by Webster, K
“This one is from Bray,” Andi announced as she opened up her next gift.
Inside was a Yankees sweatshirt and six tickets tucked into it for the first game of the season. Jackson practically threw her off his lap to look at them.
“Bray! You shouldn’t have! These probably cost a fortune. I am excited though. It will be so much fun for the six of us to go,” she sang excitedly.
He grinned at her, pleased at her happiness with his gift.
“Okay, let’s see. The next one is from Jordan.” She grinned when she opened my present.
I’d bought her a pink iPod for when she went running with Jackson. There were already a bunch of girly songs on it that I had downloaded for her.
“Jordan, I love it! Thank you so much,” she smiled over at me.
Elizabeth squeezed my hand, letting me know that she was pleased with my gift.
“Okay, this one is from Pepper,” she said suspiciously as she pulled tissue out of the large Victoria’s Secret bag.
Inside, it was stuffed completely full of panties. Everyone roared with laughter because it was no secret that Andi had failed to wear them on numerous occasions.
“Pepper, you’re such a bitch! But they’re all so pretty so I guess I’ll forgive you.”
They blew kisses at each other.
“Okay, the last bag must be from Jackson!” she exclaimed, kissing his cheek. When she opened it, her eyes filled with tears.
It was a very expensive camera. Now she’d be able to take some pretty badass pictures of her buildings with that thing. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he nuzzled her breasts. Those two never heard of such a thing called too much PDA.
“I have one more thing for you,” he revealed, handing her an envelope from his jacket pocket.
She frowned at the envelope, and I laughed. Shooting me a glare, she opened it. Inside were two airline tickets to Paris. He was in trouble.
“Jackson! You promised not to go overboard. These were probably very expensive,” she chided.
He just gave her a smug smile. “You’re worth it, Andi. I told you I was going to get you whatever I wanted. The trip isn’t until January. You have plenty of time to get over it.”
She rolled her eyes but kissed him again.
“Thank you, everyone. I love all of it. Now let’s get drunk!”
Several hours later, everyone was getting borderline wasted.
“It’s called ‘Wrong,’” I told them, once again explaining the rules. After many failed attempts of trying to learn the game that clearly only Elizabeth and I had mastered, we finally gave up and just took shots for the fun of it.
Jackson, in the middle of Andi’s giggling, scooped her up and hauled her to the bedroom. I laughed at them. Elizabeth had moved her legs into my lap, and I stroked them underneath her skirt while she chattered on about an exhibit she was excited to unveil at the gala.
My eyes flitted over to Bray and Olive. He was right up against her, whispering into her ear. Her eyes were closed, but she was smiling. I watched his pinky stroke the outside of her thigh, and she shivered. When he sucked on her earlobe, she moaned. They were completely oblivious to us. Elizabeth, unaware of what was going on, kept on talking. I decided I wasn’t one to cock block and stood up with her in my arms.
“God, it’s so hot when you pick me up. You’re such a man,” she purred.
I chuckled at her words. “I’m about to show you exactly how manly I am,” I said confidently, carrying her into the bedroom.
My head pounded in conjunction with my ringing alarm clock. Jordan’s naked body was draped heavily over me. His soft snoring was adorable, and I bit back a laugh so I wouldn’t wake him. Slowly, I eased out from underneath him, but his arm grabbed my hip and pulled me back over.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, voice gravelly with sleep.
“Some of us have work to do today,” I teased. His hand slipped down to my lower body and I gasped.
“Make love with me before we have to get up,” he commanded sweetly.
Pushing him over, I straddled his stomach. “I think we have enough time for that,” I grinned and eased myself down over his now hard cock. One of his hands grabbed a breast while his other hand slipped down to my clit. He groaned as I rode him slowly. His hand dropped from my breast to my hip and urged me to go faster. Complying, I sped up my bouncing and whimpered as I felt my orgasm getting close.
