Love.com (34 page)

“No, I wasn’t. I won’t lie to you,”
Ian admitted and looked sad “I tried to forget you, Emily. I realized after a year; I cared for you. It was the reason I accepted Evan’s offer. The only reason. I don’t want there to be anymore secrets between us.”

“You will remove th
ose bugs as soon as we get back to my house,” she said tightly despite her excitement at his disclosure that he felt the same for her. “That’s a little creepy, Ian.”

“
While we’re both confessing,” Ian said with a sly smile. “You were the one who sent me all those sexy pictures that night; weren’t you?”

“Yeah,
I did. What else did you hear, besides me talking in my sleep and saying your name over three thousand times?”

“I think I know you better than you do, Emily Jones.”

“What do you know?” Emily was caught in the trance of his velvety blue gaze.

“I know you love to sleep in when it rains,”
Ian began and his gaze never wavered from hers. “I know you had a rough childhood. I know you have issues with your dad and your mom. I know your husband wasn’t good to you. I know how lonely you were, how badly you wanted to be loved. I know how you felt about me. I know how many times you roll over in your sleep before your alarm goes off. I think I used to close my eyes and pretend I was with you while you were—”

“Enough!” Emily
cut him off, too embarrassed for him to continue. He’d heard it all obviously, exposing her in a way she would have never allowed herself to be. “I get it.”

“Do you really?” Ian folded his arms across his chest, glancing past her to the bank doors as the teller inside was unlocking them. “Do you have any idea how incredible you are, Emily?”

She couldn’t meet his eyes, too vulnerable to let him see how his words affected her. “You got all that from listening to me rant in my sleep?”

“I think I already knew it. I
just had to be sure.”

“And are you sure?”

“You can never know. Aren’t you the one who told me life is all about taking risks, taking chances, and having hope?”

“Do you ever forget anything somebody says
to you?” Emily felt uncomfortable to know he recalled everything they had ever talked about, as though he’d hung onto those moments too.

“Not when I want to remember. I think I’ve memorized every discussion we ever had just to listen to it again in my head later.”

Emily looked away, unable to bear the look of admiration in his eyes. How long had she dreamed of seeing it there, reflected in his blue eyes? Now that it was a reality, she was overwhelmed. Her gaze fastened on a woman getting out of a car in the lot just then. She sat up quickly in her seat.

“She’s here! That’s her!”

“Where?” Ian sat forward and scanned the busy lot.

“There!” Emily
pointed and stared at the woman making her way to the bank’s front doors, her dark hair in a ponytail, sporting a ball cap and sunglasses. “It’s her.”

Ian frowned and held his pistol in his lap, gazing at the woman speculatively. “Do we wait until she comes out or get her now?”

Emily glared at him. “We wait for the cops! Are you nuts?”

“I have three million reasons to get out of this car, Emily.” Ian gazed at her with a shake of his head. “I don’t see the detective yet.”

“Just give it a few minutes while she’s inside.”

“I’m going to wait outside the doors,” he told her as he opened the car door. “You just relax and don’t panic.”

“Ian! She has a gun! If what you say is true; she won’t hesitate to shoot you! Can you just stop being a superhero for a minute and wait for help to come?”

Ian grinned at her words. “You’re worried about me? Aw, that’s sweet Emily.”

“Quit being an asshole! She’s armed too! Do you really want to take the chance on somebody getting hurt?”

Ian cocked his pistol. “Hopefully
, it won’t come to that.”

Emily felt panic as Ian didn’t wait for her reply and got out of the Porsche. She watched Ian walk to the front of the bank, the pistol hidden in the waistband of his trousers, obscured by his suit jacket. She debated following him for an interminable length of time, her eyes glued to the front doors of the bank. Tabitha had been inside less than t
wenty minutes. Without second-guessing her actions; she got out of the car, determined to keep Ian from confronting the desperate girl alone.

It all happened too fast.
The doors opened. Tabitha walked out, her head down, carrying a heavy, dark duffel bag. She saw Ian first. Emily didn’t know what possessed her, but she ran headlong, her eyes never leaving Tabitha as she reached into the pocket of her coat. She heard Ian yelling at her but she didn’t stop, barreling into Tabitha before she could retract her hand, sending them both tumbling into the shrubbery on the walkway.

Emily was wrestling with the woman when she felt hands grab her from behind
. Ian jerked her off of Tabitha. She grunted, struggling in Ian’s arms as he shoved her off the woman. She gasped to see the woman she downed struggling to rise. Her sunglasses were askew, her dark eyes filled with anger.

“Hold it right there,
Stephanie,” Ian warned as he withdrew his gun and held it trained on her. “Give Emily the bag and don’t do anything stupid.”

Bank customers were running in every direction when they saw the gun. The alarm inside the bank went off
. The doors locked immediately from the inside. Customers inside watched them from the glass windows.

“I don’t think so, Ian,”
Stephanie said harshly as she scooted backward and rose, clutching the bag in one hand, a 38. Revolver in the other. Her face was flushed and filled with anger. “Consider this severance, asshole!”

“You’re not going to get away,
Stephanie,” Ian told her as he pushed Emily away from him, his eyes never leaving the woman in the shrubs, backing away from her on the walk. “Drop the bag and kick it over to Emily. The police are on the way.”

Stephanie
laughed scornfully as she backed away, the gun trained on them both. She shook her head. “No, I don’t think I’m going to jail today. I earned this! If not for you, I’d be married to Evan right now, running my own damn company!”

“Drop the bag!” Ian pursued her, his blue eyes narrowed.

Stephanie glared at him, her hand shaking as she held the gun pointed at him. “You shouldn’t have followed me that day. You should have minded your own damn business!”

