Never Dare a Tycoon (11 page)

She knew she needed to get home. Calling a cab company took only a moment, but she stood there for a long time, knowing that it would cause problems, taking a cab home. She debated telling anyone, knowing that someone would step in and offer to drive her home.

She waited in the hallway for her cab to come and pick her up. She wished the house wasn’t so far away from everything. It was out in a forested area of Falls Church that wasn’t convenient to anything but D.C. She imagined that was why her parents chose the location, but it didn’t make catching a cab very easy.

Finally, she heard it moving down the driveway. Sticking her head into the living room, she waved goodbye. “I’m heading home. I’ll see you next Sunday.” She didn’t even look at Brett as she quickly ducked out of the room.

She thought she’d made a clean break, but inside, five pairs of eyes turned to look at Brett. For a moment, he just stared at the doorway where Antonia had been, eyebrows raised in amazement. “Is she always this obtuse?” he asked them all.

All five heads nodded.

 

Brett shook his head then set his glass of brandy down on the bar. Without a word, he walked out to catch his elusive woman.

He found her on the front steps, watching a cab drive down the driveway. She was just about to step down, when he came to stand in front of her. “Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?” he asked, looking at her eyes to gauge her reaction.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, afraid to look at him, willing the cab to drive faster. “I’m just going home, please don’t let me disrupt your evening.”

 

Sighing heavily, he said, “Have it your way,” then leaned down and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder, then headed in the direction of his car.

 

The cab pulled up in front of the house and Brett handed the man a twentydollar bill saying, “Thanks, but the lady won’t be needing a ride anymore.”

Antonia saw the laughter on the cab driver’s face as Brett turned around and placed her in the passenger seat of his car. Furious and embarrassed, she pushed open the door as soon as he started walking around the front to get in beside her. She marched towards the cab that was still sitting in front of the house, enjoying the scene.

But Brett wasn’t going to let her get away with that. He simply came up behind her, threw her back over his shoulder and put her into the car again. This time, he locked the door so she couldn’t get out.

Antonia sat there fuming. He sat down beside her n the driver’s seat and started the powerful engine. Pulling away from the house, he waved to her family, all of whom were standing on the front steps. Her brothers waved back, huge grins on all their faces.

“I can’t believe you did that to me,” she said once they were on the highway. Antonia was livid. There didn’t seem to be a time when Brett was around her family that she didn’t end up humiliating herself.

“You did that to yourself,” he said, deftly changing lanes.

 

Sputtering, she said, “How did I do that to myself? All I wanted was to go home. I had the means, you just decided it was the wrong one.”

 

“Antonia,” he said, trying to calm her down, “why didn’t you just tell me you were ready to go home?”

 

“Because I didn’t need to. I got there on my own, I can certainly get myself home,” she said, raising her voice in frustration.

 

“By a cab? When there’s no need? I’m perfectly happy to drive you home. Hell, I’ll drive you anywhere you want if you’ll just ask me,” he told her. Antonia couldn’t make him understand. He was exactly like her brothers. And it infuriated her.

 

As soon as they arrived at her building, she got out of the car and slammed the door. “Don’t bother to see me up,” she said, yelling at him from across the street.

 

“Turn on your living room light when you get upstairs,” he said from the open window.

 

“No,” she called back.

 

“Then I’ll come up to make sure you get in ok,” he said starting to get out of the car.

Turning around on the opposite side of the street, she faced him again, livid that she couldn’t even walk into her apartment without him needing to be assured that she’d be ok. “Fine. I’ll turn on the light if everything’s ok. But if there’s a burglar stealing my whicker baskets and gingham curtains, I’ll be sure to leave the lights off so he can get away more easily.”

Brett threw back his head and laughed. She had a point. But she had already disappeared into the building and up the stairs. He waited in his car until she turned on the light in her living room. Driving away, he continued to chuckle occasionally, remembering how sexy she was when she started yelling. She certainly had fire, he thought.

