Rivals in Paradise (2 page)

At thirty-three years old, Chase had made more than a name for himself in the business world. Chase had made his former employer lots of money by relying on his keen kill-or-be-killed instincts. His instincts helped him in his personal life as well, especially in his relationships with the opposite sex. His law-of-the-jungle approach to dealing with the
selfish, money-grabbing women he had become used to reinforced his nickname of “The Wolf,” in both the bedroom and the boardroom.

But in the boardroom, his former superiors had started to second-guess him and question his actions in unproductive ways. Chase refused to be stifled. So, he landed a sweet new position based on a tip from his old college buddy, Leonard Stone. He planned to start the new job just as soon as he took a trip to Dahinda, the island he'd been born on and the place he still called home.

His narrow focus on work and only work had caused him to miss the chance to be at his grandmother's bedside when she'd passed away. He felt more than a little guilty about missing her passing and missing the chance to tell her how much she had meant to him. He planned to use the trip home to reevaluate his priorities and reconnect with what was important. He wouldn't let work keep him away from the rest of his relatives, especially his mother, Margie.

The job at Mainstay was slightly different from Chase's former job. He would still be in charge of mergers and acquisitions. However, the “corporate raider” aspect of his former job would be missing. He would be more hands-on in development instead of swooping in and gobbling up struggling companies
so that they could be taken apart and sold off piece by piece. He would be building things now.

“You're going to love it at Mainstay, Yearwood!” Leonard slapped him on the back and let out a chuckle.

Leonard hadn't changed all that much in the years since college. He was tall and still somewhat lanky. He had what some would call a swimmer's build. His formerly thick, wavy hair was now making a slow creep away from his forehead, but he hadn't gone the shave-it-all-off route that most men went when faced with balding. He had a weird comb-it-all-to-the-front thing going on that really did nothing to hide the fact that he was going bald. His hazel eyes were still astute and focused and didn't give anything away about the man behind them.

“And I'm going to love the fact that everyone knows I was instrumental in bringing you to Mainstay. It gave me major points with the boss, and as long as you do your thing the way you've done it in your previous job, I'm sure we'll both be moving on up to the vice president slots soon.”

Chase squinted a little. He wasn't sure how he felt about Leonard lumping their possible future promotions together like that. He had always been a man who went by his own merit, played by his own rules and made his own way. When he'd pledged Omega as an undergraduate, he'd earned the line
name “The Lone Wolf” because he'd pledged solo with no line brothers, just himself. He had been an only child. He always had been, and always would be, his own man.

He hadn't needed Leonard to get the job, and he certainly wasn't going to allow Leonard to ride his coattails to a promotion. Leonard telling him about the position was not equivalent to his hard work and preparation giving him the experience and tools he needed to get hired into the position. He didn't like at all what Leonard was insinuating.

But rather than spoil the celebratory mood, Chase just made a mental note to watch Leonard.

“It'll be great, man. Just like old times when we ran the student government at FAMU,” Leonard added.

Chase frowned. “I'm looking forward to the new job and developing my strengths in other areas. The change will be nice, and it will keep me sharp, help me keep my edge.”

“There aren't many men sharper than you, Yearwood, that's for sure. Aside from that unfortunate election for president of the student government back at FAMU, you've pretty much accomplished everything you ever went after.” Leonard chuckled.

Chase felt the veins in his neck pulse just a little as he arched his left eyebrow.

Leonard laughed. “Hey, we all have to lose some
times. You'd been on top all through undergrad. And you're making big moves all throughout the business world now. Who cares about something as insignificant as the student government race from our undergraduate days? Although…” Leonard opened his mouth and closed it.

Chase's nostrils flared. Now he knew Leonard was trying to start something with him. Everyone who knew him back in college and still had the privilege of being in his inner circle of associates knew he did
not
talk about the student government association election that took place at the end of his junior year.

Ever
.

It wasn't just that he had lost the election.

It was so much more than that.

So. Much. More.

It was personal, very personal. And he didn't like anyone bringing it up.

Rather than tell off an old friend he was now going to have to work with, Chase opted to change the subject. “So, Leonard, what can you tell me about Mainstay and the day-to-day work environment?”

“Oh, I'm sure you'll find it interesting. In fact, I'm betting you'll find it more than interesting.” Leonard took a swig of his beer. “With the two of us there now, having each other's back, it'll be a lot like old times.
A lot
like old times…”

“Our college days are over. We're grown men now. Those days are long behind us.” Chase heard the slight edge in his own voice and wondered yet again if he was doing the wrong thing by joining a company where his old friend was also employed. Corporate politics could be complicated enough without bringing in the extra drama or building alliances before he even got a chance to learn the lay of the land.

Friend or no friend, Chase wasn't about to let Leonard pull him into any mess. “Well, I'm a quick study. I'm sure I'll be able to assess the situation once I start in two weeks.”

“Must be nice to be able to take a vacation,” Leonard said with a smirk.

Chase paused because he thought he detected a slight shade of snide and a small dose of snark in Leonard's voice.

“I haven't taken a proper vacation in so many years I almost don't remember what a vacation is, and I haven't been home to Dahinda for a visit in so long my mother has threatened on numerous occasions to disown me and find herself another son. I think two weeks on my home island is just what I need before starting a new job with a whole new set of demands.”

Leonard rolled his eyes. “I'll hold down the fort until you come on board. Once you're there, I'll fill
you in on all the dirt and all the stuff you
really
need to know. But for now, it's good to be working with you again, my friend.”

Chase simply nodded and hoped that he wouldn't walk into Mainstay in two weeks and find that he had made a huge mistake by taking this job offer instead of one of the countless others that had been offered to him when the business world got wind that The Wolf was ready to make a move.

