“That’s all I’m expecting. The chance to make up for my part in this.”
“Expect that to take a hell of a lot of work,” Gregory rasped. “The mess you’ve made isn’t going to clean itself up.”
The dark warning in his voice didn’t scare me. He was a scary guy, but right now he was just serving up the truth.
“Yeah. I don’t have a time machine handy to go back and fix things, so if I can be her inside man on this, I figure that’s the next best thing.”
“It’s more than that,” he growled, more irritation creeping into his voice. “And you know it. That part isn’t something I can get involved in, but let me put it this way. If you ever break Ruth’s heart again, I will knock your fucking teeth in.”
He sounded so much like an angry father that I knew at once that this wasn’t strictly professional for him. Maybe he had just been looking after her that long. But I understood at once. In his shoes, I would have threatened me too.
“I get it. Look, just…let her know I got the information, all right?”
“I will,” came the reply, along with more pencil scratching. “Up to her if she wants to talk to you after that.”
“I understand.” Part of me wanted to try and schmooze the guy, get him to see my side of things, so maybe he would encourage her to call. But that felt sleazy—and he seemed really observant, and easy to piss off when it came to his boss. “Hopefully that won’t take her too long.”
Once I was off the phone with him, I poured myself two fingers of bourbon and went back over the details I had picked up on my bastard client online. I had ideas, theories on why he was doing this now.
But it wasn’t up to me when Ruth and I had that conversation. All I could do now was wait.
Chapter 17
Ruth
I had to sit with the news that Gregory had brought me about Calvin Dawson for a few hours while I figured out what to do. It would have taken less time, but as soon as I got off the phone with Gregory, my first response was a storm of confused tears. It wasn’t exactly sadness, or fear, or relief; it felt more like catharsis. I knew that Calvin was a mixed bag before—friendly, even loving—but still working for the enemy, even if he had been coerced into it by financial pressure and his agent’s manipulation.
He had still slept with me while knowing he was lying to me. That was going to take a long time to forgive, even if I managed it. But still…
He had found out who was doing this. He had gone and done it, risking everything. And all he wanted was to talk on the phone.
I should have taken the call right away, but I wasn’t up to it, and I knew it. I didn’t want to deal with him while sniffling and sobbing and wandering around my kitchen with my thoughts refusing to click together properly. The betrayal was too fresh. The news of his turnaround was too fresh.
Once I got my feelings under control, half a glass of tears later, I started mulling the situation. There were two sides to it, after all: business and personal. The businesswoman in me had to find out what Calvin knew, and what more he could get. Nothing that we had learned so far about our enemy was actionable. We needed witnesses, and a legally admissible paper trail. The bits of intelligence that Gregory had found by poking around the web, disguising himself as a fellow advertising executive, wouldn’t cut it in court.
But it did give me hints on the information our investigators—and Calvin, if he was really willing to cooperate—would have to look for.
The romance side remained messy and uncertain. I didn’t know if I could even mention it in today’s conversation, once I pulled myself together enough to call the number Gregory had left me. But I had an obligation to myself, to my employees, and to my board to protect the company and myself from any more tampering.
As for what my broken heart wanted…well, that part, I could play by ear once the business side was dealt with.
And so, before even trying it, I got myself a shower, cleaned off the tear streaks in my eye makeup, hydrated, moisturized, ate a good meal, and got as pulled together as if I was walking into a board meeting. Power suit. Lipstick and eyeliner as sharp as a razor. Hair up, shoes on. It wasn’t a video call, but just looking the part made me more confident.
This was business, first and foremost. Even—especially—if Calvin wanted to talk about the emotional stuff first. And I was an honest-to-God self-made billionaire who wasn’t about to let emotional upset derail her enough to let that slide.
Finally, I sat down in my home office, sipped some water, checked to make sure my lipstick sealant had done its job, straightened my back, and made the call.
Calvin, as it turned out, was less emotionally in control than I was.
“Oh, thank God, you actually called me,” he stammered slightly. “I thought maybe you wouldn’t.”
“Don’t read too much into it yet,” I warned him evenly. “On the one hand, if you’ve got information we need, you know I’m going to call. On the other, if you think this gets you out of the doghouse with me, you’re dead wrong.”
“No, of course not,” he conceded almost too quickly. He sighed. “Look. I know I screwed up badly, coercion or no coercion. I never meant to hurt you—”
“We’re not talking about that right now,” I cut in. “I’ll deal with the emotional mess of you sleeping with me when you knew you were deceiving me once the business side of this is done.”
He took a deep breath, sounding like he was struggling to control himself. “Okay. Agreed. I’m just glad to hear your voice.”
I didn’t know how I felt about hearing his. The urge to yell at him was still there, of course. But I was out of tears, determined, focused. He had intelligence. I needed it. What had happened between us didn’t matter as much right now.
“Gregory told me that you spent your latest check-in with your employer’s representative getting information on who hired you. How did you manage it?”
