by Lola Gabriel
“Why are you telling me this?” she demanded. “Are you another one of his women?” She almost choked on the word, and she realized how embittered she had become by the thought of Marcus being with anyone else when she had once been fine with their arrangement.
What changed? she wondered. How could I have been fine for a year and then suddenly loathe the entire idea?
The answer was painfully obvious, and no matter how much she tried to ignore it, Addison knew that she was hopelessly in love with Marcus Williams.
Her mind inadvertently went to the old couple from the diner, their words spilling through her mind in a jumble of confusion.
“There is no secret, dear. When you find the right person, no matter what the circumstances, it doesn’t take work—it just takes commitment. If you ever feel like you are not his number one, if you feel like you are not loved enough, then he is not the one for you.”
“Marcus is a difficult man with many secrets,” Tatiana explained, a sardonic smile on her lips. “I have known him since I was a child, and he has always been the same: a man determined to keep his emotions at bay and not get sucked into the drama of real relationships.”
Addison glanced at her. Tatiana didn’t seem to be that much younger than Marcus… maybe five years? How could she possibly know what he was like at such a young age?
“I still don’t understand why we’re having this discussion,” Addison said. “He doesn’t want me. He made it clear from the beginning that his lifestyle is not up for discussion. And if he thought I stole that money, it’s obvious he doesn’t trust me.”
Tatiana exhaled. “In all fairness, it was me who put that bug in his ear,” she admitted. “You seemed like the most likely candidate.”
“Me?” Addison demanded, her eyes widening. “Why?”
“Don’t make me think badly of you, Addison,” Tatiana replied. “I have a high opinion of you right now, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
Addison bit her tongue and nodded. “Because I’m the new girl, isn’t it?”
“You also swept into his life like a whirlwind in comparison to some of the others. I noticed a change in him right away,” Tatiana agreed. “Something was different about you from the very start.”
Addison didn’t know what to say, so she added nothing at all.
“What are you going to do about this?” Tatiana asked, and Addison stared at her.
“About what?” she questioned.
Tatiana grunted as if she was in physical pain. “Are you purposely playing dumb?”
“If you’re asking me about Marcus,” Addison started, “I am not opening my heart to a man who can’t commit. That’s not what I want, nor what I deserve.”
“Fair enough,” Tatiana said, nodding her head. “Have you told him that?”
“With all due respect, this is not your concern,” Addison said shortly, crossing her arms defiantly across her chest. She wondered how she had suddenly ended up having such a conversation with a woman like Tatiana Dupris.
“This company is my concern,” Tatiana retorted. “And unfortunately, Marcus Williams is the CEO of this company, so managing him is a part of my job.”
Addison’s jade eyes narrowed as she tried to understand what Tatiana was saying.
“So basically, your interest in this is keeping Marcus happy,” she said dubiously, and Tatiana shrugged.
“Someone has to run interference when the man is losing control. And honey, you make him lose control.”
A jolt of pleasure surged through Addison, but she tried to maintain a stoic expression on her face. “So what do you want from me?”
“I want you to assert yourself and tell him what you want from him. You’ll never know unless you ask, will you?”
She makes it sound so simple, Addison thought forlornly. But in the depth of her heart, she wondered if there wasn’t some element of truth to what Tatiana had said.
“I’m not saying it will be easy,” Tatiana told her softly, a surprising warmth in her tone. “But only you know if it’s worth it.”
Addison stared at the woman hopefully, her heart swelling. Did she and Marcus stand a chance, or would she just leave this place, rejected once more?
Before she could say another word, the intercom buzzed.
“Ms. Dupris, Mr. Williams is on his way—”
The door flew open, and Marcus stood at the entrance, an elated expression on his face. “I’ve had my eye on the reports all morning. Someone took another five grand out of the Kissinger account an hour ago.”
The women exchanged a glance, and Tatiana suddenly grinned in satisfaction.
“I knew it!” she exclaimed as she pushed herself off the desk. “Didn’t I tell you?”
“That’s all well and good,” Marcus said, shooting Addison a nervous look. “But we still don’t know who it is. I don’t know how we’ll manage to track down the culprit without bringing in a tech expert.”
“No,” Addison said slowly, an idea unexpectedly popping into her mind. “Not necessarily…” She pulled her phone from her blazer pocket as Tatiana and Marcus watched her, curiosity painting their faces.
“What do you have?” Marcus demanded impatiently, stepping to her side. Addison showed him what she was looking at. “Your emails?” he asked in confusion. “What’s on them?”
Addison shook her head.
“I’m not sure,” she said slowly, digging through her trash folder. “But Melissa sent me an email by accident not too long ago. She asked me to delete it, and I did.”
“What was on it?” Tatiana asked, her brows raising with interest as she joined the duo, staring at the screen as Addison opened the email with the subject line, “Take a look at this.”
“I don’t know. She told me that there was sensitive company information on it and that Marcus would be furious if I read it,” Addison replied, clicking the header.
“There is no reason for Melissa to have any sensitive company information,” Marcus growled, but Tatiana shushed him as she reached for Addison’s phone.
