Page 30 of Love Under the Microscope
“They’re busy.” I stare down my nose. “Unlike you.”
“Oh, you have no idea how busy I am these days.” He chuckles, but the sound is more menacing than humorous. “I bet your bosses are at the office trying to save Orchid from imploding.”
My heart pounds in my chest, and I need a minute to catch my breath. Jack’s arm goes around me, and he pulls me close to him. The sense of security I get from being next to him makes me lift my chin.
I keep my smile in place even if it wants to disappear. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Orchid will launch as expected.”
Nigel laughs. “If you say so.”
“I do,” I say a beat later.
“We’ll see.” The underlying threat in those two words tells me I’m right about Nigel being the source who wants to ruin Zentello. But I don’t know why he claims someone stole the formula.
“We will.” Time to double down to let him know I’m serious.
“Just watch yourself, Zelda,” Nigel says. “I hope your CEOs have rock-solid proof of Orchid’s origin. I’d hate to see you lose everything due to their shady dealings and lies. It would be a shame if you had to move into a single-wide with a meth-head for a neighbor, but I suppose that would be familiar, given your childhood.”
I laugh hollowly. God, what the hell had I seen in this douchebag? But telling me I need to have rock-solid proof is a veiled threat. I wish I could ignore it, but he’s got something. The question is what?
And fuck him. I did grow up in a trailer park, but ours was nothing like what he’s talking about or what they show on TV. “And no matter what happens, I’ll be fine.”
He smirks. “Just remember possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
He couldn’t mean he has the formula, could he? I lived with him, so paperwork, including research materials, was at his house at one time or another. But I packed up all that stuff when I moved out. I was careful to make sure I didn’t leave anything, unless…
He stole something from me.
My blood runs cold. It wouldn’t be the first time, and given how that situation turned out, terror creeps up my throat.
I need to get away from him. Now.
My insides tremble, but I try to keep my features steady. “If you don’t mind, Jack and I have people to see, champagne to drink, and more kisses to share. You know the drill.”
“If you’ll excuse us.” Jack’s hand slips to my lower back, and he leads us away from the asshole.
“We could talk, Zelda. Just the two of us,” Nigel calls after us. “Come to some agreement about…things.”
By things, I assume he means Orchid and his vendetta against Zentello. I stop. The last thing I want to do is look at him, but I am representing the company, and I shouldn’t ignore him here in public, so I glance his way. “This isn’t the place.”
“It could be,” Nigel says.
For a moment, I think I almost see a glimmer of humanity in his expression, but nope. That’s just an act. He’s fooled me so many times. I don’t trust the guy, but then again, I don’t trust anybody.
This is why I need to determine if he has something that would hurt Zentello. And if it’s something I had in my possession… Well, that’ll make this much worse. I can hear Nate saying, “I told you so.” He wouldn’t be wrong.
I flip my hair over my shoulder. “You know how to reach me.”
Nigel is blocked on my cell phone, but he knows where I work and my professional email address. I face forward, aware of Jack next to me, and I lean into him. “Okay, honey. Let’s go mingle.”
I imagine Nigel staring at us with his mouth gaping, and that puts a bounce in my step, but I have no desire to look to see if that’s happening. I flounce away with my eyes only on Jack, who pats my ass and leaves his hand to linger possessively.
Take that, Nigel. You asshole jerk.
Jack
Well, that went well if getting Nigel Carrington to show he’s a total asshole was the goal. The way he spoke to Zelda, his gaze sweeping down her body as if he owned her, was bad enough I had to give her ass the pat she’d been asking for. Not going to lie. She’s got a nice ass.
The only problem?
