He went to drink from his glass of water, but his throat had a lump in it and in the end he put the glass down, untouched. His chest heaved. “Why now?” He glared at her. “Why tell me now?”
Her eyes grew cool. “So you could use the information to make an informed decision.”
He put his hands on his hips. “You can’t throw that at me at the eleventh hour, straight after we’ve had sex, and expect me to just add that into the evidence.”
She blinked, startled by his words. “Why not?”
“Because it’s not fair, Coco.”
“To whom?”
Irritation rose in him at her inability to understand. “To Dell.”
Her eyes flared with anger. “Fuck Peter Dell.”
“Well, it sounds like you’ve already done that.”
The words were out before he could stop them. She turned without another word, walked over to her clothes and started pulling them on.
“Coco…” He ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t go.”
She pulled on her panties and skirt, stuffed her bra in her purse and yanked on her blouse. He caught her arm. “Coco, please…”
She tore it free and turned on him. Tears sparkled in her eyes. “I’ve never told anyone that,” she bit. “It’s personal and private. But I told you because you were the one person who could finally help me give that bastard the outcome he deserves. And you won’t do anything because it’s not fucking fair?” Her voice rose to a shout at the end.
“Don’t be so bloody black and white.” He huffed with exasperation as she walked to the door and opened it. “Come back, for God’s sake!”
She walked out without another word and strode down the corridor. He walked after her and caught her arm. “Coco!”
She turned and gasped at the sight of him. “Felix! Get some clothes on, for crying out loud.”
He’d forgotten he was naked. “All right, but wait for me, will you?” He let her arm go to turn to the door, but she continued walking, and he cursed under his breath. He went back to his room and pushed the handle—but the door had locked.
“Fuck!” He yelled and kicked the door, then stood there, hands on hips again, as the elevator doors closed and Coco vanished.
At the same time, the doors of the elevator next to hers opened and an elderly couple walked out and down the corridor toward him. He covered himself with his hands and gave them a bright smile as they stopped and stared. “Good evening,” he said in as calm a voice as he could manage, trying to pretend he wasn’t standing there with his arse on show. “I don’t suppose I could ask you a favour and get you to call the front desk for me?”
Chapter Fifty
Coco sat in the chair with her notepad perched on her knee, her back ramrod straight, her heart pounding. The boardroom was almost full. For this final meeting at which Felix was to present his verdict, nearly all the Wellington partners were present, including Christopher McAllister and Peter Dell. Rob Drake was the only non-partner present, along with herself.
Coco hadn’t wanted to be there, but Christopher had asked her to take minutes, and even though she’d protested she was busy and another secretary could just as easily take her place, he’d insisted that because of the sensitive nature of the case he wanted the office manager there, and she couldn’t think of a good reason to refuse.
Sasha wasn’t there. The results would be revealed to her once Felix had announced his findings and the board had discussed the relevant course of action, depending on whether he found Dell innocent, or whether he thought Sasha had lied.
Coco fidgeted with her pencil. After she’d walked out of the hotel, she’d caught a taxi home, half expecting Felix to be right behind her, but it had been almost half an hour before he’d finally rung. She’d answered curtly, yelled accusations down the phone, and their brief conversation had ended abruptly when she hung up and threw the phone across the room.
He hadn’t called back.
She couldn’t blame him, really.
She’d hardly slept a wink all night. Her brain went around in circles, thinking that maybe it was all for the best they’d ended on a sour note, because at least she wouldn’t be lying there for months picturing his smile and remembering how wonderful he’d been, but that had just made her picture his smile and remember how wonderful he’d been, and then she’d burst into tears and sobbed into her pillow.
She’d woken with red, puffy eyes and had spent half an hour trying to cover the dark rings with foundation before admitting defeat. And now she had to sit through this damned hearing. She couldn’t wait until the day was over, the case was done and dusted and he’d finally flown back to Auckland.
The thought made her want to lie on the floor and scream like a two-year-old who’d been told she couldn’t have a chocolate bar.
