She's Got Dibs

by AJ Nuest

  He faced the room, anger glinting like steel lightning in his eyes. “We are through discussing this.”

  “I will not be dismissed, David.” Mr. Brenner aimed a finger at the floor. “I say when and for how long this conversation will last.”

  The doors closed. Tessa slowly exhaled, then stiffened when every head in the room swiveled back to her, as if all those present expected her to make the next move.

  She clenched her jaw and crossed to the elevator, innumerable eyes boring holes into her shoulder blades as she waited for it to open and stepped on. She lifted a finger, but it hovered before the panel. Where did she start? Locating Dibs and his father before their argument escalated any further was paramount, but it was anyone’s guess where they’d gone.

  She said a silent prayer and hit the button for the bottom floor. She would start at ground level and if need be, work her way back up. Her stomach lurched unsteadily when the elevator descended. A fine film of sweat coated the inside of her palms.

  The doors opened. Angry shouts echoed through the hall. She strode briskly for the corner, ignoring the expressions of concerned curiosity, employees stepping from their offices into the corridor.

  “We did what you wanted, David!” Mr. Brenner’s voice berated her ears. “We gave her the job, now that’s enough! The relationship needs to end!”

  Tessa stopped dead in her tracks. A strange numbness exploded across her face. She stumbled to the side and reached blindly for the wall.

  They gave her the job? They gave her the job? Even though she’d asked him not to, Dibs had gone behind her back and stacked the deck in her favor.

  “Fine! Let’s say you did me a service! What of it?”

  She shoved away from the wall, fierce anger blotting out her reason. She finally understood. The Brenners thought she owed them, and now they wanted to be rid of her. Awarding TNT the event had been their payoff, and in return she was to leave their son alone.

  Sweet God, how many people knew? A visual of all those expectant faces in the executive suites swept the blank walls of the corridor. Did the entire staff assume TNT got hired because Tessa Adams was sleeping her way to the top? Repugnance roiled in her gut, clawing bitter and vile up the lining of her throat.

  “You don’t owe her anything, David! It’s time you grow up and face your responsibilities!”

  She straightened her shoulders, her hands twin fists at her sides. Her footfalls momentarily faltered as she rounded that damned corner. The one that had always existed…around which waited the end of every relationship.

  Dibs and his father faced each other in the hallway, their argument escalating another degree.

  “What makes you think you can tell me what I should do with my life?”

  “I’m your father, David.” Mr. Brenner jabbed a finger toward Dibs’s chest. “That gives me every right!”

  Dibs stomped forward, bumping the extended digit. “We’re getting married,” he gritted through clenched teeth. “And nothing you, or mother, or anyone else can say will change that.”

  Benjamin Brenner squinted. He lifted the crumpled papers and shook them in Dibs’s face, his voice lowered to a heated threat. “Then you had better decide, David. Either I sign off my shares, you save your precious foundation, and assume the role of BFG chairman as we have asked, or you can say goodbye to your life, sit helplessly in the stands, and watch while we take down you, and everyone else around you.”

  Tessa sharply inhaled and withdrew a step. The portfolio slipped from her careless grasp. A stinging clap echoed down the corridor when the leather smacked the floor. Several sheets slipped out, whispering across the tile, and glided to a slow stop along the wall.

  Dibs and his father pivoted in her direction. The menacing bitterness in Dibs’s gaze slowly faded…to be replaced by fear. He searched her face, as if trying to determine how much she had heard, if she understood what was happening.

  She instinctively retreated another step and spun for the elevator, but too many people blocked her path. Some faces held shock, others knowledge, their eyes condemning and hard.

  She whirled to the opposite corridor…and locked directly onto Michael. He stood outside his office door, wretched pity creasing his brow. He had witnessed everything. And recognized his entire prediction come to life.

  Trapped, unable to pull any air, she lurched in a circle, every set of accusing eyes focused solely on her.

  She finally forced a step in Michael’s direction, until at last her heavy footfalls gained momentum. As she passed by his side, he whispered her name. But she didn’t acknowledge him. A door at the end of the corridor offered escape and she hurried toward it, pressed on the emergency exit and stumbled into the sunshine.

  A hand on her chest, she dragged in a lungful of air. The terrace behind the Crystal Ballroom sprawled on her left and she raced in that direction. She would leave through the ballroom. Return to the sanctuary of her condo, lock the door, and keep everyone out until she had time to think.

  Dibs had betrayed her, in the worst possible way. He had set her up right in the middle of everything, and then lied to her face. Of course the Brenners hated her. Why wouldn’t they? She’d accepted the bait. Played right into their hands. From the very beginning, she’d had zero control over anything!

  Say goodbye to your life…sit helplessly in the stands…

  Mr. Brenner had shown his hand. Exactly as she had always feared. He would destroy the Foundation. Choose power over family.

  Her heels clacked up the steps, mirroring the rapid staccato of her heart. Her skin crawled with revulsion and shame. She was done. Her association with the Brenners was over. No more would she fulfill a role in their wicked plans. They had taken her love for Dibs and twisted it, distorted it, until it resembled something filthy and slimy. She’d been nothing but their pawn, falling in love so they could blackmail Dibs to their benefit.

