He raised the remote and lowered the volume after the ending credits. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be the fourth one.”
She almost choked on the popcorn she was eating. “Really? You? A Stooge?”
He chuckled. “I’m not saying I’d have been good at it.”
“I don’t know which surprises me most—your humility or your comedic ambitions.”
He laughed. “Didn’t you have any embarrassing childhood ambitions?”
She looked up at the ceiling, trying to recall silly aspirations. “Not that I remember, though I have a pathetic nickname for you. When I started to overtake my classmates in height, they began to call me Vivizon.”
He winked. “Vivizon? That’s kind of sexy.” And just like that, he had turned her shame into something deliciously different.
“I doubt those dreadful boys thought so.”
He pulled her closer to him. “You know little about boys, mi querida… I’m confident they were just vying for your attention.” He displayed a smile capable of melting blocks of ice. “I would have been. If I had known you when I was a little boy, maybe I would have had better things in mind than dreaming of being a Stooge.”
Javier planted a kiss on the top of her head. She stared at the rug, processing what he had just told her, but he didn’t allow her to continue for long. As if he were reading her mind, he lifted her chin and dipped his head down to hers.
The kiss that followed was warm, sweet, and arousing in a completely different way than the ones they’d shared before. The gentleness of his tongue as it stroked hers sent fast, liquefying heat to her belly.
She panted when his lips left hers. “You said there were no more condoms.”
He grinned. “There weren’t. I sent the bodyguard on a mission.”
“And are you sure you don’t want to watch more?” She glanced at the television, where another Stooges show had come on. “I’d hate to take you away from your secret indulgence.”
“Like I said…you are worth skipping the Stooges for,” he said lightly, and he pushed her down onto the couch with another deep kiss.
…
Vivian folded the note Javier had placed on the pillow before he’d left and slipped it into her purse. Returned to my room to take a shower. I hope you aren’t too sore. Come get me. Javier.
Get him? She didn’t stand a chance. She had stalled getting out of bed, enjoying the sweet aftermath from the previous night. Memories of their lovemaking flashed in her mind. Truly get him? Maybe not—but she certainly wouldn’t forget him.
Eventually, she’d managed to drag herself out of bed to shower. Now as she curled her fingers into her palm to knock on his door, her breath caught in her chest. This was no typical “morning after” situation. Her cheerful, flower-patterned dress paired with green wedge-heeled sandals had an easygoing flair Vivian wished she could claim as her own.
Javier pulled the door open immediately. She cleared her throat, staring at his powerful frame clothed in a dark gray designer suit.
The way he looked at her made her feel like a rare and exotic artifact. She couldn’t help but smile.
“Come in,” he said.
She felt the blood rush to her face.
She followed him into his room, which was much larger than hers. The king-size bed was adorned with a thick coverlet and a pile of soft pillows. His desk held an empty coffee mug, his laptop, and the pages of a newspaper spread across the polished wood. She swallowed the insecurities knotting her throat.
“Javier, we need to talk.” Her fingers fidgeted, and she folded her arms and tucked them away. “Especially after what happened last night.”
“I’ll go first.” He closed the gap between them. He took her hand and kissed the back of it.
She tried to move it away from his hold, but no luck. “Stay with me,” he said. “I have an important meeting today, but after that I’ll be free for a few days. Instead of flying back tonight, stay with me.”
Vivian hesitated, the surprise of his proposal stopping her in her tracks.
For a moment, a complete stillness spread through the room, and she felt as though they were in a lifeless painting like the ones she had seen at the Louvre the previous day.
Until he spoke again.
“I want you in my life, Vivian.” His voice was determined, and the way he entwined his fingers with hers got her pulse pounding.
In his life? That had never been part of the plan.
He had to be joking. A cruel joke. Though the warmth in his eyes almost made her consider it—which was madness.
She had to tell him. She had to tell him the missing bit about her revenge plan. And if he still wanted her in his life after that, well, they’d revisit the idea…
Though I doubt he will.
Vivian grasped his hand tightly before pulling her fingers from his. “Javier, we need to talk.”
“We will, mi querida. We’ll talk…among other things.” He embraced her again, kissing her briefly before she could deny him. His phone rang, but he ignored it.
“This is hard,” she muttered, pressing her lips together.
“Are you softening up, Vivian Foster?” He shot her a smile so adorable, her stomach clenched.
His phone stopped ringing. A short beep announced a text message.
Javier sighed. “Just a moment, it might be important.” He walked to his bedside table, scooped the phone up in one quick move, and read the message.
“This has to be a mistake.” He shook his head and quickly made a phone call.
Javier paced in circles, mumbling in Spanish, before he turned his back to her and faced outside as he listened to a message. She followed his gaze. The sky was heavily overcast, the Eiffel Tower drab and gray. She waited for the storm to break.
Javier finished his call.
“What is it?” Vivian asked, the blood pounding in her head.
“I was supposed to sign a big contract today. My lawyer just notified me that it’s been delayed.”
Vivian bit her lip. “Javier…” Emotion clogged her throat.