The door opened, and she glanced up briefly as Felix entered. Damn, but the man looked good. He wore a suit she hadn’t seen him in before, charcoal grey, with a crisp white shirt that looked fresh out of the packet, a blue and grey silk tie and a blue handkerchief sticking out of his top pocket. His cufflinks matched his tiepin, and his dark hair was neat with just the right amount of fashionable ruffle at the front. He looked sharp enough to cut yourself on, sexy enough to eat, and she could have burst into tears there and then.
She didn’t, though. She swallowed and concentrated on her pad, recording the names of everyone present as he took his seat next to her. His aftershave wafted across and she couldn’t stop herself breathing it in, her senses stirring at the memory of the way it had filled her nostrils when he’d made love to her, along with the feel of his hands on her skin, his lips on hers.
She closed her eyes briefly. Focus, Veronica. Today she’d left Coco at home. She was all Miss Stark in this meeting, and she had to remember that.
Felix placed his iPad on the table, but he didn’t turn it on. He nodded to the two senior partners, but he didn’t sit.
He didn’t look at her, either.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said. He didn’t seem nervous, and she remembered that he did this for a living, standing up in front of strangers and discussing facts and findings all the time. He slid his left hand into his pocket, but as usual he gestured with his right, the single signet ring on his third finger glinting in the electric light. She remembered that hand sliding up her thigh, the ring bright against her pale skin, and shivered.
“I might as well get straight to the point as you’re all busy men,” he said. Was it her imagination, or had he slightly emphasised the word men? The one woman partner was still on holiday. “I’ve spoken to all of you here individually, and I’ve also interviewed a good portion of the rest of the staff of the Wellington branch, including all the secretaries who worked with Miss De Langen. I’ve also spoken to Miss De Langen, in the presence of Mr. Drake and Miss Stark.”
His deep voice stroked over her nerve endings, and her heart rate increased at the memory of him whispering highly erotic things in her ear. Then she blinked as the memory vanished, and only the smart, aloof lawyer remained, formal and professional.
He hesitated and straightened the iPad on the desk. “This hasn’t been an easy task.” He glanced over at Christopher, who sat with one elbow on the arm of the chair, his hand covering his mouth, masking any emotion he might be feeling. “And I suspect you knew that would be the case. Why you decided to appoint me, I have no idea. I thought you liked me.” Laughter rippled around the room. Felix smiled wryly and cleared his throat. He didn’t run his hand through his hair, but he did straighten his jacket and brush at an imaginary speck of dust. Perhaps he was nervous, then. Just trying not to show it.
As he smoothed down his tie, however, she saw that his gaze was fixed on the table, and realised the gestures were automatic, reflecting the fact that he was working through what to say next. He continued, “It became clear to me on entering the Wellington branch that the office has one foot firmly in the past. This is reflected in the ratio of male to female partners,
as well as in the office’s high expense accounts, company cars and considerably large overheads.”
“We didn’t ask you to give us a report on the whole branch,” Jack Lawson snapped.
“I know,” Felix said smoothly, “and I’m telling you this not because it’s my personal opinion that it needs dragging into the twenty-first century—although that is my opinion—but because it has a direct bearing on the case. The fact that all but one of the partners is male, and all but one of those is aged over fifty, has given the office an extremely ‘old school’ atmosphere, even down to the décor. Secretaries are seen as little more than human typewriters, there for the partners to use as they wish, and I’m afraid that view has also spilled over on a personal level where Mr. Dell is concerned.”
Intakes of breath sounded from around the table. Coco looked up, startled by his direct words. Peter glared at Felix, but Felix returned his gaze calmly, unperturbed. “Mr. Dell, I have no doubt whatsoever that your behaviour with regard to sexual relationships within this office has been far from exemplary. Two secretaries admitted to having had a sexual relationship with you and several more intimated the same, although clearly they were nervous about admitting it. Other people have stated they know of seven or eight relationships that you’ve carried out with other staff members. I understand that all of these ladies were willing to have a relationship with you, but that you initiated the first contact each time, and that you ended the liaison on each occasion. These relationships were conducted mainly outside of the office, usually at weekends, often during trips away from the city.”
