Her Secret Betrayal (5 page)

“No secrets this time. Everyone knows.”

“Do it,” he said. “Accept. Be mine and I’ll
make every night more extraordinary than the next. You will never
want for anything, Kara. Kitten.” Sean flattened his palm against
my side and slowly drew it up over the curves and bumps and
softness of my body to cup around the outside of my breast, all the
way up to my neck. His eyes followed the hand’s progress until our
gazes met and he had me by the nape of the neck. I found myself
leaning into him. Eager. Helpless. “
Mine
,” he mouthed,
hardly more than a breath but I felt it between my legs, a burst of
heat and fire.

Mine.

Instead of answering him, I gripped his
shirt and pulled him down to meet me on my toes and kissed him open
mouthed, soft, pliable, but insistent. So he would know. So he
would know my answer was
yes
.

I arrived at the Wonderland restaurant by
cab. It was already dark so I couldn’t quite make out the metal
trees that made up the front façade of the building. Tonight there
was a faint blue light creeping out from around the front double
doors.

It had only been a few days since last time
I’d stepped into Wonderland, but they’d already made a lot of
progress. Round tables and plush booths filled out the main dining
room where black and deep purple stripes in crushed velvet draped
the walls. Sweeps of soft, gauzy fabric tented the ceiling where
chandeliers cast colored light over the carpeted room below.
Finally showcased beneath proper lighting, the forest mural I
painted felt eerily real, like the room went on for miles. On
either side of the room were mismatched doors leading to different
rooms, one a silver and white private dining room for VIP guests,
the other a Moroccan style lounge that felt like being inside a
genie’s lamp.

A furor of activity overtook the main dining
room. Several women were trying out table dressings on silk fabric,
waitresses were being fitted for fantastical, revealing costumes in
another corner, and men on ladders adjusted the hanging
chandeliers. Most of the attention was on the bar where dishes were
paired with bottles and poured glasses of wine and the scent of
spun sugar and caramel filled the room. Zach and Sean held court
behind the bar while a tailored woman and several suited men I
didn’t recognize tasted bites from each plate, before arguing over
them.

Sean caught my eye and nodded before
returning his attention to one of the older men. I didn’t want to
interrupt so I slid unnoticed into one of the booths. Shaped like
floor-to-ceiling boxes with walls made from the silhouettes of dark
mahogany colored trees, I could feel myself disappearing here
within the intimate confines. Every detail had been carefully
chosen, the atmosphere truly fairy-tale like.

“Mr. Roth, thank you for coming down to see
the place prior to opening. It’s an honor having you in our
corner.” Zach’s smooth, business voice broke my thoughts. I peeked
through the wooden leaves to see Zach a few steps away from my
hiding spot speaking with a tall, silver-haired gentleman in a
beautiful grey suit. He had eyes like sapphires and a bizarre
Botoxed youthful-aged look.

Mr. Roth. Taylor’s father. They shared the
same entitled eyes.

“I’m not a foolish investor, Mr. Castle.
When I put money down, I want to be sure I’m not taking any
unnecessary risks.”

“And having seen the place, do you feel
confident in your investment?”

“Let me put it this way, they announced this
morning that Marcus Giovanni’s company bought up the entire block
to the subway station. He intends to build luxury condos above
eccentric clubs and shops to capitalize on the young singles
filling this community. Apparently the excitement around your
opening has gotten the attention of other developers as well. That
makes me feel confident in my investment. Hell, I wish I’d thought
of it first. Now all the land around here is too expensive to
touch.”

Marcus? I hadn’t heard from him in a few
days, despite texting him that we needed to talk. I guessed he was
busy, but had no idea it was because he was buying up land around
Sean’s restaurant. That…seemed like more than a coincidence. But
didn’t it take more than a few days to handle such a massive
purchase?

“We’d heard rumors of his interest a long
time ago. It’s why we chose to build Wonderland here. We wanted to
be right in the middle. Our father taught us a similar lesson about
risk, Mr. Roth.”

Mr. Roth snorted and clapped Zach on the
shoulder. Zach stood almost as tall as Mr. Roth, but was thicker
through the shoulders. The physical touch did not intimidate the
young business man.

