Tell Me (15 page)

Thea did not miss the looks exchanged between Denise and Christopher at Isabel’s remark. It seemed they at least did not buy in to this notion. Tony’s expression on the other hand suggested he was inclined to agree with his faithful secretary’s analysis, but he still regarded Thea with some interest. “What’s this about, Mrs Richmond?”

She met his gaze levelly. “I never met Mr Malone. Did you?”

Tony shook his head. “No. He’d been dismissed before I bought Dart. I just got caught in the fallout afterwards.”

“What about the rest of you? Did any of you know him? Talk to him?” Thea addressed this question to the others around the table, but her gaze rested on Denise and Christopher. Nevertheless, it was Eric who responded first.

The man nodded. “Yes, I dealt with his appeal following his disciplinary hearing. I interviewed him, and could hardly get a word out of him, to be fair. I didn’t get the impression he particularly wanted to save his job.”

Isabel chipped in again. “Exactly. He saw a chance to screw some cash out of the company instead, without the bother of working for it.”

Thea ignored Isabel’s comment this time and directed her attention to the two remaining managers who had not yet spoken. “Chris, Denise, did either of you know Mr Malone personally?”

Both nodded. Christopher opted to speak first. “He was a quiet enough bloke, kept himself to himself, but he was fairly popular as far as I knew. I was surprised, actually, that he’d got himself into so much bother. It didn't seem his style, somehow.”

Denise nodded. “That was my impression too. There was a bit of gossip at the time, you know the sort of thing. Water cooler chat.”

This attracted Tony’s attention. “What chat? What were people saying?”

Denise warmed to her theme. “Well, that he’d had a raw deal, really. He was a loner, but he worked hard and people liked him.” She turned to face Isabel, and her tone hardened. “And he wasn’t a waster. Definitely not. His team ran like clockwork, and he was always working late. That’s what seemed most odd, that he was in trouble for poor time-keeping, when he actually worked all the hours God sent.”

Tony was frowning, looking from Chris to Denise, then to Eric. “Was this discussed at the hearing, or in his appeal?”

Eric shook his head. “First I’ve heard of any of it. I wasn’t at the first hearing in any case. But I read the file notes and none of this was in there. He never tried to present any mitigating factors at the appeal. He hardly said a word at all.”

Tony turned to Thea, his expression intent. “Mrs Richmond, am I to gather you’ve been listening to water cooler chat?”

“I have, yes. It’s what you pay me for, to get under the skin of how this place runs and fix it. I got wind of the disquiet that still exists out there about Jeremy Malone’s sacking, so I did a bit of digging around, background information, that sort of thing.”

Tony leaned back, his posture relaxed, his expression anything but. “And you came up with…?”

Thea opened her notebook and poised her pen. “First, can I check out a couple more details? Eric, who represented Mr Malone during the disciplinary process?”

Eric shrugged. “No one. He was entitled to have a union rep or a colleague present but he didn't take that up.”

Thea perched her glasses on her nose and scribbled few lines, then turned to Eric again. “Did he know he was allowed to have someone with him?”

“I expect so. Everyone knows that sort of stuff.”

“No they don’t.” Chris leaned forward, his gaze intent. “You’d be astonished how little people tend to know about their rights. Especially when they're under pressure.”

Thea smiled at her latest recruit. The lad would go far.

Eric frowned, but his demeanour seemed somewhat defensive to Thea. She regretted that, her purpose was not to re-open the previous shortcomings of their HR department, but she sensed an ongoing problem and was determined to address it. Eric leaned forward, his words directed at Tony. “We wrote to him. Everything was done by the book.”

Tony shook his head slowly. “Eric, it wasn’t. You know that, we all know it. That’s why the tribunal stung me for twenty five grand.”

Isabel tossed her pencil onto the meeting table. It fell with a clatter.

“It’s done with. Over. It was a costly mistake, but one we won't repeat. We should leave it and move on.” The exasperation was apparent in Isabel’s tone, in her frustrated tapping of the table top with her manicured fingernails.

