“Not all of them, just Crawford Industries.” Roman winced. “Because you, Gabe, are the new CEO. Maddox left everything he owned to you and you alone—money, houses, cars, and his business. If that video isn’t motive enough, then the billion dollar company you inherited as of this morning almost surely is.”
For the second time in ten minutes, Gabe felt the world shift. He had to hope he was still standing when it stopped.
• • •
E
verly walked out of the elevator, her mind still on Gabriel. What had she done? Why had she given him her number after she’d figured out who he was? It had been impulsive. She didn’t have his phone number. He hadn’t offered it. He’d kissed her, told her he had to go, and walked out. No more promises about calling. He’d looked grim as he’d dressed quickly, and he’d left as if fleeing the scene of a crime.
The only bright side? Maddox Crawford would have gotten a kick out of her having a one-night stand with his best friend after his funeral.
As she’d left the hotel, she’d had the oddest feeling that someone was watching her. There had been the usual crowd out on the streets. She’d run past a couple of photographers who had likely been waiting for celebrities. The Plaza had its share. They couldn’t possibly care about her or know that she’d spent the weekend holed up with Gabriel. She’d wondered if they’d taken pictures of him as he’d left.
The paparazzi was his life. He wouldn’t call and if he did, she would have to think about not answering. They were far too different to make anything lasting work. He likely wouldn’t call at all. She was almost certain getting her number was a way to smooth over an awkward parting. His friends also had impeccable timing. They’d whisked Gabriel away at the perfect moment to avoid a long good-bye.
Hell of an exit strategy.
If she had to bet, she would put her money on the fact they were through. No matter how good a time he’d had, no matter how close they’d felt, Gabriel Bond wouldn’t have an actual relationship with a woman like her. She’d been a good lay and a good time. Now it was over.
She’d been forced to “walk of shame” it until she’d managed to hail a cab to Brooklyn so she could shower, change, and pull herself together for what was likely to be a difficult day.
Everly walked into the elegant lobby of Crawford’s corporate offices. Sometimes the fact that she was an executive still felt a bit surreal. The first time she’d been invited to the top floor, she’d felt like she’d finally made it. Now she worried how long she would last at Crawford and if she could even find another job.
“Good morning, Ms. Parker. It’s good to see you here so bright-eyed after an undoubtedly long weekend.” Jennifer, the corporate office’s general receptionist, sat at the desk, a discreet Bluetooth device in her ear. She answered calls and sent them to whomever they needed to reach. But she also served as the hub for gossip in the office. Information both true and false flowed through her like a river before she sent it into the tiny world via her tributary of secretaries.
Jennifer had a light in her eyes that Everly didn’t understand. She knew one thing, though. When Jennifer looked that happy, she had a truly juicy scoop on someone. “Yes, I hope everyone had a chance to relax. The funeral on Friday took a lot out of everyone, I suppose.”
“Sure did,” she replied with a wink. “Some of us more than others. Ms. Gordon was looking for you. I told her you were running a little
late because you had to pick up a new external hard drive you ordered last week.” She pulled out a small blue bag from an electronics store. “Here it is. It was delivered Friday, but she doesn’t know that.”
Everly took the drive, grateful for the excuse. She needed this to back up the contents of her hard drive before she tried to fix the problems with her frustratingly slow computer. “Thanks for covering for me.”
She didn’t want to have to explain why she was so late. Her staff wouldn’t question her. She was easy on them. As long as they completed projects and did their jobs, she was flexible on the hours they worked. Most of them had earned their office moniker of “Geek Squad” by staying insular and holding weekly Magic: The Gathering tournaments. And for productivity’s sake, she didn’t dare get them started on
Game of Thrones.
All in all, though, she preferred her team to the cattiness of the rest of the groups.
She started toward her office, thinking about the day ahead. She needed to check over the reports for the last week. She’d had concerns on the retail side that there might have been a breach. If so, she would have a headache on her hands. But at least it would keep her from thinking about being unemployed.
“Everly, I’m so glad you’re here. Are you all right?” Tavia poked her head out of her office, sounding concerned but looking so chic in a simple black sheath and sky-high heels with a distinctive red sole. Everly had seen the outfit a few times; it never failed to look striking.
