[Cardello Ruth] For Love or Legacy(Bookos.org) (4 page)

This is one of those moments.

I can waste time crying and hyperventilating myself into a blackout, or I can put on my big
girl pants and stop thinking that this is all about me.

―I will Richard. They are both going to be fine,‖ Nicole said and was surprised to hear the strength in her voice.

―Ma‘am?‖ the 911 operator interrupted. ―Do you have a place to wash your hands?‖

Nicole shook herself out of inaction and assessed what was available. ―The limo has a little bar area. I have hand sanitizer and bottles of water.‖

―Wash down quickly and then check the mother.‖

Nicole washed quickly, grabbed some fresh linen from the bar, and knelt to help Maddy out of her underclothes. What she saw almost sent her sprawling backwards onto the floor of the vehicle. ―I think I can see the top of the baby‘s head!‖

The pains were more frequent and increasing in intensity. Nicole put the phone down to help Maddy who was alternating between pushing and screaming. For what felt like hours, but was in fact only a sliver of that time, the operator called out advice that Nicole quickly followed.

Nicole helped Maddy get as comfortable as possible and knelt on the floor, preparing to support the head and catch the baby.

It all happened quickly. First the head popped out, then the baby turned to one side, and suddenly a very slippery infant slid into Nicole‘s waiting hands. Nicole used one of the clean linens to wipe the baby‘s face and mouth. She wrapped it in another linen and laid it face down on Maddy‘s chest. The baby took its first deep breath and let out a wail.

Nicole wiped her shaking hands and laid out more linens on the floor. ―It‘s ok! The baby is ok!‖ She was vaguely aware of tears pouring down her own cheeks.

The operator said, ―The ambulance is on 6th now. You should be able to hear the siren in a moment.‖

Maddy was looking down at her new baby in wonder.

A male voice revealed that Richard was still on speaker phone, ―Maddy? Nicole?‖

Nicole answered, ―The baby is fine, Richard! Can you hear it crying?‖

―And Maddy?‖

―She‘s still in some pain, but she‘s smiling.‖

―Is it a boy or a girl?‖

Nicole realized she didn‘t know and laughed, ―I don‘t know. I didn‘t look.‖

Richard said, ―Should I worry that you couldn‘t tell?‖

Nicole shook her head, then realized he couldn‘t see her and said, ―No, all I cared about was that first breath.‖

Maddy peeked inside the linen and said in a happy, but exhausted voice, ―Tell him it‘s a boy.‖

―It‘s a…‖

Richard exclaimed, sounding like he was choking on a few tears himself, ―I heard!‖

The driver said, ―Party‘s over ladies. The ambulance is here.‖

Maddy half-smiled and said, ―Smack that man later.‖

Nicole smiled at her in relief, ―I promise.‖

The limo was soon crowded with two EMS paramedics who moved Nicole over to evaluate the mother and child. Nicole stepped outside of the limo for a second. A crowd of people was gathering on the sidewalk speculating on what could have happened in the limo that required emergency care. Several pointed at Nicole. She moved away to hide behind the ambulance when she saw the first camera phone.

Her driver walked around the front of the limo and handed Nicole her phone. ―The operator said you did great.‖

―I still can‘t believe it. Jeff, I just delivered a baby!‖

―Yes, you did. And luckily you have more than one limo or we‘d be using my Mercury
this summer. I draw the line at cleaning that out.‖

That's what happens when you let the 22 year old son of your regular driver cover for his
father for the summer.
Unlike Arnold, who blended into the background as seamlessly as furniture and anticipated your every need, Jeff brought a bit more attitude with him.

Not that she could blame him in this case. ―I‘ll ride in the front with you on the way home and we‘ll have it cleaned. Deal?‖

―Sounds good to me.‖

I just delivered a baby!

Even though the experience was chock full of details she neither wanted to relive nor share with anyone, holding that new life in her hands and helping it into the world would forever rank as one of the most amazing events of her life. If she had a friend, she would have called them right then and shared her euphoria about the baby arriving with no complications for mother or child. Friends, however, were difficult to make and even harder to keep when you were a Corisi.

