Page 20 of Mr. Aster
“I heard you fired Steph after she dared to speak two words to you,” she said, cutting me off again.
“I allowed her more than two words. In fact, the more she spoke, the more concerned I grew that she was the hostess for this place. And I won’t even bring up the unprofessional way she was dressed.”
I saw Darcy bite her lip to prevent a smile before she looked away from me. I wasn’t sure, but I got the notion that perhaps Miss Parsons bothered Darcy as much as me.
“It still doesn’t matter,” Darcy quickly returned. “What matters is that we can’t afford to shut this place down for a week while you send all the staff to other wineries.”
“We can’t afford to keep this place open with how it runs now. I’m contacting some highly experienced people in the industry, and whichever employees wish to continue working here will be trained by them once everything is in order. The days of running this place like a Bahamian tiki hut beach bar are over.”
“I can very easily see that,” she said. Then she pulled away from the side of the pool and sank back into the water. “Perhaps you should at least have more regard for the people who work for us; whether you like how they dress or not, most of them are good people.”
“Most?” I questioned that word. “There are more like Miss Parsons?”
“Goodnight, Mr. Aster,” she said, turning away, swimming to the ladder on the other side of the pool, and pulling herself out of the water.
I narrowed my eyes at the sight of her perfectly round ass in her swimsuit, and believe it or not, for the first time in what seemed to be a year, my dick perked back to life. I took a large gulp of my tequila and looked to my right, removing all images and thoughts of her from my mind. The very last thing I would do was involve myself with Darcy Burke.
The woman and I seemed to hate each other, but I had to admit she was as rude and outspoken as she was sexy. She was also as much of a problem for me as everything else I’d encountered since I arrived here, and everyone who knew me well knew that nothing could break my strong will. That willpower had kept me out of a lot of trouble in my younger years and would continue to do so now.
Chapter Nine
Darcy
Ineeded a damn massage after dealing with Sebastian for the past two weeks, the man who was now known to everyone here as the devil. He didn’t merely come here to act like an asshole; it was clear that he arrived here with the deliberate intention to brutalize everyone’s lives.
Steph quit the day after she toured three wine estates with my dad, and I honestly wasn’t too sad about it because she needed to move on. I wasn’t big on judging people—except for Sebastian Aster, of course—but Stephanie Parsons was the kind of person who walked around begging for it because of her ridiculous actions. I mean, she would screw anyone with a pulse who walked into this place—her boyfriends, other people’s boyfriends, and a handful of heavily buzzed patrons of the winery. She was twenty-eight but acted like a horny teenager trying to bang her way out of a small town. It was beyond me why my dad had kept her on for so long—and no, it wasn’tbecause she was also banging him. Billy Burke just had a huge heart and loved helping people.
The disturbed look on Sebastian’s face when he mentioned her did make me laugh a bit, though. I could only imagine how she greeted him and what she was wearing when they met. Actually, I didn’t need to use too much imagination; the fact that Sebastian had shut the place down for two weeks of field trips and extensive training was proof enough that she was the straw that broke the camel’s back for him.
“You’re just leaving for the night?” my mom asked after telling her I was heading to Los Angeles. I needed to turn in the article I’d written last month on Maxwell Barbison, the elite billionaire who resided in Florida, where he owned a pristine resort.
“I’m not too sure,” I answered her honestly. “This place is under construction now, and it’s hard to get anything done with all of the contractors hammering and using table saws every five minutes.”
“I’m really sorry about this,” she said. I knew she meant it, but she also allowed herself to be at the mercy of Sebastian’s demands.
“I know you’re sorry, Mom,” I answered her after I took a bite of my bagel, “butI’msorry for you and Dad.”
“How so?” she answered, oblivious that she’d altered much of her personality to meet Sebastian’s expectations.
“Mom,” I said with sympathy, “you’ve practically aged ten years by having him here. You are worried about everything now, and you’ve never worried about anything a day in your life. Until Sebastian showed up, I didn’t think you knew what anxiety felt like.”
“It’s just the pressure of having to do things to keep the business afloat. I didn’t know how bad things were until Sebastian dug into the depths of it. We were failing miserably,honey,” she said, swirling her tea bag around in circles while staring at the steaming hot lavender tea she was drinking.
“It was failing, I agree with that,” I reached over and ran a reassuring hand over her back, “but it wasn’t as bad as this man has made it out to be. You and Dad are extremely outgoing and very charitable people. All that kindness eventually sneaked up and bit you bothandthis winery in the ass?—”
“Yeah, I know.” She ran her hand over her forehead, showing the defeat and failure she was feeling inside.
“It’s not something to beat yourself up over, Mom. Don’t be ashamed that you lead from the heart. That is nothing to apologize for, and it doesn’t make you a failure. Maybe it doesn’t make you greatbusinesspeople, though,” I smiled when her sad blue eyes met mine. “I’m just glad Sebastian could tell you what I’ve been saying for at least three years.”
“And that is?”
“That you’re going to lose it all if you keep giving it away and not looking to expand your marketing into other areas. That’s why I thought it was a great idea when Mr. Mitchell and the Aster Family were interested in investing in this estate.”
“Really?” she eyed me as if she’d caught me in a lie, sat up, and offered me her undivided attention. “Isthatwhy you’ve met Sebastian with argumentseverytime I’ve seen you in conversation with him?”
“Okay, I said the help with marketing and expansion was a good thing. I never imagined they’d come into this place and remodel our residence. That’s where Mr. Aster and I have gotten off on the wrong foot,” I softly laughed.
She sighed and narrowed her eyes at me, “Is it just that?”
