None of them ever came to you for pay-offs. You’ve been punishing yourself all this time for something Sutton’s guilty of. But not you, Chase. Not you.”
“But I created the game in the first place,” I said, almost afraid to feel the hope she was offering.
“And if you need to make that right somehow, that’s good,” she said, running her hands around the back of my neck. I felt her fingers twine together. “But don’t you think that privately might be better than publically?” she asked, “For everyone involved?” I nodded slowly, taking her meaning.
“But I still have to stop Sutton,” I said. “I’ve been out all this time, but it still hasn’t been enough to end the game… I think the few who’re left would stop too, if it wasn’t for him. But you saw that party. He doesn’t intend to end it until he’s driven himself and our company’s reputation into the ground.” I ran my hands down her shoulders, down her arms, caressing her skin. “It needs to end because it isn’t right. The bets… the deception.
No woman should ever be treated that way.” I pressed my forehead into hers, squeezing my eyes shut as her hands moved up my back.
There was so much ahead of us. And so many things we both had to make right. There was her family and mine. My past, and the uncertainty of the future. But as I took her into my arms, and felt the melting warmth of her body and her love, I pushed it all aside. I stripped her gently and thoroughly, and myself with less patience. For one more night, there would be nothing but the two of us. She laid back, opening herself to welcome me inside. And I moved over her, seeking and finding
sweet absolution, in her arms.
39
Emily
“I don’t know what else to say,” I said, brushing the back of a flour-covered hand across my forehead. “Except I know how I feel when I’m with him.” I sat down, brushing my hands on my apron. Reese turned off the mixer and looked at me with her hands on her hips. “I love him… and he loves me. I know it’s all happening too fast…”
“Love usually does,” she said, with a patient smile. I’d been bending her ear for well over an hour. “I’m just relieved to know he’s made of better stuff than his business partner. I hear another woman’s come forward with allegations about his bad behavior. And after the eyeful I got at the party, it isn’t exactly hard to believe.”
“I know,” I said with a sigh. “Chase was honest about his part in starting the competition, but Sutton took it to a whole new level. They both participated, but their motivations were never the same.” I tipped my head, looking at my friend. “Sutton acts without conscience. And I don’t think he’ll never stop on his own. But Chase wanted it all to be over with years ago. He regretted it almost from the beginning…”
“So he just likes a challenge and has a tendency toward mild exhibitionism…?” she asked, playfully.
I laughed and used my fingertips to splatter her with drops of cake batter. “Not any more than I do,” I said, teasingly. “But it’s true… there is something exciting about the possibility of getting caught.” I felt my face grow hot. “That’s one of the things I’ve learned about myself…”
“One of many, I’m guessing,” she said, watching me with bright eyes. “And there’s nothing wrong with that… just as long as you don’t get caught.” She smoothed the batter she’d just poured and opened the oven door. “I can’t believe that Becca just wanted plain vanilla,” she muttered. “So boring…”
“But lucky for us,” I replied. “She wants almost a thousand candied violets on it. Assembly and decoration alone is gonna take hours.”
“We’ll be fine,” Reese replied calmly. “Tam’s coming in after her evening classes all this week. We’ll get it done on time. She turned to face me and for a second, I was envious. She was just so… unflappable.
“But Emily… you are going to have to talk to Justine. And I’d suggest sooner rather than later. I’ve covered for you as well as I could,” she said. “But I think she suspects you’re not really spending all these nights at my place.” She smiled kindly at me. “She knows you’ve grown up… and that things are changing. And I know it’s not going to be an easy conversation to have, considering her… conservative nature…
But in the end, it’s always better to be honest. Tell her the truth,” she said, encouragingly. “She’s lived a long time… experienced a lot more than you might give her credit for.” She took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “You need to give her a chance to understand, Em.
It’s possible she might just surprise you.”
I took a salad up to my room at lunchtime, giving May and Gran time to finish their game of cards. Reese was occupied with a trip to the bank. And I was grateful for the time to collect my thoughts. I hadn’t seen Gran for two whole days…
Twenty minutes later, I could hear voices in the hall. I screwed up my courage, knowing I couldn’t avoid the conversation any longer. And I still had no idea where to even begin.
“Well, I still say it wasn’t a proper deal.” I heard Gran’s voice. “Maybe I didn’t catch you at it this time, but I will tomorrow…”
I opened my door in time to see May’s face wreathed in a patient, wrinkly smile. Gran stood with her cane, and wrapped it against the wooden floor. “You be here a half hour earlier in the morning, May,” she said imperiously. “And I’ll win back that dollar… if it’s the last thing I do…”
May paused long enough to give me a quick kiss on the cheek and disappeared with a backwards wave. In spite of my grandmother’s tone, she left with a smile on her face. And for the first time in months, Gran waved me back toward my own room instead of beckoning me into hers. I sat down on the edge of my bed, my heart bumping steadily against my ribs as she followed me in, and closed the door behind her…
“So, you’re home, at last,” she said, sitting down opposite me at my little writing desk. “Reese tells me you two have been very busy lately, with your newfound success.”