“Oh, wow,” she mumbled, scanning the data. “It’s the Kissinger report! That was her next mark!”
“Who was this email meant for?” Marcus asked, grabbing the phone from the CFO, his face stained red with anger.
“The c/c is to Erica,” Tatiana pointed out. “What do you want to bet that she was sending it to Tavia?”
A deep, furious silence followed her words, and Marcus shifted his gaze downward, a mixture of humiliation and rage on his face. Addison couldn’t help feeling… bad for him.
“They were all in on it together,” he spat, the venom in his tone toxic. “After everything I did for them!”
“I’ll deal with them, Marcus,” Tatiana sighed, but Marcus shook his head.
“No,” he said flatly. “This is my mess and I will take care of it.”
“What are you going to do?” Addison asked, her heart racing. She wondered how the women would handle being confronted with such a betrayal, and she was not sure that it would end well for Marcus.
“Don’t worry about it,” Marcus growled, spinning to leave.
Addison hurried to catch up with him. “You’re not doing this alone!” she said. “I’m coming with you.”
“No!” Tatiana and Marcus exploded in unison.
“This has nothing to do with you, Addy,” Marcus said, turning to her, his expression tender. “I have to deal with this myself.”
“Well, you should’ve thought of that before you dragged me into this,” she reminded him shortly. “I’m coming too.” He began to shake his head again, but for once in her life, Addison stood firm against him. “I am not taking no for an answer!” she told him. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t even know who was responsible!”
Marcus looked back at Tatiana helplessly, but she grinned, a twinkle in her blue eyes as she nodded approvingly at Addison.
“She has a point, Marcus,” the brunette commented. “The least you can do is allow
her to see this through before she walks out of your life forever.”
Addison heard the near mocking note in Tatiana’s voice, but she ignored it, studying Marcus’ face to see what effect her words had on him. Even though he seemed hurt at the prospect, he turned once again to leave Tatiana’s office.
“Fine,” he said curtly. “But I’m doing all the talking. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” Addison chirped, casting one last look at Tatiana, who grinned at her disarmingly.
“Go get ‘em, tiger,” she chuckled, and Addison inhaled sharply.
The moment of truth was on the horizon.
17
Melissa stared at Addison and Marcus indignantly, her eyes slits as she seemed to detect something amiss.
“I don’t understand what we’re waiting for,” she said, her eyes darting back and forth between the two other occupants in the room, but neither of them allowed their expressions to reveal anything.
“You’ll know when it happens,” Marcus said. “Sit down and stop talking.”
Melissa gave Addison a scathing look. “I don’t know what she said to you, Marcus, but—”
“What part of ‘shut up’ did you have a hard time with?” he asked in a conversational tone.
Melissa’s mouth parted, and she rose, her face contorting in anger. “You can’t talk to me that way!” she snapped. “I’m not like the rest of your girls, Marcus!”
“No,” he agreed. “You’re the worst one of them all.”
Her jaw dropped further as the door opened and her accomplices walked into the CEO’s glass office, each one of them looking as perplexed as Melissa.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Melissa snapped. “What is everyone doing in here, Marcus? If you’re expecting some orgy or—”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed,” Marcus cut her off smoothly. “But I haven’t touched you in weeks. You can call it instinct, or maybe I’m just bored of your uptight bullshit.”
“Instinct? Uptight?” Melissa choked, outrage turning her face an unappealing orange tinge. “How dare you!”
“Should we come back later?” Tavia asked nervously, glancing around the room. She could clearly smell the tension in the air, and it was obvious she was trying to determine how it pertained to her.
“No!” Marcus barked. “You should stand there right next to the door, because you’ll be using it in a moment.”
Tavia’s green eyes narrowed as she peered at Melissa through her peripheral vision. Before Marcus could say another word, Erica burst into tears.
“I didn’t want to do it, Marcus!” she sobbed. “It wasn’t my idea! They made me! They threatened me!”
“Erica, shut up!” Tavia and Melissa screamed in unison, their faces turning ashen. Addison sighed deeply, sinking into a nearby chair.
“There’s no need to be nasty to Erica,” Marcus told them in almost a pleasant tone. “I already know you’ve been stealing from me, all three of you. I just want to know why.”
The trio fell silent, and Marcus could almost see the wheels turning in their heads as they tried to think of an answer that would get them out of the hot water they had landed themselves in. Except for Erica’s sniffles, not a sound was heard, and Marcus groaned in annoyance.
“Your salaries are quite substantial. What was the point?”
“We just wanted to ensure we had a nest egg when you kicked us out,” Melissa said quickly.
When Marcus studied her face, shifting his gaze to Tavia and then Erica, he knew there was more to it than that.
“You’re lying,” he retorted bluntly. “I suggest you tell me what you were really doing before I call the police and have them figure it out.”
He was bluffing, of course. He could not risk a breath of this scandal leaving his top floor office, but they didn’t need to know that. Unfortunately, Melissa knew him too well, and a slow smirk formed on her mouth.
“Go ahead,” she replied. “Call them. I can’t wait to hear what your shareholders will say when they find out your mistresses took money out from literally under your nose. Something tells me that will be bad for business.”
