“Well, he is my husband.”
Janice gave her a look of pity. “Honey, I know, but every time I talk to you, you’ve got to do this for him and that for him. When do you make time for Cassidy?”
Cassidy laughed. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m serious. I bet those errands you have to run are for him, aren’t they? Picking up his dry cleaning, getting his lunch so he doesn’t have to leave work, filling his prescriptions—”
“He’s my husband. I’m off on Fridays, so it’s more convenient for me to run these errands.”
“You work a forty-hour week just like he does,” Janice said with a pointed stare. “Look, far be it from me to comment on someone else’s marriage, but I can tell you from experience it’s not good to lose yourself like that, doing and doing for a man. Where will you be when he leaves you?”
“Who says he’s going to leave me?”
She ignored Cassidy and continued. “With my first husband, I thought I wasn’t doing enough, so I overcompensated the next time. After my third divorce, I realized it was them. I was the kind of wife you are, and they still weren’t satisfied. The truth is, they never appreciate everything we do. My ex-husbands are living proof of that. You have to be careful, honey. You’ve only been married a year, and it sounds like he already takes you for granted. What you need to do is pull back every now and again and don’t be so accommodating.”
“I’m not too accommodating.”
Janice tsked. “Don’t get upset. I’m older and wiser, I’ve been around longer, and what I’m telling you comes from a good place. Have you ever thought about just popping up at his job one day?”
“Why would I do that? He’s busy, and—”
“That’s what he says.” Janice directed another look of pity her way. “If I hadn’t shown up unannounced to my second husband’s office, I’d never have found out he was banging that slut.”
“Antonio is nothing like your ex,” Cassidy said, even though the doubts were starting to creep in again. Every time she visited Antonio in his office, she called ahead or they made plans in advance.
Janice put up her hands defensively. “Okay, I’ll only say one more thing to you, and then I’m done. You keep telling me he’s your husband. But are you his wife or his slave?”
Before Cassidy could respond, she was slapped on the back.
“What’s up, princess?” Matthew Hawthorne, the youngest of her brothers, grinned down at her.
“You’re stronger than you realize.” Cassidy glared up at him. Dressed business casual in slacks, a tie, and a button-down shirt, his six-foot-three frame towered over her.
Janice popped up from her seat. “Hi, Matthew,” she cooed.
Cassidy tried not to roll her eyes as Janice practically drooled over her brother. Her interest in Matthew was ironic since he used to be one of the biggest players she knew.
He never lacked female attention, and he thrived on it. At least he used to, but things had changed ever since he and her best friend started seriously dating again. They’d announced their engagement last week, and she couldn’t wait until it filtered around to the staff so her coworkers would stop bugging her to put in a good word with him on their behalf.
Matthew held up his hand for a high five. “I heard you’re taking the Ethical Hacker exam.” Cassidy slapped her palm against his. “I know you’ll do fine. I’m not even worried.”
“You’re so supportive of your sister. That’s so sweet.” Janice looked at Matthew with longing, and he flashed one of his charming smiles.
“Gimme a break,” Cassidy mumbled, before saying louder, “All right, you two, I have to run.” She pretended not to see Janice’s raised brow.
Janice said her good-byes to them, and Cassidy gathered up her belongings.
“Hey, Cass!”
Cassidy turned to see her best friend, Lorena Vega, coming toward them. Lorena was Antonio’s younger sister.
“How do you keep getting in here?” Cassidy asked.
“The security guard likes her,” Matthew said with a scowl. “And she enjoys it way too much.”
“No, I don’t.” Lorena slipped her arms around his waist and rose on her toes to give him a quick kiss. “But I have to admit it’s nice to know someone else finds me attractive besides my fiancé.”
Matthew grunted. “I’m kissing you right in front of him when we get downstairs.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“Yes.”
“Are we still going shopping tomorrow?” Cassidy asked. Lorena had offered to help her pick out decorative items for the house.
“Yes. When you come to my parents’ house tomorrow, I’ll show you that vase. I think you should get one like it for your place. It’ll be perfect.”
“I hope I can afford it. Your mom has expensive taste.”
“I’ll get the details when Matt and I go over there today after lunch.”
Matthew groaned, and Lorena gave him a sympathetic look.
“He dreads seeing my mother,” Lorena explained. “Now that we’re engaged, she’s full steam ahead with all her plans. She’s driving us nuts. She wants me and Matt to come over to do some wedding planning. I told her if she keeps this up, he and I would get married at the courthouse and not have the wedding she wants.”
Lorena enjoyed torturing her mother. For years, Mrs. Vega had tried to make her into a younger version of herself, but Lorena had been a tomboy growing up and still preferred hanging out with her brothers and father talking sports instead of doing the activities her mother wanted her to. No doubt Mrs. Vega felt the wedding was her one chance to have the little girl she’d always wanted, and no expense would be spared.
“You can’t do that,” Cassidy said. “Your mother would have a heart attack if you got married in a courthouse.”
“I know. You should have heard her. ‘¡Ay no! Dios mio, mija. Por favor . . .’” They laughed at Lorena’s humorous imitation of her mother’s distressed wail. “Seriously, though, she was so happy when you and Antonio married so she’d finally have a girl in the family.”
