“I do, yes. Especially when it comes to making Charlotte happy. There’s really nothing he won’t do for his daughter or grandchildren. And that includes keeping you on a very short leash.” Ian grasped Jason’s face between his fingers, squeezing tight enough to cause pain. “You sure as hell will have a great deal of trouble whoring around as you’ve been used to doing all these years. Maybe you’ll finally learn to appreciate the very posh life you’ve been lucky enough to have.”
Jason snorted. “I think I’d prefer the broken bones to everything you’ve just described.”
“Tough. The choice isn’t yours to make. Uncle Richard has finally realized what a liability you are to this company, to this family, and he’s prepared to do whatever is necessary to keep you in line.” Ian released his grip on Jason’s cheeks, shoving him away. “Now, I’ve got a meeting to get back to. Don’t bother returning yourself. In fact, perhaps you and Charlotte ought to catch an earlier flight home, given that you’ll have a great deal of packing to do. Now get the hell out of my sight before I change my mind about breaking your jaw.”
Jason had his hand on the door handle but couldn’t resist taking one final parting shot. “Aren’t you going to go check on your slut? After all, she looked awfully delicious in that bikini. I never knew you favored blondes, Ian, especially ones with nice big - ”
But before the rest of his obscene words could leave his mouth, Jason was gasping for breath, bent over at the waist and unable to make a sound after Ian had given him a hard, vicious kick to the groin.
Ian opened the door and shoved him out into the hallway, a look of pure loathing on his face. “See if you can make it back to your room without vomiting, hmm? I understand they just had the carpets cleaned recently.”
Ian slammed the door shut, forcing himself to take several deep breaths. He glanced quickly at his watch, realizing he’d need to make this next part quick so he could return to the meeting. At the wet bar he grabbed one of the plastic ice bucket liners and filled it with ice.
He found Tessa pacing anxiously to and fro on the stretch of sand not far from their patio. She was still wearing the sheer swimsuit cover up over her bikini, her beach tote all but forgotten on the sand. When she saw him approach, she ran towards him a bit clumsily, her bare feet sinking into the loose sand.
“What happened?” she asked worriedly. “Are you all right? He didn’t try - ”
Ian chuckled, pulling her close against him. “Darling, I’ll try very hard not to be insulted that you thought for one moment that little shit could possibly hurt me. The real question is – are you all right?”
Tessa shrugged. “Just a little shook up. I can’t believe I actually opened the door for him, that I didn’t realize he wasn’t Geoffrey. He just sounded so much like him. I’m sorry.”
“Shush. It’s all right. And Jason won’t be bothering you ever again.”
He quickly told her about the arrangement he’d made a couple of days ago with his uncle after discovering that Jason was up to his old tricks down at the Silicon Valley hotel. Richard had somewhat reluctantly agreed to have Jason return to London, albeit under extremely tight controls.
Tessa sighed in relief. “Well, I’m glad to hear it. And especially for your cousin. She seems like such a sweet woman, not at all deserving of how that jerk treats her.”
“I agree. Now, let me see your knuckles, hmm? If you don’t get some ice on them, they’re going to bruise. Just how hard did you wallop him, love?”
She grinned. “He has a weak nose. It didn’t take much effort actually.”
Ian guffawed in delight as Tessa applied the ice pack. “You’re a natural. When we get home it will be time to up your training. But not,” he added sternly, “with that randy bastard Jesse. You’ll train with me, got it?”
She reached up and gave him a kiss. “Got it.” She looked down at her bare feet and shuffled uncertainly. “You do realize what day this is, don’t you?”
Ian sighed. “Are we on this again? Yes, I know it’s a Wednesday, Tessa, but once again it’s just a coincidence. You really need to stop this silly superstition you have about this particular day of the week.”
She shook her head. “Bad things always happen on Wednesdays, it never fails. But at least this time it’s ending well.”
“Well, forget about it, all right? Now, I’d better get back to the meeting, especially since I left Andrew in charge of delivering my budget talk. I don’t know whether he’ll have completely bungled the whole thing, or if the entire room full of managers will be pissed off.”