Fate

by Tia Wylder

  I glanced down and skimmed a few lines. “Damn,” I said, shaking my head. “This is crazy!”

  “I know!” Lisa said in exasperation. “I can’t believe it – he’s awful!”

  The article – a recent study on the environmental effects of resorts – talked about two of Franchot’s properties, one in the Cayman Islands, the other in Bermuda. From what I could read, it looked like he had not only displaced a huge amount of the local wildlife but had also contributed to massive deforestation.

  “And, oh my god, Lisa, look,” I said impatiently, grabbing the article and shoving it under her nose. “It says that he signed a pledge promising to restore all of the trees he cut down…and he hasn’t planted a single replacement! He only did it as a tax break!”

  Just thinking about it was enough to make my blood boil. I couldn’t believe that Franchot was so evil – it was like he wasn’t even human!”

  “I know,” Lisa said mournfully. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on top, sighing. “It makes Jack Nathan look like a saint.”

  My jaw dropped, and I almost gasped. There was no way that Jack was any better than Louis – if anything, from what I had heard (not to mention his cocksure attitude,) he was worse!

  “I don’t know what you mean,” I said primly. Again, an image of Jack and I tanged up together floated to the front of my mind, but I pushed it aside. “Jack Nathan is a criminal, just like Franchot. They both deserve to be behind bars.”

  Lisa narrowed her eyes. “Flip a few pages,” she said, chewing her pizza noisily. “There’s a piece about him, too.”

  I frowned, but Lisa wouldn’t stop staring. “What is it,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “It’s like every time I mention Jack Nathan, you totally spaz out.”

  “It’s nothing,” I lied. Obediently, I flipped through the journal a few pages ahead. Sure enough, there was another feature – and this one was about Jack. But the title, “Ethical Building in the Time of Climate Change” was much more flattering than I would have expected.

  “He’s not ethical,” I muttered under my breath. “He’s like, the furthest thing from being ethical!”

  “Just read it,” Lisa said, rolling her eyes. “I swear, are you PMSing or something?”

  I ignored her. Looking down at the page – which, of course, was accompanied by a dreamy-looking photo of Jack himself – I began to read.

  At a mere 35 years of age, Jack Nathan has been in charge of Trident Gold ever since his father retired. Despite a bullheaded board of shareholders, Mr. Nathan has been in charge of several projects, all working to restore the natural environment of several areas damaged by climate change and man-made disasters. Mr. Nathan, quoted as saying he believes in “building for a cause,” has donated over three million dollars to international charities.

  “This reads like a puff piece!” I complained loudly. “What, did he pay for his own exposure?!”

  Lisa frowned. “I don’t know, Adele, you know this journal is accredited!”

  I rolled my eyes. “Still,” I said. “It seems too good to be true.”

  “Maybe just because he’s a developer doesn’t mean he’s an awful guy,” Lisa said with a shrug. “I mean, I know you don’t want to believe it, but…” She trailed off and began gnawing at a piece of pizza crust.

  Suddenly, something occurred to me. What if Lisa, and the journal, were completely right? What if Jack Nathan had somehow begun to change his ways? It would make sense – even though he catered to a luxury market, rich people had begun noticing climate change by now. Maybe this was Jack’s way of trying to put himself above the competition!

  “Wait for a second,” I said. I closed my eyes and concentrated with all of my strength. “What if Jack and I…work together? What if the two of us can bring down Franchot? He has so much money, I wouldn’t even need sponsorship!” Now that the gears in my mind were churning, I couldn’t tear myself away from the idea. Sure, Jack was a pig…a very rich pig. But if he was going to go where the most money and publicity was, I had a feeling that I’d be helping him just as much as he’d be helping me.

  Lisa blinked. “Are you serious?” She furrowed her brow and reached for another piece of pizza. “Adele, I love you and everything, but doesn’t that sound kind of…well, crazy to you?”

  “Of course it does,” I said. “I mean, that’s why it’s so brilliant. If I work with Jack, he’ll get more publicity for being an ethical builder. And I’ll get tons of recognition for working with someone like him.” I could see it now – my name splashed across the biggest science journals in the world. I grinned. With something like this on my side, there was no way I could lose.

  “Well, you have a point,” Lisa said. “But are you sure you can work with him? Just five minutes ago you were talking about what a massive jerk he is.”

  “Yes!” I said, suddenly feeling more inspired than I had since before the ill-fated trip to Nassau. And although I wouldn’t have admitted it to Lisa for all the scientific gain in the world, I couldn’t deny that I wouldn’t mind working alongside the sexy Jack.

  “Well, it’s not the worst idea in the world,” Lisa said slowly. “Do you have any way to get in touch with him?”

  I grinned, thinking of Jack’s business card that I’d tucked in the pocket of my jeans before leaving the airport.

