| |
To make amends for the sudden cancellation of the previous day’s meeting, the Bino executive board arranged a gathering to take place at one of the island dancehalls. In Ben’s opinion, the gesture didn’t totally make up for the slight, but it came very close given the venue.
LaBelle was a five story construction located not far from The Simonsen. The place boasted one main dancefloor that began just past a grand glassed entrance and spanned the entire lower level. Wide balconies built into the wall along each story were dedicated to additional dance space and private rooms.
It was quite a sight. Several times, Ben had to remind herself to close her mouth as she gaped up into the club’s lofty heights. Bodies gyrated to a spellbinding mix of music that seemed synced to the dazzling lighting. The place ignited all her dancing instincts. In the olive green culottes suit, she was perfectly attired for the outing. She’d arrived with Rhys. Avery and Jace were close behind. There was no sign of Syson which, while disappointing, wasn’t overly surprising given how serious he appeared about keeping his distance.
Rhys gave her a nudge causing Ben to look round in time to see a man around the same height and build as Jace, slip him a note and speak close to his ear. She had but a moment to wonder. Jace leaned close, angling himself between her and Rhys to tell her the execs were waiting in one of the private rooms.
The fact that the club seemed filled to bursting had no effect on Ben’s protectors. Jace and Avery didn’t relax their guards at all. Jace led them through the club with Rhys and Ben following and Avery bringing up the rear. The stairwells were almost as crowded as the balconies of dancers, yet bodies made way as the troupe ascended.
They exited from the third floor landing and took a long corridor to a pair of chrome doors at the end. Jace gave the note he’d been handed, to the man who answered his knock. Within seconds they were being waved inside. The space was starkly furnished. Slim leather seating was set throughout the room in clusters of two or four. A rectangular conference table occupied the length of the furthermost wall.
Ben noticed a balcony outside the room. Lights from the dancefloor shimmered inside the room and poured myriad color throughout. She couldn’t hear much of the music thanks to the soundproofing.
“Jesus...she’s the image of her.”
“Cara.” A woman said when Ben turned from the balcony doors.
Ben swallowed around the lump her mother’s name put in her throat. “You knew my mother?”
The woman laughed softly, invitingly. “I knew her very well, lovely. She was my sister.”
Ben’s lips parted. She reached for Rhys’ hand and squeezed it for support.
The woman inclined her head gracefully, sending a hoard of light brown curls into her dark face. “Ruscilla Bino,” she said, then glanced across her shoulder to the man who’d remarked on Ben’s resemblance to her sister. “My brother, Dane,” she added.
Dane Bino was next to cross the room. He passed his sister, came to offer a hand to Ben. “It’s a pleasure, niece.”
Ben accepted the gesture. “This is...uh...”
Dane parotted the head incline. “Insane.”
Ben couldn’t resist laughing. “Incredibly.”
“If we could postpone the rest of the reunion until after handling what we’re here for,” an unidentified voice called from across the room.
Ruscilla Bino closed the distance to Ben then, while sending an agitated look in the direction of the chilly voice. “It’s wonderful to meet you, my love.” She put a kiss to Ben’s forehead. When she pulled back, she rolled her eyes. “Our apologies for the cancellation yesterday. It was crass, petty...”
“And not your idea,” Ben read the underlying sarcasm and narrowed her light eyes toward the others in the room.
“She’s a smart one!”
A small, dark man with an outstanding mane of coarse silver gray hair rose from one of the chair clusters.
“Simon Bino.” The small man gave his name but didn’t venture closer to shake hands or offer another tangible way of greeting.
“Your mother was my niece,” he said.
“And you don’t want me here,” Ben countered.
Simon Bino’s smile was imperceptible yet genuine. “As I said, ‘smart’. Nice to know such intelligent people reside under my roof.”
Ben smiled, moving further into the room. “The Simonsen is beautiful.”
“And I’m pleased to have such a beautiful creature staying there.”
