Animalistic Galley Fin (4 page)

Trent slowly crawled up. It was a tight fit, but he managed, his body pressed against hers. With one arm, he reached the damper. He willed himself into a partial transformation and cut the material with his claws. As soon as he did that, Arielle dropped down onto her feet. She wriggled so much trying to get out, he got an instant boner from the friction of her body against his own.

“Arielle, chill. Let me get out first, okay? I’m the closest. It’s easier that way.”

“Sorry.”

“Stay still.” Trent climbed down. He turned around and fixed his pants, and then he then helped her out. What he did, he attracted some attention, but John slickly fended off any inquiries.

Trent couldn’t stop grinning. Arielle was dressed in a Santa suit, complete with a white beard and fur-trimmed hat, but the beard and hat were covered with soot. He couldn’t fathom what she was doing.

Arielle was visibly shaken and despite his amusement, his protective instincts overcame him.

“Can you walk?” he asked.

She only nodded, wordlessly.

Someone from the hotel came over to ask John what exactly was going on, as there was no hiding the scene they had caused. John requested some privacy, since Arielle was clearly in distress. The hotel employee directed them to the manager’s office, since it was currently empty. John asked the man to bring them some water.

Arielle looked like as if she were ready to cry, so Trent handed her some tissues.

“My name is Trent. Trent Alexander. And this is my brother John. Now, will you please tell me what were you doing in the chimney? If you’re actually Santa, you’re a little early this year.”

Her eyes were red and so was her nose. Up close like this, her complexion was very pale. Her eyes were a striking blue and her hair was a darker black than he’d realized in the sunlight. She had the allure of a vintage pinup.

Christ, even in this condition, she was beautiful.

She cleared her face with a yank and threw the fake beard and hat onto the carpet. Then she dabbed her eyes and blew her nose like a foghorn.

Still, Trent found her very cute.

The hotel guy returned with the water and excused himself.

Arielle drank from the water bottle and exhaled a deep breath. “I was trying to serve a summons to a man named Frank Darbo, but I couldn’t get past his bodyguard. My boss told me he was going to be at this party, but I’m just a paralegal; I wasn’t about to get invited. I saw the snow machines being wheeled into the hotel, so I assumed the party had some sort of Christmas theme. Of course, once I got inside and saw the devil waitresses, I realized I’d made a horrible mistake, but it was too late to do anything about it. Before I could find Darbo, his bodyguard recognized me, even in my disguise. I panicked and tried to find a corner to hide in but there wasn’t one, so I climbed in the fireplace and got stuck. And then you came.”

“You poor thing,” said Trent automatically. He stopped just short of hugging her.

She blinked back tears. “I must look pretty pathetic, huh?”

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

John held a hand out to Arielle, “Let me see the summons.”

She reached inside her Santa suit and pulled out a piece of paper.

John read it briefly. “I think I know that guy. Small, weasely-looking, a real scumbag. He was chatting with Severo when we came in.”

“Is his bodyguard still around? I need to get rid of this,” she asked.

“You shouldn’t go back into the party looking like… that. I have an idea, wait here.” John gave the paper back to Arielle and exited the room.

“What is your brother doing?” she asked Trent.

“Don’t worry; John has great people skills. Aren’t you hot in that getup?” Trent pointed to her Santa suit.

“I’m boiling in it.”

“Do you want to take it off?”

“I’m not wearing anything decent underneath. My stuff is at the office.”

“Shall I get you some clothes?”

Arielle looked at him suspiciously. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“I’m a nice guy. I have a soft spot for people in need.”

“You saved me twice today. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“I can think of a way. Let me buy you a dinner.”

“Dinner?” Arielle eyed him doubtfully. “I shouldn’t… I mean… I can’t. I’m seeing somebody.”

So she wasn’t single, thought Trent in dismay. He didn’t smell the scent of a human male on her. Not recently. Not in a long time. Still, he didn’t want to give up. “It’s just dinner. Don’t tell me your boyfriend is the jealous type?”

She hesitated, then shrugged. “He’s just… I don’t know. Maybe.”

The door opened and John entered with Frank Darbo, who was accompanied by three beautiful women, each in different, yet shockingly similar, little black dresses. They were laughing and chatting until Darbo realized what was going on. He recognized Arielle.

