For His Keeping (For His Pleasure, Book 3) (10 page)

Red looked back to the canal, as they drifted near a large double-decker boat with tourists on board. Red waved and some of the tourists returned his wave. Many of them were peering through binoculars. “So where does this canal lead, anyway?” he asked.

“Eventually, the Baltic Sea or the Rhine,” Kane said. “We can go to Poland if you’d like.”

Red turned and grinned at him. “Maybe next time.”

Kane smiled in return. “As you wish.” The he turned to Nicole, fixing her with his sharp gaze. “And you? Where would you like to travel today?”

She simply shrugged.

“Is she always so quiet?” Kane said to Red.

“No, she’s not,” Red told him. “Maybe she just doesn’t like you.”

Kane put a hand over his heart. “Ouch.”

“So, let’s talk business,” Red said, finally. “This boat is beautiful and so is the scenery, but we’re not here for a cruise. We’re here to figure out if we can make a deal.”

“Fine, let’s go inside, talking into this wind will make us hoarse.”

They went back inside the boat, and into a large living area where there were several large couches, chairs, a coffee table and TV. Everything was white, with blue trim, even the couches. Nicole had to stifle a smile when she realized that Kane’s outfit actually matched the interior design of his boat.

Nicole and Red took a seat on one of the couches.

Kane asked if they’d care for a drink, and Nicole declined. Red and Kane had a glass of scotch.

As Kane sat down, he handed Red his drink, but the older man’s eyes were focused only on Nicole.

She couldn’t help but notice, once again, the intensity and hunger there. So much like Red, she thought. And then she wondered what else he would do like Red, which made her angry with herself.

Nicole couldn’t deny that Kane Wright was a powerful, charismatic man. But she didn’t want to even have a passing thought about him in that way, because she was in love with Red and it felt like a betrayal to even think such things.

Kane settled into his chair opposite them. “So, here we are, at last,” he said.

“I’m open to hearing your offer,” Red told him, crossing his legs and taking a small sip of scotch.

“My offer is so simple,” Kane replied. “I will purchase your company from you, leaving you with perhaps ten percent of your stock. I will own a controlling interest in Jameson International and all its subsidiaries. However, I will largely allow you to continue to run it as you’ve been doing these past ten years.”

“Why would you do that when I’ve run it into the ground recently?”

Kane glanced to Nicole. If Red noticed, he didn’t react.

Suddenly Nicole got a gut feeling that something was wrong here. Why was it that just now occurred to her that Kane’s entire reason for bringing them to this yacht was for her benefit?

Nicole felt panic starting to rise in her, and wondered if it were really possible or if this was just her ego going totally out of control.

It was crazy enough for one billionaire businessman to be interested in her, let alone two. Still, she couldn’t shake the sense that Kane Wright was far more interested in her than he was in Red—like the only reason he’d taken this meeting was so that he could spend time with Nicole.

Which was ridiculous, she told herself. And yet, she couldn’t shake her suspicions.

“You didn’t run your business into the ground,” Kane said to Red, oblivious to Nicole’s rising discomfort. “I ran your business into the ground.”

Red smiled. “I didn’t realize you were the cause of the Euro taking a nosedive.”

“I may not have caused the Euro to drop,” Kane said. “But when it dropped, I knew how heavily exposed your company was—I was aware that you’d invested heavily in the EU markets. I kept my eye on your next move, and when I saw you take the risk on acquiring Aufrührerische Kreativität for nearly a hundred million, I knew I had my chance.”

“How kind of you to share your tactics with me,” Red said.

“I’m willing to put all my cards on the table,” Kane told him, glancing once more at Nicole.

“You say that a lot, but somehow I don’t believe you,” Red replied.

“That’s unfortunate, because I am doing my best to reassure you that my intentions are good.” Kane stood up. The boat was swaying a little now, giving Nicole a strange feeling in her stomach. The boat was pitching one way and then the other, and she didn’t much like it.

Red leaned forward. “What guarantee would I have that you’d allow me to have full autonomy in running Jameson International?”

