Page 75 of Irresistible Temptation
She sighed and leaned back in her chair. She studied her burgundy painted nails disinterestedly, like she was a cat about to go in for a surprise kill.
“I’m the one who acquired the photo,” she said, picking at a cuticle.
Clearly.
“And how did you manage that?” I asked, raising a brow, gathering any evidence I needed on my phone.
“It’s funny what you can find when you go looking, and what people are willing to give you with a little cash incentive. Security across the way was more than happy to let me look through their footage for the right amount.” She nodded toward the window behind me.
“And you somehow knew where to go looking…” I mused.
“It’s not hard when you’re foolishly putting your business out there,” she said sharply. “Flirty glances. A girl trying too hard with barely-there outfits. A late night in the office. Anyone with eyes and a brain could figure out where it was all headed.”
“Some might call that stalking…” I said.
“Some might call itsmart.” She leaned forward and placed her hands on the desk, not taking kindly to my accusation. “Which is funny because for a big-time billionaire, you clearlyaren’t.Smart, I mean. Who has sex against a window for the world to see?”
I stayed silent, ignoring her insult.
“I thought I would catch a kiss or something, but you gave me the whole show.” She laughed, clearly enjoying this. “I have copies, you know. Plenty of them. They’re all ready to send out. I thought I would start with the board…they would vote you out, CEO or not, what you did with your ‘assistant’ is insubordination.” She put her fingers in air quotes.
“While the pot was stirring here, and you slowly started to lose everything…I thought I would send the photos off to the press. They would have a field day with this. New York’s most successful bachelor caught in an office affair. You’d be ruined. Your reputation tarnished forever. Good luck starting over.” She laughed coldly, her dark red lips curled into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“And then there’s that little blonde bitch…”
I sucked in a breath. The thought of Juliet being harmed was the worst threat of any of them.
“This paired with her little livestream…no company would want to hirethat.”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, sick of hearing her plot out her plans in front of me, and that Juliet was a part of them.
She scoffed. “You reallydon’tremember me.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line, tired of this damn guessing game. I didn’t have the patience for this anymore, but I had to keep playing along. I had to figure out what Mia wanted, and I had to get her on tape when she told me.
“I can’t believe you.” She shook her head. “I used to work for you. Well, for a company you bought. Years ago. The huge tech deal that was in all the papers. Or do you not remember that either?”
Things were starting to click into place in my brain, like a puzzle of a horrible scene being locked into place. That deal had been a big one. Probably the biggest up until that point. I was overwhelmed with all the moving parts and paperwork and there had been so many employees. The first thing I had to do was downsize just to keep my head on straight. Mia must have been one of the ones I had fired when I took over.
“I fired you?” I asked.
Ignoring my question and need to get answers, she began telling a story, her eyes glazing over slightly as if recalling the memory. “We met on your first day. I had only been at that company for a few months before I became head of accounting, and then you came along. You made such a big deal about my quick rise to the top when you found out. You made me feelspecial.”
I swallowed hard, not liking where this was going. This seemed more than a simple firing.
“When our eyes met, there were sparks. I know you felt them too. From that moment, Iknewwe were going to end up together. I could feel it. You and I. We were going to take on the world together,” she said, continuing her reminiscing.
I couldn’t remember meeting her or this so-called “love at first sight” moment. I almost felt bad for her.
Almost.
“Later that day, I saw you in the lobby. Your laugh echoing as you impressed some higher-ups. The power you had was palpable. I just wanted to be around it. That’s why I slipped my number in your jacket pocket that afternoon. It was bold, I knew that. You were CEO, but I didn’t want to let go of what we had.”
“But you never called. I waited and waited.” Her voice turned cold, just like her eyes now dark and narrowed in on me.
I was dumbfounded. I had no idea what she was talking about or why she thought we would ever be together. Clearly, Mia had some infatuation with me that was unknown to me, let alone unrequited. I barely remembered that first day of taking over the company. It was so long ago, and there were so many things going on, I would hardly remember meeting someone from accounting.
But clearly, Mia remembered. Whatever had happened had been stewing in her all these years. She wasn’t right in the head, playing out some made-up romance in her head, scorned by an unrequited infatuation.
