Bailout

by Kimbra Swain

  Just before she walked through the door, she said, “If you have to ask, then you don’t deserve to know.”

  These fucking people! I was about to go mad. Instead of driving the car home, I’d just call for a cab. I’d give Megan the key and just leave it. I went back in the door, and she wasn’t at her desk. Looking down at the key, I knew that I didn’t come back inside for the key or Megan. I came back in for Alexandra.

  Sprinting to the elevator, I knew I had to get back up there quickly. Impatiently tapping my foot, I waited forever for the lift to arrive. When it opened, Charity stepped out. She had the tablet in her hand.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  I stepped into the elevator without saying a word to her. A large smile crossed her face, and she nodded. The doors closed as she mouthed the words, “Good luck.”

  What the hell was I doing? I just accused her of setting me up with another woman. All I could think about was her sitting across from Abrego at a lunch without me. His vile existence sharing space with her because of me. Even if I weren’t there, she would still have to go. She would still have to fight for her company. Was I going back for that? For the company? For business?

  “Ugh,” I said banging my head against the wall of the elevator. Longest elevator ride ever.

  As the doors opened, I heard shouting.

  “Damien, I told you to get out. I’m tired of his hijinks. He runs off everyone, and for the most part, I didn’t fucking care. But this time I did, and it didn’t matter to him. He did it anyway. You are not my father. I don’t care that Ryland LeBlanc abused me and shared me with his buddies. That isn’t my fucking life anymore,” she screamed.

  I froze in place. Abused. Shared. Dear God.

  “Get out. Both of you disgust me,” she said.

  “Lexy, please. You know we both love you. I agree it was misguided, but you saw him. He left. He didn’t even fight for you,” he said trying to calm her down.

  I rushed down the hallway and looked into the office. She was slumped over the desk with her hands in her hair.

  “Please, Damien. I need to get my head on straight for this luncheon. Go do the background checks on Pale Rider. Let me know something as soon as you can,” she said. “I’ve got to do this alone now.”

  “No, you don’t,” I said. Her eyes shot up to mine, and Damien spun around. Tears. For me.

  “Mr. Elliot, you probably should go,” Damien said quietly.

  “Do you want me to go?” I asked her, ignoring him. “Even if you say yes, I’m not leaving.”

  “Damien, please check on that for me,” she said to him. He walked out of the room, leaving us alone. “Please come in and shut the door.”

  She needed this. She needed to be in control. I needed her, so whatever. I shut the door and sat down across from her at the desk.

  She took a deep breath. “Mr. Elliot, I can’t…”

  “Jamey. My name is Jamey,” I said.

  “But you said here … never mind.” Her brow furrowed. “Jamey, I would never set you up. Not like that.”

  “I know that. I just needed a minute to get over myself,” I said. “You should do that, too. I’m going to sit here and wait.” I crossed my arms and leaned back in the chair.

  She blinked at me like I spoke a foreign language. “I beg your pardon?” she said as her southern accent drifted closer to its British derivative.

  “I should have known it wasn’t you, and you should have stepped out of your comfort zone to defend me. We were both wrong,” I said flatly. I just hoped the hole I was digging wouldn’t get too deep.

  She cocked her head sideways and stood up. She paced toward the small side room but stopped. Instead, she eased over to the leather couch and sat down. I twirled the chair to face her, watching her work through all of it.

  “The truth is, Jamey, that I can’t think straight with you around. Ever since you stepped into my life, my mind has been a whirlwind. I cannot be unstable and run this vast business, especially considering the current stakes. I’ve pushed so many men away. It was just a matter of time before I did it to you, too.”

  “I’m not going to let you,” I said.

  “See, there’s that let word again. I don’t let people tell me what to do. If I want you to go, you will go,” she explained.

  “That’s just it, Alexa,” I said standing to walk to the couch. “I plan on staying. So, you will have to make me leave.” I plopped down on the couch next to her. The smell of vanilla wafted over me. She smelled delicious. I expected to see her a ball of mixed emotions. Instead, she sat with a cool exterior. I had to break it. She had to give in. Not to me, to us. Whatever we were, I wanted to know. It was worth coming back up here to find out.

