The Pleasure's All Mine (20 page)

The hairs on her arm rose to attention. Her son was being just a little too calm. “How are things on your end?”

“Oh, nothing I can’t handle,” he said quickly. Too quickly.

Why wasn’t he asking her any questions? How much did he already know about this?

“Well, I have to get going,” Eric said.

“I’ll leave my cell on, but I might be in some places where a signal can’t reach.”

“Where’s that?”

“The rainforest,” she answered, slipping into a bathing suit and covering it with a brightly colored wrap.

“Hey now! Take pictures. I want to see everything.”

She swiped her hair back into a ponytail. “I will, and you take care of yourself.”

“Sure thing, Mom,” he replied evenly. “And Mom?”

“Yes?”

“It’s about time you had some
real
fun.” Before Raven could respond, he disconnected.

❤ ❤ ❤

Eric turned to Steve, who was looking over another set of legal documents. “I know where he is.”

“Who?”

“Who else?”

Steve jerked forward, in business mode again. “We’ve got to get to him right away! I have some papers for him to sign.”

“Already?”

“Well, I’ve always known he wanted his own company. I thought maybe he was just too comfortable here to do anything about it. So I contacted your lawyer to set things in motion.”

Eric frowned. “Ava’s already up to her neck in this. I don’t want to get her into any more trouble. Why not use Pierce’s lawyer?”

“We can’t use him,” Steve countered distractedly, crossing one leg over the other. “He’s too connected to Simeon’s lawyer.”

“Oh.”

“Dissolving the partnership with Simeon and protecting Pierce’s interests before Simeon does something stupid are key. And these,” he tapped the documents on the desk, “are the papers needed to start his own company and cash out whatever stock he has in MEG immediately.” Steve flipped open the next folder. “There have been rumors that Pierce is going to leave MEG. As soon as the industry finds out Pierce is gone for real, Manhattan is going to take a serious fall. These papers will secure some of his acts before Simeon puts the screws to them—and him.”

Eric weighed all the options, then held out his hand. “I’ll take them.”

Steve hesitated a moment, keeping a firm grip on the documents. Then his gaze scanned the empty office and sighed heavily. “When can you have them back?”

“It’ll take a couple of days, but I can do it.”

Steve handed over the papers. “Are you going to quit first?”

“No, I’m calling in sick.”

“I was going to resign today, but—”

“No, both of us can’t be gone,” Eric argued, flipping open the first folder, scanning its contents. “Just wait a couple of days, and we’ll have everything together. Then let’s see how Pierce wants to play his cards.”

“You know, I think you really should major in criminal law or psychology. Are you sure you’re only seventeen?”

“Yep.”

Steve leaned back in the chair, grinning. “No aliens kidnapped you—”

“Sometimes when it’s just you and your mom, there’s no choice but to grow up fast and learn to think on your feet.”

As Steve walked away, Eric whipped out his cell, and punched in a few numbers. “Delta?” He pulled out the charge card Ava had given him for emergencies.
This is an emergency, right?
At least Pierce would think so.

Mom, on the other hand, might spit a kitten.

Raven and Pierce managed to survive the dangerous, sometimes brutal trek into the Hawaiian Rainforest. The small winding road was famous within itself, but the fact that it couldn’t handle two lane traffic was a major challenge.

Hours later, they struggled with gifts and bottles of pineapple wine as they made their way to the suite. Raven almost dropped everything when she saw someone pacing near their door. It couldn’t be!

The closer she got, the louder Raven’s heart thumped.
Oh Lord, it can’t be, but it is. But how? Why
?

Pierce’s gaze narrowed at the young man pacing in front of the door to their suite.

“Hi, Mom,” Eric said, then sent a simple nod in Pierce’s direction.

Pierce’s gaze flicked from Eric to Raven. “Mom? What the hell is going on here?”

Eric grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry to pop up like this but—”

“Wait a minute, this was all a setup?” Pierce accused as he faced Raven. “What kind of games are you playing here? Did Sim put you all up to this?”

Raven just stared at Eric, waiting for him to answer.

