Taming Graeme (Taming the Billionaire) (40 page)

 
Michael laughed. “I feel exactly the same way, Graeme. But I’m picturing Linda’s belly swelling, not Olivia’s.”

 
“She’s just right for you, Michael. Submissive, eager to please you, in love with you...”

 
“I got the collar from Ragnar on Saturday, Graeme. It’s beautiful. It will look so good with her eyes, all the topaz, amber and tigers’ eyes, and diamonds set in gold. He put it into a black velvet case, with black silk lining. It just glitters, sitting there.”

 
“How are you going to handle this?”

 
“I was hoping you’d help me with that, but I guess you won’t be here tomorrow evening will you?”

 
“I will, we’re flying back at four, so I’ll be there by seven to teach that class for you.”

 
“Great. Here’s what I thought we could do....”

 
Graeme listened and laughed. “Well, I’ll do my best for you, Michael.”

 
“What about you, Graeme? You’re going to be a father. Have you ordered a collar or a ring?”

 
“No, no, I haven’t ordered anything, Michael.”

 
Michael was silent. The silence grew heavy.

 
“Well, I’d better go...” and he hung up, leaving no doubt in Graeme’s mind what his friend thought of him at that moment. 

 
Graeme sat in silence, uncomfortabl
e
with Michael’s unspoken censure. He wanted this baby badly and was delighted Olivia was the mother, but commitment?

 
On the other hand, he wanted the baby to have his name, and no social stigma. There was still social stigma, no matter what the liberals tried to say. His Uncle David and Aunt Christine would be unhappy about his unwed father status….probably his daughters would be as well. Well, Louisa would be unhappy, Julia might not care.

 
Judging by Michael’s attitude, a lot of people would disapprove of them not being married.

 
‘Livi would be the target of a lot of gossip at the Bank, and even the baby…he didn’t want his baby to have to deal with any unpleasantness.

 
They’d have to get married.
They’d have to get married
.              

 
They could always get a divorce after she had his second child. Or maybe a third...He’d grown up an only child, and he didn’t want that for his baby. Julia and Louisa had enjoyed each other’s companionship, had played together so well...were still so close.

 
He’d let Olivia have a divorce when she asked him for one, that’s what he’d do. Yes, when she wanted one. And he’d have custody of the children, but let her see them whenever she wanted to. Marriage wasn’t going to change anything between them. She was his perfect pet. That wasn’t going to change.

 
He supposed he’d need Carrie’s Death Certificate to get a marriage license. Better go down to the vault and get it out of his safety deposit box Wednesday morning before his meeting. He went on line and found what else they would need.

 
He’d take her to the Registry Office at one on Wednesday.

 
They could be married fifteen days later. They could make it the Friday evening which would be the sixteenth day, and he’d invite his Uncle David and Aunt Christine, Michael and Linda, that was all.

 
Uncle David and Aunt Christine were his closest relatives, since his parents had been killed in an avalanche in Switzerland on a skiing holiday the year before Carrie had been run over.

 
Worst two years of his life. He’d stopped feeling after that, well except for the girls, of course. He loved his daughters even more after that.

 
Oh, over the years he’d begun to thaw a little, but he’d never feel deeply toward a woman again, he hadn’t felt all that deeply for Francine. Hadn’t had that warm glow in his heart for panther.

 
He refused to even think about the warmth in his heart for kitten
.

 
He forced his thoughts back to the mechanics of the marriage, the wedding.

 
Aunty Betty would be hurt if he didn’t ask her. Yes, he’d ask her.

 
Well, perhaps he should ask John Taylor and his wife to the wedding as well. John was very fond of Olivia. Gideon and his wife as well, since Gideon knew about the baby. He and Gideon played squash twice a week, were friendly.   Yes, Gideon should come.

 
Rose and her husband should come to the wedding, since she was friends with kitten. They wouldn’t make any announcements, and the guests could keep the event quiet, all of them would.

 
They’d have a big party for the christening of the baby, that was the important event. Getting married was just formalizing their relationship to make the baby legitimate
.
So there’d be no question of the baby’s inheritance.

Of course it was.

  So why was he grinning at the thought of marrying ‘Livi? Why did he suddenly feel happier
?

 
They wouldn’t invite Amanda. Definitely not Amanda, she’d tell the world. Well, maybe they’d invite her at the last minute because she did consider herself friends with ‘Livi and close to him, and threaten her with death if she said a word. And they wouldn’t tell her about the baby. Definitely they wouldn’t tell her about the baby.

  And after, they’d fly to Belfast for the weekend, and he’d have ‘Livi all to himself.

 
Mrs. Hall, he’d like to invite Mrs. Hall and her husband...that would be it. He didn’t think ‘Livi would have anyone to add to that list, but of course, he’d ask her.

 
They’d be married at home, and have a splendid meal catered. How many was that? Ten, no eleven guests. Yes, that was a nice size. He’d had twenty two for dinner in May...ten was nothing. No, they wouldn’t have a catering firm, he’d fly Mrs. Green and James over to do the wedding dinner. Yes, that’s what he’d do. Mrs. Pyle could engage a couple of kitchen assistants for Mrs Green.

 
Rose could help him with the arrangements. Give her something to do until Mrs. Hall retired. He’d just make a short list of what Rose needed to look after. Hell, Rose had been married herself just a couple of years ago, she knew better than him what she’d need to arrange.

 
Maybe they should go away for a full week on a honeymoon instead? He and Carrie had gone to Capri. Funny how Francine had turned her nose up at Capri. Capri had been very romantic.

