Chris roared with laughter. “I haven’t actually slept with her but she’s pretty good on her knees.” I looked him over and shuddered. He wasn’t as bad as Carl or Frank, but his thinning hair and the wrinkles around his eyes definitely tells me he’s too old for her. Hell I think I’m too old for her. She’s probably barely 20.
Thomas decided to change the subject and I couldn’t be any happier. A passing waiter serving champagne went by and I snatched a new flute. “We were just talking about your company before you showed up.” Thomas said.
I raised an eyebrow as though I hadn’t a clue and wasn’t just eavesdropping on them a minute ago. “really?” I asked.
He nodded. “Paul Courtner that works for you is supposedly defending Gerald Mavorik’s senior…” he said.
I knew he was prodding me for information but I wasn’t going to bite. “Hmmm.” Was all I said in response and switched the subject. “So have you guys been involved with Carl’s business long?” I asked.
They went on the say how they are all at various stages and how successful their profits have been. I was beginning to feel like this was dead end when Thomas spoke up again. “The thing I like most about dealing with Carl is that he is very open. He wants you to feel as comfortable as possible and he’s very good at divulging information. Whatever it is that you’re skeptical about he will give you as much detail as possible. Not necessarily as a reassurance or to keep you in his pocket, but as an act of faith and I supposed to keep himself from being exposed to anything like fraud or what not. He covers all of our asses by making all information to those whom should privy in the know. It’s comforting to know what’s happening with your money and where it may end up. Not all projects turn out the way we originally anticipate, but you kind of watch the project as it plays out.”
If I were a dog, my ears and tail would be standing up straight still as a statue. “What kind of information?” I asked casually.
“Any and everything. He basically sends out reports with all pertinent details of the project on a biweekly basis. It has the current status of everything, if there’s delays, issues in developments… it’s all in there. It has expenses, ETA’s, and information that will be publicized on future press releases or critical business details that would impact the state of the company.” He took a sip of champagne and continued. “It also contains our expected income figures, stock/bond price expectations… everything throughout the lifecycle of the agreement. There’s future and prior expectations, loads of graphs… I’m a very untrusting person and the way this entire thing is run could only help you trust what is going on and there’s nothing shady. All your money is thoroughly accounted for.”
I nodded. “That sounds like a hell of a business. I can see why he’s doing so well, he’s able to grab and hold onto good investors and maintain their trusts. It’s a very crucial aspect in this type of business to continue to thrive. I’ll definitely be looking into future business with Carl, thanks a lot for the information.” I told him truthfully and drained my glass. It was truthfully a very well run business, and outside of the fact of Carl being an old ass pedophile type of guy, he seems very genuine in decent.
A few minutes later Frank returned to the group his clothes slightly wrinkled and his shirt sloppily tucked in. Tasha was in tow looking only a tad bit sick and flushed. Yuck! He rejoined the group and gave us a wide smile. When Tasha rejoined the group she looked me over and gave me a tentative smile. I’m sure she knew that I was well aware of where they’d disappeared to and these guys probably filled me in on how much she likes to please their clients. The look she gave me however told me that she wanted a proposition from me. No fucking way. I can see what Thomas meant, it’s just fucking gross even considering having a go with her right behind Frank.
“Are you ready to finish the tour?” she offered.
Frank waggled his eyes at me and I couldn’t stand to be around him. I accepted her offer just to get away from him and followed her to the bar. I ordered a scotch and when she got comfortable next to me I sighed. She wasn’t going to let up apparently. As I drank she chatted away throwing numerous innuendos and subtle offers at me. When I started to feel smothered, I excused myself under the pretenses that I needed to use the bathroom. Really, I wanted to look for Cassie and get the hell out of this place. I haven’t seen her since she walked off with Carl. I walked around and couldn’t find her and began to grow worried. Where the fuck was she?
I pulled out my phone and found and empty dark corner by the stairs to make the call. Just as I reached her name in my contacts I heard her voice. What the fuck? I looked up the stairs and a bedroom door opened and she exited adjusting her dress in the breast area. She turned back and smiled and out walked Carl. I practically fumed with rage. Virgin my ass. She started for the stairs and he ogled her ass with a big happy grin on his face as he shut the door back closed. I stepped back into the corner so I wasn’t in sight.
“That was amazing…” Cassie said her cheeks reddening.
“I thought so too. Let’s get back to the party before we’re missed.” Carl said as they descended the stairs.
They continued chatting but my blood was pumping in my ears and made it impossible for me to hear. When they were gone, I slid from my hiding spot and made it to the door. I was outside and in a cab in a blink of an eye. It would be expensive but at this point I didn’t give a shit. When I got back to her parents’ house I told her mom that I wasn’t feeling great. An emergency had come up and I needed to run, that Cassie stayed behind to finish up business. I grabbed my packed bag and bee lined it right back out and to the airport. I switched my flight and before I knew it, I was on my way back home.
Chapter 10
Drayden
When I landed last night and turned my phone back on I had three text messages from Cassie.
I can’t find you.
Where are you?
