“Why?”
“Were you talking about Carl Remington?”
“Yes,” Nicole answered warily.
“And he was propositioning your friend?”
Nicole nodded. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because I’m his mis – I mean his current girlfriend.”
“Oh,” Nicole sighed and frowned. “You’re the one he’s trying to blame for my car accident.”
Gasping, Tara released Nicole’s arm. The woman’s expression changed slightly. No longer was she aiming her anger toward Nicole, but now the woman looked more frustrated... like an animal caught in a trap, trying to get out.
“I... I... I can’t believe he’s doing this to me. I did everything he asked me to do.” Tara’s eyes watered slightly, but she blinked away the liquid. “Oh, I swear, if he tries to pin this on me, I’ll...”
“Then we need to stop him,” Nicole quickly said. “We can’t let him treat women this way. He thinks he can just flash a few dollars in our faces and think we’ll fall at his feet?”
Tara shrugged one shoulder. “It was more like ten thousand dollars.”
Nicole choked on her quick intake of breath. “Really? That much money?”
Tara nodded.
“But... why did he want to cause my car accident? Is it because he wants my grandfather’s company?”
Tara’s expression tightened. “I shouldn’t say anything. If he found out...”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “Oh, so you’re going to let him get away with treating you like a doormat? Are you really going to let him send you to jail for his mistake?”
The model’s breathing quickened, and her nostrils flared. “I... I just want to feel appreciated.”
“Just like all women do. But it’s obvious that Mr. Remington doesn’t know how to treat women. All he knows how to do is use them.”
Tara’s bottom lip quivered. “I really didn’t want to do it, but he promised to treat me better than Mick and take me to Rome. Carl told me that Mick doesn’t care about me and he never will.”
“So, Carl paid you ten thousand dollars to...” Nicole swallowed hard. “To run my car off the road?”
Tara nodded. “He told me that Mick would be with you. Carl made me believe that by running your car off the road, that I would be punishing Mick for leaving me.”
Nicole inhaled a shaky breath, even though inside her head she was cheering that she’d gotten a confession. “Tara, we can’t let Carl Remington get away with this. Do you know if he’s planning something else?”
Hesitantly, Tara nodded.
“What is he planning?”
“He... He...” Her voice shook.
Nicole touched the other woman’s arm. “Please, tell me. We must stop him from treating people like they are commodities.”
“He’s planted a bug in your company.”
Confused, Nicole scrunched her forehead. “A bug?”
“Yes. You hired someone two months ago who has been working for Carl. This guy is Carl’s contact to everything inside your company.”
Nicole’s legs weakened. Was Carl doing the same thing to her company that he’d been doing to Steele Construction? What if he’d already started pilfering money? Then again, unless this mole was also a computer hacker, he wouldn’t be able to get her grandfather’s username or passwords. “Do you know who he is? I’ll fire him tomorrow.”
Slowly Tara’s eyes brightened with a newfound courage. “Better yet, let’s catch Carl in the act. Let’s trap him.”
Nicole wrung her hands. Dare she trust Mick’s ex? Or was this just another setup? And yet, the woman didn’t look that smart to begin with. Nicole needed to trust her. “What do you have in mind?”
“We can give Carl false information and lead him right into a trap. You’ll have to get the police involved, of course.”
Nicole grinned. “Oh, believe me, I won’t hesitate to do that.”
Tara linked arms with Nicole like they were best friends. She really couldn’t believe the nerve of the woman. Then again, Tara was the type that seemed desperate for true friends. Nicole wasn’t sure she could become besties with the woman who caused her rollover accident, but regardless, she must continue with the plan.
If Nicole didn’t try to stop Carl now, this would drag out for months. She was desperate to live a normal life, once more.
TWENTY-ONE
Nicole remembered the name of the man she’d hired two months ago. Jerry McClain. As Human Resources Manager, she’d been impressed with his resume. He was tech savvy, and that’s all she needed to know. But now she worried that he knew more than he’d led her to believe.
The first thing she did after leaving Tara was to hurry home and get on her computer. She didn’t dare do this from the office, just in case Jerry had hacked into her system and was waiting for her to type a password so he could see it.
Her grandfather had given her all the information she needed about bank accounts, passwords, and especially, the company’s bills which she had taken over paying once Hospice stepped in and took care of him on a day-to-day basis.
When the webpage came up and showed her the monthly sales reports for the last three months and how much was deposited in the bank, she then flipped to another website with her bank information. When the page opened and she could see the balances, she breathed a sigh of relief. At least their computers hadn’t been hacked, yet.
She quickly picked up the phone and called the man who was in charge of her security. She instructed him to get her reports on Jerry’s computer activities since he was hired.
As she hung up from her call, she sagged in the chair and closed her eyes. Inwardly, she groaned. Poppie? What did you ever do to make Carl Remington so mad?
Her doorbell rang, and she went to the front door. Mick stood in front of her holding a bouquet of flowers. Her heart melted and she smiled.
“I really needed to see your gorgeous face right now,” she said, taking his arm and pulling him inside before closing the door.
