Chapter 7
When I cameinto the building, my arms full of file boxes, I had no idea I was walking into a trap.
“Rudy! Oh my God. Baby, I’ve missed you!”
I stopped so fast at the sound of that voice that Ella ran straight into me. I quickly dropped the boxes and wrapped an arm around her.
“Fecking hell, sorry, love. Are ya all right?”
Her face turned red. “Yeah, at least I didn’t break my butt today.”
“Mr. Ferguson, Ms. Edwards, is everything okay?”
I looked up to see the front security rushing our way.
“Yes, yes, we’re fine. Could ye be a gent and help me gather up these folders? Da will have me head for this.”
“Sure, no problem.”
“Rudy! Rudy, over here. They wouldn’t let me in to see you.”
I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes.
“You’re being summoned by...someone.”
“For the love of?—”
“Ignore her, I sure as feck am.”
Squatting down, I pulled a box to me, pushing the folders inside back into place. Why was that leech back here? In my building?
“Rudy, you heard me calling after you. I mean really, what is the matter with you?”
“If ye can’t take a hint, I can mail yer arse one. Goodbye, Celeste. It’s not nice seeing you again.”
I went back to picking up folders. I was not normally one to be rude to people, especially not in the lobby of my business, but this wretched leech deserved this and much more.
“Rudy, why?—”
“Excuse me, I believe he said to back off, lady.” Ella’s tone suddenly went from her normal calm to pissed.
Shite.
I stood, making sure I was between Ella and the leech. “Celeste, leave. There is nothing here for yer gold digging self.”
“Gold digging? How dare you.”
“Spare me yer shite.” I took Ella’s hand in mine. “Gerald, can ye have these boxes brought upstairs?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And whatever ye do, don’t let this one in.”
“Of course, sir, as you wish.”
“Rudy! Don’t you dare walk away from me.”
Ignoring her, I led Ella toward the lift.
“Did you get my flowers?”
That brought me up short. I turned, glaring at her. “If ye think yer funny, yer not. Stay away from us.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll see me again tomorrow night. I’ll be the one in red. You still like red, don’t ya? Red on top, bare underneath.”
Closing my eyes, I gritted my teeth. “Security, get her out of here. If she comes back or doesn’t want to leave, call the police. Have her charged with trespassing.”
Turning back, I went to the lift, escorted Ella inside, and slammed my hand against the door close button.
“I thought you had better taste in women than that.”
I looked down at Ella. Her brows were pinched, her lips tight. Reaching out, I pulled the stop button, and the lift rocked to a stop.
“Ella, love, that was a mistake younger me made. I thought,” I said, placing a finger under her chin so she had to look at me. “That was a drunken night out with the fellas. I had no idea she knew who I was. I told no one back there before I joined Da here. I never wanted my money to make me a target. She got her claws in me good. She’s a regret that is better left in the past.”
“She sent you those flowers. That note.” My hand moved to cup her cheek.
“No one will change how I feel about you. They will not scare me into doing something I don’t want. Nor will they make me walk away from yer love. Ella, sweetheart, I fecking love ye. Yer smile. Yer kindness. All of the pieces that make ye so damn special to me.”
Her cheeks pinked with a blush. “I love you. I’m sorry, I wanted to pummel her. I would have too, but you were in the way. I didn’t want to clobber you in the head instead of her.”
“Ye can clobber me anytime, love.”
Her smile had my heart. “Don’t joke about this. What if?—”
“We live in the now, not in the what ifs. Nothing will happen. Ye will be with me at the auction. And after. Yer bidding on me, right?”
Her silence had my brow raising.
“Ella?”
“I don’t know, I’m still thinking.”
“Thinking about what exactly?”
She looked at her fingernails, dusting them on her shirt. “Oh, I don’t know. This and that.”
Chuckling, I hit the stop button, pushing it back in place. The lift jerked slightly then continued its trip up. When we got off, I was met by scowling security men.
“Is there a problem with the elevator?”
“No, it’s fine,” Ella replied, taking my hand.
“What happened in the lobby?”
“Oh, that was just the trash being taken out.” Her words were flippant and still full of anger.
Shrugging a shoulder, I let her lead me through the reception area and back to my office. We had work to do. Tonight, instead of going home, we were going a few streets over to the hotel where the auction was being held tomorrow night. There was a 9:00am reversal so everyone knew where to stand and how they were expected to act.
This was just not my thing. Da owed me big time.
“Okay, so, you have a meeting in twenty-five minutes with the Mason Group. There is a new proposal which I’ve looked over, made you some notes, and your father did the same.”
“I looked at this one yesterday.”
“No, you looked at the first one sent; this one came while you were getting your photos done for the auction.” She laid it out in front of me. “I’ll be in there preparing for your 10:30am, and don’t forget, there is a group meeting with your Dad at noon. The Oswald conference call is at 3:00pm and to end your day, the men from Johnston Construction will be here at 4:15pm.”
“Can we cancel it all and just go to the hotel already?”
Her eyes sparkled as she smiled. “We have reservations for dinner at 6:30pm. From there, we can go to the hotel. You can’t move any of these as they’ve already been moved once. Your sex drive cannot get in the way of work, Mr. Ferguson.”
“The feck it can’t.”
“Rudy, baby, work now, and you can play later. Don’t work now, and well, you go to the hotel alone. Comprende?”
“Ye drive a hard bargain, love.”
“It’s all in a day’s work. Now, chop-chop.”