It was Ben’s turn to incline her head. “There, but not at the table of your family’s company.”
“You’re our family, child.” Another man, as short as Simon Bino but of fairer complexion, spoke up as he left the same cluster of chairs.
“As long as I stay in my place, which I’d love to be doing if it weren’t for the fact that foolish decisions are ruining the lives of the people here.”
The fair-skinned man met Ben in the middle of the room. “Oliver Bino. Maxim’s father was mine and Simon’s younger brother.”
Ben accepted the offered hand.
“There are things you don’t understand, child.”
“You’re right,” Ben withdrew her hand. “I don’t understand hurting others for your own gain. Bino is their employer. It should be protecting them, not exploiting them.”
“Exploiting,” Oliver Bino crooked a smile. “You get that word from papers Lucas Ricxs had no business sharing with you.”
“A thing we gave him approval to do,” Ruscilla said.
“A thing you had no right to do,” Simon Bino chided.
“We have as much right as you do,” Dane snapped. “We sit on this board as well. The board of the company our brother runs-you haven’t forgotten that, have you?”
“Well, like you said, we sit on this board as well. Right now we’re all in control of this company.” Simon countered.
“Only as long as it’s without leadership.”
All heads turned to Ben when she spoke.
“Maybe you forgot that stipulation written in all those papers I wasn’t supposed to read.” Ben spread her hands in phony supplication.
Applause rose and Ben saw a woman of the same fair complexion as Oliver Bino. She was tall, slender and moved from among a group of four standing in a far corner of the room.
“Beautiful. Smart. Cunning.” She said.
“Benaja Lake, your cousin Jari Bino.” Simon Bino announced.
Jari made a tsking sound as she sauntered closer to the room’s center. “Lake...yes, she does have her father’s sly wit, doesn’t she?”
Ben lifted her chin, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“I wouldn’t,” Jari advised, her expression chilly. “You’re involving yourself in things you can’t possibly understand. “What’s your area of expertise, again? Library sales?”
“Jari, enough,” Ruscilla commanded.
“Oh, I think I understand alright,” Ben sauntered closer as well. “Some of you don’t mind being monstrous jackasses,” she smiled when Jari bristled, “crapping all over people who bust their asses to keep you laced in private rooms and expensive yet tacky attire,” she glanced distatefully at Jari’s sequined black suede boots and leopard skinned dress.
“Little bitch!” Jari launched forward, but was held back from her destination.
“Now, now enough of that. What kind of way is this for cousins to reunite?”
“Sean?” Ben frowned.
Behind her, Avery and Jace braced for confrontation.
“Everybody just calm down,” Sean Bolton’s hands shot up in defensive pose. “I’m only here to ask for a dance. It’s been way too long since I’ve danced with a pretty girl.” He moved from his post next to Jari Bino and looked to Jace and Avery, dark eyes sparkling with mischief. “You two know how that is, right?”
Jace advanced, but Avery stayed his friend with a hand to his chest.
“Shall we?” Sean looked to Ben.
Ben looked to her protectors. Both men offered barely there nods. She curved her hand around the bend of Sean’s elbow. Together, then headed toward the room’s balcony. Jace and Avery followed along with Rhys.
The balconies off from the private rooms were larger than the rest. Music poured in the moment the doors opened. Ben was already moving in response to the affecting rhythms thrumming through her.
“A dance?”
The man’s eyes were calculating, expectant. Ben wondered if he meant for her to see that. She put her hand in his and let him take her to the dance floor to one side of the balcony. The area was spacious enough to allow dancing and observation of the colorful, hazy depths below from small round tables that were laden with beverage decanters and glasses.
From what Ben could tell, there were at least 12 other bodies grooving to the infectious turntable mastery. She guessed they were additional members of the Bino executive staff and therefore members of her family. She wondered what sparks would fly when that family reunion took place.
