I pushed a new contract toward him, one Charles’ PA had prepared according to my guidelines. “I think you’ll find that this makes sure that you’re more than taken care of.”
At first, Joe seemed reluctant to even look at it, but at last, he pulled himself upright and reached across to grab the document.
“Pay close attention to the numbers on pages eighteen and twenty-four.”
He flipped to the pages I suggested, and I could see the look of shock on his face.
“I think you’ll agree that that’s more than enough to compensate you for any… inconvenience this whole sorry affair would have caused you.”
Joe gulped. “I’ll need some time to think about it.”
“Of course. You have until this time tomorrow, after which this deal will be off the table and you can take your chances in court. However, I feel it only fair to warn you that I’m a little better educated than Google, and while you may win something, the legal fees will cripple you before you ever see a red cent. But if that’s the route you wish to take…” I shrugged, knowing that the contract would be signed before the day was out.
“All right. I’ll meet you here at this time tomorrow and let you know my decision.” Joe got up and left, clutching his precious contract tightly to his chest.
“He’ll sign.” The moment I said the words, I knew them to be true.
“Well, it would appear that I underestimated you, Rebecca.” Charles couldn’t keep the delighted grin off his face. “Once we’ve got his scrawl on the dotted line, this whole sordid business will be over. Let me take you out to lunch to celebrate.”
“Thank you, Charles, that’s very kind of you, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to decline. I’ve got a plane to catch.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rick frown and open his mouth, so I carried on speaking, not letting him get a word in edgewise. “However, Rick here will be staying in town for a few more days, just to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as I know it will. I’ll make sure he stays in close contact with me, and I’ll draft a letter for you to send to the aggrieved party about their specious plagiarism claims. I’m sure you’ll find that with the right words, they’ll react exactly the same way that Joe Clark did.”
“I don’t doubt it for a second.” Charles enthusiastically shook my hand before Rick’s, and I couldn’t help but feel highly smug that I’d proven to him that just because I was a woman didn’t mean that I didn’t know my way around the law.
#
“What the hell was that all about?” Rick rounded on me with anger on his face as soon as we’d left Andrew Clifton’s offices.
“What do you mean? I just won the case for us. I would have thought that ‘congratulations’ would be a more appropriate response.”
“No, this nonsense about your having a flight to catch. We’re both meant to stay out here until the job’s done, remember?”
“Oh, Rick. So educated and yet so naïve. Perks of being the boss—I get to decide when the job’s done, and for me, this is over. You’ll stay here until everything’s signed, sealed, and delivered, but I wouldn’t worry. Knowing you, I’m sure you’ll find some female companion to keep you warm at night. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go and pack. I’m not spending another moment in the same city as you.”
Sixteen
Standing outside the door to Devon’s apartment, I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, feeling as though it was going to break free at any moment. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so nervous. I took a few breaths to try and calm myself down. I felt like I was on the verge of a heart attack.
After a few moments, I felt ready to knock on his door.
The door swung open to reveal Devon, and my heart did multiple somersaults at the sight of him. He was still in the charcoal grey suit he had worn to work, only his tie was removed, and the top button of his crisp white shirt was undone, revealing that tiny triangle of suntanned flesh with sparse curls at the top of his chest that always had me wanting to undo the rest of his shirt.
“Rebecca!” He couldn’t keep the look of surprise off his face. “I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“I finished up with Andrew Clifton this morning. Rick’s still out there tying up loose ends, but I think it’s safe to say that the crisis is averted.”
“Good work. I knew you could do it. Come on. Let’s have a drink to celebrate.”
He turned and led me through to his lounge with its impressive views over the city. I never got tired of looking out of his windows, imagining all the millions of people going about their business out there.
I sat down on the sofa and he joined me a moment later, bottle of champagne in hand. He popped the cork and poured out a glass for both of us. “To another successful case closed!”
“Another case closed!” Normally, we would have done that goofy thing where you link arms before drinking, but after our fight in the hotel, we were still unsure of each other. After I’d said what I’d come to say, we’d both know where we stood—but it could well mean the end of us.
“So tell me all the details. How did you get Charles out of the jam he’d got himself into?”
“Do you mind if I don’t? I need to talk to you and I’m worried that if I don’t say what I’ve got to say now, I’ll lose my nerve.”
“Sounds serious.” Devon put down his glass and turned to face me, giving me his full attention.
“It is.” I took a deep breath and started to tell the story that I’d kept hidden for so many years. “To put myself through college—”
“You worked as a dancer. I know.”
I was shocked. “How? I didn’t think that anybody knew about that!”
“Rebecca, no one’s going to forget someone like you.” Devon reached forward and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “Look at you. You’re beautiful and intelligent and any man would be proud to have your attention, even if he’s paying for it. Don’t worry—it’s strictly need-to-know information, and I’ve made sure that it won’t go beyond the office walls.”
“But what about Rick?”
“What about him?”
“He’s threatened to tell the press all about me.”
Devon shook his head. “Don’t worry about him. I’ll make sure he knows to keep his mouth shut. That is, if he wants to keep any kind of legal career going.”
“So all this time, you knew all about me, all about what I did, and you haven’t said a word? Why not?”
