Bentley: Vested Interest #1

by Melanie Moreland

  I pretended to glance over the documents. “I need a pen.”

  Greg handed me his expensive Mont Blanc. “Use mine.”

  I signed the papers, then handed them to Aiden. “You should make sure it’s okay. I don’t want to risk this deal and I’m a bit distracted.”

  Aiden took the papers, turning his back as he looked at them as if needing privacy to concentrate. I knew he was covering up his grin at my ‘signature’.

  He turned back, flipping the top page down. “I’d say it’s done.”

  I stood, taking the document, handing it to Greg. “I think so.”

  Greg set it down on his desk. “I’ll take care of it from here, Bentley.”

  “I have no doubt you will.”

  “Whatever happened, whatever caused you to change your mind—”

  I held up my hand to interrupt him, playing the part he wanted to see. “I said leave it. Do your job and leave it alone.”

  “As you wish.”

  I buttoned my jacket. “I have an important call I’m waiting for.”

  The smirk threatened again, and I couldn’t take it another second. I wanted to watch that smug expression disappear from his face.

  “You should make sure everything’s in order before I go. I won’t be returning.”

  He flipped up the page to give the document a cursory glance, his entire body freezing when his gaze saw my signature.

  It read, “Fuck You.”

  He was on his feet in an instant. “What the hell is going on?”

  I leaned on the glass desk, my hatred and rage so great I could barely spit out the words. “What’s going on, you mother fucking piece of shit, is you lost.”

  “What?” He snarled through tight lips.

  “I have her!” I roared. “Emmy is safe!”

  He reared back, shock on his face, but he rapidly recovered, instantly falling into defensive mode. “Bentley, that is great news. I had a feeling something was going on with her. However, why you think I lost anything, I have no idea.”

  I flung my arms, pushing everything from his desk, scattering it to the floor. My voice became deadly calm. Anyone who knew me well knew that was a warning.

  “I know, Greg. I know all of it. The numbered companies. The bug. The fact you were the one behind me losing on the bids. That you’ve been sneaking behind my back for months. Do you think you’re the only one with connections? We were able to see my bids last night. The way you redid them—underbidding and making sure it was your own bid that came out on top!”

  “Bentley, I would never—”

  “Don’t even fucking try to deny it! I know what you did!”

  “This is all conjecture! Someone is filling your head with lies!”

  Aiden and I laughed at his desperate attempt to convince me.

  “No, counsellor. We have it all. The paper trails. The forged documents. Your fingerprints on the bug. The trace back to your own computer at your house.” I leaned closer, narrowing my eyes. “Something you should know about hackers, Greg. They know one and other. They recognize each other’s signature. Once we knew it was you, it was easy to find your hacker’s signature in your computer. Easy to pay him more to tell us everything. He is already in custody and singing like a bird. The men you hired to take Emmy are, as well.”

  His face paled.

  I drew in some much-needed oxygen. “What I want to know is why? Why the fuck did you do that to me? I’ve done nothing to you but help make you a very wealthy man!”

  All pretense fell away. Greg stood in front of me, a sneer on his face. Hatred blazed from his eyes as he glared. “Nothing is the right word, Bentley. It’s all been so easy for you, hasn’t it?” He spat.

  What the fuck was he talking about?

  Greg continued. “Bentley Ridge, the successful ‘touch of Midas boy’ with all the real estate. Every project you work on turns to gold. Every woman wants you. Never any bad press. You and your fucking friends in your little clique. All so fucking high and mighty. All untouchable. You make me sick.”

  I shook my head. “What the hell?”

  “I was never good enough to be part of your inner circle, was I Bentley? Good enough to do your grunt work, but never good enough to belong.”

  “I asked if you wanted a job in the company, Greg. You said no. You refused me, not the other way around.”

  “A job,” he jeered. “I didn’t want a fucking job. You gave that loser”—he indicated Aiden—“a piece of your precious company. An idiot who can’t even read properly and memorizes everything. The same with that tight-assed control freak you call an accountant.”

