“That’s an awesome idea! I haven’t eaten a thing yet. Help me stack all this together and we can go.”
A few minutes later, the entire office was dark and they were locking the front door. True to his word, Landon had stood guard just in the entrance. He turned and greeted them.
“Oh, good morning ladies. What an odd coincidence to be running into you here,” he winked.
Lauren smiled at his cheesiness. “Do you remember Landon?”
“Of course I do,” she said, embracing him tightly as well. He stepped back, unprepared for so much enthusiasm. Lauren had to giggle at his look of surprise. “I’m so glad you two were together through all this. Thank you for taking care of our girl here.”
“It’s a...my pleasure,” he stammered. “Looks like you’ve been busy?” His eyes on the heavy bags of paperwork.
“Oh my goodness, you have no idea,” Lauren replied. “First, we have to get some place safe we can sit down and talk about all this. It’s not like we can push together two tables in Starbucks or something.” Hesitantly, she looked to Landon. “I know you aren’t totally comfortable with it, but it is the only place I can think of...”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. He knows something’s gone on between me and Damon but really, it’s none of his business. After everything that happened with that blonde chick...
“No, you’re absolutely right. We just need to figure out how we’re all going to get in there without being spotted. We can’t assume Parker’s stopped watching that building.”
“Where are you talking about?” Faith said with a scrunched nose.
Lauren took a deep breath, hoping Faith could keep her mouth shut. “I’ve actually been staying with Damon Kael for the last few weeks. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind us going over there so we could talk.” Oh good, at least if her jaw hangs open like that she won’t be able to say anything about the date we had.
With no alternative, they collected their rental car and entered the building the same way they’d left. Parker knew Lauren didn’t have a car so it made sense he wouldn’t be watching the garage on the opposite side from the front entrance.
After calling Damon and briefly explaining the situation, the doorman was happy to allow Lauren and her guests through to the elevators. Even though he worked evenings, Lauren was disappointed Marco wasn’t at the desk. I probably scared the hell out of him the other night. I should really do something nice for him.
Lauren guided them through the front door, exhaustion not only draining her of energy but also hope. Despite the brave face and bravado, she wanted to slink away to the bedroom with Landon and sleep for the next few weeks. All of this confrontation was the exact opposite of how she wanted to live her life. As her eyes fell on Damon relaxing on his sofa with the New York Times Sunday Edition, she knew she had no choice. This is was exactly the sort of stuff he’d been trying to teach her since they’d met.
“This place is incredible,” Faith gasped beside her. “Mr. Kael, I can’t thank you enough for letting us use your apartment.”
Lauren watched as Damon’s eyes fixed on Faith. Even in her sloppiest state, she was enchanting, in no small part because of what a genuine person she was. He carefully folded the newspaper and set it down, rising to his feet without taking his gaze from her. “Ms. Bragg, what a pleasant surprise to see you again.” As he took her hand, Lauren felt a twinge of jealousy and immediately kicked herself. Although happily in love with Landon, there was something intoxicating in the way Damon looked at a woman that she’d miss. There was an instant infatuation between them.
“So, I don’t think we should go outside with all this paper. Would it be okay if we took over your dining table?”
“Sure, whatever you’d like,” Damon replied without looking. “Would you like to see the kitchen? You strike me as the sort of woman who loves to cook,” he said guiding Faith out of the room.
Lauren and Landon shared a look as the pair walked away. “Well, she certainly has a type, doesn’t she?” he said under his breath. They started unpacking all the documents and spreading them across the table.
“Oh stop. She’s not some gold-digger. Besides, I think Damon will be a fair bit better to her than Parker ever hoped to be.”
When Faith and Damon returned from the kitchen, she took her place in the middle of the table, organizing the stacks of papers. Damon hung back, not sure if he was welcome. Lauren smiled at him and waved him over. “Come look. We might need your input. As StyleSpur CTO, I practically insist.”
