by Erika Lynn
Furtively, I snapped a picture of them together, abandoning my coffee quest to high tail it back to the office.
I practically panted when I made it back there. Alarmed, Dante came up to me, wrapping me in his arms.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice laced with concern. Then he took in my empty hands. “I thought you were getting us coffee.”
I sucked in a quick breath, then pulled out my phone. “You have to see this.”
I called up the photo and waited for his response.
His mouth pursed. “I didn’t know they were together,” said Dante, seemingly confused by what appeared on my screen.
I reached out to grab his arm. “I think they did it together. All of this,” I said, gesturing to the upturned files in his office as I filled him in on my theory.
He didn’t say a thing. He just stared at me as if I had two heads. Then he ran a hand through his growing scruff that he must not have had time to shave earlier.
“I don’t have any hard evidence. Just a gut feeling.”
Dante clapped his hands together. “Right, we’ll just have to find some evidence then.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
A wicked smile crossed his face. “Easy, we just set a trap.”
I lifted a brow. “What did you have in mind?”
We got to work. Both of us huddled in his office, brainstorming plans and then scrapping the terrible ones.
The day was almost over when I suddenly knew what we needed to do.
I realized the plan had to involve the mall project.
That damn project had been at the epicenter of everything.
So, we pulled together a plan, even bringing in Sam Mendelson to play a role.
His face had been priceless when we filled him in on what we suspected had been going on.
Sam’s obvious loyalty to both Dante and Victor Inferno made him the perfect person to help us out.
***
When Sam called Dante first thing Monday morning, the carefully laid plan officially set in motion. An emergency meeting at the job site was scheduled and now all we needed to do was sit and wait.
Rather than paying attention to the litany of emails flooding my inbox, I instead paid close attention to Jeanine, observing as she blatantly monitored Dante’s comings and goings.
I never noticed it before, but she spent a considerable amount of time watching Dante’s office.
Normally, I’d be too immersed in my work to notice. Now, I wondered how I hadn’t picked up on it before. She must have been monitoring his movements closely for these past couple of weeks.
It made my blood boil to think about it. How could someone be so calculating in their job? I couldn’t relate.
Sure, I’d had bad jobs in high school and college. But I’d sooner leave a job than waste my time trying to undermine a company I didn’t care for.
Around lunch time, I messaged Dante to let him know that he should head out of his office and announce loudly to me that he needed to speak to the finance department.
Less than a minute later, Dante emerged from his office, said his line, and left the floor.
I watched as Jeanine picked up her phone and placed a call.
Unable to hear her with her soft-spoken voice, I tried to read her lips instead. It wasn’t until Sam texted that I knew for sure what she had done.
When an incoming email alerted me that the site visit had been moved up an hour, I faked a look of surprise.
“You snake,” I muttered to myself, trying everything in my power not to shake my head in disgust.
I then watched as she texted somebody on her phone. Presumably, to bring Joel up to speed on the situation. I smiled the whole time, ready to bust them.
But I stayed cool and collected, leaving the office for the job site, ready for the whole mess to be over with.
***
Butterflies swarmed in my stomach as I approached the construction zone. A chain link fence enclosed the construction zone and the dirt and dust flew with abandon.
Grateful I had my flats with me, I swapped into my more practical foot attire.
I smiled and waved at Sam when I arrived. He had been deep in conversation with Joel.
Joel seemed surprisingly pleased to see me. He shook my hand as if we hadn’t seen each other in days. He refrained from his normal leering.
Maybe him being with Jeanine had some positive benefits after all.
I bit my lip as Joel checked his watch and asked about Dante’s whereabouts.
I shrugged my shoulders as the man in question rounded a corner, coming into view.
My attention never wavered. I watched Joel the whole time, searching for any indication that he was surprised by Dante’s appearance.
“Glad I didn’t miss anything,” said Dante when he joined the group. His glare at Joel was obvious.
“And we are glad you can join us. You know your father never missed a meeting.”
Ahh, there was the Joel I knew.
My hand reached out touch Dante’s arm, trying to steady him.
Joel caught the movement, a look of utter delight and satisfaction taking over his face.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Joel laughed, shaking his head. “The two of you? Really? That’s priceless.”
Sort of like you and Jeanine? I thought to myself, annoyed with the hypocrisy of it all.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Joel said feigning ignorance.
Shit, did I say that out loud?
Even Dante shot me a surprised look.
Then he stepped closer to me. So close that I caught the scent of his woodsy aftershave. It had a grounding effect.
Sam cleared his throat, looking to Dante to take over. My head briefly swiveled to Dante before our attention redirected to a new approaching figure.
Gravel sounded underneath her heels as Jeanine made her way to the group, a tray of coffees in hand.
“What’s this?” Joel asked. “I didn’t tell you I needed coffee.”
Jeanine’s head tilted slightly, her lips twisting in confusion.
