Chapter 13

Amelia

"You can stay here and rest, you know?" Robyn says as she hands me the rest of the work for me to pack in my bag. "Send a rep to check on him instead, and take the weekend off."

I give her a small smile and slide the bag over my shoulder. "I'll be back Sunday evening."

Robyn sighs. "Have a safe trip, I guess."

I give her a gentle pat on the shoulder and head out of the office towards where Edgar is waiting for me. "Palm Springs!" he says with a grin. "It's like a vacation."

I chuckle and climb in the car. "You've never asked for a vacation."

"Why would I?" he snorts. "Time with you and Ms. Eleanor is enough of a vacation for me."

"Well, now I know you're lying." I grin and look out the window. Damian's well aware that I would be sending someone to the opening of his restaurant as part of MVM, but I'm not sure he expected me to volunteer. I'm hyperaware that his family will be there, and Audrey Garrett will see my presence as a deliberate attempt to get under her skin. If it kills two birds with one stone, I'll do it.

And seeing Damian in the wild when he doesn't know I'm there will hopefully ease some of my discomfort. In one way or the other.

When we get to the MVM Palm Springs hotel—Edgar put up in a suite of his own with unlimited room service, use of the pool and the mini-bar (it pays to work for a luxury hotel brand sometimes)—I change into an understated muted red dress that doesn't show off my baby bump yet, and wait a specific amount of time until I'm sure the launch has been started.

The first night of any of Damian's restaurant launches are usually elaborate affairs with canapes, waiters walking around with drinks and the best of their menu, and no table service. Once the ribbon-cutting ceremony has started and people are milling about, the easier it will be for me to slip in without being noticed.

Or not.

"Amelia!" Brooke gives a small squeal and slips her arm around mine, pulling me through the crowd. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

I chuckle, already weary. "You were on your honeymoon, silly. Tell me everything. How was it? What are you doing back? I thought you were staying in… Vietnam, wasn't it?"

"Oh my God, Amelia. It was Cambodia, but oh, I just love them all. Everyone." She tugs me towards a quiet seat, and I'm eager to get off my feet. I haven't seen Damian or his mother yet, but it's only a matter of time now that I'm talking to his sister.

Brooke starts to chat about her experiences in Cambodia, her travels with her new husband, the work she's hoping to do in the future… but I'm only listening to her vaguely. My attention is mostly on Damian, who I've just spotted talking quietly at the back of the room with Douglas Bright. I'm distracted by Damian as he stands casually with his hand in his pocket and the other hand holding a glass of champagne.

He's wearing a black suit and has his hair slicked back, and I can feel my control wavering, just like every other time I'm in his presence. I half pay attention to them, intrigued by the look of curiosity on Douglas' face and the sly look on Damian's. There's a swirling sensation in my gut that tells me whatever they're talking about, I'm not going to like it. Douglas is eager to undermine me, and I think he's found his next target. I don't trust Damian to be clever enough to be wary of it.

"Anyway," Brooke says with a tinkling laugh, dragging me back to the conversation I'm supposed to be a part of. "I am talking too much about myself. What's happening in Amelia Garrett's world?" She flags a waiter and takes two glasses of champagne, handing one to me.

"Oh," I laugh nervously. "I'm not drinking tonight."

"Oh, come on! It's a celebration!" She takes a large sip of her champagne before frowning. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought coming this far to a Garrett function by the president of MVM was enough to send you to the pits of hell."

I laugh, and my gaze flickers over to Douglas and Damian. Douglas looks over at me at the same time, and our gazes meet. He murmurs something under his hand to Damian before Damian starts walking towards me.

I brace myself and lift my head high, his eyes locked on mine, like a hunter and his prey.

"This is a surprise," he murmurs, kissing my cheek demurely.

"Is it?" I challenge. "I thought all events had to go through MVM now. On your instructions. I had to send a representative."

"You are not the representative I was expecting," he says, his voice dropping with his gaze over me. "But it is also you who has refused to allow this to be a MVM event, so your presence is unexpected."