I watched her walk back out to her desk and sighed. She was no fun some days. No, that wasn’t fair. She was keeping me on task, and that was part of her job. Chuckling, I grabbed the folder on the desk and opened it, leaning back in my chair.
This was going to be a long day.
“That’s a wrap,” Ella called out as she passed my door and headed for the front.
I rolled my shoulders, trying to work out the tightness in my neck. One thing about these busy days, they gave me the worst neck/headache. I knew it was tension. There wasn’t much I could do to alleviate that. Other than not working.
I wasn’t that type of person. I worked for what I wanted. I didn’t become one of the youngest, richest men in the world by sitting by and letting others do my work.
Getting up from my chair, I rolled my neck, groaning. Today had done a number on my neck. Walking out of the office, I went looking for Ella. She was at the front desk, her bag on her shoulder, her hand digging around for something.
“What’s the matter, love?”
“Ah, nothing. I found it.” She patted her bag and turned to take my hand and lead me to the lift. “I’m ready for a nice, long, hot bath. My feet hurt.”
I chuckled. “You were running all day, I’m not surprised. A long bath sounds good.” When the lift opened to the lobby, I squeezed her hand. “How would you like to just head to the hotel? Carl has us checked in, and our things have been taken to the presidential suite.”
“What about dinner? Room service?”
I turned to walk backward, her hand still clasped in mine. I grinned, moving her to where she was up against the doorframe. “Yes, room service. That means I get to keep you all to myself for the entire night.”
“Hmm, why, Mr. Ferguson, are you trying to seduce me?”
“Aye,” I leaned in to press a soft kiss to her lips, “Always.”
Her giggle had me smiling wide.
“I love that sound,” I brushed her hair from her face. “Come on, love, let’s go get you out of those shoes.”
“Yes, please.”
I led us out of the building, making sure the guards locked up after us.
“Good evening, sir, Ms. Edwards. Where to?”
“To the hotel, please,” Ella said, climbing in through the open door.
“Yes, hotel please.”
“Very well,” he responded before shutting the door.
As the car maneuvered through the traffic, I wrapped my arm around Ella, placing a kiss to her head. “I think I could sleep for a week.”
“Right? Today was nuts. From psycho to new contracts and then, of course, your dad putting his foot in his mouth. I swear…” She sat up, laughter in her eyes. “I thought May was going to whack him with the stapler. He kind of deserved it.”
“Aye, the old man has a knack for shitting on his shoes.”
Ella’s bark of laughter had me grinning. “Those two?—”
“Love the same woman for different reasons. When Mum is there to referee them, they aren’t as bad.”
“They’re not bad now, just entertaining. I can’t say many son-in-laws and mother-in-laws could work together. I don’t remember my grandparents; they were all gone by the time I got old enough to know the people around me. But from the stories Mom tells, there is no way in any world her mom could have worked with my dad.” She smiled wide. “But there is a different dynamic there.”
“Ye’ve said yer da is gone, but ye don’t talk about any of your family. Ye know ye can tell me anything, if ye wannea talk about them.”
“There isn’t much to say. My dad died when I was five. I don’t really remember him. I have one picture of him and my mom together. It’s always just been me and Mom. She’s done anything and everything she could to make sure I have what I need and when she could, I got the things I wanted. It’s why I worked so hard to get through school. Kept my grades up. Even now, she deposits money from her check every week into my account. I move it to my savings so it’s there if she ever needs it.”
“Yer mum is like mine. She knows I don’t need anything, but she’s always doing little things for me. And for Da. Without her, he’d probably wear suits even around the house.” I chuckled. “Slacks and a polo are as dress down as he will allow. Unless he’s golfing, then he wears those god-awful pants.”
I shook my head as we pulled up to the hotel. When the door opened, Ella exited and I followed.
“Your keys are at the front desk; you will have to show your ID to get them. The room is ready, your bags are up there as well as a welcome basket from the hotel. There is also a bottle of wine on ice.”
“Thank you, Carl. Please take the night off. We will not be leaving the room until it’s time for the charity event.”
“Yes, sir, thank you. It’s my granddaughter’s birthday. She’s seven today.”
“Oh, Carl! Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Ella swatted my arm. “You should know these things.”
I huffed. “You’re right, love. I apologize, Carl. I could have had William drive us today.”
“No, really, it’s fine. She’s been at school all day. It’s tradition that I come over for cake and to read her a bedtime story on her birthday. It will be a huge surprise to see me for dinner too. I appreciate it, sir.”
“Old pal.” I clapped him on his shoulder. “Please call me Rudy; we’ve had this discussion. Ye’ve known me since I was a young lad. You’ve earned that right. And, I’m not me father.”
“Sure, Rudy, thank you. You and Ms. Ella, enjoy your night.”
“Good night, Carl.” Ella leaned up and pressed a featherlight kiss to his wrinkled face. “See you tomorrow afternoon and not a minute sooner.”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am, as you wish.”
We made our way inside. Ella’s face lit up. She reminded me of a kid in a candy store. Her wide eyes took in everything. The large windows that looked out onto the street. The crystal chandelier that took up a good portion of the ceiling. The grand staircase that led to a balcony that overlooked the large lobby. The front desk was marble, the walls painted a complimentary color. It was magic and beauty in one.
The committee had picked the perfect place for the charity ball tomorrow. Even if I was having to put myself on display for all to see, I was happy to be a part of something so amazing.
With keys in hand, we made our way to the lift. It was time to get my girl naked and in my arms. It was my happy place. Hers too, I was sure. Just us, alone. Leaving the world around us on the outside of the door. Here’s to a night of love, passion, and togetherness.