  That magnetic draw I had to her I couldn’t deny anymore. I wanted her. Perhaps it was an infatuation, but there was only one way to find out.

  “I would like you to stay for the lunch because you deserve the chance to face Abrego. However, beyond that, Jamey, I don’t know,” she said.

  “I heard what you said about Ryland LeBlanc,” I said flatly. She shifted her weight on the seat to turn away from me. “You never have to tell me what happened, but I hope you know that I would never do anything like that. It’s not who I am. I’ve got plenty of downfalls. Too many women. Spending too much money. Quick to judge. Bad suits. Just to name a few.”

  A smile played with the edges of her mouth. She liked me admitting my faults. Hell, I’d turn the office into a confessional if I knew it would get her to crack. “We all have weaknesses,” she said.

  “Yeah, what are yours?” I said, wondering what she would say.

  “You,” she said as her eyes met mine. “I also tend to be cold and rigid about some things. I do like to be in control. Perhaps too much.”

  “No, wait. The first part. I’m a weakness?”

  “I told you. I don’t think straight with you around,” she said. “In this business, I can’t afford to be distracted.”

  “Alexa, as smart as you are, as beautiful as you are, and the natural talent you have for this business, I know for a fact that you are capable of doing more than one thing at a time,” I said.

  “Beautiful has nothing to do with my abilities to multitask,” she said.

  “I know. I just wanted to say it.” She closed her eyes to hide the smile in them. “If you aren’t having a relationship because something terrible happened to you, that’s completely understandable. Don’t use the business as an excuse.” I held my left hand out to her, palm up. I’d never grab her hand ever again, but I want to touch her. I wanted her to touch me. She didn’t hesitate. Her left hand intertwined with mine, so I pushed closer to her snaking my right arm behind her and squeezed. She sighed. I hoped it was a sign to give in to me.

  “Now, let’s talk about lunch,” I said.

  Twenty-Six

  ALEXA

  My emotions were reeling from the last day. The constant conflict bothered me. I wasn't nonconfrontational, but conflict meant a loss of control. All of this was completely out of control. Which in turn pushed my anxiety to the brink. Jamey Elliot had come into my life, and all the things I’d fought to get over were crashing back down on me. Mainly because I craved him. I didn’t understand it, but it was there.

  When I gave in to wanting to feel his touch, he moved closer to me. I wanted him. Right then. “Maybe if we just fuck, all of this tension would go away, and we can just be normal again.”

  He made a choking sound and shifted closer to me. His breath brushed past my ear. “I know we don't have time to do what I want to with you,” he sighed.

  My heart pounded in my chest. “Soon?” I tried not to sound too hopeful or needy. It came off as both.

  He kissed the space between my collar and my neck. “Soon.”

  Shit.

  That felt good.

  Too good.

  Diverting my attention, I changed the subject. “The tablet is a great idea. We have a hacker in IT. If it can be c
racked, Humphrey will do it,” I said, trying to calm my hormones. My own personal rules forbid me to have sex at work, but today felt like a rule-breaking kind of day.

  “Why do you have a hacker on staff?”

  “The best way to beat hackers is to have a better hacker,” I said. “Hump even has a criminal record.”

  “Aren't you worried he will destroy you?” he asked.

  “No, I have a file on him,” I said.

  “Blackmail?”

  “No, insurance. He's paid well, but he knows that the moment he crosses me, he's dead. There are quite a few people looking for the hacker known as The Reaper,” I replied.

  “That's crazy. And brilliant,” he said.

  “No, need to flatter me,” I replied.

  He grinned. “Insurance.”

  Twenty-Seven

  JAMEY

  We sat in her office for an hour going over her plan for the lunch with Abrego. At some point, she left my side to show me the things she worked on specifically pertaining to Abrego and our impending lunch. My body missed her warmth beside me. I had it bad. Plus, she was making moves that frankly I’d be too scared to make. Either it would get Abrego off our back or piss him off enough to blow the whole building. The whole thing turned me on.

