by Cynthia Dane
She went to bed wondering if anyone else would ever think the same thing about her marriage. So far, it didn’t seem like it.
Chapter 6
First thing Monday morning, Alice was bombarded by a barrage of bullets coming from her assistant’s direction. For some reason, Alisha thought the best way to start the week was by rattling off every single appointment her boss had that week.
“God,” Alice muttered, sitting at her desk with one hand on her head. “It’s not even nine yet. Did you have to spring that on me right away?”
Alisha shrugged. “Just doing my job, ma’am.”
“Yes, yes.” Alice turned on her computer with a yawn. Since the weekend wasn’t busy enough, what with her parents needing constant babysitting and her husband glued to some developing business news, Alice also had to be a damn wife. When Monroe wasn’t having his fill of his wife’s foremost duties, Alice was making valiant attempts to remodel parts of their new home and reclaim the sweetness she had felt while in Chicago. Sheesh. That hadn’t been so long ago, huh?
Kinda hard to feel sweet when she was up to her ass in family drama, ringing business phones, and raunchy sex. That was an Alice Culver thing. Alice Monroe doesn’t have time for sweet lifestyle submission. She hoped her husband would understand.
“By the way,” Alisha continued, while Alice struggled to remember her computer password, “Mrs. Warren called me over the weekend. She wanted to set up tea with you, so I penciled in tomorrow at two. I had to move a couple of other appointments around, though. Hence why today and Wednesday look like a convention.” Alisha waited a moment. “I’m assuming that’s okay? You wanted to meet with her, right?”
Alice unlocked the bottom drawer on her desk. From within she pulled out a document listing every shareholder of the privately run Monroe Industries. How convenient that the names were arranged alphabetically by first name.
“You bet your ass I want to speak with her.” Not just about business, either, but that would be Alice’s excuse for going. Monica’s name was already starred on her list. So were Lana Andrews and the two other members of the Married Women’s Alliance who also happened to own some shares. For a privately held company, there sure are a lot of shareholders. Alice supposed that happened with companies as old as hers. Shares were bought generations ago and passed down through offspring. That didn’t include the others brought in over the past forty or fifty years. In the past ten alone? Another list organized by date of purchase showed that there had been sixteen new shareholders in the past decade. Most of them were small potatoes, but Alice would be boiling them anyway.
She would be meeting the primary shareholders on Thursday. Those were the men – they were all men – who owned the biggest chunks of shares. Russell owned the most. Then Damon, for a combined 60% of total company shares.
Alice was now on the list as well. Paltry 8% of shares. Pshaw.
“Tomorrow at two is fine. What do we have today, again?”
“You’re meeting with the Green’s at eleven and then the Cramshaws at two.”
“I have no idea who those people are.” They were on the list, though.
“I did all the research this weekend. Would you like to go over it?”
“Is my husband available?”
“No, ma’am, he has a teleconference until noon.”
“Damn.” Alice much preferred going over tactics with Monroe. He was the one with the plan to begin with. “All right. Let’s get some coffee and start.”
Alisha brought over a large cup of coffee and placed it on the coaster next to Alice’s emerald paperweight. “Way ahead of you, ma’am.”
The day was a windy blur. Alice could barely recall her meetings later. There were people in suits. Haggling over share prices. Lots of insinuations that she was a trophy wife who had no business being there. Luckily, Alice was pretty hardened to those comments. She had no problem telling Mr. Green that he could fuck himself with his fountain pen – politely, of course.
Part of the reason Alice could not recall the events of the day was because of what happened around four, her first chance all day to sit her ass down and sort her thoughts.
“Mrs. Monroe,” came the receptionist’s voice over the intercom. “There’s a Candice Holt here to see you. She says she knows you.”
Oh my God. Candice? “Send her in, and hold my calls for half an hour.”
“Very well, ma’am.”
Alice hurried to slip her heels back on so she could meet Candice at the office door. Too slow. The door was open.
