Surrender to a Donovan (Kimani Romance) (6 page)

She looked over at the bed, and Briana was attempting to scootch her body right off the side. When Tate took a step to grab her, there was a banging at the door. Tate jumped and held on to the bat even tighter. She stood with her legs spread slightly apart, ready to swing at whoever came through that door. Then she heard sirens and felt a small wave of relief. More cursing sounded as fists banged against her door so hard it shook the hinges.

“Get the hell out of my house!” she screamed on impulse, moving closer to the door. “I’ve got a gun, and the minute you walk through that door I’m shooting!”

The door shook again, this time as if it had been kicked.

“C’mon, you bastard,” she said, holding the bat like she was about to hit the game-winning home run.

There was more knocking, but it sounded farther off. The front door. She heard mumbled talking just before another crash sounded. Tate felt something on her leg and almost jumped right out of her skin. She almost cried when she looked down to see that Briana had waddled her way over to her and was now extending her arms so Tate could pick her up.

And that she did. She held her daughter tight against her as tears stung her eyes.

“Police! Anybody in here? This is the police!”

Tate heard the yelling but still didn’t move. How did she know for sure it was the police? Maybe the intruder had switched his tactics. She wasn’t opening that door.

It didn’t matter, because in a few seconds it was kicked in, the sound of splintering wood echoing in the room. She pushed Briana to her left side and lifted the bat in her right hand. There was no way she could get a good swing in this position, but Tate vowed she’d do whatever it took to defend her daughter.

In a blur, uniforms entered the room, guns in the air, arms extended.

“Don’t move! Don’t move!” they yelled.

“I live here,” Tate stuttered. “I called…you.”

There was clicking and audible releases of breath as arms were lowered and the officers came a little closer.

“Are you hurt, ma’am?”

“No,” Tate said, shaking her head.

Another officer came to her side, wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “You can let it go now.”

“What?” she asked, her voice sounding far off.

“The bat. Let it go, ma’am,” he instructed.

Tate looked at the bat and sighed. “Oh yeah.” She released her hold and the officer took the bat from her.

“Just you and your baby here, ma’am?” the officer standing in front of her asked.

She nodded.

“Okay, why don’t we get you out of here.”

“No. No. I live here,” she was telling them.

“We know, ma’am. But this is a crime scene now. We have to investigate. There’s a social worker on the way, so you can talk to her and she’ll find you someplace to stay tonight.”

“But I…this is my…” Tate didn’t know what to say.

All she knew for sure was that Briana was okay. She was still crying in Tate’s arms, but she was with her and she was okay.

Chapter 9

“S
o, are we meeting with the newest addition to our television show today?” Parker asked, walking into Sean’s office with Savian and Dion right behind him.

Sean had been sitting at his desk, computer on, papers from a file strewn across his desk, a cup of tepid coffee to his right. He hadn’t been doing a bit of work. The only thing he’d been able to think about this morning was Tate. Her smile. Her quick wit. Briana and her chubby cheeks and laughing eyes.

“Who invited you in?” he asked the entourage that had descended on his office.

“You know we don’t need an invite,” Dion said, leaning against the edge of Sean’s desk.

Unlike his brother’s office, which looked more like a hotel room with its deep-cushioned guest chairs, working table with six less comfortable chairs, mini refrigerator and water machine, Sean’s work abode was much more formal. He had a big office, of course, but his furniture leaned more toward the functional than the comfortable. The modern design made the most use of the space while allowing plenty of shelves to store his older volumes of the magazine as well as the manuals with their distribution history. His meeting table was round, with four high-backed chairs. He did have a water machine and refrigerator, he just rarely used them.

Parker had already taken a seat in front of his desk, his long legs extended and crossed at the ankle. Savian, who surpassed even Sean in seriousness, unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down, his features as stoic as his cool demeanor.

“Did you schedule the meeting yet?” Dion asked. “I mean, a second meeting, since we already heard about the one that took place last night.”

“The one at which I’m sure only a minimal amount of business was conducted, if any,” Parker added with a chuckle.

He should have known. Nothing happened in his family without everyone knowing. Sean pinched the bridge of his nose and shifted forward to lean his elbows on his desk.

“Oh no, he’s worried about something,” Dion said with a groan. He lifted Sean’s coffee cup then put it back down with a frown. “You need to stay away from this stuff. Caffeine’s bad for the nerves.”

“I’m not worried, and my caffeine intake is just fine,” Sean answered.

“So what’s the status?” Savian asked. “I’d like to set up a development meeting with all the key players soon. We were hoping to have everything squared with ‘Ask Jenny’ this week.”

“She’s on board. We’ll need a new contract drawn up for her, one that includes child care and health care expenses.”

Savian frowned. “We provide health care for all our employees. Always have.”

