed woman I know. I can’t imagine anything that would have her upset to such an extreme.

Worry floods my body. Something truly terrible must have happened. But what?

My mind conjures up any number of situations, all completely ridiculous, and it’s only silenced by the sound of the engine cutting outside my apartment block.

I jog across the lobby and into the elevator, jabbing at the buttons the whole way. Of course, it’s completely ridiculous. It won’t make it go any faster, and although it’s only been a matter of seconds, it feels like an hour.



I burst through the apartment door and see Tyler kneeling in front of Dayton in the middle of the kitchen. Her labored breaths fill the air and pained whimpers cut through me. I push Ty out of the way and frame her face with my hands.

“Dayton. Breathe for me, sweetheart. Come on now. Breathe.”

She shudders beneath my touch and takes a long, controlled breath.

“That’s it. And out. And back in. That’s better.” I fold her into my arms.

Her cheek is flat against my chest, and I gently rock her side to side until she calms. She’s shaking against me, and she feels so tiny in my arms.

And I know something is very, very wrong.

“I’m glad you were here,” I say to Tyler, barely glancing over my shoulder at him.

“Sorry I pulled you from your meeting, cuz.”

“Fuck the meeting. The contract will still be there tomorrow morning.” I tilt Dayton’s face up so she’s looking at me. “What’s wrong?”

Fear and guilt fill her eyes. My body tenses in response to it, especially when her bottom lip quivers.

“I have to tell you something,” she whispers.

Something I won’t like. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

She flicks her eyes over my shoulder to Tyler and her breath catches. “Naomi came to see me just before we went to London.”

My arms fall away from her. Shock is smacking me in the gut. Naomi? What the fuck is going on? “What?”

Dayton pulls herself to a standing position and leans on the bar. Her hands are still shaking. “She wasn’t happy with the divorce settlement, and she came to ask me for money.”

Tyler snorts. I look at him then back to Dayton. He knew.

“You knew about this?” I question him.

My cousin nods.

I swallow down the rapidly rising anger in my body and turn back to Dayton. “She asked you for money? Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“She didn’t…ask…so much as blackmail me.”

“How much?”

“Two and a half million.”

Two and a half fucking million dollars? “What the fucking hell, Dayton!”

“She gave me four weeks to get it to her, and I have one week left.”

I close my eyes briefly, breathing in, and wait for her to continue.

“When I went home after London, there was a letter waiting, and today, there was one delivered here. She’s keeping tabs on me. She knows Tyler knows and she said if I told you all bets were off.”

“All bets for what? What could she possibly know about you that she could hold over your head?”

She gives me a piece of paper, her head down. “She knows I was a call girl. If I don’t pay, she’s threatening to expose my past and destroy your business.”

I look down at the white sheet in my hand and the words written there.

 

One week. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? It’s a shame you told Tyler… I’ll let it pass. You’re getting desperate, after all. But if you tell Aaron…the world will meet Mia Lopez.

 

My chest tightens in anger. No, this is more than anger. This is pure fucking fury.

I knew Naomi was a manipulative bitch, but I never imagined that she would go this far. To drag Dayton into our bullshit is uncalled for and completely unnecessary.

And the fact she never told me…

I look up. She can’t even look at me. I know how she feels. I felt the same way in Paris.

Slowly, she looks up, and her broken brown eyes meet mine. She shrinks back, wrapping her arms around her stomach. I crumple the paper to the floor and turn away. I need to get out of here, get away from her. I need to escape from the knowledge that another secret is coming between us and my vile ex-wife is the center of it yet again.

The door slams behind me with a certain finality. It’s a deafening sound that echoes down the stairwell. The elevator is no good for this...this anger. There’s no outlet.

But not even the harsh pounding of my feet against the stairs can beat this anger out.

I pull out my cell and call the office. Dottie answers almost immediately.

“Find out where Naomi is living. Now.”

My cell is snatched from my hand, and I turn to see Tyler bringing it to his ear. “Ignore that, Dottie. He’s having a bad day.” My cousin pockets the phone and looks at me.

 

“What the fuck, Ty?”

He grabs my arm and leads me through the lobby. “Going over there when you’re this angry isn’t going to solve anything. What you need, mate, is a drink.”

I don’t want a drink. I want to find out why the woman I love kept such a huge fucking secret from me. Why she’s been dealing with this shit alone when I could have dealt with it weeks ago.

Still, I allow Tyler to lead me to the nearest bar and order two glasses of whisky. I drain mine in one go and nod to the bartender for another. The liquid burns as it goes down, taking away from the anger settling in my chest.

“When did she tell you?” I ask Tyler, staring straight ahead.

“In London. After she came to Jenna’s shoot,” he replies. “She froze every time Naomi’s name was mentioned and I wanted to know why.”

“You pushed her into telling you?”

“Pushed her into telling you, too. She was going to tonight. The letter threw everything off course.”

