Diamond Dreams Read online

  A dazzling dynasty

  As the only daughter of Southern California’s most famous wine dynasty, Diamond Drake devotes all her waking hours to the family business. Burned by love, she’s not sure she ever wants to fall in love again. But construction millionaire Jackson Wright is sweeping her up in a whirlwind romance. Is he the real thing? Or will the sinfully sexy bachelor prove to be all flash and no substance?

  A love that’s her true destiny....

  From the moment he sees her, Jackson is dazzled by the stunning, sultry Diamond. He knows it’s dangerous to mix business with pleasure. If only Diamond will say yes to a future glittering with their passion and love....

  The sax sizzled from the speakers, wrapping them in a sensual cocoon, a world of their own

  It was as if time stopped, along with Diamond’s rational thinking. Because for the life of her, she couldn’t think of anything more logical to do than to kiss those lips, to crush the nipples that were even now hardening at the mere thought of being touched against Jackson’s hard chest.

  She took a step.

  Jackson’s eyes narrowed as he watched her come closer. He looked at her lips, slightly parted with desire. Wanting him was written all over her face. His message was being proclaimed from an area decidedly lower, by a rapidly increasing bulge in the front of his jeans.

  He took a step.

  They now stood just inches apart, neither moving, barely breathing. At the risk of having to fire himself for insubordination, Jackson reached out and ran a finger along Diamond’s jawline. His touch was more electric than the guitar that now accompanied the sax. She licked her lips and suppressed a shiver. He watched, wondering how they tasted, those lips, wanting to know how she tasted. Her eyes flickered shut, and then back open, even as her head tilted seemingly of its own accord. To hell with stalking ex-coworkers and iron-clad declarations. He would be a rule-breaker. Thoughts of consequences could come later. Right now all he wanted were her lips. On his. Now! He bent his head down. One more step and the kiss would begin. Just one more step....

  Books by Zuri Day

  Kimani Romance

  Diamond Dreams

  ZURI DAY

  snuck her first Harlequin romance novel at the age of twelve from her older sister’s off-limits collection and was hooked from page one. Knights in shining armor and happily-ever-afters filled her teen years and spurred a lifelong love of reading. That she now creates these stories as a full-time author is a dream come true! Splitting her time between the stunning Caribbean islands and Southern California, she’s always busy writing her next novel, Zuri makes time to connect with readers and meet with book clubs. She’d love to hear from you, and personally answers every email that’s sent to [email protected].

  Zuri Day

  Diamond Dreams

  Dear Reader,

  I am thrilled to introduce you to the Drakes of California!

  When hearing the words wine country, most of us think of Napa Valley. So did I, until visiting Southern California’s vineyards, a beautiful community surrounded by mountains, nestled midway between Los Angeles and San Diego. This picturesque setting (and a few glasses of wine) served to inspire this story about a dynasty using land that has been in the family for almost one hundred years! The Drake Vineyard is approximately sixty miles north of the first California grapes planted at Mission San Diego in 1769.

  I love writing about strong women. Diamond Drake is all that and a glass of high-priced brut! She’s used to being in control, which is why her irrepressible attraction to Jackson Wright is so exasperating. But we all know what happens when iron sharpens iron…sparks fly!

  So, pour a glass of something delicious…and enjoy!

  Zuri Day

  To the wine country of Temecula, and especially winemaker David Vergari and media director Linda Kissam of Thornton Winery. The private tour and detail-laden interview were great, the wine…even better! And to my editor, Glenda Howard, who helped make this novel such a pleasure to write. La’Chaim!

  To all the readers, far and near,

  I raise my glass and toast with cheer!

  May your dreams come true, your smile remain,

  and your life be as bubbly as a fine champagne!

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 1

  “I’m proud of you, Diamond,” Donald Drake said as he continued to flip through the latest report that she had provided. “The sketches are fantastic, and your attention to detail continues to be impressive. These innovative interior-design ideas are going to make ours one of the best resorts in California.”

  “One of the best resorts, period,” Diamond corrected. “I told you that I could do it, Dad. I’m glad you trusted me with such a major aspect of our expansion.” Diamond beamed from her father’s words of praise. She considered herself the ultimate daddy’s girl and never wanted to disappoint. And being the only girl in the family made her quite competitive with her two brothers for their father’s attention.

  “I don’t know how much trust had to do with it,” Dexter Drake drawled. Diamond’s always lovable yet sometimes annoying younger brother reared back in his chair and placed his interlocked fingers behind his head. “I think it was all of that whining and begging you did that finally wore him down.”

