A Storm Is Coming Page 10

  Alex stared at her hand. She was laying it on thick. Hadn’t she made her point with that feminist soliloquy? It seemed a handshake after he’d had his hands all over and inside her body was ridiculous.

  He took her hand in his anyway. His eyes locked with hers for just a moment. As much as Braylee tried to deny it, Alex could still feel the electrical current running between them.

  Braylee felt it too. But, refused to acknowledge it. She released his hand, “Well, I’m off to my next appointment. Again, we’ll call you once the meeting has been set up.”

  Just like that Alex had been dismissed…possibly for the first time in his life.

  Chapter 17

  Six months later….

  The red light was taking forever to change. Braylee let her windows down hoping the unusually warm weather and the afternoon sun caressing her skin would make her feel better.

  Her sub-conscience was tsk tsk tsking away…Why did you take this route? The aviator glasses she wore went a long way to hide her feelings of angst. Of course, you’d never really know when Braylee was feeling angsty because she’d always kept The Mask close. And, The Mask was always cool, calm, and collected.

  “Damn.” She was going to be late. It was the third Sunday of the month and dinner was at her parent’s house in half an hour. Braylee checked her watch…she was still ten minutes away. Braylee was in no mood to deal with her mother today.

  Maybe her mood was due to being up half the night going over everything for the press conference tomorrow. She’d feel better though if the IT forensic investigator’s report was finished. He’d verified that the e-mails received from Detective Jones were authentic, but he’d also traced one of the messages to another private server.

  While the other information Braylee received from the detective wouldn’t be admissible in court, Gail would make sure they were leaked to the right people. But, this information on this server was a different beast. Braylee might be able to get a subpoena for its hard drive.

  The light turned green. She was moving again and sighed as she ran her slim fingers through her hair. Tomorrow was going to be another long day. They’d been working for months on this case, now it was time to go public. There were going to be a lot of shocked people in their inner circle, and Alex wasn’t going to be able to conference in on this one. He was going to have to be physically at the meeting in the morning for a brief media run-through before show time. He’d been well prepped.

  Maybe that was the real root of her anxiety.

  Over the past several months, they’d kept their physical contact to a minimum. But, now that they were gearing up for the media battle, it was going to require spending more and more time together. Braylee had never been this challenged to keep her personal feelings from flowing over into her professional life. He was still getting under her skin all these months later.

  Braylee pulled her car up into the driveway of her parent’s home with a few minutes to spare. As she parked and grabbed her purse to get out of the car, a random thought occurred, maybe Nate was right. If she wanted something different, she should try something different. Calling Dr. Jorgenson wasn’t all that appealing but perhaps she should. He was a good guy, and she hadn’t given him a chance. The thought sent a not so positive chill through her body.

  She hadn’t had a session with the good doctor since he’d sent all those ridiculous flowers. Braylee hadn’t called to thank him for them either because technically, she still wasn’t supposed to know they were from him. That was so lame. Did she really want to go on a date with someone who couldn’t even tell her he was interested? Did she want to go on a date with anyone? Anyone other than Alex?

  Whoa…not Alexandro Manchetti. Braylee was determined to exorcise him from her thoughts and her dreams. He’d been making way too many appearances in both.

  Before she could even ring, the doorbell Katherine Hinsdale opened the door, “It’s about time you got here,” still wearing that seemingly permanent scowl on her face.

  The Mask was officially in place. Braylee had made up her alter from all of those high priced functions. Well, The Mask appeared as she hugged her mother and walked through the door, “Hey mama.”

  *****

  The aroma of southern soul food permeating the air wasn’t enough to overcome the anxiety Braylee was feeling. Being back in her childhood home never left her with warm and fuzzy feelings. Her once a month visits were more than enough. Growing up here wasn’t like some wholesome eighty’s family sitcom but more like a horror show.

  All the cliché’s had been present, a daddy who’d given up on life and drank way too much and a mother who would sometimes lose herself in her mind. Leaving Braylee to pick up the pieces and take care of them and Stephanie.

  Thank god walls couldn’t talk because this tiny three bedroom ranch held many many secrets. And, considering how hellish her childhood had been, visiting once a month was pretty good.

  Mrs. Hinsdale walked back toward the kitchen grumbling under her breath, “Dinner is almost ready. Go on in there with your sister and your daddy.”

  Stephanie yelled out, “We’re in here, Braylee.” As maddening as she could be it was a relief to hear her sister’s voice.

  Braylee walked into the family room. As usual…it was doom and gloom. How could it be so bright and beautiful on the outside and be this gloomy on the inside? Why hadn’t anyone opened the windows or the curtains?

  Her father was sitting in his usual spot. In the center of the room, in his favorite chair, right in front of the television. No surprise that there was a drink on the scratched up oak wood table next to him. If she could, Braylee would douse the chair with the drink and set fire to the whole damn thing.

  That brown recliner was so worn and falling apart that it wouldn’t even recline on its own. Someone would have to pull the lever and pull the feet out just to get it to recline. Why on earth wouldn’t he let her buy him a new one was the million dollar question?

