He smirks for a moment, then inclines his head to acknowledge the truth of my words. “I’d like you to come back to work. Seeing as you’re currently unemployed, it shouldn’t be a problem. You can start in the morning. Kara will be more than happy to turn everything back over to you.”
I gape at him in shock. “I—er… what?” I manage to get out. He’s completely unruffled, while my hands twist in my lap as I try to decide if he’s joking or not. Since when have you known him to joke? It’s time to make that run for the door.
He gets to his feet abruptly as if everything has been decided. “I’ll see you at the usual time tomorrow.” When I open my mouth to protest, he adds softly, “Don’t even think about not showing up. Because if you aren’t there, the first place I’ll look is Hunter Wrenn’s home, and I know you don’t want that.”
My vision blurs as I stare at his retreating back. For the second time that day, the front door is slammed as another angry person leaves. “Oh, my God,” I whisper as I collapse in my chair. He knows. Dear God, he knows! The voice in my head is in full panic mode, but outwardly, I’ve fallen into some kind of weird trance-like state. If I felt pain, I’d suspect I’m having a heart attack and passing on from this life. Just a calm acceptance. I should be losing my shit right now. Packing my bags and running for my life. But it’s almost a relief. I’ve been carrying this secret for so long… Did I really expect that Lee would never find out? He must have been furious, yet he remained in perfect control. He even left without stuffing me in the trunk of his car—something I more than deserve.
I get to my feet unsteadily, take a deep breath, and then pull my cell phone from my purse to call Jacey. My fingers are hovering over the keys when I make a decision that will surely end in disaster. But hadn’t the course of my life been altered the day I agreed to spy on Lee Jacks? I toss the phone aside and lock the front door before returning to my bedroom. I need to get some sleep if I’m going to return to Falco tomorrow. I’m working at Falco tomorrow. With Lee Jacks. The main difference? The reason I think I will be able to sleep tonight? This time, I’ll be going there for myself and not my family. He came here, knowing who I am, knowing who my father is, and didn’t… kill me. I can only hope that contrary to everything I know, Lee has a modicum of mercy inside him and that I’m able to find it. I shouldn’t feel at peace. I know this, yet for some reason I feel more calm than fear. Hope. I’ll finally be free of playing the starring role in a two-year deception I never really wanted. And that is more hope than I’ve had in a long time. My only question is whether or not I will enter Falco Corp. tomorrow morning as Jade or Liza?
LEE
It’s official. I’ve gone soft, I think in disgust as I step off the elevator and into my penthouse. I didn’t do anything I set out to do tonight. Her face went deathly pale when I mentioned Wrenn, which turned my stomach. I wanted to believe that her visit to the other man was random. Even though I damn well know it wasn’t. But her reaction gave me the proof of her guilt I needed. The only thing to be determined now was their exact connection and what she hoped to gain by working for me.
I checked with Jenkins on my way home and wasn’t surprised that he still had nothing for me. Instead, he whined about the layers he had to dig through. He can spend tomorrow pissing and moaning in the unemployment line. I am so fucking tired of incompetence. Hopefully, Lucian will have more luck because it doesn’t look as if I’ve accomplished anything on my end, and that makes me furious.
What do I tell my family about bringing Liza back to Falco? I hate keeping secrets from them, but it’s necessary for now. I want to concentrate on Liza and that means not having to deal with my family’s questions and concerns over her. Perhaps I’ll tell them she’s come back as a temporary until we can hire and she can train a new assistant. At least things will get done properly for a while.
Has there ever been a time in my life, even in the earlier years, when I’ve been this undecided on a course or action? Why did it have to be her, of all people, to betray me? I’ve always known that love is a weakness, but this is certainly bringing that home to me in the most painful way possible. I’ve made and discarded a dozen plans where she’s concerned, but none of them seem right. Hence my demand she come back to work. A stall for time so I can make up my damn mind. It infuriates me even more that I’m looking forward to seeing the little traitor in the morning. If she was anyone else… How many times have I thought that very thing in the past few hours? It’s running on a fucking loop inside my head. I care about her, I desire her, but I also want to destroy her. Where does that leave us? Fucked—that’s where, and not the good kind. Although, if this progresses like I think, that’ll no longer be off limits. No need to save her soul when it was likely compromised long ago.