  She received a call from Javier Salida. He was coming up from IT with information about the tablet. I hoped it had helped. It was bad enough I caused this mess; I needed to contribute in some small way.

  “By the way, he is not my boyfriend,” she smiled referencing my outburst earlier.

  “Good. I'd hate to hit a guy with glasses,” I said. I knew that's one of the things she liked. Glasses. Why were glasses sexy? I was glad I occasionally wore mine. I could see without them, but my eyes get tired. The glasses helped. If she liked them, I might as well wear them all the time.

  The door was open, and Salida walked right in up to her desk. “Alexa, this is fantastic. Hump got in. We can trace it back to the source, but we waited to move on it. I figured you would have questions,” he said. I don't even think he noticed I was in the room.

  “Please, have a seat, Javier,” she said. I was surprised that she called him by his first name. “Will they know it's being traced?”

  “No, not initially. We've worked on piggybacking our own tracker in the keystroke data. Once they realize it is there, they will trace back, but we plan to reroute the data through several ports across the world to keep them searching,” he explained.

  “How long will we have before they track it back?” I asked. He swiveled in his chair as surprise registered on his face.

  “Javier, this is Jamey Elliot,” she said.

  I nodded to him, waiting for his answer.

  “Sorry Mr. Elliot, I didn't see you there,” he said. “Low end 15 minutes. Max, I'd say 30 minutes.”

  “Not long,” I said switching to face her.

  Her eyes randomly focused on the desk.

  “Let's set up for it. Is the tablet currently running?” she asked.

  “Yes, we've been using it for mundane tasks. Searching the internet for porn, you know,” he said.

  A little light flashed in her eyes at him. Jealousy wasn't something I'd ever dealt with because after Tracy, I never bothered caring. I wanted to rip Javier Salida’s humorous tongue out of his mouth. Calming myself I said, “So, the normal things I'd do with my work tablet.”

  Salida laughed. Alexa shook her head without looking at me. She didn't have to. I knew she found my joke funnier. Take that IT nerd.

  Pressing a button on her phone, she used the intercom to call her assistant, “Charity, can you step into my office?”

  “Sure,” she replied. As she walked in the room, her eyes fell on me. I expected at least a smile that I was still here, but she looked indifferent.

  “Where is Damien?” Alexa asked.

  “In my office,” she replied, then paused. “Talking to Sebastian.”

  “You mean watching us in here,” Alexa suggested. A flush of pink rippled over Charity’s cheeks. “Tell them to get in here. Tell them we will be civil.”

  Alexa wasn't joking when she said there was no privacy in this building.

  “Okay,” she said slipping back out the door.

  They entered the room. Charity sat next to me, and Damien took the leather chair. Sebastian lurked at the back wall. Alexandra explained to them what Javier and Humphrey found. Realization hit me that this was her inner circle, not just for family, but for business, too.

  “Huge risk,” Damien said. “What are we likely to find out other than who is doing it?”

  “We could in theory track where they are, but who is the biggest thing,” Javier explained. He had moved to the window beside her desk so he wasn't standing in the middle of the room.

  “If we do it, we should wait until the meeting starts or close to the end,” I suggested. “Use the information as a last-ditch effort. By that time, we will already be in a hell of a lot of trouble anyway.”

  “I agree,” Alexandra said. “Because who it is may not matter. We don't need to count on it being our lynchpin. Damien, do you have anything on Pale Horse?”

  “All we've found so far is that up until three months ago it was a worthless shell company that someone injected close to three million dollars into and started buying up wholesale handheld devices and computer chips. I've been working on it all morning with Sebastian,” Damien said.

  She finally looked at him, but his stony expression didn’t waiver. “Do you have an opinion, Sebastian?” she asked carefully.