He hesitated for just a moment. “Well, I—honestly, I got a little lucky and a little creative. My agent was stuck in Hollywood and wasn’t there to keep an eye on me during the meeting, so the rep met me on her own. She was a bit dazzled by me, and I played it up so she would get flustered and fumble her papers. I caught sight of a letter about me on company letterhead, and just did a little bit of online research from there.”
“Oh.” That was clever. It reminded me, however, that he was an actor and made his living by manipulating emotions. Still…if he felt like turning his talents to help us, I could hardly complain. “So what did you tell them?”
“I told them you had left because you felt sick, and were working from home, but that I’d befriended you and would be back in touch with you when you were well again.” A pause. “Here’s the thing, though. They knew that you had left for home before I told them that—that’s what prompted my agent to call me in the first place. That means someone was watching us from the ranch. Maybe one of the ranch hands they hired. I remember one of them asking about you.”
“Huh.” I frowned. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe one of the ranch hands—maybe Masterson or someone on his staff. But it’s interesting that one of the hands asked about me—had any of them ever asked about me before?”
“No, but they sure noticed you. Not that any guy into women wouldn’t.”
I stiffened slightly, cheeks tingling, angry that he could still make me blush with a single compliment. “Okay, let’s stay focused. So you told them I left because I was sick.”
“Yeah, and here’s the thing. I was riffing when I said that—I couldn’t let them know the real reason you left. But then the rep let slip that they have someone on the inside who confirmed my statement that you’d called in sick and were working from home.” The worry in his voice and the slow, careful way he stated it made my heart sink even more than the news.
“You’re sure that this person confirmed I was sick, and not just working from home?” My jaw ached. I loosened and worked it until the pain went away.
“P
ositive. Heard it out of the rep’s mouth myself. Not sure she knew how much she was giving away.”
My vision blurred and I dabbed hastily at my eyes with my pocket-handkerchief.
Oh God. Bella, you unbelievable bitch.
“I can see why you wanted to tell me all of this as soon as possible,” I said.
“…Yeah,” he said slowly. “I know it can’t be easy to hear.”
“Nothing about this conversation is easy. That’s irrelevant. I needed to know.” I stopped short of thanking him for telling me. What he was doing now was asshole tax—he was paying back something for taking my trust when he didn’t deserve it.
More than just trust, if I was honest with myself. The pain of a close friend’s betrayal was nothing compared to his. I was a little shaky, a little teary-eyed—and inside, absolutely furious. There was no way Bella had done this because of a financial gun to her head. I signed her paychecks. I knew she was paid well.
And yet it was Calvin, who had already explained something of how bad it would be for him if his employer cut him off, who had absolutely broken my heart. Already, he meant more to me than a ten-year friendship. That scared me.
But it was dealing with the confirmation of two betrayals at once that turned out to be just too much for me.
I couldn’t understand why Bella would betray me. Bella, of all people. I had known her for almost a decade. She had worked for me the longest of almost anyone in the office. I had trusted her judgment on everything from business decisions to dating. How long had she been leaking information to Star’s bastard CEO? And why—how—had he gotten her to do it?
“Am I just naïve?” I burst out suddenly. “Why the hell do I keep getting taken in by liars who pretend to care about me?” I managed not to start crying, but had to sit there for a bit, one hand clamped over my throbbing temple.
The outburst embarrassed me after trying so hard to be pulled together. But this was so incredibly frustrating.
“I—I’m sorry,” Calvin said. “You’re not naïve. You’re not. Jesus, you put together that there was a plan against you faster than anyone could have expected. But…”
“But what? You managed to lie me into trusting you. You managed to lie me into your bed, pretending the whole time to be interested in me. And now I find out that the one person I told I was out sick has been blabbing things to the enemy for God knows how long.”
It felt like someone was twisting my guts up around a stick, pulling them tighter and tighter until I was numb in the middle—but felt like I would explode with agony if I shifted even a little.
“Oh God. Ruth… I know you don’t have any reason to believe me right now, but my caring about you? My wanting you? That was never an act. They happened despite my trying to keep my head in this fucked-up game because you’re just that amazing. I never expected to fall for you—”
“What good is your claiming you fell for me if you went ahead and betrayed me anyway?” I snapped.
“Except…I didn’t, Ruth. I mean, yeah, I took the job, and I took their money. But I never actually gave them anything. I never even asked you for anything sensitive.”
I stopped, my rage ebbing slightly. Had he ever really asked me anything sensitive? He could have gone through my folders or maybe even my computer after knocking me out with good sex. But if he had, I would have noticed the extra login, the shifting of papers. I might have been a dope when it came to reading people, but I could still remember things like that easily.
If he had sent information to Star of Texas, he would have had to have access to it first. And—aside from his general interest in my work—I couldn’t remember one thing he had asked me about that was particularly sensitive.
“Okay. So far I believe you. And I know you’re taking a risk by giving up your employer. But the truth is that if you expect to make up to me the harm you’ve done to my trust, you’ve got a lot more to do.” I had managed to get myself sounding strong and businesslike again.
