A Secret To Keep Part 2

"You don't think I recognize the voice?" His placid tone was as unnerving as it was still and she felt her heart drop to take a nap at the bottom of her stomach.

"Well, it's been a while and-"

"Sloane, what can I do for you?" Gritting her teeth, Sloane closed her eyes and quietly counted to ten. She hated the dismissive tone of his voice.

"I wanted to see if we could talk about the possible situation we have." She was struggling to keep her composure since she knew he was the only thing standing in the way of getting what she wanted. She needed him to build their hospital and go back to New York so things could go back to the way they were.

"Possible situation? Hmm, I really don't see it that way. What I do see is you are sitting on a project that's mediocre at best, while D&S have something that's about to make me a lot of money. So, I really don't see a situation."

"Oh really, is that what you think?" Her blood pressure rose and she wanted to reach through the phone and choke the life out of Gates.

"It's what I know, Sloane. I told you a long time ago when I want something I get it. I haven't changed."

"I can see that. You're still the same cold-hearted a.s.shole. I don't know why I thought you and I could have a decent conversation." Slamming the phone down, Sloane sat for a few seconds before realizing her hands were shaking. He was so d.a.m.n arrogant. She couldn't believe she ever thought he could be civil with her. She knew he was angry, but could he truly still be carrying that much hatred towards her? There's no way I can tell him about Brayden now. She was so distraught about the phone call she didn't notice Liyah walk into her office and sit in the chair across from her.

"So, how'd it go?"

Sloane sat quiet for a moment before she lifted guilty eyes to meet Liyah's and whispered her reply. "I hung up on him." She braced herself for what she knew would be the equivalent of a category five hurricane named Liyah.

"YOU WHAT?" Liyah sat forward with wide eyes. "You hung up on him? Sloane, do you know what you've done?"

"Yes." Sloane added with a somber look in her eyes and tried her best to process exactly what she'd done. "I think so."

"You think so? I can't believe you. We have to convince this man to back our project and you slam the phone down in his ear. We want him to go with our plan. What're you trying to do, bury our careers?"

"I know, Liyah. I...I just couldn't take his smug arrogance. Do you know how hard it is to talk to him? He's so full of himself and-"

"Maybe he is, but this isn't only your career you're dealing with here. Mine's on the line too. You have to call him back and apologize." Sloane watched Liyah stand from her seat and pace back and forth raving in a mix of English and Spanish. Her rash decision to hang up on Gates seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, as she watched Liyah wearing a path in the carpet, she questioned her tactics.

"Liyah, I'm sorry, but listen, I-"

Liyah stopped and faced Sloane with the most serious look Sloane had ever seen and she cringed at the intense fury in Liyah's eyes. "No, Sloane, you listen. We've been working our b.u.t.ts off on this and I'm not going to sit by and let you sabotage our jobs because of the personal c.r.a.p you and Gates have going. It's not fair. Call him back!"

"Wha-no. No! I'm not calling him back. If Gates wants to be a jerk, then let him, but we'll figure out a better way. I can't believe I let you talk me into calling him in the first place." Sloane sat forward. She wasn't about to give in again and call Gates back. She didn't think she could take much more of his condescension. She just wanted him to go away.

"Sloane, what do you propose we do then? We have no other way but through you." Liyah's shoulders slumped as she stood there wringing her hands. "Antony and Isabella are going to bury us up to our necks in a red ant hill and pour honey on our foreheads."

Sensing her friend's apprehension and worry Sloane walked around the desk. She placed her hands on Liyah's shoulders and turned her to face her. "We have a project people believe in and we've got to make sure we make it that much more evident. Gra.s.sroots kind of stuff, you know? Make him see the community won't take it lying down."

"Sloane, you know that's not going to work." Liyah tilted her head to the side and Sloane knew deep down, Liyah was right. Ugh, why did she have to be right? She knew her own stubbornness was getting in the way of clear thinking, but she had to try something.

"I just don't want to roll over and let Gates win."

"Hon, we may not have much of a choice. If you don't talk to him," Liyah looked at her friend with unmistakable fear in her eyes "you and I may be out of a job soon."

"I won't let that happen." Sloane said, giving Liyah a furtive smile.

Chapter 3.

"How was he today?" Reaching out, Sloane took her squirming little boy from her aunt's arms. She was so tired and the only thing she wanted to do was lie down and sleep, but something about seeing Brayden reenergized her spirit. It never failed, seeing his soggy grin and the way his eyes seemed to light up when he saw her was enough to give her goose b.u.mps. She buried her face into the crook of his neck and he dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"An angel, like always." Avery smiled at her great nephew and smoothed the baby's unruly curls.

