Storm Ravaged (Storm Damages 2) (Storm Legacy) (28 page)

Marisol appears from nowhere. “Do you want me to take those from you, Mr. Storm?”

“Yes, please, and push back dinner by half an hour. Mrs. Storm is feeding Andrew.” If I know my son, and I do, his feeding will take ten minutes tops.

“I’ll arrange them on the dinner table.”

“Thank you, Marisol,” I say absentmindedly. Would there be enough time to make love to Elizabeth before dinner? God. I’m a randy goat to think so.

Fifteen minutes later, Elizabeth returns, a smile on her face. “I’m starving. Is dinner ready?”

“Just about.”

Once we’re seated at the dinner table, I finally get to ask her about the appointment. “So, how were things at the doctor’s?”

“Everything’s fine. Great, as a matter of fact. Breastfeeding really helps to get things back to normal.”

Hurray for breastfeeding. “That’s splendid.” Something stirs below, and I rearrange the napkin on my lap. Don’t want to give our serving maid a shock.

“So by normal, do you mean?”

“We can resume sexual relations, Gabriel, if that’s what you’re trying to ask.”

“I didn’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so gauche.”

“It also means I can go back to work.”

“Go back to work?” What is she talking about? “You don’t work.”

“I did. Back in D.C. I need to employ my analytical skills to keep my mind sharp, plus I need practical experience, here in the UK. So how about it? Can I go to work at Storm Industries?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Andrew needs you.”

“He can do without me for three or four hours a day. Nanny takes excellent care of him.”

“I will not allow it.”

“You will not—?” She sputters. “I don’t need your permission, Gabriel. I can get a job on my own. If not with you, then somewhere else.”

“You need a work visa.”

“I’ll get one.”

“You don’t get it. Your employer has to get it for you.”

Rising, she tosses her serviette on the table. She’s barely eaten her meal.

“I thought you were hungry.”

“I was. I’m not anymore.” Chin held high, she stomps out of the room.

I will not change my mind. Andrew needs her. I temple my hands over my plate and drop my head. Damn. I’ve botched the whole thing. My cock, still hopeful, throbs with need. “Settle down. You’re not getting shagged.” Not tonight at any rate.

Chapter 39

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Elizabeth

“MRS. STORM TO SEE SEBASTIAN PAYNE.” I’ve checked out Sebastian Payne on the internet. Turns out he’s the head of a thriving conglomerate that buys and sells businesses throughout the world. If I could get a job, or even an internship, with him, I would gain valuable experience.

“He’s expecting you, Mrs. Storm, please go in.”

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being mummy to Andrew, but now that he’s three months and on baby formula along with breast milk, Since Nanny McKay handles most of the duties, I have the time to take on a job, never mind I’ve grown restless with hardly anything to do. Gabriel has been absolutely no help, refusing my suggestion that I work for him. So I’m taking the bull by the horns and sought out another job.

“How very pleasant to see you again, Elizabeth.” Rising, Sebastian Payne takes my hand, bows over it. Thankfully, he doesn’t kiss it like he did at the party. “Please take a seat.”

I sit on a black leather chair across from his desk. Clear glass lines his office. But when he presses a button, the walls frost, closing us in. I’m no longer as confined as I’d been while pregnant although one of the guards is accompanying me. He took a seat in the vestibule right outside Payne’s office while I talk to Sebastian.

The frosted glass worries me. “My bodyguard won’t be able to see.”

Sebastian’s mouth quirks. “Do you want him to see?”

“I don’t want him to get in trouble.” After the baby Jonathan incident, I’m trying very hard not to get another guard in hot water.

“Very well.” He pushes the same button and the frost dissipates making us visible again.

I breathe out a sigh. I’m not fooling him. He knows how uncomfortable I felt. Which is ridiculous, if he had the usual office I would be behind a closed door. But the frosted glass lends a certain air of inappropriateness. I mentally shake myself at the silly thoughts. “Thank you for seeing me.”

“How could I pass up the chance to talk to you again? How’s you son?”

This time my smile is real. “Thriving, happy.”

“And Ainsley?”

“He’s fine.”

“Well, now that we have taken care of the niceties, what can I do for you, Elizabeth?” His eyes light up with mischief. He’s enjoying this game of cat and mouse, except that I refuse to play along.

“As I told you at your aunt’s party, I’m studying to become a corporate lawyer. I’ve had to take a bit of a sabbatical between terms. And I find myself with time in my hands.”

“One would think marriage to one such as Ainsley and a new child would keep any woman quite busy.”

“Andrew’s nanny is quite efficient and Gabriel, well, he works all day. So there’s really very little for me to do.”

“And you’re used to working full time.”

“Yes. And going to school at night. So I would like to work three or four hours a day. Get some legal experience until the next term begins in January.”

“And you came to me to offer your services.”

“I would love to work in your legal department. If not a job, then an internship of some kind. I brought my resume with me.” I hand him the sheet of paper which took me several hours and drafts to produce. “As you can see I have two years of experience in the legal field. I’ve performed quite complex legal analysis, including the deal involving the SouthWind Brazilian wind farm assets Storm Industries purchased.”

“Is that how you met Ainsley?”

“Yes.” Heat rides my cheeks. Even after all this time, I can’t help but get flustered about all the things we did.

Rather than comment on my state of discomfiture, Sebastian studies the resume. After a few minutes, he says, “You graduated summa cum laude from an ivy league school and made law review in law school. Your grades are top notch.”

“You can contact Thomas Carrey, my boss at Smith Cannon, if you need to discuss the quality of my work. I got his approval for you to talk to him.”