His pleasant expression changed to worry. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed. “You wouldn’t believe the day I had.”
“Does it involve my father?” Mick asked.
She chuckled wearily as she took the flowers into the kitchen to find a vase. “Do you really need to ask?”
He followed. “What happened today?”
She stood at the sink, adding water to a vase. He moved behind her, sliding his arms around her waist as he kissed her neck. Goosebumps rose all over her and she shivered.
“I missed you today,” he muttered as he moved his mouth to the hollow of her neck and kissed again.
“I missed you, but I think I was able to accomplish something today while we were apart.”
“Tell me,” he muttered against her neck.
She placed the flowers inside the vase, set the vase on the counter, and turned in his arms, threading her fingers through his hair. “If you keep kissing my neck like that, I won’t be able to tell you anything. I’d be too busy sighing with pleasure.”
He grinned. “Me, too.”
“But I do think I should tell you about what I did today. I’m still not sure you’re going to approve.”
His expression drooped as worry lines creased his forehead and around his mouth. “Why?”
“Well, I have good news and bad news.”
“Nicole,” he said in a warning tone, “just tell me.”
She’d always loved gazing into his gray-blue eyes, but right now guilt made her not want to look directly at him. She pulled out of his embrace and walked back into the front room.
“It all started,” she began, “when I noticed that black truck with the tinted windows following me.”
As she told him what happened, she sat on the couch. He sat next to her, his gaze fixed on her face. But as the conversation came to the crest of what had happened, his lips thinned, and his jaw hardened, but he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t hard to read it in
his eyes, though. He was upset with her... but mostly scared.
When she finished, he blew a gush of air out of his mouth and raked his fingers through his hair. “What makes you think my father isn’t going to know you and Tara have planned something?” His voice was tight. “And how do you know we can even trust Tara?”
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” she repeated the well-known quote. Cautiously, she slipped her hand into his. She was relieved when he didn’t pull away. “Mick, it really made Tara upset to think that your father was trying to pin the accident on her – and especially when she thought he was going to replace her as his love interest.”
Sighing heavily, he rubbed his forehead. “What makes you think Tara won’t talk to Carl?”
“I’m praying she doesn’t, but I think I added enough fuel and put enough doubt in her mind that she wouldn’t believe him even if he told the truth.”
He laid his head back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling. “What is your plan? How are we going to trap him?”
“I talked to Bobby about Jerry McClain.”
Mick rolled his head to the side to look at her, arching his eyebrow. “Who is Bobby?”
“He’s head of security.”
Mick nodded.
“I trust Bobby. He’s going to create a fake site for Jerry to access. Jerry will think it’s our spreadsheet for our sales.”
“Go on.”
“Anyway, he’ll see that Adkins has increased sales by a good eighty percent.”
Mick chuckled lowly. “That much?”
She shrugged. “We have to get Carl’s attention, right?”
“Then what?”
“And then...” she leaned against him, bringing her face closer to his. His hard expression softened, just as she’d hoped it would. “Then I’m hoping that Carl will try to have Jerry transfer the money into his Swiss bank account. Bobby will be following Jerry’s every action. Tomorrow, I will call the police and give them a heads up on what we’re doing so that they can monitor Carl, as well.”
The longer Mick’s gaze held hers, the more his facial features relaxed. He shifted on the couch and wrapped his arms around Nicole, pulling her up against his chest. “I’ll agree with this plan on one condition,” he said, taking a lock of her hair and rubbing it between his thumb and finger.
“And what condition is that?”
“I want the police to watch my father at all times. I don’t want him to try and hurt you again.”
She nodded. “We’ll be one step ahead of him the whole time. And he won’t know we’re onto him.”
“What about Tara? What’s her role in all of this?”
Nicole sighed. “I don’t know. She confessed to running me off the road, but she did it only because Carl told her that you were in the car with me – and he paid her. I really don’t know how much we can trust her.”
“We can’t. The best thing for her to do is pretend like she’s sick and stay away from my father.”
“Or...” Nicole grinned. “Maybe her modeling agency can call her with another modeling job.”
He nodded. “I might have to call them and donate some money to them as an incentive.”
She laughed. “Oh, Mick. Would you really have to bribe them to do that?”
“Hey, I’ll do anything to make that woman leave. She’ll be the one who messes everything up. She’s really not very clever.”
“But she’s part of a crime. Will the police allow her to leave town?”
“I’ll make sure the modeling agency keeps her in one place. The police will know where she’s at when it’s time to arrest her.”
“Fine. Mick, you contact her agency tomorrow, and I’ll call the police department and tell them what’s going on.”
“Okay.” He shrugged. “Let’s get this done. I’m tired of living this way.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
He pulled her head closer, but he didn’t have to do much encouraging, because she was ready for another kiss. Their mouths slowly met for a soft kiss, their heads tilting back and forth. He paused, and she looked into his sparkling eyes.