  “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  Chapter Six

  Jack

  I’d barely gotten back to my condo and showered before my cell phone buzzed. I glanced down at the screen and frowned when I saw that it was an unfamiliar number.

  “Jack Nathan,” I said into the phone after swiping the call open. “What can I do for you?”

  There was a pause.

  “Hello?” I asked exasperatedly. “Who is this?”

  “It’s Adele Parker,” a female voice said. “You know. The girl you helped in Nassau.”

  I smirked as I pictured the splash of freckles across Adele’s tanned nose. “Oh, I remember,” I said. “In fact, I remember you quite well.”

  “Good,” Adele said. She sounded both purposeful and confident. “Jack, I’m sorry to disturb you, but I have something pretty important that I need to speak with you about.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Going to rail away on my newest real estate endeavor again? Don’t waste your breath.”

  I was about to hang up when Adele cried: “No!”

  An amused smirk settled on my face, and I sat down in my leather executive chair and kicked my feet up on my home desk. “What is it?”

  “Well, the thing is…I saw the newest Eco-Monthly,” Adele said. “And I read that piece on Franchot.”

  “And what do you want me to do about that?” I was getting annoyed – either she had to get to the point, or I was going to hang up. I did have a shareholders meeting, after all, and it wouldn’t look good if I walked in twenty minutes later.

  “I want you to work with me,” Adele said. “I want us to work together.”

  “What?” I narrowed my eyes. “Did you lose your mind, honey? You’re a grad student, not a bigwig CEO.”

  “I know that,” Adele said. She sounded equally exasperated, and I pictured her gnawing on one of those luscious lips. “But look – I can help you, you know, give you pointers and research on how to make your new development as eco-friendly as possible. And then we can tag-team Franchot. You can use your fancy lawyers to dig up as much dirt on him as possible, and then we can expose him.”

  A grin slowly spread across my face. “You’re something else, you know that?” I chuckled, shaking my head.

  “I’m serious!” Adele insisted. “I mean it, Jack. We can work together – and I know I won’t be able to do anything without you.”

  “Wait a second,” I said, still chuckling. “Just a few days ago, you were hell-bent on destroying me. Did you somehow forget that?”

  “Um,” Adele said, trailing off. I wondered if she was blushing.

  “Yes?”

&
nbsp; “Well, I read the piece on you, too,” Adele said in a small voice.

  I smirked. “Oh?”

  “And it…um, well, it made me change my mind, I guess,” Adele said. “I mean, I know you don’t mean any of it,” she added, her voice returning to its regular bossy pitch. “But I still think you and I could do some good stuff together.”

  “Some good stuff, eh?” My cock twitched in my pants as I thought about how it had felt to fuck Adele on the carpet of the Hotel St. Charles. She’d been an amazing lay – and I wanted her again.

  “Yes,” Adele said primly. “I know you have your doubts about me, but I promise, I’m very professional to work with.”

  “I bet you are,” I said. “Well, it’s definitely something to consider.”

  “Wait, you mean you don’t want to?” Adele sounded crestfallen. “Jack, this is a great idea!”

  “What’s in it for me?”

  “A lot of money from rich people,” Adele retorted. “What else do you need?”

  I chuckled. “Money isn’t everything, Adele,” I replied. “Perhaps when you’re older, you’ll understand.”

  “You don’t have to treat me like a child,” Adele said crossly. “Because I’m not. But I do have a limited span of time to complete my research, and if you don't work with me, I’ll find someone else who will.”

  “Maybe it’s not money I want,” I said. “Maybe it’s you.”

  “What?”

  “I said, maybe it’s you. Didn’t you have fun with me, Adele?”

  “So, you want me to sleep with you?”

  I laughed. “Not exactly,” I said. “I mean, if you want to – hell, I’d be down. But no, Adele. I’m too much of a gentleman to ask for sex. I just meant…I want you to be open to something happening.”

  Adele didn’t reply.

  “And don’t say I’ve offended you,” I added.

  “So, you want me to be…open to the possibility of sleeping with you?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Precisely.”

  Adele took a deep breath.

  “As hideous as I am,” I joked. “I think you had fun with me. Maybe even a little more than fun.”

  Adele sighed. “Okay,” she said. “Fine. I’ll do it. But you have to keep your word!”

  “And you have to think about keeping yours,” I replied, smirking. I couldn’t believe it – she did want me, after all.

  “I will,” Adele said. She sounded all professional again. “Look, I have to go. I’ll be in touch soon – we can get together, maybe even with your shareholders because they’ll need to be briefed on this. Trust me, Jack, this is a good idea – I promise it’ll help with Trident Gold.”

  “Good,” I said. “Goodbye, Adele.”

  “Bye.”