“Why do you want to work for me rather than Storm Industries? Surely, Ainsley would find a position for you somewhere in his company.”

I fiddle with my hands. “Gabriel’s proving stubborn. He’d prefer I remain at home.”

“Ahhh.” He pushes the paper aside, folds his hands over his desk. “You have stellar credentials, Elizabeth, and I don’t doubt you’d be an asset to my company. I would enjoy having you work under me.”

I smile at the innuendo.

“But have you thought about the harm such employment might cause your marriage? I can’t believe Ainsley would take kindly to you working for me.”

“Let me worry about my husband, Sebastian.”

“Very well. I’ll let you handle him.” Another smile.

He’s enjoying playing this game. But since I’ve learned from the best. I don’t give him so much as a ghost of a grin in return.

“I’ll consult with the head of my legal department. He’ll be in touch. I imagine he can find something for you to do.”

“If I may ask a question?”

“Of course.”

“At the party, you said Gabriel took something from you. What was it?”

“At an auction, we were both interested on a particularly beautiful object. It’d belonged to my grandmother, but my father let it slip from his hands. Ainsley outbid me for the piece. It happened several years ago when I wasn’t as successful as I am now. A year ago, I offered to buy it for twice the amount he paid. But he refused my offer. I was on the outs with my aunt, so I imagine he refused as a show of support for her.”

“Oh.What was it?” I finger the pearls I’m wearing, a gift from Gabriel upon the birth of our son.

“You’re wearing them, Elizabeth. I can tell from the clasp.” He rounds the desk and stares at me. “May I?”

I nod my consent.

His fingers finger the necklace, slide under the catch. “See. Our family crest is engraved upon it.”

“Here.” I start to unclasp it to give it to him.

“I won’t take it. Your husband gave it to you.”

He’s looking down at me when a commotion erupts in the outer office. I look up to find the last person I expect to see. Gabriel.

He barges in, hauls me up off the chair by my elbow.

“Gabriel. What are you doing here?”

But he ignores me and addresses Sebastian. “Stay away from my wife.”

“Really, old chum, you’re acting positively medieval.”

“I’m warning you, Ravensworth.”

“Are you now?” Without looking at me, Sebastian says, “Elizabeth. I don’t need to consult with my head of legal. If you want a job working with me, it’s yours.”

“Thank you, Sebastian.” I toss over my shoulder.

With an iron grip, Gabriel hauls me past Sebastian’s secretary’s station to the elevator where he proceeds to push the button several times.

“You’re out of line.” I spit out, so angry I can hardly speak.

“You will not work for him, do you hear me?”

I say nothing on the way down. But I have plenty to say once we climb into the car with Samuel at the wheel.

“You embarrassed me.”

“Except for Ravensworth, nobody heard what I had to say, and he doesn’t count.”

“Why do you call him Ravensworth? Isn’t his name Sebastian Payne?”

“Yes it is. Sebastian Payne, the Marquis of Ravensworth.”

Great. Another aristocrat. Do they grow like weeds?

“You will not talk to him.”

“Kind of hard when I will be working with him.”

“No, You won’t. You need to stay home and be a mother to our son.”

“I’m not his mother now?”

He yanks a hand through his hair. “You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t. Please enlighten me.”

His teeth make a clicking sound. “Andrew’s barely three months old. He needs his mother.”

“I breast feed him alternating with formula. I would only be away three to four hours a day. Surely he can live without me that long. In the meantime, I’ll gain experience working at Sebastian’s company.”

“I don’t want you near him.”

“I don’t understand your animosity toward him. Please explain.”

“We were in Oxford together. He got a girl in trouble and she went to him for help. When he refused, she committed suicide. She was only eighteen.”

“How do you know this?”

“After a night of drinking, he admitted it in the Junior Common Room.”

“You heard him?”

“No. I learned about it second hand. When she died, he quit school, disappeared and did not reemerge until four years ago. In the ten years in between, he acquired a fortune. Nobody knows how he earned it, but he used that money to build Payne Enterprises, Ltd.”

“He said this necklace belonged to his grandmother.”

“It did. I bought it to give to my godmother, his aunt, but she refused to accept it. Said it rightfully belonged to Ravensworth.”

“So you held on to it.”

“Yes. And when my son was born, I gave it to you. The Marchioness would have approved, you know. She loved children. She used to bring us sweets when she visited Winterleagh Castle.”

“Your families were friends?”

“Yes. My father was specially close to Sebastian’s father. They were both cut from the same cloth.” He snorts. “Ne’er do wells with nothing but the thought of pleasure in their heads. And in my opinion, Sebastian’s just like his father.”

“I can’t believe Sebastian abandoned a young woman pregnant with his child. There has to be more to the story than that.”

“Well, believe it. I won’t have you working for him.”

I don’t say anything. No sense going over the same ground again and again. But as it turns out other events intercede upon our arrival at our penthouse that thrust my going to work for Sebastian Payne into the back burner.

Chapter 40

______________

Gabriel

WE RIDE THE ELEVATOR in silence from the garage to the penthouse where, to my surprise, Jake waits for us. The somber expression on his face tells me his reason for being here is not good.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

Elizabeth whimpers as she clutches my arm. “Andrew?”

“No. Your son is safe in his room. It’s the earl. He suffered another stroke. A fatal one. I’m sorry, Storm.”

“Gabriel.” The tension within her body fades and a well of caring replaces it.

I’m surprised by the tears in my eyes. God knows my father and I had never been close. “Bri?”