Embracing Love (Tainted Love Book 3)

by Lily Zante

  “What made you change roles?”

  “Personal reasons, and it was a great opportunity. I couldn’t turn it down,” she said quickly.

  He thought it better to stop now. Her unease was clearly apparent. “Then I consider myself very lucky to be working with you.”

  “Aren’t I the lucky one to be working with you Mr. Valois?” she said, closing her briefcase and giving him a look that was undecipherable. He couldn’t be certain that she wasn’t joking with him.

  “Gabriel,” he said. “Please call me Gabriel. We’ve had enough meetings by now. I’m sure we don’t have to be so formal anymore.”

  “Gabriel,” she said and he was almost tempted to ask her to repeat it again because he loved the way she said his name with that American accent of hers.

  “We could discuss this over lunch.”

  “Lunch?” She looked at him in surprise. “I—I need to get back, actually.” She seemed flustered, as though she couldn’t find a valid reason to give him. In fact, she hadn’t given him any reason at all. He watched her carefully and remained silent.

  “I’m not really a lunch person. I usually just snack on things.”

  “We could snack together.” He suggested, and she blushed.

  “Uh—,” she seemed to be at a loss for words.

  “We seem to have made strides from our first initial meeting, Tanya.” It had been a long time since Gabriel Valois had been interested enough in a woman to actually want to consider doing something that didn’t involve the bedroom.

  “Oh, that.” Something in the way she said it made him even more interested in hearing her take on that day. Maybe he’d even own up and tell her he’d had some of his own personal problems that day.

  “Yes, that.” He mimicked her response. “What do you think? And perhaps I can even suggest some places you might want to visit while you’re here. It’s always better to find out about places to visit and things to do from the natives, rather than from a travel guide or TripAdvisor.” He smiled broadly at his suggestion, feeling she would agree.

  “I really can’t,” she said and gave him an oh-boy-who-the-hell-do-you-think-you-are kind of look. The kind of look that immediately put him back in his place.

  Taking that as a no, Gabriel got up. “Perhaps another time.” He felt a little disappointed that she hadn’t taken him up on his offer.

  Chapter 10

  Tanya returned to her office with hope reinstated. With Gabriel Valois appearing more amenable and on her side, the all-important Flight campaign could now move forward.

  Michael Zimmerman would be appeased—and all the delays in getting this thing started would slowly melt to the background.

  She floated back to work in a bubble of happiness that this high profile account was moving ahead. It had nothing to do with Gabriel Valois. Nothing to do with the thought that sometimes she felt her heart start to race a little. It was nerves, she told herself. Nerves because she had to tread carefully around the man, make him think she was soft and gentle, always smiling at everything he said.

  But they were starting to get on much better. Lately, during their last few meetings he’d been like a changed man which took her by surprise.

  She turned to walk towards her office and almost screeched to a halt. The bubble shattered: Michael Zimmerman walked towards her, his smile slick, his eyes hard.

  What the hell was he doing here?

  “Hello, Tanya.” It was brusque, short. He stopped, and she stood motionless. Had he come all the way here just because he was worried about Flight?

  Why hadn’t Nadine forewarned her?

  “Hello, Michael. I didn’t know you were coming.”

  He fidgeted with his cuffs, something quite unlike him. Michael Zimmerman didn’t fidget. Being together without the safety net of Nadine or even Sandra around them was going to be strange. “It was a last minute decision, Tanya. Would you excuse me a moment, please? I have a phone call to make. I’ll be with you once I’ve finished.”

  He left, and she turned into her office, her chest heaving, and her newly resurrected spirits completely flattened.

  Her thoughts turned to Nadine in anger. The crafty little… she of all people would have known Michael was on his way.

  Why hadn’t she told her?

  Or, were they sneaking up on her? Was this a bid to catch her off guard?

  It couldn’t be because of Gabriel and that incident a few weeks ago—could it? Had Gabriel Valois made Zimmerman so worried that he’d come to Paris to see for himself.

  If she’d known of his visit she would have been prepared but now she felt like an employee in a shady securities firm about to be audited by the IRS. She had nothing to hide but a little prior warning would have been helpful.

  The only thing she had going for her, assuming Michael was so worried about the lack of progress with Flight Europe was that the meeting with Gabriel this morning had gone well. At least she would have something positive to share with her boss when he came back later for ‘the talk’.

  True to his word Michael wasn’t away for long because no sooner had she managed to calm herself down than he reappeared at the door.

  “All dealt with.” He said, striding confidently into her office. She wondered when he had arrived. It wouldn’t surprise her if he landed only recently because this man never rested. Most times he would land at the airport and go straight to the office. For a man of his years he was surprisingly full of energy.

  But she’d known that anyway, having been intimate with him before…

  Heat rushed and painted her cheeks at the memory of that ill-fated week. She tried unsuccessfully to blot out the episode because working for him was made harder due to that very encounter.

  “Is this a surprise visit, Michael? Because nobody mentioned you were coming.”

  “I was passing through.” He looked at her intently.

  Passing through? People passed through a McDonald’s, they didn’t pass through Paris, from San Francisco.

