Vengeful in Love

by Nadia Lee

  Natalie hadn’t contacted him. He wanted to talk to her, but he hadn’t been able to get a moment alone, especially with all those pesky business dinners to attend. They normally lasted until one or two in the morning and filled his belly with more alcohol than he would have liked. The Chinese drank like fish, especially the older men, their faces shining and laughing.

  Given how they’d parted, Alex wanted to be one hundred percent sober when he spoke with Natalie again. He stared at his cell phone and thought about giving her a ring but gave up on the idea. Maybe she was still upset with the way he’d left…even though she was the one who had made it clear he’d better let her be alone for a while.

  He sighed. Women.

  Two white envelopes on the nightstand caught his eye. He rolled across the mattress and picked one up. The discreetly embossed logo of a famous Hong Kong jeweler was in the upper left corner. Bless the concierges of the world. He always asked them to select and send expensive trinkets to whichever woman he happened to be involved with at the time. Some men liked to travel with their lovers on business. Alex preferred to keep women and work separate.

  Until Natalie. She was beginning to blur some of the internal lines that had always been very clear.

  He opened the envelope. Inside, there was a bill and pictures of a gorgeous ruby choker. It would look spectacular on Natalie’s graceful neck, complement her vivid coloring.

  Vaguely dissatisfied, he shoved everything back into the envelope and tossed it on the nightstand. Although the jewelry cost a fortune, it didn’t seem good enough for her. He’d thought this was an excellent idea when he’d talked to the concierge during check-in, but now he couldn’t remember why. It was too impersonal.

  Still… She would probably like it. Once they saw the expensive, sparkly stones, none of his ex-lovers had complained that his gifts weren’t personal enough, well thought out enough.

  Alex opened the second envelope and read the contents. At last! With the information contained in these investigative reports, he’d be able to squeeze Brian Hall so he’d stop giving the Rodales political support. Hall had helped the Rodales one too many times behind the scenes and spoiled several of Alex’s well-planned moves against them. The only way to stop him was to find something that would ruin him forever if anyone knew about it. And after several months of probing, Alex had what he wanted.

  But mingled with his sense of triumph was one of outrage. The bastard had bought—no, won—Natalie! No wonder Louise and Belle treated her like dirt. Hard to respect something you won in a game of chance.

  Suddenly, his cell phone vibrated. Alex answered it immediately. “Damon.”

  “How’s Hong Kong treating you?” came Ethan’s familiar voice.

  Disappointment deflated him. “It’s all right.”

  “Just all right? I thought you liked it there.”

  “Maybe I’m getting old.”

  “Uh-huh. So it has nothing to do with our newly promoted senior lead analyst?” There was a pause, and Ethan laughed. “You don’t have to pretend. We all know it’s Natalie.”

  “We?” He didn’t believe for a second she’d bragged about dating him. Most likely her sister had spread some vile rumor.

  “It was in the papers. Gossip rags. They also had pictures of her with Charlie Rodale. Are they lovers?”

  “No.” Alex could feel his mood darkening. “I don’t think so.” She’d said they were friends. If they’d been more, she wouldn’t have responded to him like that. Would she? Just thinking about it made his body stir. He shifted uncomfortably.

  “They must have some history. At least it looks that way from the photos.”

  “Why are you so interested in her?” Alex said, getting irritated. Ethan was supposed to be helping him take over Rodale International, not reading the scandal sheets.

  “I think someone’s tipping Rodale off.”

  “But what does this have to do with Natalie?”

  “Because of what Charlie Rodale said to his investors last night. He specifically mentioned the Hong Kong consortium. How could he have got wind of it unless someone tipped him off about our plans?”

  That was a blow. In order to start buying up Rodale stock without alerting the management, Alex had set up ten separate companies, all of them private, all of them small, spread out over seven different countries. They were unofficially coordinated through a Hong Kong consulting firm, but he’d paid a lot of money to make sure the companies’ activities were kept absolutely secret. But now it seemed the secret was out. “That’s not good. Still, it doesn’t have to be Natalie. As a matter of fact, nobody at DDE knows about it.”