The older man put his hands in his pants pockets and went to the window.

“Looks like there’s a storm moving in,” he said.

The boat pitched and yawed as if agreeing with his assessment.

“Answer my question, please,” Red said.

“I never claimed I’d give you complete autonomy. Of course I’ll provide some guidance, because I’m older and wiser and I have knowledge to pass on to you.”

“And what if I disagree with your advice? Would you force me to make strategic decisions that I didn’t agree with?”

“Perhaps,” Kane responded.

This time they rode a wave that felt like a rollercoaster. Nicole realized she was getting nauseous. Her mouth was filling with saliva and she closed her eyes.

“Baby, are you okay?” Red asked.

She nodded. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“You sure? What’s wrong.”

“Just…feeling a tiny bit seasick.” She opened her eyes and saw that the sky outside the windows had turned dark and was spitting rain.

“We won’t be able to dock again for about an hour,” Kane said to them, “but I’ll tell my captain to head back.”

“Thank you,” Red said, as Kane left the room.

Nicole closed her eyes again. “I’m so sorry, I ruined your meeting.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Come on,” Red said, grabbing her hand and lifting her to her feet. He took her back outside to the deck, where she stood at the railing. They’d passed into a larger waterway and the sky had opened up its floodgates. Thunder and lightning too.

“It came out of nowhere, didn’t it?” she asked him.

“Yes, I never saw any storm clouds gathering,” he said, rubbing her back. “Don’t be embarrassed if you need to be sick.”

“God, I hate throwing up,” she cried. It was true. Ever since she was little, Nicole had always fought not to get sick to her stomach. She hated the loss of control, the way her stomach would clench and twist, the burning of the bile up her throat and in her nose.

As she thought about it, everything came up in a rush and she was sick over the side of the yacht.

When she finished heaving, she felt better. Her hair and clothes were soaked.

Kane came outside and saw them. “Come on, we can get her to a room to rest.”

“No, I’m fine,” she said.

“You’re not fine,” Red replied. “Do you have anything for her seasickness?”

“Yes,” Kane said.

“I don’t need it, I swear.” She let them help her back inside and then into a small room with a double bed and one circular porthole looking out on the water. Nicole lay down, closed her eyes, and tried to focus on not being sick again.

“If you want something for the nausea,” Kane told her, “just let me know.”

“I’m okay for now,” she said, not opening her eyes.

She felt Red’s weight pushing down on the bed and then his hand lightly stroking the hair on her forehead. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Are you all right by yourself?”

“Yes, go talk. Please, I’ll be fine.”

He squeezed her hand and then left her in bed, where she drifted into an uneasy sleep.

When she woke up, the ship was docking and Red was standing over her, smiling.

“Better?” he said, holding out his hand.

“Yes,” she nodded, sitting up. Her stomach still felt strange, as though someone had put it in the washing machine on spin cycle. But she knew they’d be off the yacht soon enough.

Kane was on deck when they were ready to climb off the boat. He and Red shook hands and said they were glad to have spoken. Nicole sensed that things between them had progressed in a generally good direction, but wasn’t sure how she felt about that right now.

When the older man looked at her, his eyes were intense and made her nervous.

“I’m so sorry the outing upset your stomach,” he said. “But it happens to all of us one time or another.”

“Thanks for letting me use your bed,” she replied, instantly regretting her choice of words.

“Anytime,” he said.

***

Red had just spent the better part of ten minutes explaining to Nicole that he thought he wanted to take Kane Wright up on his offer. And Nicole had spent the last part of that ten minutes wondering how she could explain to him that she no longer thought it was a good idea.

So finally, she just interrupted him mid-sentence and said he shouldn’t do it.

“What do you mean you don’t want me to do the deal?” Red said, as the car service drove them away from the harbor and toward their hotel.

Nicole was still recovering from her bout of seasickness, and she was certain that the car was slightly swaying as they drove, somehow. “Kane Wright gives me the creeps,” she told him.

“Why?”

“He looks at me funny.”

“He’s a funny looking guy,” Red said.