 
Yes, they should go on a honeymoon. Women liked honeymoons.

 
Bermuda
, he’d take ‘Livi to Bermuda. Bermuda was supposed to be romantic. He could teach her to golf.

 
His daughters. Yes, they’d have to come. So now it was fifteen guests. Fifteen guests was good.

 
He’d better have Louisa and Julia meet ‘Livi before he married her, though. If they didn’t like her, too bad, but he knew they’d love her, because they would see how much she loved him, and how she wasn’t after his money...

 
She did love him, didn’t she? It was shining out of her eyes, her love for him. It was in her touch, her acquiescence to all of his demands with never a hint of argument. No matter how unreasonable or moody he was, she acquiesced. No matter how much he hurt her, she acquiesced. She’d never leave him...no, she’d never leave him. She’d never ask him for a divorce...

He liked that she loved him.
He liked that she
loved him. Hell, he was overjoyed that she loved him. No, no, he wasn’t. But he liked that she loved him, he liked it a lot.

 
His daughters, yes...he’d take them all out to dinner Friday night, and see how it went. ‘Livi would need a new dress, and shoes to wear. No, she should wear that fabulous dress she bought in Belfast. She looked magnificent in that dress. She looked like the wife of the Chairman of The Browning Group. Elegant, beautiful, sophisticated. And sexy, so sexy. He was so proud of her in that dress and she’d picked it out herself. She could wear her new suede coat, even if it wasn’t quite cold enough...and show off her engagement ring. He wondered if Ragnar had a suitable ring in his display cases.

 
No, Ragnar wouldn’t have a suitable ring. He carried great designs and did wonderful commissioned works, but his shop was not the high end product that Graeme suddenly wanted. Could he craft a suitable ring by Friday? He wanted ‘Livi to be wearing an engagement ring when she met his daughters.   No, no way Ragnar would be able to make such a ring in four days...could he?

 
He rang through to his jeweller friend.

 
Ragnar laughed at him. “No way, Graeme, not the kind of ring that you’d buy, anyway. Go to one of the top jewellers, and I’ll make your wedding bands. Come in when you’re back from Ireland, both of you, and I’ll measure you and we’ll go over designs. Buy her engagement ring first, so I will be able to create something that works.”

 
Graeme went into the Currency Trading Roo
m
and saw kitten hard at work with Danny, so focused and concentrated on the task at hand.

 
“Let’s go to lunch, ‘Livi.” He smiled happily at her.

 
She got up and he swept her away. They walked down the street, hand in hand. He seemed to want to window shop. Olivia found that most strange, Graeme wasn’t the sort of man who wasted time window shopping.

 
They were standing in front of a jeweller’s now. He looked in their window and shook his head slightly. No, he’d just go to Cartier in London. They knew him, he used to buy a lot of jewellery for Carrie and for Francine, and he knew he’d find something appropriate. He’d call them this afternoon when he got back to the Bank and tell them what he had in mind. They would prepare a tray of rings for Olivia to choose from. That’s how he used to buy things for Carrie, have Cartier prepared an array of pieces that met
his
taste for her to choose from. Francine never got a choice; she just got whatever Graeme wanted her to wear. As long as it was large and flashy, Francine was satisfied.

 
He lost interest in the windows and they made their way to the restaurant. Their restaurant.

 
Once they were settled in and had ordered he smiled across at her.

 
“We’ll have to be ready to leave the Bank by three tomorrow, ‘Livi. I’ve got to teach that class for Michael tomorrow evening. He’s given me a small task.”

 
“Oh?”

 
“Actually, you gave him the idea...”

 
“I did? What?”

 
“You told us about a book you’d read about a girl learning to be a sub, and how she offered a collar to her headmaster...on the plane, remember?”

 
“Yes, Linda has my kindle right now, because she wanted to read that.”

  
“Well, Michael had our friend Ragnar the jeweller design a collar. It sounds very nice, tigers’ eyes, topaz, amber and diamonds...all in yellow gold. He wants Linda to give it to him...”

 
“Oh, so you’re going to show it to the girls in her class tomorrow evening, and see if anyone has a Dom they want to have collar them?”

 
“That’s right. And when she sees it, she’ll know it’s for her, because of the jewels. They match her nipple clamps, the tigers’ eyes, and then she’ll know Michael wants her to collar him. And the topaz and amber will compliment her eyes, he thought.”

 
Olivia smiled. “Michael hopes so. But Linda is very insecure about Michael. She’s sure he’ll move on after she’s trained. I think she’d be scared to offer it, in case he rejected her, and then she’d feel she couldn’t work for him.  And what if one of the other girls asks for the collar and presents it to Michael or another Dom of her choice?”

 
Graeme smiled ruefully. “I don’t think Michael and I thought of either of those possibilities.”

 
“Tomorrow night, before you show the collar, why don’t you question the class, one by one, Linda last, and ask them all if they plan to take a master soon or if they feel the urge to experience a number of Doms? That way, you’ll know if anyone else might ask for the collar. And if anyone says they are interested in a particular Dom, you can, in your sternest voice, demand they tell you who...so if they are interested in Michael, you can warn him, because he shouldn’t be in the room when this is going on. It would make the girls who want him as their Dom too self conscious. If nobody wants a master of their own yet, you can just give Linda the collar and tell her that her master says she should serve only one Dom, and she knows who that is, the man who calls her his pet. Don’t leave it ambiguous, or it will never happen.”

 
“Good thinking, baby. You never, never let me down, do you?”

 
“Have you written a formal set of vows for the Dom and his pet to exchange?”