by Lucy Score
“Are you saying that just because I offended you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you actually believe it?”
“No.”
She felt a smile play on her lips and was glad she had her back to him. He was nothing if not honest. “Then I’m sorry that I offended you. I was only asking a question,” she said primly.
She heard him get out of the chair and willed herself to not turn around.
“I’m sorry I insulted you, and I was also only asking a question.” He wasn’t touching her, but she could sense him behind her.
“Fair enough. No, I’m not trying to get back at Steven for ignoring me.”
Jason’s hands came to her arms. “I don’t ever do this with women at parties. Or anywhere else for that matter. And you should never settle for being someone’s distraction or a conquest.”
She felt his breath in her hair and shivered a little. If she leaned back just a fraction —
A movement on screen caught her eye. Two figures ducked out of a room and into a hallway. The woman leaned back against the wall and pulled the man to her in a hot embrace.
“What. The. Fuck.”
It was Steven and Victoria.
CHAPTER TEN
Jason swore under his breath and reached around her for the keyboard. Ashley slapped his hands away. “Touch it and die.”
She could hear the blood pounding in her head. This time in rage. She watched her fiancé as he slid his hands down Victoria’s tight body while she cupped a hand to his crotch.
“Sound. Is there sound?” She whipped her head around toward Jason.
Wordlessly, he keyed in a command.
“I told you, babe. We’ll be together soon enough. At least we get to spend next weekend together.” Ashley heard the words crystal clear through the thudding in her head. Next weekend she was traveling home for her parents’ anniversary. Steven couldn’t go because of an important “deal” at work.
Victoria made a noise somewhere between a moan and purr. “I’ll give you until June, and then she’d better be gone.”
Steven pressed against her hand. “God you’re so hot.” He pulled back abruptly. “Where is Ash anyway?”
Victoria shoved him back further. “I told you I don’t like it when you say her name.”
“Babe! I’m sorry!”
Victoria crossed her arms. “Jason is keeping her out of our hair so we can have some time together. Do you want to waste it talking about her?”
Ashley felt tears prickle in her eyes, and her throat started to close. She pushed away from the desk, away from him.
She cleared her throat, refusing to look directly at him. “You knew.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.”
She stayed where she was for a moment. Absorbing. How was it that that hurt as much as Steven’s betrayal?
“So this was all a game. Just some entertainment for you and Victoria.” She said it flatly, keeping a tight rein on the emotions swirling. If she didn’t get out of this room, out of this house, she was going to explode.
“None of this is a game.” Jason stepped toward her.
Ashley threw her hands up. “Stay away from me.” Her voice shook, and she hated herself for it. She would not break in front of him, or any of them.
She wouldn’t give them the pleasure.
“Ashley —”
“I see you told her.”
Ashley whirled around. Eli was taking it all in from the doorway.
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
“Grandfather, this isn’t the best time —”
“He knew, too? Does everyone know?” Ashley’s throat was closing on her.
Jason took another step toward her and she backed away.
He held up his hands as if approaching a skittish horse. “Ashley. This is not common knowledge. I found out yesterday.”
She raised her chin, prepared to not believe a word that came out of his mouth. “Go on.”
Jason walked to his desk and retrieved some papers from the top of a pile. He handed them to her. She took them, careful not to touch him.
Ashley reluctantly took her eyes off of him long enough to scan the top paper.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Babe,
We have all night tomorrow. Ashley is staying over at her friend’s. Can’t wait to see you ... naked.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
I’ll have to get something special to wear so you can take it off of me!
Ashley’s stomach rolled. Humiliation was hot on her cheeks.
“These are emails between Veronica and Steven on their work accounts. A scan of the email server caught them, and the emails were brought to my attention yesterday afternoon. I shared the information with my grandfather.”
“My dear,” Eli stepped forward. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way, but we need your help.”
Ignoring them both, Ashley crossed the room and sank into a chair still clutching the emails. Shock and rage warred in her core.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Babe,
You look so hot in that skirt. I know you wore it to torture me. I spent all of the morning meeting thinking about bending you over my desk again.
Ashley crushed the papers in her lap and set her jaw. She was going to murder them both.
Jason was leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets. A deceptively relaxed stance.
“Why does any of this matter to you?”
“That’s a good question,” Eli said. He helped himself to a glass of Jason’s whiskey. “Would you like one?”
Ashley hesitated and then nodded.
He poured three fingers and handed her the heavy crystal glass.
“We have reason to believe that my step-granddaughter and your fiancé are, shall we say, ‘collaborating’ on some sort of outside business deal.” Eli paced while he talked. “From what we can gather it is at the very least against company policy and grounds for termination and at the worst, highly illegal.”
He paused in his pacing to look at Ashley. “Ms. Sapienza, I have spent my life building this company. I will not allow anyone, including a pseudo family member to tarnish it.”
