CHAPTER FIFTEEN
BRETT LEANED HIS elbows on the bar at Di Terrestres. The club was full, but no one bothered him; it must have been obvious he wasn’t in the mood to be approached. He was pissed. Frustrated. He wanted to grab a bottle of five-hundred-dollar bourbon from behind the bar and go up to his office and polish the thing off. But he didn’t. Like most people who grappled with addiction, his sobriety was a daily struggle, and he normally had tighter grip on it. The stubbornness to not go back to “old Brett” was what allowed him to own a bar. But some days were harder than others. And it had been a hard day. He stayed at the bar, where there were witnesses, people to whom he was accountable. He clenched his fists in wanting. Things had not gone the way they were planned.
Rebecca was staying put, and he’d have to deal with her being a regular presence in the local real estate industry. It was his problem, not hers, and he never should have dragged her into it. He thought he’d owned the world, could do anything he wanted, but in one fell swoop, he’d lost it all. Because of his stupid, foolish pride, he’d lost out on a business goal that had not only cost him money but was a blow to his reputation. No one else in the boardroom had agreed to sell to him, no matter what he’d said. The remaining shareholders were all loyal to the company and the Daniels name. And his scheming had also cost him the only woman he’d ever cared about.
He grimaced. He thought he could have loved Rebecca. But it would never work between them. There was too much bad blood and animosity, especially now that he’d tried to take her company from her. She’d played her part, but he was the one who’d sounded the death knell for any relationship they could have had. He’d ruined everything.
“I should have known we’d find you here,” he heard Rafael say from behind him. Alex was with him, and they joined him at the bar, flanking him. “We tried calling you.”
“Yeah, my phone’s off.”
His friends eyed his glass warily.
“It’s water.”
“What’s going on?” Rafael asked.
He shook his head. “Did you ever feel like you just ruined everything?”
“No, but I generally do everything right,” Rafael answered.
The bartender came over with drinks for Alex and Rafael and then left quickly, knowing that they were engaged in serious conversation. Brett turned to Alex. “I’m sorry.”
“What about?”
“I’m sorry I got us involved in a venture we couldn’t win. It was my pride that was motivating me. And we lost.”
“It’s fine,” Alex said, even though Brett knew that Alex was just as upset as he was. “Just be straight with me from now on.”
“I will,” he promised.
“Seriously, though. Why are you moping? We’ve lost deals and takeover bids before.” Alex stopped. “It’s just business. We’ll get the next one.” He paused. “You can admit it, you know. This was all about Rebecca, wasn’t it? Are you in love with her?”
He nodded. “She fucking hates me.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“I guess the party’s here,” someone else called from behind him. When the three of them turned, they saw Alana and Gabe join them at the bar. Alana went behind the bar, dodging the busy bartenders, and she grabbed an unopened bottle of wine and a bottle of Perrier for Brett, and the group moved on to their regular table. “What’s with the long faces? I take it the Daniels International shareholders’ meeting didn’t exactly go as planned?”
Brett guffawed. “You got that right.” He filled them in on the details of the meeting. “Needless to say, our takeover bid of Daniels is over.”
“Good for her!” Alana exclaimed, her smile wide. “That’s fantastic!”
“Not for us,” Alex groused.
“I’m sorry it’s not want you wanted, but I’m so proud of her. She was alone and worked her ass off to save her company. You have to respect that.”
“Alana’s right. You’ve got to give it to Rebecca. She’s one hell of a businesswoman,” Rafael reasoned.
“So she beat you. Is that why you’re sulking?” Alana asked.
“I’m not sulking,” Brett snapped.
Alana poured herself a glass of wine and raised it. “Here’s to Rebecca. It’s nice to see a woman come out on top in this city sometimes.”
Brett raised his glass and clinked it against hers. He couldn’t fault Rebecca. She was going to be good for Daniels International, and if anyone could restore it to its former glory, it was her.
“Shall she always be a thorn in Brett Collins’s side,” Gabe finished. “So, are you guys going to hold on to the Daniels stocks or what?”
“We’ll have to come up with some sort of plan. I don’t know. I fucked up with her. I need to make it right.”
“Dude, you have my blessing to do whatever you need to do,” Alex said.
Brett nodded. Despite that he’d hurt Rebecca, he was happy for her. Proud of her success. He’d given her a run for her money and she’d come out on top—it was admirable.