Sean nodded. “I know, but I want to make sure it’s included in this new contract as well. Also, the child care. None of that cafeteria-plan crap. We need to pay for hers in full. She has an infant attending day care. Working on the show as well as keeping up with the column is going to require a shift in her work hours. I don’t want her to stress about child care in the process.”

“She’ll get a hefty raise to do the show,” Parker said. “She can use that for her child care.”

Sean was already shaking his head. “No. I want this to be a separate contract, not attached to her employment at the magazine. So she’s not getting a raise, she’s getting an entirely different salary.”

“Wow, being very generous with this one, aren’t you?” Parker asked.

When Sean opened his mouth to speak, Dion held up a hand to halt him.

“Before you say anything, you should know my wife came home last night rambling about this adorable little girl she watched for you. By the time I was in the car on my way to work, Mom was calling to ask if I could talk to you about bringing Tate and…what’s her name?”

Sean sighed. “Briana.”

“Yeah, Briana, to the house again. She made several more comments about when Lyra and I were going to give her a grandchild as precious as Briana.”

Parker was smiling from ear to ear. Savian had the decency to put his hand up over his mouth, pretending to brush down his close-cut mustache to cover the fact that he was grinning as well.

“I think we’ve already crossed the personal line,” Dion finished. “Just in case you were thinking about taking the denial route.”

“No,” Sean replied automatically. “I wasn’t thinking of taking that route.” He rubbed his hands down his face and gave up the pretense.

“We had a great time at dinner. Yes, I like her on a personal level. So yes, I’m trying to look out for her in the business arena as well. Satisfied?”

“We can’t just give her whatever she wants because you want to sleep with her,” was Savian’s cool response.

Sean’s icy glare was quick, his tone lethal. “I do not just want to sleep with her. And I can negotiate her contract any way I see fit.”

“The board has to approve it,” Savian retorted, without even blinking an eye at Sean’s quick show of temper.

“Time out,” Parker said, making a T with his hands. “He’s not asking for a million-dollar contract, Savian. She’s already getting health care within the scope of her employment here at the magazine. We can just include a clause that says if anything should happen to said employment, this contract will pick up full-coverage health care.”

“And add child care when no one else is getting it? Is that fair?” Savian asked.

It was Dion’s turn to intervene. “Nobody that we’re offering a television contract to has had child-care issues,” he told Savian. “We should continue to negotiate contracts on a case-by-case basis and not get into what we are and aren’t supplying for everyone else.”

“If the company doesn’t pay her child care, I will.” The words were out before Sean could really consider them. He sat back in his chair and let them sink in. He never said what he didn’t mean. Ever. This time was no different.

“It’ll be taken care of,” Dion said in a tone that ended any further argument. “Now, is she on board with this personal thing?”

“She’s not exactly banging on my door to get to the second date,” he said with a wry chuckle. “The whole boss/employee thing seems to be an issue for her.”

“As it should be,” Savian replied.

“Savian, man, you need to get laid,” Parker said.

Savian frowned at his older brother. “Unlike you guys, I have more important things on my mind.”

“That just confirms you aren’t getting any.” Dion laughed.

“I think she’s got some history that’s holding her back,” Sean offered, because these men were his closest friends. He could trust each of them—even Savian—and depend on them to be totally honest with him about anything.

“Oh boy, history’s never good,” Parker said.

“You should know,” Savian added. “That’s why you’re divorced now.”

Parker didn’t frown and he didn’t take another jab at his brother. The subject of his young marriage and quickie divorce wasn’t one they broached lightly. And judging from the look on Parker’s face, they weren’t going to discuss it now.

“What kind of history?” Dion asked. “Let me guess. Baby daddy?”

“I believe so. I’m thinking about having Trent take a look into her past.”

Savian shook his head. “Dangerous territory having a woman’s background checked out. Especially when it’s a woman you plan to sleep with and hire at the same time.”

Nobody denied that. But Sean didn’t give a damn. For him, the end definitely justified the means.

“She doesn’t have to know,” he said.

Savian had another response, not that anyone was surprised. “That’s right, bring dishonesty into the new relationship as well. Why not just ask her what happened and be done with it?”

“I tried that, and she clammed up. Twice. That’s how I know something’s going on there,” he told them.

“That definitely sounds like she’s keeping secrets,” Parker said.

“And she’s got her guard up so high I’m practically climbing walls just to get a smile.” But when he got one, he was blown away, every time.

His desk phone buzzed and Sean pressed the intercom button. “Yes, Gayle?”

“You wanted to know when Ms. Dennison came in. Her assistant just called to say she’s not coming in today—some type of family emergency.”

His finger slammed against the button.

“Guess that means we’re not meeting today,” Savian said with a sigh.

Sean was already out of his chair, pulling his suit jacket from the back and slipping his arms in as he walked to the door. “I’m gone for the day. If you need me, call the cell.”

