CHAPTER 17

Sasha sat in her father’s office, fighting to stay awake. Ever since Stefan had slammed the door behind him Friday night she hadn’t had a good night’s rest. Three nights of little to no sleep were starting to catch up with her.

Friday night had been an aberration. She had never known she could be that mad and aroused at the same time. Over the course of the weekend she had realized that she and Stefan had fought as passionately as they made love.

But she couldn’t see him again, she thought, as she laid her head back against the dove gray, stiff, and uncomfortable sofa. She was so tired she didn’t care about comfort. Friday night had just proven to her that she and Stefan could never work. He refused to see her point and had driven her to smacking him, something Sasha had never imagined herself doing. Even though her body had felt used in a good way on Saturday from their rough lovemaking, Sasha couldn’t believe she had been so bold. Maybe Stefan was right, maybe she did envy him in his freedom to be whoever he wanted to be.

Her mind trailed back to how Stefan had driven her over the edge with his fingers, as his knee pushed her legs apart, his warm breath on her neck when her father’s voice broke the memory.

“Baby girl! I’m so glad you came, I’m so sorry I’m late.” JB Morris blew into the room like the whirlwind he was known to be.

Sasha prayed her father didn’t notice the blush on her cheeks as she stood to greet him. “Hi daddy, I’m early.” She kissed his cheek and smiled at him, glad that he couldn’t read her mind.

“Well then, let’s go. Lunch, you say?” JB asked grabbing a few items from his drawer and stuffing them into his pocket.

“Actually that’s what you say, but yes, let’s go.” Sasha said, following him out the door.

They sat on a rooftop of one of the city’s skyscrapers and overlooked the Manhattan skyline. Sasha smiled as her father ordered wine. Only JB Morris would book a Michelin rated restaurant for lunch with his daughter. Sasha knew him well enough to know he wasn’t showing off; he was simply treating her to a lavish lunch.

The waiter poured them each a glass of white wine before discreetly disappearing.

“So, was the fundraiser a big success?” Sasha asked, knowing her father would talk of nothing else until he had updated her on the campaign.

“Yes, it was. We got a few big-ticket supporters from it and great publicity. The press just loves you and your mother, you know?”

Sasha forced a smile. The press was getting in the way of her sex life. “That’s great dad. Not the part about me and mom.”

JB laughed and sipped on his wine. “What are you having?”

Sasha scanned through the menu and decided on a salad with an unpronounceable name although it looked to her like Caesar salad.

With their orders taken and glasses refilled, the waiter left them alone.

“What’s on your mind, Sasha? I can see something’s bothering you.” JB said setting his glass aside and placing his hand over Sasha’s.

“Nothing dad, I haven’t been sleeping well.” Sasha feigned.

“I told you to stay at home, heaven only knows what kind of bed bugs and pests are in that building.”

“Dad it’s not the building, it’s…” Sasha was grateful when her father’s phone rang and she stopped just in time from telling her father about Stefan.

“JB speaking.” Her father said before glancing at Sasha apologetically.

Sasha sipped on her wine as her father nodded a few times before barking into the phone. “What! It can’t be. I’m sitting with her right now, but it can’t be.”

Sasha felt fear clutch at her throat, what did she do?

“Just send me the goddamn paper! Email a picture then, now!” JB slammed down the phone before narrowing his eyes at Sasha. “Did you see this morning’s paper?”

Sasha blushed scarlet red, was she supposed to see the paper? She thought of Friday night and Stefan…did they close the curtains? Shit! “No, why?” Sasha asked as calmly as she possibly could.

“Apparently the press has gotten pictures of you and it’s on the front page.”

“What?” Sasha asked confused.

JB’s phone dinged at the incoming email, he picked it up flicked open the message and pulled up the screenshot of the paper. “Fuck!” He cursed under his breath before handing Sasha the phone. “Explain this!”

Sasha swallowed on the lump in her throat; she had never heard her father swear before. She took the phone as if it were a turd and briefly glanced at the screen. A photo of her and Stefan coming out of the storage room. She was a few steps ahead of him, but the disheveled state of her hair and his clothes said everything.

“Sasha!” JB’s voice was not a decibel higher than usual but it dripped with frosty derision.

“Yes dad?” Sasha met her father’s stern gaze, not knowing how she was going to get out of this. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid with Stefan.

“Who is that man? Are they right? Is that Tommy Kelson’s son, the one who’s always partying?”

Sasha swallowed, knowing her father knew exactly who Tommy Kelson was. He had numerous enterprises in Manhattan; anyone who didn’t know Tommy Kelson was either raised in a cave or from another continent.

Sasha didn’t know how to answer so she just bobbed her head up and down.

Her father took a deep breath, Sasha realized he was trying to calm down and she hoped he succeeded. When he met her gaze again it was cold, no longer on the edge of murder, but ice cold. “What were you doing in a storage room with Stefan Kelson?” The question was as uncomfortable for her father to ask as it was for her to answer.

“We talked.” Sasha said referring to Saturday; she wasn’t going to tell her dad about Sunday.

“Sasha, I’ve been a man a long time, long enough to know what one looks like after he just got screwed.” The mirth in her father’s voice slapped her harder than his hand ever could.

Sasha blinked furiously to keep the tears at bay. “It won’t happen again.” She mumbled hoping her father would leave it at that.

“You’re damn right it won’t.” Her father tucked the phone away but his tone said it all. Sasha knew that tone, knew it held no room for argument, no room for explanations.

They ate in silence and her father barely glanced at her the entire time. There were no more questions about school or the campaign; just the deadly silence that diminished Sasha’s appetite.

After paying the check, JB stood up and turned to leave without even greeting her.

Sasha stood up and quickly grabbed his arm.

“Daddy?” Sasha asked desperately wanting him to tell her it will be alright.

He turned around not meeting her eyes. “I won’t tell your mother about this, neither will you. We will never speak of this again. I’m going to have my publicist buy off the photographer and the paper to make sure no one hears of it after today. This is the first time in my career I need to sink to that level.” His hard stare made it clear it was her fault. “I expect you to hold your word on this Sasha; I don’t like how it feels to be disappointed in you.” With that JB left her standing on the rooftop terrace with tears burning her eyes.

Sasha blinked them back not knowing if there was a press photographer somewhere. She swallowed a few times to get her emotions under control before pulling out her phone. She pulled up Stefan’s number and hit the delete button. The phone beeped a warning; confirm you want to delete this number? Sasha bit her bottom lip and hit confirm. In the recesses of her mind she realized she had just chosen her father over a man she was interested in, it left a bitter taste in her mouth.