The Tycoon's Temporary Bride: Book Four (37 page)

As soon as she was finished relaying the
truncated story of her most recent past, Tashi noticed the women at
the table on her right leaving. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Then somehow the topic of conversation moved
to Dr. Kelly after Tashi mentioned that she’d seen her earlier in
the day to help her deal with the loss of her mother at an early
age and issues about the way she was raised.

“Well, you’re in good hands with Samantha,”
Kaya said. “She helped the kids deal with the loss of their
parents, and she counseled Bryce and me about being substitute
parents, and even how to strengthen and deepen our marriage. We
still see her from time to time, as a family, just to talk. No
marriage, no partnership is trouble-free. But as long as you stay
on course, stay focused, you’ll reach your goals, whatever they
are.”

“I know Mass sees her, even though he’s too
macho to admit it.” Shaina held her spoon on her plate and, using
her fork, she picked up some linguini and twirled it into the spoon
like a true Italian wife. “He’s still dealing with the pain his
father caused his mother. He thought he was over it, but they
resurfaced when he decided to connect with Galen.”

Tashi had met Galen at the party on Saturday.
He was a handsome young man, with curly dark hair, hazel eyes, and
a killer smile like his older brother. The nannies and single moms
had been vying for his attention, but somehow she felt that he
wasn’t interested. She wondered if he had a girlfriend already, and
if he did, why she wasn’t with him.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Shaina was saying. “I
know Mass loves Galen and he’s been a wonderful big brother to him
this past year, but knowing that his mother and sister are dead
because of his father’s liaison with Galen’s mother isn’t something
he can forget or even forgive. But at least he isn’t blaming Galen
anymore.”

“Deep wounds are hard to heal,” Michelle
said, placing her fork on her plate. “I may as well confess that I
see Samantha, too.” She turned to Tashi. “You don’t know this, but
it was my father who killed Erik’s first wife.”

“Precious’ mother?” Tashi’s eyes bulged.

“Yes. Well, he raised my brother and me, but
he wasn’t our biological father.” She paused. “It’s a long story
and I will tell you about it another time. The point is, I finally
told Precious about the man who killed her mother. I just thought
she should hear the truth from me and not someone else.”

“How did she take it?”

Michelle sat back in her chair and looked off
for a second. “She was shocked, mad, and didn’t talk to me for
days, wouldn’t even look at me. She was upset at her father for
marrying me, too. I was scared that I’d ruined our friendship. In
the initial stage of our relationship, I kept secrets from Erik
that he found out from someone else. It took him a long time to get
over that betrayal. We almost didn’t make it back to each
other.”

“That was Bridget Ashley’s fault,” Kaya
interjected.

“Who’s Bridget Ashley?” Tashi asked, chewing
on a mouthful of lobster tail.

“Michelle’s Claire Forsythe. She tried to
keep Michelle and Erik apart.” Shaina popped a grilled scallop into
her mouth. “But Michelle beat the crap out of her, put her in her
place.”

Tashi almost choked on her lobster tail. “You
fought her?

Michelle crossed her eyes at Shaina.
“No.”

Shaina waved her hand dismissively. “I would
have. I dare any woman to make a play for my husband. I’ll rip her
braids, her weave, or her blond hair from her scalp, and then I’ll
shoot Massimo right through the heart for hurting me.”

Kaya chuckled. “You’re crazy, Shaina. You
know Massimo would never betray you.”

Shaina tapped her mouth with her blue napkin.
“Seriously, though, if Massimo’s mother had been a fighter, she and
her daughter might still be alive today. I wouldn’t allow any woman
to back me into a corner, humiliate me, and make me scared of my
husband.”

“I hear you, girl. I had to fight Bryce’s
deceased wife’s ghost. He was still in love with her when we got
married. I guess first love is hard to get over.”

“Well, he got over her,” Michelle said,
before taking a sip of sparkling water. “Just like Erik got over
Cassie.”

“Only after I told him that he couldn’t have
us both, that he had to choose. I kicked him out and told him not
to come home until he’d made a decision—whatever it was.”