“Hey!” Ow, my calves. Alice needed to invest in better footwear. “So good to see you!”
Candice was dressed as if she had left work. Which was to say she was the most poorly dressed woman in Monroe Industries’ executive office. Hard to believe that Candice could be underdressed anywhere. Yet all Alice could see was polyester and cheap denim.
She didn’t say anything. Not that she would anyway, but Candice was already looking sheepish and aware that she was sorely out of place.
“Yeah, good to see you.” Candice couldn’t stop glancing around her ex-roommate’s spacious office. “Wow.” She turned back toward Alice, still sitting behind her desk. “I’d ask who you had to blow to get a gig like this, but I have a good idea.”
I have blown the only person to outrank me in this office, haven’t I? Quite a few times. “Like I said, it’s good to see you.” Alice gestured to a chair close to her desk.
Candice slowly sat down, her leopard print purse sagging in her lap. “So. Stuff has happened.” The wedding ring on Alice’s hand caught her eye. “Stuff I wasn’t invited to.”
Was she hurt? Of course she was. Alice didn’t have to go digging to get that answer. Just the way Candice averted her downcast gaze and fidgeted with the clasps of her purse said so. “I’m sorry, Candi. We had to keep it secret.” The press didn’t catch wind until Alice made her announcement to the company. They were that good at hiding it!
“Okay, but I only found out because a crew of movers showed up at our hotel room to take your stuff away. Forgive me if I was in shock.”
“I know.” Alice had more than a few messages from Candice clogging up her phone, each one more exasperated than the last. When Alice finally called back to confirm that she had not only moved in with Monroe, but had married him too, Candice shrieked. There hadn’t been much time to chat since then. “Things moved quickly.”
“I’ll say. I had to squeeze in an appointment to see you!”
“I’ve been so busy getting settled in here. My schedule is wall-to-wall appointments and… um, personal stuff.” If they were back in their cozy apartment with Pete eavesdropping, Alice would’ve been more candid. “Banging my husband takes up most of my evenings. It’s a miracle I can walk, Candi. I’ve seriously made up all that lost time I didn’t have sex when I was younger.” Alice couldn’t say that now, though. Not only did it feel wrong in her upscale office, but Candice didn’t look like she was prepared for serious bantering beyond a dick joke.
She did crack a smile, however. “Good personal stuff? Come on, you can tell me. You landed the guy by getting knocked up! Just didn’t think you would actually take my advice…”
What do I tell her? Alice didn’t know how to answer those inquiries anymore. She had to keep a façade of being pregnant for Russell’s sake, but for all she knew she actually was pregnant. When the fuck would I even know? Alice rubbed her eye. “Jury’s still out on that.”
“I was joking. Oh my God.”
“Let’s not talk about that.” Alice perked up, as if that would change the atmosphere in her sterile office. “How’s the apartment hunt going?”
Candice, on the other hand, slumped in her seat. “We… I… got the insurance approved, so I have funds for a down payment on a new place. The problem is finding a place I can afford on my own, let alone one that will take Pete too. I might have to find a new roommate.” She narrowed her eyes. “Because someone disappeared on me.”
“I’m sorry.” How often could Alice say it. “Really, I am! This has been a crazy two weeks for me.” She caught another glare from her friend’s eyes. “Damon and I are planning a real wedding in a couple of months. You bet your ass you’re invited to that one.”
“Good. I better be your maid of honor.”
“You will be.”
Alice thought that they had come to a mutual understanding of the situation. Then, Candice continued. “So! Want to grab some drinks after you get off work? ‘Cause I…”
“Can’t.” Alice was too quick to say that. “I’ve got a dinner to go to tonight, and then I have to prepare for my meetings tomorrow. Sorry.”
“Really?” Candice scoffed. “This is how it’s gonna be now, huh?”
Alice sat back. “What do you mean?”
