Speaking her Language
(Liam)
As Darcy and I walk hand in hand past the booths filled with decorative throw cushions and colorful wallpapers, I realize I haven’t thought about work once since we landed in Paris this morning.
We came straight to the conference.
Victor’s been great and handling all the extra work I’ve been off-loading on him, but he’s finally said he’s going to hire another person to help him pick up what I’m dropping. Realistically, he’s going to need two or three people to make up for me.
At least.
I’ve got so much money, getting more was always a bit of a game for me. But now that I’ve found Darcy, I feel like I have more important things to do. Like spend my time with her.
“You never did tell me about your passport,” Darcy says, looking up at me.
“What do you mean?”
“Why didn’t the immigration control guy know you were the William Bannerman? I mean, we did fly in on a private jet.”
I smirk, and say, “My passport says Liam Bannerman. For some reason, most people don’t put William and Liam together as the same name.” Thankfully.
“That’s it?”
“Yep.”
“Oh.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“I thought you were going to say you bribe them.”
Chuckling, I say, “No, I’ve never needed to. Does that ruin my man-of-mystery reputation for you?”
No one at the convention knows who Darcy is. She’s the head of strategy for one of the world’s largest events corporations, and she’s here judging the event in complete anonymity.
Even though most people here are in casual wear, Darcy’s wearing a smart business skirt that ends mid-thigh, a sheer white blouse and a matching business jacket. I know damn well she’s not dressed like that for the sake of walking around this place. She knows her business side makes me hard, and she’s dressed like that for me.
Suddenly I’ve had enough of home decorations.
“So, what do you think of this convention?”
I always love hearing her business opinions. They’re incredibly insightful and show off just how good her business mind is.
“This one’s actually more advanced technology-wise than the chocolate convention, because it has more extensive interactive online activities for people not attending in person.”
“I thought the chocolate one had all that?”
“It did, but this one is a leap ahead, almost a next generation of technology.”
“Impressive,” I say, though my voice is flat.
“You don’t really care, do you?”
“Not really. What I care about is the way your father treats you.”
I need her to leave Knight Global Events. She deserves better, more respect, more real power instead of just advisory. Hell, she should be running the company.
“He’s a jerk to me, that’s for sure. He—” Her words halt, and I know she’s holding something back from me.
“What is it? What did he do now?” I demand. I want her to tell me everything.
“Nothing,” she says, shaking her head. “He’s just blaming me for everything and everything.”
“You’re his whipping girl, that’s for sure,” I say, my fist clenching. I have to get her out of that company, even if it is her family’s. I will get her out of it.
“You’ll be happy to hear I contacted a couple of headhunters,” she says, looking up at me with a shy smile.
“And you didn’t tell me?” Why didn’t she tell me?
“I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. But maybe if I do, I’ll change my mind and realize I can’t leave my family’s company.”
“You won’t change your mind. You need to get away from your father before he sends you into a nervous breakdown.” I’ll make sure she doesn’t change her mind.
“Well, I haven’t found anything that interests me yet, so I don’t know how I’ll feel.”
“I’ll tell you how you’ll feel when you start your first day at a new company…”
“How would you know how I’d feel?” Darcy interrupts, defensively.
“I wasn’t finished,” I squeeze her hand. “You’d feel valued and respected. Your shoulders would feel lighter from the lack of your father being there to insult and accuse you at every opportunity.”
Darcy’s silent as we walk on. We’re now in the furniture section and walk past bizarre pink and orange accent chairs and coffee tables made to look at and not actually set any cups of coffee on.
I let her think. It’s a decision she has to come to on her own, at least on the surface. But right now my number-one priority is getting her away from Timothy. At least in a day-to-day business relationship. There’s not much I can do about the father-daughter relationship, though I suspect that relationship would radically change if she left.
Either he’d never forgive her and not speak to her again, which I doubt, or Timothy would realize how badly he fucked things up and what a great asset to his company he’d lost.
“You’ll wonder why you didn’t leave him before,” I say.
“You make it sound like he’s my boyfriend or something.”
I chuckle, “He has a lot in common with an abusive boyfriend.”
“An abusive father,” she says quietly.
I let go of her hand and drape my arm over her shoulders, drawing her close to me. Her body is shaking from even thinking about her situation. I need to get her out of here, to get her mind off Timothy.
“Have you seen everything you need to see yet? Can we go?”
“Yes, fine. I think I’ve seen enough.”
“Good, I want to show you the fun side of Paris.”
I love Paris. I have an apartment here, though it’s more an investment than something that gets used much. I often make excuses to come here on business, but I don’t get to enjoy the city as much as I can when I’m here. I want this time to be different.
I want my life with Darcy to be different.
Chase is in the crowd just behind us, and we pause for him to join us at the exit.
“What do you want to see most?” I ask.
Darcy looks at me like I’m an idiot, and says, “The Eiffel Tower, obviously.”
“Ever been to Paris?” I ask Chase.
“No, sir. This is my first time in Paris.”
I smile, glad I trust this man completely with Darcy’s safety.
We pile into a nearby minivan taxi, and once again I’m hit with how grateful I am to be able to move around in public like this. However much Darcy thinks I’m missing out on life by cutting myself off from everyone, I love that I can move around freely.
“It’s beautiful,” Darcy says as we pull up in front of the Eiffel Tower. She cranes her head to see all the way to the top of the iron structure.
“Merci, ne t’inquiète pas de la balance,” I say to the driver, telling him to keep the change as I pay him.
Darcy’s head snaps to me as I utter the words, and she bites her bottom lip. I make a mental note to speak as much French as possible while we’re here. If one sentence gets her excited, I can’t wait to see how she responds to an entire conversation.
The whole area is packed with tourists, all smiling, laughing and taking photos. Draping my arm around her, we walk up to the base of the tower.
“It’s even more beautiful in person,” Darcy says.
“The best view is actually from over there,” I say, pointing to the steps on the other side of the river.
“Maybe later. I want to go up it first.”
“Of course.”
When we are exactly underneath the tower, I ignore the crowds and embrace her. When I look up, all I can see is the tower extending into the sky, and all I can feel is Darcy against me. I lean down and close my mouth over hers. She melts into my body, and I hold her tight while caressing her ass.
I run my fingers over it, exploring it and realizing she’s either wearing a thong or nothing at all underneath her skirt.
“What do you have on under this skirt?” I whisper into her ear.
She looks up at me with a massive grin, and says, “Not a goddamn thing.”