“Fine.” Everly frowned in confusion. “You?”
Tavia gestured with a manicured hand. “Thank goodness. I’ve worried about you all morning. Come in. Quick. I don’t want to talk where everyone can hear us.”
Everly glanced around and was really surprised to find way too many eyes peering above cubicle walls at her. They quickly looked away, the gawkers going back to the screens or reports awkwardly, as though trying not to look obvious.
Why was everyone staring?
She took Tavia’s hand and let the woman rush her into the office with its four floor-to-ceiling windows and stunning view of Central Park. The back wall was covered with pictures of the blond beauty posed beside dozens of young women from all over the world. Tavia looked so different in those pictures. She was dressed casually in most. In some, from when she went to Muslim countries, she wore a hijab to cover her hair.
Tavia saw her staring at the pictures. “I’m hoping to open a new school with the money we raise this year.” She pointed to the most recent photo. “I found this village in India in desperate need of a girls’ school. They have a boys’ school, but the girls’ building burned down and no one has raised the money for a new one.”
“How is the search for that missing girl going?”
Two months earlier, Everly had gone to lunch with Tavia after one of the girls from her school in Liberia had vanished without a trace. Tearfully, Tavia had clutched the girl’s picture and vowed to find her.
“We’re still looking. It’s difficult in that part of the world. Epidemics go hand-in-hand with insufficient medical care, but once we established that Janjay hadn’t fallen ill . . . the other options for her disappearance aren’t so palatable. I have to hope she ran away.” She shook her head sadly. “Girls get taken for many reasons. It’s a reality I simply can’t accept. Boko Haram is starting to work in that part of the world. Now we have to worry about ISIS as well. They’ll try to tear down everything I’ve built.”
Boko Haram was a terrorist group that believed all things western were evil, and that included educating females. They had kidnapped an entire school of girls, forcing them to convert to their extreme form of Islam. ISIS, another terror group, was moving into Africa. Everly could understand why Tavia was scared for the young women she tried to help.
“Do you want me to see what else I can do?” It felt wrong not to offer. “I’m sure the security guys at Crawford’s international offices are working as hard as they can, but I’ll ask them for an update.”
Tavia smiled with regret. “Oh, you’re so sweet, but please don’t take their attention from the field. Their work in finding the girl is too important to tear them away. I’m sure they’ll tell us what they’ve found as soon as they’re able, but we can’t risk leads going cold.”
Which must be why Everly hadn’t received any expense reports or requests for reimbursements. Sometimes their field agents were too busy for paperwork. The rest of the time, operatives hated what they called desk jockey stuff. “You’re right. I wish I could do more.”
“Your specialty is computer security, and the corporation needs that desperately, too. But Crawford’s boots on the ground in war-torn parts of the globe have the experience in this arena. I hope luck is on our side. Now, how are you holding up?”
“I’m okay. I’ll be better after the new boss comes in and we know one way or another whether we’re keeping our jobs.”
Tavia’s brow rose. “Sweetie, I was talking about what happened this morning.”
So she was going to have to explain why she was late. She wasn’t sure why Tavia needed to know. The woman wasn’t her boss. “I needed some time. I’m fine now. I should get to work.”
Tavia circled back around to her desk. “You weren’t scared of those reporters?”
Everly blinked. How had Tavia known about the small group of tabloid bloodhounds outside the hotel? She’d hustled to a cab and left them behind to wait for their real target. Since she’d likely shown up in the background of some shot, Everly supposed she had to make explanations. Maybe a white lie would get her through this. “I got a little drunk last night and decided to stay here in Manhattan. You know how it is, trying to navigate the subway when you’re toasted.”
Tavia turned the screen of her computer around. “I don’t know that anyone’s going to buy that story. Not when your name gets attached to someone like Gabriel Bond. Sweetie, you need to be prepared. They didn’t have your name this morning, but they’ll find it—quick.”
Everly stared in horror at the byline on the Internet news story.
NEW MISTRESS?
