Page 39 of Burning Rivalry

“Consider this a warning,” I concluded once it seemed like he had himself under control. “If I find out you’re interfering in my business one more time, that’s it. The gloves come off. And my lawyers would love to earn their retainer and then some.”

When his eyes narrowed, I knew he was dropping the act. “How do I know you’re not going to go back on your word?” he asked and added, “If what you say is true.”

“You don’t even have the balls to admit what you’ve done,” I observed, unsurprised. “You’ll have to take my word for it, won’t you? Because let me warn you…” I added, leaning in and lowering my voice until it was a stern whisper only he could hear, “… if anything goes wrong from here on out… a bad review, a clogged drain, an act of God, I am holding you accountable, and I will bury you. Do we understand each other?”

The word hatred was the only one that sufficed in describing the expression he wore when he stood, his normally tanned skin suspiciously pale. Tossing his napkin onto the table with more force than necessary, scoffed and then shot me a cold glare before walking away without another word.

What was there to say?

Nothing I would want to hear, anyway.

I left the table and entered the kitchen, feeling like a new man, as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. It had taken the better part of a week after learning of his treachery to decide how I wanted to deal with him. In the end, it seemed wise to give him a warning rather than stir up a scandal so close to the soft opening next week. At the same time, I didn’t want to give him too long a leash. He needed to know I was acutely aware and that I was watching.

“It looked like he was going to puke.” Of course, Claudia had watched from the window in the kitchen door, probably standing on her tiptoes to see over the bottom edge. “What did he say?”

“Nothing beyond the empty self-defense I knew I would hear. He gave up the act quickly, though,” I concluded. The fact was, I didn’t want to talk about him now. Not when those big, shining eyes twinkled up at me. This meant just as much to her as it did to me, and there was something special about that. Something that went beyond the solidarity my friends expressed.

And I wanted to celebrate. “Listen. Everything’s under control around here,” I pointed out, noting the cleanup preparations already taking place while the last remaining diners wrapped things up. “There’s something I want to show you. Come with me.”

“Where?” she asked, removing the latex glove she wore over her right hand in the days after her burn. The doctor I’d insisted she see assured her there was no infection. It was well on its way to healing now, with only a gauze pad on her palm and the high-vis blue Band-Aids on her fingertips to keep her comfortable.

“You’ll see.” There was nothing I enjoyed as much as teasing her like this, especially when I was feeling hopeful and positive for the first time in forever. The new assistant Felix hired a couple of days after Marissa’s dismissal eagerly picked up the slack, learning on the fly as Claudia explained her processes and the rhythm she and Stella had established. After the opening, Naomi would take her place at Home Again, overseeing a trio of bakers, while Claudia split her time between both locations the way I would.

The pieces were all in place.

Nobody could take this from me.

Claudia said her goodbyes first while I waited ten minutes or so before leaving. There was still a need for discretion for her sake. I couldn’t have cared less whether the crew knew we had a deeper relationship going, but she felt it important to keep up the charade.

She was gone by the time I pulled out. When I called, she answered immediately, her voice slightly distorted as it echoed through her car. “Where are we going?” she asked.

“Patience, Granger,” I urged, chuckling when she growled. “Was that supposed to be menacing?” As usual, she was waiting a few blocks from the restaurant, pulling out behind me when I slowly passed her. Instead of leading the way to my house like I had almost every night since she got burned, I led her down the Strip, grinning while she grumbled.

I almost couldn’t believe the day was so close when there had been so many doubts and questions. “I want to thank you,” I murmured as I drove, glancing at the rearview mirror to confirm she was still behind me. “A lot of this wouldn’t have been possible without you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“We’ve already talked about it. I needed you to help clean up and refresh my brand, and you did. If my investors hadn’t been convinced we were back on the right track, they would’ve pulled funding. I couldn’t do any of this without you now,” I concluded. Perhaps being over the phone made it that much easier to admit. “So thank you. I don’t take that for granted.”

She released a soft breath. “You’re welcome, but then you know you sort of saved me too. I went from being engaged to Brandon and prepared to start a new job to shattered and directionless, all because I came home earlier than expected and found a party going on in my bed.” Her bitter chuckle practically lowered the temperature. “I needed a job that didn’t involve me talking to invisible viewers through a camera. I guess I wanted to prove to myself that I’m not this flash-in-the-pan phenomenon with nothing more to offer. You’ve given me the chance to try new things and gain steady experience in a professional kitchen rather than jumping from one appearance to another. So thank you too,” she concluded. I had to admire her simple honesty in the moments before we reached our destination.

It did my heart good, seeing that only the final touches needed to be made to the landscaping as I pulled into what would be the parking lot of Home Again. “What are we doing here?” she asked, pulling in beside me before I ended the call and stepped out of the car. That gave me the pleasure of watching her follow suit, looking skeptical but curious by the time she joined me.

Sweeping an arm outward, I announced, “Here we are. The last of the equipment was loaded in today, tested, and deemed ready for use. But I wanted you to give it your stamp of approval.”

Her mouth fell open, her eyes became wide, and then she squealed and bounced on the balls of her feet like a joyful little girl. “Oh my God! Hurry, hurry, I want to see!” The effect her excitement had on my heart was damn painful. It took so little to make her that happy. How could I do it again?

For now, it was enough to watch her almost skip excitedly up to the front door of the building, which I unlocked with a flourish. “I think you can find the kitchen on your own,” I suggested after turning on the lights to guide her way. She took her time, though, admiring the work the crew had put in over the last few days since she had last visited here. While the original Home was conceived as a trip to Nonna’s house, complete with black-and-white family photos on the walls, this was meant to bring to mind a trip to Tuscany. There was a more earthy feel to the décor, and the artwork on the walls depicted vineyards and rolling hills, the sort of vistas my grandfather had admired when he was a boy before he made the trip to the States.

I was right behind Claudia when she entered the kitchen and immediately stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh, that is so fucking sexy,” she whispered, walking as if in a trance toward the gleaming row of burners which preceded a trio of ovens whose glass doors revealed their pristine interiors.

“Impressed?” I asked, watching her inspect the equipment gently, gingerly, like she was afraid of hurting it.

“Impressed is not the word. Do you understand this is, like, virgin,” she explained, and she was dead serious. “We’ll be the first people to ever use it. What a treat.”

Pure happiness radiated from her face when she turned to me all at once and threw her arms around my waist, squeezing tight. “I love it. I can’t wait to get started.”

I didn’t have time to return her embrace before she pulled her head back, gasping. “Oh, can I try a couple of recipes here? Oh, please, I won’t ruin anything. But I would like to get a feel for the equipment before it’s time to welcome guests, you know?” She was doing her damnedest to legitimize her request, and I couldn’t help but laugh indulgently.