Overcoming Fear (Growing Pains #2) (49 page)

“No, you won’t resort to blackmail because
you aren’t an evil person. But even if I did know, which I don’t, I
wouldn’t share. Whatever he does in his spare time is his
business.”

Marcus opened his mouth for rebuttal when
Kate and Jasmine stormed in and slammed the door.

“What the fuck happened to Sean, Krista?!”
Kate asked with wide eyes.

Ben hustled in next, opening the door with a
scared rabbit face. Krista looked at him harshly, wondering how
much he told. He shook his head quickly and then honed in on
Marcus.

“Marcus, there you are—I had a couple
questions about your art mock ups.” Ben’s voice was calm, but she
could tell he was trying to be distracting.

Marcus held up his hand to Ben, looking at
Kate. “Ben, not now. There is a crisis at hand.”

“Ben knows!” Jasmine said, rounding on
him.

Ben’s face went white. Jasmine nodded and
turned back to Krista as Marcus’s eyes got greedy.

“You guys, stop,” Krista said, standing up
and putting up her hands. “Look. Yes, Sean and I reconciled and are
seeing each other. Okay? That is the gossip fit to print. As far as
why he is all banged up, that has nothing to do with any of you so
leave him be. He’s had enough people talking about him.”

Jasmine gasped as Marcus said, “Oh
honey
.”

It took Krista another beat to realize they
were all looking at her neck. She fingered her scarf and realized
that in her haste to calm everyone down, her scarf slipped down her
neck.

“What happened?” Kate asked with a trembling
voice.

“Sean and I like it rough,” Krista said as
she sat down with a
plop
.

“If this was a domestic violence issue, I
would high five you because you obviously beat the living crap out
of him,” Marcus said, trying for humor and failing. He sat down,
the essence of diva dried up.

“He came back, didn’t he? It was him,” Kate
whispered.

Tears were in Krista’s eyes before she could
even think to start blinking. She was desperately thinking of
something to say, some way to get out of this, but came up with
nothing. The room was deathly still as everyone looked at her.

Jasmine was the first to snap out of it. She
rounded the desk, picked up the phone, and said to the responder,
“Get in here.” Without a goodbye she put the phone down and took
the seat next to Marcus.

“I told you he would come after you, Kris,”
Kate said, leaning against the wall. She looked more defeated then
Krista felt.

“Look,” Krista said, grappling for control.
“I…”

Sean walked in the door, his body taut and
face blank. “What’s going on?” he asked tersely. He was met with
silence. No one wanted to meet his eyes. Not even Krista.

“They were wondering what happened to you,”
Ben explained quietly. “They didn’t believe that Krista didn’t
know. She was trying to cover when they saw her neck. That is about
where we are.”

Sean leaned against the door, all ease and
grace. He was in complete control. Krista looked up to find his
eyes on her, full support, but also unspeakable sadness. He was
silently asking how much to tell.

“An ex-boyfriend came into town and Sean
defended my honor,” she uttered into the silence, tears streaming
down her face.

“How did he find you?” Kate gushed, leaning
against Jasmine’s chair. It looked like she was having a hard time
supporting herself.

“He said phone and internet. I don’t have a
land line, and I don’t know where my address is listed on the
internet, but that’s what he said.” Krista leaned back in her chair
and closed her eyes.

“This was Jim?” Jasmine asked, silently
conveying something to Kate.

“Yeah,” Krista answered as Ben nodded.

“What did he want? I thought you broke up? I
thought you had a restraining order against him?” Jasmine
continued.

“We did. I do. He was planning on taking me
back to Seattle with him. By force. Sean got in the way then Ben
called the cops.”

“So…he’s in jail?” Kate asked.

“Far as I know, yeah,” Krista replied.

“Kris…” Kate hesitated.

“You have to leave again, Krista,” Jasmine
said into the din. “As soon as he’s out he’ll come back for you.
Next time he might just kill you. You think he’s happy Sean got in
his way? I knew that guy, too. He’s crazy. He’ll kill you both if
he can.”

Krista looked up at Sean silently. Sean was
still looking at her with sadness. He nodded once. She felt renewed
tears streaming down her face.

