Saved and Saving: The Single Daddy CEO

Chapter Twelve

Blaiz

The day went by absurdly fast between the move and showing Dominique all around the mansion and the property immediately surrounding the mansion. By the time nine o’clock rolled around, Dominique could barely keep his eyes open, and to be quite honest, the same held true for me.

After tucking Dominique in, I walked across the hall, into my bedroom, then straight into my huge master bathroom. Every muscle in my body was aching from the move and everything, so I headed straight for the hot tub in the corner, dropping my clothes on the floor as I went.

When I reached the hot tub, I turned the jets on right away, then I stepped in and submerged myself up to my neck. Resting my head on the top edge, I was able to relax and enjoy the steaming hot water.

Upon closing my eyes, she appeared, as always. My angel.

In my mind’s eye, she always wore a white satin mask, keeping her face a bit of a mystery, but that pretty tattoo always stayed the same. That and her light auburn hair.

I imagined what it would be like to have my angel here with me now. What it would be like to have her snuggling against me, while we relax in the hot tub together.

Suddenly, I came back to my senses and shook that thought away. Not only was I too busy to think about getting into a relationship, but I didn’t want that stress and drama.

Plus, there was such a small chance of ever seeing that woman again. Why fantasize about something that simply won’t ever be?

Pushing the angel to the back of my mind, I moved onto thinking about Dominique and how to best provide for his needs. All of his needs.

Syrana is going to be my saving grace. She helped to raise me and Asralyn. I was sure she would be a great help raising Dominique, since his mother had been failing him.

After much thought, I had developed a plan in my head and would announce the new changes once everybody else arrived. The others were probably only a few hours away, but I simply couldn’t wait up. The lack of sleep the night before was seriously catching up.

However, I couldn’t catch some z's just yet. I had one more thing I needed to check on first.

Feeling good and relaxed, I left the hot tub and dried off before sliding my arms into my robe. I was tying the robe closed while exiting the bathroom, feeling a strong urge to check up on things back at the hotel.

As the day had progressed, I had completely forgotten about the banquet. It was nearing midnight now, and I hadn’t even glanced at my cellphone or my laptop in hours.

Since they were both in my briefcase, and my briefcase was down the hall in my personal office, I decided to turn the television on and see if I could catch some highlights on the news. Unfortunately, there was none, forcing me to leave the bedroom and make my way to the office after all.

Once there, I pulled my cellphone out and went to check it, but found my phone to be completely dead. Sighing, I plugged it into the charger and pulled my laptop out, setting it on top of my desk. Then it became a race to see which one was going to boot up first.

The laptop won the race, so I opened my email right away, and was surprised to see not a single email about the banquet. However, my cellphone started dinging like crazy, as one text and voicemail after another came through.

This can’t be good, I thought to myself, as I waited for the phone to scan my fingerprint. As soon as it opened up, I clicked on the SMS icon and quickly scanned the beginning of each text.

A few messages down, Asralyn’s name came across with a big, red URGENT. I didn’t have to think twice before tapping on that text and making it open up so I could read the rest.

Blaiz call me now there has been an incident involving lachlan i could really use some advice from my big brother on this one love you - asralyn

ps i hope the move is going well.

The move had been going surprisingly well, but clearly that wasn’t the case for the banquet. She didn’t even use punctuation marks or capital letters. Something was clearly wrong. Disappointment filled my entire being, as I dialed Asralyn’s number.

I was attempting to mentally prepare myself when Asralyn’s voice came through the phone, “It’s about damn time! What in the hell took you so long? Don’t you know what URGENT means?”

She was clearly upset with me, so I decided to be as sweet as I could and responded, “I’m sorry, Asra! It has been crazy around here, trying to get everything situated. My phone got left in the office and I didn’t realize it until just now.”

“Damn it, Blaiz! What has gotten into you? I’ve never known you to be off of your game like this,” she chastised, sounding just like our mother.

“Asra!” I interrupted in a more authoritative tone, making her instantly go silent, so I could continue, “It’s been a long couple of days. It’s late, and I’m tired. Please, just get to the point of what’s going on so I can help get this figured out before I go to bed.”

“You know what, Blaiz? It doesn’t even matter anymore. The damage is already done. It’s probably best that we discuss this matter in the morning,” Asralyn grumbled, sounding as exhausted as I was feeling, then she disconnected the call with me.

I groaned, running the palm of my hand down my face. Something had clearly happened to upset Asralyn a great deal, and I just made it worse by being impatient with her. I tried calling Asralyn right back to apologize, but she sent me straight to voicemail, letting me know she was done talking for the night.

Feeling a strong need to know what had happened, I carried the phone with me back to my bedroom and continued perusing the messages. As I walked into the bedroom, I stopped short and immediately focused my attention on the television when I heard the words, Tiselle, the designer of Lachlan Designs!

Standing at the podium was a woman with dark burgundy hair and dark eyes. She looked beautiful, wearing one of the first Lachlan Design gowns.

I remember seeing the original hand sketch for that gown and being quite impressed. It was one that the designer insisted be produced exclusively for herself and no one else.

I had expected it to look better on the one who designed it than on anybody else, but this gown didn’t seem to fit the dark-haired woman’s dimensions. The front barely concealed the large bosom on the woman and the gown overall seemed to be a wee bit on the tight side, slightly showing off her love handles.

However, her speech was on point. She looked and sounded confident. She answered every answer without pause. And she walked away on the arm of Seth Drummond, the man who was said to be both her romantic partner and her manager/promoter.

Seth looked so proud, but not so much of the woman on his arm. It seemed more like a full of himself kind of pride.

To be honest, I had never liked that guy. He sends off scumbag vibes, in my opinion. Always has and always will. I only agreed to work with him so I could meet this up-and-coming designer and make some money off of her creations.

That’s the way it goes for my company. Others find the talent, I get their designs made and sold, then we all profit.

I have a contract with Seth, but that needed to change. I never kept the middle man in the game for very long, and it was past time for this middle man to make an exit.

That’s why I had Quayliah draw up a contract to offer Miss Lachlan. This is my way of ensuring Seth makes it all the way through the exit door.