Rich Man's Deception: Complete Boxed Set Bundle: Billionaire Boss / Corporate Espionage Romance

by Gibson, Valerie S.

  Ellie nodded. “Ian has already told me that you won't be needed. He said you are free to take the rest of the day off.”

  'Great...' I thought. “Great,” I said, amiably.

  Ellie nodded, handing me a slip of paper. “Here is the new address where Bill will pick you up. Good afternoon Ms. Potters, it has been a pleasure.”

  I wasn't so sure I could say the same. “Thank you,” I nodded, and watched her gather up her bags. “Just remember what I told you Ms. Potters. It would be best for you both not to get too close to Ian.”

  I nodded, anything to make her go away. When she left though, the cold feeling in the pit of my stomach remained.

  Getting to Ian's estate the next day was far easier than the first day, if only because I was prepared. I had met up with Bill again, only this time it was behind some shady looking abandoned warehouse. I wasn't sure why Ian had to pick addresses that looked like they would end up as future crime scenes, but Bill always made it seem safe enough.

  This time I wore sweats and sneakers, too, while keeping my brand new dress and heels in my new handbag. (All courtesy of Ian, though he wouldn't know it, not for sure anyway.) I was disappointed however when I reached the helicopter pad on the island, and was greeted gruffly by some unknown pilot. He didn't say a single word to me, only indicated that I should sit down. He never once removed his helmet either. It was safe to say I much preferred my other pilot, though my life was probably in significantly less danger with the new one.

  When I finally arrived at the estate, you could tell things were not in the same state that I had left them the day before. Personnel were everywhere. Men in lab coats were rushing past, security guards following closely at their heels. Secretaries, butlers, handmaids, and businessmen were everywhere you turned. I had even caught a glimpse of Ellie, but pretended that I didn't. After yesterday's events, I wasn't sure if she loved or hated me. Either way, best to keep a distance.

  A maid named Mabyl showed me to my desk. I was confused, as I knew Ian's main headquarters was in the heart of the city. It was there I thought I would be doing the bulk of my work. “I don't understand,” I said. “Why are so many people here? Isn't Infiniti Inc. headquarters in the city?”

  Mabyl smiled, it was friendly and warm, warmer than any other smile she had received today. “Oh don't let Mr. Payne fool you. He uses that skyscraper as more of a business front than anything. Just like the mobsters used to.”

  The word 'mobsters' piqued my interest. My journalistic instincts began stirring. Perhaps today was going to be productive after all.What Mabyl had already told me was literary gold, but I was shooting for platinum. “What do you mean?”

  Mabyl laughed. “Mr. Payne has several sites where his company works on developmental sciences. Laboratories and research centers all over the U.S., in remote locations, but truthfully he doesn't trust any of them. Anyone that's anyone around here knows that Mr. Payne keeps his most important projects right here at home.”

  My heart was hammering in my chest as I flipped on the recorder in my handbag. Mr. Payne was doing research off the grid? At his home no less? This was huge... and almost certainly illegal. “And what project is that?” I asked, trying to seem non-nonchalant, a difficult task when my pulse was quickening so rapidly.

  Mabyl shrugged. “Only Mr. Payne knows that. I've been down to that lab of his a few times, bringing him tea, or lunch. Sometimes he’ll lock himself in there for hours though, or days, refusing to let anyone in or out. The man's a typical workaholic, everything else takes a backseat. Some days, the man would forget to feed himself if you let him.”

  “Oh,” I said, flipping off the tape recorder discreetly. That hadn't been nearly as informative as I had hoped.

  “Good morning ladies,” a firm voice said. My hand was still on the tape recorder, and it made my heart skip a few beats. I turned to find the source. It was Logan, standing behind me, holding a phone in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.

  Mabyl's eyes narrowed. “It was, until you showed up.”

  Logan looked at Mabyl and scowled. “Are you still going on about that Mabyl, that was 6 years ago.”

  “A lady never forgets,” Mabyl said.

  I cocked an eyebrow. “You two have some kind of history?” I asked.

  “No!” they both said in tandem. Which meant they did, but neither wanted to talk about it.

