All That He Demands (The Billionaire's Seduction Part 3) (18 page)

“Let’s,” Westerholtz said, then turned around and walked off.

“After you… buddy,” Connor said to Klaus, and gestured grandly.

Klaus hesitated… then followed his boss.

Only then did Connor look at me.

He gave me a tight-lipped little smile. His eyes dipped to the floor, like he found it hard to look me in the eye. Then he glanced up at me again, and there was a warmth there, a bittersweet longing… and a pained sadness.

And then he followed the other two men around the corner and out of sight.

I almost went crazy as I sat at my desk, wringing my hands, obsessing about what was going on up in the boardroom.

Not least of all because I wondered if anybody noticed a stain on the plush carpet, or if they could detect the lingering scent of sex in the air.

“Oh God,” I whispered to myself, and put my head in my hands.

Emails went unanswered. I let calls go straight to voicemail.

I was a nervous wreck.

I played out a dozen scenarios in my head, all of them different in the particulars, but all boiling down to the same inescapable outcome:

Connor letting them know that the buyoff was off.

Would he tell them that the Teramore job was fake, designed to test the exec comp division?

Would he repeat the lie that Klaus had shown him all the files on Friday night?

And if he did, what could Klaus do but sit there and take it? Especially after he had lied right to the face of the CEO?

And if Klaus sat there, the scapegoat for the failure… just how mad was he going to be when he came out of that meeting?

I didn’t have to wait too long to find out.

Well, not in real-world time.

But it felt like an eternity until Klaus stomped back into the office.

I stood involuntarily as he stormed around the corner, the way people in movies stand up when someone with bad news walks into a room.

He was scarlet red,
far
angrier than I had ever seen him the whole time I’d been at Exerton.

When he saw me, his jaw set and his eyes blazed. In my mind’s eye, I pictured what a Great White must look like when it’s having a bad day and it spots a baby seal.

“YOU,” he shouted, and stomped over to my desk.

I just stood there mutely as he launched into an epic tirade. I was vaguely aware of everyone around me turning in their cubicles and watching what unfolded in mute horror.

“YOU FUCKING BITCH!” he screamed. “You didn’t say anything when he lied about me to the CEO?! You stabbed me in the back, you goddamn little – ”

He spluttered, apparently wrestling with himself whether he wanted to drop the ‘c word.’

He didn’t, but he
did
keep shouting.

“It didn’t go through! The buyout didn’t go through! He pulled the plug based on what he read in those files that
you
showed him, the ones
you
made me take the fall for – the ones YOU
lied
about – and now the CEO’s blaming ME! I could lose my job over this, and it’s not even my FAULT! And his last name isn’t even
Brooks,
it’s Connor
Templeton!
As in the fucking BILLIONAIRE!” Klaus shrieked, then pointed a finger right in my face. “You FUCKED us! You FUCKED this company, you FUCKED me, you’re a complete FUCKING – ”

“Shut up,” I whispered.

He stopped and stared at me, hatred and disbelief warring in his face.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!”

“You heard me,” I seethed. “SHUT UP.”

He was trembling so bad, I thought he was going to fall down in an epileptic fit. “DON’T YOU TALK TO ME THAT – ”

“YOU took credit for it when you thought you were going to be the big hero,” I snarled. Now
I
was the one shaking uncontrollably. “YOU were the one who lied. YOU could have said it was me who showed him the files – you could have said it at any point, but NO, you were sucking up and stealing credit, just like you always do.”

Klaus became incoherent in his rage. “I – YOU – ”

“You didn’t come back on Friday night when your boss told you to, you took credit when you thought it would get you brownie points, and now that you’re getting reamed out for it, you want to put it all back on
me?
”
I asked, colder and more in control than I could have ever imagined myself being. “You’re a shitty boss, Klaus – but you’re a shittier human being.”

“YOU CAN’T TALK TO ME THAT WAY!”

“I just did.”

“WELL – WELL – YOU’RE FUCKING
FIRED!”

I clenched my teeth. “You can’t fire me, you asshole, because
I quit.
”

It was a line from a bad movie, but hell – that’s what I was in now: a really bad movie.

“CLEAN OUT YOUR DESK – YOU’RE THROUGH, YOU HEAR ME?! YOU’RE
THROUGH!”
Klaus screamed as he stomped into his office and slammed the door.

I looked around slowly. All the other office slaves turned away, averting their eyes from the mortifying scene, not wanting to be tainted by any contact with the pariah.

I stifled my tears and loaded up my few possessions in a cardboard filing box.

Then I turned off my computer and left.

I stopped by Anh’s office on the way out. She was white as a ghost.

“I heard the screaming,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” I said dully, still in shock. “Everybody probably did, huh.”

“Oh, honey…” she said as she stood up from her desk.

I shrugged. Nothing seemed real. I felt numb, both body and mind. “I just… I… do you think you can cover rent this month?” I asked feebly.

“Of course,” she said, and came around and hugged me. “Of course I can.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t you dare apologize. It’ll all be okay.”

I relaxed a little in her arms, but I couldn’t cry. I felt like I’d used all my tears for Connor the night before, and I didn’t have any left for my present situation.

Besides, I’d be damned before I’d ever let Klaus hear that he made me cry.

“Do you need me to drive you home?” Anh asked.

“No… no, I’ll be fine, I’ll just drive my car… I left it here on Friday…”

She pulled back and looked into my eyes. “Are you going to be okay?”

I nodded mutely.

She hugged me again. “I don’t mind.”

“I know, but I’m fine, really.”

“Will you text me when you get home?”

“Yes.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

She let me go. “Be safe.”

“I will,” I said, and walked numbly out of her office.