  “Natalie might. Her senator father and all. Besides, she worked for Goldreich in Hong Kong and more than half her MBA class went into consulting or investment banking. She’s got the connections to get whatever the Rodales need.”

  Alex found he was holding his breath. “Is she the only one? There could be others—”

  “She’s the only one besides me who has access to the information. And she’s close to the Rodales.” Ethan’s voice cooled. “If she’s the leak, we can’t let her get away with it.”

  Alex gripped the phone. Natalie couldn’t be the betrayer. There were other people who were capable of accessing information about Alex’s plans. For all he knew, the Rodales could’ve hired someone to hack into his personal computer.

  “Also, the Rodale BOD just approved a flip-in,” Ethan said, dragging Alex’s attention back to the conversation.

  Alex swore. A flip-in was an effective poison pill. There wasn’t any good way to fight back unless he wanted to start a proxy battle and put his people on Rodale’s board of directors.

  Ethan continued. “I know you want to get Rodale, but it doesn’t make sense to force it. It’s going to cost too much and take too long.”

  Alex closed his eyes and thought. Finally, he said, “Agreed. I’ll have to come up with a countermove. Find out who the mole is, if you’re so sure it’s someone in DDE. And I don’t want you focusing your investigation just on Natalie. It could be anyone.”

  There was a pause. Then Ethan said, “Will do.”

  Now in a foul mood, Alex changed shirts and stalked out of the hotel. The weather was unusually hot and muggy. Still, the crowd bustled, merchants showing their wares to everyone who walked by. The smell of freshly baked bread drifted from a small shop packed with people. Garish neon signs flashed on tall buildings, and with each burst of light, shadows jumped out in the corners and alleys.

  Natalie wasn’t like that conniving, family-rending bitch Emily Rodale. She wasn’t.

  He stopped in front of a store display. In the window was a silk robe of the fieriest crimson. On its back a golden embroidered fènhuáng spread its wings. The workmanship was extraordinary. The mythical bird looked as if it would soar into the sky at any moment. It reminded him of how Natalie had seemed to soar when they were making love. Usually, she was somewhat guarded, but he had seen her spirit, joyous and giving, unleashed in bed.

  A dragon and fènhuáng set represents a harmonious relationship between a man and a woman… I thought I would give the dragon to a man I lov—a worthy man.

  But who would give Natalie a fènhuáng?

  Alex stood, gazing at the robe. After several moments, he walked inside. A clerk wearing metallic green eye shadow greeted him in British-accented English. He told her what he wanted.

  The robe came in one size, and there was only one left. Each design on the back was one of a kind, handmade by a local artisan. The store didn’t give refunds or exchanges. Would he take it?

  He nodded and handed over his credit card. The clerk wrapped the robe in gorgeous gold and red paper and tied a silk bow around it. The package was light but beautiful and somehow seemed like exactly the perfect gift for Natalie.

  His mood vastly improved, Alex returned to his hotel.

  * * *

  It was already Thursday, and still there was no word. Natalie hadn’t asked Ethan dir
ectly again, but it looked like even he didn’t know when Alex would be back.

  Fool, fool, fool!

  Finished with work and back inside her condo, she kicked off her shoes and let her feet sink into the thick carpet. Matto came out to greet her—or, more accurately, to demand a fresh serving of his favorite treat.

  “Not right now.” She tossed her purse on the couch and was heading to the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Her heart leapt.

  “Who is it?” she said, walking quickly to the door.

  “FedEx.”

  Her shoulders slumped at the chirpy voice. She opened the door and saw a delivery woman in a uniform.

  “Natalie Hall?”

  “Yes.”

  Matto trotted out, stood between her feet and hissed at the woman. She glanced down and dismissed the cat. “Can you sign for this?”

  Natalie scribbled her name on the delivery form and took the box. The address label didn’t indicate the sender, and she didn’t remember buying anything online recently. “Who sent it?”

