Sleeping with the Billionaire (Rendezvous with the Billionaire Book 3) (5 page)

There was no hope of thinking that she hadn’t seen me or that I wasn’t the target of her ire. And by the way I stood there dumbly looking at her for at least ten seconds, she knew that I’d seen her. A great time all around.

She got two feet in front of me and spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. “You can talk to me in the lobby, or in there,” she pointed to the empty business center behind us. “But you’re going to talk to me right now.”

I didn’t argue or speak, just turned around and walked into the business center and gave her enough room to follow me in. The lights of the four computer monitors were all that illuminated the room, casting it in a surreal blue light. Soothing music surrounded us, piped in through an unobtrusive speaker system making the room seem both relaxing and work oriented. Amanda didn’t bother to flip the light switch, neither did I.

“So you’re fucking Evan, then?” She volleyed, hitting the mark in one.

I tried not to let it show, thankful for the dimness. She couldn’t see me blush. “You have no right to ask me about my personal life.”

Her eyes narrowed. Maybe I should have flat out denied it. “How long has it been going on? I didn’t think he brought girls back to his place.” She didn’t sound angry, though maybe she was offended. Perhaps I wasn’t high class enough to be her fiancé’s mistress.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said it slowly, enunciating every word. Evan and I were in a weird place. He’d let me know some of his problems, promised to help me with mine, and then there was the sex. But I didn’t think I could really call it a relationship.

She laughed, “You think just because your boss showed you a little bit of favor that now you can do whatever you want, is that it? What? Do you think he’s in love with you?”

I wouldn’t ever think something like that. Evan didn’t seem the type to fall in love, like he was allergic to it or something. “Of course I don’t think he’s in love with me.” What was she even doing here? Evan said their relationship was mostly a fiction, and Dylan said she hated the city. Yet here she was right outside Evan’s apartment early on a weekend morning. “Why do you even care?”

Her mouth dropped open and her brows sprang up, “You’re asking me why I care that my fiancé is cheating on me with his secretary?”

I tried to tell her that I was an associate, not his secretary, but she didn’t let me speak.

“Please, I have a reputation to uphold.” She crossed her arms, a scowl forming on her lips.

“Evan’s not the only person who lives here.” I was going to cling to my story as hard as I could. The only people who knew for certain about me and Evan were me, Evan, Andrea, and my blackmailer. I didn’t need to add to that list.

“I’m fairly certain you don’t know many people able to afford an apartment in this building. You made your choice, Amy. Don’t be surprised that there are unpleasant consequences.” She took a seat in one of the four chairs and gestured for me to do the same. “Now let’s talk honestly.”

Something about what she said niggled at the back of my mind. Something about consequences. I took a seat mechanically while working it out. Before she spoke again it came to me. That was nearly exactly what my blackmailer had said. The thought froze me in place.

I was so sure that he was a man, his cadence, tone, entitlement, all of it screamed man. But could it be a woman? The voice distortion made gender impossible to tell. But I hadn’t considered that it might be Amanda. After all, didn’t she have a motive to want to screw Evan over? Sending him to jail would be one hell of a payback scheme.

But I threw the thought away almost immediately. Amanda seemed truly surprised that I was here. My blackmailer knew about the relationship. Also, Amanda was in the office when I received that first email. She didn’t have access to a computer or anything to send it from. And what would she gain other than petty vengeance? Though maybe it wasn’t vengeance for cheating and instead was vengeance for Bitterman’s death. Evan did say they were friends.

No, it wasn’t her, no matter how satisfying that would be on some level. “What do you want?” I asked.

She smiled, but this wasn’t the friendly, open expression she’d given me at the office. This was the smile of a predator. “Stay away from Evan, at least until I’m done with him. I’m done dealing with his bullshit. Just wait a little bit and you can have that asshole all to yourself.”

I stood back up. I wasn’t promising her anything. “Let me guess, if I don’t you’ll make my life hell?” I had to fight to keep my expression neutral. She had no idea what I was going through, whatever she did would be a piece of cake compared to it.

“I’ve known Evan for a very long time. I know exactly what he like, what he hates, and why he does at least half of what he does.” She spoke steadily, I almost thought that she’d practiced this speech before. Maybe she had. “I can make him never want to see you again, and he won’t even realize it. So don’t fuck with me.”

She believed the threat. I walked out the door without another word. If Amanda wanted to make my life trouble, let her try. I had bigger fish to fry and couldn’t worry about her wounded pride. She didn’t know my reputation was on the line, but there wasn’t anything she could do that would make her feelings my number one priority.

It felt like forever since I’d seen Andrea, but she was at home, sitting in the living room when I got there. I did not grill her about where she’d been. It would have been unladylike and may have provoked questions about my whereabouts. I’d had enough of those to last a lifetime.

We were suffering from a full house with everyone home for once. Luckily we had access to the roof and it was usually deserted. Sometime long before we moved into the building, residents had started scattering folding chairs and other lawn furniture about in a haphazard layout. Some of it was so old that it was rusted through and I wouldn’t want to risk tetanus when the chair inevitably collapsed under my weight and stabbed me. But some of the newer chairs were rust free and relatively clean. Andrea and I each chose one and sat down.

I could tell she wanted to know where I’d been, she was practically bouncing in her seat. And she had probably guessed. I didn’t usually stay out all night. But she was holding the questions in for some reason and I wasn’t going to tell her unless I had to. “I got another call from the blackmailer.”

She stopped bouncing, her face wiped of excitement and replaced by an utterly serious expression. “So soon? And a call, not an email?”

