Enchant Me by J. Kenner

8

“So what’s this about?” Alaine asked as he stepped off the elevator that opened into the third floor kitchen. He was alone, Ryan having stayed behind to speak with the staff. And since Nikki and the others were in the living area, it was only Damien and Alaine.

“Hopefully nothing,” Damien said. “But we’ve had a bit of vandalism in the house, and I’m trying to nail down the source.”

“Vandalism? You think someone on my staff—?”

“We don’t know. That’s why we’re having this conversation. Alaine,” he added, stressing his friend’s name, “you know I trust you, but how well do you know your staff?”

Alaine’s brow furrowed, and Damien knew the answer. Some probably worked at Alaine’s various restaurants, but others were undoubtedly temp workers.

“Tell me what happened,” Alaine insisted.

“Nikki saw someone dressed in a server’s uniform sitting in the last row right before the ceremony. Afterwards, we came upstairs and found this.” He held out his phone, showing Alaine the picture of the note that he’d taken earlier.

“Good God.” Alaine sucked in a breath, then shook his head slowly. “If someone on the staff was sitting in the guest area, they were violating my policy. But surely they were only adjusting a shoe, taking a stone out, something like that. I can’t imagine anyone on my team would do such a thing.” He crossed his arms, his eyes meeting Damien’s. “I trust my staff. And I hope you trust me.”

“I do, but I need to be sure. You can understand that.”

“Of course. Of course, I do.” He reached up to rub his temples. “I’ve know most of my team for years. But we do have a few who have worked only one or two events. People I’m auditioning for when I formally launch the catering arm.” He shook his head, looking disturbed and furious. “If this was one of my people, I swear I’ll—”

“Let’s find out. Your entire team is still here, right? No one’s left early?” That’s what Ryan had texted Damien, and he hoped it was the truth.

“That’s right. Everyone’s still here. We’re packing up, that’s part of their job.”

“Then let’s go downstairs. And, Alaine, I hope you know you’re one of my closest friends. I apologize for the inconvenience. But we have to work this out. There was an incident. There was someone dressed in the uniform you chose for tonight. So you know, we believe he may have already left the property, but I hope you understand why we need to go through this exercise.”

Nikki slid up beside him, taking his hand. “Please know that your work today was excellent,” she said. “The food was superb, and the service was absolutely perfect. It has nothing to do with that. But you have to understand that security is important to us.”

“Of course, of course,” Alaine said. “We will talk to the staff, and that will prove to you that nobody on my team was behind this.”

“I think you’re going to be right. But we have to know for sure.” He gestured toward the open area and the stairs that led down to the first floor. “Ryan should have everyone downstairs by now. Shall we?”

Only minutes later, they were on the first floor, standing in front of a line of catering staff, most in their twenties, and all of whom were obviously trying hard not to fidget.

“I apologize for the inconvenience,” Damien said, “and please understand this is a precaution. A checking off of a box, if you will. I believe Mr. Hunter already told you that we had an incident in the house this evening, and we have reason to suspect that the culprit was wearing this particular serving uniform. That doesn’t, however, mean it was one of you. We also believe that the person we’re looking for has already left the property. But we wanted to speak to you all, since you might have seen something important and not even realized it.”

As planned, while he gave the speech, Nikki was looking at the faces of all the people standing there. He glanced sideways at her, and noticed that she’d focused on one particular dark-haired man, who wasn’t meeting her eyes.

He felt something dark knot up inside of him. If this was the man who’d taped that note to the portrait...

She turned to him with a tiny shake of her head, and that knot started to dissolve, morphing into something less immediate, but more dangerous. Once he did find this person, it wasn’t going to be pretty. But at least he knew the culprit hadn’t been here all along.

He drew in a breath and focused on the situation at hand. “Did any of you notice someone dressed as a server, but not part of the team?”

A woman, thin and shorter than all the others, stepped forward. “I did,” she said, her eyes down. She cleared her throat, then looked up. “I did because he looked, well, he looked a little like you,” she added, finally lifting her face to meet his eyes. A deep red blush crept over her cheeks. “He, um, caught my attention.”

Damien forced himself not to smile. “Thank you. That helps. I’d like you to hang back a minute. Mr. Hunter has some questions for you, just to jog your memory, maybe nail down a description.”

