All That He Demands (The Billionaire's Seduction Part 3) (17 page)

…and then we were on the 23rd floor.

“Good luck,” Anh whispered. “If you need to leave… early… let me know.”

I nodded and forced a smile to my lips. Then I went off to meet my doom.

I rode up to the top floor of the building. The receptionist wasn’t in yet, thank God.

My heart was pounding in my ears as I used Klaus’s badge to buzz myself in, then I raced for the boardroom.

The entire floor was deserted.

There, in the mini kitchen next to the coffeemaker, was my purse – untouched, undisturbed.

I was so frightened I would be caught that I ignored the cell phone for the time being and turned to go –

…and then I paused and looked back at the boardroom.

At the giant glass window where we’d watched the diamond and ruby lights of the traffic.

At the spot where I’d been standing when he first kissed me.

My heart broke again, and I rushed out of the room and back to the elevator, barely able to contain my tears.

When I got to my cubicle, my monitor and computer were still on, same as I’d left them on Friday night.

I put down my purse, went into Klaus’s office and threw his passcard on his desk, then dashed back out like the guilty soul I was.

I opened my purse and picked up my cell with trembling hands, my heart thudding in my chest, and turned it on to see how horrific my fate would be.

Ten texts and four phone messages.

…that’s all?

But five of the texts were from Anh, back when she thought I had gone missing Friday night and Saturday morning. She’d told me that she had called four times, so I was guessing that the four voicemails were from her, too.

That meant there were only five texts from Klaus.

And no voicemails.

WHAT?!

I scrolled through his messages.

Saturday morning, 10:57 AM – all caps:

WHERE’S THE TERAMORE REPORT?????

11:05 AM:

Never mind, I got the email. Lucky for you. But still, I should have the report in my inbox. I’m NOT HAPPY, Lily.

11:06 AM:

By the way, how did it go with that rep from LMGK last night? Call me.

12:12 PM:

When I tell you to call me, I don’t mean when it’s convenient for you. Call me ASAP.

Sunday 4:37 PM:

EXTREMELY UNHAPPY, LILY. We’ll discuss your extreme lack of professionalism when I get in on Monday morning.

And that was it.

‘I got the email’?

What the hell was he talking about?

I bent down to my computer and scrolled through the inbox, which was full of new messages.

One of them had come in Saturday morning at 8:55AM, from our contact over at Teramore. It was addressed to everyone in the exec comp department, and included me as a CC.

In light of certain unforeseen developments, the executive compensation report scheduled for Monday morning can be pushed back. We will not need it until later in the week. Will advise on Monday once everyone is in the office. Have a great weekend.

My already hurting brain struggled to comprehend what I’d just read.

They had canceled at the last minute.

I had been saved – literally – in the nick of time.

But how?

If I hadn’t been so tired and brain dead, I would have realized it immediately. But it took me a few seconds.

Connor.

Connor saved me.

I looked at the time stamp in confusion. 8:55 AM Saturday…

And then I remembered. When I woke on Saturday morning, he’d been on the phone. One of the calls he’d made must have saved my ass.

But why didn’t he tell me, then?!

I almost burst into tears. Whether it was because I was so touched or so infuriated, I wasn’t sure, but I was definitely both – and all at once.

“When I tell you to call me back, you
call me back,
Lily,” a snide voice said behind me.

Klaus.

I stood up and turned. I must have looked a little rough and glassy-eyed, because his normally disapproving frown shifted into ‘slightly alarmed’ territory.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, and because my brain locked from exhaustion and sadness and bewilderment over the Teramore email, I just went ahead and did it: I lied. “I got really sick.”

His expression went
full-on
alarmed, and he stepped back. “Well, don’t get
me
sick!”

I narrowed my eyes, and remembered why I hated him so much. “Don’t worry… it was a 24-hour bug.”

“You could’ve still called,” he said nastily.

No
How are you?
or
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,
or even a hint of sympathy.

Just
Don’t get ME sick.

That, and more rebukes.

Asshole.

