Inseparable

“I understand,” she said, smiling. “Trust me, I would kill baby seals to have that kind of experience. Okay, maybe not baby seals, but I would definitely think about it.”

I laughed loudly and leaned down to kiss her lips. She was so soft and comforting, and I was having a really hard time breaking away. I took in a deep breath and released my grip, stepping back down the walk and toward the car. I blew her a kiss and waved.

“I’ll call you tonight, I promise,” I said as I opened the car door and stepped inside.

As I drove away, I watched her in the rearview mirror. I loved the fact that she was craving experience in business, the same way she used to crave education and knowledge. This girl was going to be trouble when she learned everything she needed to know. There had to be a way I could help her get that knowledge. As I turned toward the center of the city where the office was, I looked over and saw a help wanted sign, and it hit me. That was it. I owned a company that would give her everything she needed. I would hire her to work at the real estate firm. Why didn’t I think of that before?

Chapter Twelve

Ronni

I really didn’t want Nathan to leave the day before, but I knew how important his business was to him. He had taken charge of his father’s company after his mother passed away, and from studying the company as a whole during college, I knew that whatever he was doing was helping to bring the company into the new era. His father was a brilliant man, but he didn’t understand changing times. The company wasn’t in danger at any point, but if Nathan hadn’t come in with the changes he made, eventually the conglomerate would have been broken up and sold to the highest bidder. He was brilliant, just like his father, but he understood what it took for an enterprise to survive a changing economic and political world. They were one of very few real estate companies in the country that actually increased revenue during the economic collapse, while many others barely hung on or folded under the pressure. It was extremely impressive.

So, in the spirit of moving forward and hard work, Maria and I sat down to work out the details of the bikini line and all the logistics that went along with it. She was an exceptional designer, more talented than most of the famous ones I saw in magazines, but just like me, she was just starting out. She sat and listened to everything that Nathan had explained to me, and I patiently went through each step with her so that she could better understand.

She had a designer education, a designer background, and an artist’s mind so I wanted to make things simple but understandable for her. Though I wasn’t going to be designing anything, we were going to be running the company together. Between her amazing work and my business skills, I knew there was no way we could fail at th

is venture. Luckily for us, Maria came from money, her father being a very successful Latin singer. He loved Maria’s designs and had already set up an account to fund the entire venture, and he didn’t want us to pay him back at all.

I had known since the beginning that Maria had gotten lucky in the parenting department, especially since she didn’t have to pay for college, didn’t have to work at all, and always had money in her bank account. When we decided to move in together, her father came down and picked out the place we lived in, offering to pay for the entire thing. Though it would have been nice to not have the cost of rent, I didn’t feel comfortable having yet another person take care of me, so we settled on a fair price, and I paid my monthly share. Maria thought I was crazy since she knew her father just took that money and put it in her bank account, but it made me feel good to be taking care of myself.

We sat there, brainstorming ideas for what we wanted to call the business, how we wanted to incorporate it legally, and where we really wanted to start. We had a really good list going, and I groaned as my phone went off on the other side of the room. I grabbed it and flipped it open, not even looking at the name on the screen. I cringed at the sound of Nick’s voice on the other end.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” He was furious.

“Excuse me?”

“You just go and abandon me at the club, acting like you are so much better than everyone else,” he yelled. “And then I find you hooking up with my fucking brother?”

“First of all, that is none of your business,” I said. “Secondly, if you hadn’t just ditched me for your blonde disgusting bimbo, I wouldn’t have ended up wandering around the Gaslamp District, drunk as hell, not knowing where to go. I was almost fucking mauled by a group of frat boys. It was a fluke that your brother found me, and thank god he did, because who knows what those guys would have done. You can lay the blame on me to make yourself feel better, but when it comes down to it, you are a disgusting and poor excuse for a man.”

“Maybe if you learned to not be such a cold bitch, none of this would have happened,” he yelled back. “It’s not my problem you have mommy and daddy issues and can’t handle someone of my stature and power putting their hands on you. You should be glad that a man like me asked out a girl like you.”

“A girl like me? What the fuck does that mean?”

“Oh, come on,” he said with a harsh laugh. “You think because my mother took you in, that makes you part of this family? No. Everyone looked at you as the poor little immigrant who was taken in by my mother. That was it. Nothing more. You are trying to hold on to that and milk it for all its worth.”

“You are so blind,” I said. “I have done more to support myself than you ever have and ever will. Have fun milking daddy for his hard-earned money just so you can go invest it in shitty ideas and watch them fail. Go to hell, you piece of shit.”

I hung up the phone and screamed, letting my anger radiate through the entire house. Maria poked her head around the corner and lifted her eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes and waved my hand at her, wanting to kill that little prick. I sat down at the kitchen counter and tried to collect myself. It had been a very long time since I wanted to hurt someone, but right now, that was exactly what I wanted to do.

I was such an idiot, and after everything I had been through in life, I still couldn’t figure out what I ever saw in Nick. He was arrogant, ignorant, had no motivation, and when it came down to it, he was nothing more than a spoiled little rich kid. In fact, unless something drastically changed for him, I couldn’t see him ever making anything out of himself except for a mooch on his father’s name. Nathan, on the other hand, was that guy. He was the man who got things done and had the compassion and fortitude to think of other people in the process. Just thinking about him calmed my heartbeat, and I tossed my phone on the counter and headed back into the living room. Maria looked up at me and smiled as I sat down.

“Was that Nick?”

“Ugh, how did you know?” I rolled my eyes and stomped my feet.

“He’s pretty much the only rich asshole in your life, so I figured it was him harassing you,” she said.

“I thought you thought that about Nathan, too?”

“Yeah, well, he seems to have proven me wrong so far,” she said, laughing.

“It was the pancakes, wasn’t it?”

“You got me,” she said. “No, I just see how protective he is of you and how much you light up every time you are around him. I thought he would be bad for you, and for a second, I was right. But in the end, he really showed his true colors, and they are bright and happy, just how I like it.”

“God, Nick was such an asshole,” I said, still upset. “I don’t understand how you can know someone your whole life and be so mean. I mean we grew up together, in the same damn house.”