by Suzy Shearer
Regretfully, he told her he had to leave. He had an important meeting the following day that couldn’t be cancelled but he promised he would ring her.
“Would you mind if I rang you—often?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m sure if you didn’t, I’d ring you. I don’t want anything to come between us now we’re together again.”
“I’ll get my PA into looking for a building here. Then I’ll need somewhere to live as well. She can sort it out.”
“What about your staff? Won’t they be unhappy about moving?”
“I’ll keep that office open so whoever wants to stay can. I imagine my PA will come with me. She fusses, but she’s excellent, so anyway, I hope she will. I’ll throw in a few incentives to make sure she does. She’s been with me for a long time, and her husband works for me too.”
They went downstairs together and out into the street. It was about ten past six. Gray held her tight and when she looked up at him, his eyes were filled with tears.
“I’m so glad I found you.”
“Oh, Daddy, so am I.”
“I’ll ring you.”
They kissed good-bye and had another hug before he went out to the waiting car. Jessica watched as it drove away. She turned and walked back inside. Lincoln smiled at her.
“That was my daddy!”
“It sure was Miss Jessie, it sure was.”
Chapter Five
When Jessica went to the office the next morning, she couldn’t stop smiling. She sent out for Kristy Kremes doughnuts for everyone—they were all addicted to them and Jessica was sure they were keeping the local branch in business. She wanted to shout to the rooftops that she’d finally made contact with her father and things were going to be good.
Over the next six months, her father transferred his main office to the same city. Jessica had to laugh, he bought a whole building as if he was picking up a bag of potatoes from the supermarket.
He told her that in the old building there were often times he worked so late in the office he used to sleep there rather than drive back to his apartment. So he got the top floor of the new complex converted into a penthouse for himself, with plenty of room for his housekeeper. But he said he wanted to find a special house to live in.
So when he moved into the penthouse and began living there, he looked around for somewhere else to live. After much searching, he decided to build. He took Jess to show her where he was considering. It was ten acres right on the coast.
“I’ve missed having a big sprawling house but without you to share it with, I couldn’t face another house. Been living in apartments since then. But now, now I want to set down roots again. Do you like it?”
He spread his arms wide. The area was beautiful. There was something magical about it.
“I’ll make sure it keeps a low profile, honours the land.” He pointed to the right. “Over the bluff is the ocean. Imagine sitting on the back verandah, watching the surf rolling in.”
“Dad, it would be wonderful.”
“I think so too. Got some architects drawing up some ideas for me to look at.”
By the end of the following year, his new home was built. If Jess thought she was crazy with her three bedroom penthouse, she hated to think what her father was. The house turned into a mansion. He ended up with six guest bedrooms as well as the huge master suite and a suite for her, but still it was perfect.
Jessica had to admit the house was wonderful. She often spent her weekends there. He told her he often had guests—business associates and friends stop over, so the bedrooms were more often used than empty. One suite was for his housekeeper, Isabella Alexander. She’d been with him for years, he told Jessie nervously, as if she were something more than just a housekeeper.
Jess sometimes acted as hostess for him when he was entertaining business clients, and she found it was drawing her out even more, making her even more comfortable around people. But she actually kept her distance and made sure she didn’t meet any of his close friends. A lot of his associates admired her and made no bones about it. She had several offers to go out.
Still, it didn’t make a dent on her emotional heart. It was still locked away, and she was more than ever determined to keep it that way.
Deep down, she knew she still hadn’t dealt with the emotional cost of those terrible six years. She had toyed with seeing a counsellor but that would entail talking about what had happened—she was determined no one should ever know the full truth.
Not even her father knew all the truth.
He may have guessed at some things, but it would have been impossible for him to even grasp the enormity of abuse she’d suffered. A few times he hinted that if she ever wanted to talk about things, he was there. Usually after she’d been swimming and he seen the scars that were scattered across her torso, upper thighs and arms. Scars of burn marks, places where Dennis had cut her with a knife, marks from crops or floggers, or the ugly line of deep gouges down her back from the corset.
She was far too ashamed to tell him, too ashamed to tell anyone.
Sometimes she caught a look of profound sadness on his face when he saw them. She knew she could never tell anyone her humiliation. Instead she pushed it deep inside her mind and kept a lock on the door that protected her from its pain.
Jessica knew very well if she ever opened that hidden vault, she wouldn’t be able to cope with its horrors. She knew the longer she kept them locked away the worse it would be when, or if, she finally decided to face them.
Jeannie and Carl soon became favourites of her father’s, and they often came for a weekend when Gray had no commitments. She caught them with her father a few times and knew they were talking about her. Trying to find ways to make her live again, make her thaw her frozen heart. She knew they meant well but she was happy as she was—living a safe half-life.
Sometimes she would bring a date to dine with her father or Jeannie and Carl. She caught her father rolling his eyes a few times and finally when she challenged him, he’d given her a sharp answer.