Tashi smiled, happy to know that her marriage
wasn’t the only eccentric one, and the fact that these women knew
how to have innocuous fun with each other. “I guess Bryce chose
you.” She bumped her shoulder to Kaya’s.

Kaya shrugged. “Well, it’s not like he can
make love to a ghost, and we know how important sex is to
them.”

They had a hearty laugh and then Tashi turned
to Michelle. “So what really happened with Bridget Ashley?”

“Well, Erik’s and my problems weren’t really
Bridget’s fault. By the time we separated, I was tired of fighting
for everything in my life.” She shook her head, regret livid in her
eyes. “And Erik, well, he had no idea how to fight for anything.
He’d never had to. Nobody had taught him how. So he didn’t fight
for me. Bridget saw an opportunity and she took it, but Erik did
not succumb to her attempts to seduce him. Even though we were
apart and we had no idea if we’d get back together, he remained
faithful to me, as I was to him.”

“I guess that’s true love,” Tashi murmured,
awed at the kindness of this woman’s heart.

“I wasn’t about to make the same mistake with
Precious,” Michelle continued. “I love that little girl like she
was my own child. I would jump in front of a speeding train for her
just as quickly as I would for Little Erik or Tiffany. Erik
suggested that we see Samantha, and in no time, we were back on
track. Precious and I are closer than we’ve ever been. You have to
forgive even when it’s hard, but especially when it’s least
expected.”

Tashi’s heart warmed to the group of
remarkable women God had placed in her life. They could teach her
so much about life and relationships and love. She didn’t feel so
naïve when she learned that both Kaya and Shaina had been virgin
brides like her, and that Michelle had only been with one other man
before Erik. It was nice to have sisters with whom to share such
intimate details and still walk away feeling dignified and
sophisticated.

Before they parted, they made plans to shop
for the perfect dresses at Joanne’s Boutique the next day. Bryce’s
parents were celebrating their forty-fifth wedding anniversary at
Hotel Andreas the day after. According to the girls, it would be a
night to remember.

A few hours after her lunch with the girls,
and after stopping at the hotel boutiques to say a quick hello to
Mindy, Tashi walked into the room that used to be Adam’s home
office before he moved to the more spacious one across the hall.
Glancing around, she bit into her lower lip as she tried to
visualize the photography equipment, furniture and other decorative
pieces Kaya had promised to help pick out to beautify the now empty
spaces.

During breakfast with Adam this morning,
she’d mentioned her desire to advance her photography career. She
needed something to occupy her days while he was at Andreas
International Headquarters in downtown Granite Falls. Adam had
suggested this room as her home office, the place where Tashi
Holland Photography would come to life. He’d also pointed out the
added benefit of merely crossing the hall to indulge in her
sweetness on days he worked at home.

Tashi’s cheeks flushed with memories and
promises, but knowing they would leave her in a state of
frustration, she pushed the thoughts aside, and gave the room a
sweeping glance. It wasn’t even half the size of Adam’s, but it was
still a lot more than she needed. Heck, it was bigger than the
apartment she had in New York, and even in that cramped space,
she’d still been able to carve out a nice little corner for her
photography apparatus.

She’d left so much personal stuff in her
apartment in New York—stuff she wondered if she’d ever see again.
Agent Dawson had promised to pack it up and keep it safe. Had he
been able to, or had her landlord auctioned off her belongings to
pay for the rest of her lease? She had no idea, and no way to find
out without revealing her whereabouts to the wrong people.

Sighing deeply, Tashi walked to the glass
wall and stared down at the gardeners in the courtyard, trimming
the shrubbery and mowing the green lawn that had been neglected for
two weeks. She looked beyond the domestic scene to the still green
tree line, the majestic mountains, and a gray sky in the
background—the calm before the storm, much like her mood. When
she’d spoken to Adam this afternoon, he’d told her that he’d
already commissioned someone in New York to find Agent Dawson. That
bit of news had brought a bittersweet taste to Tashi’s mouth.