  His steely eyes darted to mine then back to her. He didn't trust me for more reasons than just the fact I wanted to fuck his sister. “No,” he said.

  “That's a first,” she mumbled where we could all hear her. “All security protocols are covered for the meeting?”

  His jaw flexed with tension. “I know my job, Alexandra.”

  “Yes, but if you don't get your head out of your ass and realize that the bigger picture is beyond your petty games, we might as well dig our own graves,” she snarled. Javier visibly flinched. I wanted to die laughing, but that would be incredibly immature. Alexa didn't take that shit from anyone. Even her brothers. I should have been scared, but it made me want her even more.

  Sebastian flexed his fists turning his knuckles white with restraint. Her eyes met mine leaving the door open to make my own comments, and I shook my head only slightly. Despite my own petty hatred for her brother, picking a fight with him now would only cost us time. For a moment, I lingered on the idea that the subliminal communication between the two of us was already at a level that I hadn’t expected. I knew exactly what she was implying without a word. The connection sparked fear and desire simultaneously.

  “Any other opinions on the hack?” she asked.

  “Does it matter who it is? If it's someone from Abrego’s organization, it wouldn't be a surprise. But perhaps it's someone within Bright or another company we are allied with, either way, it has little bearing on your plan for the meeting. You should still be able to bully him without that information. Even if it helped your argument, I don't think it outweighs the risk involved,” Charity offered.

  Alexa leaned back in her chair and tapped her pen on her teeth. I closed my eyes because her breasts were so clearly defined in that position. I opened my eyes to find her grinning at me. She had done it on purpose.

  “Multitasking,” she said. Feeling the heat rise up my neck to my face, I had to clear my throat.

  “See, I knew you could do it,” I retorted weakly.

  Damien and Javier were confused. Charity grinned knowingly, but Sebastian bore a hole in my head with his laser eyes. Geez, dude. I wanted to point at her and say, “She did it.” Instead, I ignored him.

  “Javier, have everything ready for the hack. I will give a verbal cue if I decide to hack it while we are there.” He nodded.

  “I'll get back downstairs and prep Humphrey. We will wait for your signal,” he said crossing the room to
the door.

  “How long will it take you to be ready?” she asked.

  “Ten minutes at the most,” he said, then hurried out the door.

  “When do we leave here?” Alexa asked looking at Sebastian.

  “Arturo and I will wait for you in the parking deck. We should leave here in thirty minutes. Traffic isn't bad today, but you never know,” he replied very business-like.

  “Good. Jamey and I will meet you downstairs in twenty minutes. Charity you will coordinate from here. Damien, Pale Horse. I need something. It's the loose end,” she pressed.

  “I know. Headed back to it now. I've got a friend in the business license office pulling the company statement and incorporation documents. I'll know soon,” he said. As he stood, the others moved with him leaving us alone again.

  “Shame on you for that,” I blurted out.

  “You said I could do more things at once. I was just trying it out,” she laughed.

  “Alexa, you don't have to do anything to turn me on,” I admitted.

  “Hmm, that's good to know,” she smiled, but it faded as the gravity of our situation settled on her. “You’re sure that you want to go? Now that you know everything.”

  “Yes. I promise to stay back and keep my mouth shut. I'm there for you. That's it. My personal agenda doesn't matter anymore. I want the bastard to squirm, but more than anything I want it resolved,” I said surprising myself with my own words. I meant them.

  She stood and went into the small room adjacent to the office. I heard water running. “Jamey,” she called to me. It took everything I had not to bound into the room. She walked out if the bathroom drying her hands. “I lied.”

  “About?”

  “The whole building being monitored. This room isn’t,” she muttered.

  I didn’t hesitate but didn't rush. The last thing we needed was a panic attack. I heard the door to the room click behind me as my lips crashed down on hers. I avoided pressing my body against her, but she grabbed me by the waist pulling me to her. Her lips worked with mine. Soft, but hungry. I hadn’t kissed anyone like this in ages. Kisses were intimate, and I avoided intimacy like the plague.