“That’s it, babe. Come for me. I want to see your beautiful face when you cry out my name.” His thumb and finger softly pinched my clit and my body convulsed as my climax took over.
“Jordan, oh my God,” I breathed as my body kept clenching around him with my aftershocks. Soon after, his own release pumped into me, and I collapsed onto his chest.
His hands softly rubbed my back, and I would have been happy staying conjoined like that for the rest of my life.
“I think we need to move that table back a few feet from that exhibit. Don’t you think the exhibit needs to be the centerpiece, not the ice sculpture on the food table?” I asked Stan. It was completely weird being around him today after yesterday’s embarrassing event, but I had no choice. I chose to ignore that it had ever happened and proceed like normal.
“You’re right. Let’s move it over about six more feet,” he agreed.
We each grabbed an end and repositioned it farther down. Satisfied, we went back into Stan’s office to discuss the timeline of events that were to happen tonight.
“Once the guests arrive, we’ll open up the silent auction for them to come in and view the items. The bar will be open and the waitstaff will walk around serving hors d’oeuvres to our guests. At the end of the first hour, Mr. Callahan will make a toast and announce our sponsors. I would like our main sponsor to say a few words, and then we can open the buffet. After everyone’s finished, we’ll have a cocktail hour for everyone to mingle and view the exhibits. At the end of that hour, we’ll have Mr. Callahan speak on behalf of the museum to thank everyone for coming. After that, we will close out the silent auction and notify the winners.”
“Okay, Stan. So where exactly do you want me during all of this?” I questioned.
“Well, I think you might do well to schmooze with the guests. A pretty girl like yourself will make them feel welcome. Are you still leaving at three to get ready?”
“Uh, yes. Okay, I will greet the guests and make sure they are enjoying themselves.”
“Pepper, you can go ahead and go. It’s close to three and everything is set up and ready. I will stay and let in the caterers and support staff. Get here about six thirty so we can iron down anything before the guests arrive at seven.”
I nodded and left quickly before he could say anything more about my looks. It was evident that Stan suddenly had a newfound infatuation with me, and it was getting to be quite annoying. He’d never showed any real interest until Jordan had walked into the picture. Men were difficult creatures.
When I arrived back at the apartment, there was an envelope propped up against the door. Picking it up, I realized it was addressed to me. After reading the note, I suddenly felt ill.
Peppermint Pussy,
I see you’re doing well for yourself. You’ve gone on to have a successful career while some of us have nothing. Maybe I should finish what I started all those years ago. Enjoy the gala.
C
Well this sucked. Not only had he decided to threaten me, but he also knew my schedule. Letting myself inside, I slammed the door behind me.
“Jordan, you need to see this,” AJ said from across the table.
I got up and walked over to him.
“Have you heard of Aidan Holdings?” he questioned.
I shook my head, wondering where he was going with this.
“Well, apparently Aidan Holdings, which I can only assume spells Nadia backwards, was opened up about a year ago as a subsidiary of Compton Enterprises. The documentation on this account is vague at best. From what I can see
, there were multiple deposits each month from several different companies. I am assuming they are investors into this Aidan Holdings. It seems that every so often Aidan Holdings will pay out to a particular company a little over what they originally invested, and then you see a blast of deposits right after from new companies that hadn’t previously paid in. I’m guessing they are using these payouts to prove to new companies why they should invest. It appears that Aidan Holdings is robbing Paul to pay Peter. Then, they are showing deposits into both your and Jackson’s trust as employee bonuses. Afterwards, they take part of the money and send the check to the original investor. The excess seems to be getting wired into an offshore account called NC Limited. Jordan, I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface, but I think this is huge. As unfortunate as it is, I believe Lou Jennings was a pawn in this scheme. He is clearly one of the many investors awaiting their payouts. With your dad’s death, it would appear that things are starting to unravel. She’s clearly having trouble keeping it up by herself.”
I couldn’t believe how big this whole thing was turning out to be. This couldn’t be good for our company’s future.