  The entire family room was one big time warp to the eighties. Her parent’s hadn’t changed anything in over twenty plus years. The brown carpet was so crushed that it literally could have been tile. It served no purpose and was just hideous to look at.

  Her mother loved florals so much that the curtains were a crushed brown, orange, and beige velvet floral pattern from hell. And yes, to complete the look, they had the orange sofa and loveseat with the plastic covers over them too. Braylee remembered when they delivered that furniture. She had been about twelve.

  She scrunched her eyes looking at something across the room, as she wondered, was that new? Another potted plant mixed in with all the other potted plants and flowers. The limbs and leaves for some of them were so long that her mother had to pin them up over the wall, on the wall, and any place else she could hang them. Her mother and her love of all things planted, and floral were the reasons why Braylee hated them to this day.

  Stephanie watched Braylee as she entered the room. She laughed, “Yep, that’s new. You know mama and her plants. She always says, flowers give life.”

  Mr. Hinsdale spoke, “Because your mama is a damn fool that’s why. Speaking of damn fools…Maurice, did you pull that patio furniture inside? The news is saying the weather’s going to be crazy tomorrow.”

  Maurice responded, “Yes sir.”

  Shaking her head Braylee continued to walk over to her father, “Hi daddy.”

  He grunted something that sounded like hello. Mr. Robert James Hinsdale had once been a handsome, strong and healthy looking man. But the years of drinking had taken its toll. He looked much older than his years…especially his eyes. They were tired. The salt and pepper hair was now more salt than pepper. His Hershey’s colored skin had a jaundiced look to it. Although, much thinner, his arms still held a hint of the muscle tone he’d once had. The drinking had aged him. But, there was still a trace of the beautiful man he’d once been; even as he sat in denim jeans and a flannel button up shirt drinking that Johnny Walker and clicking away w
ith the remote.

  It was his smile. Stephanie had his smile. Though it was rarely seen, it could lighten up any room. Braylee was sure that had to have been what attracted her mother to him.

  Maurice’s irritating voice intruded on Braylee’s thoughts, “So…what are we a piece of furniture? You don’t see us sitting here?”

  Braylee couldn’t stand Maurice. Stephanie could do so much better than him. It was almost scary how much he was like their father. To talk to him, it was as if he knew everything. He was an expert at everything but a master of nothing.

  Maurice was also too old to dress like a teenager, but there he sat in a pair of MJ’s latest and greatest, the baggy jeans, and wearing a black hoodie pull over. How in the hell did Stephanie end up with him? Braylee didn’t send her sister to college for her to come back with a want to be Bob Marley.

  Stephanie was sitting on the love seat next to Maurice with her feet underneath her reading a bridal magazine. She elbowed him in his side and gave him a dirty look.

  Coolly Braylee spoke, “I just walked into the room,” Exercising superhuman self-control and emphasizing her words, “Hello Maurice. Hey, Stephanie.”

  Maurice wasn’t physically ugly…just his attitude. His darkened complexion reminded Braylee of licorice. Given his skin tone it was unusual to have those hazel eyes that were more grayish than anything. And, he kept his dreads neat so that was something. But, as soon as he opened his mouth, if she’d been Stephanie, she would have run for the hills.

  He snidely returned her greeting, “Hello…Braylee.”

  If this was going to be a dinner she made it through, it was best for her to ignore him. Her mask was on and in place. Even the crackling sound of the plastic, as she sat down on the sofa, couldn’t remove it.

  “So, Braylee did you get my e-mail?”

  “Mmmhmm.”

  “Well, did you read it?”

  “Yes.”

  Stephanie rolled her eyes, “Well…what did you think?”

  “I think…it’s expensive.”

  “I knew you’d say that, so I found someone who can recreate that look for a good price.”

  Braylee hadn’t sat down for five minutes before someone had their hands in her pocket. Calmly she spoke, “Stephanie, you do realize that the five thousand dollar down payment on the decorator that you had to have is non-refundable right?”

  “Right…since she is only going to charge me ten-thousand and the decorator I have now is charging fifteen, it will still come out about the same if we lose the deposit. So, I hoped since it’s my special day….”

  Braylee closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She counted to ten before opening them, “Stephanie…”

  However, before Braylee could finish her thoughts, Mrs. Hinsdale came into the room to tell everyone it was time to eat. “Dinner’s ready.”

  *****

  Everyone was seated around the table. Stephanie and her mother were both chattering away. No one else needed to say much when those two were together.

  Mrs. Hinsdale turned her nose up at something Stephanie said about a distant cousin, “Yeah, she called because she didn’t get an invitation to the wedding.”

  “You girls have never been close, so I don’t understand why she would even want one.”

  Mr. Hinsdale, who'd been quiet for most of dinner, spoke, “I don’t understand why you’re wasting so much money on this wedding. You’ve already invited too many people that you barely even speak to.”

  Braylee agreed whole heartedly with him on that one.

  Stephanie scrunched up her face, “Daddy, it’s my wedding!”

  Maurice chimed in, “Yeah Pops, I want Stephanie’s day to be everything she’s always dreamed about.”

  Braylee had been drinking a glass of water when he uttered those words, and she spit some of it out onto her plate. She used a napkin to wipe around her mouth.