  “What do you want anyway? Got bored torturing your interns and ignoring your wife's phone calls?” Mabyl asked snidely.

  Logan rolled his eyes. “Actually, I'm here for Ms. Potters.” he looked at me. Something in his eyes seemed suspicious. A lump of fear solidified in my throat. I felt as though the shadow of some monster was looming over me, soon to pounce. “Me?” I squeaked.

  Logan nodded, beckoning me to follow him, I obeyed. “Goodbye Mabyl,“ Logan said with a wave. Mabyl replied by flipping him the bird. It seemed so out of place that it made me blush on the outside, but I was laughing on the inside.

  “Walk with me,” Logan said. He was keeping a brisk pace, and my new heels were very high. He was pretty vigorous for an older man; I could hardly keep up with him.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as I passed several teams of scientists. Ian's estate was more like a maze than anything, a labyrinth with a mystery behind every corner. It was a snoop's wet dream. No wonder Ian had so many problems with this position. There was just too much temptation. Just one of Ian's well-kept secrets would be enough to set anyone up for a lifetime. It must have been hard for him, I realized. How could you ever really trust anyone when that ulterior motive always existed? Perhaps Ian's life wasn't as glamorous and perfect as I thought.

  “Well Ms. Potters, I'm going to be honest with you,” Logan said.

  “Okay,” I replied, anxieties filling my gut like an acid, eating my insides. I wished he would just get it over with already.

  Logan hesitated. “Ian... Ian doesn't listen to me.,” he finally said.

  I still didn't know what that had to do with me. My confused smile communicated that fact to Logan, who responded in kind.

  “I need him present for a press conference, but he's locked himself in his lab again. You'll find that it's a pretty common occurrence. The media is going to grill me though if I don't get Ian to wave at the cameras for a while. That's where you come in,” Logan said.

  I was still a bit confused. “Well what do you expect me to do about it?”

  Logan shrugged. “I don't know, Ian seems to like you, for one reason or another. If anyone can coax him out of his little rabbit hole, it's you.” Suddenly we came to a stop in front of an oak-stained door. “Can you do that for me?” Logan asked, his brown eyes practically pleading.

  “ I can try...” I said. “But I can't make any promises.” I really didn't know how I was supposed to be able to get Ian out of the lab if a man he had known for his whole life couldn't.

  “Great,” Logan said, opening the door. Behind it was a white room with a tile floor, sterile and vacant. On the other side of it was a metal door with a biohazard symbol painted on it. Next to that was a two-way com with a camera embedded in it along with a button on its side. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Logan asked, urging me forward.

  The room looked terrifying, like something out of a techno-horror movie. “You're not coming with me?” I asked.

  “We have a better chance of getting him out if I'm not involved at all,” Logan said.

  “Ok...” I said, doubtfully, then made my way in.

  “Press the red button, that will buzz Ian and let him know you're there. Good luck,” Logan said, closing the door, leaving me alone in the blinding light.

  The air was so stale in the room, and the light so harsh. It was very unpleasant. I wanted out as soon as possible. I pressed the red button once, then again, then one more time. Suddenly a voice came through the intercom, familiar, but distorted.

  “Don't make me mute the intercom, Logan. I told
you I'm busy. I'm on the verge of a breakthrough,” Ian said. His voice sounded much less soothing through the microphone, far more robotic than usual.

  I knelt down closer to the speaker, unsure of how it actually worked. I cleared my throat. “Mr. Payne, it's me, Ms. Potters,” I said feebly.

  “Oh!” Ian responded. “How in the world did you find my lab? On the first day too, that's impressive.”

  “Just lucky, I guess,” I said, rapidly feeling dumber with each passing moment. “Can I come in?” I asked simply. What else was I supposed to say? To my disbelief however, it worked.

  “Of course,” Ian said, and the metal door slid open with a hiss. It must have been hydraulic. “I have to warn you though, it's pretty messy down here. It's my personal lab, you see, and I never let my maids in here. So you-” Ian had continued to ramble on, but I was already making my way down a spiralling set of stairs.