“You’re wasting your life on men who can’t even hold a conversation! Honestly, Jess, if you just want someone to satisfy you in bed, you’d be better off buying a vibrator than those fools. They look as if even the missionary position would scare them.”
Jess was shocked.
She knew she was playing it safe with her dates, knew they were dull and boring, but she hadn’t realised what others thought about her until her father’s outburst. She knew others thought she was crazy, but this was different.
“I’m sorry, Jessie, but I hate seeing you waste your life. Don’t you want to fall in love? Don’t you want to have the rush of excitement when you see the man who makes your heart leap?”
“Yes.” She’d whispered.
He’d shouted at her. “Well, stop hiding!”
But she couldn’t.
She was too frightened that she’d end up in the same situation as she had with Dennis. The men she dated might be fools but they were safe fools and there was absolutely no chance that any of them would be a Dom, even if deep down that was all she craved for.
It might mean her sexual wants would never be satisfied, but she guessed as long as she had the occasional orgasm, and it was very occasional, then she’d have to be satisfied. She knew there was only one way to satisfy her sexually, and it was the one way that she was determined to always avoid.
A couple of times, her father offered to introduce her to a friend of his.
“He would be the perfect man for you Jess. Strong, good character, great sense of humour. He would take care of you.”
“Thanks, Dad, but I’ll find my own.”
Each time, he’d wandered off muttering about women who forget what it’s like to live. Jess knew he only wanted her happy, but it was frustrating all the same. She often wondered how he would feel if she interfered in his private life and told him to make an honest woman of Mrs. Alexander.
Mrs. Alexander was his housekeeper,
a widow a few years younger than himself. She’d been with him for the past ten years. A very attractive woman, Jess had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t just his house that she kept in order. Maybe she should turn the tables on him next time he said anything.
She liked Mrs. Alexander and knew by the way she and her father acted when they thought no one was watching that there was a great love. She just couldn’t figure out if it was him who was dragging his feet or her. Still, they both appeared happy with the arrangement.
* * * *
Over the next three years, her business grew even more.
They were handling more and more sensitive cases. Jess began marketing their discretion, the integrity of the company and their trustworthiness. She found a couple more odd bods to add to her staff. One of them was hired to keep their website up-to-date and filled with enticing information and their use of the latest technology. It must have worked because they saw a major upswing in their contracts.
One of their new clients was Dowling Industries.
Dowling Industries was very well known. It held major contracts with some of the top aviation companies. Some of its engine designs had revolutionised the aircraft industry. Jessica had been surprised when they received a request to speak with the CEO regarding their security. She thought they would have had the top of the line already.
Still, never one to assume too much, she got Bess to arrange an interview time—two o’clock the following Wednesday afternoon.
Jessica drove the company BMW to the front gate of the Dowling Industry complex. She told the security officer who she was and he checked her name against a list then waved her forward, telling her where to park. The grounds were massive, with buildings everywhere and she was glad he’d given her directions. She parked the car and, picking up her briefcase, walked into the front reception.
The woman on the front desk took her name and compared it to a list then sent her to the second floor. Once there, another receptionist directed her down a long carpeted corridor to large double doors at the end. Pushing one open, she entered yet another area with a woman seated behind a desk.
This woman looked formidable. She gave Jessica the once-over as she approached the desk and gave her name. Jessica felt like a child of ten instead of a woman of forty-four.
“Ah yes, Ms. Williams. You were to have an appointment with our CEO Mr. Ward, but unfortunately he has been called away abruptly. If you’d just take a seat.”
Jessica moved to the formal arrangement of couches and a low-slung coffee table. She sat down, wondering who on earth she was going to see now. She’d spoken to Mr. Ward yesterday to confirm their appointment, but he had given her no inkling of exactly what the company wanted from her.
She looked around. There was another set of elevators here. Soft music was playing in the background, and she sat trying to remember the song when she was called.
“Ms. Williams. This way please.”
Jessica stood and approached another set of large double doors. The secretary opened one and ushered her inside. The inner sanctum at last, Jessica thought and tried not to giggle as she passed the woman and entered the vast room.
“Ah, Ms. Williams.”
A man stood.
Jessica felt it immediately as he moved from behind an enormous desk, to stand in front of her, his hand outstretched. He moved toward her and as she grasped his hand she felt a shock of electricity.
“Lovely to meet you.” His voice was deep, rich, and very sexy. “I’m Aiden Dowling.”
She licked her lips as she shook his hand and said, “Hello.”
Suddenly, she had the urge to take the pins holding the tight severe bun in place and shake her hair free. To undo the buttons on her crisp white shirt. He was sex in the flesh and she was reacting all the way from her toes to her hair. Between her legs, a sudden ache developed and she knew she was getting wet just seeing him.
