Girls Vs. Love

by Mona Cox

  Three days, thirty drafts of my presentation, and ten million cups of coffee later, I walk into the reserved conference room at work to see Nadia sitting at the head of the table and Derek just sitting down.

  I thought I had seen him coming in from the elevator while I was getting copies, but I hadn't said anything.

  I mean, to call out his name at work would've sort of been unprofessional, you know?

  That, and the fact that I haven't returned his calls for the last three days. I mean, it's not that I was avoiding him. I just didn't want to deal with a situation where he could potentially ask me about today and I'd either have to compromise my principles at work or have to tell Derek I love him but also need to think about what's best for my career.

  So yeah, I guess I probably was avoiding him, huh?

  Derek turns to look at me and I blush inadvertently as I feel his eyes travelling over my body. I don't know if it was intentional or what, but today is a lace underwear day.

  Maybe because it makes me feel sexy? Maybe because it makes me feel older? Or the big meeting I'm hosting?

  Whatever it is, today is the day that I bust out the La Perla black lace bra and thong. That just means that I had to go with the black skirt and white silk blouse that's a bit too tight around the boobs. Add some nice Tiffany's earrings and a sterling silver pendant and some makeup and throw on a suit coat and I'm so uber professional that after this meeting is over I'm going to go pose once or twice in the bathroom in front of the mirror.

  But if Derek had his way, he'd probably throw me on the conference table and rip off my clothes. That's how hungrily dude is staring at me.

  And he's not bad looking either, you know? The guy is in a tailored double-breasted dark suit that is cut so well that there is absolutely no hiding how gorgeous of a body he has. Those cut pecs that are sculpted in such a way that you can run your tongue down the crease of his upper chest. Those 8-pack abs. Ohmigosh. Talk about the last thing you need to be thinking about right before a meeting.

  Somehow, and again chica, I don't know how, I manage to calmly pull out the chair and sit down.

  I clear my throat and am about to dive in, when...

  "Actually, Alicia, I think it's best if I start," Nadia says. Her tone is cold and impersonal and I cock my head. "I think it's better if you simply answer the questions as they're posed to you.

  "Okay," I say, a bit puzzled.

  "I need to ask you some very difficult questions about Derek Lowell's account right now," Nadia says, her face impassive.

  I nod.

  Why is my heart rate suddenly increasing?

  "Three months ago, attorneys for Mr. Lowell reached out to our Legal & Compliance division because they were concerned about some odd activity taking place in his account," Nadia says and as I listen to her I see the door open and one of the lawyers, a Thomas Wright, from Legal walk in. "We've been conducting an internal investigation and we believe that you've been embezzling money from the account, Alicia."

  Wait.

  Did I hear that right?

  What the fuck?

  "I'm sorry?" is all I really manage to croak out.

  Nadia turns to the lawyer who sighs and opens his briefcase.

  "Ms. Sullivan," Mr. Wright says, referring to some paperwork as he says my last name, "Over the last three months, we've noticed a series of very improper money transfers in Mr. Lowell's account."

  I nod impatiently. This is exactly why I called the meeting. I should have maybe specified it in the invite, but I didn't want to cause a lot of fuss.

  "Transfers to countries that are specifically forbidden by the Federal Government because they are known havens for terrorism and money laundering," Mr. Wright continues and I nod simply. I have all the proof I need being told to me. I'm not worried.

  "At the same time, Mr. Lowell's attorneys believed that there was someone within Carter Jeffries who was embezzling from his account," the lawyer continues and then looks at me. "Something like this if it were to get out would be severely damaging to the reputation of the bank."

  That's exactly what I was thinking when I called this meeting, bub!

  "We knew that whoever was stealing from Mr. Lowell, since they were working within the Firm, would most likely seek to cover their tracks if the entire situation were scrutinized further," Mr. Wright says. "So, Mr. Lowell took a more active role and made himself available to your group under the guise of seeing the performance of his investments. Over the last month once Mr. Lowell began taking an active role, we saw that we were correct in our assumption and the thief began to try to cover their tracks."