  “How is the Flight campaign coming along?” he asked, once more adjusting his cufflinks, a movement that had her on her guard again.

  Thankfully she could say this honestly, “We had a great meeting this morning. Mr Valois and myself.”

  Call me Gabriel, he’d told her. An image of Gabriel Valois flashed before her, throwing her slightly off track. She collected her thoughts, while Zimmerman, with his cuffs suitably in order and his hands steepled together in front of him fixed his gaze on her. “Good,” he replied, then. “Because I was slightly concerned that it was going too slowly.”

  She didn’t buy his ‘slightly concerned’. This man was very much worried. Why else would he shoot his way over here so fast?

  “This is what we agreed on this morning. I’ve just come from meeting with him.” She opened up her file and showed him changes that Gabriel had requested which she had to run past Nadine, and she in turn would speak to Russell Trent. She’d get them couriered over as fast as she could once she had spoken to Luc and had him create some mockups for the new design.

  “I see,” said Mr Zimmerman, and took the sketches from her. He appraised them quietly, one after the other; giving them his careful attention.

  Not missing a thing, thought Tanya as she waited patiently.

  “Encouraging. It seems to me as though you’ve made some progress. Relations between the two of you have improved?” he asked.

  She hated his use of that word primarily because it reminded her of what had happened between the two of them. It should be a taboo word and she prayed that her cheeks would not tingle and she could hold her own. “I think we didn’t really see eye to eye in the beginning. I actually think Flight might have had another agency in mind to carry out this work.”

  Zimmerman kept his gaze cool and listened, saying nothing.

  “I think Mr. Valois might have felt we were imposing our campaign and ideas on him. Even though this directive came from his parent company.”

  Micha
el inhaled then moved his hands until they were flat on the table. “I’ve met him a few times and he seems a very hard-nosed businessman. Completely different than Russell Trent, but that might be a cultural issue. Whatever his opinion on the matter he has no option but to take on whatever the parent company decides. Nevertheless, I’m glad things are working well between you both.” He shifted his weight forward and leaned across as if to impress a very important point home. “This client account is very important to us because it will improve relations and strengthen our bond with Flight worldwide. It cannot fail.”

  Tanya’s gaze dropped to the brochures on the table in front of her and her stomach clenched. Perhaps he didn’t think she was doing such a good job after all?

  And when he opened his mouth and said his next words, she knew what the purpose of his trip had been all along. “While I am here, it might be worth your while to visit the Milan office.”

  The tightness in her jaw muscles prevented her mouth from falling open as easily as it would have done so.

  Why?

  “Right now, Michael?” she laughed uneasily.

  “Now would be a good time.”

  “I hadn’t planned on it. I’ve only just got my momentum going here.” She wasn’t going to let him off so easy.

  He laughed a little, tried to make light of the situation. “Of course, but I’m here for a few weeks and now would be the best time for you to get yourself ready, at least to have a look around the Milan office.”

  It wasn’t a request; it was an order, disguised with that smooth smile of his. She was in no position to say otherwise.

  “As you wish,” she said, tightly.

  “I was in the Milan office a few weeks ago, and I noted a few things that I see are not at all in line with our systems. I think it might be a good idea for you to go there sooner—just to see the scale of what you’re up against—rather than later. I also think that by now you have a better idea of how the systems are rolling out here? You and Thierry will have to bring me up to date on that later on. I have to rush; I have another meeting scheduled near the Louvre.”

  She’d lost interest in his meetings and what else he was here for. The words failure drummed loudly in her ears. And the thought of hastily having to alter her schedule to fit in with what he deemed necessary irritated her.

  “When do you want me to go to Milan?”

  “Next week? It would be good if we could spend a few days where you can show me how the system implementations are coming along.”

  “I’ll get my flight booked for next week,” she said, agreeing to whatever he wanted her to do. She hated the idea of being dictated to and for the first time she understood Gabriel’s initial disdain at working with the Zimmerman Group. At having another way of working imposed on him.

  “I’ve been going through some of the processes with Thierry, while you were out of the office,” he said, “I think there are a few that we can refine.”

  Her stomach knotted, like a ball of yarn among a litter of kittens. How long had he been here? She’d only left for Gabriel’s meeting a few hours ago and already he’d gone through the work she’d been doing here in three months? Maybe he’d already been brought up to speed by Thierry and Stephan.

  “I’m only following the procedures that you and Nadine laid out.”

  “I know,” he said, defensively. “I’m not blaming you for anything.”

  She was about to utter something, but thought better of it. Then, striving to keep the sarcasm from her voice, “I think we always knew Paris was going to be the guinea pig to an extent.”

  “Of course,” he leaned back in his chair, and she knew he’d sensed her unease. She knew he would now examine her face and try to allay her fears. Years of working for his company had taught her how he operated. He was a good man, a fair boss….and she wished, wished she hadn’t crossed that line…

  “Everything you’re doing is fine but there are a few things which we need to go over.”

  “What about the Flight campaign?” she asked, knowing full well that she’d promised Gabriel proper mockups with his changes implemented in them. And they had arranged to meet in a few days’ time.