“Now you know,” Sean said to the crowd. “And
if this gets beyond this room,
anywhere
beyond this room, I
will take each and every one of you down. Marcus, this goes double
for you. You think you have a job with Tory? I will end it. I have
the power to do so.” Sean was serious, and it showed. If anyone
doubted he could do what he said, they were fools.

Marcus put up his hands and shook his head.
“This goes beyond my expertise. I’ve never gossiped about you
two—
not because of threats
—and I don’t intend to start now.
Too serious for office gossip, anyway. Too sad.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

“But he must have been big for our Captain
to look like he does,” Marcus said with a sly smile.

“
Christ
—does every guy like
fighting?” Jasmine asked, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t,” Ben said quickly,

Sean shrugged then smirked. He couldn’t hide
the glimmer of excitement.

“He
was
big, though,” Ben
articulated. “Really big. Scared the bejesus out of me. I don’t
mind admitting it. He had to be tasered twice! Didn’t think Sean
stood a chance.”

“He had to be tasered
twice
?” Marcus
whispered with wide eyes. “How big was he?” He had adopted a boyish
grin. He sat forward on his chair and turned around to give Sean
and Ben his full attention.

“All right you guys, let’s break for lunch.
Krista, can I talk to you for a minute?” Sean asked, stepping
toward her. Her tears were still streaming down her face.

Everyone shuffled out, Marcus asking Ben,
“Seriously, how
big?”
as Sean closed the door.

Sean took a seat.

“I wouldn’t have told them, Krista,” he said
tenderly. “I said it was a surfing accident.”

“I know.”

Sean nodded. The space between them, a mere
five feet of desk, felt like a chasm. Krista longed for the comfort
of his body. He longed to give it. They were at work, though. That
kind of behavior was impossible.

“When do you meet with Tory?” he asked.

“I don’t have anything set up.”

“You have an email. Tory wants you badly. I
would like to go over how to handle him.”

“Why me? Ben is smarter. As is Marcus.”

Sean smiled, “No, not smarter. They are each
smart in their fields. As are you. Ben and you both cross field
lines to bring it all together. You, however, are the package. You
are thorough, you are social…”

Krista scoffed.

“—you are loyal, and you can sell your
material. You are the package.”

“How do you know I have an email?” Krista
deferred.

“Marcus isn’t the only one with
connections.” Sean smiled at her—it wasn’t a business smile.

“Is Marcus definitely going, then?”

“Everything is all but signed.”

“What about Judy?”

“He doesn’t want the whole team, Krista. He
wants the stars of the team. Marcus is an obvious pick. He has a
lot more to him that this company can harness. A.
Lot.
Ben…
well, Ben is a genius, no two ways about it. Then there is you. You
bring ‘em all together.”

“No, Sean.
You
bring us all
together.”

“Well. I am not as cheap as the rest of
you,” Sean let the corners of his mouth slide up to let her know it
was a joke. “But that is a separate issue.”

It sounded like Tory might be trying to get
Sean as well. It was obvious by the way Sean was acting, though,
that he didn’t want to discuss it. Maybe he didn’t want to jinx
it.

They spent the next hour going over ways for
Krista to sell herself. Sean said a common problem with women in
general is that they sold themselves short. They didn’t have the
giant egos their male counterparts had. Whereas a man would demand
20% more than he was worth, a woman might ask for what she was
worth, then settle for 10% less. They were more realistic,
apparently. Which was bad news when it came to getting their worth
in negotiations.

Krista agreed. And took notes.

Chapter Thirty-Four

It was Friday and she had a date with Tory
that evening in an extremely expensive restaurant. Sean said Tory
planned to spend a fortune on dinner to impress her. Sean also
said, with large, solemn eyes, to sell herself high and get what
she needed. He knew she told John to politely shove it with the
second offer, which hadn’t been much more than the first and had
come with more negative feedback.

She arrived to the restaurant early with the
intent to have a drink at the bar to calm her nerves. She was
surprised to find Tory already there, at the bar, drink in front of
him. He was looking intently at his smartphone as she pulled up a
chair next to him.

