Betrayal of the Dove (Men of Action) (12 page)

He brushed his hand through his short cut hair. “You’re really observant.”

She nodded. “She is too, when she allows herself to be. I bet you’re checking her out all day; aren’t you?”

He laughed. “Change of subject,” he insisted.

“Okay, but know this; if you hurt my sister I’m going to hunt you down and kick your butt.”

He laughed. “Oh, I will,” she said. “And if I can’t take you I’ll find somebody who can.” She was serious as a heart attack on this one. Her sister meant the world to her and she wouldn’t see another man hurt her the way her ex did. She had been the one Alyssa cried with when it went south and she was not going to watch her suffer that same pain again.

“Noted,” he nodded. “I have no plans to hurt her.”

She nodded her understanding. “Then I’d suggest you stop sitting on your behind and make a move already.”

He laughed. “You’re both very direct women, aren’t you?”

She shrugged. “Life is too short to sit around and waste time. Trust me on that. If you like her, go after her. She’s not going to make the first move because you’re her employee and she wouldn’t think it’s fair, or right, to do so.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now, are you okay out here?”

He watched the store entirely too much. She was sure he noticed in her down time, between customers, she was combating tears. She hated resting from working, because the moment she stopped being busy she thought about Adam, his life, his death, her loss, and she didn’t want to have to think about that.“I’m fine. I’m just trying to decide which one of these pieces I want to buy. Alyssa never lets me buy anything, she always gives it away, but I’m going to buy it and you’re going to help me.”

“I am?” He looked at her, his green-blue eyes silently questioning her.

“She’ll never let me pay her, but you…I think you can buy it with my money without her knowing.”

“Um…won’t she think I’m buying it for a woman then?”

“Probably, but I’ll be right there and after you buy it I’ll take it from you. It will be too late for her to change things then.”

He shook his head and laughed. “You women and your plotting ways.”

“I know my sister,” she said. “She won’t let me buy anything from her.” And if he thought this was the first time she had found a way to trick her sister he would be wrong. Alyssa had a heart of gold and precious gemstones. She would give her last to any friend and anybody on the street; that’s just who she was as a person. “Besides, I’m planning to take a few of her clothing items with me so it all works out,” she laughed.

“You’re not the same size. You’re smaller than she is, and you’re taller.”

She shrugged. “We’ve always shared some things. I’ve lost weight,” she admitted. “I’m like a zero in size now and she’s still a two, three at the max, but I can still fit her sleeveless tops and I’m sure some of those knee-length sundresses will work despite my height.” They would be shorter on her, but hey, Hawaii was the perfect place to show off her legs.

“Were you trying to lose weight? You look great, but I bet you didn’t need to lose any.”

She shook her head no. “Let’s just say I spent a lot of time running for my life over the past year and that is definitely a weight loss inducing activity.”

“Playing it dangerously close to the edge; are you?”

“I was,” she admitted. “But Blaine showed me the error of my ways and I realized I needed to change some things—at least a little.” She couldn’t live on the edge forever. Adam wouldn’t have ever wanted her to do that. If he were alive he probably would have lectured her six days ‘til Sunday. But then again, if he were alive she would have never taken ninety percent of the assignments she had taken.

More customers came in, causing Shane to retreat to his security room while she worked at making sales. She hoped Alyssa’s day was going as favorably in court as her day was going in the store. The sales were top notch, and she was happy she would have some good news to break to her sister once she arrived home…maybe two things of good news because she still hadn’t told her she would be staying Stateside instead of moving to London. Well, that’s what after work conversations were for, and she was going to be sure to make sure they had a long conversation tonight. Just the two of them, like the sisters they had always been, and would always be. She missed her family, missed the days of being in touch with them more regularly and she was going to correct that; that was her promise to herself.

“And it’s your assertion that she didn’t hire you because of the color of your skin?” Judge Parker adjusted his stylish silver frame glasses on his face. Alyssa always noticed details; maybe that’s why she became obsessed with making jewelry. The little things captivated her, but right now, even though Judge Parker had what she knew to be a Doyer original design sitting on his face she could barely focus. She knew it was original because Jodi Doyer had a special way of making her frames distinctive and even from across the table, Alyssa could see the design. That was at least an eight hundred dollar frame sitting on the judge’s face. She knew the design because she had had a chance to tour the shop where the frames were made. Being a designer herself gave her access to designers in many fields and she loved it because she found inspiration in the little things—not always from their designs either. While touring the Doyer frame shop she saw a triangular light feature followed by several rows of circular features and it gave her an idea for her pyramid collection of necklaces and bracelets. She found inspiration in everything, and she thought that maybe one day she might find inspiration in this too. Maybe, just maybe, she could venture into the dark side of design and make a piece that represented the rat faced weasel of a man sitting in the opposing chair. Maybe she could drive a nail through his eyes in her design. No, that wouldn’t be right. Just because she was angry now was no excuse for thinking of ways to torture a symbolic replica of the man.