  “If it’s not on the label, I don’t know,” she said with an apologetic smile. “Thank you. Have a nice evening!”

  Before Natalie could ask any more questions, the woman disappeared. Natalie sighed and shut the door.

  Back in her living room, she shook the box. Something moved, but nothing rattled. Hmmm. She went to the kitchen, heated some water for tea, and grabbed a knife to cut the double layers of tape around the package…then encountered more tape and wrapping.

  Just what was inside? A national secret?

  The kettle started to whistle, and she poured the hot water into a small teapot. Dried tea leaves began to plump out, a few floating up to the surface. After placing a lid on the pot, she ripped the rest of the packing open. Inside was a beautifully wrapped oblong box. An elegant, dark navy ribbon with gold trim made a festive bow around it. She examined it from various angles, then went carefully through the wrapping paper. No card.

  And the brown carton contained nothing inside except bubble wrap. Strange.

  She unwrapped it and saw a dark navy velvet box. In the center, a gold emblem gleamed under the kitchen light.

  Her hands stilled. It was a jeweler in Hong Kong. She’d seen the logo during her tenure at Goldreich. Her heartbeat accelerated.

  She opened it and frowned at a row of exquisite rubies glittering like fat drops of blood. She picked up the choker. It felt icy against her hand. Finally, she found a small, heavy stock card engraved with an elaborate copperplate script:

  To Natalie

  From Alex

  She stared at it for a moment, unbelieving. Then, taking a deep breath, she put the choker back in the box and snapped it shut.

  Her hands shook so much she spilled tea on the counter as she poured it into her cup. She gripped the teapot, oblivious to its heat. How could he think that a string of rocks would make everything all right? And that card! Couldn’t he have said something little more personal than “To Natalie”? Obviously, he couldn’t even bother to write it himself. Who’d selected the choker and sent it? Natalie wondered if he’d even seen the gems.

  Alex was just like her family, keeping her at arm’s length and sending her money and gifts to avoid having to deal with her. Brian was the only one who had ever occasionally spared an hour or two for her, but even he was usually too busy.

  Her sense of betrayal and disappointment was so strong it was almost hallucinogenic. It was as though a strong wind had suddenly blown her off a high balcony, the support under her feet sliding away and disappearing in an instant.

  Still, in the midst of her outrage, there was a small voice in the back of her mind asking why Alex’s cavalier treatment hurt so much more than it should.

  Chapter Twelve

  “OH, HE DIDN’T!” Kerri said.

  “He did,” Natalie said and leaned back in her office chair.

  “At least they were expensive rubies.”

  “I guess. But it’s not about that.” Was their weekend quantifiable, able to be reduced to a string of sparkly rocks? Expensive rubies, indeed. To someone like Alex, the price wouldn’t mean anything.

  “Get a new boyfriend. He isn’t the only one around who can give you multiple Os.”

  Natalie snorted.

  “Seriously. I wasn’t joking last time when I asked you to join me here. Who needs men when you can have a career?”

  “I have a career.”

  “Sleeping with the boss? Working for a boring government contractor?”

  “Hey, not everyone’s born to be an investment banker.”

  Kerri made a rude noise, which was somehow more eloquent than speech. “If you don’t want to be in Hong Kong, fine. Go to New York City. Ignore the tax benefits.”

  “Yeah, yeah. You just want to boss me around at work.” Natalie swiveled in her chair. “Unlike you, I actually need to sleep, so banking is out.”

  “Uh-huh. Hold on.” Kerri said something to someone in her office then came back on the phone. “So what are you going to do about this…Alex?”

  Natalie tapped her desk. “I don’t know. But I don’t want him to think I’m running away.”

  “Natalie, you’re always worried about proving something to the people around you. There’s nothing to prove. They either accept you the way you are, or they don’t. Either way, it’s got nothing to do with you. Hold on.” There was another pause with muffled conversation in the background. “I gotta go. You’d think the second-year analysts would know what I want them to do without my having to spell it out. I’ll catch you later.”

