Checkmate (14 page)

“Is that what you really want?”

Not exactly…

“I think this is the right thing to do,” I said after a short pause.

“So there will be only one rule to follow: to stay away from each other?”

“Yes.”

“Fine by m
e,” he said without hesitation. And for some fucking reason, it sounded so damn offensive. Why would I be offended? After all, it was my idea to stop whatever was going on between us.

“Good. I’m glad we
understand each other.”

“Scarlett?” H
e called when I was just about to leave.

“Yes?”

“If you ever want to send the damn rules to hell, call me. I’ll be all in.”

My pulse accelerated at the words.
My stupid hormones simply didn’t know how to give me a break.

Surprisingly enough, our dinner was good. My parents were happy to see me and Dominick, I doubt they would ever notice that something was wrong about the way we looked at each other. We talked and laughed and enjoyed our meals, and to my parents nothing could have possibly seemed off between the two of us; hell I wouldn’t know that there was something off between us, except I knew there was...

Until the next morning, when I was awakened by a phone call from Jill.

“Please tell me you don’t sleep with that son of a bitch anymore.”

I blinked a few times, trying to understand what she was talking about. There was only son of a bitch she could mean. “I am not,” I replied in a sleepy voice.

“Good, because he
has just got out of his ex’s bed.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, confused. As far as I remembered, D
ominick was going to leave in a few hours, but he hadn’t left already, I didn’t think.

“
Open Page Six.”

Oh, no…
“Not that again,” I groaned into the handset. “I’m seriously tired of reading about his sexcapades.”

“I’m sure you will be surprised to see the new photos.”

“Okay, I will have a look.”

“I need to hang up now, but if you need to talk, leave a message on my voice mail and I’ll call you back ASAP.”

“Fine.” I yawned and closed my eyes again, refusing to start the day that I already knew would suck.

After taking a shower, I got dressed and went downstairs hearing my mother’s voice, coming from the kitchen. “Morning, Sunshine,” she said, kissing my cheek. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, like a baby. Where’s everyone?”

“
Your father and Dominick went for a morning run,” she said, making two cups of coffee.

“
Have you seen the morning paper?”

“You know how much I h
ate papers. But if you need it, it’s in the living room.”

I took my cup, and went to read the news.

“SEX WITH THE EX?”
Was the title of the article. Under it, was a picture of Dominick and Pamela, standing at the threshold of what I supposed was her house. Both of them looked as if they had just gotten out of bed. She was wearing a short dress shirt, with her hair in a high bun, with no make-up. Her arm was wrapped around Dominick’s waist and a moment later, I realized that he was wearing the same suit I saw him wearing yesterday…

“Even though
both Mr. Popularity and his ex-girlfriend, Pamela Rolsheld refuse to comment on their relationship, they keep spending nights together. Yesterday, Dominick Altier was spotted while leaving the house that he and his ex-fiancé bought years ago. Maybe the final flame to their romance hasn’t been put out just yet?”

My friend was right after all, my guest was a real son of a bitch
.
I cursed aloud, shoving the paper into the trash can and went to pack my bags. There was no way I would spend another five hours in the house where I could see him at any second. I just wanted to go home, to New York and to my bed.

“S
carlett, where are you going?” My mom called after me.

“I’m leav
ing!” I shouted more roughly than I intended to for her. She didn’t do anything to me to deserve my attitude, but I was just so pissed off! I wanted to tear down anything that got in my way of getting back home.

“I thought you were going to stay for dinner.”

“I’ve changed my mind.”

“Is everything all right?

“Better than ever.” At least now, I didn’t feel guilty for ignoring Dominick’s bullshit about loving me. The asshole obviously didn’t have a damn clue of what the word
love
meant.

Scarlett

I didn’t
wait to see my father to say good-bye. My mom was a little surprised by my rapid departure, but I said Jillian was in trouble and needed me ASAP. Even though I said I would call her, I didn’t do that. In fact, I didn’t want to talk to anyone now. All I needed was space and a few hours of peace and quiet.

I thought that going back home would make me feel better, but as soon as I crossed the threshold of my apartment, the reality swallowed me. I leaned against the closed door, feeling predatory tears running down my cheeks.

How could he? How could he spend a night with Pamela and then come to tell me that he loved me? How could I be so stupid to fall for his charm?

I
didn’t even want to think about tomorrow. I had to go to work, even though I had no idea how to act in Dominick’s presence after what I read in the paper. Should I pretend that I didn’t see anything? Should I simply follow the newly set rules and stay away from him? Yeah, it was the best thing to do. After all, I needed him out of my life, and now I had even more reasons to want that. Why was he complicating my work life? Work was my world, my escape, how could this one man make me not want to go to work just to avoid facing him?

