On His Terms (The Arrangement Series Book 1)

by Madison Quinn

  “I hope you realize it, too. I think this weekend, or maybe even before this weekend, we’ve begun to become friends. I enjoy spending time with you and I felt like we got to know each other more. I realize now that you stayed with me not because of our contract but because that’s who you are. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been able to trust a woman; when I feel threatened I immediately go into business mode. It’s what I do when things start to spin out of control either professionally or personally. It helps me take control back.”

  “You felt threatened?”

  “Not by you… no that’s not true. I guess I did feel threatened by you.”

  “Nicholas, I don’t understand. How could I threaten you? Did I do something—“

  “No! You didn’t do anything. Unfortunately I got burned a long time ago by someone I trusted very much—“

  “Who was she?”

  “Her name was,” he takes another deep breath, running his hands through his hair which I’ve learned he does when he is stressed.

  “Harper… and at one time I thought I loved her.”

  Chapter 25

  Nicholas

  I can’t believe I’m about to tell Kenzie everything that she did. I haven’t talked to anyone about her since the truth came out. Not since the world as I knew it was completely turned upside down. Everyone knows to dare not mention her name around me. If it were up to me, I would erase that time in my life entirely. It’s amazing how things are when you take a step back and really look at what you thought you had. Looking back to that time, I can’t figure out how I was so blind to what she was doing to me. I pride myself at being able to recognize when people are lying or trying to use me; yet for the first time someone completely deceived me.

  “It’s been more than two years, but obviously the damage she did still haunts me to this day. It’s been a long time since I allowed myself to consider trusting a woman again.”

  “What did she do to you, Nicholas?” Kenzie sits up in the lounge chair so she can face me.

  “She nearly ruined me; she nearly cost me everything,” I cringe at the thought of what could have happened. “Harper interviewed me for an article that was to be featured in some small paper. It was supposed to be her first article that she wrote alone. The interview itself sucked; it was boring, her questions weren’t unique and the answers could have easily been found on the internet had she typed my name into google. I only remembered the interview because she seemed so full of herself that day, yet was clearly unprepared for the interview itself. She hadn’t memorized the questions, she constantly had to refer back to her notes and the recorder she brought didn’t work.”

  “Sounds like a rough interview.”

  “I didn’t see her again for a year or maybe it was close to two years later. We ended up attending the same charity fundraising event that was being held at a hotel downtown. She was there as a guest of her father’s, whom I’ve done business with in the past. We both had too much to drink that night, one thing led to another and before I knew it, we were upstairs in a hotel room.

  “From there we... I guess you could say we used each other whenever the need arose. For the first few months, that’s all it was… just sex. Eventually though she started staying over at my place and things started to shift between us. Suddenly she was calling or coming over more, initially it bothered me but… I know this sounds crass… the sex was good and she was convenient. It’s hard to look back and think about when things started to change, but somehow we moved from a sexual relationship to something more. We started spending more time together, attending events or going out together. At one point I remember thinking she was perfect. She did everything to try to please me: she changed her plans to see me whenever something came up, she enjoyed the same things I did… But you know what the weird thing was?”

  “What?” Kenzie quietly asks.

  “She never argued with me. She never had a different opinion from mine. She never disagreed with anything I did or a decision I made. At the time I stupidly thought that meant we were perfect together. I realize now it was just part of her plan.”

  “Her plan?”

  “Eventually our relationship moved to the next level; she told me she loved me. I had never been in love before so I thought what we had was real. I believed her when she said she loved me. Looking back I realize now that I only saw what she wanted to me to see. I realize now that the reason she seemed so perfect for me was because that’s what she wanted me to think.”

  “What happened?”

  “Looking back, I can see how things changed, but at the time I couldn’t and refused to believe that she was doing anything wrong. I was convinced of the image that Harper wanted me to see; I believed she was perfect.”

  “No one’s perfect,” Kenzie sighs heavily… I think she is more talking to herself than to me.

  “They’re not, but at the time I was too blinded to see that. Which is the ironic part: put me in a board room and I can tell you within five minutes who is lying and who is only there for the money. Yet when it came to my personal life, I completely misjudged her and it almost cost me everything.

  “I didn’t live at The Accord back then, I had a condo that was a pretty decent size but one that didn’t have guest quarters for Julie and Carter. Carter would stay in one of the spare bedrooms and Julie would come during the day but leave after dinner. One day Julie came over earlier than normal, which I had known about but didn’t tell Harper about because she wasn’t supposed to be there at that time either. Julie walked into Harper going through my office. Julie said she was working on my computer and going through my files. The computer didn’t surprise me—I had given her the password one day when she was having issues with her laptop and she needed to order something for her dad. I blew off what Julie said about her going through my files. Why I didn’t think she was snooping on me then I have no idea….”

  “Because you trusted her.”