  The cubicles were deserted when Natalie finally emerged from her small office. She didn’t blame her coworkers. It was already a little after six on a Friday, and even the janitorial staff was gone. One of them had come into her office about half an hour earlier. He’d given her a look, then shaken his head while dumping all the papers from her trash bin into a milky plastic shredder bag. She bet even that old man thought she was insane to stick around when everyone else was enjoying their weekend.

  As she walked through the mostly empty parking lot, Natalie rummaged around in her purse. She found her keys, pressed the unlock button. There was the usual electronic chirp, and ahead of her the Audi’s headlights flashed.

  “Natalie.”

  She turned and saw Belle approaching. She had on a small black dress and a pair of stilettos, but the nervous way she moved reminded Natalie of a Chihuahua. It always had.

  “Aren’t you a little overdressed for a parking lot?”

  Belle walked right up to her. “I told you to leave Dad alone.”

  Oh, for pity’s sake. “Belle. I haven’t seen Brian since the party.”

  “I didn’t say you saw him. Stop siccing your nasty boyfriend on him.”

  “I really do not know what you’re talking about. If you’re going to accuse me of something, why don’t you do it in writing so we can minimize our contact time? We always fight whenever we’re together.”

  “You condescending bitch.”

  Whatever bee had gotten under her bonnet must be killing her. Her face was so red Natalie wondered if her sister was going to keel over from a heart attack.

  “Don’t you care about anyone but yourself? After what Mom and Dad did for you, this is how you repay them?”

  “Belle, either tell me what this is about or get out of my face. I want to start my weekend.”

  She glared at Natalie. “I’m warning you. You’ve done enough. Don’t hurt Dad.”

  “You mean like the family’s hurt me?”

  Suddenly, tears welled in Belle’s eyes, and Natalie blinked. Belle hadn’t cried since they were kids.

  “You had everything. You still do.” Belle sniffled. “Fancy European boarding schools. Top graduate in your class. Dad was so proud of you, he gave you everything you asked for. You even got to go to Hong Kong and do whatever you wanted to do. And look at me.” Natalie looked. Belle’s eyes were red, the color stark against her black eyeliner.
“I have nothing. I wasn’t good at sports. I wasn’t the smartest kid. God, I’m a stereotype. The dumb blonde of the family.”

  Belle looked so small and lost, all the fight went out of Natalie. “Belle… Come on. Louise loves you so much more. That’s why she couldn’t bear to send you anywhere too far from home.”

  Tears started to fall from Belle’s eyes, and she wiped them away furiously, smudging her makeup. “Yeah, right.”

  “It’s true. Did you know that Louise had problems conceiving? She blames Brian for adopting me instead of waiting for her to give him a child of her own. As far as she’s concerned, I represent her failure, while you’re her vindication and revenge.”

  Belle stared at Natalie, then gave a short, harsh laugh. “Oh please. You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you?”

  “What do you want me to say? It’s the truth. I know I’m not really a Hall, and Louise only tolerates me out of duty.” Natalie shrugged. “Look, I want to go home. You should get going too. I’m sure you have a lot of work to do for Brian’s campaign.”

  “Natalie—”

  She shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about the loneliness and guilty resentment she’d harbored against her family. How could Belle think her parents loved her less? She was the flesh of their flesh. A real Hall.

  Belle hesitated, then turned away. Natalie waited until the golden Mercedes was gone before leaning against her Audi. Her chest rose and fell in a long, shuddering sigh. Something would set Belle off every now and then, but hopefully this would last her for the year. Maybe for the decade.

  She was still standing there when a Lamborghini drove up and screeched to a stop next to her. The door opened, and Alex climbed out.

  She crossed her arms. This simply was not fair.

  “What are you still doing here?” he said, his expression unreadable in the fading light.

  Didn’t expect to see me? “I had a lot of work to do,” she said casually. “Ethan is a slave driver. You just get back from Hong Kong?”