by Terri Pray
“Alan!”
“Are you going to let me talk to Sue, or are you going to find something else to make her feel uncomfortable?” He raised one eyebrow and fixed his father with a cool glare. “I asked her to come here to help us, not to deal with any shielded insults.”
Neil frowned, his jaw tightening even as he spoke. “I’m sorry; she just caught me off guard. I had a different image in mind from what little you’d told me about her.”
“I’m guessing you thought he’d be dating something young and slim.” Sue’s shoulders tensed.
Even from across the desk Alan could feel the ice in her words.
“Something like that, but I’m learning that my son isn’t exactly predictable.”
“Well, once we’re done here I’ll take myself back to work and away from your son so you can hook him up with something a little more to your liking.” Her knuckles turned white as she spoke.
“Dad, Sue, can we deal with that side of things later? I did ask you here for some help, not to run the gauntlet from my Dad. And he doesn’t decide who I go out with or who I fall in love with. So Dad, please, shut it. Unless you have something constructive to add to the conversation.” He turned back to look at Sue, hoping she would hear the truth in his words. “Sue, I didn’t ask you out last night to strike out at my Dad, or because I needed your help. I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I like the way you look. Shit, I more than like it. And if proving it to you means not finding out who’s behind the leaks in my company and letting the entire thing crash down around my ears, then so be it.”
Both Sue and Neil eyeballed him.
“No, I’m not out of my mind. I’m just not prepared to be told who I can and can’t date any longer, either directly by you setting me up, Dad, or indirectly by you insulting the woman I love.”
There it was. The L word.
“Did you just say you loved me?” Sue fixed him with a panic-stricken look. “In front of your dad? Alan, what on earth are you thinking about?”
“Yes, I did. And if you’re not ready to hear the word in public then we can deal with that later, but the point remains the same. I need your help, but I won’t let my father, or anyone else, insult you.”
“I wasn’t insulting her.” Neil’s voice rose and rapidly approached a shout.
“Yes, you were. You might not think you were, but I could see it, and it was obvious Sue felt the sting in your words. Now drop it, Dad.”
Sue sucked in her bottom lip, trembling, as her gaze flicked from one man to the next. Damn, he didn’t like seeing her like this. Vulnerable. That was the only word his mind would link to what was going on. It took everything he had not to step around the desk and wrap his arms tightly about her.
Strength and vulnerability all in one woman…how could he be this lucky?
“Sue, if you want to leave, if you don’t want to help us, I’ll understand it.” Sure, it would mean he’d have to call Dexter about the problems and call everything off on the deal, but it was better than letting his dad get away with treating Sue like that.
How many years had he dealt with his father trying to force situations? Either by direct orders or subtle manipulation? It ended. Now. Even if it meant walking out of the business and never looking back.
“I’m sorry, Miss Night.” Neil spoke softly, a slight shake in his voice that Alan had never heard there before. “My son’s right. Perhaps I’ve let a few blind spots get in the way of things. A couple of years ago I would have thought before opening my mouth, but I’m afraid the subject of dating has become something of a sore spot between Alan and myself. You got the brunt of that and it wasn’t fair of me.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Alan, I want to say something to your dad, but after we get this issue sorted out. The one you called me here for.” Sue took a deep breath and tried to turn her attention away from the older man. How could someone be so cruel, and with no cause? Didn’t he understand just how his words count lance into the heart of a woman?
Shit, she knew better than that. There would always be someone ready to call her a fatty, obese, wide load, tubby, or something like that. There’d always be a newcomer who looked at her and never bothered to look beyond her body and some stupid ideal of what all women were supposed to look like according to a new fashion craze, or diet potion to sell.
“That’s fine by me.” His gaze narrowed for a moment, but that was it.
Good, whatever she wanted to say he wouldn’t stop her. It might mean what was between them would come to an end, but if that was the case, so be it.
What was between them?
He’d said the word love. Had he meant it? Or was it something he’d just said to throw his father off guard?
“Hey, what if I don’t want to sit here and listen to what your girlfriend of the moment wants to say to me?”
“Then I’ll walk out with her. It’s your choice, Dad.”
A slight smile threatened to creep out of hiding. Good, he was ready to stand up for her. She wasn’t sure if that was because of how he felt towards her, or because he was pissed at his dad. There was no real way of telling right now.
“So, what is it you want me to do?”
“I know this is asking a little much, but I think I know who it is that Bill has been talking to here, and I want to call him into the office to see if you recognize him.”
“And what if he recognizes me?”
“Then, knowing Charlie, then he’ll say something. Don’t worry, I won’t let him do anything to you, Sue.”
She wasn’t so worried about that. “Say I can identify him, what then?”
“I call the police and have him arrested.”
“On what charges? I mean is he actually doing anything illegal?”
“That we’ll have to leave to the police to decide upon. But I can call the police and have him escorted from the building if he doesn’t agree to leave of his own volition. However, what he’s done does come under the abuse of the Net. He’s disclosed information without permission, despite the signed confidentiality agreement we have all of our employees sign and the way he’s spoken about women on the Net, naming them, giving personal information. That might be covered by the antiharassment laws.”