“Hi,” Krista said as she sat down.

He looked up, caught sight of her, and
smiled. “Oh hi. I didn’t expect you for another half hour. I was
just catching up on some reading.”

“Always working, huh?”

“No, actually. I was reading a murder
mystery. It takes the edge off. As does a martini. Can I get you
something? Our table won’t be ready quite yet.”

“Yes, please. A glass of red wine.”

Tory took care of choosing the wine and they
settled into easy conversation. Krista talked a bit about Seattle
and Tory told her a story about a recent fishing trip in Mexico.
Apparently he got a big one but almost fell in.

When it was time to eat they went to their
table and discussed other odds and ends. It was amazing how easy it
was to talk to him. Too easy, maybe. The guy was way smarter than
her. He could be buttering her up, preparing her for the kill. It
was impossible to be skeptical, though—he was too cordial.

After they ordered and rounded up their
discussion on books, Tory said, “So.” It was time for business.

“So,” she stated.

He smiled. “I have been talking to
Marcus.”

“In other words, there isn’t much you don’t
already know about our company and especially our team.”

“I had no idea he was such a fountain of
information.”

“He calls his work space the Dark Hub.”

“He enjoys working with you.”

“And I him.”

Tory nodded, “What will it take to get you,
Krista? I know what Dexico’s last offer was. I don’t have reason to
believe they will go any higher.”

“No, I doubt it.”

“I am prepared to go as high as $75,000
yearly. That will be for a one-year contract with full benefits
after three months. 401K, bonus, and other perks after the
completion of the year. Plus, there is a healthy retirement package
if you turn into a lifer.”

Krista nearly choked on her wine. Dexico’s
last offer was a little above $55K. She didn’t know what to say.
She very nearly agreed right then.

Tory smiled, “You need to work on your poker
face.”

“Here’s the thing, Tory. That is a good
offer. I would snatch it up in a second, but I’m afraid I can’t.”
She took a breath. She felt stupid passing up all that money.

“Let me guess,” he said with a twinkle in
his eyes. “You don’t want to leave Sean.”

“Um, well, honestly, no, I don’t. But that’s
not why.” Tory’s brow knit. “I actually need to move.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m going to be moving out of the
area.”

“Where to?” With all that Tory did know, it
was obvious he didn’t know the insider information. No one did.

“Um, actually, I’m not sure yet. This is
kind of a recent development. I’ve had some personal issues in this
area in the last week that might come back to haunt me.”

“Please correct me if I’m wrong, but this is
a romantic issue?”

“Uh, you could say that, I guess. More a
past romantic issue.” Tory was looking slightly crestfallen. Krista
thought she might just get it out there. “We’ll just say…a
restraining order was broken and I have to take better measure to
hide myself.”

“But you don’t have anywhere in mind?”

“Actually, I do. I was thinking L.A. Close
to the beach. A proper beach. The kind of beach I thought San
Francisco had.”

Tory smiled again. “You never stop
surprising me, Krista. I find I am always in confusion around you.
Trying to get the lay of the land, so to speak, and finding my
mapping instruments outdated.”

She wasn’t quite sure how to take that so
she took a sip of wine.

“Do you know anyone in L.A?” he asked into
the silence.

“No. I just want to surf and have warm
summers. Real California.”

“Yes, I see. Well, would you consider
working out of the Los Angeles office? It would mean more
traveling, but I would throw in a relocation allowance.”

“Not to undermine myself or anything, but am
I really worth all this fuss?”

Tory smiled and stayed silent for a beat
before he said, “Sean McAdams is a rare but excellent judge of
talent. He put great stock in you. Relied on you heavily. I am also
an excellent judge of talent, but I have had a lot more experience.
I know how to wring the most out of someone, whereas Sean still
stops with a squeeze.

“You are an investment, Krista. I hope to
guide and mold you. Some see inexperience. I see opportunity. You,
unlike your more experienced counterparts, don’t have already
established bad habits. You are still ready and willing to learn.
Just so happens I am still eager and excited to teach. It is a good
match, you and I.”