Chapter 4
4
LAYLA
Grrrr, that man is so fucking infuriatin g. I stomp out of the bar without a word to the girls. Once I’m outside and the cool air hits me, I stop in my tracks.
What the hell am I doing? Screw this. He doesn’t get to control my actions.
I turn around and stomp right back in. He is still standing right where I left him. Only now there are two other men who look just like him. Jesus, they’re multiplying. How is that even possible? I look straight ahead, ignoring the stupid smirk on his gorgeous face. His lion-like eyes track me as I storm past, making me feel like he is ready to pounce any second now. I ignore the shiver that ripples up my spine at the thought.
“Where did you go?” Tori asks as she hands me another drink.
“I needed some air,” I reply as I accept the drink and take a healthy sip.
“And more importantly, who’s the hottie?”
I tug her arm, forcing her eyes my way. “Stop looking at him,” I blurt out. “He’s no one important and he hardly needs the encouragement.”
“Are we talking about tall, dark and deliciously handsome?” Avery peeks around me. I sidestep so I can block her view, which isn’t hard to do given our height difference. I’m five foot nine and Avery is barely five foot two on a good hair day.
“No, we are not. And do I have to remind you that you are happily married? Stop ogling him.”
“I am,” she agrees. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate beautiful things.” She shrugs as she peeks around me again. “And that man is definitely something to appreciate.”
When Maddie’s eyes flick in Cole’s direction, I can’t help myself. “For the love of God, would you all stop looking at him.”
Three pairs of eyes move from Cole to me. Good, I’ve achieved my goal, even if I look like a raving lunatic in the process. I bring my drink to my lips and down the remaining contents as I to try to calm my rattled nerves.
“He is beautiful. What I want to know is who is he, and what did he do to you to get you so rattled? You don’t do rattled, so of course I’m curious.” Maddie’s claws come out. She’s the most like me when it comes to men. She isn’t interested in a relationship either, but she is a lot more tolerant than I am as long as they are giving her what she wants.
“Nothing. I’m not rattled.”
“Do we need to kick some ass?” Tori adds, not believing a word that comes out of my mouth. Her green eyes sparkle with mischief as she narrows her gaze and glares in Cole’s direction. I need to get out of here before this escalates. These women are nothing if not protective. We all are when one of us feels threatened. The last thing I need or want right now is a scene with—what did Avery call him?—tall, dark, and deliciously handsome.
“He’s nobody.” I repeat. “He just a persistent dickhead who is on the other end of one of my files. He also happens to be a player who has decided he wants to add me to the notches on his bedposts, which have probably been whittled down to a pair of matchsticks by now. Forget about him. Believe me, I already have.” I bring my glass to my lips only to discover it’s empty.
Shit, I need to go.
Avery smirks. “Girl, it doesn’t look like you’ve forgotten about him, and I can’t blame you.” She fans herself with her napkin.
Ugh.
“I concur,” Maddie says as she sips her wine. “I’ve never seen you like this, chérie . Maybe instead of trying to forget him, you should work him out of your system.” She raises a perfectly arched golden eyebrow and flashes me a sinful smile.
I smirk at her. “That may be the way you would handle this situation, Maddie, but I’d rather have my toenails and fingernails pulled out by hot tongs, fried in a deep-fryer, and fed to me than have sex with Cole Hendrix.”
“Ooh, at least that answers the who part,” Avery says as she snickers. “Seriously, Layla, is he really that offensive? He looks like a decent enough guy.”
I glare at her. “He’s a narcissist and a player. Probably the fucking king of players. I wouldn’t touch his dick with a ten-foot pole. Oh yeah, there’s one more thing and it’s a biggie. Get this…he also happens to be my new neighbor. He lives in the penthouse of the same building that I now call home. I met him and his pussy posse in the elevator after you guys left last weekend.”
Tori spits her drink all over my arm. “Shit. Sorry. Did you actually just say pussy posse ?” She starts to giggle but wisely covers her mouth with her hand to try and stifle her laugh. “I’ve never heard that one before. What exactly constitutes a pussy posse anyway?”
