The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Guests mingled in the library, the living room, and the grand foyer of the estate as waiters in white shirts and bow ties carried trays of hors d’oeuvres and glasses filled with champagne. His mother had outdone herself this year, and the house was decorated in all manner of Christmas glory. Christmas lights stretched up the entire long driveway to the estate. For the first time ever, Andy wondered about the extravagance of the electricity bill. He’d never thought of it before, but all the finery, the food, the liquor that would go to waste tonight would feed so many hungry families. He just hoped that the staff took what was left of the food after the party, because he knew most of it would get dumped in the trash otherwise.

“There you are, darling.” Caroline slid her arm through Andy’s, and she patted his black tailored tux, which had been imported from some fancy Parisian outfit and cost more, he realized, than what Laura paid for rent in a year.

Andy glanced at his mother, dressed in a silver sequined gown, her hair curled, just touching her shoulders, perfectly groomed and not a hair out of place. She flashed a tasteful amount of diamonds: earrings, necklace, and a bracelet. Again, he couldn’t help wondering how the value of one ring could set Laura and her son up for life.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, Anderson?” She smiled and flicked her fingers at the senator, who was speaking with Todd. Alexis stood beside her father, and their gazes met for a second. Then she looked away and smiled and laughed at something Todd said.

“Nothing, Mother. So how long are you going to hold me hostage here?” he snarled, wanting to burst out the back door, squealing down the driveway and out of there.

She grinned, flashing perfectly straight white teeth. Her icy blue eyes were free of any loving motherly concern. “You have two choices here, darling, and only one is the right one. So I suggest you put on that dashing smile of yours and go over to woo Alexis. So far, all you’ve managed to do is irritate her, and that is making the senator unhappy. Since your father and I were just speaking of your cousin Jed and the money he needs to get that therapeutic riding off the ground, we’ve told the senator how supportive you are of the venture and how interested you are in his daughter. He wants this alliance as much as we do. Now smile. I’m sure your father has talked to you.”

Andy stared at his mother. “If you think threatening to take funding away from Jed is going to make me toe the line, you’re sorely mistaken. There are other avenues for Jed, and I’ll make sure to help him.”

His mother laughed, a very ladylike soft chuckle that drove a shiver up his spine. “Oh, Anderson, without the senator’s help, it’s not just funding. You should know better than anyone that there is also licensing approval, and from what I understand, they have to be careful nowadays with anyone who wants to work with children, especially those with special needs. After all, who knows what people really have hidden away in their closets, what can suddenly creep out with further investigation?” His mother patted his arm. “Now, I think Alexis is looking a little warm. Maybe she could use a refreshment and you could show her the sunroom.”

At one time, Andy had protected his family, their reputation. He had done things to clean up the messes his father was constantly in. He knew his father loved him, but his mother… he wondered what the woman was really about.

Maybe it was her insinuated threat to Jed’s future that had him walking toward the senator and his daughter. Whatever it was, the seed she’d planted of the chaos she could unleash had him pulling back in this fight again. If there was one thing he had learned in business and in fighting, it was to know his opponent, to know his weakness, and to never take on a fight he couldn’t win.

“Senator Johnston, so glad you could come.” He gripped the man’s hand. He was tall and solidly built, his graying hair and hazel eyes adding to his distinguished appearance. His hand rested on his daughter’s back, and he eyed Andy in a way that told him that if he hurt his daughter, he’d destroy him.

“Alexis, you look lovely tonight.” Andy had to dig deep to play the role his mother wanted, even though Alexis did look stunning in a deep blue gown that showed off her exquisite figure.

“Thank you, Andy. I must say, you clean up quite well yourself, but then, I wondered if you were going to show at all.” She glared at him coolly, letting him know she wasn’t fooled for one minute. She turned away. “Excuse me, I’m finding it a little stuffy. I think I’ll get some air.” She patted her father’s arm. “I’ll be back, Father.”

“Andy, why don’t you show Alexis the sunroom,” Caroline stated as she walked up behind him, and she smiled at the senator. “We should really allow these two some time to get to know each other.”

Andy gritted his teeth but stepped forward and offered his arm to Alexis. She had been raised with impeccable manners and understood society’s rules, so she accepted his arm and walked with him.