"You're too generous. I know this little one and he's too much like his father to be an angel. Aren't you, baby boy?" Sloane kissed the baby on his temple and laughed at his gurgling attempts at speaking. The day's events with her call to Gates and her disagreement with Liyah seemed to melt away as she hugged the little boy to her.

"Speaking of his father, have you talked to him?"

"Aunt Avery, don't start." Sloane was devoted to her baby and she never got tired of watching him as he discovered new things. At the moment, he was engrossed in the necklace she had on and was trying his best to get it as close to his mouth as possible.

Watching her niece balance the baby on her hip while trying to keep her jewelry out of his mouth, Avery shook her head. "Look, I'm concerned. Just how long do you think you can keep Brayden from his father? Honey, at some point, he's going to ask where his daddy is and what're you going to say?"

"Auntie, don't you think I've thought about that? I have. I don't know. I...I don't want Gates to hurt Brayden." Her son's innocent face melted her heart as he looked up at her. She couldn't fathom putting him in a situation to get hurt by his own father.

"You don't want Brayden to get hurt, or you don't want to get hurt?" Avery leaned against the kitchen counter and c.o.c.ked her head to the side, waiting for Sloane's response.

"What?"

"Sloane, there's always the potential for hurt feelings, but baby, you have to let Gates know he has a son."

Sloane shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut for a brief moment. She could feel the tears of frustration punching at the back of her eye sockets. "I know. But I'm so scared of the unknown, okay? I don't know that Gates will be so accepting of the fact that he has a son. Or that I kept it from him. Then what?"

"How do you even know Gates would reject him? You don't. Sweetie, you and Brayden mean the world to me. You are the only family I have left. And family is important. That's why you have to do what's best for Brayden, and not what's easiest for Sloane. Brayden needs to know who his father is, and Gates deserves to know he has a child."

"Auntie, please? Not tonight, okay? Please." She knew Avery was right, but it wasn't what she wanted to hear at the moment. The referral to it just being the three of them left tugged at her heart. Avery was the only blood relative she had left, besides her son. Sloane had moved from Georgia to North Carolina to live with Avery when she was eight years old after her parent's died in a car accident. She missed her parents. The devastation she'd felt when they died nearly consumed her as a child. If it wasn't for Avery, she was pretty sure she would have curled up in a ball and died too. Up until her parent's accident, she'd been the happiest kid in the world. They had both been devoted to her and made sure their little family was close. When they died it left her feeling the loneliest she'd ever felt. Avery did her best to fill the void, but it wasn't the same. Avery loved and doted on her and Brayden like they were her own, but she never let up on the reprimands for Sloane. Tell Gates about his son. Sloane just didn't feel like dealing with it at the moment.

"The man deserves to know there is someone else in the world sharing his DNA. Even if he doesn't accept him." Sloane was never so thankful for the buzzer on the stove alerting them to dinner being done and she watched her aunt head over with oven mitts to retrieve the food.

"Auntie, I know secrets can do a lot of damage in a person's life. I get it. And, I want to tell him. I really do, but right now, I'm not ready, okay?"

"Fine. I won't say anything else, at least not tonight." Reaching over and taking the little boy from his mother's arms, Avery kissed him on the head and motioned towards the counter. "In the meantime, eat, I'll give him a bath and put him down."

"You don't have to do that." Sloane was almost relieved she didn't have to fight with the little boy as he splashed water all over.

"Hey, you don't get this kind of service often. You may want to take advantage of it while you can. Sit, eat, I'll take care of him. C'mon little one. Let's get you ready for bed." Sloane watched Avery walk out of the kitchen with the little boy on her hip. Just then the doorbell rang. "I got it." Sloane called out, walking through the living room and opening the door to find Chase.

"Hey." Chase greeted her before entering the house.

"Hey. What're you doing here?"

"Uh, Aunt Avery called and said she made her chocolate fudge brownie pie." Laughing at Chase, Sloane closed the door and gestured for him to follow her through the house to the kitchen. "You think I'd miss that? Where's little man?" Sloane had met Chase through Liyah and had grown close to him. He was like a big brother to both her and Liyah. He came with support and protectiveness like a big brother should. And many times, when Liyah introduced him as their 'brother from another mother', it was met with wary glances, since he was white, she was black and Liyah was Hispanic. They were a multicultural lot and Sloane loved it. She also loved being able to talk to him about anything. They'd talked about her life with Gates and he'd listened without judging. He and Liyah were so supportive of her and they pitched in from time to time to help her with Brayden.

