Scarlett was right. Gabe Patterson couldn't sleep that night. Gabe returned to his suite to find the random blonde he had met that night at the club and fucked several times on his bed. The whore as he liked to call them was still sleeping naked on his bed. But Gabe couldn't help but wish it was someone else. The woman he'd just met at the pool. She was definitely any man's wet dream with the body of a pornstar.
He'd never seen anyone as beautiful as her. That woman was a goddess. His goddess.
Gabe couldn't get the mysterious woman out of his mind, and he couldn't stop thinking about how he could meet her again. She definitely didn't seem like any random woman. She had to be someone important. He hadn't seen any woman carry herself with so much grace and class. No woman had ever spoken to him that way. He was always a lady's man. With one charming smile from him and a little bit of attention, the women always fell to his feet. At least Emily Saunders did. And even that worthless human, Diana Tate did.
Gabe rolled his eyes, stepping out onto his balcony. He hated thinking of his ex-wife Diana. Not because he had loved her or missed her, but because he just didn't want to remember someone so insignificant. She was nothing but a means to an end for him and the Saunders. Because of her he had everything he wanted and was so happy when the news had confirmed Diana's death in the prison. She died like the dog she was, and he was glad.
His phone rang out loud, bringing him out of his thoughts. He let out a curse as he saw it was his fiancee Emily. She'd left him with almost thirty missed calls in the last three hours. Emily Saunders didn't fucking own him, but times like this felt she did. And he didn't like that. And that was one of the reasons he still wasn't ready to expose their secret love affair, because then, Emily would want them to get engaged.
Gabe had known Emily since they were old enough in high school to fuck and date. They were partners in mostly everything seeing the kind of things they'd done together, but that didn't mean she was the kind of woman he wanted to marry. She had no brains, no class, no beauty. Unlike her. His goddess.
No woman had ever infiltrated his mind in a matter of minutes as his goddess had. She was perfect for him and he could only imagine how good she'd taste in bed. He had to find her, and soon.
In the meantime, he sent a text to Richard, his PA at the company, reminding him to prepare everything needed for tomorrow's exhibition. A new museum was opening up in town tomorrow night by the famous artist, S. Johnson. And what was surprising was Tate Group wasn't invited when many influential companies and figures from the business and political world were invited, including the almighty Mr Blackford of the Ford empire, and that would be the perfect opportunity to speak to him regarding the Bardin project.
For three years now, even before Gabe became president, he had always sent proposals on behalf of the company to the Ford empire, but it was rejected every time, and the same happened a few months ago.
Mr Blackford wasn't the kind of person one had the opportunity to see often, almost everyone was surprised the man who owned New York confirmed his attendance at the Glam party. He'd always missed it in the past, but this time was different and Gabe couldn't help but see it as the universe trying to help him. Hopefully, he'd be able to see Killian Blackford and then have a few minutes to speak to him about the Bardin project proposal, and finally, he'd see a reason why Tate Group and Ford Empire should partner together.
Gabe could feel it; tomorrow's night exhibition was going to be one he'd never forget. If only he knew, that couldn't be far from the truth.
*****
It was now morning in the Ford's mansion and as usual, Scarlett and little Ava were in the kitchen preparing breakfast. This was something they loved doing together, and Scarlett loved it more because it always made the little one happy.
Everyone could see the change in six-year-old Ava over the past year. The first time Scarlett met Ava as Killian's fiancee, the little angel barely spoke to anyone. The only person she'd occasionally trade words with was Killian, but it was at a minimum. Ava rarely smiled or loved having anyone around. She was like a lost puppy who was always stuck in her own world and was haunted by nightmares from the night she witnessed her parents die.
Scarlett understood the child's pain and made it her mission to always make her happy. Ava was a lovable child, and soon she became so fond of Scarlett and Scarlett loved Ava as though she was her real mother.
Sometimes she wondered how Ava would take it when she and Killian put an end to their fake relationship after their revenge was complete. Regardless, she made a promise to always be by her side.
“How are my angels doing?” The deep timbre of Killian's voice traveled into the large kitchen, and he scooped Ava into his arms the second the little one ran to him.
“We're just preparing breakfast,” Ava said, and Killian's gaze finally traveled to Scarlett. The woman who had snuck her way into his life and into the life of the little girl the world now recognized as his daughter.
Killian didn't know how Scarlett managed to do it, but the second she stepped into the Ford’s mansion everything changed. No, it had changed before that, and he knew it.
The moment he saw her cuffed and confined in that prison cell, everything had changed. The almighty Killian Blackford's heart, which hadn't moved in forever, did for the first time at the sight of a woman he didn't know or hadn't met before.
