by MJ Riley
RAGE
Part 2
M J R I L E Y
Copyright © 2014
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
Table of ContentsChapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter One
Charlotte felt sick inside.
Her brother. Her brother.
For a moment, she fought to catch her breath. Her father could be lying. It wouldn't be the first time he'd attempted to shock her over to his side. Somehow, it seemed more probably that her father would lie to her than the man she loved would manipulate her…only to be her own flesh and blood.
It couldn't be.
Suddenly dizzy, she gazed around the room at all those assembled. The impossible to shock Adeline looked slightly green, her father smugly amused, the two guards that accompanied him stolid and expressionless, and David…David looked somewhere between disgusted, enraged, and completely confused.
“You're a fucking liar.” Charlotte winced at the epithet coming from David’s lips. She'd rarely heard David curse. He didn't seem the type. Then again, he didn't seem to type to hack into her files and try to steal information either. “I knew you were scum, but I had no idea you'd sink so low,” continued David.
“Me?” Emerson barked a laugh. “You're the one who waltzed in here and went into your own sister's bed. All in an attempt to try to bring my company down.”
Charlotte was still totally confused. How could she have a brother? As far as she knew, she was an only child, and her mother had died before she was a year old.
“Dad,” she started, her voice trembling slightly, “what the hell are you talking about?”
“Let me spell it out for you, darling.” The endearment was scathing in its sarcasm. “Little David here is the product of one-night fling between me and his darling mother. I used to know his father, you see, and she was always on the lookout for someone who was more of a man than he was. We'd been getting on for a while and Marscomb found out. In a rage, he stole all of the company’s top designs and made off with them; so, I fired his ass. Good riddance. You want to know why I'm so paranoid? Look no further.” He pointed a thick, sausage like finger in David's direction. “This little whelp was looking for revenge for his dear old dad. When he found out what his mother had done, he made a personal vendetta out of it and went after you to get to me.”
“That's not true!” David's shout was so loud it echoed around the entire department, making several members of the weekend staff look back towards his office in curiosity. “There is no way my mother would ever sleep with a lying, cheating scumbag like you.”
Emerson merely grinned, showing his yellowing teeth. “Like father, like son. If I'd known you were this good of an actor, I might have hired you for my ad campaign.”
Without warning, David hauled off and slugged Emerson with all his might—which was quite substantial. Charlotte screamed, Adeline yelled for security, and the force of the blow sent Emerson back against the wall with an audible bang.
Within seconds, the guards grabbed the struggling hulk of a man. Watching in shock, Charlotte gasped as David spit, cursed, and struggled. Every muscle in his body strained to get at Emerson. She couldn’t help but wonder whether it could be true.
The world started spinning before her. “Charlotte?” Dimly, she heard Adeline calling her name, her tone colored with concern. “Charlotte!” Then, the world faded away to blackness.
Chapter Two
When she woke up, it was to the sight of the ceiling in her bedroom. She was in a simple cami and a pair of pajama pants, and someone had moved her to her bed.
The bed where she and David had made love.
Oh, Christ.
Her stomach suddenly lurched, and Charlotte sat up. The room spun about her, as she ran for the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before she violently emptied the contents of her stomach, her entire body heaving with the effort.
That was how Adeline found her—shuddering and bent over the porcelain bowl with tears streaming down her cheeks. Immediately, the redhead knelt at her side. “Jesus, Charlotte, are you ok?” She held out a washcloth to her companion, which Charlotte immediately took to wipe her mouth.
“Water.”
Quickly, Adeline turned to pour a glass from the tap and gave it to her. Charlotte used half of it to rinse her mouth out and chugged the other half before setting the glass on the tile floor beside her.
“God, Addy...” She couldn't keep the tears from her voice when she finally spoke. “What have I done?”
“Oh, honey,” Addy said, taking her into her arms, rocking her back and forth in a show of affection that was completely uncharacteristic. “It wasn't you. He had us all fooled. Goddamn bastard...”
“Where is he?” Charlotte demanded in a whisper. “Where is he now?”
Adeline made a sound of disgust low in her throat. “They're holding him down at the precinct in a cell. He’s where he belongs. We can charge the shit out of him later; but, for now, you rest.” Her hand stroked soothingly through Charlotte's hair. “You've had one hell of a shock.”
“How could he be my brother, Addy?” Charlotte whispered, still in disbelief. “Dad never even mentioned him—not once in my entire life.”
“Well, it would make sense.” Addy’s reply was rational, as always. “I'm sure relations with a prior employee's wife wouldn't look too great in the tabloids.”
“But…but that's just it.” Charlotte looked up, her eyes still red but now clear of any sign of moisture. “We did a full background check on David. If anyone in his family had worked for the company before, it would have turned up.”