 

Cicely placed the pillow over her head and tried to block out the noise. Someone kept playing the same six bars of a song over and over again. It took her a couple of minutes to realize that it was her cell phone's ring tone that was disturbing her sleep.

She was at the Wyndham Hotel by Miami International Airport because that was the only hotel with a vacancy. The upcoming holiday and some teachers' convention had the other local hotels filled to capacity.

The singer's voice and the song that
used
to be one of her favorites blared out yet again, and Cicely grabbed the phone. If it was that cheating, no-good Isaac, she was going to lose the little bit of religion she had and give him the verbal blasting he so richly deserved.

“What?” Cicely snapped.

“Well, hello and good morning to you, too, Cee Cee.”

Cicely sat up at the sound of her older sister's voice. This was the woman who had literally put her life on hold and made sacrifice after sacrifice so that Cicely could have all of the extras in life. Six years older than Cicely, Latonya had worked while she was in college to help keep a roof over their heads. Then she had literally covered everything that Cicely's scholarships didn't so that Cicely could attend FAMU and not have to worry about working. And when she had married a very rich and successful businessman, he had stepped in and helped take care of his new wife's little sister and grandmother to take the load off of his wife.

Although Latonya Stevens-Harrington would be the last person to expect any kind of gratitude for the things she'd done to help Cicely through the years, Cicely felt the weight of her indebtedness to her sister. She would never be able to repay Latonya for all that she had done for her.

However…all that indebtedness didn't take away from the fact that it was super early on a Saturday morning, and all Cicely wanted to do was sleep.

“Morning, Peanut.” She called her older sister by her family nickname still, and she was probably the only person in the world that Latonya allowed to do so. “Can I call you back at a decent hour, say noon or so?” Cicely flopped back down on the bed and curled into the fluffy down comforter.

“Sorry, no can do. Gran and I have been calling you all morning. We were worried sick about you. Gran said she called your condo numerous times. I finally found Isaac's number and called him. He wasn't answering. Then I called his cell after I didn't get an answer on your cell. He said you broke up with him. He sounds horrible, by the way, really distraught. But you must have a good reason for breaking up with him, and I would never tell you to second-guess yourself. But do you want to talk about it at all? What happened? Why did the two of you break up so suddenly?”

“She should have left that guy a long time ago! I never liked him. She should let me introduce her to someone worthy.” Carlton Harrington III's big booming voice could be heard in the background. He must have been sitting, or, knowing the two of them, lying down in the bed right next to Latonya.

Latonya shushed him.

Cicely stretched out her legs and curled them back up. “Tell my darling brother-in-law that, although I love him to death, the I-love-me-some-alpha-jerk-reformed-playboys gene skipped me. I can't fathom having anything in common with
anyone
he would introduce me to.”

Latonya echoed Cicely word for word, and Carlton could be heard gruffly mumbling that his wife didn't have any complaints. There was more giggling from
Latonya, and Cicely didn't even want to think what Carlton must have been doing to her sister to warrant all those girlish giggles. It was
TMI
too dang early in the morning.

“That's cold, Cee Cee. I thought we were better than that,” Carlton joked in the background.

“Smooches.” Cicely made a kissing sound. “Now, if that's all, I really—”

“Oh, no, that's not all. Gran and I have been thinking of what we can do to lift your spirits since you just lost that promotion… And now with everything that is going on with Isaac… You still haven't told me exactly what happened, by the way…” Latonya let her words hang suggestively.

And I'm still not going to, at least not yet.

“Neither of which would be a problem if she would just come and work for Harrington Enterprise and let me hook her up with a real man instead of these Steve Urkel wannabes she keeps dating.” Carlton added his two cents, clearly getting Cicely back for her previous dig.

“Carlton!” Latonya let out an exasperated sigh.

Cicely laughed. Even if she really thought she had hurt her brother-in-law's feelings with her comment about the alpha-jerk-reformed-playboys, she still would have laughed. Because rich, stunningly handsome control freaks like him needed to be taken
down a peg whenever possible, and her sister was too crazy in love to do a proper job of it.

She knew she could have easily taken a job at her brother-in-law's company, Harrington Enterprise. But she was serious about making a mark on her own. She had her sister to thank for all the sacrifices she'd made to ensure that Cicely became the woman she was. But she drew the line at nepotism and relying on family connections to get ahead in the business world.

“Anyway, Cee Cee, Gran and I figured we'd take a little shopping trip to New York City. We haven't been to the penthouse there in forever, and the kids might even get to see some snow. You have the week off from work. It would be great. “

“Huh?”

“Thanksgiving in New York City. Macy's Parade. Kids happy. Your mind off of the stress in your life,
shopping
the Friday after Thanksgiving…
in New York City…”
Latonya let her words trail in an enticing manner.

Cicely thought about it. She truly loved her niece and nephews. Carlton IV was eleven and Terrence was eight. They looked like their father but had their mother's calm and loving personality. Her little niece, Evelyn “Evie” Harrington, was the spitting image of Latonya, but she had Carlton's over-the-top, sometimes overbearing personality. Cicely sometimes
called her little niece the five-year-old terror. But she loved those kids. She loved the family her sister had been able to create. She just wondered when she was going to be able to start a family of her own.

She really wasn't in the holiday spirit. She would have been a killjoy for everyone. It was best if she stayed behind.

“Nah. You all can go without me. I'm not going.” Cicely sat up.

She had pretty much decided that she was going to spend the week away from people she knew. She'd do some self-reflection. Maybe a little wallowing in self-pity—just a little…. Then she would pick herself up and put the pieces back together again.

She had already started to psychoanalyze herself, and she had pretty much decided that even though her daddy issues hadn't surfaced in the same ways as her older sister's had, and she'd always thought she didn't have any daddy issues at all, she clearly had them and then some to spare.