“It isn’t though. Over.” Thea’s quiet tone held everyone’s attention, especially Tony’s. “It won't be over as long as we have staff, a lot of staff in fact, who believe we did that man an injustice. The compensation doesn’t change anything, not as far as they’re concerned. Resentment festers. We need loyalty, and commitment from the people we employ. They expect the same from us.”

Isabel opened her mouth to issue another protest but Tony forestalled that with a lifted hand. “Thea, go on please. What more do you have to tell us about this matter?”

“Jeremy Malone wasn’t married, was he?”

“No. His wife died about three years ago. Cancer I think.” Denise supplied this information. “We all had a whip round.”

“Does he have other family?”

Denise shook her head. “Not to my knowledge.” She looked to Eric and Chris for further elaboration. The doubtful expressions suggested none would be forthcoming.

Thea consulted her notebook again. “In fact, Mr Malone has a daughter. Melanie, aged twelve. She has Downs syndrome.”

Tony abandoned his relaxed pose. Elbows on the table he fixed Thea with a familiar, focused stare. “A lone parent, of a child with special needs? And you’re telling me we didn’t know that?”

“Well, I certainly didn't know.” Eric was quick to chip in.

“Would it have made a difference? If you had known?” Thea’s question might have been addressed to Eric, but it was Tony who she was watching, whose reaction mattered now.

“I reckon it would. The company would have cut him more slack probably.” This from Tony. “Is there more, Thea?”

Sensing she was on the downhill slope now, Thea continued. “Yes. As you say, Chris, Mr Malone was a bit of a loner. However it seems he was close to a Mr Bartlett. Albert Bartlett, who retired three years ago.”

Chris nodded. “He might have been. I was new then but I do remember old Albert. He was Jeremy’s boss, and Jeremy took over his team when Albert went off to look after his roses or whatever.”

“That’s right.” Thea was no longer referring to her notes. She gazed around the table at the people listening to her. “I found Albert’s contact details in our records and rang him up. I asked him if he could shed any light on what might have gone wrong. He was very helpful. It seems Melanie attends a residential facility during the week and comes home each weekend. She arrives on Friday afternoon and leaves again on Monday morning. Jeremy always had to be home by three o’clock on Friday because that was when Melanie’s taxi would drop her off, and she wouldn't be picked up again until nine thirty on Monday. So he left work early on Friday’s and was late every Monday.”

“Shit! Fucking shit. How come none of this came out?” Tony’s voice was a low growl. Thea had heard that tone before, but this time it was not directed at her. Even so, her pussy clenched.

Eric was the one to answer. “Search me, boss. I’d have upheld his appeal for sure if I’d had any inkling. Bloody hell!” To his credit, the man looked devastated.

“Do we know for sure this is the reason for the pattern of absenteeism?” Denise was making feverish notes of her own now.

Thea smiled at her. The question was exactly the right one to raise at this stage. “Not without talking to him. But I think that should be our next step. I’m happy to do it.”

Denise flattened her lips thoughtfully. “You don't have to. I will if you like. Or I could come with you.”

A resounding crack disturbed their conversation. Isabel had snapped her pencil. All eyes turned to the agitated PA.

“What the hell would be the point? He was badly treated, probably. Okay, I get that. But he had his compensation. He was paid out. It’s not as though there’s anything else we could do about it now. I say we drop it, learn from it, and move on.”

Thea stiffened and turned to address the woman directly. In her view it was time Isabel Barnard wound her neck in over this. The woman hadn’t a clue what she was talking about.

“There are several things we could do. One, we can review how we managed to miss such a vital piece of relevant information. We need to understand how it was that we had someone working for us, whose personal circumstances were so difficult, and impacted on his job, and we knew nothing about it. No allowances made, nothing. Two, we could even now review the disciplinary action taken and revise our findings if we think there’s a case for that. And three, we could offer Mr Malone his job back.”

“His job back? That’s ridiculous. What about the money he got from us. Is he going to give that back?”

Thea opened her mouth, but again Tony halted the conversation by simply lifting his hand. “There will be no giving back the money. That was his compensation, awarded lawfully. But we do owe it to the people who still work for us, and to Mr Malone, to get to the bottom of what actually went on. I’ve heard enough to convince me we should look again at this matter, and I’d like you all to leave this with me for now. I’ll consider what further action needs to be taken. If any.”