“You’re all girl—all woman.” Matthew gave her a quick squeeze. “Don’t worry about your mom. We’ll handle her together.”
“I’m glad you said that, because she scheduled dance lessons for us.”
“Huh?”
“They start next year, but she had to schedule them now because we’re getting private lessons from some expensive celebrity dance coach who’s booked months in advance.”
Matthew looked at his sister. Save me, he mouthed.
Cassidy and Lorena laughed at his comical expression, and the three of them walked toward the elevators. Underneath the laughter, Cassidy’s mind raced with the conversation between her and Janice.
She’d stop by their favorite bakery and take Antonio a little treat. He loved anything chocolate—cakes, brownies, me.
She smiled to herself at that thought. It couldn’t hurt, and it would prove Janice wrong.
****
Cassidy entered the offices of Vega PR Group and greeted the receptionist. “Is Antonio here?” she asked.
“Yes, he’s in his office.”
On her way to the back, Cassidy poked her head into Lucinda’s office and stopped to talk for a few minutes. Then, as she approached his open door, she heard Antonio laughing, and the smile on her face wavered when she took in the scene before her.
He sat behind his desk, his chair turned sideways to engage in conversation with Ronetta, the way-too-attractive publicist on his staff. She was Cassidy’s complexion, with skin that seemed to glow, and thick hair cut in a severe bob. She stood in front of the windows, wearing a dark pencil skirt and a long-sleeved blouse that showed a bit too much cleavage for Cassidy’s taste.
They both looked surprised when she entered. The scene before her appeared intimate, which wasn’t the most disturbing part. A plate of brownies sat on the desk, and they both had one each in their hands.
“Ba
be, what are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d surprise you today.” Cassidy’s gaze dropped to the plate of desserts and rose again to Antonio’s face. “Looks like you don’t need what I have.”
She dropped the white paper bag containing the brownies she’d picked up at the bakery onto his desk. Antonio frowned, but didn’t comment.
“It’s my fault,” Ronetta said with a smile, raising her hand. “I’m a bad influence.”
Cassidy didn’t crack a smile, taking a good look at the other woman. She was thicker than Cassidy, with large breasts and wide hips. “Where’d you get the brownies?”
“Oh, I made them.” Ronetta laughed. She’d never noticed before how attractive her laugh was. “Baking is a hobby of mine. It’s a great way for me to unwind after all the stress we deal with every day with our demanding clients. I sometimes bring in whatever I make for the staff and leave them in the break room, but I made a special delivery to the boss man. I can’t eat them all by myself. I can’t afford to get any bigger.” She laughed again.
Cassidy smiled sweetly. “Hmm…Yeah, we wouldn’t want you to get any bigger.”
Ronetta’s smile fell away, and a flustered, uncertain look replaced it because she didn’t miss the dig.
Antonio jumped to his feet and placed his brownie back on the plate. “We’re done, aren’t we?” he said to Ronetta.
“Uh . . . yes, we are.” Ronetta wrapped her brownie in a napkin. “I think we covered everything, and if I have any questions, I’ll send you an e-mail.”
“I’ll walk you back to your office. I have a few quick questions. Cass, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
The hard look he sent behind Ronetta’s back didn’t faze her. “I’ll be waiting,” she said.
After they walked out, Cassidy took a deep breath. She’d never liked Ronetta from the first time she met her, and she liked her even less now. When he’d hired her, she’d made her reservations known, but Antonio had brushed them off and told her Ronetta had a stellar résumé and was good at her job. That’s the only reason he was interested in her.
She gnawed on her top lip, thinking about the comments Janice had made before she left work. Janice’s husband had cheated on her with one of his coworkers.
Why did he have to hire Ronetta? An attractive, dessert-making publicist with a voluptuous figure and who made him laugh.
Cassidy didn’t like the direction her thoughts were taking, but she couldn’t stop them. Antonio was an attractive man, and he held a position of power as the head of his own company. Women were attracted to power. Her instincts had served her well in the past, and she couldn’t ignore the uneasy sensation that had surfaced in her stomach, which meant she shouldn’t ignore what she saw as only an innocent conversation between coworkers.
She walked behind Antonio’s desk and slid into his chair. Beside his computer was his smartphone, too. If she had enough time, she could kill two birds with one stone. Shaking the wireless mouse, she flicked her gaze to the open doorway. When the computer screen came alive, she ran her nimble fingers across the keyboard and typed in a Web site URL.
She squashed the twinge of guilt in her chest that warned she shouldn’t be doing this. She already knew that, but had made up her mind within seconds of Antonio walking out of the office that she was going to do it anyway. If he had nothing to hide, then she’d be proven wrong, and everything would be fine, but she needed to be sure. There was nothing wrong with making sure, right?
Her fingers paused on the keyboard as pain tightened in her chest. The sensation in her stomach magnified tenfold into a full stomachache. Tears filled her eyes, and she shut them for a moment. Just the thought of Antonio cheating on her was unbearable.
Some women—poor, pathetic creatures that they were—didn’t have a clue about a cheating spouse until the other woman showed up, or worse, out of the blue, she was served with divorce papers. She refused to be one of those women.
