by Sienna Ciles
“She's so much better than you and your daughter,” he said to Marsha. “So, you're right. She doesn't belong here. And neither do I. I want nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, to do with you and your family, ever. You're a bunch of lying, thieving snakes, and I wouldn't trust any of you farther than I could throw you. People of your 'caliber' belong in one place: prison.”
I felt a surge of intense attraction tear through me as Kain stood up for me against this horrible woman, and I squeezed his hand tightly in gratitude.
Marsha, however, simply stared at him with sheer disbelief, seemingly unable to comprehend that anyone would actually stand up to her and defy her.
“You're actually going to do this?” she said eventually, her tone ice cold.
“Yes, I am going to do this,” he replied, firm and resolute. “And there's nothing you can do to stop me.”
“You're throwing your future away. You're throwing our future away! And I won't let that happen! I will not let you do this! I will not let you destroy these plans that I've worked so hard to put together! You are not getting out of this!”
Kain chuckled slowly and humorlessly. “You think the world revolves around you, don't you, Marsha? You think because you're the CEO of Hendrikson, Inc, everyone should bow and scrape and grovel to you, and everyone has to concede to your every demand. You think that that's how it is, right? Well guess what? I'm also a CEO. I'm your equal. And I'm going to do what I want to do—and nothing you say or do can stop me.”
“I'll destroy your company,” she snarled. “I'll tear it to the ground. I'll crush you and everyone under you into dust. This is the beginning of the end for you, Kain. You've just dug your own grave, and the graves of everyone who works for you. You're finished. You're all finished.”
“No, you won't!” I yelled. “We'll destroy your company!”
She looked at me and laughed derisively. “Oh, you foolish, ignorant young thing. You have so much to learn.”
“Come on, Mandy,” said Kain as he turned around, gently pulling me away. “I've heard enough from this old witch. Let's go.”
“You're finished! You're all finished!” Marsha screamed behind us as we left.
We kept walking and didn't stop or look back until we were out of the building. And as I stepped into the sunlight, an intense surrealistic feeling hit me, as if I had just woken up from a dream—or, perhaps, it felt more like I was still in the dream.
“All right, stop. Just stop. Time out!” I suddenly said, refusing to take another step.
“What's the matter?” asked Kain.
My jaw dropped open with surprise and I simply stared in silence at him for a few long moments. “What's the matter? You're honestly asking me 'what's the matter' as if nothing, I don't know, totally crazy just happened?!”
“All right, I know,” he said. “Marsha—”
“No! It's not about Marsha! Well, not only about Marsha is what I mean. We're, you and me, we're suddenly in a relationship? Just like that? And you had a date with that horrible slut and you didn't even tell me about it?! Because just last week, we were only friends, and, and—”
He pressed his finger gently against my lips to silence me. “Shh. Just take a breath and calm down. Let's talk about this.”
“Calm down? How in the hell do you expect me to calm down after everything that's just happened? I honestly can't believe that you would say and do something like that without even warning me first! How could you do that?”
He sighed and pulled in a deep breath. “I'm sorry, and I really mean that. I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess. I'm sorry about what I did and about not telling you how I felt first before springing it in there. How I feel.”
I looked up at him, my expression softened. “And how do you feel, Kain?”
“I want to be with you,” he replied, staring into my eyes. “More than anything.”
Something in the way he looked at me told me that he really, genuinely meant what he said. Any anger or frustration I was harboring toward him instantly melted away.
“I...” I began but words failed me, I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“I'm sorry that I picked this moment to say it, to bring these feelings out into the open. Believe me, I know that it was probably the worst possible time to do it. But I was pushed into a corner, I was trapped, and I just... I reacted. My reaction, though, it came from the heart. Mandy, I have to tell you this. I need to tell you. From the moment we first met, I haven’t been able to get you off my mind. You waltzed into my head and you just never left. I tried to convince myself that you were just a one-night stand, that you were just like every other woman I’d been with before. I tried to tell myself that the intense connection I felt, the passion that you and I shared was nothing more than lust. That the fire I felt burning between us that night was because of the alcohol and nothing else. But then, when I saw you again that night of the big announcement dinner, I felt that same irresistible attraction. I hated feeling that way—not because I didn't like you but because I did. I felt so powerless in your presence. Powerless to resist you, powerless to reject you. I couldn't stop thinking about you, desiring you, wanting you. And these feelings... they continued, and they only grew stronger and stronger.”
He paused and looked away. I thought about saying something but then he continued.
“I am so sorry that it took the events of today to bring this out. I’m sorry it took coming here and facing that awful woman to force me to admit these things. I guess things just reached a boiling point today. And faced with the prospect of having to spend my future with a vapid airhead like Tracy, I realized who I did actually want to spend my future with. And when I really started to take that question seriously, I didn’t have a doubt there was only one woman I had ever experienced these kind of feelings for, the kind of feelings so intense that I'd want to spend my life with her, that I'd want to spend my whole life by her side making her happy, seeing her smile—and that's you, Mandy, that's you.”
