Ineffable (24 page)

“Don’t rush things,” Tomas advised, clapping his patient and friend on the shoulder. “As far as we can tell you’ve been out for days. Your body will need some recovery time, so take it slow.”

He took Nori’s vitals again, made some notes, and nodded to himself. Rising, he advised fluids, light, easily digestible foods, and easy exercise – like walking to and from the john – to help purge the drugs from his system. “But rest the instant you get tired. Nothing strenuous for at least three days. If you feel at all bad, nausea, lightheaded, anything uncomfortable, call me instantly. I’ve drawn some blood. I’ll call when I get results.”

Lado walked him to the door. When he came back he had his jacket in hand. He leaned down to lay a hand on Nori’s head, then patted his chest.

“I’m out. Gonna leave you two alone. I know you have a lot to talk about.”

“Thank you,” Nori began.

“Hush,” Lado ordered. “We can talk about things later, yeah? Margot, take care of him. I’ll check in later, alright?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Lado.”

Their eyes met and held in a moment of solidarity. This little sting had created a bond between them.

“Later.” He winked, threw up a hand at Tommy, and was gone.

“I’m gonna lay down,” Tommy announced. “All this crazy shit ain’t gon’ give me wrinkles before my time,” and she spun on one bare heel and swanned out.

“I’m so sorry, my darling.”

“For what?” Margot asked, laying her head on his chest. She hadn’t stopped smiling since he opened his eyes.

“Kiss me.”

“The doctor said no strenuous exercise,” she teased, already moving to obey.

He sighed happily when their lips met and clung. “I wish I could make love to you, but I can barely lift my head.”

She stroked his thick hair, relishing its warm softness. Then she traced his eyebrows, his nose, the faint mark of a bruise along his chiseled jaw. When she traced his lips, he kissed her finger.

“I’m so sorry I missed our wedding, my love,” he whispered.

Tears filled her eyes.

“What must you have thought? I’ll make it up to you, my girl. I promise.” His lids grew heavy, and she laughed softly as he struggled to stay awake.

She pressed gentle fingers over his eyes as tears ran down her cheeks. “Sleep. You can make it up to me when you wake.”

“I still can’t believe Nori’s dad fucking did this,” Tommy said, pouring them both a glass of wine later. First, she’d offered to make tea.

Margot looked at her like she was crazy. “What are you, Lani? Moscato. And I can. You didn’t see how he looked at me at that dinner party, T. You didn’t hear how contemptuously he spoke to me at that house earlier today. I don’t think he’s all the way right in the head honestly.”

“How the hell could he be? He fucking kidnapped his own son the day of his wedding. How’d you even know? You never said a word.”

“At first I didn’t know. But then I overheard you tell Lani no one had heard from him, that you went to his apartment, remember?”

“Yeah. I was gonna give his ass the most righteous cussing out ever delivered on planet earth.”

“Well, I got to thinking. He supposedly sent you a text breaking things off. But Nori would never do that. He’d think it was rude. And he’s not a punk. If he was having second thoughts, he’d tell me. He was totally happy in the days leading up to the wedding.”

“That’s what Lani said.”

Margot nodded. “And he doesn’t text. He prefers to hear my voice. When I called Lado and he hadn’t heard from him, I knew something wasn’t right. I went to his gym. No one there had seen him, and you know what a nut he is about exercising. And no one at Ineffable’s heard from him in days? It was bullshit. Lado knew it too.”

She told Tommy how she’d searched Aro’s office, and then gone upstairs to find Nori knocked out on a bed equipped with restraints and a nightstand full of syringes.

“Lord have mercy,” her girl whispered, shaking her head. “That motherfucker’s crazy! What was he gonna do? Keep him drugged up indefinitely?”

“I asked the same damn thing. Who knows,” Margot said. She hadn’t stopped shaking her head since it happened. It still didn’t seem real, and she’d lived it.

“I’m still trippin’ off the fact Lado had a gun.”

“Okay? He said he brought it on a whim, and thank God.”

“No shit. You’d think you were the fucking anti-Christ, geez. All that to keep him from marrying you? It’s nuts. You’re an artist. A very talented, well respected, commercially successful artist, not some crackhead selling beads on street corners.”

Margot laughed softly. “Thanks, baby. But I think for Aro, I might as well be a crackhead selling beads on street corners. And at the base of it, I’m not even sure I should take this personal. My gut tells me he’d have reacted like this to anyone Nori loved.”

“Really? So, it’s the idea of his son marrying period that fucked him up?”

“Yeah. I think Aro wants Nori for himself. He doesn’t want him distracted from the business, certainly not by a woman. Nori’s made a few statements about how disapproving his father’s been toward the women he’s dated over the years.”

“Jesus,” Tommy muttered. “I don’t know if that’s better or worse. Both I guess. Better because it’s not personal. Like, it’s not you in particular that he took a loathing too, and worse because did he really think that fabulous man would be unclaimed forever? It would be a tragedy!”

“I know, right? It’s crazy. All I can think about is what the hell is Nori gonna do when he recovers.”

“You think he’ll leave Ineffable?”

Margot shrugged. “I honestly don’t see how he could stay.”

“Family members will forgive each other a lot.”

“You think?”

Tommy hesitated for a split second then shook her head. “No. I don’t. Mr. Asshole Aro’s gonna have to find himself a new CEO.”

“Serves his punk ass right. Nut job. I still can’t believe that shit! It’s so risky. What if Nori had some kind of adverse reaction to the drugs? I didn’t see any food or water. You heard Tomas. His fluids were down, everything. He could have killed him.”

“But he didn’t,” Tommy said, refilling both their glasses. “And Nori’s a tough bastard. He’ll be back on his feet in no time. The only question now is,” she paused dramatically.