  Why is my heart suddenly dropping to my stomach?

  "It corresponds to the time you began to somehow directly log into Mr. Lowell's account," Mr. Wright says to me.

  Wait.

  "I was doing the research that my manager asked me to do," I say quickly. "In the analysis of Mr. Lowell's account."

  Mr. Wright looks at me with a puzzled expression. "That seems highly unlikely, Ms. Sullivan, and is almost impossible. The Firm has a policy against placing that level of access upon those at the Analyst level--"

  I'm just not even going to let him finish that one.

  "I completely understand," I say with a flourish. "That's why when Nadia gave me this assignment, she promoted me to Associate," I say and lean back. This is all some horrible misunderstanding.

  Mr. Wright looks toward Nadia. I look toward Nadia. I can tell from the corner of my eye that Derek is looking toward her too.

  "Alicia," Nadia says slowly, "When I told you to prepare the investment options based on Mr. Lowell's visit, I never told you to go through his account. And," she says and pauses and laughs to herself. "There is no way I ever promoted you to Associate."

  It's like someone took a giant baseball bat and just hit me in the face.

  "We don't do promotions until the end of the year, and you're still too new to the Firm," Nadia continues as she looks through her phone. "And as far as I can see, there is no email or notification from me to HR telling them to move you to that level."

  "In fact, Ms. Sullivan, did you not use your manager's credentials to log into Mr. Lowell's account?" Thomas Wright asks me.

  Fuck. I don't know what to answer.

  I feel like throwing up.

  My head is spinning.

  I think I've been set up.

  "I'm going to take your silence as a sign of guilt, Ms. Sullivan," the lawyer says as he sits down next to me. "But you should know that the Firm will try to recover the damages from you on his behalf. We believe that you've stolen about $30 million dollars from Mr. Lowell so far."

  Tears are streaming down my face as I look to Derek.

  I can't tell what he's thinking.

  $30 million dollars?

  This global bank is about to go to war with me.

  How am I going to even be able to pay that back? The number is absolutely ridiculous.

  Especially because after my Starbucks today I only have $347.14 in my checking account.

  I wonder if Carter Jeffries does a 7,000-year payment plan.

  16

  Derek

  $30 million dollars.

  That’s how much was stolen from me, and at this point in time, I honestly could care less.

  After months of searching and gathering evidence, I’ve finally found the thief. But again, I couldn’t care less.

  I stand up and look at her—this woman who has literally stolen a fortune from me.

  “Before you say another word,” I say looking at her. “Let me just go ahead and tell you that I’ve called over NYPD and Preston Cabot. I suggest the next words out of your mouth be the truth, Nadia.”

  Nadia looks at me with alarm and I hear a sharp intake of breath.

  That must be Alicia. She must be going out of her mind. I figure once we’re done here, she will probably be pretty mad at me, you know?

  And you know what? I’m not happy about it. I love her. I meant w
hat I said when I told her that I needed her in my life. I can’t live without her.

  But the only way we were going to get out of this entire situation was for her to play the part that she fell into. I never wanted her to have to go through this. But she dove in, and I had to let her see it through.

  You have no idea actually what I’m talking about, do you?

  Fine, let me make it a bit clearer.

  Just then, the door opens and an uniformed police officer walks in along with the Chairman and CEO of Carter Jeffries.

  Nadia’s eyes grow wide and she gets up from her chair.

  But before she can do or say anything, Preston Cabot – the lion of Wall Street – speaks up.

  “Just stay right where you are, Ms. Moore,” he says sharply. “We’ll do this quietly to avoid as much embarrassment as possible as long as you cooperate. But make things difficult and I have no problem marching you out the floor in handcuffs.”

  Nadia seems to think better of her situation. She’s still flustered and looks at me.

  But I’m looking at Alicia. Poor girl looks like she’s about to faint, but she’ll be okay.

