At His Mercy (8 page)

This time, despite
the
heaviness in her chest, she had no problems getting into her car and driving home.

* * * * *

Kyler slid into the booth opposite Becker. “This is cozy.” Settling into his seat, he eyed the place, an Italian restaurant with a dark atmosphere and tables covered in floor
-
length burgundy tablecloths.
“
I half expected you to stiff me.
”

“I thought about it. But I what the hell? You were singing a song I liked. I wanted to hear the rest.”

The man was shit.
It turned Kyler’s stomach having to be even this close to
Matt Becker
.
And
God help the company if this kind of asshole was going to be VP. The missing money, which
Becker had almost pinned on him, was the half of it.

“So, I’d like to know, how are you going to cover your ass, Becker?”

Becker waved a hand at the waiter and ordered his dinner and an expensive bottle of wine, speaking perfect Italian. “I’ll manage.”

Interesting. Becker wasn’t exactly
what he’d call cultured. Nor was he Italian
. There was more to the slimeball than Kyler knew. Much more.

The waiter turned to Kyler.

Kyler shook his head.
“
Niente, grazie.
” He didn’t exactly have a stomach for
trenette alle vongole
or
fegato alla veneziana
tonight.
“If I resign on Monday, you’ll forget everything you know about the office manager.”

After a long moment and several swallows of wine, Becker smiled.
“I could be
…
convinced
…
”

The bastard was looking for more?
Fuck that.

Disgusted, Kyler stood. Leaning over the asshole, he whispered, “Two can pla
y
this game, you fucking piece of shit. You want to make an innocent woman’s life hell by dragging all her skeletons out of her closet, then I can do the same. Your closet isn’t exactly uninhabited, is it?”

Something flashed in Becker’s eyes. Fear, perhaps?

If things didn’t go his way tonight, he’d get in touch with
the
detective
again
, see if he could dig up more details about this guy. He was hiding something.

Dammit, if he’d had more time, this conversation might have gone very differently. In fact, it might not have gone at all. Instead, he might have been talking to the police right now, giving a statement.

Eyes narrowed, Becker set down his wine glass.
“How about you sit down and we talk about this?”

“Last chance.” Kyler sat, crossed his arms over his chest
. “Give me the proof
I came for
, tell me you’re going to forget you’ve ever heard or read anything about the office manager, or I’ll take what I have and go to the police.”

“If you had anything, you wouldn’t be talking to me right now. Giving up your job.”

Kyler shrugged. “Maybe I was tired of playing the sales and marketing game?”

“
I don’t buy that. So, the question I want answered is w
hy would you give up your job for the secretary? She’s nobody.”

No, that was just it. She wasn’t nobody. Not to him. But admitting that would only make things harder for her. “Yeah, she is
nobody
. Like I said, I’m not giving up anything for her. What do you care, anyway? By Monday, I’ll have my resignation handed in to the Board of Directors and
b
y Tuesday, they’ll be interviewing new applicants for my job. We both know who’s on the top of their short list for the
position
. So, what’ll it be? Vice president? Or state’s ward?”

Becker thought about what he’d said, reached into his jacket and pulled out a manila envelope.
“How do I know you won’t take this and forget about our deal?”

“Because I’m not the double-crossing shit that you are. I actually keep my promises.” He swept up the envelope, crammed it into his pocket and left the restaurant as fast as he could.

That was one conversation that left him feeling sick.
It would be a long time before he’d be able
to enjoy another Italian meal
without his stomach lurching into his throat
.
A damn long time.

When he returned home, he called Elena. She didn’t answer, so he left a short message, saying that things had gone well, and he hoped she had a good week at work.

Even though the situation had more or less been handled, h
e spent the next few days
pacing his house, feeling caged-
in and twitchy, restless. What was that bastard
Becker
trying to hide?
The
detective
was still working on some things.

Stacy called to check on him a few times. He didn’t answer, just let the voicemail pick up. She left a couple of messages, saying she was worried about him, hoped he was doing okay and letting him know that she’d heard through the rumor mill that he’d quit and Becker had been named VP. Would he please call her?

He didn’t.

Instea
d,
he spent his nights tossing and turning, thinking about a certain
pretty little
office manager.
And
he spent his days
sitting in front of his computer
,
staring at his
resumé
and
trying to decide what to do about a job.

It would be a piece of cake calling his old man and taking a job at
Pierce
Holdings.
But
Kyler
knew he’d
never be satisfied if he did that.
For one thing, h
e hated
investing
.