His eyes sparkle with humor, the same way it always does when we flirt in public like this, but Brooke doesn't pick up on it. She rolls her eyes. "Oh, leave her alone," she growls. "You and Mom are the worst." She takes my arm and forces me to stand while pouting at her older brother. "Come on, let's leave the big bully to his little tantrums."

Damian grins when Brooke's not looking at him, and he takes a hold of my arm, leaning in close before Brooke can drag me away. "I'm glad you're here," he breathes in a low voice. "We'll have some fun."

"If you're good," I hum back.

Brooke tugs me along in impatience, and I leave Damian standing there with a lusty smirk on his face and a head full of thoughts of what's to come.

People start leaving a few hours later, and by the time it hits ten-thirty, everyone is gone, apart from the cleaning and kitchen staff.

"You're still here," Damian grins as he returns from saying goodbye to his mother and sister. His older sister couldn't make it and wouldn't have wanted to, even if she could. I don't know much about Clarice, but what I do know is enough. She left the Garretts almost as soon as she was able to. She hasn't a good word to say about them, including me, her brother, and anyone who sits in the president's chair of MVM. It's better to leave her alone and hope she leaves me alone, too.

I give Damian a playful glare. He's stopped me from leaving several times this evening, and although my legs hurt and I'm tired, there's a spark in the pit of my stomach that says I'm going to like what happens if I stay.

"Did you eat enough?" he says softly, gesturing for me to sit at one of the booths near the back of the room. The Fisherman—he has a theme for naming all his restaurants—is larger than The Secretary back in LA, and while the fish paintings on the wall and the gold-plated furnishings could look tacky, it works really well here.

"Did you keep me here all night just to feed me? I could have done that at home."

He smirks and leans on the table, tilting my face up with his nose and hovering above my lips. "Yes," he whispers, a ghost against my mouth. "You're at a restaurant opening, but I told you we'd have some fun. Better keep my promises."

I hum as he closes the distance, that fire in my gut spreading quickly. How he does this to me so quickly is still surprising.

He pulls away abruptly and gestures a waiter over. He doesn't look older than eighteen, and I can see his nerves at being called over by Damian.

"Sam, tell Leo we're ready."

He nods once. "Yes, sir."

I lean back in the booth and regard him. "You really know all of your staff."

"Yes," he says sincerely. "I learned after years of watching Victor run a business that I'd never want to be like that. You might think I'm a bastard, but I'm a business owner first."

"Nothing says you can't be both," I murmur. "I have too many staff and too many things to keep in my head at one time to know every detail about them."

Damian exhales a laugh. "Your men don't respect you."

"Neither do you."

"Of course I do. I might not agree with you, but I respect you." He's interrupted by the chef walking out with two young men following him. He places several small plates on the table in between us, the two men copying him. Everything is small, only a mouthful on each plate, but it looks sensational.

"That will be all, sir?" Leo asks, and Damian dismisses him with an approving nod.

Damian shuffles next to me, his arm looping over the back of my booth before his lips brush the spot under my ear. "You look gorgeous tonight," he breathes. "I'm glad you're here."

I let out an unsteady breath and lean into his attentions.

"Close your eyes, sweetheart."

I don't hesitate. My eyes flutter closed, and he kisses my lips slowly, as if savoring them.

His finger brushes across my mouth, and I instinctively open it. "Good girl," he hums.

His finger hovers on my bottom lip before something is placed between my teeth. Asparagus. With lemon and a hint of chili flakes. The flavors are surprising, and I accidentally moan in surprise. I hear him softly chuckle, and a shiver runs through me before he chases the last of the asparagus with his lips, his tongue cleansing my palate for the next one.

"Open," he murmurs, and his finger is placed on my tongue. A delicious peanut sauce. I get the taste of coconut, too. I close my lips around his finger and suck, making him draw a ragged breath.

"Delicious," I moan.

