Chapter 8 #2
She slowly came to her feet. “Ian?”
Ian turned back and met his brother’s grim expression.
“Sorry, bro.”
He turned back to Maya. Her expression went from shock to anger in a flash.
Ian’s father cleared his throat. “Ah, Ms. Brooks, I see you’ve already met my youngest son, Ian. With him is my oldest son, Christopher. If you all take your seats we can get started.”
Maya’s angry gaze never left Ian’s. “There’s no need. Hell will freeze over before I sell you my shop,” she gritted out. She snatched up her papers and purse and stormed past Ian out the still-open door.
Ian rushed after her. “Maya, wait.” He reached out and caught her arm.
She snatched out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me!”
“Maya, I’m sorry. I—”
“This is just another building to you, but it’s my life. I will lose everything. You conspire to force me out of my business and the best you can do is I’m sorry? Are you sorry enough to drop this whole thing and let me keep my shop?”
His jaw tightened, but he remained silent.
“That’s what I thought.”
“Maya. I didn’t know.”
“And next you’re going to tell me you knew nothing about this deal,” she said sarcastically.
“Yes. Wait, no.” Ian scrubbed an agitated hand down his face, took a deep breath and started again. “Yes, I knew about the deal. No, I didn’t know your shop was the holdout.”
“This whole relationship was one big lie.” Maya chuckled mirthlessly. “So that was the important news. At least now I know why you wanted to talk to me so bad.” She turned and started down the hallway again.
The tears standing in her eyes were killing him.
He stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
“No, baby. That’s not what I wanted to tell you.
You have to believe me, Maya. I didn’t know and nothing about our relationship has been a lie.
” He cradled her face between his palms. “I wanted to tell you, I love you. I love you, Maya.”
She said nothing for several charged seconds, and for a brief moment her gaze softened before going cold again. “Nice try.”
“I’m very serious. I do love you,” he reiterated. Ian blew out another long breath. “I know you’re really angry right now and I’m worried about you. Let me drive you home.”
“I don’t need anything from you, least of all your concern,” she snapped. “Just stay away from me.” She stepped around him and rushed down the hall.
This time he let her go. He stared after her, feeling like his heart was breaking. Ian let the wall take his weight, closed his eyes and banged his head softly against it. How could this happen?
“Mr. Jeffries?”
Ian opened his eyes and straightened from the wall. It was the woman who had sat next to Maya. She had smooth honey-brown skin, was tall, slender and moved with the grace of a model striding down a runway.
She extended her hand. “I’m Rhonda Davis, Maya’s best friend and business partner.”
“Call me Ian,” he said, taking the proffered hand.
“I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances.
” He pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Can you please let me know that Maya made it home safe? I’m concerned about her.
I’d call myself, but right now I’m the last person she wants to talk to. ”
She studied him for a moment. “You’ve fallen in love with Maya, haven’t you?”
“Yes. I just realized that I love her more than anything.”
She hesitated, then took the card. “I’ll see what I can do.” She turned and walked away.
He stood in the hallway a moment longer before going back to the conference room.
“Looks like your relationship with Ms. Brooks is going to work in our favor,” his father said as soon as Ian entered. “Your brother tells me you’ve been seeing her a few weeks.”
“Yes.”
“Good, good. Keep wooing her. Do whatever it takes to get this deal closed.”
Ian shook his head. “I can’t do that, Dad. I won’t hurt her like that.”
His father sat up in his chair. “What do you mean, you can’t do it?” he gritted out. “You’re going to let some woman you just met come between you and your obligation to this company? We’ve offered her almost twice what that shop is worth, so I don’t understand her problem.”
“Dad,” Chris jumped in, “you know that’s not fair.”
Ian braced his hands on the desk. “Dad, you know as well as I do how hard it would be to start over if she has to move.”
“This is about business. We can’t afford to disappoint our investors. They’ve put up a lot of money and expect results.”
“So has Maya,” he countered. “Even with the amount we offered, she may not be able to recover her losses. Put yourself in her shoes. How would you feel if someone asked you to uproot your life?”
His father sighed heavily. “Ian, I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t see any way out for Ms. Brooks.” He stood and walked to the door. “I’m sorry, son.”
When the door closed behind his father, Ian slammed his hand on the table, spun around and let out a frustrated groan. “Why didn’t you tell me, Chris?”
“I tried to tell you earlier, but you wouldn’t listen. And before you jump down my throat, I only found out this morning when Sam dropped the file off in my office. I take it she’s pretty mad.”
“And hurt. She thinks I orchestrated the whole relationship to get her shop.” He paced the room. “I love her, Chris. I can’t make her lose her shop. It’ll destroy her.” He stopped, braced his hands on the table again and bowed his head. “I feel like this is a repeat of last time.”
“This is nothing like last time, Ian. Laura tried to steal blueprints for her brother’s company so they could win a bid. The only blueprint stolen this time was the one to your heart.” He chuckled. “I guess I was right about that love bug biting you in the butt, huh?”
Ian angled his head and smiled faintly. “Guess so. But it doesn’t matter now. If I close this deal I’ll lose her for sure. If I help her keep it, I can kiss my career goodbye. Dad will have me stuck drawing closets for the rest of my life.”
Chis placed a hand on Ian’s shoulder. “You’re one of the smartest people I know. If anybody can come up with a solution, it’s you. I’ll see you later.”
He nodded. “Tell Shellie hello.” Alone, Ian sank into the closest chair and buried his head in his hands.
Money notwithstanding, relocating meant that Maya couldn’t take orders and would likely lose most of her clientele, and like she’d said, it could potentially destroy her business.
He couldn’t see any way out of this mess and didn’t know what he was going to do.
The only thing he knew for sure was that he couldn’t.
..wouldn’t let the woman he loved lose her livelihood.