"It all started on Christmas Eve many, many years ago. A radiant mother-to-be had just finished hanging up the last stocking on the mantle when suddenly her birthing pains kicked in. Before she knew it, she was giving birth to a lovely baby girl on the living room rug! Anyway, the baby was pretty much the greatest baby ever to be born. She wasn't purple like most newborns, and she didn't cry at all! They all loved her so much that they named her Serena Christmas Jones. And then she lived happily ever after! The end," the storyteller sighed dreamily as she closed the storybook and turned to her audience.
"Um, isn't that your name, Miss Ser-wena?" An Asian girl asked confused.
"Yeah! You changed the story! My mama read me the stor-wy before and that ain't how it goes! I wanna hear about the red, fat man and the reindeer!" An obnoxiously-looking redhead shouted.
"Well, I thought I'd spice it up a bit. You know, add some variety?" Her weak attempt at laughing it off obviously didn't satisfy the kids.
"Cheat-ah! Miss Ser-wena's a cheat-ah!" The redhead growled again.
Involuntarily, Serena took a step back. 'Okay, so a mob of mutinous kids…great!'
The kids began crowding her each screaming about one thing or the other. The repetitive demand for snack proved to be her redemption.
"Hey guys, how about a snack?" She shouted over the loud crowd, and immediately they quieted.
"That's right. Everyone get in your seats, and I'll go get a snack for you!"
Thankful to get away at least five feet away from the toddlers, she grabbed a box of goldfish crackers and napkins.
'Where's Raye anyway? She shouldn't have taken this long with that group of clients.'
By the time she fed all the kids an insane amount of goldfish and apple juice just so they'd shut-up, the clients magically arrived to pick up their little monsters to Serena's chagrin.
Sighing at the now blissfully silent yet completely trashed room, she began to clean up. Promising herself that she'll look for a full-time day care personnel first thing tomorrow for next week's kids, she bent to pick up the crumbled crackers. Wiping up spilled juice with napkins and finally rearranging the play area where it looked like a battle zone, she breathed deeply before moving off to find her partner and friend, Raye Ross.
"How did you get so hot?" She trailed her hands over his lapels as he bent his head to her rounded shoulder and laid a generous kiss there.
"How did you get so gorgeous?" Her hands tightened on his russet hair when her silk blouse tumbled off of her.
"Stroke of luck, but I'm flattered none the less," Raye whispered hotly against the man's ear as he trailed kisses against her neck and propped her body against the cool mahogany.
"Hmm, I aim to please." His warm hands massaged her heated skin before dipping beneath her skirt.
A sharp knock interrupted the two impatient people perched on Raye's desk.
"Damn, and I just got your shirt off," the man smirked as Raye snatched it back impatiently before buttoning it up with fast efficiency.
Then with a hot look at the man who sat in a chair with his suit jacket in his lap, Raye opened the door.
"Serena, is something the matter?" Raye moved to her chair as Serena took a hesitant step inside.
Eyeing the man, she shook her head.
"No, I wanted to see how the tour went this morning, but I see that you are busy. When you get a chance, I need a word," Serena said with a smile.
"I'm not that busy. I mean, it's nothing that can't wait. Besides we were actually waiting for you," she said while threw a look at the man looking on with a slow smile of amusement before continuing, "Please meet Jed Smith. He's from Smith & Boyd Group. You know, the merger and acquisitions firm based in LA?"
Serena cocked an eyebrow at the handsome man now extending a hand to her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Smith. What brings you here to Orlando?" Serena assessed him. At least 6'3" with green eyes and dirty blond hair, Smith was very handsome. The fact that he was probably sexing it up with Raye a few minutes ago brought another smile to her lips. 'How typical of Raye that it doesn't even bother me anymore,' she thought.
"Well actually I'm here on business. I was just about to speak with Miss Ross about a proposal. She said you had some business to wrap up before you would join us." Smith had the decency to darken at the mention of how they were occupying themselves before Serena's arrival.
"Yes, I just finished," she said sweetly while throwing Raye a dirty look, "Now, Mr. Smith, what can we help you with?"
Jed Smith sank a little more into his chair before giving that all-American smile. "You see, ladies, I took your tour this morning and was absolutely blown away by your service and properties. I'll be the first to admit that I'm mighty tempted to buy a nice little condo from you, but my main purpose for being here is to offer you something that I'll hope you will find very tempting." His gaze returned to Raye as he continued with a charming smile.
He was still smiling when the two beautiful women shook his hand and promised to get in touch later before showing him out the door.
"I'm sure we'll be in touch, ladies. Good day." He was still feeling pretty good about how the meeting went until he heard a loud slam behind him, causing Jed to frown. Maybe Seiya was right, this wasn't as easy as he thought. But then again, he wouldn't mind seeing that feisty Raye Ross again. If there was a woman who could set his sheets on fire, it'd be someone like her. And after he gets the best fuck of his life, he'll move on in victory. The Toffalettis always win, and if these two women thought they'd been any different then they were dead wrong. When Jed stepped out into the bright Florida sunlight, there was once again a bright smile adorning his face.
"Can you believe the nerve on that bastard? We told him we won't sell!" Raye eyed her glass paperweight dangerously before taking a few deep breaths.
"I see that slamming the door off its hinge didn't take the edge off. I swear our insurance won't cover that or whatever else you're planning with that paperweight," Serena said coolly.