  “I did. I was stupid and thought that when someone told you they loved you that they wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. A couple weeks later the head of my financial department demanded a meeting with me. This doesn’t happen often, so I know when he asks for a meeting, something major is going on. Only it wasn’t just my head of finance who was there, he also brought my head of IT at PFS. My finance guy said that over the last three months there was evidence of small amounts being withdrawn from several of my business accounts for expenses that couldn’t be reconciled. My initial thought, of course, was that an employee in one of those departments was stealing from me. I demanded answers immediately with photographic proof of who it was so we could go after them.”

  “It was her, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” I shake my head still amazed to this day how stupid I was. “Carter knew I would want photographic evidence of the thief so he had already secured that with my head of IT beforehand. He had several pictures of Harper making purchases using credits cards that were designated to certain departments within PFS. They were small purchases; nothing that would immediately raise red flags... a few hundred dollars here, a thousand or so there… I know it sounds like a lot of money but you have to remember that we literally have hundreds of employees who hold PFS issued credit cards… ”

  “How did she get the credit card?”

  “That took some more digging because we have systems in place at PFS to prevent things like this from happening. All credit card applications require two signatures; the head of the finance department and mine. I often bring work home so it’s not unusual for these types of documents to be in my home. I never once considered it would be an issue. I’ve worked with Julie and Carter long enough now that trusting them isn’t ever a question. When I first hired them, I would make sure everything was locked up before I would leave the apartment. But over the years they have proven that I could trust them, so I stopped locking as many things up.”

  “She stole one of the credit card applications from you?”

 
; “She did. She somehow changed the name on the application and the address that the card should be mailed to. She had the credit card issued in her name and mailed to her home address. Asher, my head of IT at PFS, tracked the purchases, accessed security footage from the stores where the credit cards were used and found out it was Harper who was using the cards. In total, over the three months, she spent more than sixty thousand dollars on various purchases for herself.”

  “Holy shit.”

  “That’s not the worst part.”

  “What could be worse than that?” Kenzie asks in complete disbelief.

  “When confronted with the photographic proof of Harper stealing from me, I was left with the decision of what to do. On one hand, this was the woman I supposedly loved and who loved me. On the other hand, there was no disputing the evidence that she was in fact stealing from me.

  “I dismissed my team and told them I needed to think before I could figure out how to proceed. Part of me wanted to call the police and have her arrested, but the other part of me was still trying to figure out why she would do something like that. That’s the part that to this day I still don’t understand. You see, Harper is from money; her parents are very wealthy, so she didn’t need it. Everything she has ever wanted has been handed to her. Her full education was paid for by her parents, she was given a brand new condo and high end car at graduation, had credit cards of her own her parents paid off monthly… she didn’t want for anything. Yet she stole sixty thousand dollars from me… to buy things that her parents would have bought her: a new laptop, gas for her car, plane tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars…”

  “What did you do?”

  “I cancelled my plans with her for that evening; I lied and told her I needed to work late or something, I think. I knew I needed time alone to process what just happened before I could determine my next moves. A couple of hours later, Carter had Melody… you met her at my office, she’s my personal assistant.” Kenzie nods. “He had her clear my schedule then came into my office and said we needed to get home immediately. That’s where things got worse… ”

  “What did she do to?”

  “Julie has a very strict schedule she follows when it comes to cleaning various parts of the house. What I learned that day is that every three to four months she pulls all the furniture away from the walls in the spare bedrooms to vacuum behind them. Harper typically used one of the spare bedrooms when she came over… although we didn’t live together, she was there often enough that she had a few items in the closet and the bathroom.

  “Anyway, Julie moved the dresser away from the wall and found an envelope containing a thumb drive on it. I suppose Julie was leery of Harper ever since she found her in my office. Julie never voiced her suspicion to me after finding her there, but I think she knew something was going on even then. Anyway, Julie took the thumb drive and brought it to PFS and asked Carter to have it broken into since it was password protected. Carter had Asher break the password and when they discovered what was on it, they decided I needed to be away from PFS when I found out.”

  “What did she put on the drive?”

  “It seems she was preparing to sell me out. She was writing a book about her time with me, documenting nearly everything we did. She had pictures saved of… when we were together. She gave detailed descriptions of our sex life. If that wasn’t bad enough, she had notes on business decisions I made including formulas I used to determine whether companies were worth taking on or not.”

  “How did she find all that out?”

  “Up til then, I never thought about how much I stored in my home office, so I imagine she learned most of it by snooping on my home computer or through my files there. A few times she was at PFS and Melody let her wait in my office alone if I was running late, so she could have dug then too. Afterward Carter went through our security footage and found her essentially tearing apart my office looking for information. The thumb drive had details about my family and things about me that if leaked could have serious consequences for PFS. We believe she was going to write a tell-all book and sell it.”

  “Wow… I can’t believe someone would do anything like that.”