Spoke to my mom, is everything ok?
I sent a quick text back, emergency. Call airport if you need to change your flight.
She responded. Will catch first morning flight back.
I didn’t respond and she didn’t send anymore messages. It was childish of me to run and act like a heartbroken kid, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around any of it. Was she serious? I felt played and that didn’t happen often. I didn’t know how to handle it and I damn sure couldn’t sleep under the same roof as her. I have no idea if I’d been able to control myself and not call her on her bullshit. I was actually thinking that she told me she was a virgin either to appear vulnerable or she knew I wouldn’t have taken advantage of a person that way. My mind was running in circles and the shit wasn’t healthy. I shouldn’t be focusing this much time and effort on this whole situation. She was my fucking assistant and that’s where I needed to keep her.
I worked from home the next two days leading into the weekend. She had gone straight to the office from the airport, and we had little to no communication. She forwarded my emails and I didn’t respond. Sunday when I checked my emails I saw that she had sent me something of high importance. She had forwarded me the information from Carl’s assistant that we had requested. I finally sent her back a response. Read this through, make notes and put it in my box when done. This was business, I can’t let my personal feelings in the way of that. she responded but I didn’t even dare open it. I deleted it without reading and began sorting through the information myself.
I walked into the office on Monday and was instantly alarmed. Cassie was standing in the middle of the room, face ashen, and she was wringing the life out of her fingers.
“Cassie?” I asked gently. Her head swung around and she looked me dead in the eye. All I saw was fear in hers. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
She lifted a shaky hand and picked up a piece of paper. There was tape at the top but the words unnerved me. In big bold letters the types words read:
STOP DIGGING CASSIE…
OR ELSE.
WE’LL START WITH YOUR
PARENTS IN TEXAS.
I crumbled up the paper after seeing a photo of her and Carl arm and arm from the party. What the fuck? This had to be somebody inside the firm and although my body was screaming Paul I knew it wasn’t him. It would be too fucking obvious and I knew there were others in here all down with whatever the fuck this shit was with Mavorik.
I walked past her to throw it in the garbage and saw my office door ajar. I opened the door completely and saw the havoc that used to be my office. There were papers everywhere, my desk was trashed, my computer broken, and my chair flipped on its side. There were holes in the wall and the few pieces of glass between pictures and even mugs were all shattered. It was apparent that the person who was looking didn’t find what they were looking for and decided to trash the place. I chuckled to myself as I searched and searched and came up with no threatening notes. They must’ve been under the suspicion that we were working together but finding no evidence, changed their opinion.
I went back to Cassie and she was right where I left her as though she was frozen like a statue. “Is there anything else?” I asked.
She nodded. “My computer, everything is gone. Like it was wiped completely clean I don’t even have the basic applications like Microsoft on it.”
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
Finally, a response. Her eyebrows flew up and she looked at me curiously. “where are we going?” she asked.
“My place. Get your stuff and let’s go now.”
She didn’t hesitate and immediately grabbed her stuff and came to my side. That in itself told me how rattled she really was that there was no question or snapback. We made our way to my car and pulled out. When we got to my house, she immediately went to the kitchen and fired up the coffee maker. I pulled out my phone to call HR as I watched her from a distance. She pulled out some creamer – which I bought during the days that I was snatching her coffee and unfortunately thought was OK after the fact – and sugar. She took out two mugs and watched the coffee maker impatiently. I spoke to HR quickly just telling them that we would both be working remotely because my office had been ransacked and needed to addressed. I was quite happy they did that though. It gave a reason for us to not be present in the office while my office is being redone. I was happy that I didn’t keep the paperwork I had in the office and it was impossible to get into my computer. I should’ve taken the same precautions with my assistants as well, but that’s just info to hold onto for the future.
I heard her sigh as I hung up and I watched as she started rifling through my fridge. Against my better judgement I liked it… a lot. I turned and went upstairs to grab my two laptops. When I was almost done hooking them up in the living room, Cassie came in with a bagel and two mugs of coffee. She put one down in front of me and placed hers on the table before shedding her shoes and curling up on the couch. I passed her the laptop and she immediately got to work. Not one word was uttered between us.
Cassie
To say I was shaken up would be a severe understatement. Whoever is in on this whole fucking scheme knows that I’m looking into them. Then to add to that they left me a threat, not only for my safety but my parents as well. The fact that someone had taken a picture of Carl and I at his party only tells me that they must’ve had some hints to this prior to if they were having me watched. I’ve met some of the people there and a few were familiar from other events I’d been forced to attend so it couldn’t be that weird that Drayden would be there… or me for that matter since I’ve been accompanying him to these types of shindigs. Its baffling considering that I don’t know what could have possibly tipped anyone off. We’ve been discreet and that was the first person we spoke to.