“Shut up,” I growl as I wipe a napkin over my damp skin. “The point is, he thinks he’s God’s gift to women, and unfortunately, from what I’ve seen so far, most women seem to feel the same way. I am not one of them.”
“Okay, let’s assume for a moment that is true. That he has women dropping at his feet. If that’s the case, why is he so interested in pursuing someone who wants nothing to do with him? Maybe you should give him a chance. He could be the one ,” Avery continues.
I almost choke on my tongue. “Oh please, you don’t actually believe that shit, do you?”
She shrugs. “It worked out for me and Tori, why not you?”
“He’s not like Liam or Grayson, Avery. He’s. A. Player. The only reason he is interested in me is because he can’t have me. Once he has, he’ll disappear faster than a dog with a bone. They all do.”
“That’s not such a bad thing, chérie .” Maddie grins. “He gets what he wants. You get a few eye-rolling orgasms out of it, and there are no messy strings attached.” She glances in Cole’s direction once more and raises both her eyebrows this time. “From the looks of him, he might even be able to make you scream through those orgasms. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
The girls all start giggling at her witty comment. “Jesus, is that all you think about?” I try but fail to hide my smile as I shake my head. “I think I need another drink.”
She shrugs off my remark. “What? I like to work, and I like to play, what else is there for girls like us?” she replies as she smiles behind her glass of wine.
Tori leans over and whispers in my ear. “Okay, you can relax now. He’s leaving. And he doesn’t have a pussy posse following him either . He’s with the two hotties who look just like him.”
I peek over my shoulder to see Cole’s retreating back, and the tension coiling in my body begins to ease. I feel like a weight has been lifted, and it’s not because he left with his brothers. I couldn’t care less if he left with half the women in this bar, as long as it isn’t me.
It’s been weeks since my run-in with Cole Hendrix in the bar. I haven’t seen or heard from him. Good riddance. It looks like he finally got the message. With a little luck, hopefully I’ll never have to see him again. Work has been so busy; I’ve completely put him out of my mind, or at least mostly. The man is just so damn irritating.
Right now, I am getting ready to meet with a new client. She’s young and has recently been forced to take over the family business after the sudden death of her father. The company is floundering, and she doesn’t know the first thing about running it. She also doesn’t have the money to hire someone who does. She has been approached to sell for pennies on the dollar. She’s here for advice because she needs to make a decision before the losses mount any higher and the company is totally worthless. This is what I specialize in. My job is not only to make sure she gets a fair price, but also to help her keep her father’s legacy alive, if at all possible, at the same time.
The phone on my desk buzzes. “Yes, Devon,” I say as I answer.
“Audrey Byrne is here. I’ve put her in boardroom A.”
“Thanks, Devon, I’m on my way.” I hang up and gather my phone, notepad and pen.
The meeting goes well. Audrey Byrne is in her third year of university. She wants to eventually become a veterinarian, not a businesswoman. Her father started the company the year she was born in the hopes that one day she would take over. She doesn’t want it. She never did. But she also can’t bear the thought of people losing their jobs…or worse, watching her father’s company being ripped apart at the seams.
Audrey has been searching for the right buyer, but the only offer she has gotten is from Hendrix Equity. I cringed when she told me the name of the company that wants to buy her out. I promised her I would do everything in my power to ensure she gets what her company is worth. It would be easier to ensure autonomy if she was willing to stay on as the president or at least as a major shareholder, but she assured me that isn’t happening. I don’t have much to bargain with if she willingly walks away, but I’ll do whatever I can.
I close my door and drop everything on my desk as I slump back in my chair. Ugh, why does it have to be his company? Just when things were going well, and I was starting to forget about him. I sigh. Whatever. I’m a professional. I can do this. I’ll just keep our personal interactions to a minimum. I’m trying to come up with a game plan for how I want that conversation to go when my phone chimes next to me.
I reach over and hit speaker. “Yes, Devon.”
“I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” I close my eyes. I’m not in the mood for his games right now.