Gregory Alexander Dumas nodded affirmatively. “She’s prejudice,” he said. “Against black people.” Right, she was darker than he was. He was a high yellow, as some would call it. It was actually an attractive coloring for him because it made his chestnut colored eyes stand out. His eyes were one of the first things she had noticed about him after she spent some time looking over his resume. He had flecks of darker brown striations mixed in with the smooth chestnut color. They had a two minute conversation, if that, when he dropped off his resume. She remembered because he came in, he placed his resume on the counter and then told her he was there to apply for the job. He asked if there were any forms to fill out, which there weren’t because she didn’t have any applications she was just working off resumes. She told him she was still accepting resumes, but that she would have her decision made on whom to call back for interviews by the end of the following week. In fact, now that she thought about it, the conversation was probably only a minute long, at best.

Alyssa refrained from rolling her eyes. She could tell the judge was also trying to wrap his brain around Gregory’s logic—if anybody could. Right now she was mentally kicking herself because she had actually put his resume in her “to be considered” pile. He didn’t have a lot of experience, three months and that was it, but he was affordable and he had presented himself moderately well. Quite frankly, she just wanted an extra qualified body in the store in case something did happen. Her concern wasn’t about the daily safety of her merchandise. She had caught a couple shoplifters herself once or twice. Usually they were sorority girls pledging, or socialites trying to get away with something even though they had money to pay for the product. She was more concerned with her safety than the safety of her products. She just wanted to make sure that if somebody was scoping out the Row and trying to find the most vulnerable store to hit next, that they didn’t pick her store. She lived above the place and anything that happened downstairs could potentially travel upstairs. She knew that before Shane pointed it out, she just tried not to focus in on it. There was something unsettling about living her life in fear, so she refused to do it.

“What do you have to say about this Miss McGregor?” Judge Parker asked her. What she wanted to say, and what she could say, were two different things. Right now she had a few choice words that she wanted to say, but she didn’t exactly think the judge would be happy with her verbal assault of the man trying to ruin her financially. She didn’t need to curse; she had enough words in her vocabulary to inflict the same damage as some of those four letter words.

Instead of saying what she felt, she stuck with using her brain to keep things legally professional here. They were, after all, still on the record. “Your Honor,” she stated calmly. “I had Mr. Dumas’ resume in my call back pile, but another gentleman walked into my store and he was more qualified so I hired him.”

“And he’s white,” Gregory said and the judge cut him a look that told him he might want to shut up now.

“Is this accurate?”

“Yes; your Honor, he is white. However, that had nothing to do with my decision. Shane Maxwell is a retired Navy SEAL. He is a freelance security consultant and he came highly recommended. Since he’s been in my store we’ve brought my security out of the Dark Ages of technology and into the twenty-first century.” She quoted Shane to the letter. “He’s been a great asset to my business and that’s why I hired him.”

Judge Parker looked over the paperwork she had brought. He nodded his head sporadically. “So let me get this straight, Mr. Dumas. You have three months experience in security. This man has over twenty years of protecting this country and securing encampments and you think she hired him because of the color of his skin.”

Gregory nodded, “yes I do.” He shifted in his chair. “I mean look at her. Clearly she’s a mutt and she’s just unhappy that she can’t pass so she hired the cream sickle instead.”

“Excuse me?” Alyssa felt her anger starting to rise. She wasn’t some dog that he could call a mutt just because she had a mix of blood running through her veins. Much like Eve, she looked more black than any of her other races, except for her hair, which most people assumed was fake anyway, and her eyes…she had her dad’s side of the family blue eyes—only a deeper blue than any of the others. Still, she was not a mutt. Her attorney put his hand on her forearm to silently tell her she needed to settle down. She knew she did, but right now she wanted to knock that man’s head off for insulting her family lineage.

The judge took one hard knock of his gavel on the wooden base on his desk. “There won’t be any racial bigotry in my chambers,” he said. The stenographer was swiftly typing. Alyssa was sure she, too, was silently shaking her head just from the look of shock on her face. Gregory might have had a chance before he threw in that bit of an insult, but now, she was sure he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in a four alarm fire of painting her as the racist. At least she hoped he didn’t.

“From careful consideration of the evidence and facts presented to me,” she heard the judge say and right now her heart was beating so hard in her chest that the sound of it almost seemed to drown out his voice. She wanted this over and she was praying the judge would make a decision to end this case today instead of making them take it inside the courtroom. “Therefore,” he said. “I find in favor of the defendant.” She felt overcome with joy. It was over. The judge had sided in her favor. He rambled on several other words, words that basically chastised Gregory for bringing a frivolous suit before him, but she wasn’t paying any of it too much attention. She had won. Thank goodness for that because had she lost the man obviously had a mean streak that told her he would go for her entire bank account in court.

The judge had dismissed them, but that hadn’t stopped Gregory from inflicting one last threat before they were out of the courthouse. He narrowed his eyes, his lips thin and brittle with disdain and he said, loud and clear, “this isn’t over,” before turning on his heels and exiting the courthouse. Her attorney assured her they could get a TRO if Gregory tried anything, but right now there wasn’t anything she could do.