The only meaningful relationships she‘d maintained into adulthood were with the top executives at her father‘s company. Unfortunately, she was no longer the little girl who could run into their offices and burst out with a story. They‘d stayed in touch, even after she‘d gone on to college and worked in various computer software companies in and around New York, but they were no longer part of her day to day life.

However, Nicole had never stopped being grateful for the years of kindness they had shown her when everyone else in her life had walked away. As she‘d learned about business in college, she‘d used what little influence she had with her father to improve their workplace. Surprisingly, she‘d often gotten her way, not because it was best for the company and certainly not because her father valued her opinion, simply because her father knew that she would talk to him until he made whatever small concession she was asking for. He‘d trivialized her interest as vanity, a need to leave her mark on what he‘d created. Still, giving in had gotten him what he wanted — a reprieve from her presence; something he considered worth approving a few human resource initiatives. That knowledge never stopped hurting, but it had been useful when she‘d sought childcare and flextime for those she cared about.

She would do just about anything for the ones she loved – even put herself at the mercy of a man who had once broken her heart. Admittedly, going to Stephan for help had been far fetched, but George and some of the other top executives had stood by her these past few weeks as her father‘s health had declined. They‘d sat with her at the hospital, and had come to her house to make sure she was ok when her father passed away from a final heart attack.

They and their families had comforted her while her own brother had chosen business negotiations in Beijing over attending their father‘s wake and funeral.

They were all she had left.

―Ma‘am?‖ asked one paramedic in a tone that implied he‘d been unsuccessfully trying to get her attention.

―Sorry. Yes?‖ Nicole said, shaking off her thoughts.

―Are you coming in the ambulance with us?‖

Nicole had barely opened her mouth to say no when Maddy raised her head, baby wrapped warmly beneath blankets on her stomach, and reached for her from the stretcher. ―Please come,‖

she said weakly and laid her head back on the pillow.

Concerned, Nicole looked at the paramedic who quickly assured her, ―She‘s just tired, but I need to know if you‘re coming with or riding behind.‖

Nicole leaned over and gave Maddy‘s hand a supportive squeeze. ―I‘m coming with.‖ To Maddy she said, ―I won‘t leave you, don‘t worry.‖

Stephan reclined the custom-designed seat his private jet and tried to close his eyes. He needed to be well rested if he was going to be on his game as soon as he hit the ground in Beijing. Dominic was not going to stay in the US long. Stephan needed to have a solid standing with the Chinese Minister and his council before Dominic returned if he was going to have any chance of pulling this off.

Several members of his team had been in Beijing for almost a month, laying the groundwork and cultivating the connections that would make this coup possible. Revenge doesn't require luck, just patience. Like a snake curling in preparation for a strike, Stephan had waited years for Dominic to slip up.

And he finally had.

Sleep was elusive. Stephan looked around the small cabin of the jet. It wasn‘t impressive by Corisi standards, but it gave him the advantage of speed. He could get almost anywhere in half the time of his flashier rival.

When Stephan closed his eyes again, all he saw was Nicole. He didn‘t need to torture himself with an old photo this time; she was back in all too vivid detail. Nicole in a hot little red dress. Nicole buttoned chastely up to her neck in her navy pants suit. Nicole deflating before his eyes when he told her that he wouldn‘t help her.

She‘d been beautiful in her early twenties, but the woman she‘d grown into was runway gorgeous, tall and lean with legs that went on forever. Her flawless features and her unusual dark gray eyes belonged on a magazine cover. Not that she seemed to care. Most women would have used their natural assets to gain the upper hand in situations, but Nicole attempted to hide hers beneath severe clothing.

And that damn black bun! It was just as tempting now as it had been when he‘d fabricated every excuse possible to enter her office at his father‘s old company. It left her neck delectably exposed, itching to be kissed.

Stephan turned on his side and punched the pillow beneath his head. He had to stop thinking about her. He should be focusing on the reason for this flight.