  Maurice narrowed his eyes and directed his comments toward Braylee, “Why you always got to be messy Braylee?”

  Braylee opened her mouth to say something but closed it. She didn’t want to ruin dinner.

  Maurice kept pushing, “What…what you’ve got to say?”

  She put her glass down, “How much money have you or Stephanie spent on your wedding? Fifty…a hundred dollars? Anything?”

  He turned to look at Stephanie, “See…that’s what I’m talking about right there? Your sister is always tripping over money. She thinks she’s all that because she’s got a little money.”

  Stephanie turned to Braylee, “Braylee! You know we’re saving for a house. If we could, we would pay for our wedding.”

  Mr. Hinsdale spoke, “Now, that’s a good investment. What y’all should be doing is taking the money Braylee is shelling out for this wedding and using that for a house. Y’all been living with us for two years and still broke. Y’all ain’t babies no more. You’re grown.”

  Her father was right and on a roll today.

  Her mother snapped, “Robert…stay out of the girls business. Braylee is the oldest. If Braylee wants to pay for this wedding, then let her pay. Lord knows it’ll probably be the only one we’ll have in this family.”

  The pain of those words was a direct hit. Braylee’s throat closed up. Her mask almost slipped.

  Maurice laughed, “You’re right about that Mother Hinsdale.”

  Stephanie hit him on the arm, “Would you stop?”

  Clearing her throat, Braylee threw her napkin on the table before she spoke, “The point I was trying to make was that I don’t mind helping Stephanie with her wedding. Hell, I don’t even mind paying for it.”

  Mrs. Hinsdale almost choked on her dinner, “Watch your mouth girl! Don’t use that kind of language in in this house.”

  “Sorry mama but this needs to be said.” Getting angrier, she put her elbows on the table and linked her fingers. “I work hard for my money, and I don’t like being taken advantage of whether I can afford it or not. Maurice, you haven’t spent not one red dime on this wedding, but I’ve noticed you have a new pair of J’s. And, Stephanie, you’re twenty-seven years old, you’re too old not to be doing more to take care of yourself. I am not a bank! I can’t believe you would even fixed your lips to ask me to just throw away five thousand dollars because you’ve changed your mind. You must be crazy. As a matter of fact, I’ve spent all I’m going to spend on this wedding. I mean it. I’ll pay for what I’ve committed to but not another penny. I’m done. Whatever else you need…you and Maurice here had better figure it out!”

  Braylee got up and walked around the table to kiss her father on the forehead, “I’ve got a lot of work to do tonight so, I’m going to leave a little bit early.”

  She then walked over to her mother, ignored her frown, and kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll talk to you later mama.”

  As soon as she stepped outside of the house, the anxiety she’d been feeling didn’t completely disappear but it wasn’t as heavy.

  Chapter 18

  Alexandro stood in front of the mirror in a Tom Ford dark gray suit with the Jacquard stitching and a starched white shirt adjusting his pewter gray tie.

  It was almost time. The determined look was hard to miss as those steely dark eyes were reflected back at him. He’d been waiting for this moment since the night his brother was killed. It was time to put those bastards on notice…he was coming after them.

  Their independent investigation revealed that Luciano had indeed been murdered. And, the defective electrical switch that was the focus of the lawsuit all came from the same lot manufactured in an irregular production line.

  Braylee and her team had been fantastic. He now understood why she was in such high demand. She was the reason behind them getting their hands on the video of that particular production day along with the paperwork with the name of who ordered it. Her forensics team needed to be on his payroll. His people had come up empty. They’d been told the video and paperwork were accidentally destroyed.

  Alex was
getting closer to finding out who was really behind this scheme and ultimately who killed his brother.

  Someone wanted his company for pennies on the dollar and senselessly killed his brother for it. He’d had to fight back two hostile take-over attempts. However, based on the information they’d received from their investigations into those companies, neither of them seemed to have knowledge of his new technology. That ruled them out as conspirators.

  Alex was grateful for Braylee’s connections in Congress too. Her network was much deeper than his own…and his were pretty extensive. Those connections led to finding out that there was another shell company who’d been quietly inquiring about his patent requests. He knew in his gut that if they could find out who owned that company…he would find the answers to all of his questions.

  Today was also the day that he was going to see her. It had been awhile. Alex was more nervous about that than the upcoming press conference. He had prepared for the press conference but how in the hell did he prepare for Braylee? The few times they’d been in the same room, it was as if that one night never happened. She’d put him on ice and rebuked any attempt for anything outside the scope of her job.

  Underneath that cool exterior, Alex knew there was a lioness. He’d seen it first-hand and would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit he wanted her. And, had never stopped.

  If it were possible to go back to their one night, he would have handled things differently.

  It was time to put those thoughts out of his head. He was about to release a shit storm and needed to focus one hundred percent on that.

  There was a soft knock on the door. He answered, “Yes?”

  The housekeeper, Claudia, slowly opened the door, “Mr. Manchetti…Mr. LePezzia, Ms. Stone, Mr. Ling and Ms. Willows are all down stairs waiting for you.”