For the time being, she dismissed that from her thoughts and focused on being swept away by the music. The culottes suit accentuated her skin tone as well as her curves. The material was cut so that her hips and the small of her back were enticingly bare.
Sean Bolton approved, if his sparkling eyes served as an example. Boldly, they favored the ample rise of her bosom above the suit’s square cut bodice. His hands rested lightly along her waist-skimming and caressing where her skin was visible. His dark eyes remained fixed on her face as if he were trying to determine what affect their proximity was having.
“So...Syson Faust...gotta say I was surprised you two have joined forces.”
Ben offered her dance partner the same cool smile he’d fixed on her. “Well he’s my bodyguard, so...”
“Yeah,” Bolton chuckled the word. “He always struck me as more destructive than protective.”
“And how long is ‘always’?” Ben asked.
“Oh...” Bolton’s mouth twisted into a playfully considering smile. “About three to five... years.”
Her amber eyes narrowed. “I see. I’m assuming it hasn’t been a very happy three to five?”
“Now why would you think that?”
“More destructive than protective, right?”
He had the decency to look effectively put in his place. “I should’ve qualified that by saying Sy was always protective of his friends-most of them.”
Any plans to question the vaguely biting comment, fled when Bolton had his shoulder tapped. The man who interrupted them was tall. Older, but with a build that said his stamina could rival a man twenty years younger.
“Not keeping our special guest all to yourself, are you Bolt?”
“Never that, boss,” Bolton stepped aside and guided Ben forward as though she were being presented for sacrifice. “Andrew Faust, Benaja Lake.”
He was an attractive devil, Ben had to admit while putting her hand in his. Looks clearly ran potently among the Faust men. Andrew Faust’s features were fair, almost remarkably so with his vivid blue eyes and nearly platinum blonde hair and beard. In spite of Syson’s mixed race heritage, there was no question the two were related.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Ms. Lake.”
Their voices were even similar, Ben thought. Like heavy cream over chipped ice, smooth yet with an undeniable edge. Quickly, she dismissed the comparison. Now was not the time to have Syson Faust in her head.
“And you’re here to tell me to mind my business too, I suppose?”
Andrew Faust crooked a smile toward Sean Bolton who grinned lavishly. “Gotta come correct with her, boss. She already left a trail of bodies back there in the club room.”
Andrew Faust squeezed Ben’s hand in both of his. “From what I understand, this is your business, Ms. Lake.”
“Even though my business is to see you and your people out of it?” Casually, she eased her hand from Faust’s grip.
He inclined his head, acquiescing her point. “You don’t agree that your uncle should protect his employees?”
Ben returned an acquiescing nod of her own. “Fair pay, good benefits, retirement. I’d say that about covers it. It sounds to me like the employees are being protected from seeking better lives,” she resisted the urge to smile when Andrew Faust’s jaw tightened.
“You’ve learned a lot in the-what? Two days you’ve been here.”
“Bad news travels, I guess.”
“And you’re sure your news is accurate?”
“What reason is there for those people to lie?”
“Indeed,” Faust’s smile returned. “Have you encountered many liars in your time, Ms. Lake?”
“More and more every day,” Ben replied without hesitation.
Faust chuckled, but the gesture didn’t filter his vivid blues. “I’m told you’re quite close to my nephew.”
Ben blinked, the topic shift taking her off guard. Before she could inquire of the man’s meaning, she was gasping in response to the none-too-gentle squeeze at her upper arm. Syson.
He didn’t look her way, merely handled her off to Luke who stood at his side.
“Get her out of here,” Syson instructed Luke, gray eyes never leaving his uncle’s face.
Luke and Benaja left the balcony moments later. They didn’t see Syson close the distance between him and Andrew. When Sean Bolton moved to intervene, he took the man’s throat in a choking clutch, holding it there for just under a minute. Andrew grinned, waved a hand to refuse any efforts the rest of his men may’ve made to assist. Syson released his quarry. While Bolton coughed and scratched at his throat, Syson spoke to his uncle.
