The Kincaids: Private Mergers

Two

In the elegant, embellished salon downstairs, a twelve-piece jazz ensemble was playing blues, a smoky, elegant sound. Perfect for what had to be one of the high-society weddings of the year.

Laurel hummed and did a little dance step in Kara’s wake and almost skipped into Alan Sinclair, who’d materialized in front of them, holding two glasses brimming with pale, bubbling gold wine. By some miracle he managed to keep the glasses upright, while Laurel apologized effusively.

“Major catastrophe averted,” he joked.

All three of them laughed.

“These were intended for you, beautiful ladies.” Alan held out the brimming glasses, his hazel eyes alight with good humor.

“Only a sip for me. I’m going to need my wits about me—I need to make sure I get all the guests’ names right,” said Kara with a gracious smile.

Laurel took the remaining glass. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t get a chance earlier to give you my very best wishes,” Alan told Kara. “Eli is a lucky man.”

“Why, thank you, Alan.” Kara beamed at him. “I certainly hope you meet the woman of your dreams soon—maybe even tonight.”

Alan laughed. “I can live in hope. But maybe we should wait a while—give you time for a honeymoon—before handing you another wedding to plan.”

“I’d be thrilled to do another wedding. And, for once, that’s not the businesswoman in me talking. I’m so happy, I’m ready to marry everyone off.”

“He’s a nice man,” Laurel observed as they walked away, holding their glasses.

“Thoughtful, too,” Kara agreed. “He’ll make some lucky woman a good husband.”

They’d reached the bridal table by now, and Eli leapt up to welcome his bride, his eyes warm and devoted as he seated her.

Feeling a bit like a third wheel, Laurel slipped into the vacant seat beside her mother and set her glass down on the white damask linen sprinkled with pink and crimson rose petals. A waiter appeared to fill it up.

“Where’s Cutter?” Laurel asked her mother, aware that she was sitting in his seat. The whole world had paired up—even her mother.

Everyone except her.

A wave of loneliness swept her; then she shook it off. All the more reason to follow the List and find a stranger to flirt with—and where better than a wedding?

“He spotted Harold Parsons and Mr. Larrimore and went over to greet them.” Elizabeth fluttered a hand in the direction of the bar. Following where her mother indicated, Laurel could see the white-haired lawyer talking to the head of Larrimore Industries, which had recently begun doing business with The Kincaid Group, making up a little of the losses TKG had suffered when several customers defected to Carolina Shipping. Why, only this week her brother Matthew, TKG’s director of new business, had heard rumblings that Jack Sinclair was trying to outbid them on an important shipping contract through backdoor channels.

Speak of the devil.

Jack Sinclair had pulled out a chair to seat himself at a table right on the edge of the dance floor. How boldly arrogant. He was behaving like he owned the Kincaid mansion. Laurel supposed inheriting forty-five percent of the stock in The Kincaid Group was responsible for some of that arrogance. She hadn’t managed to get a handle on Jack yet. Dark, unsmiling and perpetually brooding, he made her a little uneasy. He’d certainly caused TKG enough headaches in the past few months to last a lifetime.

Then Laurel caught a sight of the smooth blond hair of his mother, Angela, seated beyond him. Something his mother said caused a ferocious scowl to mar Jack’s features. Laurel shivered at the sight of his displeasure.

Why had her father’s firstborn son bothered to come to the wedding, if he intended to sit there and glare? Was he only here today to fool the paparazzi into thinking he was an accepted part of the Kincaid family? Or were her siblings correct? Did Jack fear that by staying away he’d heighten the suspicion already surrounding him? Laurel didn’t want to consider the possibility that her father had been shot in the head by his firstborn son…. It was too horrible.

She refused to allow Jack’s presence to ruin the celebratory mood tonight. The pall that had hung over the family for months had finally lifted. Laurel intended to enjoy the occasion … and make sure her mom did, too.

Laurel caught Elizabeth’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I can’t tell you how glad I am not only that you’re here at the wedding but that you’ve been cleared of all those ridiculous charges. It’s the best wedding gift Kara and Eli could ever have received.”

“Today hasn’t been easy,” her mother confessed. “All the speculation. I’m sure there are people here this evening who still believe I killed your father. And everyone is so curious about Cutter—it’s difficult for him, too.”