She nodded and glanced toward Ryan as Alaine asked, “Is there anything else?”

“No. Thank you all for your time. I’m sorry to have to put you through this.” He met his friend’s eyes, hoping that Alaine really did understand. But there was no way that he was putting his family second behind potential embarrassment to his old friend. Alaine nodded, just one quick tilt of his head, but the tension in Damien’s shoulders relaxed. At least on that front, it looked like they were still good.

“And so you know,” Damien added before they all filed out, “you’ll all be receiving bonus checks as a thank you for your hard work and for your patience.”

The front door opened as the staff was retreating back to the kitchen area, and Mario stepped in. Tall and lean with energy to spare, Mario was the guru of all things tech at Stark Security. “So what have we got?” he asked, bouncing to a halt beside Damien. “Nobody’s touched this note right? We’re hoping I can pull some clean prints?”

“Ryan filled you in?” From across the room, Ryan glanced up and nodded.

“A nasty note tacked to Nikki’s portrait, right?” Mario asked. “That’s about the sum total of what the asshole’s done, right? That you know of, anyway.”

Damien nodded. Mario did have a way of narrowing things down to the basics. And at the moment, Mario didn’t need to know about the texts.

As Mario started to head up the stairs, Alaine returned from where he was ushering his team back toward the kitchen. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Of course.” He nodded toward the patio doors, then unlocked them so they could step outside. “What’s going on?”

Alaine frowned. “I’d intended to bring it up tomorrow. I didn’t want to interrupt the day, but now I think it’s necessary.”

“Go ahead.”

“Someone called me.”

“Called you?”

“Asking questions,” he said. “About Germany. About the three of us. You and me and Sofia,” he added unnecessarily. There was no other “three of us.” Alaine, Sofia, and Damien had been inseparable during their years in Germany.

Or, rather, inseparable except for the times when Richter forced Sofia and Damien to be alone. Or the one time when Sofia’s aunt had taken her home to Illinois to visit her ill grandmother. That had been a blessing. She’d escaped for over four months that trip.

For one brief, harsh minute, Damien wondered if the same type of abuse had been going on with Alaine and Sofia as had been going on with him. But he dismissed the thought. Sofia would have told him. And Richter had never held power over Alaine. The man had been Sofia’s father and Damien’s coach. But Alaine was on the circuit with his own father, and as far as Damien knew, his life was as happy as traveling with a tennis team could be.

“What kind of questions?” he asked now. “Did this caller say why they were asking?”

Alaine spread his hands, as if trying to find the right words. “He didn’t. And as for the questions, honestly, it was nothing specific. Were we friends? Were you and Sofia an item?”

“He? So the caller was a man? Do you have a name?”

“He said his name was John Galt. What?” Alaine added seeing Damien’s reaction. “Do you know him?”

“He’s a character in a novel. A brilliant man who disappears. Most people believe he’s only a rumor. But he’s real, and he’s slowly destroying the fools who are in charge of the world. I have a feeling your caller considers me one of the fools.”

“Oh,” Alaine said. “Doesn’t know you well, then, does he?”

“No,” Damien replied. “He doesn’t.” He met his friend’s eyes. “What else did he ask?”

“About Richter’s death, but you could probably guess that.”

“What did you say to him?”

“Nothing, really. He just kept rapid firing the questions, and I kept trying to get him to explain to me who the hell he was and why he’d called me in the first place. I’m guessing he was a reporter trying to stir up dirt. Maybe he wanted to time it with your vow renewals. As I said, I was going to tell you tomorrow. But under the circumstances, I didn’t want to wait.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. Can you forward the number his call came from? Were there any voicemails?”

“It came to the restaurant, the land line. The numbers aren’t stored. Like I said, the voice was just a man. No particular accent. American, possibly from the Northeast, but I wouldn’t swear to it. Definitely not Southern.” He sighed, and held out his hands in a what can you do gesture. “I’m sorry not to be more help. I was mostly annoyed about the call and ended it quickly.”

“You handled it fine. Thank you for telling me.”

Alaine nodded, then turned and took a step toward the corridor leading to the kitchen. He paused, and for a moment he just stood there. Then he seemed to come to a decision.