“What?”

“Do you wanna wear the same dress for your second wedding?”

Margot burst out laughing.

Nori slept comfortably through the night. Margot woke him twice to make him drink a little water, but he dropped right back off both times. He woke her at sunrise nuzzling her breasts, one big, warm hand a familiar weight on her hip.

She smiled before she opened her eyes. “Someone’s feeling better.”

He laughed softly. “Yes, my love. I am, thank God. I have a lot to do today.”

“You have nothing to do today,” she corrected. “Or tomorrow. Doc Tomas said rest, and that’s what you gon’ do.”

“I have to resign, arrange an emergency board meeting to name a successor, talk to Lado about –”

“Shit. Your ass ain’t movin’ from this room, and I’m not giving you a phone.”

“Margot, you have to give me the phone.”

She’d never heard that voice before. It was cold and mean and determined, then it softened. “Please. Let me make some calls from bed. I won’t get up, but I can’t lay here and do nothing. My brain will explode!”

She laughed. “Okay, okay. Geez. Dramatic much?” But after a breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, she hovered through that first phone call in case he showed some sign of weakness, so she could snatch that phone away and use it to call the doctor.

But he was strong. He seemed to get stronger by the minute. He was on the phone for hours, call after call, sometimes talking with two and three people at once. She was shocked when she realized he was actually resigning, but he was a big boy, and she’d never once tried to tell him what to do. She wasn’t gonna start now.

Besides, she agreed with his decision. He made no effort to hide what had happened from Ineffable’s general counsel, but asked that the family’s privacy be maintained. For the public his decision to step down as CEO would be a mutual one, with Aro compliant and supportive of his decision to start his own company.

He flatly refused to speak with his father. Apparently Aro had anticipated this move and got in touch with most of the people Nori was now talking to. When anyone tried to intercede on his behalf Nori cut them to the bone in quick language so hard and uncompromising they didn’t try again.

He insisted things be handled immediately. He even called his assistant and asked her to go to his office and pack his things, which she then dropped off at his apartment. He had her come by Margot’s to pick up his key fob and the keys to Ineffable’s headquarters, which she was to drop off with security.

He also asked her if she wanted to come and work for him while he struck out on his own. She agreed, and he gave her her first task, to find them an office. His only stipulation? It had to be on Michigan Avenue or very near, and preferably within walking distance of Margot’s home.

“We’ll be fairly small. About five people to start, but we’ll need a conference room, office equipment, furniture, talk to Tommy about decorating the place,” he instructed. “Not too big, but big enough to give the impression that we’re serious, established and incredibly stylish, of course.”

Of course, Margot thought, barely containing a smirk. She just shook her head and listened to him go. He was a force of nature. But when she caught him pacing in the living room she insisted he go back to bed to play master of the universe. Reluctantly he agreed, greeting the people who came to her place with papers for him to sign as though he wasn’t propped up against her headboard wearing a grey t-shirt and black silk pajama pants.

She kicked everyone out at lunch time and brought him a bowl of chicken stew and a hunk of soft bread. He ate it all, drank the iced tea she’d made, and dropped off to sleep before she could bring in the fruit salad she’d made for dessert.

When he woke she was there with a warm cloth to wash his face, neck and hands.

“Are you ever going to let me get up?” he teased. “I’ve heard of fiancé’s trying to keep their significant other’s chained to the bed, but this is ridiculous.”

“It is not. You need to give your body a chance to work out that shit.”

His mouth tightened at the mention of the drugs.

“Aro called.”

“I hope you hung up on him.”

“I wanted to,” she admitted. “Bad, but he begged me to listen to him.”

“I don’t want to hear this.”

Margot sighed. “You have to talk to him sometime.”

“No,” he told her very definitely. “I don’t. I’ve resigned from his company, returned all of his property and retrieved mine. A press release has been prepared and disseminated to any media who ask questions. There is nothing else.”

“He’s your father.”

“That is unfortunate.”

She let out one bark of laughter. “That’s it? Unfortunate? Are you seriously sitting there telling me you don’t even wanna cuss that motherfucker out for what he did to you?”

“Of course I bloody well do!” He yelled, leaping from the bed so quickly he swayed on his feet.

He held her at bay with a hand like a stop sign when she would have rushed forward to steady him.

“I fucking hate him! He fucked up my wedding day! He drugged me, treated me like shit, like some fucking chess pawn he could move across the board at will. He’s lucky I don’t have his old, wrinkled ass up on charges!”

He collapsed onto the side of the bed as though his legs had given out, buried his head in hands that shook. But when he raised his head a moment later she realized he was shaking with anger, not weakness.

She sat down beside him, and he took her hand in his. “He ruined our wedding day, Margot. Our wedding day,” he repeated. “A day we should remember forever with love and joy and excitement for our future. But instead you’ll remember having your heart broken, being humiliated, confused and God knows what else. And me,” he shook his head.

“Yes, we’ll get another chance. Yes, it will be wonderful, but it will be tainted. We’ll always remember what came first, how things should have been. Our beautiful reception! The embarrassment, my God! The questions we’ll have to answer once we’re back in public.
C’est horrible
,” he whispered in French, shaking his head. “He stole the start of our life together.”

She had nothing to say to that. It was the truth. “I guess I just thought,” she shrugged, looking down at his hand, a hand that curved around hers and held on tight. “That you’d wanna know why.”

“I don’t give a shit why. There can be no excuse for what he took from me. From us. There is no reason or explanation for his behavior that I would even entertain. He doesn’t deserve my forgiveness, and he will not get it. I’m done.”

“You’re done.”

“Done,” he repeated. He inhaled a shaky breath and she decided not to press him further.

“Get back in bed. I’ll bring you a highball to calm your nerves.”