I swallow, my throat dry despite my constant sipping. I feel utter disbelief. Dayton made it very clear in Paris how much she despises secrets. She berated me endlessly for having kept Naomi from her, and now, in a cruel twist of irony, she’s done the exact same thing.

For the last three weeks, she’s been carrying this around. Through everything we’ve dealt with, she’s kept this fucking secret.

She stood in front of me and asked me to bear my soul to her when she wasn’t doing the same thing. She wanted me to be open when she was unable to do it herself.

“Why didn’t she tell me?” I face Tyler now.

He shrugs a shoulder with a heavy sigh. “She wanted to protect you. She didn’t want you to worry about it. She felt like it was her problem, not yours.”

I rub my hands across my face. It hurts more than it angers me. The fact that Naomi could do this, could blackmail Dayton for her own selfish needs, angers me beyond belief. I feel that fury grasping on to my body, but the hurt from Dayton not being able to tell me overcomes it.

I slump onto the bar, fisting my hair. Suddenly, all too acutely, I feel the pain she must have felt in Paris.

“Fuck,” I breathe heavily. “I can’t believe she’s been coping with this by herself.”

“She’s determined, that’s for sure. I offered to help her out and she pretty much fucking laughed at me. I’ve never known anyone so independent, if you discount Tessa.” Tyler chuckles.

It’s easy to imagine—Dayton laughing at him. She doesn’t take being helped well.

I drink the rest of my drink and stand up. “Come with me.”

Tyler follows me from the bar. “What are you doing?”

I know that the store is down this street. It’s a personal favorite of my mother, one my dad has visited time and time again. Right now, I’m thanking him for having shown me it.

“Mate, you’re fucking mental,” Tyler explodes when we stop in the front of the jewelers.

A small laugh leaves me. “No, I’m just a presumptuous bastard.”

“What the hell are you thinking?”

I look at my cousin. “I’m thinking Naomi already came between us once and I’m not letting it happen again. I’m also thinking Day will kill me when I ask her, but it’s about the only thing that will calm me now. I need to know that, one day, the ring I’m about to purchase will be on that woman’s finger before I can go ahead and deal with the one who never should have had a ring in the first place.”

 

***

 

She looks so peaceful lying in our bed, tangled in the sheets. She’s curled into a tiny ball, illuminated only by the light shining in through the gap in the curtains. But still, she’s so beautiful. So fucking beautiful.

I strip silently, leaving my clothes in a heap on the floor before climbing into bed next to her. She curls up tighter, and I know she’s not asleep, so I reach forward and pull her into my arms.

She sighs heavily as I tangle our bodies together and bury my face in her neck. Her hair tickles my nose, and the gentle scent of vanilla grounds me.

“What are you doing?” she whispers. I can hear the tears in her voice and it breaks my heart.

I kiss her shoulder and squeeze her to me. “I’m holding you, baby. What else do you think I’m doing?”

“You shouldn’t be. You should hate me.”

I shake my head, pulling her onto her back. Leaning over her, I gaze down into her sad eyes. Silly, silly woman.

“I could never hate you, Dayton. Not ever.” A tear escapes the corner of her eye and I brush it away with my thumb, leaving my hand lying beside her face. “So don’t say such ridiculous things.”

She cups my cheek. “Why aren’t you mad at me?”

“Because you didn’t keep it a secret to spite me. You kept it to protect me, and yes, it was a little misguided and unnecessary, but you did it because you care.”

“But you did that, too, and I left you.”

I close the distance between our mouths and kiss her with the same certainty I purchased two rings with earlier. “I’m not leaving you, beautiful woman, so get that thought right out of your pretty little head. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.”

“But you did. Earlier. When you found out. You left then.”

There’s so much fear in her eyes. Oh, sweetheart.

“Because I was a kind of angry I never want you to see,” I say softly. “But it wasn’t at you. Not entirely, anyway. Most of it was at her, and if you hadn’t sent Tyler after me, I just might have found her apartment and done something incredibly stupid.”

“I’m sorry.” She hugs me tightly, and I roll us onto our sides. I tuck her into my body, holding her so tight that I’m afraid I may snap her.

I know how sorry she is. It’s in every unsaid word and every unshed tear.

“I know. We’ll talk some more in the morning, okay? Get some sleep now.”

“Never go to sleep on an argument,” she mutters. “That’s what my mom always taught me. You sort it out first.”

“Bambi, we’re not arguing. Not even close.” I gently sweep my thumb over her eyelids, making her close her eyes, and rest one of her arms over my waist. She flattens her hand against my back, splaying her fingers. “Now we’re going to go to sleep together and wake up the same way, today and every day. Understand?”

She buries her face into my neck with a nod. “I don’t deserve you.”

That thought is so absurd, and I almost laugh as I kiss her head. “And I don’t deserve you, so I guess we’re even. Goodnight, sweetheart.”

 



Date: 2015-02-28; view: 676


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