“Yes, it was a setup, but Mom didn’t know. I…well…I…well.”

Pierce thundered into the suite with Raven and Eric in pursuit.

“Shoes off!” Raven and Pierce ordered at the same time. Eric froze, ran back to the door, slipped off his shoes, and placed them near the others.

Pierce glanced at Raven, who almost withered under his angry glare. Eric’s brown suit looked as though he had slept in it all night. Pierce’s eyes widened at Eric. “I should have known it was a little too convenient for you to have her books ‘just waiting’ at your desk.”

“Why, Eric?” Raven questioned, her voice thick with hurt emotion. “And why
him
?”

“Hey, I’ll ask the questions ‘round here,” Pierce interrupted, then stiffened. “What do you mean why him? I’m beginning to feel a little insulted here.”

Eric followed them into the living room, breezily ignoring his mother’s and Pierce’s annoyance. “Nice spread!”

“Eric, get to the point!” Raven commanded as only a mother could. “You’d better tell us what’s going on here.”

The young man lowered his head and swallowed hard. “Remember that day when we were watching that reality show on the music channel?”

“I remember,” she replied testily.

“And I said, ‘Wow, Simeon really has a lot of power!’ “

Raven’s hand inched toward her hips. “Okay and…”

“And
you
said, ‘No, look at
him.
’ “ Eric turned to a stone-faced Pierce. “She meant you.” He looked back at his mother. “You said, ‘
He
has the power. Every time something goes wrong, Simeon yells for
that
man:
Where’s Pierce? Get Pierce! I need Pierce! What did Pierce say? Did you check with Pierce?
’

“Then you said, ‘
He’s
the person to admire. He has strength and wisdom, and unlike Simeon, he’s ethical and reliable.’ “

Pierce’s broad shoulders relaxed. Raven sighed. “But that didn’t mean I wanted you to set me up with––”

“It’s the only time I’ve ever heard you say a kind word about
any
man.”

Raven paled considerably. She felt sick.

Pierce turned to her, searching her eyes as he asked, “You said all that about me?”

Silence. She stared openly at Eric. Did her son really think she had a thing against men?

Pierce moved toward her, brow furrowed with worry. “You saw all that just from watching a reality show? And I wasn’t even on that much.”

“You can tell when a person has character,” she whispered as she blinked back tears of embarrassment. She inched away from Pierce, bracing herself on the counter.

“Then why didn’t that
character
work in my favor when we first met?”

Raven swallowed hard, trying to catch her bearings, focusing on the question instead. “You interrupted my flow. I was
writing.
I wasn’t there looking for love or, well,” she stole a quick glance at her son before adding, “you know.” Then she turned to Eric, whose smirk slipped away under her hard glare. “And that didn’t mean, young man, that I wanted you to travel to New York to get me a date. It makes me seem desperate and…and…”

“Very much loved,” Pierce answered as he leaned in to silence her with a soft kiss.

She blushed, and out of the corner of her eyes saw Eric pump his fist in the air. The faint sound of, “Yesssssssss” echoed around them. His ear-to-ear grin was infectious and made Pierce laugh.

Raven glowered at her son. “You’re grounded.”

Eric’s smile disappeared faster than ice on a Hawaiian beach. “Awwww, Mom!”

“Just kidding.” She smiled as she went to him, ran her hand through his wavy hair. “But no more trying to hook me up with your boss, your teacher, your doctor, the fathers of your fans, Tom, Dick, and Harry, Devon, James, or Raheem. You can’t do this anymore.”

Pierce grabbed her hand. “Let’s hope he doesn’t have to.”

Raven’s jaw dropped. She looked deeply in his eyes and became lost.

Pierce said to Eric, “Now, what brings you to Maui with just a briefcase and a smile?”

Eric scratched his head. “Well, a funny thing happened after you left the office…”

❤ ❤ ❤

An hour later, after the magnitude of the two young men’s actions had kicked in, Pierce stomped to the phone, punched the speaker button, and dialed. The moment someone answered, Pierce roared, “Have you lost your fucking mind?”