Coco finished writing and glanced around the room again. The majority of the partners were either frowning or looking startled, clearly unaware of Peter’s behaviour. However, Jack Lawson and a couple of others stared stonily at the table. They know, she thought. Had they known about what had happened to her? Had Peter boasted about it to them at the time?
Felix looked at his iPad and straightened it again. “I also have it on good authority that, some time ago, you seduced a very young secretary in your office.”
Coco’s heart nearly bounced out of her chest and along the table. Her pencil slipped on the paper, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from exclaiming out loud. She glanced up, straight into the eyes of Rob Drake. He looked startled, and then his eyes filled with pity as he obviously recognised in her expression the confirmation that Felix was indeed talking about her. Coco dropped her gaze again, hoping she didn’t pass out. What else was Felix going to say?
“The young lady was seventeen,” he continued, “just out of secretarial school. She’d never had a sexual partner and was innocent where men were concerned. There is no suggestion of rape, but it seems clear to me that the idea to sleep together was yours, and you used your age and your position of authority to charm and seduce this young woman into doing something that she later regretted.”
Coco felt sick. Her chest heaved, and she didn’t dare look up in case Peter was glaring at her. Her hand shook slightly on the paper, and she gripped the pencil harder to try to stop it.
“After the incident,” Felix continued, “as an incentive to keep quiet, you also offered her promotion, which she took because she needed the money. I personally believe she now regrets not speaking up at the time. I wish she had done so because this kind of behaviour by men should not be seen to be acceptable. However, I understand her reasons for keeping silent, and I applaud her courage in finally coming forward and confessing what happened.”
Tears came into Coco’s eyes and she swallowed down the lump in her throat. Glancing up quickly, she saw several pairs of eyes on her, including Christopher’s, and knew it was obvious that she was the secretary who Felix was talking about. Their expressions held sympathy and pity, and she lowered her gaze again, feeling a strange weight lift off her chest at the thought that it was finally out in the open.
Felix cleared his throat. “As I said, your behaviour toward women at this firm has been far from exemplary. However, the purpose of this investigation was to discover the truth behind the claim made by Miss De Langen that you made unwanted sexual advances toward her in the office. And after much thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that you are innocent of this allegation.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Felix was unable to avoid a dramatic pause at the end of his findings. He was, after all, a performer, and it came naturally to him to play up to the audience, especially when he’d led them down a particular path and they were expecting a different outcome.
Part of his pause, however, was due to the sweep of relief he felt at finally having come to a decision. He’d wrangled with himself all weekend—especially after Coco’s little confession—his personal dislike of Dell and the man’s frankly disgusting behaviour toward women vying with his natural urge to do things right and proper.
Plus, of course, he knew that in finding Dell innocent, he’d destroyed any future chance of a relationship with Coco. She sat next to him, stiff-backed and oozing resentment, anger rolling off her in waves. She’d made her confession to him hoping it would help him conclude that Dell was guilty. No matter what evidence he put forward to the contrary, she would see it as a betrayal of her confidence, and she would take it personally, believing that firstly he didn’t care about her enough to give her the punishment she felt Dell deserved for what he’d done to her, and secondly that Felix had been coerced by Christopher and the other partners to find Dell innocent. She was smart, but Dell had done a lot of damage with that one brief seduction, and she was too emotionally invested to put her feelings aside and look at the case dispassionately.
Felix had gone through all this in the night, having slept hardly at all, wanting to put his better self aside and throw the book at Dell for what he’d done to her, for what he’d done to all these women. He despised the man and wanted him to suffer, but even in spite of the fact that Felix knew he’d fallen in love with Coco and he could quite easily have beaten Dell to a pulp for seducing her, he couldn’t go against his belief that the truth was more important than anything else, even more so than his own happiness.