“I didn’t want you to hear the puking sounds,” I said with a cold, mirthless smile.

He got a little green around the gills. Herr Klaus was oh-so-delicate in certain ways.

“Well… you could have texted.”

“Sorry.”

He shook his head in disgust. No longer disgust at the mention of puking, but disgust with my work performance. “Well… how did it go with… what was his name?”

I wanted sooooo badly to say,
You mean the guy who handed you your ass in front of your CEO on the phone Friday night? You mean the guy who forced you to apologize to me for being a jerk? THAT guy?

But I remembered that my whole reason for coming in today was to keep my job… and that I’d turned away ‘THAT guy’ in order to be here.

“Connor Te – ”

I caught myself.

Maybe it was because I had said his fake last name more than I ever said his real last name. Maybe it was because I was still uncomfortable with the whole ‘Templeton’ thing.

Either way, I remembered that Klaus didn’t know who Connor really was.

“…Brooks,” I said. “Connor Brooks.”

“What did he want?”

“To see a whole bunch of files.”

“Which files?”

I shrugged. “Dozens.”

“Well, which ones?!” he demanded, raising his voice.

I
so
wanted to grab a letter opener and buy myself a twenty-year prison sentence.

Keep the job,
I reminded myself.
You must keep this job.

Or else last night was for nothing.

“Teramore… Bennickson… PT & Associates… Zaruder… Telomere Biogenetics…”

His eyes got wide – and enraged. “You didn’t
show
those to him, did you?!”

“Of course I did.”

“WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU – ”

“Because the CEO
said to
,” I snarled.

Klaus looked shocked. He actually took a tiny step back.

I guess he’d never heard the angry side of me come out before.

Actually, the angry side of me never
had
come out around him before. Not openly.

Maybe it was how tired and emotionally spent I was. Maybe that was short-circuiting the logical, life-preserving part of my brain.

Or maybe some of the things Connor had said to me – about valuing myself, about not putting up with an asshole – had actually sunk in.

Then Klaus recovered himself, and his face contorted into a nasty mask of indignation and self-righteousness.

“Dave Westerholtz certainly didn’t mean to show that pompous asshole
everything.
Those files are sensitive – if I had been here, I most certainly would
not
have let him see those files – ”

“Then
maybe
you should have been here,
” I hissed, “instead of getting drunk with some floozy at Sky Bar.”

I couldn’t believe it.

I could not
believe
those words came out of my mouth.

Neither could Klaus.

First there was shock, far beyond anything he’d shown so far.

And then there was fury. He started shaking a little, he was so angry.

“You little
bitch,
” he whispered, low and vicious, “don’t you EVER – ”

“KLAAAAAAUUS!” a familiar voice suddenly boomed out.

…and my stomach dropped through the floor.

Connor stood about fifty feet away, his arms open wide, like,
What UP, bro?

Klaus whipped around, a look of stark terror on his face.

He obviously remembered the voice, too… and the humiliations he’d suffered because of its owner.

Toss in the fact that he’d been speaking ill of Connor just a few seconds before, and Klaus was
not
a happy camper.

Me?

I was not a happy camper at ALL.

Connor strolled over, gorgeous and every inch the billionaire. He wore a tailored, grey pinstripe suit, crisp white shirt, and maroon silk tie studded with a gold pin.

I thought he looked a little tired around the eyes… but then I convinced myself I just saw that because I
wanted
to see it.

I didn’t want to believe he could have dumped me and slept like a baby afterward.

Although that was probably what happened.

I did notice one thing, though, that was undeniable:

He didn’t look at me once.

He kept his eyes laser-focused on Klaus.

Inside, I felt like crying.

You can’t even LOOK at me?!

But I quickly forgot that as the show unfolded.

“Klaus! In the flesh! Oh, how I’ve missed you since our last conversation, buddy!” Connor grinned as he approached, all back-slapping good humor.

He towered over Klaus by a good eight inches. And that was with the lifts in Klaus’s shoes.

