Page 12 of Treasured
I pointed to the bathroom, and she nodded. I gave her a thumbs-up and quickly freshened up.
The bathroom didn’t have much, but she still had a Lancôme perfume bottle, which I smelled. This was what she’d been wearing last night. I came out a minute later, and she was packing her dress. She crossed her arms and met my eyes. “Look, I’ll have my son then. It’s a different experience when a baby is around, and we both agreed it was one time.”
How someone had let her belly swell with his son and then let the angel go free made no sense. I lucked out. I came closer, and she lowered her arms as I said, “I never said that.” I pressed my hand on her shoulder. “I could treat both of you for a nice night out.”
Her lips pursed like she was judging me, but she let out a sigh and said, “Having children around kills the romance feelings fast.”
My close SEAL buddies had given me a second nickname, Chance, and it seemed once again I had scored, but I let her go and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. “At the family picnics, I’m usually playing around with the kids in the backyard.”
A small laugh escaped her lips, and she lowered her shoulders. A moment later she took my phone from me and pointed for the password. I let it use facial recognition and then gave it back. She typed in her number and said, “Okay… sure, let’s live in a dream for now that we’ll somehow connect again. Here is my contact.”
I called it, and her phone rang. She slipped back and picked it up so she had my number. She let out a small breath, and I said, “If you are ever in Pittsburgh and still single, call.”
Her lips curled higher, and she came back to me and kissed my cheek. “When I do, we’ll call it a real date.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and said, while our noses were close, “I’ll see you soon.”
She pushed her wayward hair behind her ear and lowered her lashes. “Guess this is a test to see if you keep your promises.”
Her lips were puckered, and I took one more taste. Mary was sweeter than Polynesian Watermelon ‘Otai. As our gazes met, I said, “I’ll never disappoint you, Mary. Talk to you soon.”
She held my hand as I walked to the door, and I stole one quick kiss.
I knew she was watching me walk down the hall, so I waited till I turned the corner to the elevator to read my missed-call log. Mark, my brother’s friend I’d hired to help me get my company back, had texted. As I stepped onto the elevator, I read,Has Wanda been served by the lawyers?
I’m calling her now, I wrote back, and the doors closed. I would get an inspection of my property faster than control, and that was part of the plan.
Once in the lobby, I headed back to the valet and handed over my ticket.
My gray Lexus with black leather seats pulled up—the luxury I had bought for myself when I moved here temporarily to work with Cole Securities. I tipped the valet and hooked the phone to my dashboard. As I drove away from sweet Mary, I dialed my almost-sister-in-law.
I said a little prayer she would cooperate and leave peacefully with the buy-out offer, but the service taught me that anything was possible. On the second ring, she answered, and I said, “Wanda, hey.”
Her low voice was still the same as when she had come to my house years ago, holding my brother’s hand. “Dwayne, I hadn’t expected you’d call. Got your lawyers’ missive.”
Last time I had trusted Wanda, I was eighteen and about to graduate high school. My mother had me call her with the news about Devon since she couldn’t. I tapped the wheel and forced that memory to dissipate. “My brother’s shares are mine, and our legal battle will end shortly.”
Wanda seemed pensive. “We’ll schedule that tour so you can see that nest egg I built for you and your mom is secure.”
Mine and my mother’s financial freedom hadn’t been her concern, and she only mentioned it now to get me to back off seizing control. I had no idea what my perfect brother had seen in Wanda now.
She had our manufacturing plant sending guns to our country’s enemies. I made a turn to head back to my beach apartment. “So I’ll have my secretary speak to yours about a mutual time this week.”
Wanda sighed. “I’ll be here all week, though next week is Paris.”
“This week it is, then,” I said, ignoring how hot my face felt.
When I was eighteen and joining the SEALs after my brother had died, I thought I could trust Wanda. The discussion with Mark when I’d shipped home had destroyed that illusion.
My neck muscles tightened. This would end soon.
I tapped my steering wheel while she said, “This didn’t have to become a battlefield. I’m not married, since I couldn’t find anyone as great as your brother.”
I hit the brake at a red light and heard a plane in the air high above me. “Devon… he was always the good one, and my mom considered you family.”
Not once had I told Mom what Wanda had done. Then my mother stunned me and said I had the shares because my brother, before he’d died, had told Wanda not to break the law on selling weapons, even if the path was clear and easy. She’d promised she would honor my brother’s wishes, but trusting her had been my mistake.
Wanda then said, “I’m having my lawyers help me understand the details of your offer. In the meantime, I saw you dancing last night at the ball.”
