“Malcolm used to do that when he first opened the Mega Stores,” Steven said. “But he got out of the habit in the nineties when he started focusing on his own pursuits instead of the company’s. I think the three of us can bring the focus back to the core company values of satisfying our customers, caring about our community and creating synergy between our business units.”
“I agree,” Henry said.
“We’re painting the side of the Airbus planes with the album art from Steph Cordo,” Geoff said. “We’ve actually had a lot of positive comments due to that.”
“Perfect,” Henry said. He actually liked these men, his brothers. Over the past few months, they had found that they really had a lot in common. It was more than a business drive to succeed. It was something deeper, something he couldn’t define.
Astrid glanced over at their table from where she was seated with the members of XSU. The room was like any other VIP room at an event. It was filled with sports stars, celebs and family. She was going to bring them over when he signaled her. And he was comfortable knowing she’d do what he needed her to.
She’d turned into a valuable asset to his work life. And he’d been very careful to keep their relationship private, though open. He didn’t want Astrid to feel as though she was sneaking around with him.
And unlike Kaye Allen, whom they’d met earlier, Astrid didn’t have any ghosts in her closet. Just a nice family and one ill-timed affair.
He nodded at Astrid, and a few minutes later the group got up and came over to their table. Angus, the lead singer, had met Steven before at the store and before long Henry had the conversation going around the table. He stepped away to see to his other guests. He wouldn’t have thought being a record company executive was something he’d want to do, but it had been a challenge he enjoyed. And he was glad to have had it.
“It’s going well,” Astrid said. “I thought my mum was going to die when you introduced her to Geoff. She thinks his mum is one classy lady.”
Henry smiled at Astrid. She kept him real, he thought. It would be easy to look around and see himself as the architect for success at the Everest Group, and he was that, but he was also helping many people make connections that would help them to be happier.
Geoff’s younger half sisters were dropping by an after party he was hosting at a local club in the hopes of meeting his mother. And hearing Steph Cordo perform. Her first single was climbing the charts…. There was more here than business. For the first time in his life, he felt connected to people in a good way.
It was odd, because he’d always basically been a loner, even though he’d surrounded himself with mates.
“I’m glad she enjoyed it. Spencer enjoyed his tour of the locker room?”
“Yes, he did. I took a dozen pictures of him in there.”
Henry smiled. She had kept her digital camera out most of the time and after seeing that wall of photos in her flat, he knew that Astrid liked to document her life. She took photos of everyone and everything.
Henry watched Astrid take photos of everyone but him. He shouldn’t have snapped at her the way he had. It was just that Kaye was one of those women from his past whom he would never have invited to this kind of event. An event where his family was present. And he hadn’t wanted her to meet Astrid.
He didn’t want Astrid sullied by anything from his past relationships. Okay, he thought, not going there today. He cornered her, but she turned to walk away again.
Taking her arm and drawing her close to him, he turned his back to the room so no one could see their faces.
“I’m not mad anymore,” he said.
“Good for you. I am.”
“Astrid—”
“Don’t, Henry. I’m sure you’ll have some charming line about why I shouldn’t stay mad at you, and I might buy it. But I’ll know deep inside that you treated me like your assistant today, and I know that’s what I am, but you invited me to this event as your date.”
“I did. And I’m sorry, Astrid. I never wanted you to have to meet the women from my past. You are different to me.”
“Am I?”
He nodded.
“How?”
“You are the first woman I’ve brought to meet my family,” he said and then kissed her before she could ask him any more questions.
“Henry, come over here.” Geoff was waving him over and he glanced down at Astrid.
“Are we okay now?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Wait.” She wrapped an arm around his waist, extended her arm and snapped a quick photo of the two of them. She wasn’t a professional photographer, but her photos were usually very good.
“I want to get a picture of you and your brothers.”
“To sell?” he asked with a wink.
“No,” she said. “For you. You said you didn’t have one.”
He had mentioned that to her—though the media had always linked them, they had never all been photographed together.
“The Devonshire heirs,” Astrid said. “I’d like a photo.”
The men were good-natured about it, and she snapped a photo of just the three of them. Then of them with the band. And as the afternoon progressed, Henry realized that he had the seeds of a life he didn’t want to let go. He wanted to find a way to keep Astrid by his side. To keep these relationships with his brothers going and to continue to build the success he’d found at Everest Group. And he thought Astrid was the key to that.
They all watched the game as it heated up. There was a flat screen on the back wall, but most of the occupants of the suite preferred to watch the action on the field and not on the screen.
Josh and Lucas came up to the suite during a break in the game. Henry smiled at his two younger brothers as they walked into the room. Astrid snapped a picture of the boys and then went over to talk to them.
It was her first time meeting them, but soon she was laughing and chatting with the teenage boys as if she’d known them forever. It was something she did effortlessly. He realized she made everyone feel at ease. He’d seen it with Roger and others that came through their office. Something that he took advantage of at work.
“Henry, Mum wants you to bring Astrid down to the field after the game,” Joshua said. He was the older of the two boys by only eighteen months.
“She does? Why?”
Lucas joined them. “Because she can’t get up here to meet her until after she finished talking to the press with Dad.”
Both of the boys looked a lot like Gordon except for the eyes, which, like his, were the bright blue of their mum’s.
“Mum can meet her at the party later—when she meets Geoff and Steven.”
“She’s not sure she wants to meet your other brothers,” Lucas said.