Brett was grateful to still have his friend’s trust. “Thanks for everything, guys.” He stood and walked away. Even though they were trying to talk business and joke around with him, he couldn’t handle their concerned looks. He needed some time alone.
He didn’t realize that Alana had followed him. “You love her, don’t you?” she asked.
He didn’t say anything for a while as he dwelled on the time he’d spent with her. She was gorgeous, sexy, but tough. He respected her, and she took up way too much of his mind, and he could only think about when he would be able to see her again. Somehow, somewhere along the way, he had fallen in love with her. Brett nodded. “Yeah, I think I do.” Rebecca had been right. If he’d set all of this aside, he could’ve spent the last few weeks focusing on things that really mattered, instead of blindly trying to shut her down. Only now did he realize what he’d lost.
He’d been stupid, pigheaded, and he owed her an apology. He laughed to himself. For a man who apologized to no one for anything, a man who took what he wanted, who only thought of himself, he only ever found himself apologizing to Rebecca Daniels.
“So, what are you going to do to make it right?”
“I don’t know. I need some grand gesture, don’t I?”
“Probably. Let me know how it goes,” she said, patting him on the shoulder before she walked back to the table.
* * *
On Monday morning, Rebecca spun around in her chair. The view of the mountains made her smile, and it was one of things she missed every minute she’d been in New York. But for the first time since she’d returned to her home city, she felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She turned around and looked around her newly redesigned office. She’d made the space hers—feminine, modern, friendly—and it finally felt like she was coming into her own in the role of CEO. She was the boss and not just her father’s replacement.
Now it came time to work. It would be hard to turn the company around, and she was still on shaky ground. It had been tough, all the work, the turmoil it had caused her personal life, but nevertheless she’d persisted.
And it had paid off. She alone was the majority shareholder of Daniels International, and while Collins/Fischer still owned a fair amount of shares, they could do nothing. She’d held them off. Daniels International was safe from their grasp.
She studied the folders in front of her. She had a lot of work to do to pull Daniels International back to its former state of prestige, as she’d promised the remaining few shareholders. And she knew that it would be an uphill battle for her. But at least things were looking up for her and the company, and she’d done the right thing for herself, the people who worked there and her father’s legacy, even if it cost her the man she loved.
Love? The word had surprised her as it popped up in her mind. Rebecca wasn’t sure when her feelings about Brett had transitioned from contempt to like to love. How could she love him? He’d tried to ruin her. But in the process, he’d made her work even harder. Brett consumed her, and he always had. No matter what her brain told her, the reasons she shouldn’t be with him, she couldn’t quiet the uncontrollable quiver in her chest when she thought of him. But no matter when it had happened, and what her thoughts about him were, it was over.
“You said goodbye to him once,” she told herself. “You can do it again.”
Amy buzzed in on the intercom, interrupting her introspection. “Brett Collins is here to see you.”
Her eyes widened in shock. He was the last person she’d expected to see. “Send him in.”
The door opened and he walked in. “Hi,” he said. He looked at her desk, which she’d covered with documents. “Catching up on work?”
“Yeah, we’ve got a lot of things to do to bring Daniels International back to the top. What can I help you with? Why are you here?”
He blew out a heavy sigh, and he looked around the room before his eyes met hers again. “Because I was an ass.”
“Really?” She rolled her eyes. “You? An ass? That doesn’t sound like you at all.”
“I deserve that.”
She nodded. “You do.”
“I’m sorry for what happened between us. And I’m mostly sorry for trying to take over your company.”
She cocked her head to the side and smiled somewhat mirthlessly. “What is it? Are you here to tell me that you want some big-businessman tips? I can be your mentor, help you out if you want some coaching.”
He grinned but sobered. “Seriously. I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry,” he said. “For everything.”
She nodded.
“I don’t really know how we got here.”
She had no response to that—she knew Brett had always been competitive, but he’d bordered on ruthless these last few weeks. Still, she hadn’t expected him to come down here and apologize. That seemed out of character for him. “And maybe I’m a little sore because I didn’t get everything I wanted,” Brett said softly. “I usually do.”
“You can take over other businesses, you know. Just leave mine alone.”
“It has nothing to do with business.” He pulled an envelope from the inside pocket of his coat, put it on the desk between them and slid it over to her.
“What’s this?”
“A letter. We drew it up this morning. The shares that Alex and I held in Daniels International, we want to transfer them back to you.”
“Brett. What—”
“We don’t need them. We don’t want them. You deserve them, and now you’ll never lose control of your family firm again.”