Antonia stomped around her apartment, turning on every light. She was so angry. She walked to the window to make sure he was gone, but she only caught sight of the black BMW driving down the street, his hand waiving to her from the open window.

Stomping back, she was now angry that he’d known she’d look out her window. Antonia looked around her. It was only nine o’clock, too early for her to go to bed since she wasn’t tired at all. But she didn’t know what else to do. She turned on the television, but nothing could subdue her anger. She’d read all the books in her apartment, but she searched the shelves, looking for something to re-read.

Nothing caught her eye. Storming into her bedroom, she changed into shorts and a worn out tee-shirt. She cleaned her apartment from top to bottom, scrubbing all the floors, cleaning cupboards and the refrigerator. It was one o’clock in the morning when she finally ran out of righteous anger. Sitting down on the sofa, yellow rubber gloves covering her hands and a steel wool bundle clenched in her left hand, she felt better. Her whole apartment smelled good and sparkled.

Thinking she was finally able to fall asleep, she showered and climbed into bed. But sleep wouldn’t come. her thoughts. And questions. invited to dinner tonight? Was she the only one who thought it odd? As much as she tried to relax, Brett kept coming into What were her brothers up to? Why had Brett been

Antonia slept until the phone woke her the next morning at ten o’clock. It was her Aunt Marsha. “Want to come shopping with us this afternoon?” she asked, chipper and cheerful.

Antonia looked at the clock. She’d only slept for four hours. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. “I guess so. What time?” she asked.

 

“How about three o’clock? I gave the babysitter the morning off so I have Daniel.”

 

Antonia groaned. “I’m sorry Aunt Marsha, I can’t meet you that late. I have plans tonight,” she said, pushing her hair out of the way.

 

Antonia could hear the smile when her aunt asked, “With who?”

 

Shaking her head, “Not with Brett Hancock,” she said angrily.

“Why were you trying to take a cab home last night? You know your brothers would be happy to drive you anywhere. And Brett was right there. Why didn’t you ask him to drive you home?”

Antonia sighed, wondering how her extended family had already heard about the cab debacle. Her Aunt Marsha was an old school wife. She believed the husband should make the money and the wife should take care of the house and children. She had never understood Antonia’s desire to be independent. “Because I didn’t want to disrupt anyone. I seemed to be the only one who was ready to leave, so I just arranged to leave.” She didn’t go into further explanation. Marsha wouldn’t understand anymore than her brothers, or Brett for that matter. The women in her family believed that there was a definite division of labor. And when they wanted to leave, they simply said so. Their husbands all obliged them whenever possible.

“Well, if you change your mind about this afternoon, give me a call.”

Antonia thanked her and hung up the phone. She laid in her bed for a few more minutes, wondering if she could get back to sleep again. But she knew it was useless. Her mind was already working out all the things she needed to do today, including going to the library and researching some information from a magazine.

So she pulled herself out of bed, showered and changed into a pair of jeans, adding a sweater because it looked colder outside. March in Washington was one of those times when it could be snowing one day, and sixty-five degrees the next.

Chapter 6

She found most of the information she needed in the Library of Congress. She was interested in buying some stock in a new company that was having its initial public offering in a week. After digging in several books and trade journals, she finally had a good idea of what this company produced, its financial history as well as its potential earnings.

The day went by quickly and, too soon, she had to head over to Cesar’s. She was the last one there so she had to hurry in order to get into her costume. Mike was in a good mood so far tonight, which was usually a good sign for the rest of the evening but not a guarantee.

Georgette and Monica stood at the bar, waiting for the first customers to walk in. Antonia walked up to them, pulling at her costume and wished, not for the first time, that they weren’t so low in the front.

“Honey, you’re going to rip that thing if you don’t stop. Accept the fact that its not going to stay any higher and enjoy it,” Georgette laughed.

Monica laughed as well. “No, Antonia will never accept it,” she said, hitting Antonia’s arm with her tail. “But then, she’s the only one who can handle the men, so I don’t know what she’s worried about.”