Dominic was finally going to pay for what he had done.

Was it wrong to take advantage of his rival stepping away from negotiations to attend the reading of his father‘s will?

In most cases, the answer would be yes, but this was Dominic. His indifference was evidenced by his lack of attendance at the funeral and wake. Dominic had only returned to the US for the money he hoped he‘d receive from the will. More was never enough for a man like Dominic. He had to have it all.

Had the situation been reversed, Stephan had no doubt that Dominic would have done the same. There was a bit of pleasure in knowing that taking advantage of someone‘s misfortune was a classic Corisi move. They were a ruthless bunch, bent on the destruction of not only their competition, but also each other.

In some ways, Stephan had Dominic to thank for his success in the business. Victor Andrade had been too old fashioned to weather the global market changes. He‘d believed in long-term business relationships and maintaining a good reputation. His kindness had been his downfall. By helping, rather than buying out his competitors, he‘d left himself vulnerable for corporate sharks.

On the other hand, Andrade Global was based on what Stephan had learned by watching Dominic‘s rise to power:
Morality is subjective. Take, don’t ask. Attack the stronger, absorb the
weaker. Accumulate enough so that you never have to apologize, and pay people well to clean
up the mess you leave behind.

It was a recipe for success that had made Stephan a billionaire.

But money and power weren‘t enough.

Nicole.

Dammit. This wasn‘t about her. It was about his family‘s island. It was about settling an old score.

And Nicole.

There was no way she was as innocent as she claimed. Her timing revealed her

involvement. She‘d infiltrated his father‘s company just before Dominic‘s forced buyout of it.

And now, she‘d thrown herself at him the day before he planned to take down her brother.

Ok, so she hadn‘t actually suggested anything more than a business deal, but it was pretty obvious that the whole engagement, the fake fiancé scenario, was a lie designed to distract him.

Did she have to look so sincere in her appeal? So saddened by his refusal?

So positively sexy in her indifference to him?

If only she had propositioned him and revealed her true nature; maybe then he wouldn‘t be fighting an erection each time he pictured letting down her hair, unbuttoning her collared blouse, and kissing the cool reserve right out of her.

There was nothing special about her. He knew plenty of beautiful women. She was merely a challenge, the intensity of which had been heightened by the length of time he‘d wanted her.

Stephan crossed the aisle and got his laptop. Apparently, he was not going to sleep on this flight. He was also, damn well not going to spend it in some hormonal stupor just because he had seen her again.

Nicole had not belonged in his life seven years ago and she did not belong in it now. Sex would only complicate things more.

Even hot, wet, climax-until-you-can’t-move sex.

He opened his laptop and stared at the start up screen, then closed it with a snap.

A pretend engagement to help her break her father‘s will? Insane! People don‘t buy companies and sell them back for no profit. She couldn‘t have imagined that he would even entertain her request.

Unless she was desperate.

Even so, refusing to help her had been the best choice.

The only choice.

He leaned his head back against the headrest and groaned as he remembered the tear that had twisted through his gut like a dull knife. Was it possible that her father‘s death had shaken her? Why was it important to stop Dominic from temporarily taking control of her father‘s company?

And the most painful question:
Will the great Dominic be able to save her company after
his own empire comes crashing down?

Why do I care?

I don’t care.

Stephan put the laptop aside and reclined back in his chair again. He covered his eyes with one forearm.

This is going to be a long flight.

Maddy was handed out of the ambulance on a stretcher to where her anxious husband was waiting. He took her hand, unashamed of the tears running down his cheeks.

A paramedic cautioned Richard to move, but the reluctant husband took another moment to plant a kiss on both his wife and the exposed forehead of his new son. One more gentle touch of the baby, as if making sure all was fine, and he allowed the medical staff to wheel Maddy down the hallway as he continued to hold her hand.

Alone, Nicole stepped down and out of the ambulance, feeling a bit dazed by the whole experience. She hadn‘t wanted to interrupt the reunion, but she wasn‘t sure what to do next.

Should she stay? Should she leave? What did one do in this circumstance?