“Now that we have that out of the way, do you think we can relax for the rest of the evening?” She shifted a little more on the couch until he was almost lying flat as he pulled her on top of his body. “Because I’m still waiting for that make-out session you promised me.”
Happiness poured through her. She stroked his well-groomed goatee, smiling. “If you recall, I never promised you that.”
“Well, will you promise me that now?”
She nodded. “I think now is a good time. After all, there’s nothing standing in our way.”
His mouth moved toward her. “I thought you might agree with me.”
TWENTY-TWO
Everything was set. The police officers were informed, Tara was called away for a photo shoot, and Bobby had the fake webpage set up. They just had to wait for everything to go down and the police to swarm in and arrest his father. So then why was Mick worried that something would go wrong?
Because he knew his father. His father could take down anyone – and not in a good way.
After giving Nicole a kiss and sending her off to her office this morning, Mick made his way toward his office. He walked a little taller and puffed out his chest a little more. He couldn’t help it. Loving Nicole did that to him.
As he greeted everyone along the way, they wouldn’t meet his eyes. Some even snickered behind their hands. Unease slowly grew inside of him. Something wasn’t right. Why were these people acting this way toward him? Yesterday, most of them were polite and at least carried on a decent conversation with him.
When he made it to his room, he was convinced there was some kind of rumor going around about him. Why else would the staff look at him as if he was the brunt of someone’s joke?
He sat behind his desk and turned on his computer. He drummed his fingers on the desk, waiting for it to boot up. The first thing he did once he was able to log in was check his email. The top email stood out more than the others did because the subject line was all in caps, reading – IS THIS THE KIND OF PRESIDENT YOU WANT FOR OUR COMPANY?
The sender was from someone unknown. That wasn’t good at all.
Cautiously, he clicked it open. Pasted inside of the email were the photos that Mary had taken of Mick on his bed with his arms around Nicole as he pretended to be passed out.
Bile rose to his throat and his stomach churned. Who had gotten a hold of those pictures? Nicole had told him that Mary deleted them off her camera.
Mick quickly checked the email to see where it had been sent. Inwardly, he groaned. Everyone employed at Adkins Dev-Tech – along with the shareholders – had gotten this email. They didn’t need to click on any attachments because of the way the photos were pasted right in the body of the email.
Nicole is going to see this!
Mick shoved away from his desk and raced out of his room. He didn’t care that everyone glared at him. He only needed Nicole and to stop her from reading her email.
When he reached her door, he didn’t knock but quickly entered and closed the door behind him. She sat at her desk, staring at her computer screen. Her face was pale, and her eyes were wide and watery.
Slowly, her gaze moved to him. The tears fell down her cheeks and she slowly shook her head. “Who did this?”
He moved around to her side, kneeling beside her chair as he took her cold hands in his. “I don’t know, but I’m thinking someone got a hold of Mary’s camera before she could delete the pictures.”
“I... I need to talk to her,” Nicole said with a tight voice.
“My father was behind this, I just know it.”
She nodded. “I believe that, but he wouldn’t have been able to bribe Mary. She’s my best friend. She wouldn’t do that...”
She peered back at the screen. Seconds later, she crumbled as her hands covered her face. Her shoulders shook with sobs. His heart twisted in agony. Ho
w could he take away the embarrassment she must be feeling?
“Come here.” He pulled her up from her chair and led her to the sofa.
Once they were both sitting, he took her in his arms as she cried on his chest. He kissed the top of her head. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, it’s mine,” she mumbled against his shirt. “Mine and Mary’s. We were the ones who came up with this plan to blackmail you.”
“No, it’s mine.” He stroked her hair. “I should have gotten rid of my father sooner. I should have told him that your grandfather turned over the company to me. If only I hadn’t kept it a secret, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”
In one quick jerk, Nicole pulled away and met his gaze. Her eyes were blazing with hatred. “No, it’s your father’s fault, not ours. And he needs to pay for what he’s done!”
Her office phone rang, and she moved off the couch, wiping her eyes. When she answered it, her voice was strong and confident. Mick couldn’t help but feel proud of her. She’d certainly been through so much, and she might crumble from time to time, but she was a strong woman and would overcome.
“Thanks so much. You don’t know how happy I am to start working with you.”
She hung up and faced him. Confidence brightened her pretty face.
“That was Peaking Design. They are going to work with us.”
Happiness exploded inside of Mick’s chest and he jumped up from the couch, reaching for her. She met him halfway and he took her into his arms.
“Oh, Mick. I did it. I actually turned this company around, and without your money.”
He kissed her forehead. “Sweetheart, I knew you could do it. This will be great for both companies.”
Her smile widened and she nodded. “That’s how I saw it, and thankfully, that’s how Peaking Design saw it, too.”
He kissed her, but when her office phone rang again, he grumbled and pulled away. She answered the phone, still full of conviction. Seconds later, she swung toward him with wide eyes.
“All right. Thanks for checking, Bobby.” She hung up the phone. “This morning’s email came from Jerry.”
The Billionaire's Pursuit: Billionaire's Clean Romance (The Tycoons Book 1) Page 14