“I do care about you, Ruth. Enough to take a hell of a lot of risk to get you more info on this guy and what they did, if that’s what you want. Even if I’ve screwed things up between us for good, even if I’ll never have a chance with you again, I still want to make this right.”
“That’s a step in the right direction, at least.”
“Good, because I mean it. You want to press charges or sue these guys? I’ll stand as a goddamned witness. You want to go to the press and ruin their reputations? I’ll give interviews. Anything you want. Anything. I mean it, Ruth.”
I took a deep breath. “You know, I’m really going to have to think about what exactly I want from you. But your willingness to cooperate goes a long way to help you get back in my good books—if you follow through.”
“Do you want to meet and talk about it?” he pushed a little.
I frowned. “No. Not yet. I have to think—and I have a long-term employee to fire.” And I wasn’t looking forward to it. But if Calvin owed me an explanation and a lot of effort, Bella owed me a pound of goddamn flesh.
“Wow, okay. Then…I’ll wait until I hear from you again?”
“Yes, you do that. Meanwhile, if you have more contact with one of his reps, get whatever information you can. But be careful. Once their inside person gets picked up, they’re going to go on the alert. They’ll be looking for signs of disloyalty.”
“I get it,” he replied. “I will wait on your call, then.”
“Good. You do that.”
Once I got off the phone with Calvin, I sat there mulling over my options. It was better to confront Bella sooner rather than later, so she wouldn’t have a chance to pass on any more information—or run away. Besides, I needed closure—and the truth. Why had she done this to me?
I needed advice. Fortunately, I had just the guy to go to.
“You’re kidding me,” Gregory growled into the phone. “Bella’s our sellout? How could she do that to the company—to you!”
I could hardly blame him for being unprofessionally angry. The three of us had been the heart of the company for a long time: me making the big decisions, Bella making sure the administrative part ran smoothly, Gregory keeping us safe. Now…now I had to figure out what to do without one-third of that team—and what to do with Bella.
“What do we do?” I said. “If they suddenly lose their source inside, Star of Texas is going to be on high alert. Then Calvin won’t be able to get any more dirt on them.”
“Unless we get Bella to cooperate with us.” I heard the scratch of a pencil. Gregory liked to take his notes by hand.
“Could we get her to do that? Could we trust her to follow through?” I didn’t think I could trust Bella with anything ever again, not after this.
“Not sure. But if the choice is between cooperating and testifying later, and going to jail for industrial espionage, I think she’ll pick helping out.” His voice stayed a grim, low growl, though, every time Bella was mentioned.
“I still don’t believe this,” I said.
“Me neither. She has a hell of a lot of explaining to do to us both. Especially you. I know you two were close.” His tone softened. “How are you holding up?”
“Fine,” I started. “Better, anyway. I have no tears left to shed for that…traitor. Just don’t let me clock her one, no matter how much she deserves it.”
He grinned. “I’ll make sure. No sense in giving her any ammunition against us in court, especially if we’re threatening legal action.” He took some more notes, the pencil tip snapping faintly at one point. “Damn.” I heard the whir of a sharpener. “So when do we want to do this?”
I looked at my watch. “The advertising staff will be in an off-site meeting tomorrow between four and five. Let’s do it while we have the privacy.”
“Okay,” he said. “Got it. How do you want to play this?”
“I want you to get her away from her computer while it’s still logged in and open. I’m going to go through it, and then we’re going to questi
on her.” And I was going to do my best not to scream at her, not to be manipulated by any tears, and not to give her the benefit of the doubt when I was certain at this point that she was guilty as hell.
“Got it,” he said. “I’ll make sure everything’s set up for tomorrow afternoon when you come in.”
That night I once again didn’t sleep much. My mind raced as I stared at the ceiling. Calvin wanted to make amends over what had happened to me, if it was possible. I knew he still wanted me. I knew something in me still wanted him. But I also knew that protecting myself and my company had to come first.
If there was room for a second chance in my heart for him after that, we would see. But that was a whole different discussion. And it could only be had once we took care of business, no matter how many promises he made along the way.
Chapter 18
Ruth
The next day, I once again dressed to impress. I had already talked to HR about the situation; my HR manager, Brian, was shocked but cooperative. I had the severance papers and the other documents I would need in my briefcase as I walked in. The briefcase was oxblood-colored, to match my shoes and the belt of my suit, which was a deep rose.
It was one of my power outfits—and the same one I’d been wearing when I gave the speech that had started all of this. The speech that had promised me more success than my enemies could abide. It seemed fitting to be wearing it when I went to fire their damned mole.
Bella obviously wasn’t expecting it when Gregory and I walked into her office. She looked up, a blank look in her pale blue eyes as her gaze fell on me. For a moment, her expression was simply puzzled—maybe a little defensive. Then she broke into her usual warm smile.
“Oh hi! I didn’t know you would be back today. Are you feeling better?”
Taming The Cowboy (She's in Charge Book 4) Page 13