Blackmailed by the Billionaire Brothers: The Complete Series (10 page)

I didn’t know if it was
businesses in general or just businesses in Boston where you needed a specialty
to be known for if you were going to be a success. My
specialty
were
marshmallow like puffs in the shape of animals. One teddy-bear puff
was enough to sweeten and cream your coffee while the steaming hot cup of
joe
cooled.

There were a lot of customers
who came in early and bought pastries just to play with
Fabiola’s
fantastic animal creamers in their morning coffee. One of them was a sixteen
year old with a crooked smile and messy hair I served since the day I opened.

But, so far, I was the only one
who knew the recipe and if I wanted to keep up with demand I had to train someone
else to help make
them
. Which was why Wanda was in the
back practicing and I was on the register during the morning rush.

One customer in line turned to
three and before I knew it I was running around preparing the regulars orders
as soon as they came in and greeting the next person in line. It was such a
smooth flow I didn’t even stop to call Wanda to the front. Big mistake.

Everything came to a halt when
a foreboding figure stood in front of me. My jaw dropped at the man standing
before me. His intense green eyes and the superiority in his stance brought a
flush to my cheeks. My mind went blank. The groove I’d had all morning came to
a screaming halt.

“Ms.
Renzi
,”
Warren said. “You’re in the front today. Why are you not in back doing accounting?”
One corner of his mouth lifted slowly until it broke into a full smirk. He
looked beautiful. Better than my memory.

No words came out. At first I
thought I was in deep crap. I wanted to plunge head first in the gallon sized
dough mixer spinning behind me. I’d drown in flour, water and sugar but it’d be
better than facing Warren. I expected wrath, condemnation and contempt in his
demands for an explanation, but none of that came. Warren gazed at me with
sexual heat in his eyes but he kept his hands in his pockets and shined that
beautiful smile down on me.

“Uh, why are you here?” I said.

“There should be an order for
Warren?” His eyes twinkled in mischief.

No way! So that order from
yesterday really was Warren
Trost
? “Um, let me
check.” Come to think of it, there have been a few orders for Warren the past
few weeks. Those were all him? Why is he here? Is this a coincidence or was he
looking for me? If so, why? So many questions rambled in my brain as I looked
for the pre-orders.

After finding the box I
mechanically smiled and rang him up. I gave him
change,
he thanked me and walked out. That was it? Hi, thank you very much, and bye?
What the hell? My heart pounded. I wanted to run and hide. But the pure and
simple fact that he treated me like some…ordinary baker boiled my blood. He
should have at least asked me how I was doing, or thrown a fit, or made a
scene.

But that wasn’t Warren, was it?
The master of the cool, calm togetherness of a loan shark wouldn’t create
problems for my business. He’d wait till after hours. His deep voice resonated
and his words just now registered,
Why
are you not in the
back doing accounting?

He knew I was here. But why
hadn’t he come to me? Why not ask for me those other times he ordered? Was he
avoiding me? No, that was stupid, he wouldn’t come to my bakery if he were
avoiding me. Now that I knew he was here would he come see me?

I put my scattered questions
aside and helped the next customer. After the second face I was back in the
zone, helping my regulars. But in the back of my head, my noodle was doing
loops and my heart was twisting around like the pretzel maker after seeing
Warren.

When the day slowed I turned to
my assistant and said, “Do you remember the order for Warren you took over the
phone?”

Wanda bobbed her head. “Yeah,
strong, silent type.”

More like overbearing type.
“Yeah, that guy.”

“What about him?”

“Does he come in often?” I
grabbed some dough for the lunch hour and started kneading.

“Every Friday.”

Interesting. I hadn’t seen him
because my role with Wanda was always reverse from the unusual situation today.
I was always in the back and came out during the nine o’clock rush. Giving
Wanda a break from the seven-thirty rush. I’d never answered the phone so how
could I catch that deep rich voice when he placed his order. Maybe I’d switch
with her on Friday’s.

I felt a twinge of jealousy at
her happy response. “I guess he is good enough to remember even if he’s not an
everyday customer.”