He turned back around. “Damien … about Germany. After the trial ... I mean, after you went public about what happened to you and Sofia … well….”

He trailed off, then drew a deep breath before beginning again. “Well, the truth is, I had a hard time dealing with that. Which seems ridiculous considering what you had to deal with.” He swallowed, then shoved his hands in the pocket of his chef’s coat. “I should’ve called you. I should’ve been there for you. I know we spoke briefly, but we never really talked. I’m sure you needed a friend, and it should have been me. I was there, after all, back when it was all going down. There, and so damned oblivious.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“No, it wasn’t. But I could have been a better friend once I learned about it.”

“You called me,” Damien said. “You said you were sorry for it. For not knowing it was happening.”

“All true, but one call and no more mentions? I was a shitty friend.”

“No, you weren’t. And it wasn’t something I wanted to talk about anyway.”

“Still….”

“No,” Damien said firmly. “Believe me, you were a rock for both Sofia and me in those years. I told you that before, and I meant it. You were a friend while it was happening, and after … well, after, you were part of the reason we were able to keep going.”

He flashed his friend a grin. “Now get back to work. You only have a week to get ready. And since Nikki and I are already married, it’s your food that’s going to be the real show.”

Alaine chuckled. “You do have a way of calming a man’s nerves.”

“Goodnight, Alaine.”

“I’m so sorry about all of this. Not telling you about the calls right away, and also about someone pretending to be my staff so they could vandalize your home.”

“Don’t worry about it. This wedding doubled as our rehearsal, and now we know that security needs to be seriously beefed up. Which reminds me, I’ll contact you about whatever new security measures will be in place for when you come back next Saturday.”

“Sounds good. I’ll go finish packing up. We’ll be off the property within the hour.”

“Take your time. Do you want to stay for a drink?”

“Thanks, but I’m good. It’s been a long day.”

“That it has,” Damien said, then watched his friend go. He hated not telling him the full truth about the video and the vile texts. This was a man he’d trusted for years, after all. If it were just him, Damien would have told him everything. He believed his gut, and it said Alaine had nothing to do with the damn text and the video.

But it wasn’t just him anymore. It was him and Nikki and two sweet little girls and a baby boy. And it was Bree who’d suffered so much, too. Plus Gregory, who worked in the house and lived on the property, and was older and more vulnerable. An entire household of people who had Damien’s love and were under his protection.

But there was more, too. Another reason he didn’t tell Alaine everything. Because even though he hated to face it, Alaine had been around back then. And maybe, just maybe, he’d had access to Richter’s tapes.

What Damien didn’t—couldn’t—believe, was that his friend had a motive.

Despite the horrible note on the portrait, the entire day had been just about perfect. He’d opened his home so that two people he loved could exchange their wedding vows, he’d mingled with friends and family, he’d watched his kids play with their cousins, and he’d spent some time with his wife, his brother, and their closest friends.

Now, though, he was ready for it to be over, and after he closed the front door behind Jackson and Sylvia, he pulled Nikki closer. “Alone at last,” he said, making her laugh.

“Let’s go check on the kids. Then I think I need to crash. It has definitely been a day.” She squeezed his hand, then led him toward the playroom. They stepped lightly, not wanting to wake anyone, and found Bree sitting up in the alcove at the front of the playroom reading, and all the kids sprawled about on the huge room’s floor.

“They’re sacked out,” Nikki said.

“They should be,” Bree replied. “They all had a busy day.”

“I doubt they’ll wake in the night,” Damien added. “And we have a monitor. You’re welcome to go back to your place.”

She shook her head. “No, I’ll stay here. I’m sure they’ll be fine, but if one of them wakes up confused, I want to be close.”

“You okay watching BB?” Nikki asked. “We can take him back to his room.”

“No, it’s fine. And I think he’s proud to be in with the older kids. I’ve got a blanket and stuff in here. It’s all good, really.”

“Then we’ll leave you to it,” Damien said.

“Syl will be back around ten tomorrow for beach time,” Nikki added. “Can you make sure they’re up by then?”

Bree rolled her eyes. “Have you met your children? They’ll be up long before that.”

“You make a good point,” Nikki said, as Damien laughed, and then steered his wife toward the elevator since it was the fastest way back to their room on the third floor.

