Chapter 22
Bradley’s POV
The gentle pressure of an arm laying across my lower chest was comforting. Anna’s head lay in the crook of my shoulder and chest, her coconut scented hair tickling my neck and chin. She had one leg flung over mine, pinning me to the bed. I didn’t want to move and wake her up. She had to be exhausted.
I couldn’t get enough of her last night. We had slept briefly after the first time, but came together three more times during the night, finally falling asleep sometime around four this morining. I may have been her first, but I promised myself that I would make sure I was her last, and only lover. She was inexperienced, for which I was very thankful, but she was eager to learn. And I was thrilled to be the one to teach her.
I am totally and completely addicted to this woman. I am never going to let her go. How is it that in only four short days of knowing her as an adult that I have fallen head over heels in love with her? Because that’s what happened.
She had walked into our meeting Monday afternoon, and BAM! I knew. As the afternoon went on, her intelligence, her understanding of our needs, and her ability to articulate her proposal impressed me. There was something about her that called out to my very soul. I convinced her to join me for dinner and we spent the next few hours getting to know each other on a personal level.
The more I got to know her, the more I admired her. Her values, her ethics, her humor, all
aligned with my own. She exuded an excitement for life that touched me. It was only when I
very briefly mentioned her collegue, and fiance, that the fire in her eyes dampened. She didn’t
say much about him or their engagement, but I got the impression she was rethinking the
whole thing. Thank goodness for that. Especially after what I had seen of him and that woman
he was with during the initial meeting with Fredericks Design Co.
I will be forever thankful I was late getting to the restaurant owned by one of my companies.
Something about Adam Rivers and his ‘collegue‘ seemed suspect, so I had arranged for them
to be seated at a specific table. One that was in direct line of site of a security camera that
picked up audio very clearly. The matrie’d had been instructed to seat them with their backs to
main seating area, thus restricting their ability to see anyone approaching them.
I only ever did this when I had a bad feeling about the people, and/or their business proposal.
Both Adam and Fiona gave off really bad vibes. That alone would have raised my hackles. Yet,
much as I disliked both of them, it was necessary for me to meet with them in order to do
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Chapter 22
what had to be done. Getting their schemeing plans on video made my job so much easier.
Without that video, it would have been much harder to get Anna to trust me That video was what had me call Anna early Wednesday morning and cancel our meetings, prompting her to fly home
on th
the next available flight. I knew she would do that. I had someone watching her hotel, while I was already on my way to the airport, had already booked a seat on the ten–thirty flight. I had to give her time to get back to Halifax. Give her time to discover for herself just what kind of scum she was engaged to. Allow her to learn what kind of a viper she had for a half–sister.
Knowing Anna was a woman of strength and grace, I knew she wouldn’t confront the cheaters. No. I knew she would retreat to her place of safety. And that is exactly what she did. I gave her time. If she hadn’t called me within a certain length of time, I was going to call her. She had called sooner than I expected, making my job so much easier.
The job that I had been doing behind the scenes, like a shadow, for the past four years, ever since her mother’s accident.
My father had worked for Anna’s grandparents as head of security. Once Anna’s mother, Iris, found out about Alan Fredericks betrayal it became apparent that both Iris and Anna were in danger. Anna was brought to live with her grandparents, while Iris continued to live in Halifax and visit Anna for a week every month. My father was assigned as head of Iris’s protection detail, meaning a move to Halifax when I was fourteen.
I hated it at first, but grew to love the historic city, as well as the Province of Nova Scotia. In time I took my business degree at Dalhousie University, and spent another year doing an intense internship with Graystone Security. When that was completed I moved back to Toronto to work in one of the Graystone International companies.
The first time her grandparents invited me to their home after I returned, I had hoped to make the acquaintance of the more grown–up version of the litte red–headed girl that was their granddaughter. Curiousity I guess. But she had already left for Halifax to begin her first year university at Dalhousie. That didn’t stop her grandparents from digging out the photo albums, bragging about her accomplishments, and telling me how she had grown up to be an absolute beauty.
They weren’t exagerating. She was stunning! Her fiery red hair, her emerald green eyes, her clear skin, her full pouty lips, gave truth to their words. Though only seventeen at the time, strength of character shone out of her eyes. This was no flighty, insipid, little girl. No, she was a force of nature. The academic awards, the many trophies for both academic and sports pursuits spoke of a young woman who excelled at challenges. I looked forward to meeting her again at some point in the future.
Chapter 22
She returned for holiday’s, and summer vacations, but by that
time I was deeply immersed in building Gray Industries and didn’t take the time to visit when she was home. Then the accident involving her mother changed everything. Anna had been home on summer break, but had to go back to Halifax for the reading of the will. She had returned to Toronto briefly. but then went back to Halifax to finish her degree, and take over Fredericks Design Co.
That’s when her grandparents approached me, and begged me for my help. Help to protect Anna. It was only after I agreed, and insisted I sign an ironclad Non–Disclosure Agreement, that they told me everything. Once I heard the full story, I was pissed. That damn NDA tied my hands. How could I protect her if she didn’t know she needed protection? Or from whom she
needed to be protected?
So with advice from my father, I devised a plan to protect Anna, I had watched her from a distance, never once letting her know. I had a security team around her constantly. I was thankful that her father, step–mother, and half–sister bascially ignored her. They didn’t try to get involved with her. Didn’t interfere with her. Of course I knew why that was. They were waiting to strike just before her twenty–fifth birthday.
Their back–up plan was Adam Rivers. Initially, he played his part just as they planned.
Insinuating himself into Anna’s good graces with his sympathetic, caring concern. Giving her
a shoulder to cry on when she was exhausted with the stress of caring for her ailing
grandparents. Wore down her resistance, made her believe he loved her. Was there for her emotionally when her grandparents died within days of each other. Yet, he still had no idea of
Anna’s true identity.
When he proposed six months ago, I was terrified for Anna. It was then I decided it was beyond time I stepped in and made my presence known. My father agreed with me but
advised me to keep the NDA in mind. That which was a secret had to remain a secret. At least
until the upcoming New Year’s Eve. So I had to find a way to enter Anna’s life, get close to her,
make sure I was there to protect her.
What better way than to renovate the Gray Industries main office building? Who better to do that than Fredericks Design Co.? The first contact with the company ended up being with
Adam Rivers as Anna was in Montreal on business. We spoke a number of times over a couple of months before agreeing to a meeting. Though I had expected Anna, it was Adam, with Fiona, that flew to Toronto for the initial face–to–face meeting.
Those two were made for each other. As Anna calls them, they are vipers. Fiona did her best to make me believe she was the owner of Fredericks Design, but I knew better. I tried to not let my utter contempt for the pair of them to show. I failed when during a short bathroom break, Fiona offered me a blow job to secure the contract. I almost threw up. My response was a very
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firm, ‘not on your f**king life” just before Adam returned to continue discussions.
Now, this morning, here I am, lying in bed with a woman I know I am in love with, trying to
figure out a way around the NDA A way to let her know that not only is her life at risk, but that
she can’t hand Fredericks Design over to the four vipers. A way to let her know there is more
at play than she knows, or suspects.
I have to find a way to do all this, and not have her hate me. Because I can’t lose her. I won’t
lose her. She is mine, and I intend to keep her.