Again, he looked away, almost seeming embarrassed that he'd said so much, that he'd revealed so much of himself and the feelings and desires he’d been keeping inside.
“I understand completely if you want to walk away from this now,” he said softly. “I've made a fool of myself, and I've dragged you into something that you didn't deserve to be dragged into.”
I think he was expecting me to be mad, expecting me to scream at him and storm off. But those were the last things I felt like doing. Instead, I was overwhelmed by a sense of deep affection and fiery attraction.
“Kain,” I almost whispered. “Come here.” I motioned to him with my finger.
He eased closer to me, and I looked up into his eyes. His gaze met mine and all worry, all trepidation and guilt I had seen there moments before, faded.
“Closer,” I repeated, a seductive smile turning up one corner of my lips.
He moved in for the kiss, pressing his lips against mine tenderly but firmly. Our tongues intertwined and electricity blasted through my veins, sending a thrill ripping through my body. Passion tore through me as the kiss deepened. I wanted nothing more than to devour him then and there but I remembered where we were. Eventually we parted, and we were both slightly out of breath from the intensity of it.
“I'm guessing that, uh... that this means you're okay with our new arrangement?” Kain asked, a boyish grin playing on his handsome face.
I smiled back at him. “I can't say I'm happy with how you did it—but if I said that I wasn't pleased with the arrangement, I’d be lying.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” he said. “More than you know.”
“To tell you the truth, Kain, I’ve felt the same way about you,” I admitted. Expressing my feelings for him was easier because of everything he had said and how he had opened up to me. “I felt that same sensation when we first met. That intense, fiery attraction that went way beyond the alcohol. It was just... something I didn’t understand. I don't know if I've ever felt
it for anyone else, and it scared me. Actually, it terrified me. The fact that I couldn't shake you from my thoughts, that bothered me, especially at first. But the more it happened, the more I accepted it. And secretly, almost subconsciously, I guess I wanted to be with you as well. I tried to deny the feelings, I tried to shove them away, to swallow them and not think about them... but I couldn't. So, I just kept it to myself. And so today, hearing you say what you did, things became clear. Real.”
“And here we are,” he said. “Together.”
I nodded, smiling. “Together, yes. But I should say, as happy as I am about it, I am still worried about Marsha.”
He nodded. “That's understandable. She's a powerful woman, and she's mean and vindictive, and I know she's going to try to get me—to get us—for this. But don't worry. I'll protect you with everything I've got. I'll protect you until I take my dying breath. I promise you that, Mandy, with all my heart.”
He said this in a tone of utter sincerity, and I could see that he meant it. He really, really meant it.
Chapter 18
Kain
A week later, the phone rang again, and I looked up from my desk, annoyed. I saw that it was Mildred yet again. I had told her that I would be extremely busy this afternoon and that I didn't want any interruptions. She had called twice now in the last two minutes, so I figured it had to be important.
I picked up the phone and said, “Yes?” in a very annoyed tone of voice.
“There's something you need to see,” she simply said.
“Something I need to see? Can't it wait? I thought I told you that I was extremely busy on some very, very important things, and—”
“This is important Mr. Williams, trust me. May I come over to your office?”
I rolled my eyes, annoyed, well-aware that she couldn't see me but doing it anyway.
“Fine,” I muttered.
“I'll be there in a minute.”
There was a click as she put the phone down, and a few moments later, there was a knock on my door.
“All right, Mildred, come on in,” I said.
She walked into the office, and when I saw the look on her face, I could immediately tell that something was wrong. Very wrong.
“Oh, no,” I groaned. “What's happened?”
She was carrying a copy of the Financial Times. She opened it and set it down in front of me without saying anything. She pointed to a headline on the third page.
CEO Kain Williams Involved in Jobs for Sex Scandal.
My jaw dropped with shock and the color drained from my cheeks.
“I told you it was important,” she said. “Read it.”
I skimmed over the article, my pulse racing and shock rippling through my system. Someone had gone to the press about my relationship with Mandy and the fact that she worked here, except they had twisted the whole thing around and taken everything out of context—as well as having made up a bunch of blatant lies.
In the article, it said that I had hired her only because she had provided me with sexual favors, and in the article another two unnamed interns—obviously made up characters—had claimed that I had sexually assaulted them and settled out of court. This was a terrible, damning article that had the potential to destroy my reputation, even if it was based on a pack of lies.
Mildred looked me in the eye after I had finished reading the article. “Is there any truth in this article?” she asked coolly. “Any at all? If there is, you have to tell me, Kain.”
I shook my head, unable to believe I was having to even answer such a question. “There's a grain of truth but it's not what you think,” I offered.
“Explain.”
“I'm dating Mandy, yes, that part is true—but she was hired through Phil and my father, I had nothing to do with that. There certainly weren't any 'sexual favors' involved in getting the job.”
She nodded. “And the interns who claimed you sexually assaulted them?”
“Total lies. I've never sexually assaulted anyone, and Mandy is the first person I've worked with who I've also dated.”
