4. COLE

COLE

"What do you mean you moved your show to Aurora Springs, Trent? You were supposed to stay in my hotel here in New York, we had everything set for you already, for fuck's sake." I spat into the phone and Trent replied nonchalantly,

"I was not the one who moved the show, man. Dante did. By the way, you have a branch here too, I would be staying in the one here."

"You do know the one in Aurora Springs is one of the properties Laila got from me after the divorce, right? Technically, it is hers now."

"Oh. Well, damn."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, "Dante wants us all at your show. For support, or some shit. All along, I thought it would be in New York."

"Tough luck, man. See you at the show tomorrow." Trent told me in that mischievous tone of his. He was totally enjoying this.

"Fuck you, Trent." I cussed at him and ended the call with that.

Why did they all think I would ever get back with my wife? They saw us as the perfect couple, and probably did all this to get me to her city, closer to her since she did not like traveling and would probably tell Dante, her daddy and head of the Casa Nostra group that she would not make it here.

I was the scape goat here.

Left with no choice, I picked up my phone and called my Personal Assistant. "Get the company's plane ready, we need to be at Aurora Springs tomorrow."

"Noted, boss."

__________

The next morning, my Personal Assistant made sure he called enough to get me up by 8am, and my chefs prepared breakfast whilst I got ready.

Halfway into buttoning my shirt whilst staring at my reflection in the mirror, I got a call, and I picked up my phone from my bedside table, checking the caller ID to see that it was Laila. At first, I thought of not picking up, but what if it was her father who had a message for me?

Also, Laila and I hardly discussed anything other than business or the Syndicate these days. I could deal with that.

"Cole." She spoke immediately I picked up the call.

"Laila. What do you need?"

"I heard you would be coming to the hotel today. I wanted to say, you do not have to book a room, your favorite suite has been prepared specially for you…" She informed me, but I was quick to stop her in a calm, yet firm tone,

"I am just a regular customer, Laila, and I would be going through all due process to get a room. No need to do favors for me, I have told you this over and over."

"It is not a favor, Cole. It's just a way to pay respect to the former owner of the hotel—"

"You should have just said you called to mock me. It would have sounded much better than any of your weak excuses." I sighed, preparing to end the call.

"No! No, come on, Cole. You are special. To me and the hotel, and you know that…"

"I'm sure Ray has booked a room for me already. Give the well furnished suite to Trent instead, he's the star of the show. Do not call me again unless it is a matter of life and death. Enjoy your day."

With that, I ended the call, returned my phone to the table and began to fasten my tie with a bit more speed and energy than before.

I did not hate Laila, neither did I love her. I did not think I had ever loved her. I might have thought I did at some point, but I did not think it was love per say. It was most likely respect; respect that I totally lost when I caught her in a bed with another man who she used to claim was her friend's boyfriend.

She fucked him in our matrimonial bed, told me she never enjoyed our sex, and preferred him to me because she only had sex with me out of fear and obligation. It was an arranged marriage for us. She had been really scared of her daddy then—what he would say if she did something to ruin our marriage but now, she had the man wrapped around her fingers. I had no idea how she managed to do it.

My mind inevitably wandered to what had happened on the night I caught her cheating. I was not one to fuck an employee, but I did not know what came over me that night. Clarissa, that was her name. She looked too beautiful, too dainty, that I wanted to leave marks on her skin. How could an ordinary cleaner look so gorgeous? And how come I had never noticed her?

Six years later and still, I could not stop reminiscing the sex that night. Her honest moans, her orgasm face, everything. She was the perfect lay, but she screamed trouble, and in order to keep my reputation in check, I had to push her far away.

Did not mean her face didn’t hunt my mind from time to time for no damn reason. I wondered if fate would let us meet again, and if the money was enough for her to forget all about that night. After all, it was just sex…

Ray was waiting for me at the hangar by the time I got there. He looked slightly relieved on seeing me, I could tell that he had been waiting for a while already.

"Oh, my good sir! Thank God you finally arrived, I was losing my mind." He admitted, always one to spit out his thoughts without really thinking about it when he was around me.

