Boston Avant-Garde: Impetuous (10 page)

Funny, but at the moment, ownership of the bar wasn’t on his mind at all. It’d been so long. Hadn’t he learned to think with his head and not his emotions? Leading with his emotions had gotten him in over his head before. Losing control of himself with Desiree was going to make history repeat itself.

“Let the past stay in the past, Nicolai.” Erik guessed the direction of his thoughts, though he had no idea of the cause.

Even more than ten years later, Nicolai could still recall the look on Katie’s face when they’d lost their house. Or more to the point, when he’d gambled with the deed to her house and lost it all. In hindsight, his choices hadn’t just been reprehensible; they’d been foolish in the extreme. At the height of addiction, almost anything looked possible.

“You made amends to Katie.” Erik reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sheaf of neatly folded documents. “I’d intended to do this as part of a celebratory thing, but I think now is the perfect time.”

Nicolai didn’t have to be a lawyer to see that he was looking at a transfer of ownership for the bar. He was afraid to touch it, as if it might disappear if he did. “You’re serious?”

“All you have to do is sign on the line. I had my attorney draw these up. If you want to have someone look at them for you, that is perfectly understandable. Once they’re signed, we have to turn them in to start the process of transferring all the licenses. I think there will be a couple of meetings with the city council for liquor license stuff, but it’s all pretty straightforward.”

Guilt drove a stake through Nicolai’s heart. He couldn’t keep a secret like this from a man who’d done so much for him.

“What’s up, Nicolai? I’ve known you a long time, and I’ve never seen you this distracted.”

“Do you remember the girl who came in here the other night?”

Erik poured himself another glass of champagne. “The no-name girl?”

“She came in again the next night.”

“So the two of you are pretty hot and heavy? I think that’s great. Flynn really seemed to think the two of you had a connection. Or at least that you liked her more than your typical one-nighters.”

Nothing Erik had said so far was going to make this any nicer. “I finally asked her name last night.”

“The sex must be good if you two never even got around to names.”

“She’s your sister.” The words came out in one big breath. He felt like a ten-year-old going to confession.

He could see Erik thinking it through. Nicolai sucked in a breath and held it. When Erik rested his elbows on the bar and put his face in his hands, Nicolai thought he might sink right through the floor. Then his friend started laughing, low at first and then louder, until Flynn tossed a glance over his shoulder to see what was going on.

“Erik?”

“Wow.” He sat back on the bar stool. “I’m hoping you’ve suddenly developed a really sick sense of humor.”

“What?”

“You know, she’s been distracted the last couple of days. And there was that stunt she pulled last night where she just disappeared. Then she showed up this morning wearing evening clothes.”

“I sent her home.”

“Apparently not soon enough.”

“I’m sorry, Erik.” Nicolai put his hands flat on the bar and leaned forward. How could he have disrespected him this way? He should’ve sent her home that first night, but letting her stay the night once he knew who she was… That was inexcusable.

“Your no-name one-nighter was my sister. How does someone like Desiree get involved with a guy who specializes in one-night stands?” Erik’s tone grew harsh. “I’m assuming it’s Desiree we’re talking about. If you slept with Selena, we’d need to have your head checked. My younger sister is getting married in less than a week.”

“It was Desiree, not Selena.”

“Was she drunk?” He was obviously trying to reason it all out in his head. “She had to have been drunk to throw her ambitions away like that. The only thing Desiree has ever wanted was to settle down with a good man from a good family and raise a houseful of kids.”

The rush of anger caught Nicolai completely off guard. Whatever Erik thought about his sisters was his business. On the other hand, the guy didn’t know Desiree at all if he thought that was all she wanted in life.

“So you and Desiree slept together. It’s over, right? No harm, no foul.”

“Yes.”
No!

Erik swung himself idly back and forth on the bar stool. “Like I said, it’s over. If we never tell anyone, it won’t screw up the rest of her plans.”

“You’re the boss.” Nicolai tried and failed to put any conviction behind his words.

“I was never your boss and you know it. I helped you out of a tight spot, and now I’m expecting you to do the same for my sister. As long as the relationship is over, the bar is yours.”