Henry nodded. The boys didn’t have to say anything else. He knew how his mum felt about Malcolm and the proof of his affairs.
“I’ll do what I can,” Henry said.
“About what?” Astrid asked as she joined him.
“Mum wants to meet you,” Joshua said.
“Then let’s go,” Astrid said, linking her arm through those of his little brothers. “You stay here and keep your party going. I’ll be right back.”
He watched her walk away and realized he was falling in love with Astrid.
Tiffany Malone was everything that Astrid expected her to be. She exuded a kind of larger-than-life presence, but Astrid felt some genuine kindness as Tiffany hugged her close.
“Josh and Lucas have been telling me all about your family. Your father is apparently an expert when it comes to the history of this club,” Tiffany said.
“Yes, he is,” Astrid admitted. “He was beyond thrilled to be here today.”
Her parents had gone home early due to her father’s getting tired.
“Gordon? Come on over here and meet Astrid.”
Gordon wore an open-collar shirt and sport coat over his khaki pants. There was a casual elegance to his style that Astrid saw reflected in a lot of the clothes that Henry wore.
He shook her hand and Henry drifted over to talk to the three of them. As Astrid stood there talking with Henry and his parents, she realized that she was seeing a very intimate glimpse into the private lives of these people.
She’d been worried when they had run into Kaye. She still didn’t know the details of that relationship, but she was willing to let it be. After all, she didn’t want to tell Henry about Daniel.
Though to be honest, she needed to. Daniel was nothing in her life now. Since she’d been with Henry, she’d come to feel that he was everything to her. Everything she wanted in a man and a lover. He’d pushed her expectations of what a relationship could be and made her realize that girlish fantasies had no place in her life anymore.
She washed her face and changed out of her party clothes into a French negligee that Henry had given her last week. She liked the way the soft silky material felt against her skin. But she also liked the fact that he’d purchased it for her.
He was always giving her little gifts, and she cherished each one of them because they meant that he thought of her during the day and whenever they were apart.
She poured herself a glass of wine to help her wind down after the day and plugged her digital camera into her laptop. A few moments later her photo program opened up and the pictures she’d taken during the day started flashing on the screen as they downloaded.
She smiled as she noted she got a few really good pictures of Henry. His earnestness as he talked to his half brothers came through and he was by turns, doting when he talked to his younger brothers and very confident as he talked to XSU.
He was everything to everyone, she thought. And to her he was quickly becoming the man she didn’t want to live without.
Her phone rang and she glanced at the caller ID before answering. It was a blocked number, but she knew that Henry’s number came up like that.
“Hello.”
“Hey, baby. Are you still up?” Henry asked.
“I am. Are you coming back here?” she asked.
“I’d like to.”
“Good. How long until you get here?” she asked. She’d almost asked him how long until he got
home
. But they didn’t have a home together, which hadn’t bothered her until this moment. Henry spent more nights at her place than she did at his, but he hadn’t mentioned moving their relationship beyond this.
“Twenty minutes, maybe less.”
“I enjoyed meeting your family today,” she said, trying not to dwell on the fact that, despite her feelings for Henry, she was still probably just a casual affair. Her experience…her past relationships made her reluctant to push for more. What if she wanted their relationship to be more only to find he was content to let things ride?
She couldn’t bear to have the dynamic of their relationship change too much. She needed Henry. Needed him to stay the man he was so she could stay the woman she was becoming. A woman who no longer felt shattered and less than other women. Henry made her believe she was worth being with—even if she couldn’t get pregnant.
She felt as though finally she was maturing into the woman she’d be for the rest of her life.
“My brothers are in love with you,” Henry said, interrupting her thoughts.
That surprised her. “Which ones?”
He laughed. “Joshua and Lucas. They talked about you from the moment we dropped you off until I left my mum’s place.”
“They are really cute kids. They’d surely cringe if they heard me call them that. But I like them,” she said.
And she had. The teens were funny and smart. They didn’t act like Henry was a celeb but treated him like their big brother.
“They are good kids. I’m proud to call them my brothers.”
“What about Geoff and Steven? You seemed to be getting on well with them today.”
She heard the signal of his blinkers in the background as he turned. “I did. It’s always different with the three of us because we have so much between us but we are strangers…well, we were strangers. I’m starting to get to know them.”
“Geoff is really reserved, isn’t he?”
“Yes. But he lightens up the better he gets to know you. Steven’s pretty funny, which to be honest always surprises me,” Henry said.
“I know. He is scarily smart. I overheard him talking to Percy about quantum physics.”
“He is smart. I think that the three of us are a big reflection of the women who raised us.”
“In what way?”
“Well, my own mother made sure all her sons cared about each other. We were all family—even Gordon and me.”
“I’d agree with that. But there is a definite quality from Malcolm, as well. At least if the rumors about him are to be believed.”
“What quality?”
“That charm. All three of you have an easy way about you when it comes to the opposite sex.”
“Do we? Were you flirting with my brothers?” Henry asked.
Astrid smiled to herself. “No. There’s only one Devonshire heir I’m interested in.”
“That’s what I like to hear. I’m parking the car and I’ll be right up.”
She disconnected the call and a minute later Henry was at her door. He took one look at the negligee she wore and lifted her in his arms and carried her back to the bedroom where he made love to her. Afterward, he held her in his arms and she rested her head on his chest right over his heart hoping that this was where she’d spend the rest of her nights.