“Give me the bad,” I huff out.
“Victor Bancroft called when you were in your meeting. He’d like you to call him back.” My eyes fly open. What the hell does he want? He told me the ball was in my court. We didn’t set a timeline on that. I sigh as a tinge of guilt creeps in. I haven’t spoken to him since before I moved into my apartment. I didn’t even thank him for the flowers. Whatever. I don’t have the time or energy to deal with Victor right now. I promise myself I’ll deal with him soon.
“The good news better be really good to counter that,” I groan into the phone.
“Oh, it is…there’s a little sweetheart out here asking to see you.” A smile immediately spreads across my face as Victor Bancroft and Cole Hendrix suddenly both fade into the background. I need to talk to them both, but I’ll deal with them another time.
Aria Crawford is my Little Sister. Not by blood, by choice. I’ve been mentoring her for the past eighteen months. I try to spend as much time with her as I possibly can, which, honestly, is never enough. Aria’s story is a sad one, but I am trying to help her overcome whatever parts of it I can. Her father is in prison for murder, and her mother is a meth addict who she rarely sees. She lives with her elderly maternal grandmother, who can barely afford to take care of her. Bea Crawford is trying to right the wrongs of her past by caring for Aria. Enrolling her in the Big Sister program was the best thing she could have done for the little girl. I was lucky enough to get paired with her. It’s a relationship I take very seriously. Regardless of how busy my life is, I always have time for her. I refuse to let her down like almost everyone else in her life has.
“I’ll be right out.” I disconnect the call as a million thoughts race through my mind. What the hell is she doing here in the middle of the week, and more importantly, how did she get here all the way from Brooklyn by herself? Jesus, she’s only nine years old. I cringe as all the possible scenarios of what could have happened to her start flashing behind my closed eyes. I blink to shut them down as I shoot out of my chair and head for the door.
When I get out to the reception area, there she is, looking just as sweet as Devon said. She also looks tiny and lost, but that’s only because she hasn’t noticed me yet. Aria is one tough little girl. She hates to show weakness in front of anyone. She has only recently started to let her guard down around me, but we still have a long way to go.
“Hey, sweets,” I say as I approach, giving her a moment to collect herself before I reach her side. She is staring out the large window in front of her, watching the city through eyes that have seen far too many horrible things in her short life. Her head whips to the side at the sound of my voice and her mask quickly slides back into place.
I crouch down, pull her into my arms and give her a big hug, just like I do every time I see her. “As much as I appreciate the visit, may I ask why you aren’t in school? And more importantly, how did you get here?” She quickly pulls away and picks up her backpack that is almost as big as she is, before she rolls her eyes and huffs as she starts walking down the hall toward my office.
“I’m nine years old, Layla. I’m not a baby. I took the subway. How else would I have gotten here?” she grumbles, like it’s the most obvious answer in the world. “Also, I’m quitting school.” I follow behind her without a word as I smirk to myself.
This ought to be interesting.
I close the door behind me and watch as she drops her book bag onto one of the chairs that sit in front of my desk and climbs into the other, tucking her knees under her chin. Big blue eyes stare back at me, challenging me to disagree with her. I’ve learned by now that opposing Aria when she has set her mind on something isn’t the way to go. Instead, I try a different tactic. I take a seat behind my desk and shake my mouse to wake up my computer.
“Would you like to talk to me about what prompted this decision?”
“No.”
“Okay.” I tap a few keys, like her quitting school at nine years old is no big deal. “So, where should we start looking?”
“What?” Her big blue eyes track my movements.
“Well, you are going to need a job. You can’t live off your granny if you aren’t going to go to school. That wouldn’t be fair.” I stop typing and glance over at her. Her eyes widen in shock.
“I—I don’t know. I didn’t think about that.” I can almost see her mind whirling as she tries to figure this out. She quickly adds, “I am only nine, but I’m really smart. And I’ve been taking care of Gran all by myself.”