Yet, in the way that was so typical of Southern society matriarchs, none of her mother’s discomfort showed. Elizabeth’s face was serene, her short, auburn hair with the elegant grey highlights was immaculate, the strain of the past four turbulent months carefully masked. Only the reserve in her green eyes hinted at the anguish she’d been through.

“You deserve some happiness.” Laurel echoed Kara’s words from earlier. Letting go of her mother’s hand she reached for the glass Alan had given her. “And if Cutter makes you happy you shouldn’t let what others think spoil that. Let’s drink to happier tomorrows.”

Elizabeth took a tiny sip, and then set her own glass down. “I do wish the police would hurry up and finalize the investigation. Not knowing who killed your father …” Her voice trailed away.

Her brothers RJ and Matt had some strong opinions about who might have killed her father. But now wasn’t the right time to share them with her mother.

“I’ll call Detective McDonough tomorrow to arrange a meeting for later in the week to find out if there has been any progress,” promised Laurel. She shot the brooding interloper at the edge of the dance floor a surreptitious look. With luck, the police might finally have gathered enough evidence to toss Jack Sinclair in jail where her brothers said he belonged.

If her brothers were right, then Jack had been extremely devious—he’d made sure he had an airtight alibi, with several of his own employees vouching he’d been working late the night her father had died. Laurel didn’t want to believe her half brother was capable of that kind of treachery. But as RJ had pointed out, Jack was a very wealthy man—made even richer by the forty-five percent stake he inherited in The Kincaid Group on her father’s death. That kind of money could buy any alibi—particularly when the people supplying it already depended on him to earn their living. Laurel made a mental note to get an update from Nikki Thomas, the corporate security specialist the family had hired to investigate Jack Sinclair’s efforts to sabotage The Kincaid Group. Laurel couldn’t bear to see her mother so down, and Nikki might also have some thoughts about how to speed up the investigation—even though Laurel had once or twice suspected Nikki to be a little more emotionally invested in the ruthless man she was investigating than was wise.

Immersed in her thoughts, the touch on her arm startled her, and her head jerked around.

Eli stood there, wearing a broad grin. “Laurel, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Glancing at the dark figure beside her former fiancé, Laurel found herself confronted by the handsome man she’d exchanged that sizzling eye-meet with during the wedding ceremony.

“Laurel, this is Rakin Whitcomb Abdellah.” Eli presented him with a flourish. “Rakin, meet Laurel Kincaid, my brand new sister-in-law.”

Honest to goodness, she was going to kill Kara!

Already she could feel a flush stealing up her throat.

“I’ve heard so much about you.” Rakin held out his hand.

“Funny, that’s exactly what I was about to say.” Laurel set down her glass and took his hand. Her lashes swept down as she became conscious of the strength of the fingers against hers. “I’m surprised we’ve never encountered each other before.”

“In’shallah.” Letting go of her fingers, he spread his own hands wide. “What more can I say? The time was not right.”

Her gaze lifted and sharpened. “You believe in fate?”

“But of course. Everything happens for a reason. Today is the right time for us to meet.”

Charmed, she started to smile. It looked like Eli’s friend might be the perfect candidate for a flirtation with a stranger. “It is?”

“Yes.” His black-velvet gaze was intent … and Laurel felt the primal power of the man.

To break the spell, she switched her attention to Eli and murmured, “You should be worried we might trade secrets—between us we probably know everything about you.”

Eli chuckled. “I’m terrified.”

“You’re anything but terrified.” Laurel glanced at Rakin, and found his dark eyes were bright with laughter

The band swung into the first bars of the first dance.

“Now there’s something I am terrified about messing up. That’s the bridal waltz,” said Eli. “Let me go claim my bride.”

Laurel couldn’t help laughing as he hurried back to her sister. Conscious of Rakin’s very male presence at her side as Eli led Kara out onto the floor, Laurel fell silent and concentrated on watching the dance—not an easy task with Rakin still looming over her.

A spotlight landed on the newlyweds. The guests sighed as they moved into the dance in perfect time, Kara’s white dress fanning out to fill the ring the spotlight had created. They glided to the melody, and a few beats later, Laurel’s sister Lily and her husband, Daniel, joined in, RJ and Brooke were next on the floor.

