Bound: The Pentagon Group, Book 3 (2 page)

In an instant, Eric stood beside me. He knelt down and wiped my tears with a cocktail napkin. He held the water bottle up to my mouth, and gently poured. I took deep drags of the cool liquid, and lifted my chin to stop him from pouring. A small stream of water still managed to run down my bottom lip. Eric stood up, shielding me from Aida’s view. With his thumb, he slowly glided it across my lip and chin to absorb the moisture. I pulled away, grimacing from his intimate touch.

Eric dabbed at the wet spot on my blouse, pressing against my cleavage. I recoiled into the seatback, and he pulled his hand away. He didn’t apologize for overstepping his bounds. I didn’t want any man touching me or consoling me other than my husband. And I had a special place in my heart for both Carson and Turner, who protected me every step of the way. Those were the only three men who I would let in my personal space.

My heart ached for Matt. I needed to get word to him. At the very least say my ‘goodbye’ and tell him how much I loved him. I needed to express my forgiveness for his part in the conspiracy, which set off these wild events. We didn’t get enough time together, and my mouth watered at the thought of Matt. Chances were I would never get to live happily ever after with my one true love.

When Eric went to give me more water, I shook my head ‘no’, and he walked away. “It’s so easy for you to get men to fall at your feet, isn’t it?” Aida declared, watching Eric, who cleared his throat. They held each other’s gaze, clearly having a fling. She looked at him with desire. If there were such a relationship between them, it meant Aida remained in New England after she feigned her death.

“Aida, you know Ben is the only boyfriend I’ve ever had. I’ve never had a man fall at my feet. If they fall now, it’s only because I’m not interested. A man’s natural instinct is to go after a challenge.” She smirked and continued to stare at Eric, raising her eyebrow as if to emphasize my declaration.

While she watched him, she bit her bottom lip. Her body looked pliable as she slowly adjusted in her seat and crossed her legs seductively. He may have watched her too. I chose not to turn to him for fear she’d think I flirted with her man. My woman’s intuition warned me Aida had staked a claim on Eric Pierce.

The pilots announced we were cruising at the desired altitude and would arrive at our destination within three hours. I didn’t think I could stand to be in the plane with her for another three hours. I’d rather she strangle me until my last breath expelled from my lungs and my eyes popped out of my sockets.

“Care to tell me where we’re going? It seems you’ve instructed the pilots to keep our destination quiet.”

“Let me put it this way, sometimes paradise can be heaven, but for you it will be hell. It’s hot as Hades there.”

If I weren’t so determined to decipher her clues, I would’ve shivered from fear. After attending a prominent private college in New Hampshire, she’d always shown off her intellect. It didn’t take a genius to deduce we were going someplace warm, tropical even. The Caribbean, perhaps, but the questions remaining were ‘where’ and ‘why’.

“Sounds heavenly, and I didn’t pack my bathing suit.”

Aida sat stoically.

“I have one question, Aida. Will you enlighten me as to why I’m being taken to hell? We have three hours, and I’m sure you can fill up the time with all the reasons why I deserve to be tortured in paradise.”

“You’ll find out the precise moment when I ‘execute’ my plan,” she replied. I couldn’t help but focus on her emphasis of ‘execute’.

Aida didn’t kidnap me to frolic on the beaches of the Caribbean. I expected to be executed and my remains left where they couldn’t be found. The absurdity caused me to giggle, and the giggling turned to laughter. The laughter became a maniacal cackle. All the while, Aida watched me in horror as the insanity started to invade my mind.

In less than five months, I had experienced more upheaval to last me a lifetime, potentially ending tragically. The tears broke through, and my plan to remain stoic unraveled before me. If my hands were free, I would have buried my face and screamed into my palms. I crossed my legs to feel some pressure on me; a touch of self-comfort. I lifted my heavy booted legs to the edge of the captain’s seat and brought my legs as close to my chest as I could. I sheltered myself from the loathsome woman by hanging my head down. In between a loud sob, I heard a click behind me, and Aida yelled out “no”. The next click let me know Eric followed orders like a good lackey.