  The air in the lab was distinctly different. It was thicker and had a strange smell to it, not unpleasant, but unfamiliar. It was hotter too; beads of sweat began to form on my brow as I made my way deeper into the lab. It must have been underground, because it felt as though I went down a million stairs before I finally reached the bottom. There I saw Ian sitting at a desk, looking through a mound of papers. On the paper were several sketches, or mathematical formulas. All of it looked like a foreign language to me. He was so busy scrawling on a scratch of paper he hadn't even noticed that I was behind him.

  “Hello,” I finally said. “What are you doing down here?”

  Ian jumped at the sound of my voice. “Oh, you made it,” he said getting up from his seat with a groan.

  “Are you alright?” I asked as he held his neck.

  “Yeah, I think I've just been sitting down too long,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Here let me help,” Before I had even really thought about it, I began massaging his neck. I had never touched him before, it was intimidating. I could feel his bulging muscle right beneath his skin, which was so smooth. My father had been a construction worker, so as a child I had given him hundreds of massages. So it only seemed natural to do it now.

  “Ohhh,” Ian sighed. “That feels phenomenal.”

  “You're very tense,” I said. I could feel all the knots. “You shouldn't strain yourself so much.”

  “I know,” Ian sighed, but there's just too much work to do.”

  “Everyone has their breaking point, even you Mr. Payne,” I suggested. I ran a nail down the length of his neck to his back. I felt goose bumps raise as I did.

  “Well if I do have a breaking point, Ms. Potters, I can't afford to know it,” he said, turning towards me.

  His face was only inches from mine. I had never been so close to him before. My pulse quickened and my thighs tingled. His blue eyes were level with mine, piercing the darkness.

  His face lingered in front of mine, his hands resting on my hips. Neither of us spoke. It was as if a spell had been cast on us. His touch caused my heart to pulse, and my body felt electrified. Then, slowly, his lips began to drift towards mine.

  “Great work, Ms. Potters!” Logan's voice rang out sharply in the laboratory, jolting me back to my senses. Ian and I recoiled from each other with remarkable speed.

  “Logan!” Ian said, startled. “How did you get down here?” he demanded.

  Logan smiled. “You forgot to close the door after you let Ms. Potters down. By the way. Great work darling. I told you it would be a cinch with you.” Logan said, winking at me.

  Ian looked from Logan, then to me. I smiled weakly. “You mean...” Ian said with sudden understanding.

  “Yeah, I sent her,” Logan said. “But don't be cross with her. She was just doing her job. Besides, I need you Ian. Don't you remember? We have a press conference scheduled today.”

  Ian scowled. “I keep trying to forget, but no one will stop reminding me.”

  Logan sighed. “Look Ian, it comes with the territory okay. Public relations can make or break a company.”

  “Not this company,” Ian said proudly, adjusting his tie.

  “Ok, fine,” Logan agreed, “but remember, you said you would be able to do so much more with government funding, right?”

  “I'm listening,” Ian said, and then turned to me. “How do I look?” he asked.

  “Me?” I was blushing, I could feel it. Thankfully, the room was dark. “You look, great,” I offered. It wasn't a lie.

  “Yeah, yeah, you're gorgeous,” Logan said, rolling his eyes. “Well, imagine how well our numbers would look if you just gritted your teeth and put in some PR work. Maybe we could even go public,” Logan tacked on.

  Ian looked at him incredulously. “And sell off pieces of my father's company?”

  “Okay, okay, just a suggestion,” Logan said, throwing his hands up.

  “Well let me know when you have a real one,” Ian growled.

  “Fine, a compromise. You start doing more PR, and I'll drop the ‘going public’ issue. You can keep your company all in one piece, but at least give the public something to work with. We need to start marketing your latest work,” Logan urged.

  Ian shook his head. “Not possible, it isn't ready.”

  “But it will be,” Logan said. “I know you, Ian, you'll get it done.”

  Ian still looked hesitant. “Ms. Potters, what do you think I should do?” he asked.

  The question hit me like a thousand volts. “Um, I'm not really qualified to make those kinds of decisions...” I said.