  “I believe the correct verb is negotiated, dear brother. Mine was the best proposal submitted, period.” Even as she said this, Diamond knew that there was a thread of truth to Dexter’s statement. Her older brother, Donovan, handled most of the construction projects and had overseen the first phase of this one. It had taken a lot of research, idea submissions and—okay, maybe a little whining and begging—to convince Donald, the company’s founder, board president and chief operating officer, that when it came to the interior-design work and final stages of construction for Drake Wines Resort & Spa, Diamond was the woman to oversee the job.

  Dexter continued his needling. “Was it the best proposal? Or just the only one submitted twenty times?”

  “Ha! Come on, Diamond. Fess up,” Donovan said with a chuckle. “You did send that thing in several times.”

  “I sent in several addendums to keep everyone up-to-date on
the evolving ideas and projections,” Diamond retorted, with a tilt of her chin. “Which you would know, Mr. VP of Sales, if you pulled your head out of the books long enough to see what’s happening with the rest of the company.”

  Donovan calmly rubbed his goatee. “I don’t miss a thing that happens around here, baby sis. Believe that.”

  “How could you,” Dexter queried, “with those Dumbo-size ears on the side of your head?”

  Diamond laughed as Donald frowned. “Watch yourself,” he said, his narrowed eyes fixed on Dexter. “Donovan’s ears are shaped like mine.”

  “Dad, I’m not sure that is something I’d be pointing out,” Diamond said, still laughing.

  “Sister, it’s something that he has no need to point out.” Dexter’s dark brown eyes twinkled and his brow wriggled as he looked pointedly at his father’s ears and then at the replicas on his big brother.

  Donald couldn’t keep the frown on his face any longer. He burst out laughing. It had always been this way among his children: friendly teasing and healthy competition all held together with huge doses of love. From the beginning, he and his stay-at-home wife, Genevieve Drake, had raised their children to be a part of the business and had involved them in every aspect of their award-winning vineyard almost from the time they could walk. And while each person had their specific job title, theirs was a working knowledge of the business as a whole, and they were encouraged to multitask along those lines. This is how Diamond, the director of marketing and public relations, was now overseeing the major expansion project of turning Drake Vineyard into Drake Wines Resort & Spa.

  Donovan was the most serious among the siblings, and no one was surprised when he steered the conversation back to business. “Do you believe the job will stay within the latest budget you’ve presented?”

  “I’ll have a better answer for you after I meet with the interior designer—” she looked at her watch “—which is happening very shortly. So if there are no more questions, gentlemen, I need to go.”

  A few minutes later, Diamond sat at her desk, speaking with her assistant before heading out of the office. “Kat, I’m going to the site to check out the construction, not the candy,” she chided, though a smile belied Diamond’s sternly delivered words. “Man candy” is what Kathleen Fitzpatrick had deemed the construction workers who’d invaded their space. For months, a crew of around fifty men had been hard at work building the five-star facility that upon completion would include restaurants, a bar, lounge, day spa, gym, expanded gift store, executive offices and boutique hotel.

  “Besides,” Diamond continued, “I’m not into candy right now. I’m watching my wait, spelled W-A-I-T.” Kathleen fixed Diamond with a chagrined look. “I’m just not ready to jump back into the dating game.” She reached for a batch of drawings and placed them in her briefcase. “And even if I were…there’s no time for that. Duty continuously calls.”

  “Pretty good speech but that’s hogwash and you know it.” At fifty-six years old, Kathleen was not only Diamond’s assistant, but sometimes she felt like a second mother to the woman who was twenty-plus years her junior. And after many years as a dedicated Drake employee, she felt comfortable speaking exactly what was on her mind. “It’s been two years, girl. How long are you going to let that jerk of an ex-boyfriend run your life? Oh, my, did I say run? I meant ruin!”

  “Ha! Stop exaggerating, Kat, before you set that Irish blood to boiling. My ex, whose name is no longer worthy of being uttered from my lips, has not ruined my life. He just helped to enhance my search skills and made me very selective. Right now, my man’s first name is Resort and his last name is Spa.”

  “Go ahead. Hide behind your pesky professional obligations.”

  “You call a thirty-million-dollar renovation pesky? You go, girl!”

  “But just remember,” Kat continued, not missing a beat or taking the bait. “You’re not getting any younger. You may have pushed it to the back of your mind, but I remember a young woman who not so long ago was eagerly looking forward to marriage and motherhood. The right man to make that happen is still out there.”

  “Amid the glass, bricks and plywood that currently litter our vineyard?”

  “No, sweetie, perhaps amid the blood, sweat and mass of muscles moving that stuff around! I’m not saying you should marry one of the workers, but you should at least take a look. I have and let me tell you…there’s some honeys in the bunch.”