  “Neither could I… Well, I guess I could, but I thought those things happened to other people, not to me. When I saw the thumb drive, I lost it which Carter knew would happen and why he insisted I come home before being told about the drive. I got really drunk; I can’t remember the last time I drank so much.

  “I called Austin, who has had more than a few issues with women; he came over to drink with me. By the end of the night, we had finished almost every ounce of alcohol we could find in my apartment but we had a plan. When we woke up the next day, with incredible hangovers mind you, we went to see a lawyer and took the evidence of her stealing from me with us. I purposely did not bring the thumb drive; there were pictures on there that one’s family should not see. And while it was an invasion of my privacy, I didn’t want to risk that evidence getting out to the public. Her stealing from me was one thing, but the stuff she had on that thumb drive were things that could seriously damage my career.

  “After much discussion with the attorney, we decided the best course of action was to pursue criminal charges for theft. My family has very close ties with the district attorney and managed to keep everything out of the press. We entered into a private agreement with Harper and her attorney which resulted in the records from the preceding being sealed. She agreed to plead guilty to the charges in exchange for a decreased sentence. She served about 18 months in prison, but her parents arranged for her to be sent to one of the nicest ones out there. The type of prison only people with money go, places where you don’t feel like you actually lose anything. She was required to sign legal documents that prohibit her from every speaking about our relationship to anyone and she is banned from ever working in the media industry again.”

  “Wow… I know I keep saying that but wow, Nicholas. I can’t believe someone would do something like to you. She took complete advantage of you and then was about to expose you to ruin your business. Why would someone do something like that?”

  “To make an easy buck, Kenzie. A book about my secrets and how I run my business would sell, very quickly, no doubt. She could have probably made a couple hundred thousand dollars from books and then more from talk shows, magazines, etc…”

  For the first time since I started talking I look at her, sitting back in her lounge chair and staring out at the water. I can only assume she is taking in everything I just told her. I can’t help but wonder what she is thinking. Does she think I was stupid for allowing her into my life? Does she think less of me because of the decisions I made? Is she wondering what was on the thumb drive that I was so worried about or does she think it was mostly business details that I was worried the most about? I originally planned to leave out the fact that there were pictures on the thumb drive but once I started talking, everything just came out.

  “I get it,” Kenzie breaks her silence a few minutes later.

  “You get what?” I can’t say I’m not confused by her response.

  “I get why you gave me the check last weekend. I get why you thought I expected that in return.”

  “You do? Because honestly, Kenzie, I don’t know why I did it. Alex thinks that I was testing you but I’m not sure I buy that—“

  “No, I think he’s right. It’s obvious now that Harper was only with you because of your money, and she saw an easy way to make quick money with you. After what you went through, I could see how you could expect people to be like that with you. But Nicholas… you have to know that I would never... never do what she did to you. I don’t know that you will ever be able to trust me, but—“

  “Kenzie, that’s what freaked me out the most about last weekend. I started to trust to you, even without knowing it. After everything blew up in my face with Harper, I swore off women. I swore I would never trust another woman—“

  “Nicholas, you can’t—“

&nb
sp; “Why not? It’s been working for me for the last two years—“

  “Has it?”

  “Of course it has. I moved out of that apartment, got rid of all the memories of her and moved to The Accord Towers with Carter and Julie. Until last weekend, the only women who stepped foot into my condo besides Julie were my mother and sister. You were the first woman who has ever been there; you were there the entire weekend and… I let my guard down. Honestly, that scared the shit out of me. I worked so hard over the last two and a half years to ensure that my guard was always up so something like that didn’t happen again.”

  Kenzie’s gaze is once again on the water; I’m beginning to think she understands why I find being on the boat so relaxing. I don’t know what’s going through her head right now, but I don’t ask. I’m afraid to ask… I don’t know that I want to know what she’s thinking right now. It’s been a long time since I’ve opened myself up to anyone like this. I don’t do vulnerable… I don’t do weak; right now I know this is exactly how I look to her.

  “I hadn’t been alone with a man, not really, in more than two years before I walked into your apartment that night,” she finally says, albeit very quietly, almost as if she’s afraid of what she is saying.

  “What do you mean? I’m sure we—“

  “We haven’t, not really anyway.”

  I think back at all the times we’ve met before our dates and realize she is right: each time Carter was present. We spent a few minutes once in my office when she brought muffins and cookies when I moved her into The Accord after her apartment was broken into. That was maybe… ten minutes I think; I had to rush to a meeting so she couldn’t stay very long. Hunter has driven her to the bakery but that’s only a few minutes drive each way.

  “Yet you still volunteered to stay the weekend with me.” I’m even more shocked now.

  “I did,” she shrugs. “Like you, I swore I would never trust a man again. I swore that I would never put myself at risk again. Our ex’s aren’t that different when you think about it really. They both deceived us into believing they were the person they wanted us to see, but we both ended up finding out that it was all a façade.