His phone rang again. The thudding of her heart filled the room.
This time, he glanced at it and stiffened, the tension in his shoulders pulling his jacket tight across his upper back. He didn’t answer the phone. Instead he put it in his pocket.
She could tell he had just realized it.
“You,” he accused her.
“I’m sorry.”
For a long time, he remained motionless.
Then he turned to her, and she stared into his angry face.
“Why are you sorry?” he asked. His eyes were hard and cold, his voice controlled.
Vivian reached up with shaking fingers and wiped the light sheen of sweat from her forehead. She massaged her temple for a few seconds, needing to ease the headache that had come upon her. “I told Edouard Broussard my suspicions about Molly. He’s probably delaying the merger to investigate.”
“You stabbed me in the back.” She could almost taste the bitterness in his voice.
Vivian looked deep into his eyes. “It was before I believed you were innocent.”
His phone started to beep again. She imagined he had an army of lawyers, team merger staff, and probably even the press trying to reach him.
Javier finally took the phone from his pocket, his fingers scrolling through the new messages until he singled one out and read it aloud. “I want to see you both in my office immediately. Edouard.” After a pause, he said, “I can’t believe you told him this fabrication. I could sue you for defamation.”
Where was the man who had asked her to stay with him?
Vivian stared out the window as thick droplets of water fell from the sky onto the terrace.
“Someone killed Molly. Not you, but someone else.” She moved to close the French doors so the wind wouldn’t blow the rain inside, but she stopped short. Did she really want to feel even more confined with this man who glared at her as if she were lower than dir
t?
“When did you tell him?”
“I mentioned it at the fund-raiser party and explained it further yesterday.”
“At the dinner party. How convenient.” He shot her a glance of pure repugnance. “Why didn’t he say anything to me?”
“He told me he’d look into it. Maybe he found something. Maybe that’s why he delayed the merger signing.”
“I thought you weren’t like the others, Vivian. I was mistaken.” He looked her up and down. The sheer disappointment in his expression made her temples throb more than when he’d insulted her a few minutes ago. “You are far worse.”
“I was about to tell you, before your telephone call,” Vivian said. She kept her voice gentle, hoping to avoid an argument.
His sarcastic laughter washed over her. “You expect me to believe that?”
“I didn’t tell you when you asked me in the restaurant because I didn’t trust you, but then I started to have doubts. I started to believe you even before I could admit it to myself. I wouldn’t have given myself if I didn’t believe you.”
“Given yourself? Just because we had sex? That’s rich,” he snarled. “All along, all you’ve wanted to do was to take.”
“That’s not true… I haven’t taken anything yet.” Her voice gained strength at the end, though she hadn’t meant to challenge him.
“Well, get ready, princesa. I will sort this out and still get what I want.” Javier snorted, staring at her. His silent message that she was playing with fire and out of her depth had come too late. “Although I’ll admit, you’ve scored your points. If your goal was to humiliate me, I’m sure what I’ve just said to you was the highlight of your weekend.”
She shook her head. “No, that was never part of the plan.” Never.
I want you in my life, Vivian. His words to her echoed in her mind.
Just minutes ago, he had wanted her to stay with him. The intimacy in his tone, the earnestness had suggested he wanted more than a few days after the celebration of a big contract.
Don’t fool yourself.
If he’d wanted her in his life for the longer term—or until he tired of her in the bedroom—would he really have changed so drastically from hot to cold without considering her motives?
It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter anymore what he had implied.
But a small, quiet part of her insisted that it did.
“Let’s go,” he said, grabbing his briefcase. “Let’s sort this out.”
Subject closed.
Continuous phone calls and text messages held his attention and gave her momentary relief during the drive from the hotel. He switched from English to French and back, assuring his lawyers and merger team that he was about to take care of the merger and never once mentioning her or any sort of plan.
“It’s a minor setback,” he said. “I’m dealing with it right now.” He shot her a warning stare that told her she’d better not try to cross him again. She looked out the window as the limousine entered La Défense, the financial district just outside Paris.
“What else did you tell Edouard?” he asked after he’d hung up.
“I shared my concern with him.”
“For him to delay the deal, you must have shared a lot more.” Disbelief and disapproval flickered in his eyes. “There has to be another reason you would do this. Not just your friendship with Molly.” He narrowed his eyes, as if by focusing his vision on her face he could force the truth out of her. “You cannot be so loyal to her, yet so treacherous to me.”
“To a cynical man like you, maybe friendship isn’t enough.” She clenched her hands. “It wasn’t easy. Whatever you think of me, I don’t like lying and deceiving.”
“Vivian, I don’t care what you like. As long as you know this: you aren’t going to steal this from me. I’ve worked too hard and too long to let it slip through my fingers.”
“Is that a threat?”
“That was a statement. I can sue you for industrial espionage and make sure you don’t find a job anywhere in London.”
“And you still don’t see why I couldn’t trust you at first?” She managed a short laugh to conceal her uneasiness.