“It’s one thing if you’re getting hitched to a billionaire because you may or may not be having his babies. Quite another to suddenly be his business partner, don’t you think?”
I do think. Believe me. Alice drew in a deep breath and chose her words carefully. “Trust me, it wasn’t one of my goals to end up in this position. It was… necessary.”
“Necessary? Do tell.”
I can’t. That’s the problem. “He needs my help with an important business venture. That’s what all the meetings are for. I’m establishing myself in the company, so to speak.”
Candice sighed. “Don’t give me your bullshit corporate jargon, Al. Next you’ll be telling me about synergy and lateral compositions.”
“Fact of the matter is, I can’t tell you exactly what’s going on. I can’t risk telling anyone. I have no idea who may be listening in at the moment.”
That certainly killed the mood. If there had been a mood to begin with.
“For fuck’s sake, Al. I have no idea who you are anymore.”
Fair enough, indeed. Alice often questioned such things herself. Was she the bride of a billionaire? Was she a woman making a sudden and important career change that would affect her résumé for the rest of her life? Was she the future matriarch of a powerful corporate dynasty? Was she a silly low-class girl having a lark until her rich husband decided he was over her and enacted their iron-clad prenup through a quick and efficient divorce? Which identity came first? Which one did she present to her best friend… whom she had kept in the proverbial dark this whole time?
“I’m still sorting that out too.”
“Seriously. Is this what you’ve always wanted but never told me?” Candice opened her arms to the large, still somewhat empty office. “I’ve never seen you working in a place like this, let alone owning it! Did dating that guy get you a brain transplant?”
“Excuse you…”
“No, excuse you, Alice. You’re scaring me. I had no idea what to expect when I came here, but look at you! Suddenly you’re the bigshot’s bigshot! Overnight you’ve gone from some girl working at a sex club to owning half of a multibillion-dollar company!”
“I don’t own half.” That was easy to assume, though. “Technically I own 8% of the company through shares.” Hopefully by the end of tomorrow it would be 9%.
“Oh what the fuck ever! Fact is, Al, you’re a fucking billionaire! You’re on another level, and I have no idea how to reach you anymore. The worst part is that I got no warning.”
What the hell did Alice say to this? “I don’t know how many times I have to say I’m sorry. We have our reasons for doing what we’ve done. I can’t tell you what they are right now. I barely understand them myself.”
“You barely under… holy shit, Alice, listen to yourself! You don’t even know why you married the guy overnight!”
Enough.
Alice may not have been in this corporate world for long, but she had learned enough. She couldn’t let people walk all over her. She couldn’t let them get to her, whether they were best friends or tenuous acquaintances. To go down that path was to lead to instant madness.
“Don’t talk to me like that!” Alice shot up from her seat, a faraway part of her absorbing the shock on Candice’s face with glee. “Don’t treat me like a child. Just because I lived a different life until now doesn’t mean I can’t do this!” She knocked the emerald paperweight off her desk. Nobody jumped to pick it up. “You have no idea, Candi. You really don’t have a fucking clue what’s going on. I haven’t told you because I can’t. I am all the fuck alone right now. My husband? My husband is the one running the show. I have to trust him to not fuck me over. Because you’re right! I barely know the bastard! I know that I love him, and I know that I want to do this, but you think I’m not scared? I’m suddenly married! His father hates my guts and…” No, she wouldn’t drop the bomb about the fire and Russell’s involvement. Candice still didn’t know, and Alice did not want to freak her out any more than she was. “Also, I might be pregnant. It’s true. So cut me some fucking slack right now. I’m going through an adjustment period where I’m not at liberty to talk about much, especially about work. You’re going to have to trust me like I have to trust my husband.”
Tears dripped from her eyes. Alice snatched tissues from a silver box and dabbed the tears away.
“Now I kinda feel sorry for thinking you’re a bitch,” Candice said.
Alice laughed. What else could she do? “I am a bitch now. I have no choice for the time being. Otherwise nobody takes me seriously around here.”