Adeline made a face, but she didn't have a reply for her. Instead, she merely shrugged. “He's a techie, Charlotte. He might have had the know-how to falsify his own records. Why wouldn't he? He lied about practically everything else.”
Charlotte could only nod dully, as her friend enfolded her into her embrace once more. She still couldn't believe it. It had all been a lie—all the time they had spent together and relaxed side-by-side talking about their hopes and plans for the future. Even all the amazing technology they had created had been a lie.
“What about the tech?” she asked in a low voice. “All the new projects he was building for us. Were those just...flukes?”
“I've got everyone in the department going over them with a fine-toothed comb as we speak,” Addy assured her, softly, “but he's almost sure to have sabotaged them in some way. Those products will never see the market. I'm sorry, Charlotte.”
Jesus. Millions of dollars in potential revenue gone, just like that. Mountains of money spent in research and development for naught.
Though Charlotte was still hollow inside from the insane trickery David had unleashed upon her, she began to get angry when she realized how far he’d gone to blacken the name of the company. She might not have the best relationship with her father, but she was still CEO of Mathers Incorporated. He would have taken all of that away from her.
She began to wonder whether he had ever car
ed about her at all. Even the tiniest bit? Perhaps not. It took a pretty black-hearted man to sleep with his own sister in order to realize his half-cocked revenge plan. Plus, she'd fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. If it hadn't been for her father, Charlotte didn't even want to imagine where she might be now.
“Addy,” she started, looking back up at the woman who had been her closest companion for nearly a decade, “I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. I have no idea what came over me.”
“Infatuation. Blind infatuation. It happens to the best of us. There's no need to for you to apologize at all.”
Regardless of Adeline’s words, Charlotte felt as if she still had to apologize to the entire company for the time and money her oversight had cost them. Now, she'd experienced the reasons behind the company's strict policy about relationships between coworkers. She'd imagined that the rules were drafted without situations as serious as this in mind; but, all the same, she wanted to kick herself for being so easily taken in.
“I have to go in on Monday,” she finally said, sliding from Adeline's arms to stand, her expression still somewhat forlorn. “I need to address the company about Marscomb.” It seemed somehow wrong to call him David now. He had been David when they were intimate…when he'd been lying to her.
“Charlotte, maybe you'd better wait until—”
“And there are charges to file, right? We need to call up a lawyer and see to that, as well.”
Her voice had become firm once more. It was the voice she used in the office when she wanted to be straight with Addy, and the redhead knew the tone booked no argument.
Standing herself, Addy allowed a small smile to spread across her face. “We're going to take that bastard for all he's worth.”
Though the prospect should have made her feel triumphant and excited, after all he'd done to her, Charlotte felt like she had a rock sitting deep in her gut. It was a feeling that wouldn't budge—a sensation of having missed some important detail.
She assuaged herself by locking the emotion away. Of course, she'd missed an important detail. Several, really, since she'd allowed herself to become deeply involved with a man who felt nothing for her. He would pay. She would make sure of it.
“How's my dad?” Though she was loathe to ask the question—the man had, after all, hidden a brother from her all of these years—Emerson was her father, and there was still a part of her that cared for him.
At her question, Adeline's mouth screwed into an ugly scowl. “In the hospital. That dick, Marscomb, broke his jaw and half his teeth. Can you believe it?”
She most certainly could. From what she'd seen, David had swung with all his strength, and that would have been more than ample to do permanent damage to anyone's face.
“He wants to see you,” Addy said in a low voice, almost as if she was ashamed to say the words. “At Presbyterian.”
“I'll do it tomorrow.” Concerned for him as she might be, Charlotte was in no mood to deal with her father tonight. He was bound to be pissed as hell, both at Marscomb and at her for being so gullible. She was sure that, broken jaw or not, he'd have no problem chewing her out. The last thing she needed at this particular moment was to add insult to injury.
“He says tonight, Charlotte,” Adeline replied in an even smaller voice than before. The only time Addy ever cowed was when she was forced to act as the go-between for Charlotte and her father. While the older Mathers had hired her, she was loyal to the younger one. It was a conflict that caused its fair share of problems.
“Damn it.” Picking up the glass near her feet, Charlotte hurled it at the tile wall. Luckily, the vessel was made of plastic and merely bounced off. Raking her hands through her mussed blonde locks, she turned on her heels and made her way to the closet, yanking out the first clothes she found.
“Addy, call a car,” Charlotte barked in a tone that was completely unlike her. However, she couldn't help it. Count on her father to use her current vulnerability to demean her. The man was lower than low.
To her relief, Adeline didn't argue. By the time Charlotte was dressed, there was a car waiting downstairs for her. On the way to the hospital, neither of them spoke. Adeline knew better since it was at her bidding that her best friend was forced into a difficult situation. Charlotte's thoughts were awhirl, as well. She was trying to imagine what her father could possibly say to her now to make her feel worse.