“You said you needed my help. What could I have to do with this?”
Jason brought his hands to his hips. “There are emails in there that talk about some kind of deal they were working on. Their communications stopped suddenly in March when we think they moved to personal accounts.”
“We hope you’ll be willing to look closely at your fiancé’s accounts and records. Things that we wouldn’t have access to,” Eli continued.
Ashley studied her glass.
Jason pushed away from the wall. “Grandfather, would you mind giving us a few minutes?”
“Of course. Ms. Sapienza, you’ll have my gratitude if you are willing to help us. I hope you’ll consider it. Now if you’ll both excuse me, the excitement from tonight has made me tired. I think I’ll call it an evening.” He left the room quietly.
Ashley looked up when the door clicked closed behind him.
Jason was starting at her intently.
“What?” Her voice was clipped.
“Are you alright?”
“Does it matter?”
He crossed the room and sank into a crouch in front of her. “It matters very much.” Jason leaned in until she raised her gaze to his. “Are you alright?” he repeated.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, flatly.
“I didn’t want you to find out this way, Ashley.”
“How did you want me to find out? Maybe you planned to tell me after you seduced me on the racquetball court. That way you could blackmail me if I wasn’t willing to help.”
He stayed silent, absorbing her words.
Ashley could see it. A
ruthless plan by a ruthless man. “Go ahead. Deny it.”
Jason took her firmly by the arms. “What did or didn’t happen between us has nothing to do with Steven, Victoria, or my grandfather’s company. My attraction to you isn’t part of any plan.”
Ashley shoved his hands away. “Don’t.”
When he moved back, she stood up and walked a slow path around the room. This is how it felt to have your world rocked, she thought. Like the bottom had dropped out and everything you thought you knew wasn’t true anymore.
She rifled absentmindedly through the copies of the emails. There were dozens of them. She could practically hear Victoria purring in them.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
So that fiancée of yours didn’t notice that your “oil change” on her birthday took nearly three hours? I almost feel sorry for her. What a pathetic excuse for a woman. I hope you know you’ll never be able to disappear like that on me on my birthday. I’ll expect you to be at my beck and call. Naked. When are you getting rid of her??
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
As soon as you lock this deal down for us, she’s gone. And then I’m all yours.
Ashley abruptly dropped the stack of papers to her side. The numbness was giving way to a blind rage. There was only one thing that would make her feel better.
“It’s a lot to take in. Maybe you should sleep on it and —”
Ashley cut him off. “You were using me to get what you wanted.” She held up her hand when he started to speak. “I get that. You’re lucky that I want the same thing you do. I’m not going to trust you, but I will help you.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ashley grimly gripped the handle of her coffee mug as she stared out at the gray scene beyond the loft window. Rain pattered on the glass and thunder rumbled in the distance.
The dreary sky matched her mood.
Mind spinning, she had driven herself home and tossed and turned for the better part of the night. Someone — mostly likely Jason -— had poured Steven into a cab that brought him home. She was thankful that he had made it only as far as the couch before passing out cold.
When she stood over him early that morning, she had to restrain herself from choking him awake. She settled for shoving him onto the floor.
And when he mumbled “’Toria” in his sleep, Ashley stormed back into their bedroom and took a seam ripper to the pockets of every pair of pants Steven owned.
The meticulous task helped temper her furious desire for blood down to a strong craving for revenge. He was in the shower now, blissfully unaware of the internal battle Ashley was fighting.
Spy or kill?
“Morning, babe.”
She tensed as Steven came up behind her and brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Oh my God, that coffee smells amazing.” He made his way into the kitchen, and Ashley turned to watch him pour himself a mug. “So last night was pretty crazy, right?”
Ashley’s glare bored holes in him, but Steven was oblivious. “Pretty crazy,” she agreed mildly.
“Sorry you had to drive yourself home.”
“It wasn’t a big deal,” she said, sipping her coffee. Ashley watched Steven grab the sugar bowl and heap several spoonfuls into the travel mug. “Are you going somewhere?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a work thing for lunch.”
Get him to talk about work. Jason’s words echoed in her head. “Wow. On a Saturday? You’ve been really busy at work lately. Is it paying off?” The words stuck in her throat, but she forced them out.
Steven paused briefly without making eye contact. “I’m actually thinking about looking at other opportunities,” he said, screwing the lid onto the mug.
“Any opportunity in particular?” She tried to keep her tone light.
“You’re not pissed?” He looked suspicious.
“You’ve invested a lot of time at work and aren’t getting ahead fast enough.” It was as fake nice as she could get, given the circumstances, but he bought it.
“That’s exactly it! I’ve been there four years, and they just keep telling me to ‘be patient’ and ‘work hard.’” Steven waved dismissively. “If they don’t think I’m partner material, there are plenty of other places that will.”
