Complications

Stevens Public Relations Offices - Downtown Las Vistas



"Did you send it?"

"I told you I would get it done baby."

"Did anyone see you?"

"No I had someone else do it"

"Damn it Pierce!"

"Relax sweetness. She has no good reason to screw herself by telling anyone anything. She’s been well paid. Now come here."



"No!" Sloane hissed through gritted teeth as she pushed him away. "You better make sure she doesn’t say a damn word. No one can know where this came from and I swear to God if someone at your job gets a hold of this information I’ll kill you!" she said grabbing the front of his shirt in her fist releasing it only when his troubled expression let her know he understood.


"Nothing goes to print without my say so, you know that. Look, I’ve done everything you asked me to do and I’ve made sure that there is no way any of it is coming back to you. Everything is going to work out, just trust me. I haven’t let you down yet baby, right?" Pierce moved closer to her, extending his arms again to hold her, but he was shot down. "No, not yet, but you will. It’s only a matter of time."

**************************************************

Mariposa Restaurant - Downtown Las Vistas



Blake sat at the bar glancing at his watch. A.J. had already kept him waiting for an hour and he still hadn’t shown up which meant he was probably occupied with his latest bed mate. Thad hadn’t arrived either which really boiled his blood. He hated these quarterly meetings that the two of them insisted on. Spreadsheets and revenue statements had never been his thing and he would’ve much rather curled up with a bottle of Cognac and a well endowed woman, like A.J. was probably doing. He wanted to get out of there, and not just because he was bored to tears.


So far he had successfully adhered to his decision and kept away from Isabella, but tonight, with the two of them in the same vicinity, being so close to her had proven a difficult test of his resolve. His eyes had been glued to her the whole night and as he glanced across the room he caught her in his gaze again; her dress virtually painted to her frame, the bodice gripping her body like a vice. He imagined that it had been a time consuming task for her to get it on -- if he could have his way it would only take him seconds to get it off of her.


Stop it, he thought to himself averting his eyes from her briefly to a random spot on the floor and then back up again. Blair was right, his fascination with her was a problem and not just for her career aspirations. The physical attraction he had to her was unlike anything he’d felt before and it was only heightened by an equally strong emotional pull that made utterly no sense to him. He barely knew this woman but everything about her from the curves of her face, her smile, her laugh, and all the buried emotions he could see so clearly when he looked in her eyes was as familiar as if he had experienced it a thousand times before.


She was like a foreign language he’d never heard before but was somehow able to speak fluently, and for other reasons he couldn't comprehend, he knew that he wasn’t feeling this connection alone. The anxious look on her face every time their eyes met was proof of that. She was right there with him as uncomfortably drawn to him as he was to her, but she was far from ready to acknowledge it let alone explore it. He, on the other hand, was well past the point of denying what he wanted, what he needed. Whatever this was between them, the time had come for him to act on it and somehow he had to convince her that it was okay for her to do the same.

******************************’*



“This is an excellent proposal Isabella, exactly what we were looking for. I’ll have my assistant call yours to set up another meeting later in the week to iron out all the details. You’ve really brought this company back from the brink. Your father should be very proud of the success you’ve made here.”

“Thank you Mr. McNeil you should call him and tell him that. He would love to hear from you. I’m sorry we had to cut this short but I understand you have another engagement.” She smiled sweetly as the lie came out of her mouth. As happy as she was to have secured another important contract she wasn’t at all sorry that the meeting had to end. She was more than ready to leave and the fact that Nico was coming over was at the top of the list of reasons why. All the texting and talking they’d done over the phone the night before had only scratched the surface of how much she needed to be near him, feel his skin on hers, feel his love and strength wrapped around her; inside of her.


As she stood up to shake his hand she felt the other reason she wanted to leave boring his steel blue eyes into the back of her skull. She glanced in his direction and sure enough he was still there, his gaze fixed firmly on her. They’d been playing this staring game all night, this time, however, he gave her a weak smile just before he turned his head away again. It shouldn't have made much of a difference; men stared at her all the time, but something about the way he did it made her feel exposed; that intense and knowing stare that sliced right through her, as if he was trying to see straight into her soul.




It was the same feeling she had the night of his club opening, and that day she had literally bumped into him at the restaurant; an ever tightening knot in her stomach every time she found herself in his line of sight. The feeling was even more pronounced now only a few feet away; his eyes waiting for hers to look back up at him, waiting to connect with her in some way.


Refusing to give him her full attention, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other until Mr. McNeil was blocking her view of him. She exchanged a few more pleasantries with the group before they finally left the table, exposing her again. She looked in his direction again but to her surprise Blake had moved from his seat at the bar and was in the process of walking across the restaurant with an obvious destination in mind.