  God, what a fool she’d been. What a fool. Well, not anymore. Their power over her stopped here. Now.

  “Tessa!” Dibs shouted behind her.

  She flew across the terrace. Didn’t dare stop. Being anywhere near him would bring too great a pain.

  “Tessa, wait!”

  She yanked open the door, focused on the other end of the ballroom and strode faster, her footfalls rapping the marble floor. If she could just reach the lobby before he reached her.

  A hand clasped her shoulder and twirled her to face him. “Please, Tessa, just wait.” He held up both palms, breathing heavily.

  “You lied.” She spun away and resumed her path toward the door.

  “It’s not like it seems.” He side-stepped in front of her. The two of them choreographed a dangerous dance. “Let me explain.”

  “It doesn’t matter! None of it matters anymore, Dibs.”

  “What are you saying?” He closed in, grasped both her elbows. “What doesn’t matter?”

  “Haven’t you been listening? This was all a game to them. And to win your father will destroy the Foundation! Your family will ruin everyone associated with us!”

  “I won’t let him do that.” He tightened his grip. “You have to believe me, I would never let anything bad happen to you.”

  “This isn’t about me, Dibs!” She shoved his chest, broke free, and backed away. “This is about you! The people involved in the Foundation, Tiffany and TNT. He’ll take it all away unless you do what he says!”

  “That’s not the only option.” He flung his arms wide to the sides. “There are other steps we can take!”

  “I refuse to be in the middle of this. I simply refuse.” Teeth clenched, anger seething, she pointed at him. “You did this. You wanted me to have the event, so you made a call and set the whole thing up behind my back. You put me right where I didn’t want to be and then lied to cover your tracks.” She whipped a hand toward the door. “How am I supposed to face them now? How am I supposed to face anyone in this organization knowing I never deserved any of it?”

  “You did
deserve it! They had already made their decision. When I called the deal was already done.”

  “Quit bullshitting me!” She threw her fists down at her sides. “I heard what your father said. They did as you asked. The relationship has to end.”

  “He’s twisting the facts to get what he wants, just like he always does!”

  “I know exactly how the whole thing was set up.” She turned her back to him and stormed for the terrace door, thoughts racing in time to her feet. “Let’s humor the pathetic little businesswoman Dibs has his eye on, and then maybe she’ll be satisfied and just leave us alone!”

  “You can’t really believe that, Tessa!”

  “I can’t?” She seized the handle, spitting her words. “Tell me I’m wrong, Dibs. Tell me your family hasn’t been thinking that exact thing!” She shoved onto the balcony and rushed for the stairs.

  He raced out in front and planted his feet, blocking her path. “Yes, okay! You’re right!” He raked a hand through his hair. “But I had nothing to do with it!”

  “You have everything to do with it!”

  Movement caught the corner of her eye. Michael. Standing at the bottom of the steps. Her portfolio in hand, the pages sticking out at an awkward angle. He ascended that first step, a level stare aimed at her from under his brows. She squinted, silently warning him not to come any closer.

  Dibs tracked her eyes over his shoulder, and she held a breath, afraid he might recognize Michael for who he was. But when Dibs swung back to her, only concern haunted his gaze, concern for her. Once again the man she loved stood before her, and his only thought was of her…

  An internal door slammed. The answer now so clear.

  If they had never fallen in love, then Dibs would be safe. If she had never gone to him that day at the airport, the Foundation and everyone around them wouldn’t be in danger. The Brenner family would have no leverage. They couldn’t force Dibs to choose.

  The pain etched on his face spoke volumes. He would do anything to keep her. He would battle heaven and earth, and if he destroyed his family or his company or his life in the process, it wouldn’t matter. If he damaged everything and everyone they ever touched, it still wouldn’t matter.

  Because of her this was happening.

  Despair tumbled through her heart, dark and violent. She trembled under the weight, bit back a sob. She had become more than his love. She had become his symbol, a representation of everything he spent his entire life fighting for. A figure to show his family he could no longer be manipulated.

  No, no, their love shouldn’t be his crusade against the world.

  Her heart shattered. She withdrew a step.

  She had to let him go.

  No matter what he said, no matter how much they loved each other, the guilt over what their love had destroyed would follow them everywhere. Until it changed them, transformed their relationship into something bitter and cruel…everything they once shared lost, forgotten…wrong.

  And God could damn her to hell before she allowed their love to be used as a bargaining chip against him.

  Her shoulders fell. The Brenners had won. They had accomplished exactly what they set out to do. They wanted her gone from the beginning, and so created a vacuum inside which neither of them could survive.

  “What?” he shouted. “What are you thinking, Tessa?”

  She dropped her gaze to the ground. “This is over,” she said quietly.

  “No, no, no.” He shook his head. “You don’t mean that. You can’t mean that, Tessa.”

  A tide of rending grief built within her and she clenched her fists, struggling to rein in a sob. “They’ll ruin us, Dibs. Your parents will take what we have and distort it until it’s something we both hate. No matter what we do, they’ll make it so there’s nothing left for us.”

  “I told you that, Tessa.” Michael stepped onto the balcony.