Still, that hadn’t stopped him sowing the seeds of Dell’s gross misbehaviour to the other partners. He certainly wasn’t going to let the man get away with it completely, and he was hanging onto the hope that now it had come to light, the partners would deal with the man appropriately and bring about some small form of justice.
But for now, he had to concentrate on the matter at hand, and he shut out the thought of the only woman he’d loved since Lindsey died—and drew his professionalism around him like a cloak, focussing instead on the man sitting opposite him, who looked as surprised as everyone else at his announcement.
“There are several reasons that I believe Miss De Langen’s accusations to be false,” he continued. “Firstly, several other secretaries—as well as Miss Stark—corroborated Mr. Dell’s claim that he did not approach Sasha directly that evening to ask for help, but merely put the request to the whole room. Miss De Langen then said she couldn’t remember exactly what had happened, but the fact that she changed her story suggested to me it was possible there were other areas where she wasn’t telling the truth.
“Another piece of evidence she used as proof for Mr. Dell’s guilt was that he asked her to retype a file that had already been sent to him in a suitable format for use at court. She claimed Mr. Dell had deleted this file—however, unknown to Mr. Dell, I asked the firm’s IT expert to run an analysis of his machine and found no evidence that he had deleted any such file, and no evidence that he had received an email containing such a file in the first place.”
Dell looked both indignant and relieved, and Felix hid a smile.
He smoothed down his tie, thinking about the final point. He’d wondered whether to raise the last issue, unwilling to spread rumours about Sasha’s private life, but he sincerely believed she had lied to him and that Dell had not made unwanted advances to her. And even though Dell’s behaviour repulsed
him, he believed it didn’t warrant a woman spreading lies about him and maybe even ruining his career, and therefore she hadn’t earned the right to ask him to keep what she’d told him a secret.
“The last point, the one that has given me most concern, is that Miss De Langen told Miss Stark and me when we visited her at her house that the reason she couldn’t possibly have been the one to initiate the contact with Mr. Dell was because she is gay.”
There was a general gasp around the table. Dell just gave a humourless snort.
“I’ve struggled with this,” Felix continued, “because of course it’s something that’s very difficult to disprove. Sasha doesn’t appear to have any friends at the firm, and nobody has heard her talk about any partner, male or female. But my instincts tell me she is lying. Two other secretaries have said they’ve watched her talk to Mr. Dell and, whilst they agree she doesn’t particularly dress to attract attention, they said her manner has been mildly flirtatious, and if they were pushed they would say they thought she was attracted to him.
“Therefore, it is my conclusion that Mr. Dell did not make sexual advances to Miss De Langen. The most he was probably guilty of was perhaps flirting with her and making her think she stood a chance, especially considering his track record with women at the firm.” He was unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, and he was relieved to see Christopher’s mouth lift in a brief smile. “But that in itself isn’t a crime, and I don’t believe Mr. Dell was sexually interested in Sasha.”
Peter Dell blew out a long, slow breath. The other partners began murmuring amongst themselves. Christopher McAllister said, “So what recourse would you suggest for the way forward, Felix?”
“I would suggest that Miss De Langen be given an official warning and given the option of moving to another department or branch, or resigning.”
“And for Mr. Dell?”
Felix met Christopher’s eyes. He still couldn’t read anything in them. Was Christopher annoyed at his findings, or relieved? “In this particular case, I don’t believe Mr. Dell has done anything wrong. However, his past behaviour proves to me that his attitude toward the women in this firm needs to be addressed.” Should he stop there? Christopher’s eyes gleamed, and Felix decided to take the chance. “To be honest, I believe the Wellington branch to be failing in projecting the image that McAllister Dell as a whole should present to the public if it wishes to stay one of the most successful New Zealand law businesses: that of a forward-thinking, modern law firm that puts the needs of its customers first, and I believe Mr. Dell’s leadership at the branch is probably the main influence behind this stagnation.”
Five Exotic Fantasies: Love in Reverse, Book 3 Page 31