She opened her eyes. Her fingers flew across the keys once again. She watched the downloading program install on Antonio’s computer. Tapping her finger on the desk nervously, she watched the doorway in case he came back before she was finished.
When the download completed, she sat there for a moment, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.
The lights seemed extra bright. They were like a spotlight, glaring, bringing attention to the ugly thing she’d done.
She took a quivering breath.
She couldn’t help it, though. She had to know. She deserved to know.
Chapter Five
Cassidy, in one of the guest chairs, watched Antonio come back into the office and seat himself behind the desk across from her. She returned his penetrating stare.
“Proud of yourself?” he asked.
She shot him a defiant look, tilting her chin up. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You know exactly what I mean. That little jab you made at Ronetta was completely unnecessary.”
Cassidy shrugged. “I was expressing my concern on her behalf.” She rose from the chair. “Anyway, I have to go. I brought brownies from Sweet Treats Bakery. They’re not homemade, but you’ve always enjoyed them in the past.”
Antonio shook his head and sighed. “What am I going to do with you?” His eyes softened. “Come here.”
Cassidy glanced over her shoulder at the door.
“Don’t worry about the open door. We’re not going to do anything freaky. I only want to kiss you good-bye before you leave.”
“That’s all?” Cassidy sashayed behind the desk, smiling to herself when his eyes lowered to the provocative movement of her hips. She sat on his lap and looped her arms around his neck. The kiss was light and affectionate.
“Mmm. Perfect.” Antonio grinned at her. “I’ll see you later.”
“Okay.” Cassidy moved to get up, but Antonio held her back.
“One more thing,” he said.
“Yes?” Cassidy purred, gazing into his chocolate-colored eyes.
Antonio leaned in so close his lips grazed the shell of her ear. “Remove whatever you put on my computer.”
Startled, Cassidy drew back, her playful attitude immediately vanishing. “What? What are you . . . talking . . . ?”
One eyebrow rose in disbelief. “So you’re going to lie to me?”
“No, I . . .” Her gaze skittered away from his face to land on the second button of his shirt. “How did you know?” she asked in a low voice.
“I didn’t, but I know you and the way you think. Considering you’re about to take the Ethical Hacker exam, what you did was extremely unethical.”
Defeated and at a loss for words, Cassidy twisted around and went through the steps to remove the hidden software. When she finished, she wouldn’t look at him. “I’ll see you later,” she mumbled, walking toward the door.
“Is this how you want things to be?” Antonio asked. “Do you even feel bad about what you did?”
Cassidy stopped near the door. She straightened her spine before she faced him. “Are you saying you never have doubts?”
“No, because I trust you.” He rose and walked slowly over to where she stood. “Should I have doubts? You trying to tell me something?” His voice was low and quiet, and his eyes had hardened as he focused on her face, as if searching for a telling twitch or some other damning evidence of wrongdoing.
“Of course not!” Cassidy said hotly. “But let’s be real, I’m a woman. If I wanted sex, I could just—” She stopped the impulsive words too late.
He froze. “You could what?”
“Nothing.”
“You could what? Get it whenever you want?”
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just talking.”
He reached behind her and slammed the door shut, making her jump. He stood so close she almost had to step back. “You better be just talking. Because if I ever find out . . .”
The heated words hung in the air, and she knew what he left unsaid was not what he w
ould do to her, but what he’d do to the man.
He wagged his finger at her. “You know what, I’m not going to let you get me riled up, because that’s what you want. You and drama are best friends, but me and drama don’t get along.”
“I’m not being dramatic.”
Already turned around, Antonio crossed the room to his desk. “I’ll see you tonight,” he said in a clipped tone. By way of dismissal, he flipped open a file on his desk.
Cassidy stared at his bent head for a long time, willing him to pay attention to her, but when he didn’t, she left the office in a huff.
****
Hours later, Antonio pulled on his jacket.
“I know this is hard on you.” Valentina Rodriguez rested a hand on his shoulder in the dim light near the door of the hotel suite. Her dark hair hung in loose waves down her back, and her alabaster skin held a hint of guilty color as she looked up at him with concern in her green eyes.
Antonio tensed when she touched him, and she dropped her hand.
What had he gotten himself into? What was he doing here in this hotel room, doing something that went against his conscience?
Of course, he knew what.
His eyes shifted to the little boy she held in her arms. The ten-month-old looked back at Antonio with the same brown eyes and thick, curled lashes he and his siblings had inherited from their father. Emilio was definitely a Vega.
“Have you told anyone?” she asked tentatively.
“No,” he responded in a terse tone, irritated by the question. She knew he couldn’t tell anyone, and it seared his conscience.
Valentina licked her lips. “I’m really sorry, Antonio. I didn’t plan this.”
“Didn’t you?” The rhetorical question was harsh and unfair. He knew better than to accuse her of entrapment because he’d known her a long time, and she wasn’t that kind of person.
More color filled her cheeks. “No, I didn’t, no matter what you think.”
He averted his eyes so he couldn’t see the hurt in hers. “I’m sorry; that was unfair.”
For Better or Worse Page 4