“I bet he did. I look forward to the
opening. I’m going to have my secretary send over a list of names I
want on the guest list for the party.”

“Sure. Send them to my office. We’re just
getting the invitations together now.”

Mr. Roth turned to leave but stopped and
half-turned back. “One last thing. This business between Sean and
Taylor. I heard the news last night. She’s pretty upset, but more
than that she doesn’t want to be cut out of opening night. Too much
time and effort and all that. The girl likes her distractions. I’m
not saying he should fake it, but I would greatly appreciate it if
he kept her in the loop through the opening. Keep her busy, give
her things to do. Have him take her to the opening to show there
are no hard feelings. Afterwards I’ll send her on vacation and then
to assist on another of my projects. I would hate for our working
relationship to be muddled because he broke my daughter’s heart.
See to it.”

When Mr. Roth had walked through the front
doors, Zach’s face fell into a scowl. “Because he’s not going to
hate that at all.”

When Zach left I scrambled out from my
hiding place. Last night when Sean spent the night in my bed and
all day at work I let myself feel giddy like a teenager newly in
love. Now that the competition wasn’t as gone as I’d originally
believed, anxiety crept back in. Zach was right, if I hated it, so
would Sean. More so.

The others who’d been sitting at the bar
were gone now too, leaving Sean alone to pick at the plates. He
kept a notebook beside him where he made marks about each dish.
When I got close, he reached over the bar to grab my hand and lead
me around behind with him. He kissed my cheek when I’d settled into
the crook of his arm. He smelled like honey and dragon fruit.

“Hungry?” he asked before spooning a bite of
something fluffy white, like mascarpone dusted with cocoa. He held
it for me to take a bite.

“Oh god, that’s so good.”

Pride puffed his chest up a bit. He spooned
something else, something drizzled in a savory white gravy with
bits of tender meat floating amongst mushrooms. I could taste the
sherry and mushrooms, though they were not ones I could easily
name. A nutty, smooth texture. I moaned when I licked my lips for
last of the flavor.

“I forgot how much weight I gained living
around you.”

“It’s my pleasure to feed you.” Another
bite, this time of something creamy but minty, a bright, cool
texture against the tip of my tongue. “You’re half the reason I
became a chef.”

“Liar,” I teased, but secretly reveled at
the idea I’d had any influence over him.

“It’s true. You’ve got exquisite taste and I
enjoyed making things that would blow your mind. Wine?” I accepted
the glass and cleared my palette with a sweet red meant to go with
the mascarpone confection.

“Mmm. You’re like Hansel and Gretel’s witch.
I’m doomed, aren’t I?”

“Afraid so.” The wine flushed my skin and I
smiled when he smiled. His fingertips dug into the soft flesh at
the small of my back and soothed the shiver that passed through me
with gentle circles. “Come home with me tonight.”

Sean leaned down, nudged my hair from my
cheek to plant a series of kisses there. Long kisses, pressing,
insistent. I arched into him in response.

“Yes, sir.”

“Zach.” Sean straightened suddenly and
looked over the top of my head. The swish of the closing kitchen
door gave Zach’s presence away.

“We need to talk.”

Sean nodded. “Wait for me in the kitchen,
Kara?”

“No.” Zach put a hand on the bar so I
couldn’t escape. “Both of you. You both need to hear this.”

Mr. Roth’s request. Guilt colored Zach’s
eyes and he looked away from Sean’s probing gaze.

“Roth said something to you about Taylor.”
Sean exhaled and leaned away from me a fraction.

“Good guess.” Zach nodded.

“I wondered if he would.” For my benefit,
Sean caught my attention. “Taylor’s father is one of our biggest
investors. We didn’t necessarily need investors, but he’s a friend
of our father’s and insisted on helping us achieve this. It seemed
like a better idea than sinking all of our inheritance with our
father’s investment alone. Roth has powerful friends, all of whom
were more than happy to help us get things rolling once we’d found
the space to build. It’s not surprising that he’d try to throw his
considerable weight around when he heard Taylor and I had ended
things. What does he want?”