Antonia, trying to get into the mood, slapped Monica and Georgette with her stuffed tail. “I just wish they’d listen when I said no.”

“So why say it? You get gorgeous hunk after dazzling stud in here at your station. Why not accept what they have to offer? You can always walk away if you don’t like the meal,” Monica said, only half joking.

Ignoring the comments since she’d already heard them before, Antonia tried to change the subject. “What stations do we have tonight?” Antonia asked, leaning forward to check out the schedule taped to the back of the bar and ignoring their comments.

“You have the front again,” Monica replied.

The front of César’s was the best station to have in some cases, the worst in others. It filled up first and cleared out last and it was the farthest away from the bar. But the tips were usually better due to the higher turnover in customers. Usually Antonia didn’t mind. She liked the extra money and since she’d missed Saturday night, she still had a little ways to go before she made up the difference.

Just as she turned around, the first customers arrived and Antonia grabbed a bar tray and headed over, making sure her mask was in place.

The evening was in full swing by eight o’clock. All the tables were full and the bar was crowded with mostly men sitting and discussing their day or organizing tomorrow’s. Antonia was heading back to the bar for yet another round of drinks for a corner table, thinking that they’d had enough already and she might want to get Mike to order them a cab or a limousine for their ride home. Cesar’s always paid for a cab or limousine, depending on the customer, when anyone became too drunk to drive home. They didn’t want to insult their customers, but they didn’t want them to be hurt, or worse, trying to get home.

She grabbed their drinks from Mick, then headed towards the kitchen to pick up an appetizer order. She was just about to head back in when she spotted Mike and decided to give him a heads up on the problem table.

“Mike, could you make a table call to twenty seven. They might need some help getting home but I’m not sure yet,” she said, balancing the plate and the drinks on opposite hands.

Mike looked over at the table that was becoming a little loud and nodded his head. “Sure. Next time they order a round, let me know. I’ll check it out,” he said and headed in their direction as slowly as possible, making it seem that he was working the floor instead of heading directly towards them.

Antonia delivered their drinks, then strolled around her station, checking to see if anyone needed a refill. The night was going extremely well. She was just about to turn around and head for the bar again to take a small break when a new set of customers arrived at her only empty table.

So instead of a break, she picked up some napkins and headed for the gentlemen just sitting down.

 

Putting on her brightest smile, she placed a napkin in front of each man. “What would you like from the bar?” she asked.

And then she turned to the man on her right and froze. It was Brett. He was looking at the menu for an appetizer so he didn’t look up, but Antonia could barely hear what he ordered due to the blood ringing in her ears.

Thankfully, the others at his table kept his attention away from her so she was able to take his drink order and move away quickly, without him noticing who she was. The mask wouldn’t be much help to her in this situation, she suspected.

As soon as she had all their drink and food orders, she turned away and walked towards the kitchen, not stopping for anything.

Once in the kitchen, she leaned against a metal shelf, taking deep breaths in order to calm down. The fear was so strong, she could taste it. If Brett realized who she was, there would be no way to stop him from telling her brothers. She’d be finished here.

Georgette and Monica came in after her and rushed over to her. “Honey, what’s wrong?” Monica asked.

Antonia looked up at them, the fear in her eyes. “I’m sorry to ask this, but could either of you take over my station? There’s a man out there that cannot recognize me.”

Monica nodded her head, seriously concerned over her friend. “Sure, we can switch. I’m way in the back so whoever’s at your table probably won’t see you.”

 

“Who is it?” Georgette asked, peering out the kitchen window.

 

“The tall man with the dark blond hair. He has his back to us.”

 

Monica gasped. “Do you know who that is?” she exclaimed. “It’s not fair that you had him at your station twice.”

 

Antonia looked up. “Twice?” she asked.

 

“Yeah. Don’t you remember? In fact, you came back here that time as well.”

Antonia hadn’t realized at the time that Brett was there that night. All she’d known was that Sal was sitting at her table, oblivious to his little sister dressed in a skimpy cat costume serving him drinks. “No!” she said.