Nicolai had noticed that Erik’s take of the bar’s profits had been decreasing over the last few months as the debt was paid in full. He knew his friend had made back the money he’d spent with enough interest to make it worthwhile, but that didn’t absolve Nicolai of his culpability. Nor did it change the fact that Erik had just put Desiree on the table as a high-priced bargaining chip.

Erik was still talking business, but Nicolai had zoned out. The idea of owning the bar was almost too good to be true. He wondered how long it would take for him to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Might as well go ahead and get rid of that shoe. In fact, why not just blow it up?

“Hey!” Erik snapped his fingers. “Are you even listening to me?”

Boss or not, Nicolai needed to set his friend straight on something. “No matter what happens with the bar, you need to understand some things about Desiree.”

Erik’s mouth closed with an audible click of his teeth.

“She might behave like the perfect society girl. But you’ve got the rest of it all wrong. She deserves more than that life is offering her. Maybe you should take your head out of your ass and see just how badly her life has screwed her over. That girl is so repressed and frustrated she doesn’t know whether she’s coming or going. But someday she’s going to get it all figured out. And when she does, all hell is going to break loose.” For about five seconds Nicolai wondered if he’d pushed his friend too hard.

“I think that’s the longest speech I’ve ever heard you give.” Erik downed the rest of his champagne. “So just keep
your
head out of
your
ass, and you’ve got your bar back.”

* * * *

Desiree had been to a lot of charity events in her lifetime. Auctions, dinners, benefits, concerts, exhibits—she’d lost track of the number and variety before she’d been out of her teens. She’d learned early on that half the attendees had no idea what it was they were supporting. They were just there to see and be seen, to rub shoulders with the wealthy and the powerful, and try to prove to anyone who mattered that they belonged at the top of the food chain.

“That’s really a great dress.”

Maybe if she ignored him, Jackson would quit making passes at her. At least it was too loud in the banquet hall for the rest of their dinner companions to hear his commentary. The auction was set up with cute stuffed replicas of each endangered species beside an informative display about shrinking habitats and humanitarian efforts. Attendees could bid on their favorite animal, the proceeds going to help the Endangered Friends Fund.

“I think the skirt should be just a little shorter, though.” Jackson reached underneath the table and rested his hand on her leg. “I like to see your thighs. You should show them off like you did this morning.”

The first item on her agenda was going to be the burning of that cursed white dress. Not only did it hold bittersweet memories of a night spent with Nicolai, but it seemed to be the sole focal point of Jackson’s entire brain.

“Just a half hour more and we can go someplace else to get to know each other a little better.”

She’d rather go to hell. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be bidding on that baby jaguar for Selena?”

Jackson jerked as though he’d been prodded with a Taser. “Right. Thanks.”

He raised his hand as the auctioneer was about to close the bidding. Desiree hid her satisfied smirk. She could have given her date a little more notice that his fiancée’s fave animal was up for bids, but that would’ve taken all the fun out of watching Jackson bid more than he’d ever intended to spend on a stuffed jaguar.

The bids closed, and Jackson stood as the audience applauded his outrageous winning bid. When he sat back down, she could see a muscle in his jaw jumping around. She supposed it was a little perverse to enjoy his discomfort, but Joshua had been right about him. Jackson was an asshole.

He stood up, taking her hand and forcing her to follow along lest she lose an arm. “Thank God we’ve got to go pay. It’s an excuse to get out of here.”

Shit
. Talk about your classic backfires.

A state-of-the-art banking center was set up near the rear of the hall. They meandered through the tables, stopping to accept congratulations from acquaintances. Desiree wondered if her face would eventually crack from all the fake smiling. If she had to make any more lighthearted excuses for her dear sister, she was going to vomit.

She wondered what some of these old society matrons would say if she told them the truth. That her sister was living it up at a spa because she was so overwhelmed by all the tantrum throwing she’d been doing about wedding details that were really the wedding planner’s problem anyway. Then Desiree could go on to say that while her sister was relaxing, her faithless asshole of a fiancé was busy trying to get up Desiree’s skirt. Yep, that would’ve made a definite splash.