Ashley bit her tongue and nodded. She was pretty certain he was parroting Victoria.
“Anyway, I’ve gotta get going. You working today?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll see you later then. Text me and let me know what the plan is for dinner.”
He grabbed his keys and wallet and waved over his shoulder on his way out the door.
Ashley went back to pensively drinking her coffee. Her phone signaled from the kitchen island.
Do you need me to come over with a shovel and a body-sized rug?
Jason’s text almost made her crack a smile.
Not yet. He’s still alive. Barely. Says he’s looking at other employment “opportunities.”
Interesting. And then a few seconds later, How are you?
She ignored the text. She already knew she couldn’t trust Jason. But they both wanted the same thing. It was a business relationship. There was no point in letting anything personal develop.
###
Two hours later, Ashley pushed open the shop door and paused to let the familiar scents, the charming order envelope her. It was a bright and airy space with light hardwood floors and whites, linens, and ecrus acting as a crisp backdrop to the treasures and pieces Barbara Estep found in her travels. A corner unit, the store had windows on two sides and complimented the flood of natural light with chic industrial ceiling lights.
Ashley always found it to be a soothing atmosphere, even with the constant bustle of customers. This was home. And she was determined not to let anything else in her life ruin this place for her.
“Hey, boss lady!” The cheerful greeting came from the willowy redhead behind the register. At 52, Janice didn’t look a day over 35. She dressed like an artist and moved like a dancer. Her wardrobe flowed, and her accessories made their own kind of music.
Today, Janice was dressed in cropped pants with a gauzy tunic the color of limes. Her fire-engine curls were pulled back with a jade green scarf.
“Hi, minion. How’s it going so far today?”
“A little slow customer-wise. But we had two ladies come in and drop a pretty penny on the hand-carved armoire and two sets of the organic cotton bath linens. One of them definitely had her eye on the vase in the front window. She’ll be back for it,” she predicted.
Ashley smiled. She came to Dwell two years ago, fresh out of school and ready to tackle the retail world. Barbara, the store’s owner, hired her as assistant manager and immediately began grooming Ashley to take over one day. Six months ago, Barbara had named Ashley manager and increased her own traveling time.
This month, Barbara was in Morocco and her last email included a few pictures of pieces Ashley couldn’t wait to put out on the floor.
“Do you need anything before I head back?” Ashley asked, gathering up a few files from behind the register.
“Nope, I’m good. I’ll call you if anything interesting happens. Have fun in the cell!”
The cell was the staff’s affectionate name for the tiny, but obsessively organized back office. It was a windowless room barely bigger than a walk-in closet. Two sets of industrial shelving with office supplies and equipment occupied one wall. The desk, feminine in its subtle curves, stood in the center of the room.
Two Saturdays a month, Ashley closeted herself away in the cell to focus on paperwork and planning. She sank into the cool leather of the desk chair and paused for a moment to rest her head and close her eyes.
“My personal life will not affect my professional life,” she repeated quietly. A few deep breaths later, and she almost believed the mantra.
She took half an hour to schedule out a week’s worth of Facebook an
d Twitter posts for the store, announcing Tuesday’s sale on glassware and posting a few of the pictures from Barbara’s trip. Ashley reviewed and submitted the payroll online and then moved on to email the inventory report to the accountant.
Making her way down the list, she approved a magazine ad, responded to several customer questions, and was working her way through the special requests and orders when she paused to check her phone.
Two texts.
One from Steven.
Dinner with the guys at Woody’s tonight. Want to come?
And one from Jason.
You can’t avoid me forever.
Ashley rubbed her hands over her face and tried to ignore the dull throbbing behind her eyes.
She needed a night out. A few hours away from the disaster that had become her life. And she knew exactly who to call.
###
“Do my eyes deceive me or does your Facebook status say you’re home?”
“ASAP! Please tell me I can see you tonight!” The greeting exploded through the phone, making Ashley grin.
“I’m up for a night out if you are.”
Georgie’s laugh eased some of the tension around Ashley’s heart. Friends since high school, they had stayed in touch through college and ensuing careers and moves. Georgie was something of a club promoter who traveled constantly checking up on businesses owned by her company and scouting out other establishments for acquirement or competition assessment. As Georgie liked to say, she was paid to party four nights a week.
“Well it just so happens I have some research to do at Launch tonight. Are you in?”
“God, yes.”
“It sounds like we have a lot to catch up on. Is everything OK?” Georgie demanded.
Ashley sighed. “I’ll explain everything tonight over tequila. Lots and lots of tequila.”
“Then you’d better come to the hotel early and we’ll play dress up while you spill your guts.”
“I can’t wait to see you. I’m really glad you’re here.”
“Me too, Ash.”