Laurel could see Alan smiling as he sat beside his mother at the table on the edge of the dance floor. Jack had disappeared. Laurel wished he could’ve practiced the same civility as the Kincaid family—at Elizabeth’s request—were taking great care to show Angela and her sons tonight.

“Would you like to dance?”

Rakin’s deep tone caused her to forget all about Jack’s rudeness.

Silently she gave him her hand. The warm strength of his fingers closing around hers caused the return of that renegade fantasy of crushed, kissed lips, and Laurel abruptly lowered her eyelashes before he might read any of her dizzy imaginings. “Why, thank you, I’d like that.”

He led her onto the dance floor and took her into his arms. The sudden intimacy came as a shock. The music swirled around them.

To break the seductive mood, Laurel said, “You met Eli at Harvard?”

“Yes, we shared some classes and sometimes went hiking together—we both like the outdoors.”

“Yes. You were on the rowing team together, too, weren’t you? I seem to remember hearing Eli talk about pre-dawn practices on the river.”

He smiled. “Strange interest for someone from a desert country, hmm?”

“A little.” She examined him. “Tell me about Diyafa.”

“Ah, Eli has told you about my country?”

“Just the name. Diyafa.” It rolled off her tongue. “It sounds so deliciously exotic.”

“It is. The desert nights are warm and dry and the heavens above possess the brightest stars I have ever seen.”

The whisper of his voice stoked her imagination. “How magical. I hate to confess this—but I’ve never been out of the United States.”

“Never?”

She shook her head. “Never. I always intended to travel.”

Item No. 6 on the List involved traveling to some far-flung exotic destination. She’d had a fleeting vision of herself standing in the center of St. Mark’s Square in Venice or in front of the Sphinx in Egypt. Somewhere as different from Charleston as she could get.

She pulled a face. “Now I just have to turn that dream into reality. I even got myself a passport.” Which she’d been carrying around in her purse, together with the List—and the letter from her father she’d received on that emotionally charged day when her father’s will was read.

“Diyafa is a good place to visit.”

Did he think she was trying to coax an invitation from him? Discomfort flooded her. “Oh, I couldn’t take advantage of our acquaintance.”

“Why not?”

Her lashes fluttered down. “We hardly know one another.”

“I’m sure we can remedy that.” He sounded amused.

Laurel’s lashes lifted. Heavens, was she actually flirting with the man?

Then she examined her reaction.

So what?

Flirt with a stranger. It was on her list, and she was unlikely to ever encounter Rakin again. He might be Eli’s other best friend, but before today she’d only ever heard about him. It would be at least another ten years before they met again; after all he was a busy man. Worth the risk?

Or was she going to chicken out? No. The time to act had arrived. Pursing her mouth into a moue, she gave what she hoped looked like a mysterious smile. “Maybe I will visit … one day.”

An arrested expression settled in his eyes.

“You can let me know when you do.” There was an intimate note in his voice.

He was flirting too!

Rakin was clearly a master at the art of flirtation. For once she was tempted to let herself go. To revel in the full power of her womanhood. This was a man she was facing, a real man with a wealth of experience with women.

“To be honest I’m more likely to visit Las Vegas—” she began with a teasing laugh.

“You like to gamble?”

Had his voice dropped? Laurel’s heart beat a little faster. “I’ve never gambled seriously in my life. Certainly not in a casino.”

Her mother didn’t approve of gambling. A roguish uncle, the black sheep of the Winthrop family, had lost a fortune at poker, contributing to the dire straits the family found itself in before her mother’s marriage into the Kincaid fortune. Gambling was seriously discouraged among the Kincaid children. No doubt that was why Gamble all night had made it onto the List….

“We’ll have to change that—raise the stakes.”

Yes, he was definitely flirting. If the intimate note in his voice hadn’t made it clear, the gleam in his eyes confirmed it. Laurel gave herself up to the heady rush. “I wouldn’t want to become addicted.”

“That can only happen if the stakes are higher than you can afford.”

“I’ll remember that.” She peeked at him through her lashes. “If I ever find myself in Vegas.”

