by Alina Jacobs
During a break that afternoon, he texted Robert.
We have to meet later this week
I want to move forward on our Holbrook plan
Robert's reply came a few seconds later. He had added Rhonda into the group text.
I thought you'd never ask
When he returned to his apartment, he took Kal for a walk and ran scenarios in his head. He knew Liz wanted him. The way she looked at him in the gym, her reaction outside the Holbrook estate.
I have to do something. Someone has to pay for this.
Wes's father had been laid off when Wes was a child. It had been catastrophic for their family, and it had destroyed his father's sense of self-worth. Wes swore when he started his company that he would never let that happen. When he bought Robert and Rhonda's father's company, he made good on his promise to make sure all the employees kept their jobs if they wanted them. His mission was to keep the company innovative, and Walsh Systech always had a large cash reserve in order to ensure that they wouldn't have any surprise layoffs.
And now here he was, breaking that promise, and it was all thanks to Liz and the Holbrooks. "Think," he whispered. "Find a weakness, and exploit it."
A dangerous idea formed in his mind. He remembered the way Liz looked at him, the wide-eyed almost desire and the flush on her skin. This could be it. This could be the way to get revenge. He would be the perfect gentleman. Wes was going to make her fall in love with him, make her need him, imagine a future with him, then he was going to destroy her. "I'll break her heart and ruin her."
She would be so humiliated. Those Holbrooks clearly had a soft spot for her, which would be an added bonus when they realized what he'd done.
Kal looked at him. He felt the dog's judgment. Wes couldn't help but wonder if he was throwing away a chance at happiness with Liz. They could have been a great couple. Not to mention that screwing over Liz felt wrong, and it was wrong.
"Think of your employees," he said. Who would fight for them, if Wes didn't?
He forced himself to remember how she had so casually drawn those little charts and stupid graphs, each little tick and number a life of one of his employees that she and the Holbrooks were ruining. How many of his employees would end up broken like his father?
Screw trying to have a real relationship. He was going to fuck Liz then fuck her over and the rest of the Holbrooks too.
"You think I'm weak, Liz?" he muttered. "Just you wait. I know your weakness, and I'm coming for you."
On the walk back to his apartment, he bought several men's magazines that promised to give him the secrets to making her want him and finding the key to her heart.
Wes hadn't slept much since the Holbrooks had stolen his company. It especially didn't help that he had to live with the knowledge that he was related to those people. He made himself green tea, craving the clarity the caffeine would bring.
As he sipped the hot, slightly bitter drink, Wes flipped through one of the magazines. The cologne samples made his apartment reek, and Kal sneezed repeatedly at his spot on the couch.
The men's magazines were obnoxious, but one of them recommended that a man do something surprising and unexpected for the special woman in his life. Wes checked the time. It wasn't that late in the evening. No time like the present. Could he convince her to come meet him?
He texted Liz.
Meet me at the park around the corner from the gym.
He didn't realize he was holding his breath until his phone buzzed with a reply.
It's dark…
Was she going to take the bait?
Come
I have a surprise for you.
Not waiting for her reply, he buckled Kal back into his harness. The dog was excited for two walks in one evening.
It was chilly in the park; fall had come early. Wes liked the cold, though, and he knew Kal preferred it to the sticky heat of summer.
Wes waited in the numbing darkness.
"She's not coming," he said to Kal. But then he saw her, her hair bright in the lamplight, and he wanted to forget all about his plan.
No. She's your target.
17
Liz
Liz was scrapbooking when she received the text from Wes. She wasn't sure what was up. Was that normal, to ask someone you barely knew to meet you at a random park at night?
She decided it would be prudent to text Anastasia, if for nothing else than to have someone know where she was.
I'm going to meet Wes
Anastasia's reply came seconds later.
Great?
She didn't sound that enthused.
In a park
At night
That sounded sketchy to Liz as soon as she typed it out.
Are you going to do the nasty in the park?
Liz blushed. She couldn't believe her friend. Also, the thought of sleeping with Wes made her slightly dizzy.
No!
Of course not
He said it was a surprise.
Anastasia sent a string of sexually suggestive emoji in reply.
Liz decided not to text Wes to tell him she was coming. What if he started planning something nefarious?
As soon as she saw him in the park, however, she realized that her fears were unfounded. He had his large fluffy dog with him, and when Wes saw her, he smiled broadly.
"Can I hug you?" he asked her.
She stretched up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their noses almost touched.
"Thanks for coming out. I wasn't sure if you were going to ignore me."
"I didn't text you because I didn't know if you asked me out here for some nefarious purpose, and I didn't want you to have time to prepare the rope and plastic sheets," she joked. She drew back when she saw a pained look cross his face. "Sorry," she said. "That was' weird."
"No, it 'wasn't. It's good for you to be careful. You can never be too careful about who you trust," Wes said.
"But I can trust you." She saw the same almost-pained look. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said. "Just my family. The fact that I am a Holbrook was a real bombshell."
"I can image," she said.
"Change of subject," Wes said. "Shall we go somewhere less open?"
"For my surprise?" she asked.
He smiled at her.
