I opened my condo door and collapsed on my bed in my jacket and with my purse strap still over my shoulder. I didn’t even cry. Couldn’t cry. My mind was too busy trying to comprehend the headline.
And why did Calvin have it? Why did he give it to me? What the fuck was going on? My phone bleeped again and I pulled it out.
What’s going on? J
What is going on, Jay? Wouldn’t I like to know.
Fuck you
I hit send and broke down. Heaving great sobs that shuddered all the way to my toes. Why? What? Why? It was all my brain could think. Nothing more. I couldn’t even think of the information I knew, let alone try to piece together what I didn’t know.
* * *
The key rattled in the lock and the front door flung open, bouncing off the door stop. It slammed shut and Jay appeared at my bedroom doorway.
“Get out of my home.” My voice weak with emotional exhaustion.
“What happened? What’s going on?”
“Fuck you, liar.” Tears flowed down my face.
“Abbie, beautiful, tell me what’s going on.” Jay leaned over the bed and tried to pull me off it, but I resisted with every bit of strength I still had. Even though I resisted, wherever his hands touched me, my body relaxed.
“Leave, James. Leave me alone.”
He put his hands around my torso and yanked me off the bed like a rag doll. He pulled me close to him, squeezing me so hard it was difficult to breathe.
“Tell me what is going on,” he said, his voice firm. Demanding.
What should I tell him?
“You bought CQ Francis.” My voice was barely audible, even to me.
He exhaled and held me tighter still.
“I buy lots of companies.”
“But why did you buy CQ Francis?” I hoped it was a coincidence, but I knew better.
“What did you want me to do? I wasn’t about to let you leave Force McAllister without another job to go to.”
The words drew a deep, bellowing wail from the pit of my stomach. His grip loosened, transformed into a loving embrace while I cried against his chest. He rubbed my back, comforting me.
I was so comfortable in his arms, so soothed by him that I almost forgot he was my problem. But for now I needed his embrace to keep me from falling apart completely.
He led me to the sofa and sat me down. He perched on the coffee table, facing me and took hold of my hands. We were both leaning forward, and our heads nearly touched.
My mind was still too overloaded to make any sense of the situation.
“Why did you lie to me?”
“I didn’t lie to you.”
“Okay, then. Why didn’t you tell me that you bought CQ Francis?”
“I buy a lot of companies, and I don’t tell you about them.”
“But…”
“But nothing, beautiful. I bought the company you happen to work for.”
I took a breath, trying to sort out my thoughts. He didn’t move, hadn’t flinched once. I couldn’t read him, but he didn’t seem to feel any guilt at what he’d done.
“Did you buy them before or after they hired me?” I bit my lip, afraid of the answer.
Jay sighed.
“Before.”
“And you made them hire me.”
“Yes.”
“No, no,” I shook my head. “You lied to me. I can’t. You have to leave. I don’t want to see you again.”
“No.” Any softness was gone from his voice.
“I can’t be with someone who lies.”
“I didn’t lie. I bought a shitty, badly run company for you.”
The words stung all over again.
“James, go. This is over.”
He let go of my hands and tilted my face to his, our heads inches apart. His eyes bore into mine with an intensity I hadn’t seen before. I gulped, struggling to meet his stare, willing my eyes not to close.
“I will not lose you for this. I will not let you go.”
“It’s not your decision.”
“I need you too much. I’ll do whatever, make you the CEO if you want, but I’m not losing you. I love you.”
I drank in his words. Let them comfort me even though I knew I couldn’t accept them.
“I don’t want to be CEO. I want to be taken seriously.”
“You are. Do you really think I’d want you in these positions in my companies if I didn’t think you could do them? I know you can do more, you would thrive in more challenging roles. You’re amazing, beautiful. You are more capable than most of my top advisers.”
“But I can’t get a job. No one will hire me because they think I fuck my way into roles.”
“No, Abbie, that’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. I can’t get a job. No one wants me. No one thinks I’m any good.”
He cupped the back of my head and pulled it to him, his lips grazed my ear, tickling it. His voice quiet, “I put word out not to hire you.”
My body buckled in half, my head landing on his shoulder. How? Why?
“I hate you.”
“No, no, Abbie. You can’t.” His eyes searched me.
“I do,” I said, sitting up straight.
“Beautiful, it’s all okay. Everything is okay.”
“No, James. It isn’t okay. How can you think that?”
“I know you’re being treated well. I needed to know you’d never have another boss like Calvin. And now you won’t. Isn’t that good?”
I flung myself away from him and into the sofa, my hands flying away from his grasp.
“It is not good. You have ruined my ability to support myself.”
He placed his hands on my knees and slid them up my thighs. I tried to ignore the soothing feelings they were creating.
“Beautiful, you don’t need to support yourself ever again. I will take care of you. I will do everything in my power to give you the best life possible.”
Unbelievable.
“But I want to support myself. I need to support myself. The last thing I need in my life is to be dependent on someone else.”