  Aiden snarled from behind me. “I’m dyslexic, you arrogant asshole, not illiterate. I can read, just in a different way that you do. And shut your mouth about Maddox. He is a hundred times the man you are.”

  Greg stared at him, not even acknowledging his words.

  “I would have given you everything, and made you even greater! But no, you give them part of the company and offer me a fucking job. As if I would ever answer to you—or to them,” he shouted, his voice rising with every passing word.

  “So, what . . . you decided to screw me over and teach me a lesson?”

  “Yes.”

  “Because I insulted you—years ago—with an offer for a job.”

  “Because you needed to be knocked down a peg or two.”

  “So, “I began, my voice beginning to rise, “you kidnapped and frightened an innocent woman to teach me a lesson. You chained and locked her in a cold room, tried to drug her, and left her alone, helpless and terrified, and risked her life because I needed to be knocked down a peg or two? Am I hearing you right?”

  He waved his hand. “You’re exaggerating.” He scoffed. “She was never in any danger. She deserved it, too.”

  Aiden stepped closer. “What did she do to deserve it? You don’t even fucking know her!”

  Greg sneered, focusing his attention on me. “You never listened to me. You always put their opinions first. What Aiden thought, how Maddox felt. No matter how many times I showed you how valuable I was to you—I was just the fucking lawyer—the joke. I was so damn sick of it. It was fun to watch you squirm when you lost those pieces of land. I simply planned to sell them on to you, and making a tidy profit. Seeing how indignant you were . . .” He laughed, the sound cruel. “I enjoyed it, and decided to screw you over completely. I was going to buy the land, and make you pay through the fucking nose for it. At least I’d get a piece of your company monetarily.”

  I stared at him, feeling ill. How had I not seen what he was doing? The kind of man he really was under his expensive attire?

  He waved his hand in anger. “Then your stupid, precious Emmy, the woman you’ve known for a few weeks, suggests an inane notion about some ridiculous building project, and instead of telling her to mind her own business, you actually listened to her! All of you!” He slammed his fist on his desk, bending close so we were almost nose-to-nose. “Her! Some dumb bitch you’re fucking, over me! I give you advice and you ignore it. My suggestions are discarded. You pick everyone over me; you listen to everyone but me. You did this, Bentley! This is all on you!” He was shouting by the time he finished his tirade, the last of his smooth veneer gone. His skin was mottled; spit flying from his mouth as he cursed me. “So, I decided to make you really pay and suffer! She was just the pawn, and I enjoyed making her pay since she was the cause—the interfering little bitch!”

  My fist shot out, catching him square in the face, the sound of bone meeting bone loud in the room. He stumbled back, slamming into the wall, momentarily stunned.

  Aiden lunged, dragging me back from going over the desk and continuing to pummel Greg. I wanted to beat him until he fell. Make him pay for what he did to Emmy in blood and pain.

  “You bastard,” I snarled, pushing Aiden back. “You self-righteous fuck! If you had any balls you would have talked to me, but instead, you go after a defenseless woman. You hide behind numbered companies a
nd computer hackers because you’re feeling left out on the playground.” I sneered. “As for that stupid woman? She is the one who let us know it was you, Greg. Right in front of your own men—with you listening! She knew it was you.”

  His eyes narrowed in disbelief.

  “You should never discount the people you think are beneath you, Greg. The problem is you look without seeing. Emmy is more than you will ever know.” I shook my head in disgust. “Now you will never have the chance, because I am going to make it my mission to ruin you. What you have done is criminal. Inhumane. And unforgiveable.”

  He wiped at the blood trickling from his nose. “How exactly do you think you are going to accomplish that? You really think you can outsmart me?”

  I laughed. “I’ve already done it. Copies of everything have gone to the press. The Law Society. You’ll be disbarred, charged and thrown in jail. Your life, asshole, is over.”

  He stared, stunned. “You wouldn’t.”

  “The police are on their way,” Aiden informed him.

  “You bastard!” Greg seethed.