“So what do we do, AJ? Do we call the IRS? The SEC? What about Nadia’s involvement?” I demanded, frantic for answers.
“Calm down, Jordan. I’ve got a call in to my good friend Pete at the SEC. He’ll tell us how to proceed. In the meantime, don’t let Nadia know that we are onto her. If we can get past their divorce, then things won’t be as complicated when it hits the fan. All of this will eventually come to a head and your company will receive some negative publicity. I’m hoping that, by us bringing it to the SEC, we’re showing good faith that we’ve identified the fraud and will do whatever means necessary to correct it. You and Jackson are innocent, and so is Lou Jennings for that matter. Unfortunately, you will all suffer in some way because of this. How much will depend on what we uncover.”
I sighed and rubbed my face in frustration. Dad had really left us with a big mess. It seemed so uncharacteristically like him. If I had to guess, Nadia had somehow manipulated him into getting involved in this scheme. The woman was a viper and I questioned to this day why my brother had even married her.
“Okay, AJ. I will keep a lid on it. Just let me know if you need anything else from me. What should we do about Lou? He’s going to demand his money pretty soon, and we can’t give it to him until we figure everything out.”
“Jordan, we need to have a meeting with Lou and his attorney. I bet that they will want to cooperate with us once they find out that the SEC will be getting involved. Lou runs an empire himself. He isn’t going to want this to ruin what he has worked so hard to build. We’ll meet with them tomorrow, and by then I’ll know more from my friend at the SEC. Hang in there, Jordan. We’re going to figure this out.”
“I’ll set it up. It might be a little difficult though. I sort of punched Lou’s attorney yesterday. And then I discovered I’m dating his daughter. Let’s just say it was an awkward dinner last night.”
AJ roared with laughter until tears rolled down his cheeks. “Damn Jordan! It’s pretty boring most days doing my job, but that right there is entertainment. Get the appointment set up. Grovel if you have to. It’ll be harder than hell keeping a straight face at that meeting.”
“Thanks for the support, AJ,” I replied, rolling my eyes at him.
After he left, I shot Elizabeth a text.
Me: Wish me luck. I’m about to call Lou and beg him and your dad for another appointment. AJ found some interesting information. I’ll fill you in later. Miss you.
Elizabeth: Cole left a note on my door today.
Me: What the hell? What did it say?
Elizabeth: Basically that he knows my schedule and wouldn’t mind finishing what he started long ago.
This guy was psychotic, and it made me nervous that he was threatening her at her home.
Me: I’m coming over.
Elizabeth: No! Andi just got here and she’s going to help me get ready for the gala. I’ll be fine, I promise. After the gala, we can leave together so I will be safe then. Call and make your appointment. I’ll see you at seven.
Damn, she was so stubborn. If I ran into that guy, I was going to hurt him. But the fact that I knew he had a gun made me sick to my stomach. I needed to look into getting my own very soon.
“Sit still, Pepper,” Andi chided, yanking on my hair. She was getting a little too into this whole dress up thing.
“I would have figured you would have wanted to leave my hair down. That’s all I ever hear you say anyway. Why did you want to put it up just like I wear it every day?” I asked. We were sitting at the kitchen table so I didn’t have access to a mirror, but it felt like she was giving me the same hairstyle as usual but with a few more bobby pins.
“Pepper, I can assure you that your hair does not look like it normally does. You’re going to a black-tie event, which means your hair will look best pulled up. When I finish with you, nobody is going to recognize you.”
I’d already put in my contacts, which I owned for the rare occasion when I didn’t want to wear my glasses. This usually was reserved for swimming and summertime. That in itself would make me look completely different.
Andi went to work on my makeup while I thought about tonight. This whole thing with Cole stressed me out, as if my first gala weren’t stressful enough. I had no idea what to expect out of him, but he seemed dead set in ruining me. Considering that I knew he had a gun, it scared the hell out of me.
“What’s wrong, Pepper?” Andi asked as she finished with a light coat of lip gloss.