“Hey, you’re that broad from this afternoon,” he mumbled in a thick Brooklyn accent.

Trent went on alert mode. He snatched the paper from Arielle’s hand. “You’re Frank Darbo?”

Darbo glared at him. “And what is it to you?”

Trent shoved the paper into Frank’s hand. “Frank Darbo; you have been served.”

Arielle took out her phone and snapped a picture.

For the first time since Trent had met her, Arielle was smiling.

Frank was flabbergasted, his face dark with fury. He looked as if he was going to say something rude to Arielle but changed his mind when Trent glowered at him. The cowardly man couldn’t do much without his bodyguard. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

“Yeah, I look forward to it,” Trent snapped back. He grabbed Arielle’s hand and escorted her out to the lobby, then made their way to the front entry. “Did you drive here?”

“I don’t have a car.”

“Taxi?”

“Yeah.”

“You look as if you could use some ice cream.”

“Ah. I’d love to. But I have to get back to the office. Rain check?”

Trent was happy to hear that. Friends for now was more than he could ask for. “Sure.”

John followed them outside.

“How did you get Frank to go with you?” asked Trent.

His brother waved his hand dismissively. “You know I have a superb power of persuasion.”

“Yeah, okay, and in the real world?”

“I told him I had some good
coke
, uncut, pure Nicaraguan, and asked if he wanted to party. Easy.”

“I bet he was pissed at you.”

“Yeah, he was. He took a swing at me. I knocked him out.”

“Are you kidding?” Arielle chimed in.

John patted Arielle’s shoulder like a doting parent. “There, there, little sis. I was only returning the favor for the misery you endured while trapped in the fireplace, and gave him a solid black eye. He won’t be getting up for a while.”

Arielle joined in their grins. “Best news I heard all day. But you do know, he can sue you for assault or even have you arrested, right?”

“Self-defense. I also have a very expensive lawyer on retainer. Don’t sweat it. How about we drive you home? You didn’t drive here, did you?”

“I need to get back to the office.”

“Then we’ll drive you back to the office to make sure you get there safe and sound.”

Chapter Four

The day didn’t end as badly as it had started, Arielle mused as she rode shotgun in the black Lexus. After everything that went wrong since the morning, she was looking forward to unwinding after work. God, she really needed it. A hot bath and the bottle of wine, she didn’t finish yesterday were definitely in order. She had earned it. She’d been exhausting herself at work all week. She had been handling three-person workloads since she returned to the firm six months ago, courtesy of Sabrina.

Arielle allowed herself to relax a little and found she wasn’t as tense as before. She was able to serve Frank Darbo, and get that one thing get out of the way; then she could start getting her life back on track tomorrow morning.

It really
was
nice of Trent and his brother to help her.

Without them, she’d probably still be stuck in the fireplace, and the hotel would probably have had to call the fire department. There’d be a dramatic rescue while some reporters that covered the silly incident would explain why a woman masquerading as Santa got stuck in a chimney.

Arielle would have died if that had actually happened.

Not to mention if Chris found out, or God forbid, Sabrina. The incident would give that bitch plenty of fodder to mock her misfortune for the next five years. She was miserable enough
without
giving Sabrina any more ammunition to make fun of her. It seemed ensuring Arielle’s continued misery was Sabrina’s sole reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Arielle chatted with Trent and John during the ride. She couldn’t help but feel a little guilty over how she had treated Trent earlier in the day. She thought he was one of those glory-seeking jocks. Chris was one of those guys and he never let her forget how lucky she was to have him as her man. Sometimes Arielle suspected that Chris was actually the one with the self-esteem issues.

But Trent—he seemed different. He looked genuinely concerned for her. She even suspected he might have some interest in her. But after finding out that she had a boyfriend, he wasn’t coming on as strongly as before.

Still, he looked so happy when she told him she would accept his invitation for ice cream. He knew an old-fashioned ice cream shop on Amsterdam that churned their own soft serve and made their own frozen yogurt. Trent invited her to go there tomorrow after work.

Trent dropped her off in front of her office building. John refused to move into the passenger seat and ordered his brother to continue to drive like a chauffeur, which annoyed the hell out of Trent. As the two bickered like an old married couple, Arielle said her goodbyes and went inside.

