Forbidden Love Romance by Penny Wylder
9
I manage to put Jack off in the morning, and make a note to myself to get Ellen a very, very nice gift for all the interference she’s been running for me lately. But near lunchtime, I see him storming down the hall towards my office, and I know that there’s nothing that I can do about it now. We’re having this meeting whether I want to or not.
This time Jack doesn’t explode into my office, he stalks. Which is far more dangerous. Loud Jack is able to be reasoned with and controlled. Cold, angry Jack is something that’s terrifying and that people should hope they never see. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve seen him this way, and now he’s there. I can see it.
I walk to the bar in my office and pour myself a small drink. It looks like I’m going to need one very shortly. Jack closes the door quietly and comes to stand in front of me. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“Is it true that you’ve been seeing my daughter behind my back?”
My stomach goes into freefall, and I know that my face instantly gives me away. I’m used to controlling my face—to concealing surprise—but this was the last thing I expected him to say. “What?”
He scoffs. “Did you really think you could take her to The Palace and no one there would see you and tell me?”
I had hoped. “You hate The Palace, Jack.”
“Yes, I do. It’s overpriced garbage, but other people do, and I make sure that the wait staff loves me wherever I go. You know that.”
It’s true, Jack can be one of the most charming people I know. Combine that with good tips, and you get remembered. Only one problem. “How would the wait staff of The Palace know that Cora was your daughter?”
Jack stiffens and looks down his nose at me. “Why are you changing the subject? Does it really matter how I found out? I found out.”
“What if I told you I took her out to dinner simply as a mentor.”
“Then I say that’s bullshit,” Jack explodes, his voice echoing off the walls. “You were seen not only having dinner at The Palace, but sharing multiple kisses with my daughter.”
It’s true. Something Cora did to her lips that night made them irresistible—aside from the fact that she’s an amazing kisser. I couldn’t help myself. I clear my throat, trying to see a way through this. “What are you more angry about?” I ask him. “That I kissed your daughter or that I didn’t tell you about it?”
“Both, and more, Michael. We’re in a critical juncture of our business, and you’ve been distracted. Now I realize it’s because you’ve been screwing around with Cora. I’m done with you dictating to me what we’re going to do with this company when you clearly can’t see what’s best for it.”
I knock back the half-shot of whiskey that I poured myself. “What exactly are you going to do?” I ask him. “We have equal stakes in the company, so it’s not like you can just have your way. I’m not selling.”
“Oh,” he says with a sinister laugh. “You will.”
“No, I won’t.”
Jack brushes past me and pours himself a drink. “You will because it’s your only choice. You will sign those papers tomorrow, or I’ll leak to the media that you sexually assaulted Cora. No one will ever work with you again. I’m giving you the chance to do the right thing.”
I suddenly feel nauseous. “Where is this coming from, Jack? When did it get so bad between us that you’d want this? Even though we want different things for the company, I thought you were still my friend.”
He finishes his drink in one go, even though it was a much larger drink than mine. “Let’s face it. Business partners can never be true friends. There’s too much that gets in the way. You have a day to think about what I said, and if the papers aren’t signed by noon tomorrow, I’m going to have the story of my poor, innocent daughter, the billionaire’s intern who had no choice but to submit to his demands. It’ll be on the front page of every newspaper and gossip rag in the country.”
“You would really do that? You would put Cora through hell just so that you can get your way with me?”
“If I have to.”
“Don’t do this, Jack,” I say to his retreating back. “We can still work this out, find a way to move forward with the company in a way we both want.”
“I think that’s what you’re not getting. I don’t want to.” His oily smile almost makes me vomit.
How did this happen? How did everything turn over so quickly? There are those moments when you realize how fragile everything in your life is, and this is one of them. All I did was take the woman I love on a date. One date! And now everything is in ashes.
My brain shudders to a stop. The woman I love? I thought about her as the woman I love. Holy shit, I do love her. I love her enough that I can’t let this happen. My reputation is one thing—I could disappear with the money I have and never have to see another reporter. But Cora doesn’t deserve to be branded a victim when she’s not. This would destroy her, and I can’t have that happen.
Just last night I told her that I didn’t want to sell the company, but I’ll do it for her. The fact that I’m being blackmailed makes me sick to my stomach, but there’s nothing I can do about that. Jack doesn’t bluff, and I know that probably even right now he’s having Liz gather the phone numbers of the most prominent journalists in Houston and possibly the national news organizations. He’ll be ready to follow through if I don’t do what he asks. Rock, hard place. Anger spikes through me, hot and violent. This isn’t what is supposed to happen. I’ve worked hard, harder than I ever thought possible on this company. My company. Jack’s company. Our company. I didn’t devote this much of my life to just let it go. I hear the snapping sound from my fist connecting with the wall before I even register that I’ve done it, or the pain that comes swiftly afterward.
I sigh, and pour myself another drink, and then I use it to ice my knuckles.
This morning when I came into the office, I was feeling so optimistic about working out a path for the company, and now there’s nothing. I have to find a way to try to get out of it, and I know that I’ll spend the entire day trying. But the dread in my stomach tells me what I so desperately don’t want to know—there is no way out of this.