“And how long have you been romantically involved with Miss Benson? You must tell me the truth here, Kain.”
“We've been officially dating for around a week now. But the truth is, I met her and had a, um, a one-night stand with her before I even knew she had been hired.”
“I see. And what time period are we talking about here in terms of when the one-night stand occurred in relation to when she was hired.”
I sighed. “A day or two would be my best guess.”
She nodded slowly. “That fact is not going work too well in our favor. Does anyone else know about this one-night stand, and specifically when it happened?”
“I think her best friend, Ellen. And my best friend, Jake. I can't say if either of those two have told anyone else about it but I can’t imagine why they would.”
“Let's hope they haven't.”
“So, what do we do now?”
“We get our lawyers on the case. We threaten to sue unless a retraction of the article is published. And if you're telling the truth, that you never sexually assaulted anyone or offered jobs for sex—”
“I didn't, I promise you that.”
“Well, then, we should have a watertight case. The problem is, of course, what happens in the interim. Because right now, millions of people who are reading this as we speak are going to assume that it's the truth.”
“I'm very aware of that, Mildred,” I said with a groan. “This little piece of slander has the potential to utterly ruin my reputation—and to devastate the value of our stocks.”
“Do you have any idea who would do this, or why?” she asked.
Sudden, hot anger ripped through my veins. “Oh, yes,” I muttered. “I'm damn sure I know who's behind this.”
“Who?”
“Marsha Hendrikson. Oh, yes, I'm damn sure about that. Marsha Hendrikson is the one who's trying to ruin me.”
* * * * *
There was a knocking at my door—a frantic, almost desperate knocking. With a sinking heart, I knew exactly who it was. I hadn't yet told her about the article.
“Come in,” I said.
Mandy came rushing in, and her eyes were red with tears and her lip was quivering with emotion. “Did you... did you see... did you see what they said about us? In the Financial Times?” she managed to splutter.
I nodded slowly. “I saw it.”
“Then why didn't you tell me right away?” she demanded angrily. “Didn't you think that it was urgent?”
“Because I knew that it would hit you hard, and it would have ruined your day. And it's out there now; there's nothing we can do about it, I'm afraid. Not yet, at least. Not until the lawyers get onto it.”
“So, what are you trying to say? That we just have to sit back and let Marsha destroy our lives like this?!”
“Calm down, Mandy, just calm down,” I said, trying to be as soothing as possible.
“Calm down?” she snapped, furious now. “Are you insane? The entire city now thinks I'm some slut who sucked your dick to get this job! How the hell do you expect me to calm down when everyone thinks that?”
“Look, I'm not saying don't be angry, all right? I'm furious!”
“Furious? You don't look like you're furious! In fact, you don't look like you give a damn! Hell, maybe you do only want to use me for sex! Maybe the stuff they're saying about you in this article is true!”
“No!” I roared. “It's all lies, damn it! Now calm the hell down and get yourself together!”
“Get myself together? My life has been ruined because of this! Don't you understand that? My reputation has gone down the toilet! All because of you!”
“Stop,” I said firmly. “Stop. Just step back, take a deep breath and stop.”
She stumbled back toward the door, tears streaming down her cheeks now. My heart, meanwhile, felt as if it were being ripped in two.
“It's all over,” she sobbed. “It's all over.�
�
“Don't say that. Can't you see that this is what she wants? If you don't stay strong now, if we don't stay strong now, she wins. And we can't let her win. I won't let her win! We have to be strong for each other, to get through this.”
“That's so easy for you to say,” she sobbed, shaking her head as the tears ran down her face. “So damn easy. You're not the one the whole city now thinks is some slut who has sex to get a job!”
“We're going to get through this,” I said to her. “We just have to be strong, we just have to—”
“No,” she whispered. “We're done. It's over. Everything is over.”
And with that, she turned and ran out of the room.
* * * * *
An hour later,I still hadn't heard anything from Mandy, despite the calls I'd tried to make to her and the messages I had sent. She had left the office right after she had run out, and I had no idea where she had gone. Things had just gone from bad to worse today.
I was about to leave when there was a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I said wearily.
The door opened and my father stepped inside. Immediately, a blitz of white-hot anger shot through me.
“What are you doing here?” I snarled. “Have you come to gloat, to rub it in, to tell me 'I told you so'? Because if that's why you're here, Dad, you can just damn well turn around and walk back out.”
He held his hands palm up in a gesture of peace and surrender. “That's not why I'm here.”
“Well, why have you come?! You have seen the article, haven't you?”
“I have. And I know that Marsha is behind it.”
“Yeah, of course, you know. She's your freakin' best friend, isn't she? I mean, hell, you were doing everything in your power to get me to marry that airhead daughter of hers so that your shared fantasy of a merged company for your future grandkids' control could become a reality. It's not like my feelings or thoughts on the matter counted for anything.”
He nodded, and smiled sadly. “I came here to apologize.”
That caught me off guard. “Wait, what? You came here to apologize to me?”