She wanted him to be found alive and well for
a multitude of reasons—first because he deserved to be. She would
thank him for saving her from a life of degradation and imminent
death, and then in advance for testifying on her behalf to help
exonerate her for killing that driver. But it would also mean that
her temporary marriage to Adam would come to an end. She would no
longer need his protection. But if he weren’t found alive, how long
would she have to keep living in limbo with bodyguards following
her everywhere?

And then there were Adam’s feelings to take
into consideration. Tashi never missed the flashes of dread that
swept across his face each time they spoke about Agent Dawson who
was as close to him as his three billionaire friends. It would
crush him to find out that his friend was dead.

Tashi had only spent a few minutes with the
agent, and yet it brought her pain each time she remembered the
mixture of sadness and anxiety in his gentle brown eyes when he’d
told her to run. He’d risked his life to save her and she might
never know why.

“Mrs. Andreas.”

The sound of the voice, rather than the
utterance of her name made Tashi turn her head toward the door. She
had to get used to being called Mrs. Andreas. A plump woman, whom
Adam had told her had been head of the kitchen staff since he was a
child, stood just inside the door. She was wearing a red skirt and
a white top with a black apron tied around her waist—the official
Andreas household employee attire.

When Adam had introduced her to his household
staff, Tashi had given them permission to call her Tashi. None had
acknowledged her request, but had insisted she addressed them by
their first names. Tashi didn’t understand this blurred line of
formality and informality between employer and staff, but according
to Adam that was the way it had been for as long as he could
remember. If the servants didn’t mind, she supposed she shouldn’t.
One thing the staff all had in common was their determination to
make her feel at ease.

Tashi had returned home to a household
bustling with activity. Window washing, dusting, floor polishing,
gardeners gardening, cabana boys pooling... It would take her a
while to get used to people hurrying about the house after the
tranquil two weeks she and Adam had just shared.

“Mrs. Andreas.”

Tashi harnessed her wandering thoughts and
smiled at the woman. “Yes, Prudence.”

“The garden is prepared and everything you
requested for dinner has been delivered and stored in the
refrigerator. Everything, that is, except the oysters.”

“You couldn’t find any oysters?” Tashi asked,
walking toward her.

“Oh, no. I’m just waiting until it’s closer
to the time when Mr. Andreas arrives. He likes his oysters freshly
shucked.”

Tashi felt a tweak of embarrassment that this
woman knew her husband much better than she did. Upon her return to
the mansion, Prudence had approached her about dinner choices and
arrangements. Tashi had been at a loss. Since he’d brought her to
his home, Adam had been in charge of the meals—both choosing and
preparing them. She had no idea which appetizers or wine
complemented which main dishes, and which dessert completed the
meal.

She had so much to learn about the etiquette
of the rich and famous. But to save herself from seeming like a
fool in front of her staff, she had announced that she and her
husband would have a moonlight picnic in the garden. The girls had
told her that men loved surprises—sexy ones—and that she had to be
creative in keeping Adam interested and their passion alive.
Recalling Claire’s threats, Tashi had decided to give her husband a
sexy surprise tonight. She didn’t want him thinking that he was
missing anything.

“What time does Mr. Andreas usually get
home?” she asked Prudence.

“It depends, Mrs. Andreas, but usually
between six and seven o’clock. And sometime he doesn’t—”

She caught herself and stopped, dropping her
gaze to her white slippers—the only type of footwear allowed on the
second and third floors.

Tashi knew exactly what she was going to say.
It was no secret that Adam had spent many nights at his penthouse
suite with his former lovers. Claire Forsythe was one of those
lovers, she thought, as her insecurity raised its ugly head. Even
though the ladies had told her to forget Claire, Tashi couldn’t
forget the woman’s questions about Adam’s love or lack of love for
her. But ‘had’ and ‘former’ were the operative words here, and the
fact that Adam never made love with Claire or any of the others in
the bed they’d shared gave her a hint of hope that she was
different, a little more special than any of the women in his past.
She didn’t have to fight any images of Adam and any other woman in
his bedroom. The only memories he would have of making love in his
huge white bed were with her. He was coming home to her tonight and
every night as long as they were married.