“But why?”
Brett took a deep breath and looked at the floor for a moment before his eyes found hers. “I don’t give a damn about business, making deals, mergers, acquisitions. I just want you.”
Her mouth dropped, and he stood and came around to her side of the desk. He reached down, took her hands and pulled her up so that she was standing. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“I want you. And I’ll do anything to have you.”
“Brett—”
“I love you,” he said quickly.
Rebecca watched him. And he raised a hand to push through his hair. She wanted to hold him, the longing tearing through her chest. “What?” She wasn’t sure she’d heard the words that he’d said to her and needed confirmation.
“Rebecca, I love you,” he repeated. “I’ve never loved anyone before, and I don’t know when it happened or how. But I know that I’ve been miserable without you.”
Brett’s declaration caused some tears to pool at the corners of her eyes. She blinked them away and put down the letter. “Brett, I love you, too.”
“Do you think we can? Can we be happy together?”
“If we’re always honest and put each other first over the job, I think we can try.”
He put his hands on either side of her face and pulled her toward him. He kissed her deeply, and her knees buckled in relief from his touch, but as long as he was holding her, she wouldn’t fall.
She pulled back and took another look at the stacks of files on her table.
“What? Do you need to get back to work?” he asked her. His lips brushed against hers.
“No,” she said. “I think I can put it off until tomorrow.”
“Good,” he said and, with a swipe of his arm, he brushed all the stacks of folders on the floor and then lifted her onto the desk.
Her dress had ridden up her hips, and he reached for her panties. She lifted her hips, and he removed the satin barrier. He undid his zipper and lowered his pants. She held her breath as he withdrew his cock from his pants and slowly stepped toward her. He withdrew a condom from the front pocket of his pants and covered himself.
He palmed her and he dipped his thumb between her wet folds, tracing the lines of her pussy. He circled the bundle of nerves of her clit and Rebecca moaned and bucked her hips. She cried out, perhaps a little too loudly, and she briefly wondered if Amy could hear her outside the thick doors of the office. “Brett, do it now,” she pleaded. She needed to feel him again. She was desperate, crying out for his attention.
He held himself over her, and he placed the tip of his cock against her wet folds and pushed inside her, hard and deep. He leaned over and braced himself with a palm on the desk next to her, and he pulled back his hips and plunged into her again. His pace was quick and forceful.
The only sounds in the room were his grunts, her gasps and the sound of his thighs slapping against the inside of hers. She knew she wouldn’t last much longer. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and kissed and licked the sensitive skin before nipping her shoulder between his teeth. It was enough for her. Her quick breathing turned to lustful screams as she called out. Then he shook as he grunted out with his own release.
He lay over her for more several moments, unable to move or speak, and Rebecca concentrated on just trying to regain her breath.
Brett supported his weight on his strong forearms. “I must be crushing you,” he whispered, his breath heavy and warm against her ear.
“No, it’s nice,” she told him.
With a moan, he pushed himself upward. He was somehow still hard inside her, and the movement shifted his position inside her. The noise she made was a mixture of pleasure from stimulation and missing the warmth of his body on top of hers.
He smiled down at her. “Sorry, I’ve got to get rid of this condom.” He strode into the kitchen and reappeared after a moment.
“Did you bring that just assuming that I would forgive you and we’d have sex?”
He shrugged and grinned slowly. “I didn’t know for sure, but you can’t blame a guy for hoping.” He pulled on his pants and, forgetting his shirt, stooped to pick up the papers that were strewed over the floor. “Sorry about the mess.”
Rebecca pushed herself up on her elbows. “It’s okay. It was time to stop for the day anyway.” She looked down and saw that Brett was sitting in the middle of the floor, amid the mess of papers, wearing a goofy grin on his face. He looked up at her.
“What’s so funny?” she asked him.
He stood. “It’s amazing. That we’re both here right now. I spent every day of the last five years trying not to remember you, but I couldn’t not want you. I never thought I would get another chance. And then I finally did, and I screwed it up again. I really did miss you.”
“I missed you, too. But let’s not screw it up this time, all right? And let’s leave the work at the office from now on. No more lies, no more business interfering with our relationship.”
He stuck out his right hand and she shook it. “Deal.”
* * * * *
If you loved this book, don’t miss the next book in J. Margot Critch’s SIN CITY BROTHERHOOD series:
SINS OF THE FLESH
Keep reading for an excerpt from PLEASURE GAMES by Daire St. Denis.
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