"You're right. They're not worth it. Dr. Silverman said I should just pick my battles with worthy adversaries."
"Raye, you're much too hotheaded sometimes. You don't need a psychiatrist to tell you that, even if she is a friend. Besides, Amy's probably tired of your bitching anyway."
"Yeah, but at least I'm not an ice queen like someone I know. You know how Amy is when she's in her doctor mode."
"Point taken. Anyway, the Toffaletti posse doesn't seem to be letting up. Maybe we need to start looking for some legal protection. As far as I know, they are heavyweights on the real-estate market. The economy is slowing, and they could be looking for us to go under before…"
"Serena, don't you dare suggest that! There's no way we can just give up something we've worked our whole life for. Moonlit Properties is ours! We've built it from nothing! I don't care if they're the damn mob! Why can't they just leave us alone?"
"Raye, I know that. After all the hopes and effort we've put into this, selling it would like ripping it to shreds. But that's all the more reason to seek some professional advice. You've heard the rumors. If we fuck with the Toffalettis, we'll be the ones left in the dust afterwards."
"I suppose you're right. We're certainly not lawyers, that's for damn sure. Was there someone you had in mind?"
"Well, I've been pondering this for a while and yesterday I looked up some of the best people in the industry. Have you heard of Darien Bauer from Weston & Associates? Apparently he's just made partner and he's apparently the best and brightest. The best part is, he's a sucker for women who look like you, at least according to People, and I think he may just be in our price range if…" Serena gave a helpless grin at Raye.
"Let me get this straight… you want me to seduce some old geezer lawyer so we can get the Lewis crew off our backs?"
"Well when you put it that way…"
"Forget it. I have some standards, you know," Raye snapped impatiently.
"Wait, hear me out. One, I hear he's far from 'old geezer lawyer' and two, you don't need to seduce him, just get him somewhat sympathetic to our cause. You and I are good at two things, selling real estate and seducing men, well I'm good at the first item, and this is a perfect opportunity for you to put both to use."
"When did you get so talkative? I thought you didn't care about anything?"
"Bite your tongue! This is our livelihoods…no, this is our destiny we're talking about. I'm not about to let some hotshot real estate company that already owns half this city to bring us down. We've come too damn far."
"Now you're talking, girl. All right, let's at least meet with this lawyer the regular way. You go talk to him, and fill him in on the case. I'll stay here and run shop in case those bastards come poking their noses around here. If this lawyer won't warm up to the case the old-fashioned way, then I'll see what I can do. But only then, got it? I don't want to develop a bad rep everywhere in town."
"Fine, but he's too expensive the regular way. You'll see it from my perspective. It's not like I'm trying to whore you off," Serena stuck out her lower lip and widened her eyes innocently.
"Geez, sometimes I think that you've never gotten past 17 the way you pout, so much for the ice bitch persona."
"Hey, a girl's got to keep some secrets to herself."
"All right. Now go set this up, and I got to work on hiring us a nanny for those little brats. I suppose that dirty look from earlier was due to the 15 toddlers."
"Damn straight. I don't know if I'll ever be able to have kids after today. See you for lunch?"
"You can count on it, Serena." As Serena left the office, Raye turned back to her desk. With a small smile, she picked up the business card Jed had left behind. 'There's something so utterly sexy about him that it'd be a shame if I don't finish what we started. He hadn't been in here more than a few minutes before we jumped each other, but hey, all through the tour the tension was building… at least Sere didn't chew me out again. Besides, it's like what they say: you keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Poor bastard won't ever know what hit him.'
"Tell me some good news. They just responded very indelicately to Jed's mode of persuasion," Seiya muttered as Nate Spade laid out the photos on the marble conference desk.
"They've been friends since college and opened Moonlit Properties. The business opened three years ago and has gained national recognition for their meticulous attention to detail. Coupled with genuine compassion for the communities they help and a relentless passion to their work, the two women have built up the company beyond anyone's wildest expectations."
"Tell me something new, Nate. We knew all this before I sent Jed to try and buy them out again. I need leverage, damn it. You know I have people to answer to, and if we don't deliver, shit's going to hit the fan."
"Believe you me that I'm doing the best I can. Aside from a few scrapes back when they were still minors, the bitches are clean, almost too clean, if you can believe it. " Nate watched the usually carefree Seiya pace nervously around the room.
"Well there has to be something! I want to find out what their allergies are, what they ate for breakfast, what color of sheets are on their bed… I need to know what I can use to force them to give us what we want. We tried playing fair but they asked for hardball. Well they're gonna get it."
"Sei, they're just kids…"
"No! Don't you dare get soft on me! Don't forget that all our lives depend on this." His voice now lowered to a harsh whisper, Seiya sat heavily at his desk, his gaze fixated on a picture of Serena grocery shopping.
Nate's phone rang with a shrill bark and a few sentences later, Nate disconnected with an unreadable look on his face.
"There's something you ought to know. She's called him."
Seiya's eyes widened.
"Father needs to be told. This is an interesting development I never expected, but if we do it right, it just might be all the leverage we need. But first we must wait. She's making the first move, and we'll be there to finish it."
"You mean we'll be there to finish her," Nate amended.
"From now on, there is no difference. Do well to remind yourself of your loyalties. To the family or to humanity? I trust you'll make the right decision."