Love Over Lattes
Page 22
“What exactly did Bridget hire you to do?”
“She wanted you to sign the agreement. I had to deliver CCI one way or another.” She raised an eyebrow. “Would you ever forgive me, darling?”
Even after the divorce, after all she’d done, Bridget still thought she had some claim on me. God, was I an idiot for giving her so much power over my life. A lazy idiot. With my nose buried in CCI business, I became an easy target for her and Nikki. A lump dropped to my stomach, and I tasted bile in the back of my throat. Bridget had gone too far this time. But one thing at a time. Valentina was innocent. Right now, that was all that mattered. She hadn’t betrayed me. She was a victim in all this.
“What about Alex Maio?” I asked.
“Who?” She gave me puzzled look.
“Valentina’s ex.”
“Oh, that one. That wasn’t me. Bridget asked me to talk to him, but he’s a real lowlife. I didn’t want to be associated with him. No idea where Bridget found him. I did deliver a message to him, though. Bridget asked me to set up a meeting and to tell him that she had a lucrative business proposal for him.” She glanced at her hands for a moment before she looked up. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what kind of nasty business she had in mind.”
“I have a pretty good idea,” I said.
The prick played his part well. He’d strung a couple of sentences together, and just like that, he had me believing Valentina slept with me for money. And not only that, I actually considered she’d done it for him. How would I ever get Valentina to forgive me? I fished my mobile from my back pocket. We needed to talk. No. I threw the phone on the couch and met Dom at the bar cart. This was something I needed to do in person.
“Okay.” Dom poured himself a drink. “If Nikki’s lead pans out, we should be able to get Bridget to give you back your company. Just give me time to come up with a plan.” He turned to me, eyeing Nikki across the room. “Is it bad that I’m turned on by all this? There’s just something about a woman owning her business, you know?”
“Seriously? She almost ruined my life.”
“I’m not saying I’m interested, man. Just saying it’s interesting. But back to you.”
“What about my money?” Nikki stood.
“If I don’t get CCI back, you don’t get paid.”
Pouting, she placed her arms across her chest. “What about her account in the Bahamas? I bet there’s something there you can use.”
Dom shook his head once. “We know about that. It’s best if we stay away from it. What else you got?”
Without Nikki’s confession, getting CCI back would be hell, if not impossible. My gaze fell on Nikki as she made herself comfortable on the sofa. I should be angry at her, but that wasn’t me anymore. I had to stay focused and salvage what was left of my life.
She beamed at me. “I know what you’re thinking, darling. But with the number of girls you had parading through your house in the last six months, you can’t really prove I was the one who took your documents. I’m not going to jail over this.” She took the drink Dom offered her. “I’m on your side now. I’m of more use to you here than behind bars.”
“She’s right,” Dom said.
Nikki wiggled in her seat, eyes wide and bright. “This is my favorite part. Let’s brainstorm.” Sipping from her glass, she patted the cushion next to her and gestured for Dom to sit down. “Why are you not calling for an audit?”
“Unless we know what we’re looking for, it could be a year before we figure out how she’s embezzling money,” I said.
My first instinct had been to do just that. But at the rate Bridget was implementing changes within the company, there’d be nothing left by the time we gathered enough evidence against her. Time wasn’t on our side. What we needed was a confession. Something to make her reconsider.
“Can you pay off her gambling debt?” Nikki asked.
I shook my head. “She has the upper hand. Why settle for a couple of million dollars when she can keep it all?”
“You’re right,” Dom said, sitting next to Nikki.
“That’s it, then.” Nikki sat up, her cheeks flushed. “I told you both that you needed me. We need to make her think she no longer has the upper hand.”
“How do we do that exactly?” I plopped myself down on the sofa across from her, exhausted and wishing Valentina were here. But that was on me. I sent her away.
“Cole? Still with us?” Dom exchanged a meaningful look with Nikki.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“I said we’ll need to take another look at Bridget’s offshore accounts,” Nikki said.
“Not unless you want that pretty Mercedes of yours to end up on the Mexico side of Nogales.” I gestured toward Dom.
He gulped his drink before he spoke. “He’s right. That’s mobsters’ stuff. We can’t touch that.”
“You can. You just need a woman’s touch.” She wiggled her fingers and reached for Dom’s leg.
“You’ve done this before?”
She jumped to her feet. “Just get your checkbook ready, Derek. I’ll take care of the rest.” She kissed Dom on the cheek and then turned to me. “Am I allowed to leave?”
I stared at her. “You don’t want to cross me again, Nikki. There won’t be a second chance for you.”
“I’ll call you when I have something.” She waved before she headed out. “Ciao.”
“She’s a good friend to have.” Dom stared at her as she closed the door behind her.
“I hope she knows what she’s doing. You can handle all this with Bridget, right?” I asked. Dom nodded, and I felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. “I have something I need to take care of.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“I need to figure out how to get Valentina back.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Pathetic
Valentina
On Monday, the traffic into Tucson sucked. After I hurled the Civic into a spot, I bolted to the badge reader, ID in hand. Made it with a minute to spare. This one-hour commute from Casa Grande would take a while getting used to. To make matters worse, I didn’t have time to get coffee at home or stop for one on the way in. Crap. This was going to be a long day.