For ten minutes, Faith ran them through every bit of evidence she could find that implicated Parker or his brother in anything remotely unethical or illegal. Not only had they been taking money from their dad and declaring some of it as income, they also created a handful of fake clients. Everything was inflated; income, client lists, industry reach, success. Lauren recognized a few of the fake company names as ones she’d detailed in her presentations to the investors.
“Goes to show you how much image is worth, doesn’t it? There’s really nothing there, nothing like what they’re trying to say there is.” Faith finally concluded. “They got too cocky. I think they were more careful in the beginning but once they saw how easy it was and figured no one was watching...”
“Wow,” was all Lauren could manage. She was seriously impressed, looking at Faith as if she were a different woman.
“Hell hath no fury, eh?” said Landon.
“No, that’s not it at all,” Lauren said, putting a hand on Faith’s arm. “This is amazing work. This is like, financial forensic level digging and you’ve only been going for a couple hours. Just imagine what you could find if you had more time!”
Faith blushed and smoothed a few pieces of her hair back. “It’s not really all that good. I just knew where to look. Goes to show how much of my life has been spent at that office, right?”
“Well, when this is all over, you definitely won’t have a problem finding a job,” said Landon.
“Oh! You should come out and work with us,” said Lauren excitedly. Faith was positively beaming, looking happier than she’d seen in her months.
“But wait, we’re really getting ahead of ourselves here. What does this all actually prove?”
“I think that largely depends on what you plan on doing here.” It was the first thing Damon had said, his deep voice startling the group. Then, almost as one, Faith and Landon turned their attention back to Lauren. The expectation in his words grated against Lauren, like he was waiting for her to produce the correct solution.
She threw her hands up. “I have no idea. I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m unfamiliar with the etiquette. If I had it my way, I’d just castrate the fucker and be done with it.” She knew she’d reacted harshly, so taking a calming breath, she started again. “I still don’t understand what all this really means. I know this is proof of fraud but what can I do with it? Report him to the IRS or something? Get him audited?”
“Among other things,” said Landon. “What we have here could completely demolish everything Parker has built with StyleSpur. We release this to the clients you have and they’ll run for the hills. I’m not gonna go so far as to say it could destroy his career because, let’s face it, the guy is a cockroach. Plus, most investors don’t give a shit about someone’s criminal background so long as they’re able to produce money there and then.”
“He’s not wrong,” said Damon. “Parker has a reputation and it’ll take a special kind of implosion for that to be touched. This stuff?” He gestured to the pile of papers and then crossed his arms. “In the right hands, all of this could be construed to look like the workings of a clever businessman.”
Lauren felt sick to her stomach. She pushed away from the table and found she couldn’t meet the eyes of anyone in the room. I’ve dragged them all into this and here I am, too weak to decide what to do. “I just need some time to think, excuse me.”
She made her way outside to the patio, tightening the sweat
er around her, and sank wearily into a chair. Closing her eyes, she focused on the calm breeze caressing her skin and fought back tears. I didn’t want any of this. I didn’t want anything to do with this. Why can’t I just leave, go to California and just forget about him? Chalk him up to a shitty chapter in my life that’s now finished. She tilted her head toward the warm morning sun and imagined she was on Landon’s balcony, the cool breeze touched with a hint of brine. If only we were there now, she thought bitterly.
Opening her eyes and gazing around, she realized she’d never been out on this patio during the day. At this height, she felt like she was in the treetops of the concrete jungle. The same buildings that formed that skyline to which she’d pinned so much value were nearly eye level. It was in this moment she accepted how much she’d actually changed. I’m playing in a much bigger league here, she thought with a mixture of fear and pride. If I don’t step up, I’m gonna be crushed. Who knows if I’ll ever had another chance.
