I stopped abruptly, cutting off that particular thought. With Dane, I'd been about to add. But that wasn't going to happen. Dane would never go along with this, and I knew that I'd never be able to win him over to my side.
But I couldn't let thoughts of this man stop me. In order for my plan to work, I still needed more from Walker – and now, while he was in such a good mood, was the best time for me to obtain those additional details.
An hour and a half later, I sidled into the CEO's office, smiling at Walker. "Got a few things here that need your attention," I said.
His eyes, as usual, shot straight to my chest, holding there for a minute before sweeping down to hungrily stare at my hips. "Yeah, I bet you've been thinking about it for a while," he purred, not even sitting forward to conceal the growing bulge in his pants.
I forced down the rising gorge in my throat. "Unfortunately, the only appendage that I need from you is your hand," I said sweetly, plopping down a thick stack of documents in front of him. "You'll need to sign most of these, although I've marked the locations."
He groaned at the sight of the stack. "Listen, doll, can't you go ahead and forge my signature for me-"
"Not for these ones," I stopped him. And I really wanted to make sure that, when he looked at these papers later, he'd see that it was his own signature on them. "But if we go quickly, this will all be over soon."
"Hey, with me, most women enjoy how long it lasts," he said back to me, smirking again – and I nearly yelped as his hand shot out and grabbed my ass! This wasn't even a brush or accidental bump – he fully wrapped his hand around one cheek and pulled me forward, as if he was going to have his way with me right here in his office!
Somehow, incredibly, I kept from bringing my knee down right between his thighs, crushing his testicles into paste. "As long as your signing hand is free," I forced out between a smile that felt more like a pained grimace.
Walker kept up his smirk, as well as his hand on my ass, but he at least started signing papers. I flipped through them quickly, not letting him read any of them. Fortunately, his attention was almost completely on squeezing my ass, rather than on the documents in front of him on the desk.
And then, finally, he hit the last paper.
In a flash, I snatched the stack up, dancing away and out of reach before he could go any further with his sexual assault. "Great, thank you, sir!" I exclaimed, already retreating back towards the entrance.
"Ruby," Walker called out, and I froze, my heart jumping up into my throat.
"Yes?" I quavered, clutching the papers closer as if they'd shield me from him.
Walker grinned at me, looking positively reptilian. "After work, how about you and I grab a drink to celebrate my victory? I've got some great champagne back at my penthouse pad."
"That sounds nice." Anything to get away from him.
"We could go now," he suggested, his grin widening, probably as he imagined my faked orgasms beneath him.
I tapped the stack of papers. "Unfortunately, not all of us are CEO," I commented apologetically – and then hurried the last few steps out of his office before he could reply.
Outside, once safely down a side hallway, I paused to let my rapidly beating heartbeat start to slow. "And hopefully, asshole, you won't be one for much longer," I added to myself, looking down at the papers in my hands.
Now, in my hands, I had the key to bringing down Karson Walker.
All I had to do was put it into use.
Chapter Twenty-Two
DANE
*
When I stopped by Ruby's desk that afternoon, lingering under the pretense of asking if she wanted any coffee, she wasn't there.
Strange.
Still, her computer was still logged in, displaying some dense legal paperwork about something. That meant that she was probably around somewhere, just off running an errand for Karson Walker. I'd pop by and catch her next time.
I tried again in another half hour, but once again, found no Ruby sitting in the chair. This time, I paused for a moment to glance over the waist-height wall of her cubicle, looking around. Her coat was still there, and her purse still sat on the floor.
I knew that I shouldn't suspect anything of her. But inside my head, that little voice that forecasted danger had woken up. Even though it had zero evidence, it kept on tugging at my attention, insisting that something wasn't right.
So when I went back to my own cubicle, I propped several books up on my chair. I took a seat on top of the precariously raised seat. It was uncomfortable and made me feel like I'd go toppling down to the ground at any second, but it gave me enough extra height to just barely see over the edge of the cubicle walls.
From here, I could see Ruby's desk, and would spot the moment that she returned.
It took another hour, nearly, until she showed up. By this point, it was already slightly past four o'clock in the afternoon, and from the look of things, Ruby intended to duck out early. As soon as she stepped into her desk area, I saw her pick up her light jacket and swing it over her shoulders.
I slipped down off of the tall pile of books on top of my chair, somehow managing to avoid landing badly and twisting an ankle. I hurried down the hallway between cubicles, over to Ruby's desk.
"Hey!" I called out, sliding to a stop next to her desk. "What's going on? You taking off early?"
"Oh, hi Dane," Ruby replied, and that warning voice inside my head ratcheted up a few increments in volume. "Yeah, I have a few errands that I need to run, and I figured that I'd go get them taken care of now, instead of having to go running around all night on them."
I dropped my eyes to the top of her desk, where she'd placed her purse. There was a folder sitting next to them, closed but clearly something that Ruby intended to grab and bring with her.
"What is it?" I asked, now hearing a note of suspicion creeping into my voice. I couldn't come up with any reason off the top of my head for Ruby to need to take documents out of the company. Somehow, I couldn't see her opening them at my apartment to put in extra hours of work.