“Well, now you don’t have to. I will take care of you. Always.”
“If you think that then you don’t know anything about me. You don’t understand who I am.”
“I do, beautiful, I understand you more than you understand yourself. Your parents dying when you were so young traumatized you, but you need to let that wound heal. Stop fighting it.”
My heart froze. He knew. He understood. Matt never had. Or if he had, he used it to take advantage of me. But Jay, Jay understood me. Even more than Jenny even.
I looked at him and met his gaze. There was nothing but warmth in his eyes. My heart started pounding again, like it was trying to break out of my ribs to get to him.
I started to lean forward, to enter his embrace, but the image of the headline appeared in front of my eyes. Stealth takeover. I couldn’t do it, however much my heart wanted to.
“James. I can’t do this.” As fast as I could, I pulled my legs up and pushed myself over the side of the sofa’s arm and bolted out the door. I didn’t wait for the elevator, instead ran as fast as I could in heels down the stairs, out the door and kept on moving.
Chapter 15
Breathless, I arrived at Jenny’s office twenty minutes later. I waited for her, pacing the reception area.
Jenny appeared and hurried over to me.
“What’s going on?”
I couldn’t find a way to respond. The second I opened my mouth I would break down again, and I didn’t want to do that on display, with the receptionists and passersby watching.
“Here, come with me.”
I followed her into a meeting room and she closed the door. The walls were glass but a frosted pattern obscured much of me from the outside world.
Jenny sat in the chair next to me and put her arm around my shoulders. The weight of her arm comforted me, bringing out tears, but I still couldn’t find a way to tell her.
&
nbsp; “What’s happened? Is this to do with Jay?”
I nodded. Jay. James.
“Did you fight?”
Did we? It wasn’t so much a fight as an exposure of his lies. I shrugged.
“Sweetie, you’re going to have to tell me what’s going on.”
I took a deep breath and let the words fall out on the exhale.
“He bought CQ Francis. That’s why they hired me.”
Jenny pulled away from me, a look of surprise on her face.
No, I didn’t see it coming either, Jenny. Neither of us said anything, the only noise in the room my crying. I hadn’t taken anything with me when I’d fled my condo. Not even my phone or keys. She set a Kleenex box on my lap.
The door opened and a man poked his head in. “Jenny, we really need you in this meeting.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.” The man left. She turned to me and said, “I think he was just trying to help you.” How could she say that?
“No. He told other places not to hire me. Don’t you get it? He’s made it so no one will ever hire me! Ever!”
Her eyes flared but she didn’t say anything. My crying calmed. My chest muscles were fatigued from all the tears and I leaned back in the chair.
“I don’t think he could do that.”
“He would.”
“No, sweetie I mean, how would he have the ability to do that? I don’t care how much money or influence he has, he can’t make other companies not hire you. Like every other company in Chicago? I don’t believe it.”
“But that’s what he said.”
“I don’t care what he said. Think about it. There’s no way.”
Was she right? I closed my eyes and mulled it over. Jay told me he told other companies not to hire me. Why would he say that if it wasn’t true? And if it was true, why would he do that to me?
“He said he wanted to make sure I was treated well. That I never have another boss like Calvin.”
Jenny shook her head. “I don’t care. There are thousands of companies in Chicago. There’s just no way. He lied.”
“So why would he say that?”
“I don’t know. What were you talking about right before it? Maybe he thought it would make you feel better. Who knows?”
“I don’t care. He still bought CQ Francis. That’s the only reason I got a job. Because of him.”
“So you’d rather you never got another job?”
Why was she taking his side?
The man reappeared. “Jenny, this is a crisis situation.”
“Sorry, Dan. I’ll be quick.”
“He could have told me. Instead of doing some kind of secret takeover.”
“Would you have taken it if you’d known?”
“That’s not what matters. He kept a secret from me.”
“Sweetie, I know it’s crazy news but I honestly think he was only trying to help you. He owed you anyway.”
A woman appeared at the door and said, “Jenny, Dan’s freaking out.”
“I know, just give me a minute would you?”
“I’m sorry for interrupting your work.” I dried my eyes and blew my nose.
“It’s just a bad day. We’re putting out a new print ad campaign and we think the numbers given to us are messed up.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Nah,” she paused, “Actually, maybe. Our problem is we don’t trust the numbers but don’t know enough to figure out how to fix them.”
I perked up at the challenge, glad to give my mind a break I needed time to churn the issue over in the back of my mind. To digest everything Jenny had said. I’d expected her to react with outrage and disgust, not sympathize with Jay.
* * *
Dan and the woman were sitting in front of the computer at the desk beside Jenny’s.
“Abbie’s an accountant. She’s going to help us,” Jenny said as we approached them.
Dan looked me up and down. My eyes stung from all the tears and were no doubt red and puffy. I blushed at my appearance.
“We can use all the help we can get,” the woman said.
