“You’re done, Mrs. Black, because I’m going to take you to your alternate world and do things to you there I’ve never done before. I’m going to make it so you don’t want to come back.”
I gasped as he took my hand and stood me up. He grabbed the towel I had sitting next to the tub, wrapped it around me, and helped me out. He dried every part of me in a seductive manner and removed the clip that was holding my hair up, letting it fall over my shoulders. He took in a sharp breath as he placed his hand on the side of my face.
“I’m so in love with you, and I need you. I need you every day. You’re my strength and my light and, without you, I’m nothing.”
As I smiled at him, he picked me up and carried me to our bed. He gently laid me down as his fingers deftly removed my towel, and he took me to my alternate world. He was right; I didn’t want to come back.
Chapter 34
Connor
“You were right, Connor,” Paul said as he walked into my office and threw the file on my desk.
I sat there and shook my head as I read the contents inside. “Fuck!” I yelled as I slammed it down.
“I can’t believe it either. What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said as I paced back and forth.
Since I had taken my father’s place as CEO of Black Enterprises, I had never needed to ask for his advice, until now. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed him.
“Dad, I need you to come down to the office. I need to talk to you about a situation that’s going on.”
“All right, Connor, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
As I hung up the phone, I walked out to where Valerie sat. “My father will be here shortly. Cancel my meeting for this afternoon and do me a favor and order us some sandwiches from the deli down the street. Nobody, and I mean nobody is to disturb us, not even Phil, do you understand me?”
“What about Mrs. Black?”
“Well, of course her, but she usually just calls my cell phone.”
“Very good, Connor. I’ll get on those sandwiches now.” She smiled.
I walked back into my office and sat down at my desk. “I want you in on this meeting with my father, Paul.”
“I figured as much. Do you want me to call anyone else?”
“No, this is to stay between the three of us.”
About an hour later, my father came strolling into my office and Valerie entered with the sandwiches. We took a seat at the table and my father looked at me.
“What’s going on, Connor?”
“Take a look at this,” I said as I slid the file across the table. “Remember the conversation we had a couple of weeks ago?”
My father opened the file, looked at it, and then looked at me with an expression of shock. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I wish I was,” I replied.
“I’m at a loss for words, son. I don’t know what to think about this.”
As I got up from my seat, I walked over to the bar and poured a scotch.
“Connor, I can see the rage in your eyes and the first thing you need to do is to calm down. You won’t do anybody any good if you start acting crazy and out of control. Think of the situation and repercussions if you go off the deep end.”
He was right. I needed to calm myself and think this through very carefully. I sat back down and the three of us discussed the matter further, trying to formulate a plan of action. Once I was satisfied with what we came up with, my father and Paul left the office, and I made a couple of phone calls. One of the phone calls I made was to Denny to see if he was up for a visit; I hadn’t seen him since the first day he was released from the hospital.
***
“You’re looking better every day,” I said to him as I handed him a bottle of his favorite bourbon.
“Thanks, Connor.” He smiled. “How are Ellery and Julia?”
“They’re good. I need to talk to you about a situation and something that’s going on over at Black Enterprises.” I sighed as I sat down in the chair across from him.
Denny had always been like a father to me. He’d done things for me in my younger days that my father would’ve killed me for if he knew. He’d always had my back and was there when I needed him; a strong-willed man and a person who would give you the shirt off his back if you asked him for it. Nobody in this world, except Ellery, knew how important Denny was to me and that was because he’d become a father figure to her as well. We talked for over an hour, and as I explained the situation to him, he was shocked, just like Paul, my father, and I were.
“You know what you have to do, Connor. You better be careful and, if I was strong enough, I would help you.”
“You aren’t doing a thing. I can take care of this. I need you to get better because driving in that New York City traffic is killing me.”
“Why don’t you hire another driver until I can come back?” he asked.