She could see the desire in his eyes, and she felt a hot flush straight down to between her legs. "You can't boink me in the park," she said. "Not with your dog present."
He burst out laughing. "Are you always that forward? I guess so since that's how you do business."
"Sorry about that," Liz said. "I really am."
"I understand," Wes said, his voice silky smooth. "You were just doing your job."
"Right," Liz replied.
She tucked herself under his arm and snuggled against his chest as they started walking. She felt him hesitate slightly, then he pulled her closer.
"You're so perfect," she said. Wes was silent for a moment. You were too forward, dummy, Liz chastised herself. Guys like Wes want girls like Kate—nice girls who don't throw themselves at the first handsome face.
She let him go, but Wes gently pulled her back against him.
"There's this tea place I want to show you. I think you'll like it."
Wes led her to a tiny little shop. If Wes stretched is arms out, Liz thought he could touch both walls.
"Cześć," Wes greeted the older woman behind the narrow counter. She waved them through.
"Wow this is beautiful," Liz breathed. They were in a tiny backyard, tall buildings rising up on either side of them. Fairy lights were strung up, casting shadows off the little pots of herbs and tiny fruit trees.
"It's cozy, isn't it?" Wes asked as they sat down. The table and chairs were small, and Liz and Wes were sitting very close together.
"This is why I love New York City, all these neat little hidden moments," he told her. "And they let me bring Kal."
The owner brought them a pot of tea in a glass teapot. She set it
over a small kerosene lamp to keep it warm. Liz marveled at the play of the flame's light in the amber liquid.
"It's grog," Wes said as he poured her a cup. "Tea and very small amount of alcohol—more for flavor than anything else. It's quite good."
She sipped the tea. Kal lay his large furry head in her lap.
"I don't have any treats for you," she told the dog.
"He's spoiled, unfortunately," Wes said. He was looking at her with thinly veiled desire. It was everything Liz always wanted—the rich, handsome man with a great dog and a cute, Instagram-worthy, spontaneous date spot.
"So, does this mean you aren't mad at me about the whole taking-over-your-company thing?" she asked, her voice sounding small.
Wes smiled softly at her and took her hand. "Everything is going to be fine. Don't worry about it."
"That's a change," she remarked.
"It's all just business," he said, taking a sip of his tea and smiling at her. "It' hasn't been all bad," he continued. "I got you out of the deal."
"You don't have me," she said.
"I don't?" he replied, brushing his leg against hers. Liz felt a thrill at the contact.
"It's probably not professional to date you," she said later, when he was walking her back to her building. "I'm your liaison."
"But you really want to," he told her as they stopped near the front entrance.
She ran her hands from the ridge of his collar bone down to the soft leather of his belt. He stared at her, daring her to let her hands go lower. She could feel his breath on her lips. The faint traces of the imported tea mingled in the air between them.
He wrapped her in his arms. "You're like a cinnamon bun. A fluffy, delicious cinnamon bun."
"And you want to devour me," she said, stepping back but lacing their fingers with his so she didn't have to give up contact with him.
"Are you coming to the gym tomorrow?" he asked.
"Is that some sort of passive-aggressive comment? That plus comparing me to a baked good makes me thing you're trying to tell me something."
"I am," he said with a wolfish expression. "I want to see your legs spread on the weight bench and watch the way your nipples outline against the fabric of your shirt while you pump iron."
Her mouth was suddenly dry, and she could barely swallow. She wanted him to come up and finish what he'd started.
"Ask me, and I will," he whispered in her ear and grazed her neck with soft kisses.
She willed him to kiss her mouth. But then better judgment prevailed. "Not tonight," she said and kissed him lightly on the cheek. She knew he was watching her as she stepped into the light that spilled from her building entrance.
Osman gave her a fist bump when he opened the door for her. "I didn't know you had a hot date!"
"It was spontaneous," she said, turning around to look at Wes through the glass.
"You need to put a ring on that man," Osman said. "He's playing on a whole other level."
18
Wes
Wes couldn't believe it—the magazine had been right. Wes didn't know what he had expected would happen. Maybe he thought it would be harder to bait Liz, but she had stepped right into his trap.
Humming slightly to himself, Wes started working on one of his little robots. As he worked, Wes imagined what Liz's face would look like when she realized he played her and broke her heart.
You screwed me, so I screwed you, he would say. She would be so humiliated. She would feel how his employees felt when she and Grant Holbrook ruined their lives.
He tried to turn his attention back to the robot. He couldn't concentrate. All he saw was Liz's face. He could tell by the way she looked at him that she thought he was something special. She thought Wes was her perfect billionaire.
Had anyone ever looked at him like that?
Probably not. Even now Kal was giving him the side-eye.
"Stop it," he said to the dog. Kal whined. "I know I'm a terrible person." He threw the dog a treat to try to assuage some of his guilt. He knew what he was contemplating was wrong. Maybe he could forget all about his scheme and just concentrate on having Liz as his real girlfriend. Smiling, Wes thought about seeing her the next day. But he couldn't. That was a fantasy. He needed revenge.
The next morning, Wes was only able to see Liz briefly before another meeting about the transition.