More like a social cannonball.

The payment station had been draped with lengths of silk in exotic colors and flanked by potted palms and banana plants in an effort to disguise its true purpose. The personnel wore elegant sheath dresses or tuxedos with leopard-print accents. Really, the event planner had done a good job with the atmosphere, but the bottom line was still the same. They needed your money. At least this cause was a lot better than others Desiree could vaguely remember being asked to support.

Jackson got into a long-winded discussion with one of the reps about his tax deduction. Drifting away from her so-called date, Desiree pretended to examine one of the banana trees while slipping farther into the shadows. If her luck held, she could duck out the door and hail a cab before Jackson figured out what was going on. If he kicked up a fuss later on, she’d say they got separated. If he made a really big issue out of it, she’d resort to playground rules and threaten to tattle. Childish? Sure. But damn effective with one of Joshua’s ironclad prenups as a potential weapon.

The corner of the hall was dim and smelled like a greenhouse, but Desiree could just make out one of the exits. She sidled closer. Leaning around a wad of thick foliage, she tried to see if Jackson had noticed her absence. Her heart began to pound when she realized he was gone.

“Looking for me?”

She startled, her heart slamming against her ribs.

He grabbed her arm, wrenching her around to face him. “You weren’t thinking about leaving without me, were you, Desiree?”

Was there any other conclusion he could draw? “Maybe.”

He pinned her against one of the granite columns that rimmed the banquet hall. Tucked behind the mass of decorative trees and draperies, they were all but invisible. She sucked in a deep breath to call out, but the look on his face made her choke on her own scream.

“Think about that, Desiree. Do you really want anyone to notice us?” His eyes glinted in the near darkness. “They’d see the affluent businessman, lonely and separated from his fiancée, being ruthlessly seduced by her whore of a sister. The same sister who has been frequenting seedy bars in the Back Bay.”

She hated to admit it, but there was some truth to what he said. Their society loved to gossip. And nothing made better gossip than a sex scandal. The sour taste of fear coated her mouth, and she couldn’t swallow around the lump in her throat.

“Now that you’re feeling cooperative, I think I’d like a closer look at those nice round tits. Your sister barely fills out an A-cup on a good day. It’s nice to know there’s a decent pair around when I need them.”

The modest neckline of her black dress tore as he pulled it roughly aside, exposing the lace-trimmed cup of her bra. Her chest heaved as she struggled to call for help. Her distaste for gossip was overruled by the instincts screaming a warning inside her head.

“Hold still!”

His forearm locked on her throat. Her head bounced backward against the column, stars dancing before her eyes. Her vision began to curl inward, blackening at the edges. Fighting for consciousness, she struggled again as he ripped the cup of her bra to expose her left breast.

“Let’s see how sweet you taste.”

His teeth closed around her nipple, biting hard before sucking in a way intended for pain and not pleasure. Her agonized groan only seemed to make him more excited. He pawed for the hem of her skirt, trying to reach up underneath it. In his excitement, he lessened the pressure on her neck. Knowing it was now or never, Desiree pushed against him with everything she had. He stumbled but managed to right himself.

“Bitch! You’ll learn better than to cross me.”

Desperate, she lifted her foot and planted her heel solidly on his instep. Her shoe snapped as Jackson made a strangled, squalling noise and grabbed his foot. Taking the opportunity, she fled.

“Nicolai!” Flynn was flagging him down from the other end of the bar.

Erik had left hours earlier, going home to his wife. The poor girl was having bouts of nausea. Nicolai had zero experience with pregnant women, but he was glad their positions weren’t reversed. Not that he didn’t like kids or want them for that matter. His life just hadn’t worked out that way.

Flynn crossed the L, coming to Nicolai’s side of the bar. “Hey! This cabbie says he’s got a passenger without cab fare.”

“This is my problem how?” His mood had been swinging back and forth from elated to pissed so often he couldn’t keep track of it. Desiree hadn’t walked through the door. On one hand he was glad. On the other he wanted to see her just one more time. Even if it was just a glance from the kitchen, where he’d resolved to hide if she made an appearance.