“What? Nothing,” I lied as I attempted to avoid her penetrating gaze.
“I’m your best friend and I’m insulted that you would lie to me. I can read when something’s wrong. If you were nervous about the gala, you would tell me. Whatever it is that’s bothering you, you’re trying to keep to yourself.”
I sighed and looked up at her, which was not a good idea. My eyes started to mist over. I sighed again in resignation.
“So you know how I was mugged the other day? I think it was someone I knew from my past. Did I ever tell you how I came to get my nickname?”
The frown on her face made me feel guilty for never telling her. I bit back my nervousness and spent the next half hour rehashing every detail. By the end, my tears had thoroughly ruined my makeup, and Andi’s face didn’t look any better.
“Okay, time to dry up. I’m fixing you up for good, so no more crying. I love you, Elizabeth,” she told me, nervously trying out my real name. I smiled at her so she would know I was okay with it.
“Fine, I’m dry. Make me pretty enough to drive Jordan crazy. He drives me nuts most days with his perfect body and annoyingly beautiful smile.” I feigned irritation, and she giggled.
“Honey, his jaw will be on the floor the entire night along with every other male in the place.”
She finally finished and we went to my room so I could put the dress on.
Slipping the red, shiny material over my body, I instantly felt sexy. My red lace bra and thong were going to be a hit too later tonight when Jordan took off my dress. Andi handed me a pair of her “fuck me” heels. I slid them on and put on my mother’s jewelry.
“Okay, let’s go take a look in the big-ass mirror in your room,” I suggested, turning to face her. Her eyes were bugging out of her head, immediately making me feel embarrassed. “What is it, Andi? Does it look bad?” I questioned, worry lacing my voice.
“Hell no, Pep—Elizabeth! You are going to be every man’s wet dream. Even Jackson and Bray would be having dirty thoughts about you right now. You look breathtakingly beautiful,” she praised as she eyeballed me.
“Gross! Thank God I won’t be seeing those two goobers tonight,” I teased, making a sour face at her. She grabbed my hand and dragged me into her room.
When I stepped up to the mirror, my lips parted as I took in the sight. The woman who looked back at me was radiant. Her hair was swept delicatel
y up into a chignon with loose tendrils that had escaped around her face. The makeup was done dramatically but not in a cheap way. She had plump, pouty red lips that perfectly complemented her red dress, which hugged every curve and had a neckline that scooped down, revealing enough cleavage that made you wish for a bit more. She was elegant and sophisticated. This woman was not me.
“Shit, Andi. You’re in the wrong profession,” I proclaimed.
“God, you look beautiful. There was no way I was letting you sit in a shitty cab looking like a queen, so I had Jackson send George for you. He’ll be here any minute.”
“As much as I want to groan and pout, thank you. I am still rattled about the whole Cole thing, so I will feel safer riding with George,” I told her.
She smiled knowingly. “All right, toots. Knock ‘em dead!”
I walked through the doors into the lobby and my breath hitched. Everything had come together wonderfully. The décor was swanky and classy. Staff members were running around, putting last touches on the tables. Stan wasn’t anywhere to be found, so I decided to look for him in his office to see what I should do before the guests arrived.
Stepping into his office, I didn’t see him right away. When I realized that he was standing behind the door and buttoning his dress shirt over his muscled chest, I quickly turned away.
“Stan, I’m so sorry. I didn’t expect for you to be getting dressed in here,” I muttered as I started to leave the office. His hand quickly latched onto my arm, pulling me around to face him.
“Pepper? My God, you look amazing. Woman, where have you been all my life?” he praised, looking over my body, his gaze lingering at my breasts. I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment.
“What would you like me to do before the guests arrive?” I questioned, changing the subject.
His eyes darkened as he glanced down at my chest again. With his hand still firmly gripped around my arm, he leaned into me with his mouth at my ear. “I could think of a few things,” he whispered, his hot breath tickling my ear.