Beyond the Velvet Rope (44 page)

Disgusted with himself, he wordlessly walked away from the clinging brunette. He had something to take care of. If Thandie was mad at him, that was one thing, but he would be damned if she offered herself to another guy. And in his own club, at that. It was disrespectful, and he would put her in her place.

* * *

Having concluded their discussion, Thandie accepted Guy’s business card and promised to keep him in mind for any future opportunities.

They were about to leave when a dark shadow fell over them. Thandie looked up to see Elliot’s tall figure standing in the corridor, filling the doorway to Markie office.

Guy gave Thandie a curious look. “Do you know him?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, yes,” she said.

Guy glanced between the two of them and decided to take his leave. An uncomfortable moment passed when it became apparent Elliot was not going to step aside to allow the man easy passage. Guy paused, and was then forced to squeeze past Elliot’s broad shoulders to exit the room, all the while being glared at.

When they were alone, Elliot stepped forward, kicking the door closed with his foot. He turned his intense gaze on Thandie. “Who the hell was that?” he demanded.

Thandie planted her hands on her hips and glared right back at him.

Elliot advanced on her. “I believe I asked you a question.”

“You have some nerve even talking to me,” she snapped. “Why don’t you go find that brunette who had her hand in your lap all night?”

“Who was that?” he repeated slowly.

Fuming, Thandie marched forward, intending to brush past him and quickly lose herself in the crowd. However, Elliot had other plans. He gripped her upper arm and held her against him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he whispered.

“Get your damn hands off me,” she hissed. “I told you, we’re done.”

“We’re done when I say we’re done.”

“Let go of me or I’ll scream my head off.”

Elliot was furious, but wise enough to see she was serious. Releasing his hold on her, he eased her away from him. Thandie quickly stepped past him, but before she was out of earshot, she heard Elliot’s voice call out to her.

“Running back to Warren to cry on his shoulder?”

Angry, she whirled around on him. “What is it with you? Why all the animosity toward Warren? He’s a great guy.”

Elliot gave a dry laugh. “You don’t know Warren like I do. All you see is the funny old man who hangs out in nightclubs, trying to relive his youth.”

“He’s never given me reason to doubt his motives.”

“Because you’re too caught up in his stupid jokes and money-flashing ways to care.”

“Give me a break.” She turned to walk away.

“Have you slept with him yet?”

That stopped her cold. Thandie spun on her heels to face him. “What did you just say to me?”

Elliot slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks and he met her glare with own of his one. “I asked if you’d slept with him.” The words were spoken with icy malice.

Thandie stared at him, hating him for asking such a question. “No,” she said coldly. “Have you?”

He stepped closer to her, measuring her. “He’s tried to get you into bed before, right?”

“Why would that matter to you? My relationship with Warren is none of your business.”

“Wrong again, pussycat.” He drew his brows together. “Warren is my business.”

“How in the world—” Thandie suddenly stared at him, seeing him for the first time. The furrow of his brows. That particular way that had always struck her as odd and yet...familiar. “Oh, my God,” she whispered in a broken voice. Her eyes focused on him. How could she not have seen it before?

Elliot looked away, his jaw tight.

“It all makes sense now,” Thandie said in a hushed voice. She gave a humorless laugh. “You must really think I’m stupid. When were you going to tell me, Elliot?” She jabbed an accusing finger at his chest. “When were you going to tell me Warren is your father?”

Elliot’s mouth drew into a thin line.

“He got your mother pregnant and left her for another woman.” She said these words almost to herself, trying to recall Warren’s drunken rant so many weeks ago. “You’re the reason he moved to Miami. You and Lucinda.”

“That’s enough,” he said in low voice.

“That’s how he convinced you to hire me, isn’t it? You did it as a favor to your father.”

Elliot said nothing.

“But why?” she asked. “You don’t care for him. You don’t even like him. Why would you—” Thandie stopped herself when a chilling thought came to mind. “You slept with me, thinking that I’d had a relationship with him?” She sounded scandalized.

Elliot lowered his eyes, looking guilty as hell.

“Tell me the truth,” she demanded, even though she was sure she already knew. “I want to hear it from you.”

Elliot lifted his eyes to meet hers. They were as cold and hard. “When he first told me about you, I thought you were someone special to him. I didn’t want to hire you, but I could see how much it meant to him. So I agreed, meaning to make your job as uncomfortable as possible. And then you walked into my office. You’re certainly the type of woman he goes for: pretty, exotic and far too young for him. When he offered his home to you, I knew you were more than a passing fling for him.” He broke their gaze. “I planned to seduce you.”

“Why?”