I dropped my bag at my desk and fired up my laptop before heading to the break room. I hadn’t slept a wink last night. Coffee wasn’t optional today. The brew we had on our floor was nasty, but it was hot, caffeinated, and ready to drink. The espresso machine we had when I first started working had been removed last week. One by one, all the lavish perks Cole had for his employees had been scaled down to the bare bones. No more playroom and definitely no more free meals. Bridget had taken pity on us and stopped at the coffee. The brew was free, but we had to pay twenty-five cents for the cup. I hadn’t thought to bring a tumbler from home, so I was stuck paying the “membership fee.”
“Good morning,” I greeted the girl in front of me.
I was still fairly new, so I didn’t know everyone by name. But she’d smiled at me before. Not this morning. She looked me up and down and left the break room without saying a word. Jeez, I needed a lot of coffee to wake up in the morning, but I wasn’t that bad.
Three cups of coffee later, my brain woke up and so did my bladder. I glanced at the computer clock. It was almost ten. Feeling proud of myself for not bursting into tears in three consecutive hours, I strolled to the bathroom. I’d also gone for almost an hour without thinking of Cole—his smell, his eyes, or his hands on me.
Damn.
Picking up the pace, I rushed to the ladies’ room. I went in the stall at the end of the row and leaned on the wall, on the verge of breaking my three-hour record of no crying. I forced myself to breathe in and out, slowly. Everything that happened this past weekend went by so fast I still hadn’t recovered from the whiplash. At this point, all I knew for certain was that Bridget had won. Just as Nikki’d said. She’d also said Cole loved me. I wished that were true. But she had no way of knowing that.
“Moms are not perfect,” Mom had said when she found me bawling again in my room.
“Well, mine does a great job of not showing it,” I’d said to her, feeling so grateful that she wasn’t judging me for any of this. She was right, of course. Max didn’t need the perfect mom. He needed a healthy and happy mom. I’d have to work hard on the happy part, but in time I’d get there.
But how much time? A day, a month, a year? How do I get over Cole?
I dug in my pant pocket and took out the Get Over Cole list I’d written on Saturday after my chat with Nikki.
1. Find a new apartment. Something close to the outskirts of town. And as far away as possible from Cole.
2. Start looking for a new job?
3. Let Annie set me up on a blind date?
4. Get over Cole?
It was a half-ass list. I’d never had to come up with a plan to fall out of love. I crumpled the paper in my fist and stuffed it back in my pants. For the first time since I could remember, I had no plan, and the idea terrified me.
The bathroom door creaked open, and two women barged in. Their hushed whispers echoed against the wall behind me.
“Oh, I know who you’re talking about, the new girl. Latina, right?” one of the women asked. She had a girlish voice.
I rolled my eyes. How about the girl who had been programming the heck out of your stupid usage reports? I tiptoed back and climbed on the toilet so they wouldn’t see my feet. A childish reaction, but I didn’t need more awkwardness in my life. I thought I had done a good job of keeping my head down. Did I piss someone off? How?
“Yep. That’s the one,” the other woman said. She was already in one of the stalls.
“Her and gorgeous Derek Cole? How could she?” Girlish Voice said.
“I know. Poor Bridget. She had to file for divorce. But she’s asking to keep control of CCI.”
“Well, good for her. If that home-wrecker was looking for a quick promotion, she’s going to hit a wall.”
“A promotion? Honestly.” The loud clank of the stall door opening was followed by water running. “I would’ve done it for free. Come on. Don’t give me that look. You haven’t seen the man in jeans. There’s hot, and then there’s Derek Cole hot.”
They both giggled and strolled out of the bathroom.
I plopped down on the toilet seat, thinking of Cole coming down the stairs in worn jeans, wet hair, and shirtless.
Taking out my crumpled Get Over Cole list, I added another item.
5. Stop picturing Cole naked.
No. Scratch that.
5. Stop thinking of him. Period.
Things had turned for the worst, to say the least. By the time I found the courage to leave the bathroom stall, news of Cole’s illicit affair had spread like malware through the office. Overnight, I’d become the reason for his divorce. Never mind that it was Bridget who cheated on him and stole CCI from him. What I knew to be true didn’t matter. My coworkers had already digested whatever lie Bridget had fed them, and they’d passed judgment on it. The murmurs and the looks were enough to send me running. But I didn’t flee as usual. I needed this job.
For the rest of the afternoon, I stayed in my cube as much as possible. They didn’t know me. With a smile, I thought of Cole playing ball with Max. They didn’t know Cole either. Explaining what had really happened was futile.
“Hello.” Christopher leaned on the cubicle wall, lips pressed tight.
Had he heard the news? Crap. This would be easier if Cole wasn’t so angry with me. His anger was the only thing that truly hurt in all this.
“How’re you doing?” he asked.
“I’m good,” I lied. “How about you?”
He paused for a moment, opened his mouth, only to close it again. “I just heard from Bridget. She’s decided you’re not a good fit for this company. I’m sorry. She wants you out of here by the end of the day. Um. I’ll walk you out when you’re ready, okay?” he said all in one breath.