“Taylor’s involvement. He wants her to be a
part of the opening, then he’ll send her away to do other things
for his other investments.”

“That sounds reasonable.”

Zach flinched and gave me an apologetic
look. “And he wants you to take her to the opening.”

I flushed, embarrassed at being caught in
the middle, but Sean’s anger surprised me.

“No. That’s not going to happen. She’ll hate
it as much as I will. Kara has already agreed to accompany me.
That’s who I will be escorting, I don’t care how much money he
throws around.”

“I don’t think its money he’s going to throw
around, Sean. One word from him and all our clientele will dry up
overnight. Talk to her, at least. The last thing we need is for
Roth to pull his support and make our lives unbearable leading up
to the opening because his daughter’s an insufferable brat. I hate
to say this, but I also think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep
this,” he motioned between Sean and I,” a secret for now. Until
after the opening. I don’t want to make the insufferable brat
jealous and territorial as well.”

“No,” Sean insisted and as if Zach might
force us apart, he tightened his grip on me. “No more secrets.”

“Sean.” It was the first time I’d spoken and
this brought his anger down a level. I caught his lapels in my
hands and tugged his attention fully to meet mine. “I don’t think
he’s wrong. It’s only for a couple of weeks.”

“Kara.” His hard voice softened briefly, but
I squeezed his hand reassuringly.

“This is about the opening. It only happens
once, but I’ll be here for a lot longer. Talk to her, like Zach
said. Maybe she won’t be interested and then it’s not a big
deal.”

“Fat chance.” We all whipped our attention
towards the woman standing in the middle of the room, a floor
length white coat falling along her thin frame. Her breasts
supported a dress so light it was almost see through. I knew with a
glance she wore no underwear. She grinned, all teeth and rosy
cheeks and touched her fingertips to her mouth in mock
embarrassment. “No pun intended, sweetheart.”

I flushed and looked down. Sean tightened
his grip on my hand. I could feel his whole body harden over in
preparation for battle.

“Like I’ll be ostracized at the opening I
orchestrated.” She set her briefcase on a table, popped it open,
and removed several glossy purple folders. She handed them to Zach
but kept her big eyes on Sean. “The menu and invitation designs.
They match. I hate the table dressings, so I’ve also included the
suppliers for the vendors I’ve already contacted with new designs.
Get a rush order on them. I want all the invitations hand signed.
Oh, I’ve also included the list of dishes and wines that should be
served at the opening. I trust you can follow directions,
darling?”

Both boys were so tense they vibrated. How
much could this woman push and get away with it? I was pretty sure
Taylor was very ready to find out.

“We already have the menu picked out.” Sean
enunciated each word carefully, but his grip got no lighter on my
hand.

“And the designs have already gone to the
printer,” Zach added.

“Cancel them. If I’m being forced out, I’m
going to make sure my stamp is on everything before I leave. Fight
me on it, please.
I beg you
.”

When no one said a thing, she shrugged and
began closing the buttons on her luxurious coat. Across the room I
saw Dani, a girl I’d befriended the first time I’d met Taylor,
watching the spectacle. Against Taylor’s wishes, Zach had hired
Dani as the lead waitress.

Or rather, Dani was watching the coat.
Another Nathan Artic original, I imagined. Clothes were Dani’s
passion. Apparently Taylor’s, too.

“Very well. I’ll send you a picture of my
dress so you can match your tie. The invitations should be in the
mail within seven days.” She smiled then, something that ought to
have been sincere but on her, only poisoned deeper. In one hand she
took her briefcase, the other she slid into a pocket. “Sorry
darling, but it looks like you didn’t make the guest list. I bet
they’d let you work in the kitchen, though. I’m guessing you’ve got
experience there.”

“Get out.” Sean very nearly leapt across the
bar if not for my hand anchoring him to my side. His eyes burned
almost black.

“Oh, relax, Sean. You’ll hear from me soon.
Ciao, darlings.”

The doors closed behind her, her expensive
perfume lingering long after she’d gone.

____________

“I want to see you on your knees.”