Page 83 of Enthrall Climax
“It’s me, Mia.”
“Oh, hello.” She smiled. “This is Annette White and Terri Banfield. I’m considering buying this hotel. What do you think?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “This is Mia Lauren, Cameron Cole’s fiancée.”
From their impressed reactions I knew that they’d heard of him.
Arms came around my waist and gripped me tightly. I didn’t need to look to see it was Barret. “Tell Cameron I’m here.”
Helete’s frown deepened as she watched Barret leading me out of the pool area. Surely she could see how upset I was?
Glancing back, my heart skipped a beat when I saw Helete raising her phone to her ear. She was calling Cameron. I just knew it.
STEALING SOME PRIVATE TIME INthe Cole Tower gym, which was tucked away in the basement, I pounded the treadmill, staring at my fixed expression in the mirror. I had Oasis blaring from my ear buds, singing “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” and I briefly mused over what a shame it was that those two feuding Gallagher brothers couldn’t give us another album.
Brothers…such a special bond and one I had never taken for granted, even as a child. It had been Henry who had watched over me when I’d turned up at our private boarding school with nothing but a suitcase and a head full of fear. Even at five years old I’d had a sense of how cruel this world could be. Those moments when I’d pass Henry in the hallway or searched him out in the library, I was assured of his caring nature, his patience and his wisdom. We’d always been close, so close that when he’d been captured in Afghanistan I’d flown around the world to help rescue him.
Those days would haunt me, mainly for the fact I’d spent hours trying to extract intelligence from him after his rescue—the kind of Intel needed to sway an attack on American soil. It had been Henry’s recent recovery that had soothed my guilt and given me the courage to reconnect on an emotional level.
Yet someone had fractured that bond. It pained me that it had become fragile again.
It had been Mia who had coaxed Henry out of hiding and now he was ready to take on the world. Our desire to serve had been developed at a young age.
I punched a button on the panel and the belt sped up. I sprinted to refocus.
Mia was my light in the darkness. Every moment away from her felt like an assault on my senses, but I was consoled by the knowledge that she would soon be moving closer.
Five months ago, I’d run a successful psychiatric clinic in Beverly Hills while secretly managing my renowned empire, Chrysalis. At the time, I couldn’t have imagined any other kind of life. But I’d madethiswork. I’d accomplished everything I had set out to do and I still had big plans for Cole Tea. A strategy was evolving to open offices in Seattle and Florida, as well as England. We were going global.
And I was the man to take us there.
Remaining stone-faced, I’d listened as Henry had delivered his monologue, explaining why he felt ready for this role. Dad would be ecstatic about Henry taking on more responsibility at the company and Mom would revel in the idea of her oldest thriving in the business he’d been destined for. I wasn’t opposed to Henry coming back fulltime; I just needed to work out where he would be an asset.
With both adrenaline and uncertainty surging through my veins, I slowed the treadmill into “cool down” mode. I needed time to think carefully about his request and work out what was best for everyone.
My ego was going to have to take a hit; I could feel fate’s fist flying toward me.
After a hot shower, I redressed in my Brioni suit and dragged a comb through my hair. When I opened the gym door to leave, Sue was standing there.
She was holding her scheduler and exhaled in a rush of excitement saying, “The New York Times wants to send over John Mayberry. He’s going to write a piece on you. I told them Friday, around ten?”
No.I’d be in Italy then with Mia. Sue didn’t need to know that.
“Let me think about it.” Having my personal life investigated by some ambitious journalist wasn’t the most appealing idea.
“You have a 2:00 P.M. with the head of marketing. Dana wants to discuss personnel. Alex from accounting had to reschedule. His dog needs to go to the vet—”
“What kind of dog?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you ask?”
“Why?”
I threw her a questioning glance. I liked Sue, but she leaned toward psychopathic, which was why I’d hired her in the first place. It helped having the human equivalent of a Rottweiler guarding my office.
I was only half-listening to her because Shay was standing at the end of the hallway, and his fraught expression shot a wave of concern through me.
I headed toward him. “What’s wrong?”
