Feel The Fire (Unforgettable Series) (4 page)

For the past ten years, Michelle made sure everything in Jonas’s life-personal and business-ran smooth. Her job title was personal assistant, but Jonas had long thought of her as his right hand.

Convinced there was a judgmental glint in her eyes, Jonas experienced a wave of irritation. “I don’t have a problem,” he hissed under his breath.

Sterling stood from the leather couch and glanced at his watch. “Actually, it’s noon.” His gaze followed Jonas to his chair. “You’ve been drinking?”

Sterling lifted a dubious brow and slid his hands into his pants pockets. “Are you honestly going to tell me that you didn’t spend the day remembering what could have been?”

The problem with trying to lie to not only your brother, but your best friend, is that it’s a waste of time. After all, it had been Sterling who’d clued him in on his wedding day that he was about to marry a woman in love with someone else.

“I’m not going to tell you anything, Mr. Know-it-all.” Jonas plopped into his chair. “What do you want?”

“I have a business proposition for you.” Sterling waltzed over to Jonas’s desk and planted his hands. “I’m talking about a business deal that’s also going to help you reap a little revenge on Solomon Bassett.”

“I’m listening.”

Revenge is best served cold...

Chapter 4

Six months later...

“It’s not you. It’s me,” Toni told Chase over the phone. Her spring fling with the business manager had finally limped on its last legs and it was time for her to move on.

Toni was a Georgia Peach, no matter how hard she tried to meld into the L.A. scene. In the end, she turned down a partnership at her practice, and was now packing up her things to return to Atlanta.

“What? Was it something I did?” he asked, sounding shocked by this latest development.

Toni tried her best to reassure him that he’d done nothing wrong, but it didn’t sound as though he believed her. In the end, he accepted the breakup, and asked her to call if she ever changed her mind.

Maria hated to see her go, but understood Toni had to do what was best for her.

When she landed at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, an old memory stirred as she walked past the Crown Room and she was even tempted to poke her head into the bar to see if a familiar face with deep dimples could be found in the crowd.

She didn’t.

She’d left the ball in Jonas’s court and he’d never bothered to contact her.

C’est la vie.

There were definitely other fish in the sea and she was determined to catch as many as she could.

Instead of transferring back to the Atlanta branch of Kaplan, Grey & Kaplan, Toni decided that it was time to open her own law practice. Gutsy, but suddenly a necessity. Her friends had asked whether she was going through some type of midlife crisis. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn’t. She just needed a change—a challenge. A few weeks later, the law office of Toni Wright was in business.

As luck would have it, her first client would bring back an old familiar name.

Solomon Bassett had to sit down.

“I see you’re as shocked as I am.” Marcel Taylor, president of T& B Entertainment, stood up from behind his desk and began pacing the long length of his office. “That man is out to destroy this company.”

Solomon was too angry to speak, but his hands clenched and unclenched at his side.

“Fifty percent stake in
our
company. What the hell?” Marcel paced some more. “This is war. You know that, don’t you?”

“I’ll kill him,” Solomon finally seethed. “He steps one foot in this building and, I swear, I’ll kill him.”

“Stand in line.” Marcel’s pace quickened. “How could Warner screw us like this? We should have had first dibs to purchase their share in T&B.”

“They assured us they wouldn’t sell their share. Our profits are solid. We have eight acts currently in the top twenty on Billboard. How could they do this to us?”

“We should have checked into this when Warner’s financial troubles were first reported six months ago,” Solomon groaned. “Fifty percent. That makes him an equal partner.”

Marcel and Solomon fell silent as they continued to reel from the news of Jonas Hinton Enterprises purchasing Warner Music Group stake in their company. What did it mean? What would their new partner do? Hell, did he even know anything about the music business?

Solomon and Marcel drew a deep breath and attempted to collect themselves, but the moment Marcel’s door opened, Solomon launched across the room with murder in his eyes.

“You vindictive son of a bitch!”

Jonas had just cleared the doorway before being tackled to the floor. Years of wrestling with his brothers also gave him an advantage in successfully hauling Solomon off of him.

Jonas ducked one, but caught the second one dead in his mouth. He retaliated with his own punch and watched Solomon’s head snap back with a resounding crack.

Marcel finally jumped into the fray and for a frightening moment, Jonas thought he was actually going have to take on both men...and likely lose, but instead Marcel pulled his best friend and business partner off of him.