* * *

Seeing yellow police tape hanging from the door of Tate’s apartment was not something Sean had anticipated. The swirl of anger settling in the pit of his stomach wasn’t either. Yet, as he walked inside the already-open door, he felt like he could hit someone. And that wasn’t a thought that crossed Sean’s mind on a daily basis.

There was an officer in the living room, standing beside Briana’s playpen, and he instantly went into defense mode.

“Where’s Briana?” he asked the officer.

The female in uniform turned and looked at him. She had a notepad in one hand and a pen in the other, and she took a step closer to him. “And who are you?”

“I’m Sean Donovan,” he said. “Where are Briana and Tate?”

He looked around the room, and there didn’t seem to be anything out of place, nothing missing. Except for the two females who lived here.

“And how do you know Ms. Dennison?”

He could see the name “Raymond” printed in block letters just beneath her badge, and she had already written his name down and was waiting for what he would say next.

“Ms. Dennison works for me at
Infinity
magazine,” he told her. “We had dinner last night and I dropped her off around ten-thirty.” Now, whether he was incriminating himself, Sean didn’t really care. It was the truth, and he was telling the officer all this in the hopes of getting her to reciprocate.

“You’re
that
Sean Donovan?” was her reply.

He wanted to sigh. The last thing he was in the mood for was someone falling all over themselves trying to impress him because he was
that
Sean Donovan.

“Yes, whatever that means,” he said instead. “Can you please tell me where Tate and Briana are?”

She used her pen to point. “They’re in the bedroom. Packing, I presume.”

Sean didn’t allow her to expand on that. He was already walking through the living room, turning down the short hallway and heading toward the room next to Briana’s, which he assumed had to be Tate’s. All the tension, all the worry that had built up from the moment Gayle had given him the message that Tate was out washed out of him in a gush of a breath. He inhaled again slowly as he saw Tate standing near the dresser gathering clothes and Briana sitting in the center of the bed bending into the suitcase trying to pull out everything her mother had just put inside. Tate was wearing jeans that fit enticingly over her thick thighs and her perfectly rounded bottom. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail that gave her a vulnerable quality that called for Sean to help her, be there for her, make this better.

“Pretty little Briana, are you helping Mommy pack?” he said, trying to keep his voice as light as possible—even though anger was just barely simmering inside. What had happened here? Why was she packing, and just where did she think she was going?

He was already on his way to the bed, arms extended to pick Briana up, when Tate jumped on the bed and grabbed her away from him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, fear and confusion clear on her face. Both pissed Sean off even more.

“I heard you weren’t in the office because of a family problem. I came to see if I could help,” he told her, standing at the foot of the bed.

Her gaze darted around the room, then just over his shoulder as if she expected or needed someone else to be there. Sean tried valiantly not to take that personally.

“What happened?”

She sighed and sat down on the bed, keeping Briana in a grip so tight the baby squirmed to get away.

“Somebody broke in last night. They came through the window in Briana’s room.”

Hence the reason she was holding on to her baby as if both their lives depended on it.

Sean moved slowly, coming to sit beside her on the bed. She moved over a little and he decided not to follow her any farther. Extending a hand, he touched Briana’s fingers, but he did not touch Tate. She was frightened. He understood that. Just as he understood that the moment he left this apartment he would be calling D&D Investigations to get to the bottom of this incident.

“You got to her in time?”

Tate shook her head, wisps of hair trailing along her cheeks and neck. “No. She’d been cranky all night. I’d gotten up a couple of times with her already. The last time, I figured I’d just bring her in here to sleep with me. Then I heard the window breaking.”

“Did they catch the perpetrator?” he asked, already knowing the answer. If they’d caught him, there wouldn’t be a cop out in the living room and Tate probably wouldn’t be packing.

“No,” she said in a low whisper.

Briana reached for him, and Sean extended his arms to her. Tate hesitated, her gaze going to Sean’s.

“She’s okay, Tate. I’m not going to hurt her or you,” he said solemnly.

Her lips compressed and she closed her eyes, releasing her hold on Briana. “I’ve been a nervous wreck all day. The cops have been here since four this morning, dusting for prints and looking around outside. I thought they’d be gone by now, but they said since nothing was taken they found it strange that the guy would break a window to get in instead of picking the lock.”

Sean nuzzled Briana’s neck, loving the feel of her baby-soft skin against his. “Impulsive, erratic—that’s what they’re probably thinking. Not something that was planned.” Sean was glad that the police were performing an in-depth investigation.

“I don’t care if it was planned or not. It doesn’t make me feel better,” she said.

“So you’re packing because…?” he asked.

“One of the detectives said it might be a good idea to get away for a few days. I can’t afford to take a vacation, so I’m just going to find a hotel for me and Briana to stay at for a week.”

Not if he had anything to say about it.