“Do you know him?” Wanda
glanced over at me.

“Maybe,” I teased.

“Is he the one your mama was
talking about?”

My jaw dropped. “What?”

“Your mama was saying you are
in love.”

I punched the dough on the
counter before me. “She sure does spout some amusing stuff.”

“Uh-huh,” Wanda giggled.
“That’s why I said to her you were married to work. No doubt about it.”

“Thanks Wanda,” I said. I was
half serious about the gratitude.
In love?
Sure I
really liked Warren, but love?
I mean, I hardly knew him.
A smart, career minded woman like me didn’t just fall in love with a guy. No
way could I afford that right now.

After scolding myself about how
impossible it was to be in love I finally got back to work. The day passed and
I found myself locking up the shop and ready for dinner. If this were a
romantic comedy Warren would be waiting for me beyond the sidewalk’s maple
trees. No one was there. I checked.

Still, as always he occupied my
mind. I had so many questions. Now that I’d seen him here I couldn’t stop
thinking about him, even more so than before. I kept looking for him while
buying dinner, walking home, even out the window of my dinky little apartment.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. Maybe he’d walk by? Perhaps he’d throw
rocks at my window? That made me laugh. A picture of Warren tapping the glass
on my bedroom window just didn’t seem like him. He’d be more the type to get
ahold of my landlord and have my door opened for him.

As I fell asleep the same
questions flittered in my head. But two most annoying ones were, why was Warren
in Boston? And why was he acting like nothing happened?

“Wanda, does Warren come in any
other days?” I asked. I was going for nonchalant.

“Nope.” Wanda concentrated on
putting ingredients into a mixer. “Just Friday’s.”

I’d waited for Warren to come in
since Saturday, but he hadn’t come in for the past six days. Now that Thursday
rolled around I was getting anxious.

“But,” Wanda said, flipping a
switch on the mixer for the next batch of dough. “He always calls the day
before and places an order.”

Damn. So I could talk with him
if I answered the phone. With my luck, mom would call every fifteen minutes
once she knew I started answering. No way. But there was another way to get
ahold of him. During the week I’d done some homework. I learned there was a
BankTrost
branch here in Boston. Warren had to be here for
training or some deal.

“How long has he been coming
in?” I asked.

Wanda thought for a moment and
said, “Past two months.”

Okay. So he was here for a deal
that took a while. When I worked for
BankTrost
it was
common for Warren to be out for a few weeks for a contract. But this was a bit
longer than usual.

I seriously thought about how I
felt about Warren. I wouldn’t say it was love. More like I wanted to get to
know him more. He was fascinating. Maybe my interest would wane. Not having him
around wasn’t making him leave my mind so maybe having him around would help me
decide what to do. Until tomorrow I would do everything as usual.

~
~
~

Friday morning rush came and I
stayed up front with Wanda. Our foot traffic had gotten too much to practice
anything in the back. If we sold out, we sold out. The important thing was to
keep the line moving and customers happy.

My mantra was
always,
he’ll be here
so act natural
.
As natural as a crazy redhead can.
I’d prepared myself all morning for the time when he’d come in. My stomach
could be the dough mixer with the way it turned over on itself. Then I came
face-to-face with those green eyes I caught my breath. Everything I’d told
myself all morning, all the preparation turned to ash. Here I was staring at
Warren while behind the register standing like I had nothing better to do with
a line full of people. Shit what do I say?

“Why are you here?” I blurted
out.

Warren lifted a sculpted
eyebrow. “Because I ordered breakfast for my staff and I’m here to pick it up.”

I shook my head. “No, why are
you here in Boston?”

My assistant handed him a bag
with his box of baked goods. He smiled and handed me cash. “I work in Boston,
Ms.
Renzi
.”

Before I could say anymore he
turned and left, presenting me with my next customer. The sly devil hadn’t even
waited for his change. Whatever. A
five dollar
tip was
fine by me. Show off.