“To hurt him.”

“And me?” she choked out.

He fixed her with a defiant stare.

“Collateral damage,” she finished for him. Thandie took a step away from Elliot. “That’s what this has always been about, hasn’t it? Hurting Warren.” She took another backward step, catching her breath. “And I was just a pawn for your revenge.” Her fists clenched together. “How could you be so cruel?”

“It wasn’t all about revenge,” he said. “At least, entirely.”

“Havana,” she whispered.

“Not Havana.” He implored her with intense eyes. “That was all me.”

She shook her head violently, and found she couldn’t stop.

Elliot took a cautious step forward. “Thandie, calm down.” His voice was soft and even. “You need to breathe deeply and slowly. Can you hear me?” He moved closer, careful not to make any sudden movements. “Thandie,” he said louder, “breathe slowly for God’s sake, try to get control of yourself.”

She wasn’t listening. She continued to move away from him, shaking violently. When Elliot reached out for her, Thandie jerked back so abruptly she lost her balance and fell. She scrambled back, catching herself on her hands and feet. Elliot’s arms were immediately around her, pulling her up and cradling her to him. With a strength Thandie hadn’t known she possessed, she fought against him, struggling to shake off his touch.

Twisting free of him, she grasped the doorknob with frantic hands. Throwing the door open, she stopped short. Warren, Markie and Romero were standing there. They stared mutely at her tearful expression and then at Elliot.

Warren’s eyes went wide with worry. “Kiddo?” he asked cautiously. “What’s wrong?”

Thandie looked at Warren, seeing him clearly for the first time. She could not disguise the betrayal she felt. “Oh, Warren,” she said in obvious disappointment. “How could you?”

Warren flinched at her words. Shame washed over his weathered features. He glanced nervously at Elliot, swallowed hard and then said, “Let me explain.”

“Get out of the way, Warren,” Elliot barked. “Thandie, come here.”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Warren snapped.

She didn’t want to hear another word from either father or son. If she did not get away, she was going to have a complete meltdown. Already, her breath was coming in quick gasps. Her legs were stiff beneath her, and colorful stars had begun to blind her.

Rushing from the office, she quickly put distance between herself and the sound of Elliot and Warren arguing. Barely able to see through the bright bursts of light exploding inside her head, she ran face first into Rex’s chest. He steadied her by grabbing hold of her shoulders. When he looked at her, his eyes went wide. “My goodness, Thandie, what’s wrong?”

She shook her head, unable to speak and gasping for breath.

“What has Elliot done?” he demanded.

Too breathless to give an excuse, she pushed away from him and moved toward the exit. Reaching the main hall, she flung open the entry door, causing it to bang loudly against the wall.

“What the hell?” Tiny said in surprise.

Sparing him no mind, Thandie shouldered her way through a mass of people waiting to get in. As soon as she was clear of the crowd, she gasped for breath, but the air never seemed to reach her lungs. Leaning heavily against the stone exterior of the building, Thandie forced herself to move as quickly as she could away from the club’s entrance. She managed to hobble a few precious feet before she heard the club doors burst open again and Elliot’s booming voice.

“Thandie!”

Chancing a glance over her shoulder, she saw Elliot’s dark head swivel back and forth as his stern face swept the congested sidewalk. In one fluid motion, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone and held it to his ear. Thandie’s phone began to vibrate inside her purse. Ignoring it, she stumbled a few more feet.

She just made it around the corner of the building when her legs collapsed beneath her. She slid ungracefully down the wall. Squeezing her eyes shut, she struggled for control. Determinedly, she focused only on her breathing and not the devastated remains of her broken heart.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

E
lliot slept fitfully, and was happy when his alarm clock finally went off. The house was a lot different without Thandie and the girls there.

He’d returned home the previous night to an empty house, not that he’d expected a warm homecoming. But he was irritated all the same.

Thandie had removed all of her and the girls’ belongings. They had been quite through. There wasn’t a scape of fabric left behind. No doubt they were all at Warren’s house. The thought alone pissed him off. He didn’t want Warren anywhere near Thandie, but thanks to him, she was sleeping under his roof now.

Although he was tempted to go over there and demand Thandie return home with him, he was well aware he and Warren needed space. Another minute in each other’s company, and things were liable to become violent.

Last night, he and Warren had had one of their worst arguments ever. Neither had been willing to back down nor allow the other to get a word in.

Finally, Elliot had been able to unleash all his anger at the man who’d fathered him. He’d ranted and raved about how little he needed him, and berated him for his cavalier lifestyle.