“You know, Andy, I’m no fool. I know you’re a smart man. You do realize your mother and my father would like nothing more than for us to be involved, for you to court me, shall we say. The only reason I was invited here was for us to have a chance to get to know each other. But I won’t be played for a fool. You and I both know you have about as much interest in getting to know me as a cat does a dog.”

Andy didn’t much like being called out, but she had nailed what he was thinking on the head—and what he was feeling. He paused and lifted a glass of champagne off a tray of a passing waiter. “Alexis?”

She inclined her head and accepted the glass.

“Bourbon for me,” Andy ordered to the young waiter. “Alexis, you’ll love the view from this room.” He escorted her down five steps and into a wide, open sunroom filled with plants, a corner pond, a rock wall fireplace and plush furnishings. Thankfully, it was empty of any guests.

Alexis strode to a bench seat beside the stone pond and dipped her hand in. “This is a lovely room; even the air is fresh in here.” She didn’t smile, but when she gazed at Andy, he noted a hint of sadness before the waiter returned with his bourbon. She dropped her gaze quickly, hiding it from him, and smiled, and all the control and strength of a woman in charge returned when she glanced back up with those hard blue eyes.

“Thank you.” Andy lifted his glass to Alexis. “Merry Christmas, Alexis. You’re right about one thing: I’m not interested in a relationship. I don’t know you, and I have a lot I’m dealing with right now. So I apologize if you feel slighted.”

Alexis slid around and sipped her champagne before setting the full glass beside her on a side table. “You do appear distracted. I’m not a monster, Andy Friessen. Maybe what you need is a friendly ear from someone who is impartial.”

“Thank you. That’s not what I expected, but maybe you can tell me what business your father has with mine right now?”

She never flinched when she said, “Well, your mother and my father have been in business together, but I know right now that my father and yours have investments in some offshore company. My daddy is ensuring that subsidies are provided and that the company’s debt is forgiven. But aren’t you already involved in the business part of this?”

Andy stared at this striking woman, wondering if she really understood what she’d said. “My father and I work closely together in business, but what you’re talking about is fleecing the taxpayer while contributing nothing.”

She tilted her head back and laughed. “Oh, Andy, you surprise me. Half the people at this party have built their wealth this way, from subsidies and forgiveness of debts so that they can buy more, invest more. After all, it’s the American way.”

Andy glanced at the crowd of family friends, guests just outside the sunroom, all with wealth in some form. He realized he really didn’t know how they’d made their money and, in that moment, felt something inside himself awaken. He realized the unbalance of it, the injustice, having more money than you needed. It was Laura’s thin face that flashed before him and the screams of others from his past: the unseen, the impoverished, and those trying to make a difference. Andy never saw her get up, but she was in front of him, and she took his glass from his hand, set it on the wooden ledge beside him. Her hands clasped his waist, and she stepped closer, tracing a finger up his chest, over his chin and lips with her soft hands, her long red nails.

“I’d love to explore what could be, maybe get to know you a little better.”

She smelled so sweet. He’d been a long time without a woman. She pressed her breasts into his chest and lifted her lips in offering. Andy didn’t know why he did it—maybe curiosity had him lowering his head and tasting her and what she offered. He took advantage of her open mouth and probed with his tongue; he could feel her quiver and settle in closer, running her hand down his back, up over his shoulders. He moulded his mouth over hers with fierce pleasure. He began to breathe harder, faster, demanding more, which she willingly offered. Then he lifted her, pulling her closer, adjusting her hips against his. She locked her arms around his neck and squirmed.

A gasp sounded from behind him, and a woman squeaked. “Oh, excuse me!”

Andy pulled back, prying Alexis’ arms from his neck. The woman quickly left. Alexis stared at him with a heavy-lidded gaze, her lips red and pouty. He needed to step back, get some air. He couldn’t believe what he’d almost done.

“I’m sorry, Alexis, but I just realized I have someplace else I have to be. I apologize for deserting you.” He left shaking, gritting his teeth as he woefully fought to gain control, taking the back stairs two at a time up to his room, where he changed into something warm, something casual, and slipped out the side door.