I nodded, clenching the plastic arm rests on my chair. I laid it out for her, telling her about both calls and how he gave me 72 hours to turn Evan in. I explained how I thought it was a guy, and that I wasn’t going to do what he wanted.

“That’s good,” she said to my declaration. “I mean, they always say it’s bad to give into blackmailers, right?” Andrea couldn’t sit still. After fidgeting in her seat for a moment she stood and paced, her hair swaying behind her.

“If we’re going by movie logic, I guess.” But I wasn’t expecting James Bond to jump in and save me at any moment. “So have you figured anything out?”

She crossed her arms and stood still. “The email came from New York, I’m 90 percent sure on that. But I’m still trying to figure out where in the city. And that’s going to be a lot harder. I mean, this isn’t all above board, you get that, right?”

“Well, it’s not like this guy’s playing nice.” I took a deep breath and let it out. Andrea just looked at me. “I told Evan about everything.”

“Aha!” She jerked and pointed at me. “I mean, that’s probably for the best.”

Her response provoked a laugh, “You were holding that question in so tight, weren’t you?” She made a face, trying for nonchalance and giving up and surrendering to a grin. I continued speaking, “He says he’ll help.” And every second I thought of the tone of his voice when he promised that I’d be safe I had a little thrill race through me and I let myself believe it for a second.

“Was that all he said?” She bit back a smirk, I could see the laughter dancing in her eyes. “You just talked about your problems? Nothing else?”

“Shut up!” I nearly walked over there and punched her shoulder. Andrea could see it and ducked behind one of the chairs, ready to use it in defense.

“It’s good he’s helping.” She said. “72 hours is not a lot of time.”

Amen to that.

I didn’t hear back from Evan at all that weekend, which I chose not to read into. I would have loved to hear that he tracked down that dude with no problem whatsoever and I was in the clear. But that was not quite realistic.

Something felt weird once I got out of the subway station. I looked around, feeling my skin crawl like someone was watching me, but it just looked like normal rush hour. I couldn’t slow down, but I tried to stay closer to the street than to the alleys. For three blocks I was convinced that a man wearing a jacket and a beanie was following me, but he turned down the street before I did without glancing my way.

I made it to the building safely so I must have just been freaking out. It was the day my blackmailer’s threat expired and if Evan hadn’t found something I could say goodbye to life as I knew it.

Evan’s door was closed but I could see him moving around based on the light coming out from under the door. I wanted to stick my head in there and ask him if he had any news. But I held myself still, trying – and failing miserably – to get anything done. Time ticked by, interspersed by the intermittent thumps from somewhere down the hall.

After one particularly loud bang, I realized the sound was coming directly from Evan’s office. And from the looks of it, so had everyone else in the bullpen. Some of my coworkers were throwing not so subtle looks at his door and questioning among themselves what the hell was going on in there. Was he tearing down a wall or something?

My question was answered soon enough when he called me over. I closed the door behind me and took a minute to observe the damage that he’d done to the place. Where once there had been a bookshelf, now stood the outline of one, the shelves themselves lying on the floor with books in a haphazard spread all around it. He’d moved his desk and unplugged all of the electronics. Two of the paintings that had been hanging were now lying on the floor.

He’d gone mad. Simple as that.

I turned to ask him what was going on and had to keep my mouth from dropping open. Evan was usually unbearably sexy, but now he had a nice sheen of sweat to add that mussed appeal. I wanted to lick him, and luckily kept that thought to myself. Somehow.

He’d come to work in a suit, but now his dark jacket lay on the back of his chair and what had been the crisp white sleeves of his shirt were now wrinkled and pushed up to his elbows. He’d cast off his tie and undid two button on the shirt as well. The man wore physical labor well and I wondered if there was anything I could make him do to display that physicality for me again.

I’d think of something.

I must have been staring too long. Evan held out both arms and did a circle, spinning slowly so I could take him all in. “Do you like what you see?” He asked.

Words, I needed to speak in words. “Uh huh.” Close enough.

Evan laughed and gestured to me, “Come here, I think I’ve found something that will interest you.”

I walked up to his desk and navigated around another pile of books to stand right next to him. When he put his hand on my back and urged me closer, it felt natural to let him. I liked these little familiar touches. But what he showed me made my stomach sink. I didn’t realize what I was looking at first. It looked like a button with a bunch of wires attached to some other computer stuff. But when the light hit it, I realized the button was made entirely out of glass.

It was a lens.

“So that’s where the video came from?” My voice sounded hollow. I’d known that there had to be a camera in his office, but the proof was staggering. “How long do you think it’s been here?”

His fingers rubbed my back once and let go before he picked up the device. “Hard to say, there was a bit of dust around it, so awhile. It looks like it’s just a camera, no microphone.”

That may have explained why Evan had not been blackmailed earlier. “I guess you usually don’t entertain girls in your office like that.”

Evan looked at me, his eyes full of anger and compassion. “It looks like you’re one of a kind.” He placed a kiss on my forehead and kept talking. “I’ve got a list of people who may have planted it. Someone had to know I wouldn’t find it. It was wedged behind an encyclopedia my father gave me when I graduated from college.”

“Why is that important?” I had no idea how the encyclopedia fit into this. Was there a clue I was missing? Probably several.

He smiled, “It was an encyclopedia about boats and boating related things. Which I have never cared about. I kept it in the office because the binding looks nice.” He nodded to a brown and blue leather book on the corner of his desk.

“You don’t like boats?”

He shrugged, “Sailing is fine, but I’ve never felt the urge to learn more about it. I can pay someone to captain a ship. When I sail, I do it to relax, not to conquer the sea.”

How strange. “So what would have been the better reference?”

“Archery. I was nearly a national champion, you know?”