WALL STREET’S BAD BOY BOND RETURNS TO FORM
Underneath the headline there was a photo of her running to the cab in her wrinkled dress, her hair whipping in the wind and one hand out to stave off the press. “Oh, my god. That’s me. They’re talking about me.”
Tavia sank into her chair, crossing her long legs. “You can’t be too surprised. You had to know they would, if they caught you.”
“Why would they care?” Why the hell did it matter to anyone that she’d had a wild weekend?
“Of course they’re going to care.” Tavia stood again, as if too restless to sit. “They report about anyone remotely connected to that group. Did you really let Gabriel Bond pick you up at Maddox’s funeral?”
“I met him at the bar after the service. I honestly didn’t know who he was until I put it together this morning.” And on the way back to work she’d thought about some other things, too. One particular memory had surfaced.
I need to let you meet Bond sometime. You’d like him, Everly. He’s a good guy. Not too thrilled with me right now, but I have hopes we’ll work things out eventually. He’s my best friend in the world. We have to work it out.
Maddox had been eating her stew and talking about the group of men he’d grown up with, but he’d only referred to them by their last names, with the exception of Zack Hayes, whom he’d referred to as Mr. President . . . though he snickered every time he did. But Maddox had often talked about Bond.
Tavia’s expression softened with sympathy. “If you didn’t know who he was, then you must not have known his reputation. I’m afraid he’s a real player.” She winced. “He’s torn through most every beauty in Manhattan, but he never stays with one for long. Pig.”
She held out her free hand to stop that line of conversation. “I
wasn’t trying to be his girlfriend. He was alone. I was alone. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
He said he’d call her. He’d taken her number. Wall Street’s Bad Boy ring her? Ha!
Tavia sighed. “If you lie low, it will blow over soon. He’ll move on to the next woman, and the press will forget you. I wanted to make sure you were ready for the gossip. No one in the office can seem to talk about anything else this morning.”
Everly felt her skin heat. In some ways, this was her worst nightmare. She couldn’t stand the thought of everyone gossiping behind her back about her liaison with yet another man. At least this rumor was actually true. But up until last night, she hadn’t had a sex life—nothing anyone would find interesting anyway. Suddenly, she preferred her coworkers chin-wagging about how young she was for her job.
It wasn’t fair. If she’d been a man, no one would have questioned her or cared at all.
“Everly, don’t worry about it.” Tavia shook her head. “It really will blow over in a couple of days. I understand why you left with him. He’s a stunning man. I’ve only met him once, but I was impressed by how charismatic he was. He could have talked me into bed, too.”
“I can’t believe those reporters were waiting for me outside of the hotel. Why did they hang around? Gabriel left before me.” Though not very long before her. Once he’d gone, she had wanted to get out as quickly as possible. The room seemed too empty without him.
“Most likely, he left via the back door.”
“Why wouldn’t he tell me to do the same?”
“I’m sure you were good camouflage for him,” Tavia explained with a sympathetic wince. “It’s the way these men work. They’re excellent in bed, but they don’t care much about women like us out of it. How do you think they recognized that you spent the night with him and weren’t a guest in some other room? I’m sure one of Bond’s employees tipped off the paparazzi. That would keep them at the front of the hotel so he could slip out the back.”
Humiliation washed over her. He’d told her he would call. He had called, all right—just not her. He’d dialed the reporters down on her head so he wouldn’t be bothered.
Tavia stood up again and strode over, giving her a big hug. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry. I hate that this happened to you.”
The door opened. Valerie Richards, the head of the accounting department and Tavia’s most frequent lunch partner, stood there. She was petite but reminded Everly of a fairy—one slightly evil and bullying.
“I thought for sure you would take the day off because we all know you must have had a few sleepless nights.” Valerie smirked her way.
“Put the claws back in, please.” Tavia shook her head. “She’s been through enough.”
“Well, apparently she’s been through Gabriel Bond, too.” Valerie looked Everly up and down, obviously finding her wanting.
The woman had been trouble since the minute they’d been introduced on Everly’s first day at the job. Since then, the woman had done everything possible to undermine her, even though they didn’t work in the same department.