  She snapped her chin up at the same moment Dibs spun around. “Shut up, Michael!” she hissed.

  Dibs jerked back to her. Awareness flashed in his eyes. “Michael?”

  She opened her mouth, snapped it shut.

  “Michael! He told you! He told you what?”

  Understanding cleared the creases between his brows, but she remained silent. Let him think what he wanted. His assumptions would only help convince him they needed to part. She would break his heart. She would break both their hearts. But the Brenners had already ensured that would happen.

  And if she acted now, before he buckled under the pressure of fighting a war over her, then maybe she could save some part of him, for the future, just as he had done for her.

  She would sacrifice their love and let him go.

  “He’s been here this whole time and you knew!” He searched her eyes. “You talked to him and never told me.”

  She locked onto Michael, arched a brow, and refocused on Dibs. Tears threatened over the hurt, the devastation raking his face, but she quickly blinked them away. If one ounce of weakness showed, he would never believe. Her entire sacrifice would be in vain.

  “I lied?” A growl issued from his throat. “I lied to you?”

  She curled her lips into a calculating smile, lowered her lashes to hide the truth.

  “It was that week”—he shook his finger at her—“when we got back from Vail. You saw him that week, and then you lied so you could go right on seeing him. That’s why you would never say yes. You were never ready because all this time you’ve been trying to decide which one of us you wanted.”

  The world reeled. The horrific nightmare sucked at her consciousness.

  “I knew it!” He slammed his fist against the balustrade. “You’ve been seeing him this entire time, haven’t you? You went back to him and then fed me one lie right after the next!” A vicious laugh roared from his throat as he tossed his head back. “You’ve got some nerve, haven’t you? You can stand here and accuse my family of playing games, when you’ve been playing your own games all along!”

  Her arms numbed. Panic surged and swelled. God, please let her be strong enough to follow through. She strode forward on wobbly knees, left Dibs and joined Michael at the top of the steps. His hand met the small of her back. She lifted her chin, her heart splintering into a million jagged shards.

  Dibs paced the balcony, rubbing his forehead before stuttering to a halt. His hands trembled, and in his eyes his entire heart had been consumed by flames.

  “I’ve been such a fool.” He lowered his head, shook it at the ground. “I would have given up everything. I would have completely denied my entire life for you. And now I find you never really loved me. It was all a lie…everything.”

  Shrill screams resonated inside her head. The air grew dense. The balcony listed to the side. If only he would leave, before it was too late, before she lost her nerve and told him the truth.

  “I’ll make your decision real easy, Tessa.” He met her gaze. “You were right. This is over.”

  In two long strides, he grabbed Michael by the shirt and hefted him in the air. “If I ever hear one word—”

  Michael’s head cranked side to side when Dibs shook him roughly back and forth.

  “If I ever find out you hurt her, I will hunt you down. Do you understand me?”

  Terror glazed over Michael’s eyes, shifting under the venom leaking through Dibs’s heated glare.

  “Do you understand me!” Dibs shoved Michael’s chest. He tumbled like a rag doll, down the stairs and onto on the lawn.

  Tears swarmed her eyes, blurring Dibs’s form as he stalked past.

  The impulse to reach out, cry she loved him and only him, overwhelmed her. She clenched her hands tighter, fingernails biting into the skin of her palms. Her love for him must be stronger than her need.

  He grabbed the handle of the ballroom door, eyes focused on the ground. “I loved you more than I ever thought possible.” He swung the door wide, and disappeared.

  Her knees buckled. She dropped to the steps, tried for a breath, but her lungs re
fused to expand.

  The sun dimmed.

  Her vision narrowed.

  Tiny sparks danced before her eyes.

  As if a dream, Michael crawled up the steps to her side. “Are you all right?” His voice echoed from a long distance away.

  The ground teetered. Her head smacked the cement. The tiny sparks exploded. Large fireworks crackled through her sight.

  “Oh my God, Tes—”

  A black curtain descended.

  Chapter Twenty

  To the casual observer, she was certain the photo of Dibs looked the same—dressed in a tuxedo, standing beside Margaret, with her beautiful red tresses piled high and her neck like a swan. But to Tessa the difference was obvious. A light had been extinguished. No sparkle shone in his eyes. No more love or shimmering warmth. His clean-shaven face was too somber for those foolish things. His jaw was too tight, the set of his shoulders too rigid.

  She closed her eyes and shoved the newspaper away, trying to clear the images from her mind. But the headline remained ingrained behind her closed eyelids.

  Powerhouses Reunite: Chicago’s long-time philanthropist, David Brenner, announces reconciliation with Margaret Strattford, daughter of internet mogul Charles Strattford.

  It was a business deal, nothing more, the long article detailing how the Strattford Software Company would receive an influx of cash, while the Brenner empire merged smoothly into the computer industry. Stocks were skyrocketing. Everyone was celebrating.

  There was no mention of how two lives had been destroyed.

  This was a business deal, after all.

  And now time was her enemy, each hour leading closer to the event. Now she spent her days reliving that scene on the balcony, searching for a way to take it all back. But nothing would ever undo her quintessential performance.