“Just don’t be a bitch to me. You’ve got jack-shit to prove to me.”
Candice got up from her chair and rounded Alice’s desk. When her hand touched Alice’s shoulder, more tears came.
Tears of happiness? Tears of relief? It was all so odd. Alice acknowledged how she had changed in such a short amount of time, but it was difficult conveying that to her best friend. Candice was still her best friend, right?
“When you have some time, call me, I guess.” Candice rubbed the top of Alice’s head. “Assuming you’re not too good for me now.” At least there was sarcasm in her voice. Kind of.
“You know what?” Alice finished wiping away her tears and opened her schedule book. “I’ve got this thing tomorrow afternoon you should do with me. Would much rather have you there for this than my assistant I still barely know.”
“Oh? What kind of thing?” Candice put her hands on her hips. “Is it sexy? Because I know sexy.”
“It’s definitely… along those lines.” Alice pointed to the name in her book.
“Uh huh. Oh, I know who that is.” Candice grinned. “Do I know who that is!”
“Figured, in your line of work. Besides,” Alice flipped the book shut. “I could use someone I trust while I navigate some of this crazy shit.”
“I’m guessing you exploring the world of domination and submission isn’t exactly a secret you’re keeping.”
“Hilariously enough, it is the one thing I don’t have to be hush-hush about.”
“All right. I’ll go with you. I have to edit anal porn at eleven but then I’m free.”
Alice looked askance at her friend. “Sometimes I forget what you do.”
“Sometimes I forget what you do!”
They parted with a smile that afternoon. Alice was grateful for that – she was also grateful for still having one person she could be blunt with. Who wasn’t her husband, anyway.
***
“Oh my God!” Alice sat on the edge of the bathtub, towel falling loosely around her body. “Damon!”
She called his name no fewer than three times before he finally appeared in the bathroom, half undressed and en route to taking his turn in the shower. When he saw his disheveled wife wobbling on the bathtub, he leaped forward, catching her before she could pass out and get a concussion.
“What’s wrong?” He lifted her head, and that only made her woozier. “Alice!”
Monroe was on the verge of shouting for aid when his wife finally responded. “Panic… pan…”
He stood with her in his arms, her body both limp and struggling to enter the safety of his embrace
. Please let me breathe again! Alice hadn’t had a panic attack in years. Not since the last time her bank account was almost bled dry and she had no idea when the next funds were coming in. I can’t breathe…
Throughout her shower she obsessed over everything going on. Her marriage, her future as a wife and mother, the man who wanted her dead if he couldn’t get her to leave on her own…
Money. Money, money, money.
Her parents and their distant disapproval. Candice calling her a bitch she didn’t know anymore. The constant threat hanging above her head if she didn’t perform the way Monroe needed her to.
In bed. In marriage. In business. In life.
Monroe placed her gently on their bed. She was cold now. Shivering so hard that her husband wrapped a thin blanket around her while smoothing away her wet hair from her face.
“Please don’t go.” Alice snatched his hand. Could she drain him of his energy? She would try. “Please don’t leave me alone.”
The last thing she wanted was to be left alone. The deeper Alice delved into this crazy world, the easier it became to feel so damn alone. No wonder Monroe was one of the most stoic, closed-off people she had ever met. At least he grew up like this. He knew how to handle it. Not Alice. She wasn’t used to not being close to the people she surrounded herself with. I don’t even know Lissa’s last name. There was a woman living in her house who cooked and cleaned for her, and Alice didn’t know her last name! There hadn’t been time to learn it!
“I’m right here, precious.” He curled around her. This shouldn’t make it easier to breathe, but it does. Smelling him and feeling his eternal heat against her body were the only things that could calm her down right now. “Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I won’t let it.”
“The shares and the…”
“Don’t worry about any of that. When you come home, you’re not allowed to worry about that. That’s my job.”
“You can’t shoulder it all.”