That very thought sends a shaft of desire through me. I’ve always wanted her, and finally, I’ll have her. I’ll fuck this weakness out of my system and then dispense justice for whatever the hell her crimes are. In a twisted way, being betrayed has never held so much promise. I stepped into the unlikely role of her protector years ago, but that’s no longer necessary. Instead, she’ll need someone to save her from me—and a person like that doesn’t exist.
The disgust I felt earlier is gone as adrenaline fills me instead. She is mine now. Whatever claim Hunter Wrenn had is over. I’ll deal with him soon, but in the meantime, beautiful Liza will take the brunt of my anger for them both. Soon, she’ll find out what it is to dance with the devil and lose. Ironically, she begged to do that very thing months ago. Careful what you wish for, beautiful. I’m about to make all her dreams come true—and likely most of her nightmares.
3
Liza
It’s surreal to walk through the doors of Falco once again. As nervous as I am, it’s also akin to coming home. The familiar surroundings comfort me as I step off the elevator on Lee’s floor. I’ve barely rounded the corner when a blur of movement has me freezing in place. Kara pulls me into an excited embrace, literally rocking me on my feet. “Oh, my God! I couldn’t believe it when Uncle Lee said you were coming back. You have no idea how much we’ve all missed you.” She pulls back, dropping her hands to intertwine with mine. Her eyes are sparkling, and she looks the picture of health, which makes me so happy for her. “He’s been such an ass without you. We’ve gone through so many temps that they’ve stopped taking our calls. He got rid of the last one for stapling papers in the wrong corner. They were absolutely terrified of him. They kept leaving, and then I’d have to come fill in again because no one at Falco wanted to.”
“I’m so sorry, Kara,” I say sincerely. I can well imagine how difficult her uncle has been. And I hate that she’s had to bear the brunt of my departure.
“Oh, who cares?” She shrugs off my apology. “You’re here now, so that’s all that matters. I’m sure you’ll have him tamed again in no time.” We both laugh for a moment at the absurdity of her statement. Lee is and will always be Lee. And no amount of trying will ever tame the beast.
“How have you been?” I ask, genuinely interested in the woman I grew fond of while working here.
“I’m great.” She literally glows, and I feel a momentary twinge of envy, which is absurd. After battling cancer, she deserves to be happy. “Aidan is ready to get married sooner rather than later, so I’m expecting him to abduct me any day and fly us to Las Vegas. The only thing stopping him is trying to explain it to our parents afterward.”
“I’m so glad things are going well,” I say sincerely. Fanning myself, I add, “And Aidan… you’re one lucky lady. He’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“You have no idea.” She wiggles her brows suggestively. “I almost want to hate the man for looking so good, but as long as I’m the one benefiting from it, then I’ll just have to suck it up.”
Before I can respond, a door opens, and Lee steps out of his office, trailed by his brother, Peter. I’ve always liked Pete—as everyone calls him. He’s the nice Jacks brother—at least outwardly—but I’m not f
ooled. I have no doubt he can be as ruthless as Lee, but he’s more civilized about it. After all, he’s married and has two kids. I’ve been to some gatherings at his home before, and it’s straight-up suburbia. Pete’s wife, Charlotte, is hysterical. She watches a lot of reality television and tends to lapse into ghetto speak at times. She is also obsessed with the internet and finding out the dirt on all her neighbors. Sure, maybe it’s a bit nosy to those concerned, but it’s certainly funny to the rest of us. “Liza!” Pete’s deep voice booms out as he pushes by Lee to reach my side. He pulls me into an affectionate hug that I return without reservation. “Damn, it’s good to see you. I’m happy you’ve decided you can put up with my brother again. The place certainly hasn’t been the same without you. I barely get anything done every day for listening to Lee complain about his latest temp. Plus, I’m afraid that Kara may kill him any day for dragging her back to fill in when he runs yet another one off.”