  “Really? I thought you were the sole proprietor of Mercy May, a company that specialized in sending relief packages to African refugees?” Ian asked.

  Oh right, I had forgotten about that. My friend Stacy and I had gotten really carried away with Ms. Potters' resume. I was starting to regret it. “Well, that was a non-profit organization,” I said quickly. “But if you want my honest opinion...” I hesitated.

  “Go on,” Ian urged.

  “A little PR goes a long way,” I said.

  Ian looked at Logan who was grinning from ear to ear, then simply laughed and shook his head. “You set this whole thing up, didn't you?” he accused Logan.

  Logan threw his hands up. “Hey, I just told her to come get you. I didn't know the girl had a sharp business sense, too,” Logan winked at me. I couldn't help but smile

  “Alright you old miser. You win this round. Let's go kiss some babies,” Ian said.

  “Now you're starting to get it,” Logan said, clamping his hand on the back of Ian's neck. The two began making their way up the stairs, forgetting about me entirely. I would have thought it rude if it wasn't the perfect opportunity to do some sleuthing.

  I looked around the lab. My main priority was to find some dirt on Ian, but learning what his next product would be was of equal, if not more value. I looked over my shoulder. Both Ian and Logan were far ahead of myself. The rest of the lab seemed empty enough as well.

  I made my way over to Ian's desk and began rummaging through all the papers. It was a real mess, devoid of any real organizational system. It was more of a mound of brilliance than a file full of it. I flipped over page after page, looking for something useful. Mostly I would just turn up nonsensical formulas or other mind numbing numbers that meant nothing to me. Math wasn't exactly my strong suit.

  Then, I found it: the Holy Grail. A stack of papers with the word 'classified' stamped across the cover. I flipped through several of the pages until I came across a printed sketch of a strange, spherical device. Typed in bold lettering across the top it read, “The Genesis Core.” A flashy name, one that would send my blog viewership soaring. I could feel my hit counter rising already. What did it do, though? I read through several of the subsequent pages following the sketch. Most of the contents amounted to little more than test results, none of which appeared to have been successful.

  “Ms. Potters?” Ian's voice rang out from far above, startling me. “Are you coming?”

&n
bsp; Quickly, I stuffed the papers into my purse. “Yes, sorry! I got my heel stuck in one of the steps,” I lied.

  “Do you need help?” he asked, the genuine concern in his voice wracking me with guilt.

  “No! I got it. I'll be there in a minute,” I said, and began my ascent.

  * * *

  “So everything was going according to plan?” the interviewer asked when I finished.

  I nodded. “At first, yes. But the closer I got to Ian, the less I, well... either of us were concerned with work,” I admitted.

  “So you served as a considerable distraction to Mr. Payne? Is that why his company suffered over the following months?” the interviewer asked.

  “Yes,” I droned. I hated the judgmental look the interviewer was giving me. He couldn't understand what happened, no matter how much I explained it to him. Would anyone?

  “And just what were you two doing during Mr. Payne's month long hiatus from work?” the interviewer asked. “How was it that he didn't have even a moment to spare for his company?”

  I smirked. “Well... let's just say that during that month I spent more time writing in my diary than my notebook,” I admitted. The confession itself turned me on. It was nice to share that fact with someone.

  “So that moment in the lab? That is where your relationship started?” the interviewer asked.

  I thought about it. “Sort of. That was where the seed was planted, when I first realized how much I desired Ia- Mr. Payne,” I said.

  “And when did your first um, sexual encounter occur. The one you spoke of earlier in the interview?” he asked.

  “Two weeks or so after the lab incident. I hadn't seen him much after what happened in the lab,” I admitted. “He was often too busy, whether in the lab or at the Infiniti Inc. headquarters. When I did see him, though, I was always thrilled, more than I ever would have wanted to admit. I thought about him often, too. So much so that I didn't finish my work, or Ms. Potters’.”

  “I see,” the interviewer said, nodding vacantly. I wasn't even entirely sure he was listening to me. “So when did you begin...” he paused, “seeing Ian, regularly, as you put it.” He cleared his throat.