“It’s been a day,” Nikki said once they arrived. She tugged him to her, and he simply held her, breathing in the scent of her hair. After a moment, she pulled back, then pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “Are you okay?”

He felt himself smile. Such a simple, practical question, but he heard the deeper meaning and felt her love in every syllable. “How could I be anything but with you in my arms?”

He saw pleasure light her face even as she tilted her head sideways and stared him down. “I’m serious, Damien. Tell me what you need.”

“You,” he said. “Always you. Shhh,” he added, pressing his fingertip to her lips before she could protest. “I know what you’re asking,” he continued, leading her to the bed. He climbed on, his back to the headboard as he settled her in his lap. She was on her knees, her legs on either side of him, and the pressure of her body against his cock fueled his growing need. Because when did he ever not need her?

“Damien—”

“When that video showed up,” he began, interrupting her, “I thought I was cursed. I looked back over all the shit’s that happened to me over the years, and for a moment there, I seriously thought that I was really and truly cursed. Born under a bad star. I mean, hell, considering who my father is, that’s not a foolish assumption.”

“You’re not. Of course you’re not.”

“I know,” he said. He kept one hand on her rear, but lifted the other so that he could run his fingers through her soft, blond waves. “I felt that way, but then I thought about you.”

Her eyes widened, but he didn’t give her a chance to respond. “I thought about what’s between us, because it’s rare, Nikki. So goddamn rare. And I realized that I’m not cursed at all. I’m blessed. Maybe overly blessed. Hell, maybe all this shit is the universe’s way of balancing the scales because I have an abundance of good in my life. You, the kids, our friends. You,” he added again, winning him her wide, delighted smile. “And I can handle the shit because I know that’s true. Maybe I forget it sometimes and take it out on a punching bag—”

“—on me,” she said firmly.

“On you,” he conceded with a laugh. “But I know what I have with our family and friends, and despite all the bad that it’s propped up on—my father, Richter, scandal, and all the rest of it—I wouldn’t trade our life for anything.”

“I wouldn’t either,” she said, before he pulled her in for a long slow kiss. The kind that filled him up and made him crave more. But when they broke apart, he saw the shadow in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“I love what you said, and I feel the same way. It’s just that you haven’t said everything that’s on your mind.”

He had to fight back a laugh. Dear God, she knew him well. “What haven’t I said?”

“You’re worried. Everything you said is true, but you’re worried.”

He exhaled, then nodded. “It was different before, when it was only the two of us. I had more ego then, too. Thought I could just put my arms around you and keep you safe. Thought my intelligence and my money could battle back anything.” He stroked her hair, his eyes hard on hers. “That changed.”

“Anne.”

He closed his eyes in silent acknowledgment, then opened them again to find her studying him, her expression soft with love.

“You’re not infallible, Damien, and no one expects you to be perfect, least of all me.”

“I used to expect it. And now, whatever rose-colored glasses I wore have been stripped off and ground beneath my heel. We live in a world with dangers I can’t control, and we can’t even hide away in our fortress, because nothing is impenetrable. We have an amazing life, baby, but we’re vulnerable.”

“But we always have been. Nothing’s changed except awareness. That, and the fact that now you care. Before me—before the kids—you just flipped the bird at whatever threats might be looming against you. You don’t do that anymore. And honestly, I think that’s a good thing.”

“A frustrating thing.”

“You? Frustrated that you can’t control the world? I’m shocked.”

Despite himself, he laughed. “Careful, wife. Sarcasm will get you spanked.”

“Oh, well, I’ll definitely be quiet, then,” she retorted, the sarcasm even thicker. He took her by the waist and tossed her back on the bed as she squealed with laughter. Then he rolled her over, landing one sweet spank to her ass before stretching out beside her.

Slowly, he stroked her hair as she turned to meet his eyes. “I will always protect you and the children,” he said. “Everyone under this roof.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?”

“I know that you believe it. I just hope I can live up to it.”

Her brow furrowed. “Do you think we should postpone our ceremony?”

The question cut through him like a knife, and he shook his head. “No.” No way in hell was he sacrificing their special day because some asshole was playing with them. “I have things under control. Everything will be perfect.”

She snuggled closer. “You know what, Mr. Stark? I believe you.”