  I shook my head in disbelief at his indignation. “What did you think?” I yelled. “That I was going to let you get away with all you’ve done? Shake hands and say thanks for making me see I was the bad person here? Offer you a place in my company in order to make it up to you? I paid you for your services—I paid you fucking well. There is no debt here, Greg—not to you.”

  I wiped my hand down my suit, feeling my knuckles swelling, and the chaff of the torn skin.

  “I hope they throw the fucking book at you.” I spun on my heel. “Let’s go. I’m sure Greg has things he needs to take care of before the cops get here.”

  Aiden muttered something to Greg, but I ignored it and headed to the door. I reached for the knob, when Greg said my name. I turned, freezing at the image of the gun he held in his hand. I had no idea where it came from. Aiden shouted, stepping in front of me, but Greg shook his head in disgust.

  “He’s safe, you idiot.” He lifted the gun, pressing it to the skin under his chin. “I want him to see what he has done.”

  “No, Greg, you don’t have to do this.” I stepped from behind Aiden, not wanting this to happen. I wanted him to pay for what he had done, but not die.

  His eyes were cold, his voice filled with hate. “This is your doing Bentley. Your fault. Live with it.”

  “No!” I shouted, lunging forward.

  The room echoed with the gunshot and I felt the spatter of blood hit me. Horrified, I watched Greg’s body slid down the wall, leaving a trail of blood and brain matter behind.

  I stared at the man I had thought was my business associate and friend for years, lying dead on the floor in a pool of blood.

  How had it come to that?

  Chapter 18

  Bentley

  There were so many voices around me. Police, paramedics, Aiden—all of them talking, gesturing, the movement constant. My head ached, my swollen hand throbbed, and I was still shock from what happened. After Greg shot himself, his office door flew open, and it was the sound of Mrs. Johnson’s screams that brought me back to reality. Aiden had taken charge of the situation, immediately calling 911 for an ambulance, pushing her out of the office, and returning to shove me out of the way and into a chair across the room.

  Disoriented I looked up at him, running a hand over my hair, then staring in confusion at the smear of blood I could see on my palm.

  “Bent,” he urged me. “Look at me.”

  I met his gaze. “I need you to calm down. The police are on their way up, and there is going to be a lot of questions we are going to have to answer. I need you to relax.”

  It took me a minute to realize the odd noise I could hear was my own gasps for air. Images swam through my head. Greg holding the gun. The sound. The look on his face before he pulled the trigger. The condemnation of his words.

  My fault.

  Aiden bent closer. “Breathe with me, Bent. Come on.”

  Slowly, my gasps stopped and I could feel the numbness leave.

  “I didn’t want it to end like that.”

  “I know. The coward did this as a final fuck you.”

  I thought of his words as they wrapped the body and moved it to a gurney. A detective came over to me, introduced himself as the one in charge, and asked if I was up to giving a statement. I tore my eyes away from the scene in front of me and drew in a deep breath.

  “Yes.”

  Hours later, Aiden and I walked into the front office, both of us still in shock, but our stories verified. Mrs. Johnson had informed the police Greg taped every meeting, and the whole thing was caught on camera. I had to avert my eyes as they played the scenario onscreen, showing the confrontation exactly as we stated.

  “There will be other questions about his conduct, and illegal activities,” Detective Armstrong informed me.

  I frowned. “Why? The man is dead. Does his name have to be dragged through the mud?”

  He cleared his throat. “There were some interesting files on his computer. I don’t think you’re the only person he was screwing with.”

  Aiden and I shared a glance, then thanked him for his help.

  He shook our hands. “You’re free to go. We’ll be in touch.”

  In the elevator, Aiden spoke, “When we get to the house, you go upstairs and clean up. Don’t let Emmy see you like this.”

  I caught sight of myself in the mirrored walls. I had flecks of blood on my face, jacket and hair. I was unnaturally pale, and I looked like shit. I yanked off my suit jacket, and used the lining to wipe at my face. I was never wearing it again.

  “Have you spoken with Maddox?”

  “Yes. He has everyone in the sunroom. You get cleaned up, and decide what you want to do.”