Could it work that way? She wasn’t a solicitor and had no clue about that side of things, but the chance to bring them down, to put a stop to all of this, was something she had to follow through.
“So, you’re willing to try?” Alan smiled, that same heart-stopping glint in his eyes that she had seen a dozen times over in the past couple of days, but this time something snapped inside. “I know it’s asking a lot of you, but…”
“Yes. For what little it might be worth, yes, I am” How could she deny him when all she wanted to do was step around the desk and into his arms? It didn’t matter that his father was there as well. Or that the older man didn’t approve of her.
All right, so she wanted to do a little bit more than hug him. He did deserve a good spanking after the way he’d thrown her in at the deep end with his dad.
He gestured to one of the chairs then reached for the phone. “Then let’s get this over and done with. I’ll call him in and…”
“Wait, I want to say something first. Or rather ask you something.”
One eyebrow shot up. “And what’s that?”
“Remember the promise you made?” She met his gaze, trying to keep her breathing steady.
“Yes, I do.”
“I’m calling that in now.”
“Hold on a minute, I don’t think this is the time or the place for whatever is going on between the two of you.” Neil spoke up. “We’ve more important things to cope with.”
“Dad, keep out of this, please.” Alan didn’t even look at his father. “Sue is important to me.”
She glanced at the older man, then back to Alan. What if he didn’t care for her, if it had all been nothing more than a way of getting her in bed? No, she knew he wasn’t like that. She had to get her irrational fe
ars under control. “I need to know something. I understand that this isn’t really the right time to ask, but I don’t think there will ever be a right time.”
“You can ask me anything, Sue. No matter what. I made the promise. I’ll keep it.”
Sue took a slow, deep breath and looked him directly in the eyes. “Do you love me? Truly love me? They weren’t just words you used to get what you wanted, or to shock your father? I need to know if you want, no, if you need me in your life.”
“I knew it; she’s trying to trap you into a marriage,” Neil spluttered.
“Dad, please be quiet.”
Her limbs trembled, heart racing as it threatened to pound free of her chest. Her palms felt sweaty. If he said no, then she knew it was just a fling, something they could both enjoy then move on when the time was right.
Which would be shortly after the blogger ring had been dealt with as far as she was concerned. It was one thing to enjoy his touch, but she cared for him, loved him, and the idea of him not returning those feelings….
Then she’d turn around, walk away and give up her interest in learning to be a dominant. It didn’t matter that she’d finally realized she needed that, without Alan in her life it would be pointless.
“Yes, I do.”
“Alan, you don’t have to tell her that.”
Had she heard him correctly?
“Dad, you taught me not to lie, not about things like this.” Alan shrugged, his gaze never leaving her face. “And I do love her. I think I have since the moment she walked into the office a couple of days ago.”
“But you’ve only known her for what, forty-eight hours?”
“And how long had you known Mum before you proposed?”
“That’s not the same thing!” The older man stood up. “Things were different then, we knew what we wanted and didn’t need to wait. She works for you, for us, and what do you know about her? You can’t say it’s anything like what happened between your mother and I.”
“It’s the same thing, no matter how you try to tell yourself otherwise. I know what I want, who I want to spend the rest of my life with, and she’s standing right here, Dad. You proposed to Mum only a twelve hours after meeting her. Well, I’m not proposing, I want to make sure Sue’s happy before we even think about that, but I know she’s the woman I love.”
“Alan…”
“No, Dad, I love her, she’s coming to the party with me if she wants to, and I’ll be introducing her to Mum as my girlfriend.”
Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks as she listened to Alan. Snakes knotted a dozen times over, only to finally begin to settle in the pit of her stomach, and still there was that soft voice of doubt trying to whisper to her that it was all a joke, a dream, a plot set up by someone to make her look foolish.
But the voice inside now lacked power.
The snakes no longer frightened her.
“Thank you.” She looked at Neil, then back to Alan. So Mr. Martin Senior didn’t approve of his son’s choice. That was something they could deal with later, when the time was right. But for now they had other matters to take care of. One she was ready to face now that she knew the truth. “I believe I’m ready to take a look at this man for you.”
She slipped her jacket off finally, setting it over the back of one of the chairs before she sat down, her gaze drawn for a moment to her purse and the small bag she had picked up before heading for work that morning.
Yes, she was ready for this, and everything that would follow.
The question was, would Alan be ready?
* * * * *
Alan settled back in the chair, his gaze fixed not on Sue, or his father, but the door. Sue didn’t move from the side of the desk, her back slightly turned to the door, but she’d still be able to see Charlie when he walked in.
Neil had fallen silent again, though the scowl he kept shooting Alan’s way came as no surprise. Oh, his father would accept the situation in time, but until then there would be a few interesting days.
