Taken (Dark Desires 1)

She blushed but she didn’t look away. Instead she smiled and climbed in the car. I folded the umbrella and dropped it on the floor of the back seat and slammed the door shut. Off she went.

I was full of wild electricity. Something had been jarred awake inside me and I was elated. It was a cha

llenge. A puzzle to be solved. Natasha Morgan was something so different and special I had to stop and regroup in order to figure out what to do with her next. The Universe had really smiled on me. It was just giving me that seductive peek, just a tiny taste of its gift that was by far its most generous yet.

The rain felt good on my face. I looked at the Liona’s red neon sign as raindrops wove their way across the glass that protected it. They were such simple little drops of rain but in the right light, under the right conditions they sparkled like jewels. Everything around me looked sharp and crisp as if I had slipped on a pair of much needed glasses in order to focus. The air smelled fresh and clean. For the first time in a long time I felt really alive.

But in the meantime, what would I do with this excitement surging through my veins. I went back inside Liona’s. With the rain keeping everyone where they were, it was slow. I took Beth to a back room and let her ease my stress. But all I could think of was Natasha Morgan.

MARTY

It was 7:56 in the morning and already my daily status report was coming in late. Reid Industries was never going to stay in the black if I, the CEO, couldn’t get organized before the rest of the four hundred and sixteen employees even sat down at their desks.

I looked at my desk and could have sworn some work had been done yesterday in order to move some of the files but over the six hours I was gone from here it not only didn’t look like anything had moved but it looked as if more were added.

The windows pointed and looked out over a beautiful skyline as another gray day opened up. My small conference table was also covered with paperwork that I had forgotten about. There were letters and contracts to be signed and others to be edited or tossed.

I had a small bar at the other end of my office collecting dust since it was only utilized during the Christmas party that I insisted stay traditional like they were when my father ran the business. No wasting time and money making people go to a restaurant that jacks up the prices at that special time of year.

Instead we had a BYOB policy and I paid for a fleet of cars to get people home if they needed it. So far it had continued to be a success.

“Mr. Reid, we’ve got to get your schedule ironed out or you won’t have a clue what you’re doing today.” My secretary Denise yelled from outside my office. “Not that today should be any different from yesterday.”

“Yes, yes, Denise. Let’s go then.”

“Okay,” she stomped into my office as if she had a war to fight. “You’ve got a conference call with Patrick at 9:45. You’re supposed to respond to Ireland’s proposal.”

“Push that back for me, Denise. At least a week. There’s no hurry for that right now.” The truth was I just wasn’t interested in the articles Seymore Ireland was asking me to contribute to. It was more of a headache than it was helpful.

“You’ve got an appointment with your chiropractor at two o’clock today.”

“That’s one bright spot in my day. Other than seeing you, Denise.”

“Mr. Reid, I’ll be sure to tell my husband of thirty-eight years you said so.”

“Thirty-eight years? How do you do it, Denise? What is your secret?”

“Separate beds and separate bathrooms. Now, are we going to continue on or do you need me to explain the birds and bees to you, too?”

“Denise, we have work to do. Don’t tempt me.”

It was always funny to get Denise to laugh. She had the other secretaries terrified of her since she was in her sixties and rarely smiled during business hours. She knew how to use a computer better than most of the new hires coming right out of college but because she carried around an old stenographer’s pad, some of the girls thought she was just some fossil waiting for retirement. They’d quickly learn that she was as sharp as a tack and twice as painful if you got stuck.

I had hired her after I inherited the business from my father. He had built up this corporation by slowly buying off bits of businesses and selling them for a profit. Then he realized some of the businesses were just poorly managed and took a stab at running a few by himself. Whatever it was in his fingers, it seemed whatever he touched turned into gold. Heading out before the sun rose and getting home long after it set made my father a successful businessman.

He also had a way of smoothing over the most hardened, crusted over hearts of the stingiest misers around by pouring on the kindness, inquiring about their wives and children, offering sound advice and laying all his cards out for them to see. Dirty deals were for insurance agents and ambulance chasers he’d say. He had nothing to hide from any man so they always knew where they stood with him. It was a good way to do business. And because of the old man’s brilliance I still did work with the sons of some of those men.

In fact, I was supposed to play golf with Morton Susberg, the son of Michael Susberg who loaned my father enough money for him to crack his first million. The Susbergs were good people and I liked Mort a lot. He had an excellent business sense and often had a couple of insider investment tips for me. So far, he was five for five on the stocks he told me to invest in, more than tripling the value of my portfolio.

But sadly, my schedule was too full right now. And I knew when I could finally come up for air Mort would be on some big-name trial working thirty hours in each twenty-four hour period.

“Some good news for you.” Denise said, snapping me out of my daydream of golf.

“Good news? That’s a switch. Tell me.”

Denise smiled and the wrinkles pushed up to fold her skin around the corners of her eyes.

“First,” she said as she looked at the steno pad. “Mr. Carson confirmed he will be able to join you for the Knick’s game.”