"Avery is giving him a bath. What's up?" Again she was thankful for her aunt being there for her. She didn't realize how tired she was; she could hardly focus on anything. It was evident she had a lot on her mind as she picked at the food on her plate.

"Not much. I was going to see if you wanted to go with me and Hannah to the movies on Sat.u.r.day, but...uh oh." Chase paused and he noticed Sloane wasn't listening to him as he cut into the pie. "What's going on?"

He knew her too well. "Gates is in town. And I don't think I can keep Brayden from him anymore. And of course Avery won't get off my back about it." Sloane rolled her eyes as she referred to her aunt's persistent badgering. She continued to push the food around on her plate then glanced at Chase.

"Yeah, Liyah mentioned 'Mr. Infamous' was in town. What're you going to do?" She could see the concern on Chase's face as she struggled to give him some kind of answer.

"I honestly don't know."

"Well, you could always tell him the truth." Most of the time she was very thankful for his bluntness, but today was not one of those days.

"It's not that easy. I can't very well just walk up to him and say 'hey in addition to the hospital I want you to build, here's your son'." She put the fork down, sat back in the chair, crossed her arms and stared at Chase.

"Well, you could, but it might not go that well," Chase laughed, sitting beside her to dig into the pie. "You got any ice cream to go with this?"

"Thanks for the support, Chase." She quipped as he continued to laugh. "It's not funny." Getting up from her spot, she opened the freezer and plopped a box of vanilla ice cream in front of him with a spoon.

"I'm just saying. You don't have many choices at this point. What do you think is best?" He scooped ice cream onto the pie before sitting back to see confusion consume her face.

"I don't know, but I've got to come up with something, and fast."

"I postponed the meeting with the Reyes Foundation." Gates said, tapping the end of the Mont Blanc he held in his hand against the hard wood of the mahogany desk. He had purposely scheduled a meeting with Sloane and Liyah, only to postpone it. It was part of his diabolical scheme to make Sloane squirm. In doing so, he'd sent Evan back to New York to touch base with Angelica, but he also wanted to give him time to be with his family. People could say a lot of things about Gates, but saying he didn't understand the value of family wasn't one of them. His family hadn't been close and he'd been practically taken in by Evan's family. He'd learned how important it was to spend time with the people who cared about you. And, even though his wasn't the most ideal and loving family, it was still his. It hurt when his mother died two years ago. Elizabeth Gates McCall loved her children and was happy being a mother. But Victor was jealous of her love for them and wasn't about to share her with anyone, not even his own offspring. She was the only thing he valued as much, or more than, his beloved company. So, when Elizabeth died, a part of the old man died with her and his health began to fail, leaving Gates in charge. Once Victor was gone, it was only him and his older sister, Bailey, left. She lived in London with her husband and their three children and had no interest in running their father's business. She'd practically signed over her share of the company to him before the old man had time to get used to his dirt surroundings.

"So, how long are you going to be there? I can come back if you need me." Gates shook his head as he listened to Evan. His friend never ceased to amaze him. Evan was dedicated, but what was most touching to Gates was the fact he was so dedicated to him.

"I'll be here a couple of days. I want to talk with Tom from D&S and I guess I'll be nice and give Sloane and Liyah a chance to present their proposal." Gates plotted as he stared out of the window. He still couldn't think straight. Since he'd run into Sloane in Antony's office, he was having the hardest time concentrating on anything. Thoughts of her consumed every waking moment of his life. Her soft skin and the inimitable scent of her perfume and the way it threw his insides into a tizzy. It was enough to drive him insane and he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to go through with any of this.

"Gates, you're taking this too far, you know that, right? You sure you don't need me?" Gates heard the concern in Evan's voice and he was thankful for having a friend like him. Evan had always been there for him through every good and bad decision he made and Gates trusted him more than anyone.

"Stay at home with your wife, Evan. I know what I'm doing."

"Do you? Gates, I really feel like I need to be there to run interference between you and Sloane. Dammit, she's not the same girl she was a year ago."

Gates scowled at the frustration he heard in Evan's voice. He knew his friend knew him well enough by now to know he wouldn't back down from a challenge, nor was he going to walk away from the opportunity to get under Sloane's skin. "Well, I guess we've both changed then, because I'm not the same man I was then either."

"Look if you need me, I'm on the next flight."

"I know. Thanks. Tell Kelsie I said h.e.l.lo."