"Nothing," she replied quickly, dropping her hand to sit on top of the folder. She replied too quickly, that little voice of suspicion inside my head pointed out. And why was she being so secretive about these documents? It wasn't as if, as a secretary, she'd have confidential HR files on anyone...
As I narrowed my eyes at her, Ruby finished pulling her jacket over her arms, snatching up her purse – and the folder – and moving towards the exit. My own jacket, with my car keys inside of it, was still back at my desk, but I still followed after Ruby towards the elevators.
"Ruby, what's going on?" I asked, surprised at how quickly she could walk when she wanted to get somewhere. An elevator had already arrived, and I barely managed to slip inside with her before the doors shut.
"It's nothing," she insisted again, but now, even more than before, I heard the note of false confidence in her voice.
"Ruby, you can't lie to me," I pointed out. "Come on, I know you well enough to see through that."
"Yeah, and that was a mistake," she replied, her eyes suddenly flashing at me. Almost immediately, that spark of anger faded away, and she was back to meek kitten – but I hadn't missed seeing it. "Look, Dane, this doesn't have to concern you."
"What doesn't have to concern me?" I asked, my eyes dipping down to glance at the folder tucked under her arm. If I moved quickly-
Perhaps sensing my intentions, Ruby tightened her grip on the folder. "You know, why don't you come with me?" she asked suddenly, brightening up and smiling at me. "Don't you want to stop working for IDS, get away, have the kind of life where you're free to make your own choices about what you want to do every day?"
"Everyone wants that, Ruby," I said softly, "but I don't have the money to do something like that. And neither do you. Don't you ever think about the future?"
Her mouth tightened, and I sensed that I'd made a misstep. "I think about the future," she snapped back at me. "But you know wha
t I don't want to have in my future? Forty years of working at a desk, getting older and fatter and missing out on all of life, until I eventually retire, only to drop dead the next day of a heart attack! Is that what you want?"
"That isn't what I said," I protested. "But you know what else I don't want as a future?" Ruby said nothing, so I continued. "I don't want to wake up every day worrying about how I'm going to afford to feed myself. I don't want to keep bouncing around but never feeling like I truly have a home. I've put down roots, but it's a nice feeling. I want to have a stable, warm future, where I work, but I also have the money to relax, have fun, take trips."
The elevator was nearing the ground floor. I took a deep breath. "And Ruby, I want you in that future with me," I finished.
This wasn't quite where I'd intended for this conversation to go. From the dumbstruck look on her face, Ruby hadn't expected it to end up here, either. "Dane," she said softly.
But it was too late for me to stop. I'd felt these words welling up in my chest for days, now, but hadn't found the right time to say them. I wasn't sure if now was that right time, either, but I couldn't bear to wait any longer. And something about Ruby told me that, if I didn't speak up now, I might not get another chance.
"Ruby, I love you," I said simply. "I love you, and I want you to stay with me."
The elevator doors dinged as it arrived at the ground floor. Moving stiffly, Ruby took a step out into the lobby, but stopped there, just staring at me. I followed her out, all but holding my breath as I waited for her to respond.
"You don't," she said, sounding half-strangled.
I nodded. "I do." And hearing the words come out of my mouth just reaffirmed that they were true. Surely, she could hear the ring of truth in my voice? "So look, whatever you're doing, just stop and think about it for a minute, reconsider-"
I took another step towards Ruby, but she took another one back from me. Her heel, however, twisted slightly on the polished marble of the lobby, and she staggered for a second before catching her balance. As she staggered, that folder under her arm slipped, spilling a couple of the papers from inside out onto the floor.
Hastily, Ruby dropped down to her knees to grab the fallen loose sheets. One of them drifted over towards my feet, and I reached down. Her hand shot out, but I managed to scoop it up first, just an instant before her hand closed on empty air.
"Ruby?" I said faintly, looking at the slip of paper in my hand. "What is this?"
"Nothing," she answered, hopping up with the folder – which I suspected was full of similar slips of paper to this one. "Look, Dane, just give it back-"
She reached out for the piece of paper in my hand, but I pulled it back, out of her reach. I kept on staring at it, trying to get it to make sense in my brain. What would Ruby be doing with something like this?
The sheet of paper was a printed check, similar to the ones that I used to receive every two weeks before I switched over to the direct deposit option. It was made out to Ruby Bennis, and came from IDS – but my eyes kept on returning to the number printed on the right side.
"Ruby." My voice sounded far away, as if someone else was speaking using my mouth and lips. "Why do you have a check from IDS for half a million dollars?"
At the words, I saw her face crumple – but then, an instant later, harden into a mask. It was then that the realization hit me that, no matter what I said now, Ruby wasn't going to open up to me, wasn't going to ever be fully honest with me again.
It felt like a hammer blow against my chest, crumpling my ribs and smashing straight into my heart. I almost staggered from the weight of the emotional impact. And as this realization hit me, Ruby stepped forward and seized the check out of my fingers.
"It's pulling on Karson Walker's personal accounts," she replied, that mask still in place against me. "It's not going to hurt anyone except him. He even signed all the documents to release the money to me."