  Satisfied at how strong Alicia is to cope with all this, I turn my attention back to Nadia.

  “Yes, Nadia,” I say to her with a bit of a sneer. “I knew from the very beginning that the embezzlement was happening from Carter Jeffries.”

  Nadia is silent. This is a fucking wise move as I get up and walk over to her. “What I didn't realize was that it was coming from right in the Private Client department. I mean, I thought maybe it was happening somewhere in the operational side – the traders or programmers who execute all the trades,” I say to her as she remains still. “I thought for sure it had to be someone who was getting legitimate instructions and then siphoning off cash. That it was someone who worked at your level and broke the system internally never occurred to me until Alicia started dropping hints and asking pointed questions.”

  Nadia looks over sharply at Alicia and I can see a whole new level of startled go through that girl’s face.

  “That’s right, Nadia,” I say aloud. “Alicia figured out what was going on, but a little faster than you thought she would. She found out some improper classifications of trades and most likely didn't realize that they were just placeholders. You classified trades and deposits as happening in Iran and North Korea, but it was actually just moving to your own bank account.”

  Nadia flinches. It’s just dawning on her the extent to how much I know what’s going on.

  “And being the good person that Alicia is, she tried her level best to find out what I knew without breaking her confidence to the Firm,” I say toward Preston who nods to me.

  I can see he’s about to say something so I pause to let him speak.

  “Imagine my surprise when Derek and I meet for a round of drinks and he tells me that the woman he’s been seeing just got promoted that works in his account,” Preston says to Nadia. “A promotion from this department during the middle of the year is something that usually has to get signed off by the CEO. By me. And I had no idea what he was talking about.”

  “You both knew?” Nadia asks Preston and I.

  I shrug and walk toward Alicia. “I suspected you were rotten,” I say nonchalantly. “But I also wanted to see how far you would take it. Only this morning did I realize you were attempting to set Alicia up for the fall and that was how you were going to exit. That’s when I had all the pieces I needed.”

  “As did we, Ms. Moore,” Preston says to Nadia. “Take it from someone who’s been on Wall Street a long time. You got greedy. And greed makes you careless. On the Street, Bulls rush in and Bears play it safe, but pigs get slaughtered.”

  “Oink oink, boss,” I turn around in surprise and see that Alicia has gotten up. She’s balled her fists and looks like she’s going to rush Nadia. I go over and place a hand on her shoulder, calming her down slightly. She’s mad. With good reason.

  Nadia for her part hangs her head in defeat. “It was supposed to be a foolproof plan,” she says, all but admitting her guilt.

  “It never is when you’re stealing,” Preston says with an air of finality. When Nadia doesn’t respond, he nods to the uniformed police officer who walks over to Nadia. He stays a few feet from her, but his intention is clear. She looks at him and then at Preston and then nods, grateful for the small courtesy of not being dragged away in cuffs.

  The cop and Nadia leave the room and walk unobtrusively toward the elevator, where an unmarked police car is waiting to take Nadia to the Manhattan Jail.

  Preston looks at me and then at Alicia. “I’ll leave you two alone,” he says. “Ms. Sullivan, consider yourself demoted back to Analyst, and think about taking the rest of the day off.”

  She barely has time to nod when he turns and leaves the room as well. She seems a bit surprised by his haste.

  “Don’t worry,” I tell Alicia, taking her hand and moving her face back to me. “The guy is in back-to-back meetings throughout the day and barely had time to come to this one,” I say.

  She shrugs. “So, like watching a Managing Director get arrested for trying to steal $30 million is just another entry in his calendar, huh?” Alicia asks me with a bit of snark.

  “It’s Wall Street, babe,” I reply back with a chuckle. “If you’re not taking money from somebody, then somebody’s taking it from you.”

  Alicia sticks her tongue out at me and takes a step closer. “So I have the day off …” she says, trailing off.

  I know where this is going and I pull her closer. She can feel my cock come to life against her thigh. “The Omni Hotel is right across the street, you know?” I ask her.