When both Thea and Isabel would have offered further argument he stood. “Thank you, everyone. And thank you especially, Mrs Richmond for bringing this matter back to our attention. I think we all have work to do now, do we not?”

They were dismissed, including her. Thea stood and would have filed out of the meeting room with the rest but Tony called her back.

“One moment, Mrs Richmond. If you please. And would you mind closing the door?”

Thea did as he asked, and returned to stand before the table. Tony remained seated, at its head.

“Mrs Richmond, I make this three nights you haven’t stayed at my house. Why is that?”

“I’ve been working at Kershaw’s, you know that. And not finishing until after eight most evenings. Holding down two jobs is hard work.”

“I get that. Maybe you need to relax more.”

“Perhaps. Do you have something in mind, Sir?” The shift was subtle, but irresistible, When he looked at her like that, when his tone took on that unrelenting Dom timbre, when his body language exuded power and control, she melted into her submissive mindset. It no longer mattered that they were in the office. He was her Dom, her Master, and she responded in the only way she could.

“I do. I’d like you to meet me at The Wicked Club this evening. Say around nine.”

“Very well, Sir.”

“And you’ll be sleeping with me tonight, at my house, so make sure you bring clothes for tomorrow and anything else you might need.”

“Of course, Sir. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I should say, you look very nice today, Thea. Is that a new dress?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“It’s very—smart. Formal. Very suitable for the office. Tell me, Thea, what do you wear under such a respectable outfit?”

“An uplift bra, and a thong, Sir. And stockings of course.”

“Of course. Show me please.”

“You want me to take off my dress Sir? Here?”

“How else will you show me your delightfully sexy underwear, Mrs Richmond? It is delightfully sexy I assume?”

“I believe so, Sir.”

He offered no further comment, just raised one eyebrow and waited. He did not appear patient.

Thea fumbled with the zipper at the back of her dress, but in seconds had managed to unfasten it and slid the burgundy fabric from her shoulders. The bodice of her dress dropped to her waist, then with the help of a slight shove the entire garment pooled on the floor. She stepped from the heap of dark red to stand closer to Tony.

He scrutinised her pale pink lacy bra, cut to reveal the upper curves of her breasts and only just covering her swollen nipples, then ran his gaze lower to take in the matching thong and barely black lace topped stockings. He twirled his finger, and she turned around to show him her rear.

“No bruises I see.”

“There were. They were lovely, but they faded.”

“I see. I’ll refresh those for you tonight.”

“Thank you, Sir. I’ll look forward to that.”

“I know you will, Mrs Richmond. Now, before you go, would you lean forward please? You can rest your hands on the table if you need to.”

Thea did as he asked.

Tony got to his feet at last and stood behind her. “Spread your legs, sub.”

She obeyed, widening her stance as far as she could, beyond what felt comfortable. She chewed on her lower lip as Tony slid his hand between her legs to tug her thong to one side. He plunged two, then three fingers inside her, scissoring them against her quivering inner walls. She stifled a gasp as her already wet cunt drooled in response.

As quickly as he had shoved his fingers into her, Tony withdrew them. “Stand up and turn round,”

Thea did so.

“Open your mouth.”

Again, she obeyed.

He licked the fingers he had just fucked her with, and smiled. “You taste so good, little sub. My perfect whore. Now you try.”

He put his fingers in her mouth. Thea tasted her own juices, musky, rich and slightly spicy. She closed her lips around his digits and sucked, curling her tongue around them to lap off every last trace of her cream. He allowed her to finish before he pulled his hand from her mouth. He smiled at her, a smile of pleasure, of acceptance. Thea warmed within the comforting haze of his approval, and fought the urge to reach up and kiss his lips.

Tony simply offered her the slightest nod, then stepped back.

“You may put your dress back on, Thea.”

Her hands trembled as she did so, so much that Tony had to assist her in zipping it up. At last, perfectly respectable once more, she faced him. “Should I go back to work now, Sir?”

“Yes. And Mrs Richmond, thank you. For earlier, about Jeremy Malone. I appreciate that.”

Thea made no further comment. She just smiled, bowed her head, and floated from the room.