"Oh, Mila girl," he croons. "I love having you here." He says it as if it's a warning. Like I should be worried that he enjoys my company.

I should be worried that he enjoys my company. I'm going to have a baby in a few months. Whatever we have has to end before that happens. I put it out of my mind and focus on being here with Damian.

His finger is back in my mouth, with more peanut sauce, and I hurriedly lick it off his finger, anxious to get more of it.

"Should I try some, too?" he murmurs before there's something painted lightly down the side of my neck. His tongue chases it, a gasp sounding out through my lips, unprompted. Damian's tongue continues past the sauce, down onto my collarbone before his fingers tug ever so softly at the shoulder to my dress, exposing more skin. "I really love having you here, Mila," he repeats, his mouth hot against my skin.

That's when I feel his hand on my thigh, sliding past the thin material. I drop my head back, and he catches it with his spare hand before forcing it to face him. He takes my mouth in a fierce kiss as his fingers are busy discovering the lack of underwear I have on under my dress. He moves to catch my earlobe with his teeth. "You're too good to me."

I'm rendered too speechless to give him any sort of response, and he recognizes it, as two of his fingers reach my sex and his thumb circles my clit slowly.

"Damian," I whimper, and he strokes my hair as his lips find mine again. I pant against them as his fingers work out a teasing rhythm. "Damian," I gasp.

"Anything for you, doll. Anything you want."

I'm so close. I can feel the end approaching. I grip onto Damian's wrist as he moves rhythmically, building only in intensity not speed. Somehow, he knows exactly how to get me off and has the confidence to show me.

"Oh God, Damian, yes," I gasp. "Oh—"

"What the fuck is this?" a voice growls, and my eyes fly open as Damian startles to face the newcomer.

Brooke.

"B-Brooke, what…" Damian stammers before clearing his throat and turning to his sister. "What are you doing here? I thought you—"

Brooke is outright furious. Her eyes snap with fire as she glares at her brother. "I forgot my jacket," she hisses. "What the fuck are you doing with Amelia?" She glances at me. "I thought you were better than to fall for his stupid antics. You're married to Jackson."

"He's…" I whisper.

"I know, but he's only been dead for a few months! Now you're sitting at his cousin's—his cousin's—restaurant with said cousin's hand in between your fucking legs! Have a bit of decency! At least Jackson had the common courtesy to keep his hands to himself while in public."

Damian sighs and leans forward. "Brooke, this is none of your business. Find your jacket and go, please."

She points directly at him, the fire blazing in her eyes even harder. She looks more and more like Audrey Garrett. "You are sick and perverted and are deliberately preying on someone almost half your fucking age! She's a widow! To your cousin!"

Brooke is nearly shrieking, but Damian sits there calmly. He's probably used to outbursts from the women in his family. She looks at me again.

"Is he forcing you?" she demands. "Is he making you do this? I knew you and Mom were up to something," she continues, her attention flicking between me and Damian. "This is low. Even for you." She looks at me again. "Come on, Amelia. I'll take you home."

I sigh. "Brooke, come on. Do you really think I can't defend myself against unwanted advances? You've known me for years."

Her jaw gets tight all over again. "So, you're willing, then?"

"Yes, of course," I whisper.

"Oh! So you're just as much an idiot as he is! Good to know!" She leans on the table in front of us and glares at me directly. "This will bring down MVM. Just you wait. This is what every enemy has been waiting for. And you just fucking handed it to them. Handed it to him." She jerks her head in Damian's direction. "I thought you were smarter than that."

With one last glare, she grabs her jacket from a chair and storms out of the restaurant, slamming the door behind her.

Damian and I sit in shocked silence before he eventually breathes out. I can't think about all the implications that Brooke just yelled at us, so I won't. Not now. Damian opens his mouth to speak, but I get in first.

"You'd better be about to suggest taking me back to the hotel and finishing what you started, Mr. Blake. I'm horny as hell."

"We can talk—"

"Now."

Damian breaks with a laugh and shuffles out of the booth. "Yes, boss."