I continued to cry, feeling the overwhelming sadness seep away with my tears. The silent prayer became a comfort while my jagged cries dwindled to sniffling my leaking nose. I tried to wipe my face and nose with my upper arms, but the unabsorbent blouse left me a mess of tears and snot. All thoughts of Matt, my father, sisters, and my dearest friends slipped away.

I thought of meeting my mother again. I smiled with thoughts of being with her again, and to my surprise, a calm washed over me.

*****

Time passed in silence with only human sounds of coughing and light breathing filled the cabin. I didn’t care to learn any more of her plans. Just when I hoped we would remain in oppressive silence, she started to speak.

“I wasn’t going to destroy my parent’s company, you know.” She stated emphatically. “My father wouldn’t listen to my suggestions for expanding the corporation. I had goals for it. I was going to make it the best construction company in Boston. But I got frustrated with him deferring to Benny, as if Benny was the only one capable of making business decisions. When I learned Brady Clay had an interest in the corporation, I wanted to jump at the chance to sell. We still would have kept our positions. It was a blessing to take the business to the next level. When I proposed it to my father, he refused to entertain the idea. He said it was our company and would always be our company, unless we went bankrupt,” she said. I sat still, listening intently.

“And when Brady sniffed around for inside information on our business plans because he heard of the initial public offering of company shares, I decided to entertain his interests. He also took an interest in me. I was beyond flattered. I was smitten with him. He’s the full package,” she said wistfully. “When he gave a ton of business advice, I eagerly applied his suggestions. When he offered to buy the corporation, I went back to my dad and he said ‘no’ again. I decided to take matters into my own hands and squirreled the money away. I actually kept three books; the real one where large quantities were removed from accounts, the fake one which you were managing, and a third which held the money I siphoned. Papito wanted bankruptcy first, I gave it to him.” Aida shrugged as if it were of no consequence.

“When I saw how he reacted to your news of the memo, I couldn’t take the blame. He was already disappointed in me,” she stated.

Aida had the wrong idea about her father. He was proud of her, finding her a tough and aggressive business woman, but she pushed too hard too quickly. Mr. Parisi was turned off by her overzealousness.

“You were an easy fall-gal. You had access to accounts and numbers. It was easy to get Ben to believe you were responsible. He must have had a really low opinion of you to believe me,” she said.

My heart sunk to the pit of my stomach. I had to agree with her assessment. My ex-husband believed I would steal an obscene amount of money from the company. Aida jackhammered through the cracks in our foundation, easily destroying the structure of our marriage.

“Did Brady suggest you make me the fall-gal?” I asked.

“He certainly offered a lot of information. Either way, I had to take the blame off of me. You were convenient.” With wide-eyed surprise, I watched and felt her contempt for me.

“Around the time we negotiated the sale of Parisi Construction, he started pulling away from me. He claimed he couldn’t go out because he was traveling or had long business meetings. In the beginning, he had no problems, but once the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ was signed, he became unreachable. I panicked. You and Benny were having problems. I had to supply proof you were the thief and I had the phony bank statements and records showing you were embezzling. You’re lucky, I had proof of over two million dollars, which I could have saddled you with. I was reasonable with six figures.” she admitted coolly while my body overheated with anger. I twisted in my seat because my muscles tensed from the bubbling fury. I tried to calm myself, taking deep breaths as she continued to speak.

“I still can’t believe you took the deal,” she said shaking her head and sniggering at her clever entrapment.

“But then I saw how everyone was hurting. I felt guilt for shocking them with the sales plan. I wanted to make everything right, but the MOU was set in stone. There was no way of pulling out of the sale. I had a final meeting with Brady and he was cold. It was then I knew everything was a lie. He used me to take my parents’ company. And he had no intention of keeping me and Ben on as executives. He wanted all the Parisis out, claiming it was best to have a clean break.” She said. I watched as her fists clenched and her posture sat more rigid.