“But Kate texted me saying that everyone needed caffeine. I went to your favorite place,” she said, turning to me with a crease in her brow.
I clicked my tongue. “About that...” I started. Luckily, Dante took over.
“I asked Kate to get you here,” he said. Dante’s voice was strong and demanding, sending a shiver down my spine.
Jeanine must have sensed that something wasn’t right, because she took an involuntary step backwards. Little drops of coffee spilled out from the spouts of the drinks she still carried.
“Well, I’ll just hand these over to you all and get back to the office,” Jeanine said with a false brightness. I didn’t miss her shaking hand as she passed a drink to each of us.
We muttered our thank you’s as we each took our drink.
“Actually, I’d prefer if you stayed for this conversation Jeanine, as it pertains to you too.”
“What are you playing at, Inferno?” Joel asked, hackles rising.
Dante clasped his hands together in front of him, his voice smooth as velvet as he spelled it out for them.
“I’ve been thinking how weird it is that all the important meetings I need to attend suddenly get moved around on me. It’s without notice and the changes always seem to occur just as I’m leaving my office.”
Jeanine’s normally cool demeanor was nowhere to be found. She bit her lip while Dante continued.
“I’ve been finding it strange that ever since I started my most important meetings seemed to be rescheduled so that I’m highly likely to miss them.” He paused, giving breathing room for someone, anyone to chime in.
Jeanine pursed her lips and Joel crossed his arms, neither of them saying a thing.
Dante continued. “I kept wondering to myself, why would someone not want me to make it to my meetings.”
Joel shook his head. “Meetings change all the time.�
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“Sure,” Dante agreed. “But I seemed to be the one conveniently away when a meeting was suddenly pushed up to start in the next ten minutes. Or I wouldn’t get the memo about the change in time. So we did some investigating.”
Jeanine swallowed hard, her body stiffening. Tell-tale signs of guilt. Whereas, Joel seemed genuinely confused.
That’s weird.
“You were the one who called for the change in the meeting time,” Joel insisted, his voice haughty as ever.
Dante scoffed. “And why would I change the meeting times and then not be there to attend them?”
Joel lifted his hands. “I don’t know you well enough to know.”
“That doesn’t make sense, Joel.”
“And who am I to judge? I don’t know how you do things. Your father always kept a meeting and here I was getting all these meeting change notifications. Luckily Jeanine alerted me every time you changed them on us last minute.”
Dante squinted. “But I’m telling you I didn’t do it. Did you genuinely believe that I was the one changing the meeting times?”
Joel looked to Jeanine, true confusion and a little bit of doubt creeping into his voice. “Yes.”
We all just stared at Jeanine for a second. Had she really done this alone?
“Jeanine, please tell me you didn’t do this,” Joel asked, his voice full of real concern and a little fear.
Jeanine looked ready to burst out of her skin. Sweat licked her face, which turned a brilliant shade of red.
“It’s not fair!” she cried, then pointed towards Dante. “He comes in after being God knows where and suddenly takes control of the company overnight?” She huffed, completely abandoning any semblance of professionalism.
“Why would you do this?” It was Joel who asked, though we were all thinking it.
Jeanine did this on her own?
I stood there stunned thinking about how wrong I had been.
“Of course, I did this!” She shrilled and Joel blanched. “You deserve to be the one leading this company, not him.” She pointed at Dante who looked more relaxed than ever, his hands comfortably situated in his pockets as he witnessed the exchange.
Meanwhile, Sam looked like he wanted to grab a bucket of popcorn and a lounge chair to watch the proceedings.
Wow.
Jeanine further incriminated herself. It’s like once she got going, she couldn’t be stopped.
Part of me felt sorry for her. I had always liked Jeanine. Sure, she wasn’t super friendly, but she was always professional. Or at least she had been.
“I take it your romantic involvement with Joel was the reason why you did this,” I finally spoke up.
Jeanine’s mouth hit the floor, as did Joel’s. I pulled out my phone to show them the proof I had.
Dante and I were sleeping together, so it wasn’t like fraternization didn’t happen among employees, but still, it contributed to the reason for Jeanine’s behavior.
Things weren’t going well for Jeanine.
And Joel started looking a little green as well.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, Jeanine. You are going to tender your resignation and I will generously give you two months of pay to leave quietly,” Dante explained.
Jeanine no longer seemed to have diarrhea of the mouth. In fact, her mouth was sealed shut, her eyes wide as it sunk in what had just happened.
She had gotten caught and would pay the price.
“And you,” Dante turned to Joel. “I believe you didn’t know that Jeanine was behind this, but I have a zero-tolerance policy. You can continue working for Inferno Construction but if I get even a whiff of anything suspicious, I will fire your ass so fast and you best believe I will enjoy doing it.”
Joel stared at him for a second and then nodded. “Yes, sir. I promise you won’t have anything to worry about.”
