Chapter 24 Parents
chapter Twenty-four
Parents
Tiffany
“And in other news, the Basille Hotel and Resort Corp. has been in the news a lot lately and not for its luxury rooms and exotic views. More than four hundred guests were ushered out of the Basille Orlando Resort after the power went out. Five people were trapped in an elevator for over four hours. While others were locked out of their rooms. Police are saying it was a cyber-attack. It’s unknown if there was a breach of any personal data.
We will have more later this evening,” the female reporter smiles at the camera as it goes to the weather.
I click off the news app on my phone feeling disgusted.
We’ve been back in the states for only four days and already things have gone left.
The first day we were back, Nico had to rush out of the house in the middle of the night to handle something at his warehouse.
I feel like whoever this person from his past is, they’re trying to break him.
My office phone goes off on my desk, alerting me that the receptionist is calling me. I answer it.
“Yes?”
“Hi, Tiffany. Mr. Blackwell is here to see you.”
I frown. I was supposed to meet Ezra at the house today around noon to go over some flooring options. We’ve almost got the entire house planned out and should start the demolition process soon.
“Okay, send him back.” I return the phone to the holder and stand up. Running a hand down my sage wide-leg dress pants, I wait for him to walk in.
The moment he spots me, his smile spreads over his face. I can’t deny that the man has a gorgeous smile. A smile that I haven’t seen face to face in weeks.
“Hi,” he says by way of greeting.
“Ezra, what are you doing here? I thought I was meeting you at the house this afternoon.”
“I brought you something.”
I realize then that he’s had his hands behind his back the entire time. When he brings them out, he’s holding a medium-sized canvas. When he turns it around, I gasp. It’s the picture he painted of me. The one in the pop art style. I take the canvas from him and admire it.
“This is stunning.” Seeing the finished piece was much more gorgeous than the text he sent. Ezra is a talented painter. I mean, duh, his artwork sells for millions of dollars. This isn’t done in his most bought style, but this is still really great work.
“I tried my best to capture your beauty, but that’s hard to do.” His compliment is sweet, but it didn’t make me feel as giddy as it once did.
“Well, thank you. This is going to hang in my office,” I say placing the canvas on top of my desk. “I guess since you’re here we can go over the flooring?”
I turn and walk around my desk to go to my bag sitting on the floor.
“Actually,” he says, stopping me in my tracks. “I have a bit of an ulterior motive for being here.”
He has my attention. I fold my arms across my chest and tuck them under my breasts.
He grins, showing off that million-dollar smile. “The exhibit that is showcasing my artwork is having an auction tomorrow night. I don’t really know anyone here yet, and I hate going to these functions alone. I was wondering if you would escort me. We would go as friends, obviously.”
Now, I know I’ve been testing Nico a lot lately. And if Ezra had asked me maybe a month ago, I might have considered it just to spite my husband. But even I know that something like this is playing with fire.
Dropping my hands down at my side, I shift my weight, buying time to find a nice way to tell him no.
“Ezra, I’m honored, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
His brow dips. “Why not? We’re going as friends.”
“I’m married.”
He takes a step toward me, closing the space that’s between us. His woodsy cologne assails my senses.
“Tell me you don’t have one of those insecure husbands who think every man that comes into contact with his wife is a threat?”
I didn’t like the way he was painting Nico. Not wanting his wife to go out with another man didn’t make him insecure.
“No, I don’t,” I say placing my hands on my hips. “But my husband has a wife who is committed to him and would never do anything that she felt was disrespectful. And going to a gallery with a single man that I just met is disrespectful.”
Ezra watches me for a moment, then he dips his chin and lifts his hands in surrender.
“You’re right,” he says. “Hearing it put that way does make it sound inappropriate. I mean, if you were my wife and some new guy came around trying to take you anywhere, I’d lose my shit.” He winks at me to lighten his joke.
It helps to ease my mind, but I still have that icky feeling. You know the feeling you get when you meet someone or are in a place that doesn’t feel quite right? Like if you walked into a home that’s haunted. Nothing is jumping out at you, but there is an odd, uneasy feeling.
“Still, thank you for the painting,” I say in hopes he takes the hint and leaves.