He shrugged. “I figured you’d tell me when you were ready. I mean, it’s not exactly the kind of thing you say on a first date, and I get that you probably feel ashamed or embarrassed about it, so I was waiting until you felt the time was right. But I want you to know that you don’t have anything to feel bad about. I know your family isn’t well off and law degrees are expensive.”
“It was Rick’s idea.” I whispered the words, hating the fact that he’d had such power over me. “He convinced me that it would be better for our marriage if we didn’t start our life after graduation with tens of thousands of dollars of debt hanging over us. Of course, what he really meant was that he didn’t want to start life after graduation in debt. I’m not convinced he ever took our marriage seriously. He just saw it as an excuse to control me. He likes being in charge.”
“I didn’t know that. It must have absolutely killed him to have to report to you, then.”
I grinned. “Oh, you have no idea. That’s been one of the best bits about this case, not that there was much that was good about it. Rick hates the fact that he can’t do anything without my agreement.”
“Would you like me to move him to another department? I’d hate to lose a lawyer of his caliber, but there’s no reason you should have to put up with him anymore.”
“You know what? If you’d have asked me a week ago, I’d have said yes, but now I think I rather like the idea of having Rick underneath me, reminding him who’s boss. He can stay on my team.”
“Well, you ju
st say the word if it gets to be too much. I don’t want your performance to suffer because of Rick. By the sounds of it, that man’s done more than enough damage to you already.”
I blushed and bit my lip, wondering if Devon knew that my “illness” had all been down to personal problems. “So what did your dad think about my past? I’m surprised that someone as conservative as Grayson would be okay with having a former exotic dancer on staff.”
“Ah.” Devon looked shifty. “Dad doesn’t exactly know about that. I told him you worked in a club, but he thinks that you were just a waitress. He has no idea that you were the main attraction, and it’s better if it stays that way. He’s not quite as understanding as me.”
“No, I suppose not.” The thought of Grayson Caesar calmly accepting the fact that I’d been in adult entertainment made me laugh. “Still, you know, and you’re okay with it and that’s all that matters to me. You are okay with it?”
“Do you even need to ask?” Devon gently cupped my face with his hands and pulled me forward to kiss me passionately. “Rebecca, I love you. I adore you. I want you with every fiber of my being. It’s why I asked you to move in with me. I didn’t realize that you were still working through things with Rick, but I want you to know that it’s okay. I’ll wait for you as long as it takes.”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes, I’ll move in with you. I don’t know if I’m really ready, but then I don’t know if I’ll ever be really ready for it. What I do know is that I love you and the thought that I might be losing you was killing me. I want us to take things to the next level, and if you’ll still have me, I’ll go home and start packing now.”
“Are you kidding? I’ll come and help!”
Devon looked like an excited puppy dog as he bounded to his feet.
“Not so fast.” I reached up to pull him toward me. “There’s something we need to do first…”
#
Lying in bed with Devon, I looked at him while he slept. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. It wasn’t just that I had the most gorgeous boyfriend in the whole wide world, he knew all about my past and he accepted me for who I was. If I was honest with myself, one of the reasons why I’d kept him—and every other man I dated—at arm’s length was because I’d been afraid that if they knew what I’d done, they’d run a mile. The fact that Devon had known about me before we’d started seriously dating proved that he was genuine about building a future together.
However, there was one little fly in the ointment. Grayson. I was under no illusion what Devon’s father’s reaction would be if he knew that his only son—and the most eligible bachelor in New York—was living with a woman who used to take her clothes off for a living.
I couldn’t help but feel that we needed to tell him the truth, and soon. I didn’t even want to think about what might happen if he found out from someone else, someone like Rick. Devon could make all the promises he wanted, but I knew Rick all too well. If he wanted to use my past to cause me trouble, he would, and Grayson was the perfect way to do it.
My mind started racing through all the possibilities, thinking of the ways Rick might try to sabotage things with Devon. Of course, the one thing I hadn’t told my boyfriend was the fact that I’d slept with Rick, but that was one secret I was going to carry with me to the grave. If Rick even dared to try and cause trouble because of that, he wouldn’t know what hit him.
I’d thought that coming home to Devon would solve everything, that we’d fall into each other’s arms and everything would be fine again, but I found myself becoming increasingly agitated, until I decided to get up.
After slipping out of the bedroom quietly so I didn’t disturb Devon, I fetched myself a glass of water and sipped it while I gazed out of his window to the streets below. Soon Rick would be back and looking for any way he could find to cause problems. Devon didn’t need to know that the main reason I wanted him to stay on my team was so that I could keep him on a short leash.
Still, even I couldn’t watch him twenty-four hours a day, and I was under no illusion that Rick would let my little victory over him today stand without payback. I was going to need to watch my back around him.
“Rebecca? Are you out there?” I turned to see Devon padding toward me. “What’s wrong? Can’t you sleep?”
I shook my head. “I’m still buzzing after today.”
“Come on. Come back to bed. I know a great way to help you relax.”
I giggled as I took Devon’s hand and followed him to the bedroom. Maybe Rick would do his best to sabotage my life, but Devon and I were stronger than that. Or at least, I thought we were.
End of Book Two
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
The Red Eye (The Red Eye Erotic Romance Series Book 2) Page 9