The song came to an end. She was hot and thirsty, yet Laurel found she didn’t want the exchange to end. It was exhilarating. Fun. Yet risky. More than she’d ever banked on when she’d scrawled Flirt with a stranger on her list. The weight of Rakin’s hand resting on her waist, the touch of his fingers against hers, the way his body had brushed against hers to the rhythm of the music was stealing over her senses.

“It’s warm in here,” she said, finally letting go of his hand and fanning her face. “I need a drink.”

“There’s a cool breeze outside,” Rakin responded readily, his hand sliding from where it rested at her waist to beneath her elbow. As they skirted the dance floor he picked up two brimming tulip glasses from a passing waiter with his free hand, before leading her to the open doors.

Laurel hesitated on the threshold. Outside, the balcony appeared to be deserted.

Her heart leapt as his hand touched the sensitive skin under her elbow. Rakin’s voice was deep and smooth as he said, “Come. It will be quiet and cool.”

And she couldn’t help wondering if she’d let herself in for more than she could handle as she stepped out into the Southern night.

There was a slight breeze and the balmy night air was redolent with the sweet scent of magnolia and jasmine.

Rakin led Laurel to the shadows at the end of balcony where the sultry throb of the jazz band was fainter. Under the glow cast by a wall sconce, he handed one of the long-stemmed glasses to Laurel, then leant back against the wide balustrade. She tipped the glass up to take a slow sip, and her gaze tangled with his over the rim.

Something—lust?—locked fast in the base of his stomach.

With her tall, slender figure wrapped in a column of moonlight silk, her magnolia skin, sparkling eyes and the crowning glory of her dark red hair, Laurel Kincaid was a very beautiful woman. Any man would be aroused by having the full wattage of her attention switched on to him. And, to his chagrin, Rakin discovered he was no exception.

But he was interested in far more than the surge of attraction between them. Holding her gaze, he drank from his glass, savoring the dry bubbles against his tongue. Despite the millions he’d added to the Al-Abdellah fortune, his grandfather was threatening to toss him out of the family business if he didn’t marry soon. So far, Rakin had resisted—love was not on his agenda. But the battle of wills being fought between himself and Prince Ahmeer Al-Abdellah had now erupted into open war. Marriage to the right woman might be the lesser of two evils. Eli’s not-so-joking suggestion that Laurel might be the perfect bride to get Rakin’s grandfather off his back was worth serious consideration.

And love would not be a factor …

One look at Laurel and his wily grandfather would ask no further questions. What man in his right mind would pass up the chance to wed such a stunning creature? Her connection to the Charleston Kincaids only served to make the deal even sweeter. But first Rakin would have to sell the idea to Laurel—she was a Kincaid, there was no earthly reason for her to agree to help him out.

Except business …

“So you’d like to gamble in Vegas?” he asked, swirling the gold liquid in his flute.

“Maybe.”

He could hear the smile in her voice. Was she teasing him? He couldn’t read her expression. “You’ve really never been?”

“Only once—as a young child. But I don’t remember it, so it doesn’t count.”

“Such a lack is easy enough to remedy—but you shouldn’t go alone.”

“I only discovered recently that I wanted to go at all. A few months ago I could’ve invited Lily or Kara along with me. But it’s too late for that—they’re both married now. You may not have heard, Lily and Daniel decided to solemnize their union in a very private service just a couple of days ago—Lily didn’t want to overshadow Kara’s wedding. They intend to have a bigger elaborate family affair in October after the baby is born.”

She spoke in a matter-of-fact voice, yet Rakin thought he detected a hint of loneliness in her voice. He was no stranger to loneliness. An only child, he envied Laurel the bond she shared with her sisters and brothers. The closeness among the Kincaids was evident in every look, every laugh.

The closest he’d come to that kind of relationship was the friendship he shared with Eli—but neither of them talked much about family … or emotions. Sport, money and business were their main lines of communication. “Marriage won’t change the fact that they will always be your sisters.”

Laurel moved away from the light, to the end of the balcony. She raised her glass and sipped while she stared out into the night. At last she spoke, “I know that. But now they have priorities of their own. Both of them have husbands … and Lily is going to be a mother. The sisterhood will never be the same again.” Her voice held an echo of sadness. Then he caught the glint of startling white in the shadows as she turned her head and smiled. “Enough of that. I have plenty of friends with whom I can visit Vegas.”