A familiar rage began to build inside Marcus, but he did not have an opportunity to respond.
“What mistresses?” Addison asked, rising from her spot. It was the first time she had spoken since entering the workspace after meeting with Tatiana.
“Addison, I’ve got this,” Marcus told her in a low tone, but she did not look at him as she slid forward, stopping in front of Melissa’s smug face.
“Little girl, stand down,” Melissa snapped. “You have no idea how things work around here.”
“I know enough,” Addison said evenly. “For example, you’re not supposed to bite the hand that feeds you.”
“You don’t know shit,” Melissa hissed. “You just waltzed in here and ruined everything.”
“What are you talking about?” Addison demanded, genuine shock in her voice. “What did I ruin?”
Melissa scoffed and turned to her companions, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. “She is just a babe in the woods, and he has chosen her over all of us!” she spat.
“Melissa, what are you going on about?” Marcus growled, stepping toward her to grab her arm. “Start making sense.”
She laughed mirthlessly as Tavia and Erica looked down and away.
“We knew she was coming even before she got here, Marcus,” Melissa snarled, wrenching her arm away. “We knew there was another one on the horizon and that she was different.”
Marcus felt his ears turn warm as he listened to her. “I don’t know what you’re babbling about,” he retorted. “Stop making excuses for your deplorable behavior.”
“Even now you’re going to deny that you’re in love with her!” Melissa gasped in disbelief. “Are you serious?”
“Wait a second,” Addison whispered. “Are you saying that you stole the money only to frame me because you were worried that Marcus was in love with me?”
“Ding! Ding!” Melissa cried, pointing at her. “Look, Marcus! Even Little Miss Innocent gets it!”
“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Melissa,” Addison sighed. “But you’re wrong. You shot yourself in the foot for no reason.”
Melissa snickered. “Maybe you are as delusional as he is. Or maybe you’re just fooling yourself. He loves you. Ask him.”
Addison turned to him, and Marcus could only stare at the scene almost uncomprehendingly as Melissa’s words sunk in.
“You were just trying to eliminate her from my life,” he realized, shaking his head. “You could have ruined her life!”
“What life?” Melissa retorted. “She was a waitress, a nobody who Georges almost hit with his car! If the weather had been better that day, none of this would have ever happened! Instead, we all watched you turn into a fool for her.”
Marcus didn’t have the patience to listen any longer. He wanted the three women to get out of his office and out of his life forever.
“I expect that money back in the accounts within the hour,” he rasped. “And I want all of you out of your apartments by midnight. Anything you leave behind will be burned. That’s a promise.”
Tavia chuckled. “It was only a matter of time before that happened, anyway,” she snickered. “We all saw it coming.”
“Good,” Marcus retorted. “Get on it and get out of my sight.” To his surprise, only Erica moved, running for the door with tears streaming down her cheeks as she blubbered down the hallway, her hands covering her face. “What are you waiting for?” he sneered at both Tavia and Melissa. “A personal invitation?”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Tavia told him with confidence that did not reflect in her emerald eyes.
Even if Marcus looked sideways at her, she didn’t look like Addison. How could he have ever thought that she did?
“Oh, no?” he drawled. “Do you think I am beyond having you escorted off my property?”
“I thin
k you want to keep your secret protected,” Melissa replied.
Marcus felt his blood run cold, and he stared at her, his blue eyes flashing. “What did you say to me?”
“What are they talking about, Marcus?” Addison whispered.
The devious duo whooped.
“Oh!” Melissa gasped through her laughter. “She doesn’t know about you! Tavia, this just gets better and better!”
“Get out!” Marcus roared, his skin bursting to expose the scales beneath.
“Not until we have your assurances that we can keep our apartments and that we will never be sent away,” Melissa said shortly. “Or I will personally go to the press and tell them the entire sordid story. About us, about the money, about your shapeshifting—”
Suddenly, Marcus couldn’t contain himself any longer, and his dragon form erupted from within, his tail whiplashing around the room, smashing into the desk.
Addison shrieked, watching as he manifested into the beast he had kept hidden. Neither Melissa nor Tavia flinched, even when his massive silver head landed inches from theirs, smoke emanating from his nostrils.
“You don’t scare us, Marcus,” Melissa choked, her tone slightly strangled, despite her best efforts to hide it. “You know you can’t harm us unless your life is being threatened! Stand down and give us what we want.”
Marcus’ amber eyes darted toward Addison, who had crawled toward the corner of the room, hiding her face in her crouched knees as she rocked herself.
Now she knows, he thought, woe and fury fighting for first place in his escalating range of emotions. He had tried so hard to keep it from her, knowing that the feelings he had for her were unlike any he had ever felt for anyone before.
Marcus threw his monolithic head back and released a primal roar that reverberated the windows. Melissa and Tavia stepped back, dread coloring their faces together. He could see that they were wondering if they had been misinformed by whatever they had learned. He unleashed another howl and advanced again, willing them to leave his sight.
The second growl seemed to inspire genuine terror in the women, and they bolted from the office, kicking off their heels as they did, like they were worried he would chase them down the hall.