  “We’ll leave that until the end. Let’s deal with the procedures first. Once you’re in Milan I can take over with Flight and that way we’ve covered both bases.”

  She couldn’t see how since it made more sense for her to be in Milan when the most pressing thing was the Flight campaign. Unless he wanted her out of the way.

  And he would want her out of the way if he truly believed she wasn’t helping the campaign.

  Wait until she got home tonight and called Nadine. Tanya felt the heat flushing through her body and she desperately wished that Michael would leave.

  Not just from the Paris office, but from her office.

  As if answering her prayers, he suddenly stood up. “I’d better get to my next meeting.”

  Relief soothed her electric-shocked veins.

  “Oh,” he said, turning back as he stopped in his path, “I didn’t see your name on the list for the annual convention in Sacramento. Why not?”

  Because he’d never mentioned it to her and she thought her primary role had been here. “Because I was busy with the implementations I didn’t think I’d be needed.”

  Michael Zimmerman turned to face her and raised his eyebrows. “You are a valued member of the team and your knowledge and expertise are much needed.”

  She wondered how true that was.

  He cleared his throat lightly, and lowered his voice. “I don’t want you to think that anything from the past will ever affect your standing in this company.”

  Had he really just referred to that incident? It was the closest he would ever come to it.

  “I’ll add my name to the list.” She replied, holding her voice steady.

  “Good. Dorothy will be there and I think it would be good for team bonding experience for you to come. You’re still very much part of the Zimmerman Group.”

  Tanya raised a weak smile.

  With the office now hers once more, Tanya slumped back into her chair and let out a low mangled moan. The quietness of the room soothed her frayed nerves.

  Things were now starting to move on with Flight and here was Zimmerman taking it away from her. She’d worked hard, late days, long days, lonely evenings, on this and other matters, and there hadn’t been a peep out of head office. She’d been fine, getting along by herself.

  Until Gabriel Valois had poked his nose in and made a complaint. That had been when it all started; Zimmerman’s confidence in her had been shaky ever since. It was no coincidence that he’d unexpectedly turned up now.

  She’d made the mistake of believing that Nadine might have her back. But Nadine hadn’t even forewarned her about this latest development.

  Life was bleak enough as it was. All she had was her job and she’d screwed that up too.

  Whether he played a big part or not, Gabriel Valois had set off some sort of chain reaction, Anger flared deep in her belly at the thought of him, mounting at the idea that Zimmerman would be here for a few weeks.

  And he was sending her away to Milan.

  He might have been in Milan but she had a feeling that ultimately his destination and plan all along had been to come to Paris, no matter how he tried to disguise the fact. Which only pointed to the fact that Nadine would have known this all along.

  The pleasant bubble she’d been in—the one on her return from Gabriel’s office—now burst and she was itching to take her anger out on someone. It would be too early to call Nadine yet she was tempted to pick up the phone and call her at home, where she’d probably be in deep sleep now.

  Tanya felt jittery. She got up, placed her hands on her hips and walked around the desk trying to decide her best course of action.

  She didn’t want things to sour between her and Nadine though she felt that lately things between them weren’t as open and as easy as they had once been.

 
; Had she given Nadine an insight into her head by telling her her innermost secrets? Perhaps Nadine wasn’t just an easy ear for her problems? Maybe Nadine had been trying to sound her out?

  And maybe the conclusion she and Zimmerman had reached was that she wasn’t quite up to the mark.

  She got the impression that she had failed, and once again she was plagued by feelings of self-doubt.

  Chapter 11

  Gabriel’s spirits lifted. It seemed that the meeting with Tanya had gone well. But it helped that he found her interesting to work with all the same. She was easy to be around, and yet at the same time, she could be hard to read. It was impossible to tell what went on behind that composed exterior.

  He sat down at his desk ready to get on with the rest of his day and found a trickle of emails awaiting him. The one that grabbed his attention immediately was the one from Russell Trent.

  Gabriel liked the man well enough, despite his recent hesitations about the collaborative ad campaign. They had spent so much time together that they were almost becoming friends; theirs wasn’t merely a business relationship.

  He read the email:

  ‘Michael Zimmerman will be in town for the next couple of weeks. Let’s hope the ad campaign moves forward fast.

  Speak soon, Russell’

  Gabriel slipped his hands behind his head and pondered the email. Tanya hadn’t mentioned anything about her boss coming over. Did this mean he’d sit in on a few meetings? The woman interested him enough for him to look forward to their next meeting. And three would be a crowd.

  His cell phone rang and when he saw the name on the display, he was tempted to ignore it. But he grabbed it, knowing that ignoring her further would lead to more stress.

  “Have you calmed down?” Vanessa’s voice charged at him like a missile.

  “Have you?”

  “Do you blame me?” He couldn’t blame her for her reaction but he was interested to know what more she expected him to do, specifically, why she was calling him now? The matter was closed.

  “I don’t blame you. I understand why you’re upset.”

  “Why don’t you come over tonight and we can go out for dinner?” Even though their relationship wasn’t binding, they didn’t see other people, or at least he didn’t, but it was pretty much a physical match. Or had been. He wasn’t so sure he wanted it to continue.