He’d come and gone so fast his
arrival was just a blip in my memory. Only after the day passed could I reflect
on Warren. Being busy was good. I didn’t have time to think about him all day.
But as always, the loneliness crept in after dark. I wondered where he was,
what he was doing and if he was still in the office. He probably was still
working. It was only six o’clock. What puzzled me the most was his
I work in
Boston…

Did that mean permanently?

I grabbed a cart hot dog for
dinner and found myself walking a different route. It was the opposite
direction of my apartment to an upscale high rise along Huntington Avenue.
Several windows were lit up on the building and I stood there counting levels
to the sixth floor and spotting one office with its lights on.
A corner office just like the one in Illinois.

Without much thought I walked
the path to the glass doors and went into the building’s main lobby. My tennis
shoes squeaked on the marble floor and the sound echoed off the smooth white
walls. The reception desk was empty so I went towards the elevators and scanned
the directory.
BankTrost
was up on the board as the
sixth and seventh floors.

I pushed the elevator button
and waited for the doors to open. A ding and then I walked inside the elevator
and pushed button number six. It wasn’t until the doors closed and I felt the
inertia of being lifted that my logic and reason came flooding into my mind. My
heart palpitated, my mind went blank and my breathing cut short. What was I
doing? What would I say if I saw him? What if I saw him? Holy crap, what if I
saw him?

My emotions went from mindless
courage to piss-my-pants fear and despair. No. Not doing this now. I’ll take
the elevator ride down and go home. This was a bad idea. The elevator chimed
the arrival of its destination and the doors opened.

The man I
wasn’t
going to see halt just before he stepped in the elevator.
Warren stood staring at me in dismay. I stood gawking at man who could set my
panties on fire just from thinking about him. Ten seconds went by and we just
stared at each other. There was no movement, no world outside, just us. Then
the elevator doors started closing. The manly silhouette of my dreams was being
slowly hindered by metal.

Warren threw his arm out and
caught the elevator before it closed. I jumped back and he stepped in letting the
elevator doors close behind his back. Again we stared at each other, him with
his intense soul-crushing scowl and me feeling dumbfounded. I was both happy
and petrified seeing him again. But when the elevator didn’t move the spell I
was under turned into uncomfortable silence.

“Good evening, Ms.
Renzi
,” Warren said. He stabbed at the panel behind him and
the lobby floor button lit up. “What floor were you going to?”

The downward inertia of the
elevator made me have to pee. “
Uhhh
…”

“Where you looking for
someone?” He said.

I didn’t answer because I
couldn’t.

Warren landed his palm against
the wall behind me and leaned in closer to my face. He stopped short of kissing
me—or maybe that was my wishful thinking. Those intense soul-searching
green lasers that pierced my heart filled my vision. A flurry of pain,
confusion and longing danced behind his wall of indifference. He was not
unaffected by me as he pretended when he came to my shop. The knowledge gave me
a little courage. That and I couldn’t run away while I was stuck in this box
with him.

The ride down seemed to have
stopped time and quicken every nerve in my body. My heart raced, my hands shook
and I couldn’t look away from Warren. He was a beautiful, fierce predator. But
something my mom told me came to me. She’d said men carry one heart and once
it’s broken those pieces don’t fit back together. Sometimes they have to throw
some of those broken parts away to keep their sanity. Those parts will never
grow back and never return so all the feelings they have must go back in an
even smaller place. Kind of like shoving ten pounds of sugar in a
five pound
bag. I’d always wondered what happened to the
overflowing sugar in that case.

I now fully understood what mom
was trying to say. I couldn’t put it in to words but if I had to it meant that
you could never go back.

The elevator doors opened and
for a moment he didn’t move. Then he took two strides backwards and said,
“Goodbye, Ms.
Renzi
.”

He then turned and walked away.
There was something in the way he backed-up and those eyes that spoke to my
soul that told me his goodbye was final. I put my hand to my chest to stop the
crushing pain when I thought I’d never see him again. That outcome was not
acceptable. Maybe this was love, maybe it wasn’t but I mustered
all the
crazy redhead I possessed and stomped out of the
elevator, down the corridor towards him. “Why are you here?”

He didn’t stop when he
answered. “I believe I said before, I work here.”