Lee stands to the side with his arms folded over his chest. His expression is blank as he stares at me. Is he surprised I showed up? Surely not. Who in their right mind ever turns down an order from him? “Wait… what?” I turn to look at Kara, only catching the last part of her whispered words.
She puts an arm around me and murmurs, “I said I couldn’t believe it when Mom told me you quit on Lee during a meeting. And called him a blind fool, or something like that.” She laughs on the last part, but I hear the genuine note of admiration in her voice and feel like shit over it. I’m not the brave person she thinks I am. Nor is that the way that I left. Apparently, someone has embellished the truth along the way, but it does paint me in a better light.
“It wasn’t quite like that,” I offer. “But I guess the result was the same. I want to thank you for calling me. It meant a lot that you were thinking of me and missed me here at Falco.” Kara had reached out to me on more than one occasion, but eventually, I stopped taking the calls, because what else could I say? The truth sure wasn’t an option, and I didn’t want to keep lying to someone who I had come to consider a friend.
“Well, if the welcome wagon has finished circling, Liza and I have a lot to do.” My spine stiffens when Lee speaks. Kara literally skips to the desk and grabs her purse. She gives me a wave before calling out that we need to have lunch soon. Pete touches my arm on the way out with what looks almost like sympathy in his eyes. For a moment, I consider running, but where is there left to go? Lee knows about my family, so he could certainly find me with ease. At this point, it’s best not to piss him off further. First, I need to find out exactly what he knows—then I’ll find the biggest rock I can and hide under it for the next twenty years until he forgets I exist. Great plan—this will totally work. Even the voice in my head thinks I’m doomed. Great.
I force myself to calmly approach my old desk and stow my purse in the bottom drawer before turning to face the lion. That’s how I’ve always secretly thought of him. The deadly animal, one that can pounce at any moment. A predator you never cross or turn your back on. And I’ve done both. I am so fucked. I should hope my damn cat eats me before Lee tears me in two.
“Good morning, Lee,” I say as I have so many times before. Just act normal. Maybe he’ll go along with it. And weirdly enough, that’s exactly what happens. We spend hours going through correspondence, contracts, and an array of other paperwork piled on his desk. He makes no mention of my father or his visit to my home last night. It’s almost as if I never left Falco. By the afternoon, I’m exhausted, but almost happy to be back in my element, a place where my skills and mind are stretched and challenged. I always felt so alive within these walls—with this man—and today is no exception. Around five, he tosses his glasses aside and rubs the bridge of his nose. I recline back in the chair in front of his desk and sigh. “Well, I think we made a dent in everything,” I say, giving him a rueful smile. “No wonder you got rid of the last temp. Did she do any actual work?”
He rolls his eyes and snorts. “She worked full time at annoying the hell out of me. Oh, and she worked overtime at texting on her damn phone. And her laugh”—he shudders— “sounded like someone torturing a fucking hyena.”
I start giggling as he attempts to imitate her. “How long was she here?” I ask, thinking of the amount of work still left to go through.
“Not long.” He shakes his head. “But things have just progressively backed up as they came and went without accomplishing much. If not for Kara, Falco would have probably ground to a halt. What are they teaching them at the temp agencies? Incompetence? How to turn a computer on and off without knowing how to operate it?”
I take both him and myself by surprise when I murmur softly, “I’m sorry, Lee. Regardless of my reasons, it wasn’t fair to leave you until you had a competently trained replacement. You’ve always been good to me, and I owed you more than that. It was completely unprofessional and well—kind of an asshole move,” I add sheepishly.
He picks up a pen from his desk and begins twirling it in his fingers. I wonder if he knows that it’s one of his few nervous tics. He uses it to stall for time while he thinks. “Thank you for that,” he finally says. “It’s not all on you, though. I have—on occasion—confused the ground rules between us. Something I regret.”