"It's still fraud," I said softly. "Come on, Ruby, you can't do this."
"I have to do this!" she snapped back, her eyes suddenly hot and angry. "The man's an utter ass, and this is the least of what he deserves! He won't do anything about it, because I have evidence of him sexually assaulting me, evidence that would get him sued. So he'll let this go, and I get to go have the life that I want!"
No longer, I noticed, was she including me in that life. That invitation had, apparently, vanished as soon as I realized her scheme.
Still, I had to try one last time, even though I doubted that my words would have any influence on her. I had to make every attempt, do my best to honor that little flame in my chest that still glowed every time I looked at her, no matter how much water she tried to dump on it.
"Please, Ruby," I said softly, opening my empty hands. "You could still stop. The last few weeks of my life, spending them with you, have been the best that I've spent in a long time. Don't they mean anything to you?"
She wavered. I saw her hesitate, felt her listening. Some part of her wanted to stay with me, I realized. Some part of her was still reluctant about giving all this up, going back to her earlier life of crime and running away.
"Dane," she said softly, but closed her mouth before getting out anything more.
I took a step forward, and saw her waver as if on the edge of bolting, like a surprised deer. But I had to keep trying. I took another step forward, reaching out and gently putting my arms around her, my fingers sitting lightly on her hips.
"Stay with me," I offered her again. "Stay with me, let me love you. Be a part of my life, Ruby. You say that you don't hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it. What about me?"
She looked almost in pain, torn. "Dane," she said again, still tense in my arms.
"I love you, Ruby," I told her, one last time. "But not if you go through with this. If you do this, you'll be hurting me. So tell me, do you think that I deserve it?"
I looked into her eyes, saw them swim and fill with tears. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. I felt her trembling in my arms like a leaf, struggling to make up her mind.
And then, abruptly, she stopped. She'd made her decision.
"I'm sorry," she said softly, almost too softly for me to hear. She took a step back, out of my arms.
And then she was gone, out of the lobby, out of the building.
Out of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Three
DANE
*
There ought to be a warning label on good times. Maybe something that comes in the mail, arrives when you're at your happiest moment. It could be like a postcard, something that says, "Enjoy this moment, because trust me, buddy – it's not going to last."
I wish that I'd gotten that damn postcard. Hell, I wish that I hadn't ever talked to Ruby in the first place, never agreed to play cards against her, never helped save her from the guys trying to beat the crap out of me for throwing a card game, never took her to my office or gave her the first inkling that she could pull a scam on my company and my boss.
But I had met her. I'd taken her in, booked for her, loved her, given her my heart.
And in exchange, she snatched it up and ran, just like she'd done with the money she'd stolen from Karson Walker and IDS.
Strangely enough, I didn't hear anything about the vanishing money through official channels. I mentioned the matter to Marcus, more as a way to distract him from asking me just how heartbroken I really felt, and he did some sniffing around.
And then, for the next week or so, I did my best to keep my brain turned off by piling on more and more work, until all I thought about were spreadsheets.
It wasn't enough. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ruby, her smile, her face, heard her laugh in my ears – and then it all cracked and faded away as she ran out of the building, abandoning me.
It was during one of these horrible daydreams that Marcus stuck his head into my cubicle, startling me out of my trance.
"Hey, I figured it out!" he exclaimed to me, not noticing how I jumped at hearin
g his voice. "But man, don't take it from me – you need to come hear about this for yourself!"
"Marcus, I really don't have time-" I started, gesturing to the open documents on my computer screen, but he was insistent.
"Seriously, it's great. Come on, it won't take long."
Finally, more to get him off of my back than for any other real reason, I got up and followed him down two floors, down to our HR department. There, Marcus led me confidently through the maze of cubicles until we arrived at the one that was, it seemed, our destination.
"Dane, this is Judy," Marcus introduced me to the portly, middle-aged woman sitting in the cubicle. "Judy, Dane is probably my best friend at this place – aside from you, of course!" He leaned in and added in a stage whisper. "Oh, and he was seeing that Ruby girl, so he's totally heartbroken."
I couldn't even bring myself to growl at Marcus for sharing this information so blatantly. I just gave Judy a polite nod as she sized me up, pursing her lips at me.
"Well, he's a handsome fellow, so I can see what she went for," she admitted, talking about me as if I wasn't able to listen in. "Clever girl, too, for what she did. Maybe a little too clever, though, although I do wish that I had the guts to try something like what she did!"
Okay, fine, I'd bite. "What did she do?" I asked with a sigh.
Before answering, Judy flicked her eyes in both directions, like a spy checking to make sure he wasn't being tailed. "Oh, it's great!" she murmured in tones of barely concealed glee. "We've all got retirement accounts through the company, right?"
I nodded. So what, Ruby stole Karson Walker's retirement money?
"Oh, it's even better than that," Judy laughed. "See, as the CEO, Walker gets all these extra bonus payouts, basically because he's such a big shareholder. When you hear in the news about these Wall Street banker types getting big cash bonuses, it's the same kind of thing. Walker got those, too."
Fool Me Once: A Bad Girl Romance Page 14