Klaus was
definitely
feeling the disparity in power, because he straightened up as tall as he could.

He got maybe an extra half-inch out of it.

“I have to say, I don’t remember it as fondly as you do,” Klaus said icily.

“Awwww, come on, don’t be like that!” Connor said, plastering some fake puppy-dog hurt on his face. “Especially after how helpful you were!”

“I – what?” Klaus asked, thrown off guard.

“Wait, hold on – I want to make sure your good deeds don’t go unrecognized,” Connor said with a serious look, then turned around. “Hey Dave – Dave, could you come over here a sec?”

Two seconds later, the CEO of our company came around the corner.

My stomach twisted a little.

Klaus looked like he had dropped a load in his pants.

Dave Westerholtz walked over. He was a man in his mid-fifties, short, compact, grey-haired, sharp eyes, all smiles – for Connor, anyway. When he glanced at Klaus, his expression soured a little.

“Zimmerman,” the CEO said in a clipped voice.

I will say this for him: after he dispensed with Klaus, Westerholtz looked over at me and gave me a polite smile. “Hello.”

“Hello,” I said calmly.

After sleeping with a billionaire over the weekend, garden-variety CEO’s just weren’t quite as impressive anymore.

Klaus wasn’t quite as slick, though. “M-Mr. Westerholtz,” he stammered.

“What do you need, Connor?” Westerholtz asked with a smile.

“I just wanted to make sure Klaus’s contributions were duly noted. Not forgotten in the hubbub of the meeting,” Connor explained.

Meeting?

Oh my God – the buyout meeting…

It must be happening soon…

“Oh?” the CEO said as he gave Klaus a more charitable look.

“Yes, he put himself completely at my disposal,” Connor said, gave Klaus a wink, and socked him lightly in the arm like a fellow fraternity brother. “Right, Klaus?”

“Uh… yes,” Klaus said, his eyes nervously flitting back and forth between Connor and Mr. Westerholtz. “Yes, absolutely.”

My initial reaction was shock at the outright lie.

Then anger – that Klaus was taking credit (in front of the CEO!) for doing something he’d palmed off on me.

And then my addled brain caught up.

Only two out of the four of us knew that the buyout wasn’t going to go through.

Klaus wasn’t one of them.

I almost burst out laughing.

Even in my sleep-deprived state, I could see where this was going.

“How he canceled that hot date to come back here and show me those files. Right, Klaus?” Connor continued.

Klaus forced a big smile. “It was nothing.”

“Don’t be so modest, Klaus!” Connor turned to Westerholtz. “He showed me every file I asked for!”

Westerholtz’s eyebrows raised the tiniest fraction, and his smile became just a little bit fake as he glanced over at Klaus. “…
every
file? Really?”

Klaus’s smile faded a little. “Well, not
every –
”

“Teramore, Bennickson, PT & Associates, Zaruder, Telomere Biogenetics,” Connor rattled off. “Plus, like, a dozen more. Right, Klaus?” he asked with a big smile.

He’d been listening the whole time. To everything Klaus had said.

And now he was letting Klaus
know
he’d been listening the whole time.

To
everything
he’d said.

A bead of sweat trickled down from Klaus’s hairline. “I, well – ”

“Klaus’s help was invaluable to me in justifying the final decision,” Connor said to Westerholtz.

“Oh, really?” the CEO asked, back to pleased again.

“In a way, you have
him
to thank for everything that follows today.”

Unbeknownst to Klaus, Connor had just handed him a piece of rope.

Klaus also didn’t realize it was fashioned into a noose.

He blithely slipped it on and tightened it himself.

“Well… I didn’t want to brag… but I did everything I could to help,” Klaus beamed.

“I’m certainly glad to hear you stepped up, Zimmerman,” the CEO said.

“I do every day, sir.”

That was probably a bit much, seeing as the CEO narrowed his eyes a little.

I know
I
almost threw up in my throat.

Connor clapped his hands together. “Well, now that we’ve got
that
established, we should head on up to the top floor and go meet the board, what do you say?”