Then there was Drayden. I took a chance to peer over at him. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was typing his life away on his keyboard. He was sexy when he was thoughtful. I sighed. I have no idea what happened. We crossed the line a few times, sure… but we bounced right back from our discrepancies. Ever since the meeting with Carl he’d been different, almost agitated with me. While this isn’t anything new he was withdrawn. Normally when I piss him off or annoy him it’s a prelude to a fight between us and then it’s back to normal when we get it out of our systems. Then there was the fact that he just ditched me at the party leaving me alone with creepy ass Carl. I’d been so excited to find him since I had some information that would be good for the case but he turned up MIA… and so did Tasha, Carl’s assistant. He was the one to make the observation, and found out that she left saying she wasn’t feeling good. One of the men I met at the party – I think his name may have been Frank – gave me the fucking chills and said that she was giving Drayden a private tour. The way it was said and the reactions that followed didn’t leave much to the imagination. They were saying they left together… and I felt a pain in my chest I had no business feeling. Sure, we weren’t together… hell we haven’t even slept together, but we almost did. To me that counted for something and as he rejected me he had no qualms on taking her up for her offer.
When I got home my mother said he had an emergency. When I couldn’t reach him right away, me being the worrywart I could sometimes be reached out to Shelly and Lorraine and neither of them knew anything about an emergency. That made my heart sink, he lied. I didn’t know what caused the sudden change between us, but it was uncomfortable and my pride wouldn’t let me be the one to broach the subject.
“Things have escalated fast and I have no idea how the hell they got the drop on us. We need to put more time into this case and get to the bottom of it. Trashing my office and leaving threatening messages isn’t something we should take lightly. Since we’re not sure who all are involved we need to be careful and don’t overlook anything.” Drayden spoke out suddenly.
I was a bit startled but I recuperated quickly. “I agree. I actually have some information that I wanted to share with you…”
He looked at me with narrowed eyes but didn’t comment. I suddenly grew really nervous under his scrutiny. “Um…” I began and clammed up.
His eyebrow raised. “Something you wanted to tell me… I think now would be a good time.” He said in a degrading voice and I couldn’t help feeling my own anger rise.
“Well I wanted to go to that party so that I can get some information from Carl – “I was cut off by Drayden’s obnoxious snort.
“Right…” he said.
My eyes now narrowed and I stood to my feet. “What the fuck is your problem?” I asked totally fed up with his shit.
He rolled his eyes and made a hand motion like I was a nuisance. “Just finish with your story.”
“No. We’re talking about this… what the fuck crawled up your ass and died? You’ve been being a bastard since we met the man. What the hell did either of us do to you?”
“are you fucking kidding me with this shit Cassie? I already know the truth, but if you want to throw me a story to entertain me then who am I to try to stop you?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Stop talking in riddles, what the fuck is that even supposed to mean? You’re supposed to be a straight shooter right? Spit it the hell out… or have you lost that with your ability to tell the truth when you jumped between Tasha’s legs.” Fine. Not the most graceful way to throw that out there but it’s said and there’s no taking it back.
He jumped out of his seat and his anger was palpable. Some of my bravado fell when I saw his chest heaving and his face began turning a bright shade of red. He slowly undid his tie and let it fall to the floor before advancing on me. I instinctively took a few steps back until he stopped his advance.
“You never want to be around guys like that, hell you give me shit for it every single time. Then he comes along and you’re all bright eyed and flirty. You fucking wanted to be with that fucking sleeze ball. Then on top of that I saw you Cassie. I FUCKING SAW YOU COME OUT OF A BEDROOM WITH HIM!” he was screaming at this point. “And you were fixing your fucking dress. You had such a good time with him up in that room huh? You told me you were a
fucking virgin, was that true? Was that a part of your game? Or did you give him that little treat? You don’t really have any expectations or preferences when it comes to losing it since you were just going to give it up to me days before. Until you laid eyes on him.” he took a step back and pinched the bridge of his nose as he stared at the ceiling briefly. When his eyes returned to mine I saw it then. It’s what he’s been hiding, what he’s been keeping under wraps. Hurt. The thought of me and Carl being together hurt him. Just like what the thought of him and Tasha made me feel.
I reached out and touched his arm and he flinched. “You have this entire situation wrong. I knew he was a dirt bag when he asked me to go. I thought it would be a good opportunity however to talk to him and to other people. Did I like his attention? Fuck no. Did I fake it to make him feel comfortable enough to talk to me without feeling like I had an ulterior motive? Yes. I get how it looks and that’s how it was supposed to look. Don’t you think it would’ve been suspicious if I were asking him details like I was interested in his life and business while my blatant disgust for him was written across my face?” Drayden listened to me intently and his eyes searched mine looking for the truth. I felt his body relax a little and I continued my anger again escalating and I was poking him in the chest. “And how dare you even fucking think that I would sleep with him. I told you I was a fucking virgin. When do I lie to you Drayden?!”
He actually looked a little guilty when I called him out on his accusation. Good. “Is that what you fucking think of me? I’ll throw myself at whatever guy is in the room with me?” the more I thought about it the angrier I became.
He grabbed my arms forcing me to drop my hands to my side. I didn’t realize I had been swatting at him as I spoke until he tried to restrain me. “I was… I was…” he began.
The Laws of Love Page 16