No, he needed to find another job on his own.
Something he could feel proud of.
If he had to, he’d
start at the bottom
, roll up his sleeves,
and sweat his way to the top
, just like he had before.
Yes, that was exactly what he’d do. In fact, maybe he’d go apply with his former employer’s biggest competitor
, AVR Manufacturing
. Wouldn’t it be convenient if they had an opening in their sales department?
Hell, he might even like a job in Quality Control.
He wasn’t above getting his hands dirty.

Finally, he had a pla
n in place, a sense of purpose.

He printed out a handful of copies of his
resumé
and hit the pavement. Only after he had found himself a new job did he let himself think about
Elena
again
.
It had been almost a month since he’d last seen her. Instead of easing
up
over time
, h
is feelings for her
had only intensified
.
He wanted to know how her brother was doing. How Becker was treating her at work. If she had anyone to shovel the snow off her car after the first big snowstorm of the season. And if she
woul
d have anyone to spend
Thanksgiving
with.
Somehow, he had to make things right. If she’d let him.

God only knew he didn’t deserve a second chance, but that was exactly what he wanted
—
the opportunity to start over.

It took him another week to
convince himself
to ask her.

Despite the fact that it was only twenty degrees outside, his hands were
damp
with sweat as he drove to her place
, a cute little bungalow in a quiet suburban neighborhood
.
Her car sat in the driveway. He hurried up the un-shoveled front walk and rang the doorbell. A blistering north wind whipped through his hair.

Finally, the door opened.

Kyler dragged in a long, deep breath. H
e knew he wouldn’t stop thinking about this woman, no matter how long
it was before he saw her again. This was it. His chance.
He would kick his own ass
if he fucked it up…again.

* * * * *

“W-well, hello Kyler,” Elena stammered, so stunned to see him, she could have been blown over if he sneezed. What was he doing here?

Standing on her front porch, h
e looked at her long and hard for a few minutes, and she felt her face flaming again, like it had th
e
night he’d blackmailed her
. “I
‘ve been thinking about what happened between us.”
He tipped his head, his expression
guarded
. “I
want to
start over again
.
I
’d like
to get to know you better.”

“I
—
I…”
Oh, God! Was he asking her on a date? He was, wa
sn’t he? She leaned against the door for support.
It had been over a month since she’d left his house.
Every night, she’d
lain
in bed, wondering how he was, what he was doing, if he ever thought about her. And every morning
—
as insane as it was
—
she secretly hoped
she’
d see him again. T
hey lived on opposite sides
of
town. An accidental meeting
was about as likely as being struck by lightning or winning the lottery, but in some ways she’d always been a hopeless romantic.
She’d looked for him everywhere
—
gas station, party store, delicatessen.

E
ven this hopeless romantic hadn’t imagined he would come to her house and ask her out.

“Oh hell.” He shook his head and
back
ed away from the door.
“
This was a bad idea
.
” He started to turn around.

Stop him! “N-no.” She lurched forward and grabbed the first piece of his anatomy that came into reach, his elbow. Awkwardly, she gave it a tug. “Sorry. I was just caught by surprise. I mean, it’s been a long time, and I didn’t hear from you.
I thought…
”

“
Let me take you out tomorrow.
On a real date.”

“Tomorrow? Sunday?”

“Sure.
I f
eel like such a shit for how I treated you. That’s not me
.”

She hesitated, not sure if she wanted to believe what was happening.
This was what she’d hoped for
.
But could she really trust him?
“
Okay, sure
.
One
date. But that’s all I’m agreeing to for now.
”

For just the briefest of moments,
that thick veneer he’d been wearing since she’d opened the door cracked and a flurry of emotions played over his features
. “Hang on to your hat, sweetheart. Tomorrow, you’re in for the night of your life.
I’m taking you on the date of your dreams.
”
He left her with a twinkle in his eye and a promise that she wouldn’t be sorry for giving him another chance. “By the way, what size dress do you wear?” he asked, just before
strolling
back to his car.

She couldn’t wait to see what he had planned.

* * * * *

Kyler put his car into park, cut off the engine and fisted his keys. He’d known that sooner or later he’d have to have a heart-to-heart with Stacy. He’d avoided it for too long. After all, he didn’t really have a solid reason for giving her the silent treatment. S
ure, s
he’d given him some false information,
back during that thing with Becker.
B
ut
despite paying the detective good money,
he
had never discovered anything proving it was
intentional. If anything, he figured she’d been used by Becker.
Who knew what that bastard had been thinking?

The
bottom line was the
y’d been f
riends for too long to hold
a misjudgment
against her.
She might have believed the wrong person
’s lies
, but
s
he
had been,
after all, trying to protect him.
He headed up her front walk to her porch
steps
, eyeballing the car in the driveway
,
which
,
coincidentally,
loo
ked a lot like the
Lincoln
his former employer had leased for him
.