  My head fell back against the cold glass. “I can’t even think right now.”

  “I know. Let’s get home, and we’ll talk there.”

  I followed him out of the elevator and into the street.

  “I guess no one is watching now.”

  His hand was heavy on my shoulder. “No.”

  **

  The water was so hot it scalded my skin. I scrubbed away the blood, and let it disappear down the drain, wishing I could do the same thing to my memories. I toweled off, and opened the door, to find Emmy sitting on the edge of the bed.

  Her face was drawn and wan, and in her hands, she clutched the pants and shirt she had given me.

  “I thought you would want to be comfortable.”

  I crossed the room, and sank in front of her, wrapping her in my arms. Seeing her reminded me why I had gone to confront Greg. The bruises prompted me to recall my anger and I held her tight, grateful she was safe.

  She leaned down, pressing her lips to the back of my head. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  I lifted my head. “It’s not your fault. None of this is.”

  “It’s not yours either.”

  “Greg felt it was.”

  “I don’t think his judgment was very clear.”

  I pushed away, taking the clothes from her hands. I wasn’t ready yet to talk about it yet. I needed to think it through. Dissect what happened, the way I did when confronted with anything that confounded me.

  “Do you want me to leave you alone?”

  My head snapped up at her tone. I made sure to keep my voice gentle. “I have to talk to Maddox and Aiden. This is—” I exhaled. “There is going to be fallout, and we need to figure out what happens next.”

  She stood. “The girls are going to leave later. I’ll go home with them.”

  “No! I want you here, Emmy. I just need a little time to talk to my partners. This affects them too.” I cupped her cheek. “Your friends can stay as long as they like. No one has to go.”

  “Okay.”

  I brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Okay.”

  I dressed and went downstairs, once I made sure Emmy headed to the sunroom. Maddox and Aiden were waiting for me in my den
, and I sat down with a sigh.

  Maddox studied my face, looking concerned. “You okay, Bent?”

  “As okay as I can be after watching a man shoot himself in front of me.”

  He frowned. “You know it wasn’t your fault, right?’

  I stroked my chin, thinking out loud. “I keep telling myself it isn’t, but part of me says I am responsible. I should have seen it. Looked closer. Done more.”

  “What do you think you could have done?” Aiden questioned. “None of us saw Greg’s true colors. He hid everything. His hatred for us. His distaste for everything we did. All of us—yet, none of us even suspected as much. He was simply looking for someone to blame, Bent. You ended up being his scapegoat.”

  I leaned forward, clasping my hands between my knees, hoping they wouldn’t notice the slight tremor that had been there since that happened. A tick I couldn’t seem to control. “Was he right? Did I ignore all the signs? Did I make him feel as though he wasn’t good enough to be part of us—part of my team?”

  Aiden snorted. “Even if you did, did that give him the right to betray your trust, go behind your back scheming and planning such an elaborate plot to get back at you? For kidnapping and terrorizing an innocent woman to get what he wanted?”

  “No,” I admitted. I bent my head, pulling on the tight muscles to try to relax them. “I don’t understand. It was a land deal. Money. Just money. He had a lot of it.”

  Maddox shook his head. “Not as much as you.”

  I slammed my hand on the desk. “It wasn’t a competition!”

  “Not to you.”

  I sat back, unable to take it all in. “He must have hated me deeply to do all that. How could he even work with me if he hated me so much? Why would he subject himself to it?”

  “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,” Maddox quoted.

  “I never thought of him as an enemy.” I passed a weary hand over my eyes. “But I suppose I never treated him like a friend, either.” I turned to the window, staring out at the cloudy sky. “So I have to assume some of the responsibility.”

  Aiden leaned close. “If he felt that slighted he should have told you off and stopped being your lawyer. He played all of us. He came here, to your home, and planted that bug. That was how he knew about the plans. He heard us. He heard Emmy. He strung you along for months, ripping you off. He stole the deals from you and charged you while doing it! He manipulated all of us.” He huffed out a long breath of air. “Then so he didn’t have to face the consequences, like a coward, he killed himself.”