The party. That was going to be fun, especially if Victoria or some of the others were planning to attend. He could always ignore it, avoid the situation, except there would always be another party, another family event, or business get-together waiting around the corner. Still, he had every faith in Sue; the strength she had shown, even through her fear, had been far more than he had expected.
“Mr. Martin?” The door cracked open. “You wanted to see me?”
“Come in, Charlie.” Had the man even changed his top in the past couple of days? Or did he keep a dozen identical tops in his wardrobe?
“I have the report you wanted; sorry it’s cutting things fine. I’ve been a little distracted recently. It will be done on time though.”
Alan glanced at Sue briefly. Her shoulders had tensed, and she didn’t look over at Charlie despite the fact that she wanted to.
“Come on in properly, Charlie. No point you standing at the doorway like that.” Alan smiled and hoped he gave off some level of friendly appearance. He didn’t need the man guessing what was going on just yet. Not until the right moment.
“I didn’t realize you had someone else here.” Charlie shifted his weight a little and nodded towards Neil Martin. “I didn’t expect to see both of you here and…”
“The report?” Alan held out his hand. “I really need to go over it today, Charlie. You know we’re pressed for time. You were told that it had to be ready, and I’m not minded to give you any more time to get it finished.”
Come on, little fishy, come on in a little bit more where she can see you.
“I meant to have this to you late last night, but I sort of got caught up with an old friend.” Charlie smiled and walked in, offering the report.
Sue hissed under her breath. The sound barely audible but it was enough to catch the attention of both men.
“Shit!” Charlie took a step back. Panic flashed in his eyes, the color draining from his face. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“Something the matter, Charlie?”
“What’s she doing here? She doesn’t work in this building! She’s not supposed to be here.”
“Then you do know my guest after all?” Of course he did.
“I -- I’ve seen her around.” Charlie’s gaze flickered from one man to the next in the room as he backed up rapidly. The report still clutched in his hands, his knuckles white.
“We both know it’s far more than that. It’s time you came clean, Charlie. It will be better for you and your friends in the long run.”
“You know? About the blogger, you know? I swear it wasn’t my idea to take things this far.”
“Sit down, Charlie.” Alan rose and stepped slowly around the edge of the desk. “Yes, I know, and I know you’re Dangerous Liaisons so you might as well just sit down and explain a few things to me. Like what made you think it was fine to try and smear the women you work with, or sell out my company for a few kicks. Did you get off on it? Did you like walking into work every day looking for some new piece of gossip you could post?”
“Oh, God. You’re going to fire me, aren’t you? We weren’t out to talk about work. You have to believe me. It wasn’t like that. Not at first. It wasn’t my idea to start that side of things. We were just keeping track of the women…”
“No? What was it like, then? Did you one day wake up and decide, hey I’m going to be an asshole and destroy my job?”
“It was a game. Nothing but a game. But when I mentioned the idea of Bill sharing things that were going on at work we all thought why not, it added to the hits we were getting. The more hits the bigger the secrets we needed to keep the readers interested. The comments, the feedback, all those people coming to read our messages every day, it became addictive. Can’t you see that?”
Addictive?
Even if he was telling the truth that still didn’t excuse him. Anything could be addictive if you let it be.
“So it was Bill’s idea?” His gaz
e narrowed on the trembling man.
“Mostly.”
“Who else was involved?”
“Bill -- he swore me to secrecy on that. I can’t. I’ll lose everything. God, I just can’t.” What little color the other man had retained now drained from his face.
“Then you can tell that to the police. I’m pressing charges.” So, there was someone else involved in all of this, but who was it? And how in hell’s name was he going to find out?
“On -- on what grounds?” Charlie stammered. “I’ve done nothing illegal.”
“Harassment, malicious rumors, I’ll think of something. Oh I’m pretty sure what you’ve done is illegal, but I’m not a solicitor or a police officer. However, the police will be able to figure out just what it is you’ve done and what charges can be levied against you. And I will follow them through. To the very bitter end.”
“You can’t do that to me! I haven’t done anything that deserves that. Fire me, yes, but not that. Jail? For a few posts on the Net? It doesn’t make sense. It was just a bit of harmless fun.” The file fell from Charlie’s hand, papers scattering across the floor. “Mr. Martin, you can’t do this to me, we were just having a bit of fun.”
“If it had just been a bit of fun then why did you cost this company thousands of pounds? Why have you been hiding your words under an anonymous name? And why, if it was just a bit of fun, are you having problems telling me just who else Bill is working with?”
Charlie opened his mouth to protest then closed it again, shaking his head.
One piece of the puzzle left to work out, to find the answer to. They’d come this far, worked out the details, it wouldn’t be long before he had the rest of the information and then the ring would be shut down for good.
“A bit of fun doesn’t need the protection you took care to use, does it? I’m sorry Charlie, you and your friends did it to yourselves. And I strongly suggest you tell the police everything you can about just who else is involved in this fiasco. It might be the only way you can prevent them from prosecuting you to the full extent of the law.”
Chapter Twenty