Aiden Dowling towered over her, and he looked to be around 6’8. She knew from the company website that he was fifty-two, but he looked younger. She could see he was muscular. His body had that grace of a well-toned athlete. His hair was cut short at the back and sides but the top was longer with a cowlick that fell forward. She had the urge to brush it from his forehead. His face had a rugged beauty. This man wasn’t classically handsome, but instead he exuded power, strength and confidence. He had a chiselled jaw, a firm chin. Although he was clean-shaven, there was a hint of a five o’clock shadow.
But it was his eyes that held Jessica spellbound.
They were pale green and Jessica felt they saw her as she truly was. They tore past the cool facade she wore and instead delved deep into her soul.
It shook her.
The power he exuded was on so many levels—business, confidence, domination, and sexuality.
This man would take no prisoners. He would overpower any opposition. He would stalk his prey and make them his own.
Jessica knew instantly that she had just become his prey.
He led her to a setting of low-slung sofas and asked her to sit. She felt trapped. She felt this was beyond her control and from this point onward, her life would never be the same. They both sat, Jessica putting her case alongside her seat. A knock on the huge doors and the stern woman entered with a tray. She poured out coffee for Aiden and then one for Jessica before setting the tray on a table and leaving the room.
“So, Ms. Williams, I’m looking forward to working with you.”
Jessica was sure there was a double meaning to his simple sentence. She smiled and tried to look relaxed despite her heart beating so fast.
“And exactly what is it that you need Hard Bytes for, Mr. Dowling?”
“Aiden. Please call me Aiden.”
She acknowledged his request with a nod. As she watched, he immediately slipped into business mode.
“I’m concerned about the safety of our designs. Recently, another company produced plans so similar to ours that I wondered if we’d been compromised. I don’t have to tell you that in this, and any business, espionage is alive and well.”
“Do you suspect one of your staff, or are you concerned with your actual computer security?”
“The computers.”
“Okay. My staff and I will need access, of course. I have prepared a contract for you to read, basically it says we promise not to reveal anything to anyone but you and your nominees. We also promise to advise you of all security problems we discover and suggestions on how to solve them. If you choose not to take our advice and are in anyway compromised, basically then that’s your problem.”
She opened her briefcase and pulled out the document, handing it across to him.
“I’ll get my legal team to look over it.”
“I’m guessing you want us to start as soon as possible?”
“Of course, tomorrow if possible. I’ll arrange for security passes for you and your team.”
“Can you hold off on that? One of the first things we like to do is see just how secure your building is. I know you have guard at the front gate, but how do your staff enter?”
“There’s a separate entrance for staff. They have swipe cards. They are logged in and out the building. All doors have a swipe security lock. The cards have a photograph of the employee, their name. Each one has both a barcode on it and the magnetic security strip for door access.”
“Right.”
“We also have smart cards for those who work in specialised areas. So those employees, as well as having the swipe technology on their card, also have a memory chip embedded into them for additional security.”
Jessica nodded.
“I have something to start with then. Do you have the details of your computer systems? I asked your CEO, Trevor Ward to have them when we arranged the appointment.”
He pointed to a folder on the table.
“All in there.”
“Thank you.”
Jessica took a mouthful of coffee. She noticed her hands were unsteady. This man
was getting under her skin. He looked over his coffee cup at her and she was sure he knew exactly how she was reacting to him. She took another mouthful and put the cup down, picking up the folder.
Opening it, she glanced down at the contents. Everything she’d asked for was there. For her own safety, she wanted to get out there as quickly as possible.
“I’ll ring Trevor and arrange things with him.”
“No. I’ll give you my number.”
Jessica looked at him startled, then dropped her eyes.
“You’ll deal directly with me, Ms. Williams.” The look he gave her was dominating. “I’ll be in charge.”
In the pit of her stomach, Jessica felt a sudden jolt at those four innocent words. Visions of lying bound underneath him flashed across her mind. She could almost feel his hands running across her naked body. She bit her lips and knew she had flushed.
She looked at him. He raised an eyebrow and gave a slow sexy smile.
He knew.
Jessica had to get out of there. She needed to escape, now.
She fumbled with the folder, but managed to stash it into her bag and stood shakily. He unfolded his frame and seemed to dominate the room as he stood and stepped toward her.
He stepped past her and picked up a card from a holder on a cabinet nearby, handing it to her.
“My number, Ms. Williams. I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot more of you.”
She gave a shiver.
“Thank–thank you, Mr. Dowling,” she stammered.
“It’s Aiden. Remember.”
“Oh. Um…sorry, Aiden.”
He put his arm under her elbow and began to lead her to the door. As they got closer, she felt his thumb rubbing against the inside of her arm. She almost melted. In fact, she stumbled a little.
“Be careful, Ms. Williams, you might trip and end up on the floor.”