  “What if they don’t have rooms?” Alicia asks with the wide-eyed innocence of someone who doesn’t know the full power of a billionaire.

  I grab her hand and lead her out of the conference room as I say, “Then I’ll just buy the hotel and fuck you in the lobby.”

  To her credit, Alicia takes it in stride. “Oh okay,” she says. “As long as you have a plan to fuck me, I think we’re good.”

  I grin.

  I’m going to enjoy her.

  Immensely.

  17

  Alicia

  “So, lemme get this right,” I say as I come out of the bedroom to Derek’s private jet to the main cabin. The plane just took off and I got out of my work clothes and put on something sexy.

  There’s music playing through the speakers and Derek is making cocktails at the bar. It’s like a flying palace. Seriously, a girl could get used to this.

  Anyways, back to what I was saying.

  “You used me?” I ask him pointedly. “You realized I was digging through something and you let me keep going hoping it would get Nadia to try and take me out?”

  Derek shrugs. “I mean, it’s not like you were in any real danger. Unless, you know…embarrassment.”

  I feel my cheeks burn.

  “So you realized that those transfers to Iran or dealings in North Korea were being used to mask the money actually going to Nadia’s accounts?” I ask.

  He nods. “Offshore accounts she set up in the Bahamas and Cayman Islands,” he says. “But I couldn’t be sure until she fired you for them. Only the person that set them up would know they existed since they were fake.”

  I should be upset at this man. He basically took my sleuthing and did some sort of mind fuck to get what he needed.

  But I dunno…I guess I’m also glad that he’s not a terrorist. Oh my God, did you just hear me? Like have my standards fallen so low that I'm now glad if the man I’m with isn’t an international criminal?

  “You could've just told me, you know,” I tell him, walking to the bar. “You could've trusted me.”

  “I didn’t take the chance to tell you, Alicia,” Derek says looking into my eyes. “Because I didn’t want you involved at all.”

  “Why not?” I ask back, my indignation piqued.

  “Because…I love you.”
<
br />   Oh.

  Well, let’s let that statement hang there.

  Derek walks around the bar.

  “But all that is over now,” he says and wraps his arms around me. “My money is returned and we have no secrets between each other. We won’t let anything ever get in the middle of us again. Deal?” he asks.

  “Except clothes?” I ask, smiling at my cheesy joke.

  “Well we won’t let them get between us for long.”

  I don’t know how or why I squeal, but I do. And in three seconds, I’m kissing him passionately.

  Yeah. So I’m turned on. So sue me.

  We’re in his private jet, the whole cabin to ourselves… What do you expect me to do? Sit still while the man I love is so damn close to me? No way, Jose.

  I’m telling you, it’s impossible for me to get tired of him. I can’t, I really can’t. He is perfection incarnate. And knowing that this perfect man has only space in his heart for one woman—me—is enough to make me go delirious.

  There’s no need for talking: both he and I know that whenever we are alone our bodies scream for each other. That’s just one of the unwritten rules of life.

  He grins at me, his hands on my waist as he kisses me with a gentleness I would never believe he had in him just a few weeks ago. It’s still hard for me to understand how everything unfolded up to this point. But it happened… And now, Derek and I are two inseparable and matching pieces… If only I knew right from the start how maddening his kiss would be I’d have jumped on him as soon as he was within reach.

  No matter; he’s here now, his hands cupping my ass over my tight black dress as his cock becomes hard. There’s a slow burning ache between my legs, my pussy becoming as wet as it has ever been. God, Derek is going to be the end of me.

  I take one hand to his crotch, pressing against his cock with the open palm of my hand and rubbing over it. Softly, I trace its contour with just the tip of my fingers, imagining how it will feel to have his long member sliding inside of me mercilessly. He’s so damn big; he’s so huge that I still have a hard time understanding how it’s even possible for something like it to exist. His shape is long and thick, perfect in all things, and I can’t help but salivate at the thought of having him deep inside my mouth…