Monday morning started with a terrible headache. I looked at the alarm clock and cursed mentally. I didn’t have the slightest desire to get out of my bed that at that very moment, felt like the safest place in the world. Slowly, I sat up and the memories of the last night flashed in my mind.

I wasn’t g
oing to go out, or drink. But after a few hours of misery, I realized that I needed a drink. And somehow, drinking alone didn’t feel right. So I changed into a pair of dark-blue jeans combined with a bright-red top, and went to
Jaime’s
. I liked the bar. First, because it was only two blocks away from my house, and second — because it was a gay bar, which meant I didn’t have to worry about waking up in another stranger’s bed before the sun was shining the next morning.

“Margarit
a, please,” I said to the bartender.

He nodded and smiled, as if he knew something I didn’t.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, suddenly offended by his behavior.

“You k
now where you are, don’t you?” He asked, nodding around.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Women come here only when they are depressed.”

Well, shit…

“Can you read minds?” I asked, taking a sip of my drink.

“I wish I could,” the guy said
. “I could make a lot more in tips if I could.”

“You are straight, right?”

He smirked. “Is it that obvious?”

I looked at his stylish hairdo, freshly-shaved cheeks and carefully chosen shirt and pants. He obviously tried his best to fit in
to the atmosphere of the place.

“Actually, yes,” I said, chuckling. “The look in your eyes betrays you.”

“Oh, really? And what kind of a look do I have?” He asked, leaning over the bar counter.

“Measuring,” I said. “I’m one of
the few women here, and your eyes immediately found me when I entered the bar.”

He laughed quietly.
“Sorry, it was supposed to be your stay-away-from-men night, and now you think you should go somewhere else, because I couldn’t help myself and started flirting with you.”

“What’s your name?”

“Jared.” He pointed to his badge.

“Right. So, Jared, you are right: I came here to have a drink and enjoy good music. I’m sick and tired of my life, so please do me favor: pretend to be a gay, okay?”

He nodded, smiling. “Deal.”

And so, my night started. I didn’t know how many Margaritas I had, but when I came back home, I could barely stand on my feet. I didn’t even bother to wash my face, I simply
went to my bedroom and passed out the moment my head touched the pillow.

That’s why now I hated myself so much. I knew
that that many Margaritas wouldn’t do me any good and cursed the day when Jill first made me try it.

Looking at the alarm clock again, I realized that I had only half an hour to make myself look more or less presentable. I went to the bathroom and flinched seeing my reflection in the mirror.
‘Presentable’
was an unattainable goal for today. I shook my head tiredly and stepped into the shower, hoping I would live through the day without any more trouble.

Luck is a bitch
, I thought to myself, crossing the threshold of my office. My secretary wasn’t at work yet, and no one could warn me about Dominick waiting for me there.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, tossing my bag and jacket into the chair.

The asshole didn’t bother to answer my question. He was still sitting on my couch with his arms crossed, watching me intently.

“Do you have hearing problems?” I snapped, pretending to be looking through the papers, left by Stevie.

“Is this how you treat all the men you sleep with?”

“Excuse me?” I turned around, barely able to control my anger. Who the hell did he think he was to talk to me like that?

“Oh, right. I forgot that you haven’t been with a man for ages.”

My mouth opened and closed, I was too shocked to say a word.

Dominick smirked at my expression and added, “Nothing hurts like the truth, right?”

“What are all these smart-ass comments
about?”

“Well-
” He rose to his feet and came closer. “I’m here for a payback.”

That was it — the moment
I felt my blood boiling in my veins. “So you think you have a right to come here for payback?” I shouted. “Don’t you think it’s me who should be bitching?”

He frowned,
staring at me in confusion.

“Now, let me show you something,” I said, heading for the door. I went out into the hall and found yes
terday’s paper on Stevie’s desk. Then I went back into my office and slammed it against my desk, pointing at the huge picture posted on Page Six.

“See, I don’t think you deserve a
ny better treatment after lying to me, over and over again.”

“What the fuck is this?” H
e hissed, taking the paper in his hands. “Bastards!”

“What? You didn’t expect anyone to catch you leaving
your ex’s house in the morning?”

“Scarlett, you got it all wrong.”

“No shit?” I laughed sarcastically.

Dominick took a deep breath. “I can explain.”

“Explain what? The fact that you can’t keep your dick in your pants and need to fuck every woman around you?”

“I didn’t sleep with her!”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Do you ever even believe your own lies?”