Warren hadn’t taken it lying down. He’d ranted at Elliot for hurting Thandie and demanded he stay away from her. That hadn’t gone over well. Not surprisingly, more angry words had been shouted and fierce glares delivered. It was like two bulls being unleashed in a small pen.

In the end, Elliot had to barrel past Warren to go after Thandie. If her panic attack was as bad as he feared, he had to get to her. Even if she hated him for it, he had to help her. But he’d been too late. Thandie was gone. She’d disappeared into the crowd.

He’d tried to revive the evening by greeting club guests, but it hadn’t taken long to realize he did not have the stomach for it. Nor the patience. His fight with Thandie, followed by his showdown with Warren, had left him in a bad mood. Eventually, he’d retreated to his office and further aggravated himself by placing calls to Thandie’s cell phone. Calls that were never answered.

He’d gone home.

Scowling, he’d gone to his bedroom and forced himself to go to sleep. It had taken some time before he was able to drift off. His thoughts had been filled with images of Thandie’s shocked expression when she’d learned the truth about him. The look on her face was a cross between disbelief and resignation. Resignation. The word bothered him.

* * *

At the first sound from his alarm clock, Elliot flung his legs over the edge of the bed and stalked to the bathroom. After taking a quick shower, he listened to his messages while he dressed.

Message 1: “Elliot, it’s Nico. I got your message. I’ll do it, but I think we need to talk. Call me.”

Message 2: “This is Matrix calling you back.”

Message 3: “Hey, this is Eddie. There was a scheduling conflict today. The investor meeting had to be moved up an hour. I left a message with Romero, but I thought you ought to know.”

Elliot gritted his teeth as he listened to the final message. Thandie had not returned his call, not that he necessarily blamed her. He’d been particularly cruel to her the previous night. He could have told her the truth a little more nicely. For that, he decided he’d give her time to cool off.

Seeing Romero waiting for him in the foyer was a reminder things had returned to their old cycle. But it did not feel right. Something was disjointed. His house had never felt emptier, or as quiet. He did not like it.

Elliot went through the motions of his normal routine. However, he did so in an unexplainable foul mood. By the time the investors arrived for their evening meeting, Elliot was practically growling. He glared at Warren the instant the man strolled into his office. As expected, his glare was greeted with equal hostility. It was the perfect beginning to a very tense meeting.

Elliot sat through the meeting, biding his time, waiting for the damned thing to be over so he could call Thandie and demand she come to the club so they could talk. He had to make her understand where he stood before things spiraled out of control.

His attention was snagged when Markie said, “I just found out the guest DJ dropped out. We need a replacement for tonight. I know a kid in Orlando who can probably stand in. I’ll call his people to see if he’s available.”

“Nonsense,” Elliot said. “You shouldn’t be handling that.” It was the first he’d spoken since the meeting got underway. “Have Thandie take care of the DJ replacement. That’s her specialty.” Having given the directive, Elliot turned his attention to his cell phone and began toggling through his messages, but the eerie silence that settled in the room drew his attention. He looked up to notice the stern faces of his staff. “What?”

No one said anything. They only stared at him. Elliot tossed his phone onto his desk and stood. Crossing his arms, he frowned at the group. “Is somebody going to tell me what’s going on?”

Markie hesitated before saying, “Thandie’s not here.”

“Obviously, she’s not here,” Elliot said frostily. “Call her cell. Get her working on it.”

Warren got up and, wearing a fierce frown, he confronted his son. “Thandie can’t help with your DJ problem because she’s gone.”

Elliot frowned. “What do you mean ‘she’s gone’? Gone where?”

Warren lifted his brows. “Your guess is as good as mine. I would assume she returned to New York.”

Elliot slowly turned on Warren. “You want to run that by me again?”

“She quit,” Warren said bluntly. “We sent her off to the airport several hours ago.”

“We?”

Warren fanned his hand around the room. “We,” he clarified, “escorted Thandie and the girls to the airport this morning. She called us to notify us of her decision. She was eager to leave.”

Elliot looked at his staff, recognizing for the first time the heated stares they were throwing in his direction. There was no mistake why Thandie had left, and they held him responsible. Damn it!

Elliot turned around to think for a minute. He could feel his anger building. She’d met with his team? How could she leave without talking to him first? He deserved that much. Had the woman completely lost her mind? Was this her way of ending things between them?

A multitude of questions ran through his head until he was burning with outrage. He rested his hands on the edge of his desk to gather himself. But it wasn’t enough. In a burst of rage, he grabbed hold of the desk and flipped it over. The glass top shattered on impact, skittering across the floor in thick shards. By now, everyone was on their feet. Elliot knew he was out of character. Ever the cool and confident one, he knew his eruption set them all on edge.