"Are you sure you haven't lost it already, though?" I asked him when he gripped my arm, rubbing his cheek against the fabric of my million-dollar suit.

He pulled back and giggled, dusting the arm of my suit with a sick expression on his face that I forced myself not to pay attention to, if I did not want to get annoyed.

We started the trip in a matter of minutes.

By the time we got to Aurora Springs though, I was fuming, my chest area burning from hot tea that was served in the plane. An official car from the hotel was sent to pick me up, I wasn’t surprised to see that it was a limousine. Trust

"I'm so sorry, Sir, I swear I did not see you there, you need to believe me." Ray pleaded.

"I have a meeting with Dante and some of the top business men in this city…" I checked my Rolex wristwatch, then continued, "In minutes. I need to get a fresh shirt right now, we are almost at the hotel."

"I know that Sir, but there are no designer stores in this area, we would have to go some miles further from the hotel to see one. Go faster, man." He said the last bit to the driver.

I looked out the window at the same time the car started going faster and quickly shouted, "Stop the car!"

Just like that, the car came to a jerky halt, causing Ray's head to bang against the window at his side. Rubbing his head, he turned to me with a question in his eyes and bunched up eyebrows.

"There is a boutique over here." I looked out the window again and pointed at it. "A&D Wears or something like that. It's a unisex store and I can see some shirts through the transparent glass. Go get one for me."

Ray sat still, though, looking like I had just sent him to hell to get something from the devil himself. Impatient as hell, I cussed under my breath and pushed my side of the door open, making my way to the boutique.

"Sir! Sir, come on, I was only surprised, I can go get the shirt!" Ray whisper-yelled behind me. I walked as briskly as I could, knowing that it would not take long before people started taking shots of us.

I entered into the boutique and looked around, noticing immediately how scanty the place looked. The clothes which were inside now were decent enough, but the entire place looked like it could use help. I was already here, might as well get to buying.

I did not spare a glance at whomever welcomed me when I walked in, just went straight to the shirts area and picked a shirt. A red one to match my black pants and shoes.

"I don't like red." I heard a small voice say beside me. I turned my head around slowly and my eyes met with grays as electric as mine. She smiled up at me, and for a moment, I saw my mother, which was so fucking weird.

I blinked the weird thoughts away and watched as the little girl in front of me pushed her brown locks to the side, clutching her doll tightly with one hand then using the other to gently pry the red shirt off my hands.

"I think you should let go of this, and have… this, instead." She hung the red shirt back and pulled out a grey one.

"Go try it on in our changing room, come on." She led the way, so confident that I would trail behind her. And I did.

We got to the room and she stopped at the door, ushering me in. I gave her a nod and walked inside, taking off my stained shirt and putting on the new one.

Wow. The gray one really did look a lot better, matched my eyes and all that.

Ray whistled as soon as I was out, earning a glare from me. I crouched down to the girl's height and asked, "What do you think, princess?"

"I approve!" She beamed at me. I had no idea why I smiled back, considering I hardly knew how to smile properly. I must have looked weird, because Ray was falling over with laughter.

I was firing him today.

She held my hand as we walked to the counter together, telling me how strong and cool I looked all the way there.

A ginger-haired lady was the one behind the counter. She jerked up and was about to scold the child when I spoke, "The little princess helped me pick a shirt. Great customer service."

"Oh…" The lady muttered, looking at me with a small hint of recognition now. Her green eyes looked scared even, as she looked between me and the child. I paid no mind, asking Ray to give them a couple of extra bills and then crouching down again to say goodbye.

"What's your name?" She asked me.

"Cole Frost—"

"Oh my fucking God!" I heard the lady at the counter scream but I kept my attention on the young girl who looked utterly confused, and I asked,

"What is yours?"

"Purity. Please stop by again."

"I will." I quickly said without thinking, and the smile on her face was totally worth it. Now I would definitely have to stop by. After a brief hug, I stood up and made my way out of the boutique.

Scarily, I smiled all the way to the car, even with the cameras flashing as I walked. How did a stranger manage to lighten my mood so easily?