“You have a lot of nerve showing here,” Marcel growled.

Panting, Jonas touched his lip and then tamped down his anger at the taste and feel of blood. “Why wouldn’t I show up here? As a partner, I have an invested interest on how things are being run.” He wobbled as he pulled himself off the floor.

“I’m sorry but I have to do this.” Marcel stepped forward and sent his own punch careening across Jonas’s hard jaw.

With a grunt, Jonas collapsed back onto the floor and literally warred with whether to throw caution into the wind and just take on the angry partners in an all-out brawl or continue to get his butt kicked. He wanted to show a little maturity about this. But damn it, he wasn’t a saint.

“Are you two finished?” he croaked.

The two men above him grumbled something, but at least they backed up and gave him a little more space. Jonas restrained from thanking them while lumbering back to his feet.

He could, but it would be lying. He was a sore loser. “Let’s just say that I’m in the business of making money and you two are my new cash cows.”

“You’re insane,” Solomon challenged.

“Perhaps.” Jonas dabbed his bleeding lip and waltzed to an empty chair across the room. “I’m going to forget this...outburst because I understand you two are a bit emotional right now. If I were in your shoes I might be a little angry myself.”

Marcel and Solomon just watched their new partner make himself at home.

“Yes, well,” Jonas continued when neither man spoke. “I just wanted to stop by and assure you both that you don’t have to worry about me getting in the way around here. Judging by your past profitable annual reports, you two are obviously good at what you do.”

“So you’re more like a silent partner?” Marcel asked.

“Silent may be stretching it a tad. I might show up for the occasional staff meeting. You know, sort of poke in and out from time to time. I might have a suggestion here and there.”

“In other words,” Solomon spoke up, “you’re going to be a regular pain in the ass.”

“Ah.” Jonas’ smile broadened. “Now, that sounds like a more accurate description.”

By the time Jonas left T&B Entertainment, he was practically on cloud nine at seeing the absolute misery on his new partners’ faces. When Sterling first brought this investment venture to him, he thought the opportunity was too good to be true, and then he thought it all sounded too good to pass up.

But perhaps he did take things a little too far in the end when he inquired about Ophelia and the baby. If Marcel had not been in the room, Solomon would have been looking at a sentence of life without parole.

Regardless, Jonas slipped into his waiting limo with a smile on his face. He arrived at his new office in the heart of downtown Atlanta in less than twenty minutes.

“You have a visitor,” Michelle informed him the moment, he entered the office. “What happened to your face?”

“Nothing to concern yourself with,” he assured her.

As far as Jonas was concerned, she could have told him it was time for a prostate exam and it still wouldn’t have ruined his mood. “Send in whomever it is,” he told her, and continued into his office.

He wanted to celebrate. He actually wanted to dance, which was probably not a good idea since dancing was not his strong suit. But he gave it a try anyway. He swiveled his hips, pumped his fist into the air and even combined it with some strange kickboxing moves. All in all, he was feeling good.

“Should I call a medic?”

Jonas jumped and turned around. However, the last person he expected to see was standing in his doorway. “Toni.”

Chapter 5

A wide smile eased across Toni’s full lips. “You remembered my name.” She closed the door behind her and glided into the room. “May I ask what has you in such a good mood? And did you catch the name of that train that ran into your face?”

Astonished, Jonas absently touched his swollen lip but couldn’t quite find his voice. She looked good.

Damn good.

Her legs in her short, black mini business suit went on for forever, while the rest of her body curved like nobody’s business. He’d never guessed all this lay beneath her casual jeans and plain top the last time he’d seen her.

“No you weren’t,” she said, smiling. “But it’s kind of you to lie.” Toni moved farther into the room, glancing around as if she was inspecting the place. “Nice.”

“Thanks.” He waited, wondering wildly why she was there; but when it was apparent that she wasn’t giving the information freely, he decided to prompt her. “Just in the neighborhood?”

“No. I came to see you,” she said with a teasing wink. “And I must say you’re looking extremely well. At least you’re not drowning your sorrows at a bar.”

Her boldness startled him and he turned away before she could see how much her teasing was actually getting to him. When he reached his desk, he used it to literally hide his growing erection.

Toni’s eyes twinkled like she knew exactly what he was doing. With a widening smile, she followed and approached the desk like a lioness stalking its prey. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”