Eric and Raven both winced.

“And good morning to you, too, Pierce,” Steve Iken shot back calmly, which only served to further irritate Pierce.

“Did it occur to you that I could’ve handled things when I got back?”

“Eric overheard Simeon talking to Vlad about cutting you out. Did it occur to you that by the time you got back, there would be nothing you could handle—”

“That’s not the point!” Pierce roared. “Your actions—
and
Eric’s,” he pointed a finger in the direction of the young man inching closer to his mother, “make it look like I planned something underhanded all along.”

“It could actually be interpreted by someone with a brain and common sense, that
some
people—like Eric and me for instance—are on your side,” Steve reasoned.

Pierce sighed, then closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“We could put it all back if you like,” Steve said dryly. “I just took you for a man who was ready to come out from the shadows.”

Ouch!
Even Raven covered her eyes as she flinched at that one.

Pierce asked, “With you as my vice president?”

“But of course,” Steve replied, every bit of his natural arrogance coming through. “I’m not trying to save the world, but I would like to work for someone who’s fair, focused, and in this business for all the right reasons.”

Eric nodded vigorously, sliding the rest of the folders to Pierce.

“And you, too?” Pierce asked Eric, flipping to the first set of documents.

“Vice president of Artists & Repertoire works for me.”

Steve might have the drive, but after learning of Eric’s role in the setup with Raven, Pierce knew for certain that this plan had Eric written all over it. Twenty-five-year-old and seventeen-year-old VPs? Those two working together would be nothing but trouble. But he had to admit, in twenty-four hours they had made some major moves. He himself couldn’t––no, make that
wouldn’t
––have done it quite so fast. But they had done everything just right. With the exception of leaving him out of things.

“Can I say something?” Raven ventured with a raised hand.

“You stay out of this,” he snapped. “Let Eric take his own heat.”

Pierce continued to pace, then suddenly stopped. “I appreciate what you did, but I would have appreciated it more if you had consulted me
before
doing all of this.”

“
Someone
wasn’t answering his phone.”

“I just hope you have thought all this through,” Pierce said, rubbing a hand over his bare head.”

“There’s nothing up there,” Eric quipped.

“Issues like these make it stay way!” Pierce shook his head. “Sim is going to make this ugly.”

“He won’t know anything for a few days,” Eric said, with a grin as wide as the Mississippi River.

“We made sure you had everything relating to your artists and their contracts,” Steve continued.

“And we shipped your personal things,” Eric chimed in. “They arrived at your house yesterday. Your housekeeper came in early to receive them.”

Pierce shook his head, still angry that they had taken on so much without his permission, yet amazed at the efficiency of their feat. He scoffed at Eric, “Two regular masterminds. Or two master criminals. I could strangle both of you!”

One determined look from Eric let Pierce know that he didn’t have an apologetic bone in his body. At least he had the presence of mind to hide his grin behind a yawn. “So,
Steve,”
Pierce began, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. “What’s next on
my
agenda?”

“You need to sell your MEG shares, pronto! There’s a rumor floating around that you’ve jumped ship, which means that the stock will plummet.”

Eric leaned forward. “You may want to do it before Simeon makes any kind of announcement or does something stupid that will send it downhill.”

“What about your shares?” Pierce asked Steve.

“Sold it the day you left.”

“Convenient.”

“Smart,” Steve offered. “Didn’t want it to appear suspicious if we did it at the same time. Don’t need the Securities Exchange Commissionon on our asses, too.”

“But it’s okay if everyone else is on our asses?” Pierce remarked evenly, still pacing the living room. “Finally get away for a little vacation—”

“And something else?” Eric questioned with a wide grin full of mischief.

Raven elbowed him—hard.

Pierce was seeing red. “—and everyone loses their damn minds.” He ran his fingers over his bare head, looked at Eric and halted his movement. “This should’ve taken more planning, more consideration. I’m not ready for this.”

“You were
born
ready,” Eric said, his serious tone forcing Pierce to turn back and look at him. “And from some of your files, it looks like you’ve been planning this, too.”