“Trust me, Scarlett, this picture doesn’t mean anything. Just like the night I spent at Pamela’s!”

“Uh, so now you tell me that you spent a night at her place but didn’t sleep with her? Your explanation sucks, Dominick.”

“It was late and I-”

“You what?” I snapped, staring at him. I was seriously tired of this conversation, as well as of everything that put Dominick and me in one sentence. “Just please don’t tell me it was an accident.”

“Exactly!”

“Please, save me from this ridiculous show. You surely couldn’t just trip and accidentally fall into her vagina.”

“For crying out loud, Scarlett! How many times do I have to repeat that I didn’t sleep with Pamela?”

“No amount of words will be enough to make me believe it.” I gave him the angriest glance that I was capable of. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do.” I turned on my heel and went to sit in my chair. The conversation was over.

“Fine.”

Dominick tossed the paper into the trash can and stormed out of my office, slamming the door shut behind him. For a second I thought I felt the floor vibrating under my feet. Now, he was pissed?
Serves you right, douche
, I thought to myself and got to work.

Hours flew in a blur. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make myself concentrate on anything but the damn fact that I still wanted to see Dominick. I was so angry at him, but even more I was angry at myself for being such a love-struck idiot.

“Ms. Wilson, your father is on the line,” Stevie said through the speakerphone.

“Hey, Dad,” I greeted.

“Is everything all right, Darling? You left without saying good-bye.”

“I know, I’m sorry about that. But Jillian got into a trouble and you know her, waiting has never been her strongest quality.”

“What happened to her?”

“Um, nothing serious, she’s fine now.”

“Oh, good to know that. So how are the things between you and Dominick going? We didn’t have much time to talk about that.”

And
that
was the last thing I wanted to talk about now.

“Everything’s fine,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t
ask any more questions.

“You sure? Don’t get me wrong, Scarlett, but you two seemed a little tensed during our dinner.”
Oh, and I thought we did well. I was certain my parents wouldn’t see anything going on between us that night.

Tensed
was an understatement. Mostly I tried to ignore his gazes and meaningful smiles. But my father had always been hard to fool.

“Is he trying to boss you around?”

“What?” I almost laughed at the question. He didn’t even know how close he was to the truth. Dominick surely knew how to boss me around. Not only at work…

“I know that he can be
a little rough,” my father added, “but he’s a good man. And he promised to keep an eye on you.”

What the…

“Did you ask him to babysit me?”

“I only asked him to cheer you up a little.”

Un-fucking-believable…

“Let me tell you something,
Daddy.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm down and not to start yelling into the handset. “In Dominick Altier’s case,
cheering up
means only one thing. And I’m sure that it’s not what you want him to do with me.”

“Oh-” There was a short pause on the other end of the line. “No offense, Sunshine, but I’m sure Dominick would never do anything like that to you. Or has he already tried to-”

“No!” I said, before my father would end that question.

“
Then why don’t you give him a chance?”

Was
he being serious?

“What kind of a chance are you talking about?”

“A chance to make friends with you.”

I sighed. Okay, that was not what I thought it would be.

“Dominick and I are here to work, Dad. We don’t have to be best friends to conduct negotiations and sign contracts.”

I could hear the smile in my father’s voice when he said, “You are so young, my girl. One of a few things that you should always remember is the way you treat your business partners. You will never be able to succeed, if you work with someone who doesn’t share or support your opinion. And trust me, Darling, friendship is the best basis of a good corporation.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll remember that,” I said, already knowing that Dominick and I would be anything, but friends.

“There’s one more thing I wanted to discuss with you.”

Thank God, the lecture’s over
, I thought to myself.

“Do you remember Bradley Leighton?”

“Of
Leighton’s Advertising
?”

“Yes, that’s the
one.”

“I do. Why?” As far as I remembered, my father didn’t like the man.

“He called me yesterday and offered a very promising deal. He’s working on a promo campaign for one of the Senate candidates. He said we could collaborate to make the campaign more successful.”

“Why would he suddenly want to work with us?”

“He was quite honest with me and said that his company is in need of financial support, but he doesn’t want anyone to know about that. So we can give him what he needs and help
Leighton’s Advertising
gain their former popularity. In return, we will receive a good percentage of their current and future project’s profit.”

“Does he realize that by giving us power, he risks losing his company forever?”

“I’m sure he does. But his company is like his second baby. He can’t let anyone destroy it and he knows that we always look for new opportunities to branch out. So I promised to save his company’s name, even if the name would be the only thing still connecting his family to
Leighton’s Advertising
.”

“He must be desperate to agree to that.”

“He really is.”

“Okay, so what do you want from me?”