  When Adele hung up, I grinned like a cat. I got out of my chair and stretched until I felt my back crack in a pleasurable way. Putting my phone in my pocket, I grabbed my briefcase and called for Nick to drive me into the offices. The shareholders weren’t going to believe it…but I knew they’d be happy about it once they came around to the idea of even more cash in their pockets.

  As Nick drove me downtown, I barely concentrated on the scenery. It had snowed again, and it was freezing cold outside, but all I could think about was the tropical warmth of Nassau. I hoped that the hurricane hadn’t done too much damage – I was eager to get to work as quickly as possible.

  The Trident Gold offices were nearly empty. I made myself a cup of espresso in the kitchen and made my way to the conference room. My shareholders were already sitting down at the table, looking over the newest information I’d sent over.

  “Good morning,” I said with a smile as I walked into the room and sat down.

  Harry looked up and frowned. “You’re late.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “But I have good news,” I explained Adele’s offer to them, making sure to explain that she was both highly intelligent and dedicated to her cause.

  To my surprise, none of them looked happy. Chris tapped his fingers on the table and narrowed his eyes.

  “I don’t know, Jack, I mean, with all due respect, don’t you think this is a bad idea? Right now, we’re expanding so much that I’d like to see us just focus on that.”

  I shook my head. “Definitely not,” I said. “Look – I know it sounds unorthodox. But even wealthy people care about climate change now. I bet if we sponsored a poll among potential clients, they would be willing to pay a little bit more to stay at an eco-friendly resort.”

  Rob pressed his lips together. “I don’t know, Jack,” he said. “Who is this girl, anyway?”

  “Her name is Adele Parker, she’s a Ph.D. student at Lager College,” I said. “And we could hype that up, too – she and I have the same alma mater.”

  “It’s a nice thought, it really is,” Harry said. “But I think we should do a little investigating on her first. How do you know she’s not some undercover woman, working for Franchot?”

  I laughed, thinking of Adele’s rage whenever Franchot’s name came up. “Trust me,” I said. “I don’t think that’s a likely possibility.”

  “Wait,” Chris said. “Adele Parker?” He opened his laptop and began typing furiously into a search engine.

  The room fell silent.

  “What is it?” I asked. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Um, Jack, I don’t exactly know how to break this gently,” Chris said. “But her name has come up before.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous – I just met her a few days ago, in Nassau. She was down there doing research, I actually gave her a lift back to Boston in the helicopter.”

  Chris swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously up and down.

  “What is it?” I asked. I could feel my anxiety growing. “Just tell me, dammit!”

  “Jack, Adele was responsible for foiling your plans in Key Largo,” Chris said slowly. He turned his laptop around and pushed it across the table towards me. “Don’t you remember? That girl who showed up with a bunch of activist friends and chained themselves to trees? They didn’t leave for two weeks, and the construction crew refused to go ahead with the project.”

  The realization felt like a slap in the face. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten – how could I? This had been years ago – of course, I hadn’t recognized Adele because she’d grown from a skinny high-schooler into a gorgeous woman. But now that Chris had mentioned it, I remembered like it was yesterday.

  “Goddamnit,” I muttered under my breath. “I can’t believe this!”

  “Look, I understand why the idea would be tempting,” Harry cut in. “But Jack, it’s not worth it – you can’t work so closely with someone who publicly sabotaged you!”

  “I had forgotten that!” I shot back hotly. “And you’re right – there’s no way I could work with her.” But deep down, a part of me was disappointed that I wouldn’t see any more of Adele Parker. If only she hadn’t been such an insolent little brat back when I was planning to build in Key Largo! Still, I was angry. I felt deceived, almost betrayed…Adele had obviously known that I’d fall right into her trap, and then what? Had she been planning to sabotage me again in Nassau?

  I was so angry that I could’ve spit. Instead, I got to my feet and shoved my hands into my pockets.

  “Where are you going?” Harry asked. “We haven’t even gotten to new business!”

  “I have to go,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair and glaring down at the floor. “I have some things to work on.”

  “But Jack, we really need to—“

  “We’ll do it later,” I said sharply. “Call me if you need anything. Actually, you know what? Don’t call – email me.”

  “Jack, you never check your—“

  “I said email me!” I yelled, turning on my heel and stalking out of the office.

  Nick was idling at the curb. I didn’t even wait for him to climb out of the driver’s seat.

  “Take me home,” I growled. “Actually,
no. You know what? Wait a second. You remember that girl you drove home the other day?”

  “Yes, sir. She lives in Jamaica Plain.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Take me there, right now,” I said.

  Nick nodded. “Yes, sir,” he said. “Right away.”

  I spent the whole ride to Adele’s apartment fuming in the backseat. I couldn’t believe that I’d fallen for such an easy trick – she was probably laughing and cackling with her group of social justice warriors, talking about what a fool I was.