I tap my pen against my lips. “Umhmm, it’s true, you are really smart, and you’ve practically raised yourself. I can’t argue with either of those things. The problem is you don’t have much education, and you are too young to work legally. Your skills are limited so you will have to do menial jobs and get paid under the table, which means you won’t make much money. People will also try to take advantage of you because you are so young, but I guess you’re used to that, given your past. Even so, it’s not going to be an easy road for you, sweets.” I’m laying it all out for her. Her confidence wanes with each word I speak. Her eyes drop to her hands, which are twisting in her lap.
“Or, there is another option,” I say loudly to get her attention. Her eyes snap up to meet mine. “Together, we could try and figure out how to deal with the problem that has you wanting to quit school.” She shakes her head.
I sigh. “You love school, Aria. Don’t let something or someone take that away from you. We can deal with it, and then you can go back and continue to kick ass until you graduate. As you said, you are super smart, so college will be a breeze. After that, you won’t have to rely on anyone but yourself, and you won’t have to put up with anybody’s bullshit either. Education can change your life. It did for me.”
She just stares back at me, unmoving. Unsure if she wants to confide in me. We’ve been here many times before, but the trust is coming. More often than not these days, Aria chooses to let me in.
“What do you think?” I ask as I set my pen down and clasp my hands on top of my desk. I wait patiently for her to decide how this is going to go.
“I do love school,” she finally admits. I wait for her to continue. “It just… I’m not sure why they all hate me so much,” she says softly, her big blue eyes filling with tears. She turns her head and lifts the back of her shiny thick brown hair. I’m not sure what I’m looking at, but I can see a clump of something matting the hair at her nape.
“What is that?”
“Gum.
I’m out of my chair and around my desk in seconds so I can inspect her hair more closely. My hackles rise as I see the large glob of pink bubble gum stuck in the back her hair. This isn’t the first incidence of bullying Aria has encountered since she started at this new school. Aria is a gifted kid. She is also dirt poor. The teachers at her old school felt she would do better if she was moved up a couple of grades. They also felt she would have a better chance if she was moved into a better school district. The move has done wonders with challenging her brain, but it has also set her back emotionally.
Kids can be cruel, especially when you are younger, smaller and so much smarter than they are. Add being poor, with no means to defend yourself, and things like this happen. It’s not like her elderly grandmother is going to storm the school demanding answers. Unfortunately for those kids, they don’t know about me.
“It’s not a big deal,” I assure her as I take a closer look.
“It’s not?” She reaches back and tries unsuccessfully to tug the gum free. “It’s really stuck in there,” she says as I gently push her hand away. “I tried to fight them off, but they held me down.” Her chin starts to quiver.
“It’s right at the base of your neck. I think we can get it out without too much damage.” I reassure her instead of scooping her into my arms like I want to. “You’re lucky you have such thick beautiful hair. No one will even notice the few strands that will have to be cut out. I’ll give my stylist, Daniel, a call. He will absolutely be able to fix this. I promise.”
Her tiny shoulders slump with relief. “They called me a stinky little mouse. They said a mouse shouldn’t have hair like mine.” Her chin starts to wobble again but she quickly gets it under control. Fucking privileged brats. I kneel down in front of her and place a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at me.
“Do you know why they say those things, Aria?” She shakes her head but keeps her eyes locked on mine. “They think you are better than they are. That’s because you are. You are smarter than them. You are prettier, and you most definitely have the best hair. This is about them. Don’t let them make it about you by reacting the way they want you to. By running away and quitting school. We will deal with the gum. You will deal with them by going back to school with your head held high. Show them just how much better than them you are by continuing to excel. At the rate you’re going, they will all be a distant memory before too long anyway.”
She nods her head this time and smiles weakly. “Do you really think Daniel can get it out without cutting it all off?” That is her biggest concern right now. We need to deal with the hair first before she can process the rest. I get it. I wasn’t a gifted kid like Aria, but I did grow up poor. I’ll be making a call to the school while Daniel takes care of Aria’s hair.
“I do.” I give her a warm hug and she clings to me tightly. “Let me give him a call to see if he can squeeze us in.”