“No kidding. Belinda, this is Abbie. Abbie, Belinda and Dan.”
Dan nodded at me and I smiled back. Belinda pulled two more chairs over and they sat me in front of the computer.
They were right, the numbers were screwed up. Royally. I stayed with them all afternoon, setting up a new spreadsheet that pulled out the information they needed from the accurate numbers. Before I knew it, it was six.
“Abbie, I don’t even know how to thank you for all your help,” Dan said.
“It’s no big deal, honestly. I’m happy to help. I needed the distraction.”
“At least let us take you out to dinner. You’ve been here for hours,” Belinda said.
I looked to Jenny. With a smile, she encouraged me to accept the offer.
“If you insist,” I said blushing. I didn’t like to be fussed over. It was no big deal.
The four of us went to dinner at the restaurant beside their office, an upscale European place that specialized in fresh fish. I scanned over the prices, shocked at the price of a piece of halibut.
I’d fled my condo so fast I didn’t have my wallet, and I felt awkward sitting there with no way to contribute to the meal. I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, penne arrabiata.
It was eight by the time we finished dinner. I thanked Dan and Belinda profusely for the meal as we all left. Jenny and I walked a few minutes in the direction of my condo, until we came to the parking lot where her car was.
“Sweetie, I can’t thank you enough for all your help today.”
“Stop saying that. I’m always happy to help you.”
“Do you think I’m a lesser person for needing your help?”
“What?” I burst out laughing. She was a bonkers lady.
“I’m serious. You think you’re pathetic if you take anyone’s help. Do you think I’m pathetic for needing your help?”
“Um…” I was speechless.
“See, you’re not being fair to Jay.”
“Maybe.” Was I?
“Yes. Now go home and fuck him.”
I blew her a raspberry. The idea of Jay naked both excited me and churned my insides.
“Want a ride?”
“No thanks, I need the fresh air.” I needed time to think. Plus I liked the idea of defying Jay. He hated when I walked home alone after dark. For some reason, doing it now excited me.
She waggled her fingers at me and walked into the parking garage.
The route between Jenny’s office and my condo wasn’t that familiar to me. It was after eight and the streets were nearly deserted. I much preferred the route to my office, which was down a main road and busy with people any time of the day or night.
I couldn’t deny my nervousness. Though a small part of me felt a little rebellious, knowing how Jay felt about me walking home alone after dark.
I wished I’d at least had my phone for comfort. I didn’t even have my keys. Jay had better still be there.
After another block I questioned whether he would still be there. Why would he? I’d told him I hate him and took off. There was no reason for him to hang around my tiny little place when I was sure he had nicer and more important places to be.
A few more blocks passed and I realized how much I wanted him to still be there. And not just to let me in. I didn’t know that I could bear it if he’d left. Gone from my life.
I quickened my pace, wanting to hug him. This whole CQ Francis thing, did he really buy a company just for me? Did he really tell all those other places not to hire me?
If he did, I didn’t think there was any way I could forgive him. Then he really would have ruined my reputation. Sabotaged me on purpose. And that was unforgivable.
When I reached my building, I took a deep breath. Was Jay still upstairs? My hand trembled as I buzzed my condo.
“Who is it?”
“Let me in.”
The door
clicked opened. By the time I got to the elevator my knees felt like they were about to give out and my heart was pumping.
The elevator door opened on my floor. I jumped. Jay’s large frame stood at the opening, so close his nose must have nearly touched the elevator door while he’d waited for it to open.
Chapter 16
He hauled me out and down the hall, ushering me all the way to my sofa. I didn’t sit.
“I’ve been worried sick about you.” His voice was a mix of anger and concern.
“Sorry, I forgot my phone.”
“Where the fuck have you been all day? It’s nearly nine.”
“With Jenny.”
“And you couldn’t call from her phone?”
“What? No.”
“You can’t do that.” Wait. Hold on here. I was supposed to be the one angry at him. He was supposed to be apologizing to me.
“Jay, stop it.”
“No, I’m not going to stop anything. You have to be more careful. I need you to be safe.” He was scolding me. Actually scolding me.
“The way you needed me to have a job?”
“Yes.” That was it? Yes?
“What do you mean yes?” My voice raised and by the time I got to yes I was yelling.
“I mean yes I needed you to have a job. Because that’s what you wanted. That’s what you needed.” His voice stayed calm.
“I didn’t need you to get me one. Or I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t told all those other places not to hire me.”
“Abbie, beautiful—”
“Or did you tell places not to hire me? Is that even something you could do? What’d you do, phone them all up individually and say don’t give Abbie White a job. Or is that another of your lies?” My voiced boomed. I’m sure the neighbors could hear it.
“Abbie, calm down.” He took hold of my upper arm.
“I will not calm down,” I screamed, trying to shake his hand off me but he held tight.
“Relax.” My eyes flared. How dare he.
“Fuck you.”
“Let’s sit down and talk.”
Billionaire's Secret: The Complete Series Page 24