The door slid open behind her but she made no move to look, afraid her emotions would betray her. A moment later, Damon sat in the chair beside her, the orange book in his lap. She stared at the embossed lettering and wanted to curse its existence while, at the same time, giving thanks for its presence in her life. He opened it and thumbed through the pages, stopping a third of the way through before handing it to her. She nearly resisted when she saw the cold look in his eyes, but knew his advice had helped before.
“Read the entire chapter,” he said sitting back.
She took a deep breath and read. Law 15 - Crush Your Enemy Totally.
As she read the quotes from Machiavelli and Indian philosophers she didn’t recognize, the stories about Moses and ancient Chinese emperors, Lauren understood Damon’s message. While she hadn’t yet read the entire book, this particular chapter seemed unusually short. Each section showed examples of where the law had worked effectively yet provided examples of when the opposite might be true. Not this law. There seemed to be little doubt that when facing an enemy, anything short of complete annihilation was considered a bad idea.
“Right, but this isn’t ancient China. I’m not some general. I just want to run my own company and get this creep to stop fucking with me.”
“I know, love. This is how you do it.”
She read a quote from Napoleon out loud. “‘To have ultimate victory, you must be ruthless.’ I don’t want some ultimate victory. I never cared about facing him in the business world because I know MyBFC will beat StyleSpur every time. I don’t want to destroy him.”
“He’s left you little choice.” Lauren could still see the heat in Damon’s eyes as he looked at her, but it was dimmer. It was like spending time with an old, familiar lover that still knew which buttons to press. “Listen, out of respect to you, I haven’t done anything yet. I don’t appreciate it when assholes mess with friends of mine but I’d like to extend my offer of help. I have extensive contacts and influence in all the right places. One word and I’m yours.”
The last sentence sent a ripple across her skin which she struggled to ignore. Pulling her eyes away, she once more scanned the pages of the book. “I understand what you’re saying but I guess I’m just not that ruthless yet. I need to give him one more chance to come clean and then...”
“Let slip the dogs of war?” he offered with a grin.
“Something like that,” she said as she rose. “I think I know what to do.” She found Landon and Faith chatting quietly at the table. “Faith, I’m going to need you to schedule a meeting with Parker and this is how it’s going to work.”
13.
The following two days were some of the most stressful Lauren had ever experienced. Arranging the meeting proved much more difficult than any of them had anticipated, which meant Lauren and Faith had to go about their daily lives at StyleSpur as if nothing were happening. They couldn’t even risk their clandestine kitchen meetings, fearing the possibility that Parker had hidden recording devices everywhere. For the plan to work, they just had to get Parker in the room. After she had a chance to say her part, the rest was up to him.
Finally, Parker agreed. Still playing the absentee CEO, he replied to Faith’s email with a clipped message.
Tomorrow, office, 10am.
Never before had Lauren felt such a mixture of relief and apprehension. He agreed! Oh shit, he agreed. It was an emotion they all seemed to be sharing, as was evident by their meeting at Damon’s house Tuesday night. In fact, they were all showing signs of stress.
“So, I had a panic attack this morning over recording the conversation,” Landon said. He sat on the sofa with his ankle crossed over his knee, shaking a mile a minute. “Each state has different laws regarding consent when recording someone on the phone or in person.”
“Oh shit,” Faith whispered. “That’s like, the whole point of this.”
“No, we’re good! Apparently as long as one person who is being recorded consents to the recording, it’s legal. So like, you can’t just put a microphone in a room and record whatever happens but if you’re also being taped, it’s fine.”
“That might be a handy bit of knowledge to have if it turns out any conversations we had in the office were recorded.”
Faith nodded. “So we all know what’s going on? We’re all comfortable with our plan of action?” Her stress was showing through all her over planning. She’d arrived at Damon’s apartment with detailed notes, all printed and organized for each person. She’d even gone so far as to create mock conversations with dialogue suggestions.
Lauren smiled kindly. “I think as long as we act naturally, it’ll all be fine. We just don’t want to scare him off before we get him to confess. It’s nothing that complex.”