“Christopher, I really need this job.” I pleaded with him.
“I’m sorry, girl. But what were you thinking? You and Cole? I’m mean, yeah, he’s as steamy as they come. But really? Did you think she wouldn’t find out?” The disappointed look on his face made my stomach clench. He really needed my help with those reports. I’d let him down.
“It wasn’t like that. I promise you. That was never my intention.” I stood and reached for his shoulder, but retrieved my hand almost immediately. We’d only known each other for a few weeks. And even though we had connected from the start, we weren’t that close. “I’m sorry. I—”
“You don’t need to apologize to me.” He made a dismissing gesture with both hands. “Get your things. You only have a couple of hours to clear out your desk.” He pinched his nose. Was he crying? I touched his arm, and he embraced me in a bear hug. “I’m so sorry. I tried to get her to change her mind. There’s just no talking sense into her.”
My arms were pressed to my sides. I reached as best I could and patted him on the back. “Thank you for saying that.”
“Of course.” Taking deep, long breaths, he put up his hands in some sort of apology and left.
How am I going to tell Max and my parents I lost my job? No. That I got fired for sleeping with my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss’s husband.
There’s pathetic. And then there’s Valentina pathetic.
I glanced down, squeezing my eyes shut. Bridget didn’t need an excuse to fire me. She’d spread the gossip about Cole and me out of spite. Breaking Cole and me up wasn’t enough for her. Why? I hid behind my monitor and put my face between my hands. Hot tears dripped on the palm of my hands and scurried down my arm.
And here I thought the worst was over. I had let myself think Cole and I could be together. And now I was back to square one—dumped, jobless, and living with my parents. I was nineteen years old all over again.
Numb, I picked up the box Christopher had left on my desk and dropped my stuff into it. I didn’t have much, a couple of picture frames, notes, books I’d brought on programming, and snacks. People went by my cube, staring, avoiding eye contact whenever I gazed at them. I was that car wreck they couldn’t look away from. I wanted to crawl under my desk and never come out. This day couldn’t end soon enough.
The collective humming of keyboards clicking and people chatting ceased completely, and the room went eerily quiet. Like those first couple of seconds after the lights go out and everyone is stunned speechless. Then, as if the figurative lights had come back on, the entire floor burst out into loud voices, talking fast. I couldn’t catch what they were saying, but they sounded excited. I sat closer to the edge of my chair to peek over the cubicle panel. A gasp escaped my lips as my seat tipped over and dumped me on the worn carpet. What the hell? I jerked to my feet.
Cole strolled in through the door that led to the front lobby, his eyes surveying the room. A security guard caught up to him and handed him a badge. Cole said something and rested his hand gently on the man’s shoulder, as if they were friends.
I ducked, hands pressing on my chest. Shit. When I checked again, the circle around him had grown wider than the aisle. Cole’s lips alternated between a “Hi, how are you?” and his all-American-boyish smile as more people showed up. God, he looked good in a suit. I touched my fingers to my mouth.
He’d let his hair grow out since I moved into the cottage, which gave him that rebel-without-a-cause look. He’d combed it back, but a few strands refused to submit and streamed down to his forehead. I picked up the box and dropped it on the floor in frustration.
Why is he here?
&nbs
p; Using my monitor as a shield, I snuck another glance in time to see him saunter down the hallway. He looked calmed, not furious as he’d been on Friday. His step was relaxed, all loose hip and sexy. I didn’t think it’d be possible, but he looked more beautiful than he did the first time he’d barged into Cafe Triste.
My eyes lingered on him. I could stay here all day, just watching him from a distance, as I did for so many months. But that wasn’t me anymore. I wanted to run out and leap into his arms, kiss him until he said he believed in me.
I wasn’t mad. Or I was. But you have the power to make all the bad go away. He’d said that to me once, after our first night together. If I went and talked to him, would he listen? Could I make all the bad go away? God, I missed him. It scared me to see how much.
I stepped out of my cube. I had to talk to him. He walked out of the circle of people and headed for Bridget’s office, eyebrows drawn together, head held high. This wasn’t a random visit. He had a plan. Scanning the faces in front of him, his eyes met mine across the room. He held my gaze, and I stopped in my tracks.
He didn’t offer a hello. Or a smile. At the end of the row, he turned away from me as if he hadn’t seen me. Tears stung my eyes, and I was glad all I’d had to eat today was the dry toast Mom shoved in my hands this morning on my way out the door. Talking to him wouldn’t help. He hated me, and there wasn’t anything I could do to fix it. Was he here to fire me himself?
You can’t do this to me, Cole. He couldn’t come in here and kick me out in front of everybody. It’d be too cruel. I had to get out of here. I couldn’t let him humiliate me like this. Bridget had already taken care of that. What more did he want?
“One, two,” I counted under my breath while I threw the last of my stuff in the box. My hands shook uncontrollably. Eight…nine, ten… I raced to the door.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Business First, Then Pleasure
Cole
“Business first, then pleasure, Cole,” Dom said.