My shoulders slump as disappointment fills me. I should be grateful he’s so cordial, but a part of me had hoped something would change between us. That he’d realize he missed me as more than his assistant. Oh right, that’s so likely now that he knows what a liar you are. Okay, maybe that is asking too much. I should be praying instead that he doesn’t kill me and bury my body underneath my desk so I can never leave Falco again. The absurdity of that thought has me biting my lip to keep from laughing. Wonderful, now I’m hysterical. “I’m sure you do,” I acknowledge, knowing it’s a true statement on his part.
Then he shocks me by getting to his feet and saying, “Let’s go have dinner. I’m starving.”
Wait. What? Talk about mixed signals. Isn’t this blurring the lines? It’s not as if Lee and I have never shared a meal, but they were mostly business dinners. He wasn’t the type to take me out to eat after a hard day at the office. He had plenty of bimbos for that type of thing. Maybe he’s tired of having to cut their food up for them. Okay, I don’t know for sure that all his dates are young with a low IQ, but it makes me feel better to assume I’m at least superior to them in some areas. I certainly have no problem with anything related to eating. “Er… really?” I ask doubtfully, wondering if perhaps he worded his vague order—invitation—wrong.
“I’m in the mood for Italian, so let’s go to Leo’s. Lucian and Lia have me hooked on that place. And if I show up alone again, the owner will attempt to set me up with his daughter.” With a grimace, he adds, “Trust me, it’s not good. She has buck teeth, hair like Morticia Addams, a nose longer than any I’ve ever seen on a human before, and reeks of garlic. I swear she hugged me the last time I was there, and I had to shower three times to get the smell off me. I tossed my fucking suit in the trash.”
I laugh, captivated once again by his rare display of humor. This day has been so different from what I expected. For Lee, he’s positively mellow—which is atypical. I should probably skip dinner, but I can’t refuse the opportunity to spend some time with him away from the office. After all, he’s sure to broach the subject of my family soon. Although I can’t imagine why he’ll do it in an informal setting rather than here. At least he’s not likely to make a scene in public. I’m not sure Lee cares about his image to that degree, but it makes me feel better to assume that he does. “Let me get my things. I know where Leo’s is, so I can meet you there. That way you won’t have to bring me back for my car.”
“I live here.” Lee shrugs. “It’s not as if it’s out of my way. Besides, I thought we’d walk. It’s not that far from here.”
This is getting stranger by the minute. Lee Jacks walking to dinner? “Um… sure.” I nod. He follows me out to my desk, and I quickly collect my purse, then he waves a hand
for me to precede him to the elevator. We’re silent on our descent. Lee calls out to the employees we pass by name and wishes them a good evening as we make our way through the lobby and out onto the sidewalk. We’ve taken a few steps when I stumble over a crack in the pavement, and he reaches out to grab my arm. “Thanks,” I murmur, feeling heat flood my cheeks. Naturally, I embarrass myself. To my surprise, he doesn’t release me. Instead, he moves his hand downward until it’s curled around mine. Holy shit, he’s holding my hand. I’ve officially died and gone to heaven. Maybe he’s giving me one last wish before he adds me to his hit list. Even prisoners on death row get a last meal. Oh crap, is that what this is? The voice in my head is going crazy as we stroll down the street looking like any other normal couple. By the time we reach Leo’s, I’ve imagined every scenario of how the evening will end. Most of them aren’t good. I can’t help but feel that he’s lulling me into a false sense of security before lowering the boom.
Lee opens the door to Leo’s for me, and I take an appreciative sniff. The air is heavy with the scent of herbs and spices. We are inches from the hostess desk when a female voice shrieks, “Lee! So good to see you again. I didn’t know you were coming in tonight. I would have saved a special table for you.” Dear Lord, he wasn’t exaggerating. This must be Leo’s daughter. She does look like Morticia Addams, with a huge nose.
“Zola,” he says smoothly, as he leans down to kiss each of her proffered cheeks. “This was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I hope you can find room for us.”
Zola cuts her eyes at me, then narrows them. Uh oh, someone’s not a happy camper. “And who do we have here?” she asks in a thick Italian accent.
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