“Stay away from her.”
Andrew’s smile had fully filtered his eyes by then, “She’s my boss, remember?”
“Not for long,” Syson promised.
“But for the present,” Andrew countered. “It remains my job to protect her interests.”
“I’ll protect her interests,” Syson’s tone was guttural, barely deciperable.
Andrew raised a long brow. “She’s a beauty. Women that beautiful rarely have an ounce of brain, but she’s got that covered as well. She didn’t strike me as the type not to question her associates, especially when they’re doing time for murder.”
Syson’s eyes narrowed as though it were costing him everything to restrain his temper.
“What did Lucas tell her about you? Surely not that her new bodyguard is a felon? Wonder what she’d say if-?”
Syson took Andrew’s shirt collar in his fist, hiking the man up on his toes. Bolton moved to intervene once more and got Syson’s stony left hook to the jaw for his trouble.
“Stay away from her,” Syson searched Andrew’s eyes, letting him see the dark promise lurking there. He released the man without a care for where he landed and left as indifferently as he’d arrived.
~~~
“Where is she?” Syson intruded on Luke’s conversation with Dane and Ruscilla Bino without apology. He towered over the trio, his expression telling them all that the answer had better be to his liking.
Luke gave no indication that his calm was ruffled. “I asked Avery and Jace to take her and Rhys home,” he said.
Syson lost some of his agitation and offered a scant nod to the group before he left them.
“Thank you for providing our niece with such excellent protection,” Ruscilla Bino’s eyes flared with approval and a fair amount of feminine intrigue as she followed Syson’s departure.
“Is he as formidable as he looks?” Dane asked.
“More,” Luke replied without hesitation and then left to follow Syson.
~~~
“Sy?”
“Later.”
“Now.”
Something in Luke’s tone had Syson stopping his trek to the parking lot. Turning, he waited.
“Whatever you’re daydreaming about with Ben. Don’t.”
Bristling, albeit subtly, Syson slowly advanced on the other man. “Do I look like I’m daydreaming?”
“You rather I use fantasizing?”
“What is this, Luke?” Smirking then, Syson spread his big hands momentarily before letting them fall back to the sides of the dark cargo pants he sported. “A little reminder to the help to stay in his place?”
“Sy-”
“I get it. Ex-con and all,” Syson cut in, his smirk growing more defined. “Though I’m not exactly an ex-con, am I? I’m guessing my gracious release comes with some strings that might return me to my humble digs if I fall out of line and do more than guard Benaja Lake’s very nice body.”
“Syson, enough!” Luke snapped, bracing for any injury his lashing out might bring. Nevertheless, he didn’t back down when the bigger man looked ready to charge. “We both know the real crooks here aren’t behind bars. I could give a damn about where you’ve lived for the last six years, but if the wrong people know how you feel about her-”
“Drew wouldn’t dare touch her. As for Bolt, he knows better than to cross me.”
“I don’t doubt it, but they aren’t who I’m talking about,” Luke moved closer. “Romantic entanglements don’t play out so well here. People tend to fall in love and forget their responsibilities or worse, trust them to the wrong sort and the innocent pay the price.”
Syson’s brow furrowed. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that a romance, no matter how sweet, could be seen as the makings of a scandal. If Ben were of no consequence, it wouldn’t matter but given who she is...it could give her enemies more fodder to keep her from power. Trust me, her enemies number a lot more than the ones she met in that room tonight.”
Syson rolled his eyes, but seemed to be considering Luke’s argument while he rubbed the bunched muscles in his neck. “I need to see her,” he said after a while.
Luke shook his head, recognizing the man’s mind was made. “Just remember what I said. And Sy?” Luke called before Syson had completely retreated. “Be careful with her. She didn’t ask for any of this.”
Syson watched while Luke returned to the club and considered his plan. Sadly, what he needed to do, didn’t align with what he wanted to do. It didn’t align at all.