Isabella turned away from him, began to casually fidget with her hair but stopped herself. He was a cocky, although attractive, playboy with no more interest in her than another notch in his bed post. What was she so nervous about? She took a controlled breath as she heard his footsteps stop right behind her. “Isabella. How nice to see you again.”


Isabella turned around quickly, startled by the fact that the voice she heard was the last one she expected. Thad Carlyle stood in front of her, arms crossed with a devilish look in his eyes, smiling at her like a cat that had just swallowed a canary. She folded her arms in kind and took a step a back trying hard to pull back the disgusted look she knew was written all over her face. “What do you want Thad?”


“Whoa, whoa,” he said putting his arms up in front of his chest as if he were blocking a hit. “Is that anyway to talk to a family friend?”

“Friend? Friends don’t lie, they don’t cheat, they don’t steal, they don’t nearly run other friends companies into the ground, and they certainly don’t encourage key executives at other companies not to do business with said company. Our parents might have been friends Thad, be we never were; not now and not ever.”


The angry smile that crossed his face let her know that she had hit a nerve but instead of becoming indignant he let out a fake laugh. “Clearly we have a difference of opinion on how things transpired during my tenure running MSI. I’m sure if we talk things through you might see this from my point of view. Maybe if you had the same facts that I’ve got, know what I know, see what I’ve seen....I have no doubt you would see what a valuable asset I am to you; professionally and personally.”


“The only asset of value you have to offer me Thad is your absence from my life, professionally, personally, and otherwise. Now get out of my way!” she replied as she made her move to leave, but someone else was in her way. “Hey Thad, is everything okay here?” Blake said putting a hand on his shoulder but directing the question to Isabella. “Everything is fine Blake. Ms. Monacco and I are just getting our positions straight. I really hoped that you’d reconsider for your own sake, but I definitely know where I stand now.”



“I’m glad you do, because it is the only permanent position you’ll have with me or my company.” She turned to leave, intentionally brushing past him and then turned her attention to Blake. “You should be more careful of the company you keep, all snakes bite eventually; especially this one,” she said as she made her way to the door. Once again he watched her walk away from him and any chance he had to pursue their connection further. As much as fate seemed to put them in the same place at the same time it also repeatedly put something his way, keeping him stuck at square one where she was concerned. There had to be some way he could move forward, some way to get her alone.


“Oh she’s going to get bitten; bitten hard,” Thad said, interrupting his thoughts. “And it will be her own damn fault.”

***********************************************************

South Coast Highway - Las Vistas Foothills




Nico, adjusted his rear view mirror to deflect the blinding glare of the flashing red and blue lights behind him and, as a precaution, flicked on his right turn signal as he steered the car in the same direction, stirring up sand into a hazy cloud of dust as he came to an abrupt stop on the side of the road. The cops that patrolled this highway were proven assholes and he'd be damned if he was going to get a ticket on a stupid technicality. The cop had been following him for quite a few miles before the lights and sirens started and something didn't feel right about it. He had just gotten his brake lights replaced, his tags were current, and although he was anxious to get to where he was going, he hadn't been speeding. Every instinct he had told him that this was no routine stop.


He took out his cell phone from the center console to call Isabella; he would just have to add being late to the list things he’d done wrong lately where she was concerned. But as he looked into his rear view again, the sight of the officer approaching stopped him mid-dial.


"Nico, it's been a while." Luke said with an angry smile on his face.
"Not long enough."
" How about I take you for a ride downtown so we can catch up? Get the hell out of that car with your hands up. NOW!!"




***********************************

Monacco Desert Cottage - Las Vistas




Isabella slammed her car door, still boiling from her encounter with Thad. Who the hell did that bastard think he was? Family friend her ass. He had done everything in his power to sabotage her efforts to clean up his mess, but he hadn’t succeeded. That’s what made his words, his demeanor, the confidence he had displayed so puzzling. The only communication they had had since their first run in were the few dirty looks they exchanged when they happened to wind up in the same pubic space or the second hand rumblings she’d heard from prospective business partners about his attempts black ball her. Now all of a sudden he was seeking her out to chat and clear up her so-called misunderstandings? It didn’t make sense and it wasn’t how he operated. Something was up and she needed to find out what that was, and fast.


That would have to wait though, Nico would be there soon and she needed to get ready. She walked into the house and before she could call Lexie’s name, she was standing in front of her, an unusually worried look on her face. “I’ve been trying to call you,” she said stepping up closer to her, almost blocking her way into the kitchen.


“What’s wrong Lexie?”

“I don’t know if it’s wrong, but it’s definitely not right.” She took a breath before continuing.
“You got a package today from someone who couldn’t possibly have sent it.”

“What do you mean? Who is it from?”

“It’s from....your mother.”