He nods. “I do have one more exciting thing to tell you. My sister wants to have dinner with you soon. One of her friends is looking to redo their home. They own a large estate over in Garnerville. My sister has been singing your praises to all her friends, now they want to meet you at dinner.”
Now this, I could get behind. Garnerville is home to some of the most beautiful mansions in the city. I’m talking multi-million-dollar homes. Getting a contract to work in that area would be great. Recommendations spread like wildfire there.
“When’s the dinner?”
His smile grows. I guess he realizes he has my attention. “I’ll have my sister set it up and then I’ll let you know when.”
I nod, feeling confident about the dinner and how I’m going to get that contract.
“Now,” he clasps his hands together. “Let’s look at this flooring.”
I spent about an hour with Ezra finalizing the floors for his new home. Next week, the contractors should start gutting the place. I was excited about seeing all my planning and design come together.
Since I had most of my day free since Ezra came early, I decided to do something special. Lately, I feel like Nico has been bending over backwards for me, and granted he had a lot of apologizing to do, I think he deserves some attention.
After going home to grab Noah, we headed to Nico’s office. We greet the first-floor receptionist and security guard before heading onto the elevator. Noah is giddy in my arms as he rides up to his father’s floor. Now that my baby has learned to crawl, he hardly ever wants to be carried.
When the elevator dings and the doors open, it’s like a circus.
So many people are scurrying around. I have never seen this office so damn busy.
I imagine the recent fiasco with the power outage is the cause.
Claire, Nico’s bitchy receptionist, spots us.
I’m sure if I ever told Nico that she was a rude bitch to me he would fire her ass, but her little dry tone and frowns don’t really get to me.
“This isn’t a good time,” she says as I approach my husband’s door.
I stop and turn to look at her. “Excuse me?”
She pushes her hair behind her ear and crosses her arms over her chest. “If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the middle of a crisis.”
I want to curse this chick out, but I take into account I’m at my husband’s place of business and she’s trying to do her job.
I ignore her remarks. “Is my husband in his office?”
She looks down at her nails. “No, he isn’t.”
Staring back at her, I wait for her to tell me where he is. I’m assuming in a meeting or something. Finally getting fed up, I ask.
“Is he in the conference room or something?”
She looks up at me with a smirk. “He’s out of the office. I’m guessing you not knowing where he is means he wants to be left alone.”
Rolling my eyes, I hike Noah up on my hip as I dig my phone out of my purse.
I thought it was unnecessary when Nico first told me we were sharing our location.
I assumed it was because I ran from him three months ago.
But now, I’m glad he did. I pull up his little bubble on my family tracking app and see that he’s at a cemetery.
“What the hell?” I mumble.
Placing my phone back in my purse, I turn to leave.
“He wants to be left alone.”
Her words have me turning back to look at her.
“I’ve been working for him a lot longer than you’ve known him. Take my advice. If he says he wants to be left alone, you should leave him alone.”
She gives me one of those bitchy smiles, the ones you expect from a high school mean girl.
I think I’ve let Claire’s bullshit go unchecked for too long.
She has mistaken my lack of response for cowardice.
Today, she will learn that although I always keep it classy, I have no problem with going gangster on her ass.
I walk back toward her desk. She has the right mind to look nervous.
“Don’t ever think you can tell me what that man wants. I don’t care how long you’ve known him. Your relationship with him and mine are not the same. Doesn’t even compare.”
Her nostrils flare and her face reddens. But if she knows what’s good for her, she will keep that little anger bottled up.
Lowering my voice, I lean forward and speak. “And since we’re giving out advice, here is some from me. The only reason you still have this job is because I haven’t told him to fire your ass yet. If you want to keep this position, you better act accordingly.”
Noah blurts out some gibberish and then laughs. I guess my son has my back. I lean up and drop a kiss on his cheek.
“Let’s go see Daddy,” I sing, glaring at Claire.
She swallows and looks down at her phone. Spinning on my heels, I head back out to find Nico.
Twenty minutes later, Noah and I walk through the Creekside Cemetery. Jake is a few paces behind us.
You can tell this place is well kept. The grass is neatly cut, and all the headstones are clean and well maintained. The mausoleums are large and look like small houses.