“I threatened to expose him for his unethical practice in acquiring the company, and he shrugged, smirking in his irritatingly sexy way, and offered me an additional five-million dollars. Did I take it? Hell, yes. I deserved that money for what he put me through. I earned every cent. It was in addition to the sale, the siphoned money, and our individual severance package. At the end of the day, I’m a very rich woman. But it’s no consolation. I lost the family business, my job, and my family.” She sighed; the only evidence of humanity in her merciless heart.

“When your divorce was final, it was like the family was broken. We were all going our separate ways. Well, I was being pushed away while my parents doted on Ben, grieving his loss—you and the business. He had money, so why did he lament losing you?”

I shook my head, answering internally, ‘Because he isn’t a cold-hearted demon like you.’

Instantly I felt sorry for Ben, missing what we could have been. I knew it wasn’t a perfect union, but he was my first and I had committed myself to him ‘till death’. I was broken when we split up, but since dating and marrying Matt, Ben was a distant memory. I was happier, satisfied and incredibly independent.

“If you’re a very rich woman, why pretend to commit suicide, and put your family through heartache?” I asked gently.

She shrugged, and responded, “Him.” I instantly knew she meant Brady. “I just couldn’t get over him. Do you know how hard it is to get over your first love?” She dared ask. I rolled my eyes, and stopped from sucking my teeth. She was lucky I was tied down or I would have slapped my affirmative response against her smug face.

“He was everything, but he treated me like a common fling. He wouldn’t see me or take my calls. Texts and emails were never responded to. I was lucky to have found Eric to investigate Brady. He got a job at Pentagon and had access to all his communication records. I found out he had a new girlfriend. I saw her picture. Even now, I can’t compete. I mean, I can compete with you because we’re both common, but not with her. Did you know she’s a model?” She smirked, hanging her head.

“I wouldn’t be blonde enough, tall enough, or busty enough for him.” A long, reflective pause made me feel sorry for her to some degree. I’d felt completely inadequate as a woman, and no matter how much money or makeovers, Aida was still the same insecure woman I’d known all these years.

“I wanted to disappear. And disappear I did. With a lot of help, I plotted my way out of being Aida Parisi. I’m now Mila Sciara, and speak with an Italian accent. I get to speak Italian whenever a man asks me to say something naughty, but it’s worth it.” She chuckled. I grimaced and my stomach roiled with disgust.

“Don’t you miss your parents?”

With a glint in her eye, she reported, “I’ve made peace with our relationship. They buried me and I’m living the life I was meant to live; fabulously and without further guilt. I have a lot of money. There are plenty of men. No guilt for not having a husband or children. I’m living a full life.”

“Then why come back for me?”

“Because you are the chapter left unfinished, and I want to close that chapter of my life. I want to be free of you and Brady. And with the help of my associates, I will make sure Brady gets what’s due him, and that starts with you,” she informed.

“I had nothing to do with the way Brady treated you. I don’t even know him.” I hoped my partial confession would prompt her to be merciful.

“You knew him. He was your childhood friend, right? Didn’t you have the big revelation on Saturday at the dinner?”

Eric may have learned about it and reported it to her. He may have hacked into Brady’s text messages or emails. Matt stated everyone had tried to communicate with Brady after he stormed off from the restaurant with Brigit in tow.

“Yes, but I knew him as a child. I shouldn’t be held responsible for his actions when I hadn’t seen him in . . . in sixteen years,” I stuttered. “I only learned his true identity a couple of days ago. I have no interest in him. I’m in love with his friend, Matt . . .” She interrupted me.

“I know all about the doctor. Eric filled me in on all the sordid details.”

“Then you know I have no interest in Brady.”

“But he has an interest in you, and you’re enough for me to hurt him.” She smiled deviously.

“I have one question, Aida or Mila, whatever you call yourself . . . Were you the mastermind who orchestrated everything to get me closer to Brady?” I asked. She looked perplexed. “Did you know Brady wanted me before or after I worked at Liberty Inn?”