Taking a deep breath, Elliot struggled to calm himself. He slid his hands into his pockets and turned back to his staff. “Everyone get out.”

* * *

After learning the news of Thandie’s departure, he’d stormed out of the club. The mess he’d made of his office would have to be addressed some other time. He simply could not remain at the club tonight. He was liable to do something stupid like get into a fight. Or worse, call Thandie and demand she explain herself. It was better that he leave and allow himself some time alone.

He was pissed off with Thandie for leaving, annoyed with his staff for obviously taking her side, and disgusted with himself for caring one way or the other. He was surprised more than anything. Through the haze of rage he was feeling, pure and unadulterated shock reigned supreme. It left him speechless. He might have called her, if he actually had something to say. He could not believe Thandie had left the way she had. She hadn’t even given him a chance to explain himself.

Her sudden departure had blindsided him, and one thing Elliot hated above all things was to be caught unaware. He prided himself on being prepared, being two steps ahead of everyone. But Thandie had pulled a fast one on him. He hadn’t seen this coming. He told himself this was the true reason he was in a funk. Thandie had outmaneuvered him. He hadn’t thought it was possible for anyone to do that. Was he was losing his touch? On one hand, he had to give her credit. On the other, he was angry as hell that she’d slipped through his fingers.

Pushing the front door closed behind him, Elliot took in the silence of his home. It was the very silence he’d sought out. However, now that he’d found it, he discovered it was not as highly desired as he’d once thought.

Tossing his keys aside, he moved toward his bedroom. A shower was much needed—

“Elliot?” a female voice called out.

He froze in place. It was not Thandie’s voice he’d heard, but the one person who had had complete and utter control over him. He closed his eyes, and prayed for patience.

“Elliot.” It was not that she had said his name, it was how she said it.

“Sí, mamá?”

Lucinda glided into the room, drying her hands on her apron. “You’re home early.”

“Difficult day at the club.”

She studied him in a way that only a mother could. He could never hide anything from her. She could read him like a book.

“I made your favorite,” she said. “Come, have a bite.”

Even if he wasn’t in the mood to eat, Elliot had never turned down his mother’s food. Especially if she’d prepared his favorite dish.

As expected, he followed her into the kitchen. The aroma of freshly baked dessert filled the air causing Elliot’s mouth to water.

Lucinda patted a barstool, indicating she wanted him to have a seat. As he slid onto the stool, he watched his mother maneuver around his kitchen with far more grace than he ever could. She was poetry in motion, while she prepared a plate for him.

By the time she finally placed bowl in front of him containing a generous portion of warm peach cobbler and an equally large scoop of vanilla ice cream, Elliot’s stomach was growling.

Without preamble, he dug into the dessert, eating nearly half before he realized it. Or even noticed that his mother was leaning against the countertop, studying him.

“Good?” she asked.

“Perfect,” he confirmed.

Lucinda nodded her head, before casually asking, “Where’s Thandie?”

Elliot stiffened and then said, “Gone.”

She raised her brows. “Gone?”

“Gone.”

“What do you mean by gone?”

“She went back home.”

“To New York?” Lucinda said in surprise. “What happened?”

“She found out about Warren.”

“I see.”

“And Laurent,” he added sheepishly.

“Hmm.”

Elliot looked up from his near empty dish. “What does that mean?”

Lucinda gave a noncommittal shrug. “Well, what are you going to do?”

“Who says I’m going to do anything?”

“Because you’re my son and I know you better than you know yourself.”

Elliot rolled his shoulders back uncomfortably, committing to nothing.

Sweeping up his now empty dish and placing it in the sink, Lucinda began untying her apron.

“Where are you going?” he asked slightly alarmed.

She grinned. “I have a date.”

“With whom?”

“That’s none of your business.” Tossing the apron on the counter, she held out her hand to him. “Walk me to my car.”

Coming to his feet, Elliot took his mother’s hand in his own. Pulling it to his lips, he kissed her palm. “You deserve to be happy.”

She smiled softly. “So do you, Elliot.”

Tucking her hand into his into the crook of his arm, the two walked side by side into the warm night air.

Just before tucking his mother into her car, Lucinda stayed his motion.

“Mi hijo?”

“Si madre.”
He turned to face her. He knew that she would not speak until she was confident she had his undivided attention.

“Don’t be a complete idiot,” she said simply. “If you miss Thandie, tell her so. Even a fool can see you care for her.”

“It’s not that simple,” Elliot said with a sigh. “Besides, we’re way beyond words.”

Lucinda brushed dark curls away from his face and kissed his forehead. “You’re never beyond words.”