This man can ruin my life. No, wait—he will ruin it.
“Given what you have done, threatening you with fair legal action does not make me untrustworthy,” he said coldly.
She was walking on a tightrope. She only hoped she could make it to the other end without falling. There would be no safety net below her.
The limousine pulled to a stop before the imposing Broussard corporate office building.
They emerged from the car, and a bodyguard appeared behind them. He must have arrived in a different vehicle. “Is this really necessary?” Vivian asked as all three of them walked inside the building.
“I don’t want you to run away,” he said, guiding her into the elevator.
“I won’t run away.” She lifted her chin. “I will cooperate to the very end to make sure justice is done.”
Maybe now that Edouard had an interest in Molly’s death, she could get access to the resources she needed to find the killer.
“You lied to me all the time, seduced me as part of your scheme, and suddenly you are Lady Justice,” Javier said as they reached the top floor.
“I did not try to seduce you.” Vivian raised her eyes to meet his. “It was rather the other way around.”
“You won’t have to worry about that anymore.” His eyes pinned her down, the mistrust sending a tremor through her body. “From now on, I will not lay one finger on you, Vivian Foster.” With a curse under his breath, he leaned closer. “I can’t wait to have you out of my sight.”
Chapter Eight
They held each other’s gaze for a long moment before Vivian let her eyes drift away. The tightrope came to mind again, and she closed her fists. She felt her sweaty toes curling around the rope, her body shifting weight to avoid a fall.
Vivian shrugged the awareness off. “I can’t wait either.”
He continued to stare without speaking, the disdain in his black eyes more disturbing than his size as he towered over her. When she had first met him in her office, she’d thought him ruthless and driven. But as he broke their stare and strode into Edouard’s office, Javier became some kind of CEO warrior, unwilling to let go of his merger no matter what. Vivian followed, matching his pace.
They passed by Edouard’s secretary, who asked them to wait in his office since Edouard was busy in the conference room. Shaking his head angrily, Javier proceeded to the conference room.
“The door is closed,” Vivian said when they got there.
She could hear voices through the closed door. Javier must have heard them, too, because he frowned as he listened.
One of the speakers was Edouard Broussard, she was sure, but the other voice—although it had a familiar timbre—wasn’t loud enough for her to recognize.
“Wait here. Don’t move.” Javier’s voice sounded as though it was made of steel. He opened one of the doors without knocking and walked into the conference room.
She glanced at the bodyguard, then exhaled and tried to peek through the open door. When she moved closer, the bodyguard blocked her view with a swift move to the left.
“I’ll go in eventually, anyway.” Vivian cleared her throat, turning to the glass wall that displayed the Eiffel Tower in the background and the street below. What she wouldn’t give to be just someone strolling down the streets of Paris, carefree.
But this is what I wanted…to serve as an instrument in Molly’s revenge.
She ran her fingers through her hair. The minutes dragged.
Vivian stared at the door. Although she couldn’t understand what was being said, there were at least three distinct voices, then silence.
Finally, a tall man emerged from the conference room. Roger.
“I will wait for your decision, Edouard,” he said.
Vivian pointed at him. “You.” How had Roger gathered that Edouard was
going to delay the merger signing so quickly? She hadn’t talked to him after dinner last night—hadn’t given him any thought at all since she’d last spoken to him.
“Vivian Foster.” He bowed his head and offered her a cynical smile.
“How did you—” Vivian started.
“How did he what?” Javier emerged from the conference room and cut her off angrily. She opened her mouth, then paused.
“Nicely done, Vivian.” The man winked at her, then turned to Javier and gave him a look she couldn’t read.
“How do you know him?” Javier asked under his breath.
“She was a great help to me,” Roger answered for her, with a smirk.
Vivian felt her brows furrowing as she tried to understand what had just happened. Why would Roger make it clear to Javier that they knew each other? And what was he doing walking out of Edouard’s conference room, looking as though he’d won some kind of prize?
Roger didn’t stick around to provide any answers. He turned his back and walked out of the room, and Javier stared down at her, a puzzled look on his face.
“It is him, isn’t it? The man you called from that restaurant is Easton Finn,” he said.
Easton Finn?
“If that’s his real name, then yes. He told me to call him Roger,” she said at last, still stunned that Roger had purposely exposed her to Javier and then disappeared.
Judging by Javier’s hateful expression, he knew all there was to know about Easton Finn, and none of it was good.
His jaw clenched. “That man wants to destroy all I have worked for, and you’ve helped him.”
“He wanted you out of the merger, yes. That’s all I know.”
“Now I understand why Easton was here. You warned him the deal would be delayed, and he was eager to put his claws in my merger.”
Vivian crossed her arms, taking a deep breath and a step back. Before she could say anything, Edouard appeared, frowning. “I need to talk to both of you.” His tone was much firmer than it had been on the other occasions he had spoken to her. “Now.”
Vivian followed the two men into the conference room in silence. It was a spacious room, with a big oval-shaped oak table and several beige leather chairs around it.
A Vengeful Affair Page 10