Rakin didn’t doubt that for a moment. She was vivacious and breathtakingly beautiful. She’d have friends buzzing around her like bees at a honey pot.

“How did you come to be friends with Eli?” he asked.

It had puzzled him when Eli had first spoken about Laurel Kincaid back at Harvard. Initially, Rakin had thought the two must share more than friendship. With his upbringing in the traditional society of Diyafa followed by all-boys schooling, envisaging a close friendship between a man and a woman had been foreign. But Eli had made it clear he and Laurel were nothing more than friends—very close friends. When the news had come that they were engaged, Rakin had not been surprised. At some point any friendship between a man and woman would have to cross into the sexual realm. Women and men were not created to be simply friends.

Laurel’s jilting of Eli, and Eli’s ready acceptance of it—and his wry joke that Rakin should marry her—had astonished Rakin. So, too, had the fact that Eli’s heart had not even been the slightest bit battered after Laurel’s desertion.

“Growing up, we were the same age—it seemed natural that we hung out together. Now, years later, with both of us still single and such good friends, we were invited everywhere together. I guess we were linked in everyone else’s minds as a couple long before the idea ever occurred to either of us.” She shrugged, and light glimmered on the pale slope of shoulders left bare by her silver-gray dress. “The next step was marriage. But clearly we’re better at being friends than lovers. There was no spark.”

And that would explain Eli’s philosophical acceptance of the breakup. Rakin put his glass down and took a step closer to Laurel; then he murmured, “You wanted spark?”

“Doesn’t every woman?”

Something leapt between them. Before Rakin could consider his actions, he lifted a hand and brushed a strand of the dark fire from her cheek. Her dewy skin was softer than any he’d ever touched—and it left him hungry to stroke again. Abruptly, he dropped his hand before he could give into the moment’s madness. “Everyone seeks that elusive flame—few are lucky enough to find it.”

“You mean love?”

“I don’t believe in love—I’m talking about what you called spark. A tangible force that connects two people in perfect harmony only a few times in a lifetime.”

She tipped her head back and drained the last of her champagne. The elegant column of her neck gleamed in the lamplight. “Spark sounds … interesting. I used to think I wanted love more than anything else in the world.”

“You don’t think so anymore?”

“Nope.” She giggled. “That should be ‘No,’ clearly and politely enunciated, of course.”

Rakin found himself grinning at that absurdity. The revelation that she wasn’t looking for some romantic notion of love eased his conscience. Business … and maybe some sparks … might be enough to persuade her to go along with his plan.

“Pardon my giggling.” Laurel moved back into the pool of light beneath the wall sconce. “There hasn’t been much to laugh about lately so this feels very good.”

“It must be the joy of a wedding.”

She raised her empty glass. “I suspect it may have something to do with the champagne, too.”

The forthright observation startled Rakin. Had he at last found a woman capable of distinguishing between realism and romance? Quite possibly. She was, after all, a Kincaid, a businesswoman. It was starting to look like he’d struck twenty-four-karat gold. “Can I get you another?”

“Not yet. I’ve had enough. I think I might be a little tipsy. I’m trying to remember how many glasses of champagne I’ve had. Three maybe.” She laughed again. “That’s a first.”

Straightening from where he leant, Rakin took the glass from her and set it down on the balustrade behind them. “You’ve never been tipsy?”

She shook her head and her hair swirled about her face. “Never! My mother would be mortified, she would not approve.”

At the mention of her mother, Rakin said, “I was sorry to hear about your mother’s arrest—it must have been a difficult time for the whole family.”

“It hasn’t been easy.” All humor drained from her face and Rakin found himself missing the pleasure of it. “The police are still no closer to finding a suspect. But thankfully Mom has been cleared.” Laurel shivered, and he knew it wasn’t with cold. “I keep replaying that last day through my mind. I was at the offices until late in the afternoon. I even made Dad a cup of coffee before I left. He glanced up when I set it down, I joked that it was hot and strong just as he liked it. He laughed—Dad didn’t often laugh—and thanked me, then he went back to the documents he was reading. That’s the last image I have of him. Daddy didn’t even see me wave goodbye as I exited his office.”