CHAPTER ONE

 

The euphoria of the victory gave way to a quiet drive to Kari’s house.  Alex Drakos was behind the wheel of his Mercedes G-Wagon, but was taking call after call of congratulations and had not been able to participate in even small talk with his two passengers.  Not that it mattered to Jordan or his mother.  They were still caught up in the euphoria and the victory.  They were still excited to be on the winning side for a change.

Fourteen-year-old Jordan Grant sat on the backseat, and he was still so excited that he was rocking side to side like Ray Charles, and even leaned forward a time or two and squeezed his mother’s small arm.  The second time, he spoke.  “We won, Ma!” he said triumphantly, as if winning was so new to him that he thought it was a new invention.  “We won!”

Karena “Kari” Grant, his mother, smiled and patted her son’s hand.  She understood how he felt.  Winning was brand new to her, too.  “Yes, we did, son,” she said.

But her voice, even Jordan could tell, was far more tempered than his.  Mainly because Kari was a realist and she knew that the victory they were celebrating was really all Alex’s, rather than theirs, and he was just allowing them to go along for the ride.  Because Kari had more than that victory on her mind.  She was more concerned about the next phase of this ride.  She wondered what was next?

She looked at Alex as he drove them home.  Here was a billionaire industrialist.  Here was a man whose corporation wasn’t just a company, but a conglomerate.  A man who commanded the attention of beautiful movie stars and royalty alike.  But yet, on the night the town voted and approved the referendum that allowed him to build a casino and luxury hotel in Apple Valley, he chose to leave his own celebration party and drive them back home.  He could have ordered one of his men to drive them (Lord knows he had plenty in town), but he didn’t.  He was doing it himself.  That meant something, in Kari’s eyes.

But what did it mean after tonight?  Now that he got what he came to Florida to get, mainly that vote victory, what did that mean for their brand-new relationship?  Was it over now?  Would he return to New York and forget all about her?   That casino wasn’t going to be built overnight, and his corporation, not to mention his main home, were both in New York.  Even during the campaign, when it was crucial for him to be in town to round up votes, Alex often had to fly to New York to handle his business.  Were they going to have a long-distance relationship?  After tonight, were they going to have a relationship at all?  Winning that vote had been so all-consuming that they had never even mentioned the next step.  The second act.  Them!

“Let me call you back,” Alex finally said to yet another caller on the other end of his phone conversation as he pulled into Kari’s driveway and parked behind her old, but reliable, Toyota Tercel.  He quickly got out, to open Kari’s door, as Jordan, on the back passenger seat, got out, too.

“You received a lot of phone calls, Mr. Drakos,” Jordan said with a grin, as Alex walked around to the passenger side of his SUV.

“Yes, I did,” Alex said, with a smile of his own.

“You have lots of friends.”

“A few friends phoned,” Alex corrected Jordan, “but the vast majority of those calls were from vendors excited about the future.  Which is good.”

“Yes, it is.”  Jordan knew his mother’s struggling maid service was supposed to become one of those vendors once the casino and hotel were built.  Alex set up and approved her contract himself.  It was all good as far as Jordan was concerned.

After Alex opened the door for Kari and assisted her out of the G-Wagon, the threesome made their way to the front door.  Jordan walked behind the grownups and was pleased to see that Alex was holding his mother’s hand.  It was eleven at night in a sleepy town.  Not exactly a public show of affection.  But it was enough for Jordan.

Alex’s phone began ringing again as they walked to the door.  He turned it off.

Kari smiled and looked at him.  “A little late for that, don’t you think?”

He smiled that million-dollar smile, and placed his hand to his heart.  “I apologize sincerely.  But there are so many others wishing to share in this victory.”

Kari nodded her understanding.  “It’s a big deal.  You should be very proud, Alex.”

“It could not have been possible without your help, and Jordan’s help.”

Kari laughed.  “Yeah, I’m sure Jordan’s arrest for rape and murder and my association with Vito Visconni put those votes right over the top for you.”

Alex and Jordan laughed too.  Although, at the time when all of that went down, it was no laughing matter for any of them.

“I’m sure that’s what sealed the deal,” Kari continued, grinning.  “I’m positive that’s what made the margin of victory.”

Alex continued to laugh as he removed his hand from her hand and placed his arm around her waist.  He’d never laughed so much, or felt so deeply, until he met Kari.

When the door was unlocked and opened, Jordan congratulated Mr. Drakos again, and then took off into the house.  He couldn’t wait to get on Facebook and tell all his friends about his exciting night.

Alex, however, was beyond that victory.  He had Kari on his mind.  And more specifically tonight, after they both had had a long and grueling day, he had Kari’s body on his mind.  He wanted her naked in bed, and in his arms.

But Kari, as usual, Alex thought, came from out of left field.  “How much do I owe you?” she asked.

He stared at her.  How much what?  But that was why he loved her.  There was no one like her.  “I don’t understand,” he said to her.

“For the repairs on your Mercedes.  I see where you got the G-Wagon fixed.  How much do I owe you?  You were helping me, after all, when it got damaged a couple months back.”

Alex smiled and shook his head.  Kari owned a cleaning service, and it was a struggling maid service at that.  He and she both knew she couldn’t afford a doorknob on that G-Wagon.  “You do not owe me a dime,” he said.  “I volunteered to assist.  It was all on me.  Don’t you worry about that.”

But then he moved onto her threshold, and placed his arms around her waist.  “However,” he added with that gorgeous smile, and Kari could tell, by that look in his eyes, what was coming next.

She smiled, too, when he didn’t continue.  “However, what?” she asked.

He pulled her into his arms and placed his mouth at her ear.   “Why don’t we go to your room and discuss it,” he whispered to her.

Kari closed her eyes.  It was sooo tempting!  Alex did things to her in bed that no man had ever come close to being able to do.  But she couldn’t.

She opened her eyes and leaned back, to look into Alex’s big, blue eyes.  “Jordan’s still up and roaming about,” she said.  “And I know he’s a teenager who has a great idea what grown folks do when they’re alone, but I can’t allow that in my house.  Not yet.  I did that with Vito.  I don’t want him to think I’m going down that road again.  It was too painful for him.”

Alex knew what she meant.  Vito Visconni was her ex-boyfriend.  He was a made man for the mob she lived with when Jordan was very young.  He was also very abusive.

“I hope you understand,” Kari said, heartfelt.

“I do,” Alex said quickly.  “Please don’t think I don’t.  I do.  You will not lower your moral standards for me or anybody else, and I love that about you.”  His look turned more serious than lustful.  “That’s why I respect you so much, Karena.”

He stared into her big, smoky brown eyes, and rubbed the back of his hand against her smooth brown skin.  And then he kissed her.  When his lips met hers, and he kissed her with a long, passionate kiss, his penis began throbbing for her.  Aching for her.  But he’d have her again, he knew, in time. 

But as soon as Alex walked out of that door, and the door closed behind Kari, she wanted to open it back up and yell for him to come back in.  And to get into her bed.  She knew she was going to miss him tonight, and it was going to be lonely as hell.

But then Jordan’s voice ended all hope.  “Ma,” he yelled from his bedroom, “I don’t have any clean underwear for school tomorrow!”

Kari smiled, and shook her head.  That was her boy!  “Then you’d better put some in the machine,” she said, walking away from the door.  “Who do you think I am?  Your maid?”