I nodded, clasping my hands in my lap. “The bridal shower brought in two more jobs… large ones. They want full catering as well as classic desserts. And we’re working on an emergency job right now… a cake…
It’s good, Gran. It’s all been good. But there’s something I need to explain…”
“I met your young man,” she interrupted. “Did he mention?” She was eyeing me hard, but her gaze was bright, glittering. “Very tall… very intense…
And he speaks quite highly of you.”
“That’s what I needed to talk to you about…,” I began, hearing my heartbeat in my ears. “I know you’ve always had certain expectations… and as much as I’ve tried to…”
“I do hope you haven’t been putting him off too much,” she said, blotting at her wrinkled neck with a handkerchief. “Spending so much time with Reese, and keeping such a handsome young suitor at bay.” Her face was lined with a rare smile. “I made a mistake like that once… many, many years ago… with a man who…”
“Gran…?” I saw her eyes mist, glazed over with long forgotten memories. I reached out and touched her hand. She blinked, and smiled again. We looked at each other…
“Emily?” Reese stood in the doorway, one hand on the knob, the other holding a phone. She held it out to me, her eyes filled with concern.
“It’s Chase, Em. And he sounds bad. He needs to talk to you…
I think something’s happened…”
40
Chase
“Just meet me at Envisager,” I said. “I’ll explain when you get here. I’m sorry as hell to be dragging you through this, Emi, but I love you more than you know…”
I slipped the phone back into my pocket and watched as Amelia gathered her things. I’d told her the truth… at least as much as she allowed. She didn’t want to hear the details any more than I wanted to give them. But she knew enough… and to her credit, was already armed and ready for battle.
“I’m still not convinced this is the way,” I said, as she locked her door behind us a
nd we headed for the car.
“I’m not gonna say it isn’t a risk, Chris,” she answered back. “It is. But I, for one, have had more than enough of men like Sutton...and men like Cliff. They do what they want… they take what they want, like there won’t ever be consequences.” She climbed into the seat beside me. She was angry now… angrier than I’d ever seen her. And it made her strong, too. It was surprisingly good to see…
“It smacks of blackmail,” I said, darkly. “And though I’m grateful as hell, I still think you’re letting me off too easily. Just like Emily is. How can it be right for Sutton to lose everything, and for me to escape? I’m just as guilty as he is.”
She punched me hard and fast in the arm, reminding me of when we were kids, and making me jerk the wheel to keep from swerving…
“Stupid,” she said, making me smile in spite of the circumstances. “You’re my brother, and I’ve had my whole life to see for myself, that you’re a kind and decent man. I know the women you think you ruined. And they all liked to enjoy themselves, long before you, well… hooked up. Did you forget I run in the same social circles they do?” she asked, staring at me and blinking pointedly. “They all still say nice things about you at Christmas parties, you big jerk. None of them got hurt, Chris… Just you.
Sutton’s the one who’s done the damage. And even if you share the responsibility for starting all this, you’re the only one who’s man enough to finish it.”
She gripped my hand in hers and I held it as I drove. I was grateful as hell to have two strong, loyal women supporting me. And I was determined to deserve their trust. I drove on, heading to where Sutton waited,
knowing… what he did not.
Amelia and I parted ways outside my office doors. I took enough time to bring her hand up and give her knuckles a kiss. “You’ve got the numbers you need?” She smiled, her eyes bright, and gave me a quick nod. “Good luck,” I told her. “I’m guessing you’ll need it more than I will,” she answered back. Then I took off for Sutton’s office, as she went into mine and closed the door behind her.
As it turned out, he was not only waiting for me, he had a pitcher of martinis ready and his feet up on the desk. His jacket was flung carelessly over the back of his chair and his rumpled shirt was open at the throat.
“‘Bout time you got here,” he said, slurring his words ever so slightly. He finished what remained in his glass and sat it down, too hard, on the desk.
“I had to reschedule a meeting for this,” he went on. “And I don’t have to tell you… what a busy man I am these days…”
I spun his chair, leaning forward to face him, trapping him where he was with my grip on its arms. I bent down, noticing tiny beads of sweat along his thin upper lip.
“You’re going to stop talking now, Sutton, and you’re going to sit still and listen,” I said. I kept my voice quiet, low… but I held his eyes like a hostage. I didn’t blink. Neither did he.
“For starters,” I said, reaching over to send the martini pitcher crashing to the floor, “this stops now.” He blanched, but didn’t move… didn’t blink. “The next step won’t be as easy,” I said, “but you’re going to be grateful as hell, thanks to me, that at least you saw it coming.”
“This is more shit about the fucking game again, isn’t it?” he said, curling his lip back. “That little slut just wants more money, is all…”
I stopped him cold with a stinging backhand across the cheek. “What the fuck part of listen don’t you understand? Pam’s no slut… and neither were any of the others.” He sat still now, bleeding slightly at the corner of his mouth. “Every single one of those women deserved better than you or me. The game is done.” I sat back against the edge of his desk and saw his shoulders relax, ever so slightly. “I’m going to make a formal apology to each one,” I went on. “So are you. I’m only hoping it’s enough…
And considering the numbers on your end and the time commitment involved, you’re going to take a leave of absence. Unpaid, and without argument.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Effective immediately and until I have proof my conditions have been met. If we’re lucky… very lucky, we’ll be able to avoid an unrecoverable scandal.