Jeanine squeaked, ghost white but still able to understand that she would lose her job for the man next to her, but that he would be just fine.
So much for loyalty.
Dante held out his hand. “I’ll take your badge now,” he said to Jeanine. Reluctantly, she handed over the fob card enclosed in a plastic sheath. “You’re lucky I’m not pressing charges.”
Then she slinked away and the group dispersed—Joel with a nod, Sam with a pat on Dante’s back and an amused chuckle.
Together, Dante and I headed towards the exit, me full of adrenaline.
I leaned toward him and whispered, “That was kind of amazing.” He shook his head and wrapped an arm around my waist.
“I’m glad you thought so.” He leaned in to give the top of my head a kiss. “I guess we need to find a new administrative assistant.”
“I’m on it,” I said, whipping out my cell phone to make a note. Not that I could forget a task like that.
Then I put my phone away. “Hey, how do you feel about a book festival?” I asked as we walked back to the car. Hand in hand.
DANTE – One Year Later
I rushed around the apartment, grabbing my keys and my cell phone before kissing Kate and heading out the door. “I’ll see you in an hour,” I promised her.
Today was opening day of the East End Mall. All that stood between me and the end of this project was a ribbon cutting with the mayor scheduled for later in the morning.
I couldn’t wait to unveil the special project we’d been keeping under wraps.
After reading that project cost analysis when I first started in my position, I realized we needed to put a plan in place to help serve the people most impacted by the mall project.
My team had worked with the city council to establish a family resource center. A one-stop shop to get connected to local services, health insurance, and job training and placement.
I hoped the community would love it.
But that’s not why I was nervous. The small black box burning a hole in my suit pocket was the cause of that.
I barely slept, but despite that, I felt alive and ready for the day.
My father would meet up with us at the site, but I needed to swing by the office to pick up a few things first.
Over the past few months my father had gotten stronger and stronger. The two rounds of chemo had taken their toll, but the latest blood tests showed no signs of cancer.
I assumed that my father would want to come back to the company, but he seems content to play golf and have lunch with his retired friends.
He even recently started dating someone.
That was a bit of a shock, but the shock soon wore off.
He deserved to be happy.
As did I.
When my father called last year to tell me about his cancer, I couldn’t have imagined how things would turn out.
That I’d thrive leading the company.
That I’d meet someone as amazing as Kate.
That I’d actually want to have someone in my life permanently.
Life in Cleveland had been more of a lonely existence than I had ever realized. Not until Kate and I made things official and moved in together did I truly understand how much I needed the companionship at home.
And the partnership at work.
It became clear early on that Kate’s talent was wasted as an administrative assistant. She deserved a title that befitted all the work she did for Inferno Construction.
Of course, she had protested at first, not wanting to it to look like favoritism, but everyone who worked with her knew she deserved the new role of chief community liaison. She represented Inferno Construction at community meetings, with the city council and wherever else we needed her.
She made the family resource center a reality.
And of course, she continued to keep me organized even though I now had a new administrative assistant whose job it was to do just that.
Kate couldn’t help it.
And I couldn’t help wanting her more and more.
My desire for her only growing as we spent more time together.
; And I knew I wanted to spend forever with her.
I sipped my coffee as I looked out over the city, a creak of the door the only indication I was no longer alone.
The smell of vanilla hit my senses as Kate wrapped her arms around me from behind.
“Today’s the big day,” she said.
I wanted to laugh. She had no idea just how big of a day it was going to be.
But then her hands started to roam, freezing when she felt the bulge in my pocket.
And no, it wasn’t that bulge. She hadn’t gotten that far yet.
Her hands motioned for me to turn around and she opened my jacket, her hands continuing their quest.
This wasn’t how I wanted to do things, but I didn’t stop her. A mix of emotions cascaded over her face.
Then she pulled out the little box, staring at it as if it were a nuclear device.
“Dante?” she asked.
“Yes, love?” I answered, letting her lead.
“Is this what I think it is?”
“Why don’t you open it and find out for yourself?”
She nodded, but didn’t make any attempt to open the box. I bent over, kissing her behind her ear. “Open it.”
Watering eyes met mine. I’d be worried if the bottom of her face wasn’t sporting an enormous grin.
After a steadying breath, she opened the box. A gasp escaped her.
“Oh, it’s beautiful, Dante,” she said, her hands shaking.
I knelt down and then took the box from her, releasing the ring from its stronghold to place it on her finger.
“Kate Kincaid, this is not how I planned it, but once again you’ve taken me by surprise. Something you’ve done since the day I met you.”
Tears starting falling from her eyes as she laughed in earnest.
“Would you do me the honor of marrying me?” I asked her, holding my breath for her response.
“Yes,” she whispered. Then said it again, a little louder.
I slipped the vintage ring on her finger, then stood.
“Catch,” was all the warning I got as she jumped on me, wrapping her legs around my back.