"You're in an energetic mood today, Wes," she said as he pulled her into a nearby empty meeting room.
Wes wanted to kiss her, but that felt like a step too far. You're going to have to do it at some point, his brain said. Why not now?
"See something you like?" she asked him as she reached up to lay a hand on his upper arm. He could tell her pulse was racing, and her chest rose and fell rapidly.
"You have the best tits I have ever seen. Someone should write a poem about them."
"You struck me as more of the engineer, not the poet," she said. "Though I'm glad you approve."
"I'm sorry. I'm going to miss them. I have to go back to Connecticut next week."
"That's too bad," she said. Wes wanted to devour her, and he could tell from her expression and the blatant flirting that she wanted it too. But they had a meeting, and they couldn't be late. Looking carefully to make sure the coast was clear, he waved her out of the room.
Liz dominated his thoughts while he tuned out in the meeting. It didn't matter what was said. He had his own plan, and Robert and Rhonda also had schemes in motion. Once the Holbrooks figured out what was going down, he would probably have to resign. Wes frowned, wondering what that would do to his stock option. Would he have to sell? Would he lose his board seats? At the very least, he would be fired as CEO.
"Is this meeting too boring for you, Wes?" Grant asked him. He must have known Wes hadn't been paying attention at all. "We're going over this transition information for your benefit, you know."
"My benefit?" Wes asked sharply, itching for a fight.
"Oh dear," Kate said, interrupting them. "Oh no. This is bad."
Wes looked in her direction while Grant peered over her shoulder.
She turned her laptop around and showed them the headline on a national tabloid website.
There was a set of pictures of Wes, his father, Hank, and Walter Holbrook. Above the picture screamed the headline, Holbrook Cuckhold! War Hero Forced to Raise Twin Holbrooks.
"This," she said, switching to another tab, "is a popular men's rights forum. They have decided that Wes's father is the perfect poster boy for their cause. The news also coincides with a march they're having in a couple of months. I suspect that this is going to be a gasoline fire."
Wes felt sick. How could his father have gone to the news? What was he trying to do? "Excuse me," he said, standing up. "I have to… do something." He walked out, ignoring the calls after him. He hurried out of the front lobby and was immediately confronted by reporters.
"Can you confirm that you are Walter Holbrook's son?"
"Is it true?"
"What are your thoughts on Walter Holbrook?"
Wes ignored them, but one reporter who was doing a live shot tried to run after him. "Wes, are you sensing a pattern here with Walter Holbrook's behavior?"
Wes stopped and looked straight at the camera.
"Holbrook Enterprises will be organizing a press conference on this matter soon, I would imagine," he said numbly. "Please refer all questions to their PR department."
Wes hurried to his apartment. When he ran inside, he grabbed Kal and hugged him to his chest. He just wanted to jump in the car and start driving until he was far away from New York City and the Holbrooks.
But Kal wanted a walk. Wes pulled on a baseball cap and snuck out through the service entrance by the loading dock. No one followed him. He hoped the Holbrooks were on top of the story. What good was being beholden to a sociopathic corporation if they couldn't at least pay people off to bury unflattering news?
He felt better after the walk, but his good mood evaporated as soon as he ret
urned to the apartment and saw Robert waiting for him.
He looked furious. "You're a Holbrook!" he screamed as Wes approached the door, keys in hand. Kal growled low in his chest and lunged at Robert. Wes's COO hopped back away from the dog's sharp teeth.
"I don't want to be a Holbrook!" Wes yelled at him. "You think I wanted any of this? There are nutcases all over the internet, and they're using my family's dirty laundry as some sort of crazy call to action."
Robert was pressed back against the wall, Kal standing between him and his owner as Wes raged.
"This is insane. I hate the Holbrooks. They ruined everything." Wes's hands were tightly balled in fists, and he forced himself to relax. "We're going to fix this," Wes said through clenched teeth. "I have a plan."
"Oooh a plan," Rhonda said.
Wes hadn't even heard her come up behind him. He needed to pay more attention. "Come inside," Wes said, unlocking the door to his apartment. "We'll talk."
"So, you aren't going to suddenly side with the Holbrooks?" Robert asked.
"No, of course not," Wes replied.
Robert looked at him with suspicion while Rhonda set up her laptop.
"I swear," Wes said. "It's not just me. The Holbrooks are ruining my employee's' lives. Who knows how many people they are going to lay off? They still won't give me a straight answer."
Robert shook his head. "It's just terrible. I can't believe my father sold his company. Some of those people were our original employees. There are guys in the sales department that are too old to find new jobs." Wes could tell Robert was working himself up into a rage.
"They're sociopaths," Wes said.
"But you're becoming close with the girl, Liz," Rhonda said.
Wes smirked. "I think you mean she is becoming close to me. My plan is to use her, make her love me, then humiliate her and break her heart."
Robert laughed. "Good. Serves her right. While that doesn't solve the company problem, I'm sure having a willing female to bang is great for you."
"The Holbrooks adore Liz," Wes said. "They'll be so angry when they figure out what I did. It's personal, which is why they took my company. It's perfect symmetry."