“Did it work?” Emi asked. “Did he agree?”
“He didn’t have much of a choice but to agree,” I said. She and Amelia sat together on the sofa in my office. Emi had arrived only minutes ago. “But only time will tell if he has the balls to go through with it. I gave him until Friday to make it right with Pam and half a dozen others from the last month or so. It gives him a few days… but it gives us time as well. He doesn’t know we have an ace up our sleeve… at least not yet.
But he knows it’s all over. And that his only hope of keeping his half of the company for now, is to cooperate. Any scandal that touches either one of us touches the business. I can live with losing it all, so long as we make things right in the end. But I doubt that’s a choice he’ll be willing to make. In a sense, I’m counting on his instinct for self-preservation.”
Emily stood up and I took her into my arms. Her warmth and sweetness washed over me like a healing balm. Everything I’d worked for in my life was on the line… in the hands of a man with no moral compass. While I wasn’t proud of my past, at least I had learned from my mistakes. But I had little, to no reason, to believe Sutton had.
41
Emily
“So that’s the plan,” I said.
“There are a dozen different ways it could fail, and even best case scenario is a long way from perfect. Chase ends up sharing Envisager with a man who’s brilliant at his job, but can barely be trusted in his personal life.” I sighed, looking at their faces. “But he says maybe it’s better to keep him close, at least for the moment, rather than to cut ties altogether. That he might be less destructive, less inclined to be vindictive… if their futures are still linked…”
Reese and Tam had listened silently as I had poured it all out. Amelia had come to lend her support. Tam, most of all, sat wide eyed, working to process everything we’d said. I was relieved to see a sparkle of intrigue in her eyes. Her, most especially of all…
We sat downstairs in the bakery, the air warm and sweet-smelling. For a long moment, the room was still. There was only the ticking of the clock, and the soft sounds of our own breathing…
“Chase has already committed half of his personal income to women’s and children’s charities on an ongoing annual basis,” I went on. “To organizations that fight abuse and trafficking… to others that promote leadership programs for women in the workplace. Sutton doesn’t know it yet, but he’s going to be doing exactly the same thing. Plus Chase is going to force him to cough up every dime he won playing this game. And the company, as a whole, will be giving twenty percent of its profits.”
“Well… Chase knows how to put his money where his mouth is…,” Reese said, with a soft whistle through her teeth. “And he’s owning up to his own share of the blame. But somehow I doubt it’ll be so easy getting Sutton to see the light.”
“To think he spent all those years beating himself up, when Sutton was the one all along…,” Tam chimed in. “I knew what kind of creep that guy was from that first party we catered,” she went on. “I was trying to get started with clean up behind the bar. And he was working the whole seduction scene with me really hard… Up until one of his girlfriends showed up, that is…”
“But you never said anything…,” I began.
“She did to me,” Reese said. “He showed his true colors that night. But since no real harm was done, we just wrote it off as one of those things. At that point, neither of us knew the whole story…”
“But we do know now,” Tam said, a thoughtful look forming on her face. “And I think Chase is right to wonder if he could ever control himself. At least without the right motivation…”
“And that’s where you come in,” Amelia replied. “Where we all come in. Sutton’s underestimated the power of every woman he’s ever exploited. Th
at’s why I made all those phone calls in Chase’s office while he was talking to Sutton. One angry woman is a force all by herself, but a dozen…”
“And that’s why we needed to tell you everything,” I added. “After all, we’re taking this a step further than even Chase knows… And everyone has to decide for herself, whether to support this or not. And there’s no judgement if anyone wants out…
But I’m in,” I said. “I love Chase and I believe in him. And I’m in.”
“Ditto,” Amelia firmly. “I was in the minute I picked up the phone. From the minute my soon-to-be ex cheated on me.”
“Me too,” Reese agreed. She looked at me and smiled. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, Em.” She turned to face Tammy, who looked in turn, from one woman to the next. “A lot of this hinges on you,” Reese said. “We could manage it without you, but…”
Tam smiled. “Are you kidding me?” she asked, laughing. The sound of it broke the remaining tension in the room and there was a soft, communal sigh of relief. “This is a budding journalist’s dream come true… Effing girl-power,” she said, with a grin. She put her hand out and everyone else followed suit. We stood, clasped together like the spokes of a wheel. Strong, determined… United.
“Count me in.”
I locked up after the others left, my head spinning from the events of the day. While I had every confidence in Chase, and that his plan would work, it never hurt to have a back-up. I hoped to hell, we’d never need to use it, but I couldn’t sit by and do nothing. Not only to help the women Sutton had hurt, but because I wanted to protect the man I loved. And I was so incredibly grateful to have the support of my friends. And with so many good women supporting him too, maybe one day, Chase would begin to forgive himself.
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