Ian never took his eyes from the woman. “Emily, go back to the car! Do it now!”

Stephanie laughed and her lips twisted into a feral smile. “You should have stayed in the car, Emily. I’m not real happy with you either.”

“This isn’t the answer, Stephanie!” Emily trembled as that gun shifted to her now. “You don’t have to do this!”

Stephanie shook her head, her dark eyes filled with hatred. “Because of you, everyone knows who I am. I should have killed you that night I followed you in the parking garage.”

Emily’s eyes widened to know
Stephanie was indeed following her that night. She thought she imagined she was being pursued. Fear filled her to know Ian was correct in his assumption she was in danger.

“You can’t get away with this!”

“I can and I will,” Stephanie said harshly and hitched up the bag. “He might shoot me, but I will make damn sure you don’t run my father’s company, bitch!”

“Drop the gun,
Stephanie,” Ian growled, furious to know she pointed the gun directly at Emily. “You’re only making it worse for yourself.”

“What do you know about it?” She glared at them both, never taking the gun off Emily. “Do you know what it’s like to have your whole life be a
total lie? Do you know what it’s like to watch somebody else living your life? This is payback!”

“Take it up with your father’s family,” Ian shot back. “This has nothing to do with Emily!”

“I did! I approached my father’s attorneys after he died. They claimed he had no knowledge of my existence! A lie! I even wrote to that useless half-sister of mine. She refused to acknowledge me! Then, Evan turns around and hands my inheritance over to her!”

Emily watched in mounting horror as Ian and
Stephanie squared off, neither backing down. She could sense the woman wasn’t about to give up, even knowing the police were coming. Where were they? Thoughts of Ian being shot made Emily grow cold all over.

“
What about the checks you stole in Florida?” He smiled mockingly as he stalled for time. “What did those old folks owe you, Stephanie? Seems to me; you feel entitled to more than your share.”

    “I did what I had to do,” Stephanie asserted without blinking an eyelash at his words. “You think lawsuits are cheap, asswipe? They weren’t ever leaving that nursing home alive. They didn’t need that money! I almost had enough saved to make my claim when one of the old women’s daughter found out the money was missing and went to the director.”

“Is that when you poisoned
the real Tabitha Meyer and the two others you were stealing from?”

“
Try proving it,” the girl said and laughed harshly. “They were old and weak! One foot from the grave! You can’t prove anything!”

“They dug those old women up not long ago,
Stephanie,” Ian informed her with a tight smile. “They should have the test results back anytime. Are you so sure you got away with it?”

Stephanie
was distracted for a breadth of a second, alarm filling her eyes. Emily could see the news she was soon to be exposed for that crime was not known to her. Emily groaned inwardly to know it made Stephanie more determined to get away, more desperate now. The girl’s hand shook as she held the gun, her eyes growing wild.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,”
Stephanie said as she backed away further. “I’ll be living on your dime by then, asshole! Don’t try to stop me! I swear I’ll shoot her!”

“Drop the gun,
Stephanie,” Ian began saying, never taking his eyes from her pale features. “You won’t get away this time.”

Stephanie
stared at Emily and her smile grew wider. “I should tell you the truth before I kill you, Emily. He played you from the beginning. Did you know that?”

“Shut up! She’s lying, Emily!”

“Really? Why don’t you tell her why you picked her to run the campaign, Ian? You knew she was this sad, pathetic basket case you could work like a puppet. Evan told you she needed incentive to perform at her best, didn’t he? Ian used you, Emily. He knew you had this sick crush on him. He played you. Just to give his bosses what they wanted. Am I lying? He used to laugh about how you followed him around like a love-sick puppy. He never gave a damn about you! He just wanted his bonus! He got it before he left. Did he tell you that too? He only resigned from Ambidor to make sure they didn’t screw him out of it! He had it guaranteed in his contract, you little idiot! He wouldn’t have gotten it if they fired him!”

“You
r turning me in for violation of my contract was the reason I resigned,” Ian said tightly.

“Really? Maybe you should tell her what really happened in the copy room
that day, Ian? It wasn’t the first time, was it?”

Emily was stunned, unable to believe what she was hearing.

“Don’t listen to her, Emily. She’s just some grasping little liar who got caught at her own game.”

Stephanie
chuckled and shook her head. “Ian, you really should learn to be more honest with women. I’m hurt. I did think we had this incredible connection too. Why don’t you tell Emily how many times we did it on my desk after hours? Why don’t you tell her how many times you came to my apartment?”

“Emily,
don’t listen to her.”

“Why don’t you tell her the truth, Ian? She deserves to know how you really are. You wanted your bonus
all along; not her! You were only being nice to her to make sure she got you what you wanted!”

Emily
blanched to hear Stephanie’s scathing words; feeling devastated to know Ian was only motivated to befriend her because of his bonus for the campaign. Desolation filled her to know he used her. He manipulated her into using his own artwork, making her do back flips to get it approved. He even went as far as to sleep with her to get the job done. 

“She’s lying, Emily,” Ian said, never taking his eyes off
Stephanie. “It’s true I was promised a bonus to deliver the ad, but it had nothing to do with what happened between us.”

“Nice try, Ian. But I don’t think she buys it.
Tell her how you were fucking me from the first week you got here! Tell her!”

“
Nothing happened between us. I discovered what you planned for Evan and confronted you, Stephanie,” Ian reminded her. “You decided to get even by trying to get me fired.”

“He really is some piece of work, Emily. Evan thought he was such a good friend to him
back then. He even asked him to keep an eye on me. And all along he was the one banging me. Funny, isn’t it?”

“I
think Emily knows me better than that, Stephanie. You would say anything to make yourself look better right now.”