The ride downtown was far too short.
New York Presbyterian Hospital was bustling for a weekend night, but Charlotte supposed hospitals were always busy. When she asked after her father, she was directed up to the fourth floor recovery ward. A quick stop at the doctor's office revealed that Emerson Mathers' jaw had been cracked in two places and six of his teeth were removed by the impact.
Charlotte had known that David was strong, but apparently even she had underestimated him. Closing her eyes, she tried not to imagine the way his magnificent body looked while she rode him, or when he'd emerged from the shower, dripping with water.
No.
He was her goddamn brother. She could not be having these thoughts about him.
When she finished speaking with the doctor, Charlotte walked down the hall and stopped just outside her father's private room. Knowing him, she was surprised he hadn't bought out the whole floor. She could at least say that he wasn't that selfish. Glancing at Adeline, who only nodded encouragingly, Charlotte opened the door and let herself into the brightly lit room.
At the sight before her, she frowned. Her father's large form was propped up in the hospital bed. His skin was pale and his eyes beady under the florescent lights. The entire right side of his face was swollen almost beyond recognition, and it was clear that his jaw had been wired shut to keep him from aggravating the injury. He was a sorry sight, indeed. It was difficult not to feel any pity for him in his current state. Marscomb had got him good.
“Nice of you to come and visit me.” Though his voice was somewhat muffled without the use of his jaw, Charlotte could understand him quite well.
“Nice of you to demand it,” she replied, her tone both formal and neutral.
She swore that if his wire hadn't prevented it, the man would have shot her his typical sarcastic grin.
“Well, I figure we have some business to discuss. The sooner, the better.”
Sighing, Charlotte dropped into a nearby chair, bracing herself for what was to come. “I know. I'll have to speak with the employees, the board, and the tech department. I'll work around the clock to correct the mishap.”
“Correct?” The man arched a brow superciliously. “My dear Charlotte, what you have done is far beyond any correction. You banked the entire future of the company on the one man who would bring it down. You, without my knowledge of approval I might add, let him practically run our tech department for over four months and converted fifty percent of our cash resources into backing him. He may very well have bankrupted this company.”
The gravity of her actions hit her hard, and for the umpteenth time in the past twenty-four hours, Charlotte felt as though she might throw up. Were things really so severe? She remembered tentatively signing an agreement to funnel a larger percentage of income into David's research, but fifty percent? Had it really been so high? “Your oversights have cost this company millions, if not billions. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you and the man were in cahoots to bring the entire thing crashing down.”
“Don't you dare.” The words left her mouth in a grim warning, as she stared at him, her blue eyes narrow. “I may not have chosen to run this company, but I'm no less invested in it than you are. David has hurt both of us. Although, perhaps, the entire matter might have been avoided if you had warned me—”
“Of what?” The man's muffled laughter was scathing in its sarcasm. “Women are all starry-eyed, gullible idiots. Even if I had told you I had a son who was out for my blood, you still would have let him waltz right through the front door, completely and totally infatuated. You, Charlotte, have always been gu
llible. You think I've forgotten your little fiasco from a few years ago? You almost ruined us then, and you've brought us to the brink again now. Well, no longer.”
Charlotte was still reeling from his barrage of insults. When he finally ended on an open note, she struggled to catch up. “What do you mean no longer?” she whispered, hardly able to choke out the words.
“Do you really think I would allow such an irresponsible individual run my empire? No, my imbecilic little girl. You are through.”
Charlotte’s mouth fell open in shock. Through? What did he mean through? This company had been her life for the past six years. She'd poured her heart and soul into it. Even though it had never quite been what she'd wanted, she'd made the best of the situation she'd been thrust into and done her best to do the company proud. And now he wanted to fire her?
“You can't. You don't have the authority.” Faced suddenly with the prospect of her occupation—her life— being pulled out from under her, Charlotte went on the offensive. “You stepped down as CEO years ago. How can you fire me when you're not ranked above my position?”
“On the contrary, girl. You might be the acting CEO, but I am still Mathers Incorporated's largest shareholder. It won’t take much to convince this board that your latest debacle has proved that you are entirely unfit to run the company.”
She couldn't breathe. Her heart had stopped.
“Who?” she finally demanded. “Who could possibly run the company better than I could?”
His piggy little eyes were smug, as he called out towards the door, “You can come in now, Samson.”
Still in a state of utter shock, Charlotte watched with her mouth wide, as the door opened and a red-haired man entered. He was about her height with deep green eyes, chiseled features, and a strong jaw. He was dressed in an immaculately tailored suit.
“Charlotte, this is Samson Causewell. He's another of the leading shareholders with a history in business management. He's headed several Fortune 500 companies in his time, and he has no issues following instruction. Am I right, my boy?”