  Diamond’s phone rang. It was just as well that the conversation end and that she take her mind off men—her sore spot—and put it back on work—her salvation. Besides, when it came to those particular M&Ms—men and marriage—there was no use arguing with her trusty assistant. Kathleen had wed at eighteen and borne five children. In her mind one hadn’t lived until they’d snagged a man, had a child, adopted a dog and got a house surrounded by a white picket fence. She’d been married longer than Diamond had been alive. So when it came to heartbreak and breakups, what did she know?

  “That was the designer,” Diamond said after completing the call. “She’s at the site. I’ll be back in less than an hour.”

  The clicking of Diamond’s four-inch heels punctuated the air as she walked to her parking space. She unlocked the door of her shiny sports coupe and slid inside. Belatedly realizing that the heat index in sunny Temecula, California, had risen, she shed her suit jacket, grabbed a pen in the cup holder and hastily placed her shoulder-length dark auburn hair into a chignon. The construction site was less than a mile away from Drake Wines’ executive offices. As she drove down the picturesque lane lined with colorful maple trees boasting red, orange and yellow leaves in the autumn sun, Diamond knew her focus should be on windows, tiles and color swatches and making sure that every aspect of the job to which she’d been entrusted was being executed to perfection. Instead, it was on man candy.

  Chapter 2

  Jackson “Boss” Wright leaned back in his large black executive chair with a satisfied smile. He and his team had done it again—outsmarted and outbid the big boys. Boss Construction had just won a lucrative contract for a downtown development in Chicago, Illinois. He couldn’t wait to sit down with his team and fine-tune the plans, but first he needed to fly to Chicago for another meeting with the executives behind this combination shopping mall and office complex that would include a soaring edifice rivaling the Willis Tower. Jackson turned on his electronic calendar even as he reached for the speaker button on his office phone. At the same time, his office door opened and his assistant walked in. She was not smiling.

  “We got another one,” she said without preamble.

  Jackson heaved a heavy sigh. Without asking, he knew what she meant. “Let me see it.”

  Marissa Hayes, Jackson’s loyal assistant of six years, approached his desk, her outstretched hand containing a single sheet of paper. Jackson scanned it quickly. The note was short and succinct—as had been all the others.

  The bigger they are, the harder they fall. You think you’ve gotten pretty big, huh? Mr. Big-Time Construction, Mr. Millionaire Business Owner. Enjoy it while you can. Because your days at the top are numbered…just like the days of your life.

  Jackson casually tossed the piece of paper aside. He remained purposefully nonchalant, not wanting to upset Marissa more than this and the previous letters already had. “This is, what, the third or fourth one?”

  “Fifth,” Marissa somberly responded.

  “Place it in the file with the others.” Jackson scrolled the electronic calendar with his finger. “I need you to schedule meetings with all relevant parties of the Chicago project, including the mayor, if he’s available. Then book a flight for the evening before.”

  “Returning when?”

  “Either the evening of the last meeting or, if it’s a dinner meeting, the next day’s first flight.” Jackson placed his iPad aside and
walked over to a drafting table.

  “So that’s it?”

  “What else is there? You already know to book me at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago, rent the car from—”

  “Not the trip, Boss. I’m talking about the letter.”

  “What about it?”

  “How long are you going to let these threats come before you do something about it?”

  “What do you propose I do?”

  Marissa worked hard not to let the exasperation she felt come out in her voice. “Call the police, hire an investigator, I don’t know…but something!” So much for masking frustration. Even a blind man could have seen her chagrin.

  Jackson noted the fear in Marissa’s eyes. He didn’t share it, but he didn’t blame her. The first letter had arrived approximately two months ago, right after he’d ended a short-term affair. To say that the woman had been less than pleased was putting it mildly. She’d all but told him—in fact, she’d actually told him—that he’d regret the day he let her go. At first, he’d thought the letters were from her. But then again, it could be a former worker or subcontractor. He’d had to fire a few bad apples over the years. Maybe someone was still smarting from their termination—or being left off a job. He’d even considered the competition he’d beat out for the past few contracts. While the idea seemed highly unlikely, the construction business was a very competitive one. Boss Construction had landed several sweet deals in the past five years, outmaneuvering some pretty heavy hitters along the way. When billions of dollars were at stake and the national economy still shaky at best, who knew what companies were capable of? And finally there was Marissa’s observation: that the letters began arriving shortly after he’d been featured in Black Enterprise magazine. The article, not to mention the accompanying photos, had resulted in a deluge of extra publicity—and fan mail. Maybe someone from his past had read it. Maybe someone from the life and the lifestyle he’d worked so hard to leave behind was trying to drag him back into it. But he wondered who would want to do that. And why? He’d left his old life more than a decade ago. Jackson wasn’t so much concerned for himself as he was for those around him. For the first time, he fully acknowledged the potential extent of the threats. Damage could not only be done to him but to anyone in his offices. Marissa was right. It was time to take action.

 
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