“You use to work in Illinois.
Did you come here to follow me?”

His lips tightened. “I came
here because the Boston office needed me here.”

“Did Ellis approve of your
move?”

Warren stopped and turned. “If
you follow me I’m going to put you in my car and take you home.”

“I’m fine with that.” I gave
him a stiff upper lip to go with my attitude.

He
tsked
at me and continued
walking.

I remained silent and walked
beside him. Shame filled me. I’d left without saying goodbye. He had every
right to shout at me, tell me what a horrible person I was, or say he wanted
nothing to do with me. But even though he walked with his usual prowl he didn’t
seem angry with me.

“Warren, I didn’t run away from
you, I ran towards my goal.”

“And I admire you for it.”

My head snapped up. He wasn’t
angry. “So you don’t hate me?”

He glared down at me. Ouch.
That look
hurt. He worked his jaw as we entered a parking
lot. Okay, maybe he was angry. But I couldn’t blame him. I did just up and
leave.

“It would have been courteous
to say some sort of farewell, however, under the circumstances I guess it
wasn’t possible.” Warren spoke as if it took great strength
not
to unload his pain onto me.

I swallowed the lump of anxiety
in my throat. “Well, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

Warren smirked. Keys jingled
and his green Aston Martin chirped. In the distance I could see his
vehicle
across the way.

“I don’t bluff,” Warren said.

“What?”

“I told you if you followed me
I’d take you home.” Warren edged closer to me and put a hand around my waist.

“And I believe I told you that
I’m fine with that.”

“Really?” He said. He shortened
his stride to match mine. “Then why don’t you come with me and explain why you
couldn’t give me a simple phone call telling me why you’d left.”

Shit. I’d thought a clean break
would be best for both of us, but I guess it wasn’t that simple. “Well I didn’t
think you’d chase after me for trying to make is easier on you.”

Warren broke away from me and
opened the door. He acted gentlemanly while at the same time he snubbed his
nose at me. “I didn’t come here for you. I came here for work.”

I climbed in the passenger seat
and he shut the door. When he slipped in the driver’s side I said, “Really? You
just happened to come here to Boston for work?”

“Yes, Ms.
Renzi
,
we have offices all over the United States.”

That was
almost as good as saying
wherever you go
,
I’ll
follow
. Or maybe that was just redhead
logic. But that evil smirk of his made me consider the possibility that he
might be thinking redhead logic.

“Warren, I left like that
because I didn’t want to cause you any problems.” It sounded like an excuse and
maybe it was, but at the time I really did think I was doing the right thing.
Truthfully, I don’t think I would have done anything different.

He sighed and pinched the
bridge of his nose. “I’d rather you bother me more.”

“Huh?” That made no sense.

Warren twisted in his seat,
turning towards me. “What I mean is, how can you be so heartless as to just
walk away? Did you think about how I would react after what you’d said?”

Whoa.
A more
than two word sentence.
“Says the man who taped me and then told me to
sleep with him.”

“I would never…” He righted
himself and grit his teeth. “You’re always so sensible. How else was I supposed
to get your attention?”

How else? When did he ever try
to get my attention? “Asking me on a date would’ve worked.”

He laughed. “You said you liked
your
work
.”

“I did.” I purred. I knew he
was referring to the conversation we had before the last time we had sex.

“But, it’s not my right to stop
you from achieving your goals.” Warren gripped the steering wheel and looked
forward.

It was then I realized how
strong a man Warren really was. I didn’t care what he said about moving to
Boston, hell it was probably unconscious, but he had followed me. You can never
look back. But that didn’t mean the future wasn’t built on the past. He had a
life just like I did, but he wasn’t going to prevent my dream. Letting go of
someone special took more strength than I’d thought. Now I realized I was
Warren’s someone special. If I thought about it, he was mine as well.

“How long are you in Boston?” I
said.

He gave me a side-ways glance.
“I work here now.”

Talking candidly like this was
never his strong suit.
All the more reason to get to know him
better.
But how could I repair the damage I’d done?

“So asking you out on a date
would’ve worked, huh?”