When I got to the parking garage, they were towing my car.

“What are you doing?!” I yelled.

The guy hooking up the crane arm to my bumper looked over at me in alarm. Like,
Oh great, here we go.
“I got a call. Said you’re not authorized to be here.”

“I JUST GOT FIRED!”

He shrugged. “I got a call.”

My overwrought brain struggled to think. Who –

Klaus.

Of course.

He
did
love his petty little torments.

Still, this was low, even for him. He must have called security as soon as he shut his office door.

“Please,” I begged the towing guy, “can’t you give me a break?  Just let me have the car? I’ll go right now, I promise – ”

“Not worth my job, kid,” he said, and got into his truck and shut the door on me.

I watched as he pulled my little beat-up Honda after him, down the parking ramp and out of sight.

I
wanted
to hate Klaus. I wanted to
want
to kill him, but I was just too exhausted.

It was too much.

I thought I didn’t have any tears left, but I was wrong.

I burst out crying.

I didn’t hear the rumble of the approaching car until it was too late.

It pulled up in front of me, a gorgeous, glossy Lamborghini, the same maroon color as Connor’s tie.

That was fitting, since Connor was behind the wheel.

I took one look as the car stopped in front of me, saw who was driving, then tipped my head back like
God, WHY ME?
and turned away.

His window whirred down.

“Lily, get in the car,” he said in a soft, compassionate voice.

I turned back and railed at him. “ARE YOU HAPPY? You got me fired – THANKS! Is this how you get what you want? When somebody tells you ‘no,’ you destroy everything they have, and when they’ve got nothing left, then you come back and get your way? Is that how it works in your world?”

He looked pained. He slowly opened his door and got out – but he didn’t approach me. The way I retreated from him probably convinced him that wasn’t a wise move.

“I didn’t want to get you fired, and I’m sorry it happened.”

“Oh, yeah? Gee,
thanks.
”

“Lily… I have something I have to say, and I want you to hear me out.”

I glared at him, tears running down my cheeks. When he didn’t say anything, I jutted my head forward like,
WELL?

“I handled last night worse than anything else in my entire life. I know I botched it –
bad
– but I want you to give me another chance. I care about you. A lot. I want you to get in the car and go with me. It’s entirely up to you… but whatever you decide, I already deposited $50,000 in your bank account.”

I stared at him. The cardboard filing box almost slipped out of my fingers.

“It’s a gift. Even if you never want to see me again, I hate to see you wasting your life and your talents here,” he said, and gestured distastefully at the building. “I’m giving it to you, no strings attached, so you can go do what you want. So you can go find out what you do best. So you can go figure out where you belong in the world. I know you don’t want my money – you already told me that – so if you won’t keep it, then donate it somewhere. Give it to orphans, or the Red Cross, or whatever. Do whatever you want with it. But just remember that it’s a
gift,
nothing more than that. No strings attached.”

He stared at me earnestly, his blue eyes never more beautiful than that moment.

“If you never want to see me again, I’ll understand that, too. I’ll leave, and I’ll never bother you again. But I want you to come with me. I
want
you, Lily… and I want you to come with me because
you
want to. If you get in the car with me now, it’s because that’s what
you
want. You’re free to do whatever – get in, walk away, go live your life, whatever you decide. But just know… just know that I want you to get in and go with me. More than I’ve ever wanted anything. Because I want
you
, Lily… more than anything I’ve ever wanted before.”

I stood there, tears streaming down my cheeks, with my heart breaking all over again.

“Get in the car, Lily,” he whispered. “Please.”

I trembled slightly and tried to imagine what might lay ahead if I did.

I couldn’t think straight.

But I could still feel.

I looked at him, deep into his eyes…

…and I knew what I wanted.

I crossed silently in front of the car, opened the passenger seat, and got in.

He slipped into the driver’s seat, reached over and gave my hand a squeeze, and smiled.

I was too tired to do anything but lean my head back against the leather seat. “Where are we going?”

He grinned as he pulled a pair of sunglasses down from his visor and put them on.

“Vegas, baby. Vegas.”

Then he leaned over… brushed a tear from my cheek and kissed me softly on the lips... eased back into the driver’s seat…

…and we were off.

Thank you so much for continuing on this journey with Lily and Connor. I hope you’re enjoying it!

I have a few things I wanted to say, but it’s probably going to sound like an Oscar speech, so prepare yourself.

Thanks so much to everyone who’s written in to me (
[email protected]
). I appreciate all your kind words. Even if it’s just to say, "Email me when the next one’s out," knowing that readers are looking forward to the next installment really keeps me going! Drop me a line anytime - I love hearing from you guys!

Likewise, thank you so much to everyone who has left a review on Amazon. They really do help sell books, and I can use all the help I can get, so thank you. If you don’t mind, could you leave one for this book, too?

Even more than that, thank you so much to those of you who have told your friends, Facebook groups, and fellow readers about this series. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. Being an indie writer feels like climbing a mountain sometimes... and knowing that I have people along the way who are stretching out their hands to help me up... it’s making me mist up as I think about it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Lastly, a final thanks to Sandi, Lily (not the Lily in this book, but a real-life one!), Shanon, Susan, and Krystal, for your help and your very valuable opinions. Thanks for talking me down off a ledge!

Okay, cue the orchestra to cut me off.

I’m going to
try
to have the next episode out in May 2013. Don’t hold me to that, but I’m going to try as hard as I can. I’ve already got some of the story in mind... and a couple of very hot sex scenes planned. (Yum!)

If you want to be notified when the next story is out, just drop me a line at
[email protected]
. And if you’re already on the list, drop me a line just to chat!