It was close to ten o’clock when she entered her office. She quickly changed her clothes and folded the dirty Santa costume; the rental place wouldn’t be happy when she returned it tomorrow. The costume was covered in black soot and smelled like smoke. There went her deposit.

After tidying her desk and checking her voicemail, she was ready to go home. Just because it was late didn’t mean the law firm was empty. A few people were still at the office; there was a night secretary and a couple of associates who were pulling an all-nighter. Arielle collected her folders to put on Sabrina’s desk while she wasn’t there to give her a hard time. Unlike the associates in the firm who worked nonstop, desperately scrambling to make partner, her boss rarely stayed past eight o’clock. Sabrina often bragged
she
had a life outside work, taking pleasure in the fact that Arielle had spent most her adult life in the office.

She walked past Sabrina’s secretary’s desk and pushed the door open. She was so lost in her thoughts that her brain didn’t immediately comprehend what was happening.

Sabrina was draped across her desk, legs splayed out, while Chris stood frozen with his pants down his ankles.

What?

Her first reaction was to wonder what Chris was doing in Sabrina’s office at all.

Then it hit her.

Sabrina was the woman he had been cheating with.

Chris withdrew from her boss and hurriedly pulled his pants up.

Sabrina just cursed.

And Arielle stood there like an idiot.

After the first wave of shock, all she could feel was numbness.

She should have seen this coming.

Chris cheating, of course. But not with Sabrina.

No. Not her.

Chris had more sense than that.

But why?

Why her?

And she caught them
in flagrante delicto
. She couldn’t un-see what she’d just seen. Not even if she scrubbed her eyes and brain with steel wool.

After the numbness dissipated, a fury engulfed her whole. This time, she wished a grand piano would fall on the two of them and squish them flat.

How could she do this to her? Well, this was Sabrina and she was a piece of shit to begin with. But Chris, how could he?

She and Chris had been together since… forever. Why couldn’t he muster a shred of decency and break their relationship off instead of going around her back and boning their boss?

Oh, Jesus Almighty, Arielle wanted to puke.

“I thought you’d gone home already, Arielle. Were you able to serve Frank Darbo?” Sabrina asked like nothing was going on. She made herself decent while sporting a vicious smirk. Like the bitch she was, she was proud of what she had done and now she was gauging Arielle’s reaction. Sabrina seemed to expect her to blow up. To curse.

To completely break down and cry.

No.

Arielle wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. Not in this lifetime. Forcing her expression into a stoic mask she reserved for trials, she handed the folders to Sabrina, but when her boss reached out to grab them, Arielle flung them on the desk.

“Are you kidding me with this? What the hell is going on?” Arielle cut her attention to the cheating bastard Chris and skewered him with her ultra-withering gaze. “I hope you bother to wear a condom when you dip your wick in questionable pussy, Chris. She’s been around. Your dick might fall off.”

Sabrina snorted derisively. “That’s classy.”

Chris, who had always managed to look slick and untouchable, was now completely deflated. “Wait Arielle, I can explain...”

“Really, what’s left to explain? It’s not like your dick could wander into her by itself, could it? Freaking unbelievable.” Arielle turned around and left. She held her head high as she walked stiffly toward the reception corridor. She blinked back her tears. No, she wouldn’t cry. He wasn’t worth her tears. No way. Her hands were shaking badly when she was in the elevator. She wanted to punch the wall. Kick something. Scream at the top of her lungs. Just when she cleared out a hurdle, another one snuck up on her and tripped her, sending her face-down into the ground.

Chris and Sabrina. How long had they been at each other?

And how stupid was she for not seeing the signs?

Arielle flagged a taxi to go home; she didn’t feel like taking the subway tonight. She was afraid she was going to break down and cry and make a spectacle of herself in front of a train full of strangers. She didn’t even feel like she’d be up to going into the office tomorrow. She wanted to curl up in her bed and never step outside again. Maybe she should call Trent to cancel the ice cream excursion. She groped in her coat pocket for her phone and she realized she didn’t have it. Damn. Did she forget it again at her desk? Too late now. She was already in the taxi and didn’t feel like going back in there.