Against her better judgment, Sloane decided to give Gates another call. She was a little worried when he decided to postpone their scheduled meeting for the week. Plus, the torture she received from Liyah day in and day out about hanging up on him had her more than a little bit nervous. She knew he was being difficult and only delayed their meeting because she'd hung up on him, but she was determined to do what it took to make sure the hospital was built. Taking a deep breath, she waited for him to answer.

"Gates McCall."

Her body automatically went into shiver mode as his voice resonated through the receiver. Yep, there go the chills again. She could feel the tiny hairs on her arms stand at attention and she swallowed hard to remove the cotton from her mouth. How can his voice still throw my heart into arrhythmia? "Gates, I really need to talk to you about the other day."

"Meet me at Elijah's at seven." His quick retort caught her off guard and she paused for a moment to comprehend his reply.

"What? You're in town?"

"Yes. You heard me. Meet me at Elijah's. It's on Ann Street."

She regained her composure and frowned at his abruptness. "I know where it is. I do live here you know."

"Good. Then you shouldn't be late. I'll see you at seven." Click.

Pulling the receiver from her ear, Sloane looked at it in disbelief. Did he just hang up on me? Who was he to bark out orders to her? The nerve of this man, she seethed. Gingerly hanging the phone on its base, she sat back in her chair and shook her fists in the air. "Ooooooh, he makes me sick." Picking up the stress ball on her desk, she flung it across the room. It barely missed Liyah as she opened the door and ducked as the small pink pig sailed over her head.

"Que diablos?" Startled by the UFO, Liyah looked from Sloane over to where the innocent little pink pig came to rest on its side.

"Oh Liyah I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Sloane pressed her hands to her mouth and her eyes widened as she watched her friend stoop to pick up the stress ball.

"It's fine. But are you okay?" Liyah asked as she shut the door behind her and tossed the pig back to Sloane.

"He is so arrogant and so, so...ugh!"

"Gates?"

"Who else?" Sloane slumped in the chair and leaned her head back. She was so frustrated, but at the moment she wasn't sure if she was more frustrated with Gates hanging up on her or the fact she'd created this entire mess.

"So? Did he postpone our meeting because you hung up on him?"

"Yes. No. I don't know, but I plan to find out. He wants me to meet him at Elijah's at seven." Sloane's eyes popped open and she sat forward noticing Liyah's eyebrows inching their way up her forehead. "What?"

"Dinner, huh?" Liyah sat down across from Sloane and giggled.

"Stop it. There's nothing between Gates and me anymore but a whole lot of animosity and a huge secret. I don't need this right now, Liyah." She groaned, throwing her head back again and looked at the ceiling. She wondered if this was her punishment for keeping such a sordid secret.

"You sure about that?"

"Liyah, I'm serious. Gates does what he wants. He always has. I hate the fact he can push my b.u.t.tons." Sloane was trying her best to show Liyah she had no interest in pursuing a relationship with Gates anymore. He was over her and had moved on and she was doing the same. At least, she was trying.

Laughing, Liyah stood and walked to the door. "I know. No one gets you more riled up than he does, but you should probably get a move on. I want you to look really good so you can convince him to build our hospital."

Looking down at the outfit she had on, Sloane bit her lip. Liyah was right. If she left now, she'd have just enough time to shower and change and make sure Brayden was settled before meeting Gates. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to change. Look, I'll call you later tonight."

"Hopefully you'll be too busy letting him push a few other b.u.t.tons. Just call me tomorrow." Liyah winked as Sloane shook her head.

"Whatever." Picking up her purse and keys, Sloane followed Liyah through the doorway.

Making sure she wouldn't be late, Sloane hurried into Elijah's. She'd gotten Chase to watch Brayden for her since her Aunt Avery had returned home to Charlotte. She looked around and realized she'd beaten Gates to the restaurant and she breathed a sigh of relief. As she followed the hostess to a table, she tried to quell the nerves building up inside of her. She was glad she took Liyah's advice to change. The little black tunic dress hung loosely on her svelte figure, stopping above her knees to show off her beautiful legs. The sheer kimono split sleeves left her beautiful arms half exposed. Taking a breath, she took a quick glance at her make up in her compact before putting it away and sipping her water. "Okay, this is crazy, Sloane. Stop fidgeting." She was about to go to the restroom and check her make up again in a bigger mirror but stopped when she caught a glimpse of Gates crossing the restaurant toward her. She lost all ability to move and just stared at his gracious presence. d.a.m.n. His tailor-made suit fit every inch of his body perfectly and she couldn't take her eyes off of him as he sauntered to the table. The man commanded attention without trying and it seemed all of the action in the entire restaurant had stopped.

"Sloane."