“You know what I mean.” She stared out the window, thinking that she owed it to Red to explain the entire story. But she was getting scared of what his reaction might be.

“Actually I don’t know what you mean. Did he do something to you?”

Nicole didn’t answer.

He moved closer to her in the car. “Nicole, look at me.”

She turned and met his gaze. “He called the hotel room yesterday while you were gone.”

“He did what?” Red’s eyes flashed and she could have sworn, if Kane Wright were there at that exact moment, Red would have torn the man limb from limb.

“He called the room and I answered because I thought it could be the concierge or something. But it was Kane Wright, and he wanted to talk to me about the deal.”

Red put his fingers up to his temples and momentarily rubbed them, closing his eyes. “Nicole, please tell me you’re not fucking serious.”

“I’m sorry, I should have told you right away.”

He opened his eyes and stared at her with unnerving coldness. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“Because, when you came home you were upset and it scared me. I didn’t want to make things worse.”

“Great. So you kept secrets instead.”

“I’m telling you now, aren’t I?”

“A little bit late for that.” Red couldn’t even look at her now. “Are you interested in him?”

“Interested in him?”

“Yes. As in, do you want to fuck Kane Wright?”

“Don’t speak to me like that, Red.”

He shook his head. “Well, what am I supposed to think? How did he get your hotel room number?”

“It’s our room, Red. And he’s a very rich man so I’m sure it’s not hard for him to pay someone off and find out what room we’re staying in.”

“What the hell did you two discuss?”

“Lower your voice. I’m serious.”

“I will not fucking lower my voice, Nicole. This is unbelievable. Do you realize that you’ve gone behind my back with my biggest enemy and kept it to yourself?”

Nicole felt the tears starting behind her eyes. This was a pattern with them, a disturbing pattern that kept repeating. She could sense Red growing more and more angry and knew she’d be unable to stop him from going down this same track, like a train heading into a tunnel with another train coming towards it.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “But the conversation we had wasn’t anything that hurt you in any way. I didn’t reveal any personal secrets or tell him something that would upset you.”

“I don’t want you speaking on the phone with a man who’s trying to destroy my life, Nicole. How can you not see that that was wrong?”

“I was caught off guard. I didn’t know what else to do, so I listened to what he had to say.”

Red sat back in his seat, one thumb rubbing his lower lip, the way he did when he was frustrated or hurt. “So what did the two of you talk about?”

“He was telling me that you were making a mistake by not coming to work for him. He said that he’d once lost his business and that it changed him—he warned me that if you lost your company it would be very bad for your mental health.”

“Oh, that’s rich, coming from him,” Red laughed. “He’s the biggest sociopath on the continent, but he’s worried about my mental health. And you believed him, you actually listened to him spouting that garbage?”

Nicole shook her head. “Please don’t do this.”

“What else did he say?”

“He suggested that I should talk to you about reconsidering his offer.”

“And that was all?”

“More or less. It wasn’t a particularly warm, friendly conversation, Red.”

“Could have fooled me,” he said, bitterly.

“Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice,” she said, her insides burning with fear and pain from what she knew was coming. “I don’t want us to fight.”

“And you think I do, Nicole?” Red said. “I’m not the one who got on the phone with your biggest enemy and then planned to make you do something you didn’t want to do.”

“I’ve apologized already,” she said. “What more do you want from me?”

He stared out the window of the car. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”

The rest of the ride was silent.

Nicole was having horrible thoughts about what might come next. She pictured Red sending her directly from the hotel to the airport, imagined herself alone on the flight home from Germany. She felt emptier than she’d felt in a long time.

Red was sitting as far away from her as humanly possible.

Soon, the tears started, and she cried completely silently, wiping them from her eyes as inconspicuously as possible.

And then, as the hotel came in sight, Red stretched his arm across the gap between them and his hand fell on her hand. He was warm and he gripped her hand tightly, squeezing with reassurance. “I’m sorry I yelled,” he said softly.

She turned and looked at him, still with wet eyes. “I’m sorry too.”

“I love you, Nicole.”