“I’m going to get to the office at like, six in the morning. So I think my natural will look exhausted,” Faith laughed.
“I’ll probably already be there.”
Landon fidgeted, Faith planned, and Lauren battled insomnia. Sleep hadn’t come easy the previous few nights and she knew she shouldn’t even bother trying that night.
“You called Sahra, right?” Lauren said, turning to Landon.
He grimaced and rolled his eyes. “She was all too happy to hear from me. Talked my ear off, but I think she bought it. I told her Damon Kael was rumored to be putting in an offer. I told her if she didn’t move quickly, she could kiss her promotion at Morowitz goodbye.”
“That should work.” A stillness fell between them all. “I think this might just work, you know?”
As Lauren walked Faith to the elevators, the leggy blonde paused. “What do you think of Damon?”
She’d sensed this question was coming but smiled despite herself. “I think he’s a great guy, why?”
“He asked me out this morning, said that he’d love to take me out to dinner after all this was over.” A flush rose in her pale cheeks as if she were imagining what it’d be like. “It seems so soon after Parker and I hardly know the guy.”
“Then I think you should go out with him and find out. Don’t let Parker hold you back from happiness any longer. Even if you aren’t meant to be, I promise Damon will treat you well.”
As she stepped into the elevator, she was smiling wildly. “He is hot as hell, isn’t he? Ugh, I just about die when he looks at me.”
“I know the feeling,” said Lauren without thinking.
“Landon’s a lucky guy,” Faith replied with a wink. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
Lauren returned to the apartment and leaned against the locked door. “I am a lucky guy, you know,” Landon said as he approached. Her eyes fluttered open as he surprised her with a kiss. “I’m proud of you.”
“Proud? I haven’t done anything yet.”
His warm brown eyes reflected his smile. “You’re staying true to yourself. While I might not understand, it’s admirable you’re not just going straight to his jugular.”
She buried her face in the crook of his neck and squeezed him tightly. “I’m letting
him slit his own throat, if he wants to...you know, I don’t think anyone other than my parents has ever said that to me before.” Her lips grazed the skin on his neck as she whispered, “I love you.”
He ran his fingers through her hair, gently pulling her face to his. “I love you, too,” he replied, lips moving against hers.
A brief memory of Damon pinning her to this very spot flashed through her mind. She sidestepped from under his arm and pulled him towards the bedroom. “Come on. I’m not gonna get any sleep tonight anyway. We might as well have a little fun.”
Quickly stripping their clothes off, they stood naked in front of one another. The glow of the city lights filtered through the banks of windows, casting a dreamy hue. Landon closed the distance and swung her around, almost as if they were gliding along a dance floor.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered against her cheek. “I can’t stand not touching you.” She eased into him, allowing herself to be lowered onto the soft bed.
He stood, looking down at her. “Come here,” Lauren said, stretching her hands to reach him. Instead, Landon bent to kiss her ankle, her calf, the inside of her knee, her inner thigh...his hot breath hovered between her legs as he traveled down to the other foot. He mimicked the journey up the other leg before stopping once more above her pussy. He was so close to her skin she could feel the heat radiating off him in waves.
He licked her with a long, flat, slow swipe of his tongue. Gliding across her bare skin until he reached the swollen point of her clit. He sucked it into his mouth, leisurely lapping and licking. The slow speed became such sweet torture. As Lauren pressed into his mouth, he moved with her, unrelenting light pressure. Landon’s middle finger traced the opening of her slit, gently probing, teasing. I’ll never come like this, I’ll just slowly go insane. He kept her on the edge, pulling away as he sensed her drawing close.
With a kiss to her hipbone, bellybutton, and each nipple, he crawled up her body. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she pulled his weight on top of her. A kiss to her collarbone, her neck, Landon hovered over her mouth. As she reached for him, he pulled back, lips curling into a smile. Lauren ached for him inside, ached for his lips against hers.
Playing with Power - Book 5: New Adult Office Romance Page 10