Boxed Set: Seduced For Revenge (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (7 page)

“
Do
n’
t get fresh with me. That Sullivan girl loves you. She would have made a good wife
,”
Harmon replied evenly, turning his wheelchair to face Victoria
.“
Do you love my son
?
”

The question took Victoria by surprise and she had no idea what to say. She did
n’
t want to say yes, nor did she think it was wise to say no
.“I’
ve never been in love before, so this is new to me, but I think I can love him
.
”　

That was as honest as she could get without hurting Kolta
n’
s feelings. She looked at him and saw disappointment on his face.

“
Dad, I know she does
n’
t love me yet, the point is, I love her
.
”

“
Love
?”
Harmon laughed scornfully at his son
.“
Do
n’
t bring your little playthings home with you
.”
He looked contemptuously at Victoria and said
,“
Young lady, I do
n’
t know what yo
u’
re after, but it would suit you well to leave this property and think about whether or not you want to be with my son
.
”

She was smoldering inside and wanted to rip the old man apart. She knew her emotions were showing at the way Koltan looked at her. The old man only sneered and turned away, ignoring her presence after making such hateful statements.

Silently, Koltan walked over and took her hand, leading her away from his father and towards the car parked out front.

If there was any remorse about what she was doing, it all fled when Koltan took her to visit his father. The man was as cold as sh
e’
d imagined. All he was concerned about was money. Nothing was more importan
t…
definitely not his only son. She could see how the visit affected Koltan and she was sorry for him.

There was one thing to rejoice about. Harmon had
n’
t gotten what he wanted in terms of merging with Sullivan Industries. That was a small victory but worth rejoicing nevertheless. The bonus was that she had Koltan at her beck and call, though she was
n’
t sure if that was a good thing or not.

Lately, she caught herself feeling worried that sh
e’
d grown too attached. They were dating exclusively and it seemed too natural. They went everywhere together, and at times, she found she was enjoying herself with him. That was
n’
t supposed to be the case. This was supposed to be a one sided operation. She would seduce him and leave him at the point where he was head over heels for her.

Now, she began to question what the purpose of that was. It was Harmon she wanted, not Kotlan. He was far different from his father and she had no desire to hurt him. Now that she was gathering information about the company and how he ruined her father, she could take him down without Kolta
n’
s help.

H
e’
d gone away for a few days and she felt that she should take the time to assess her situation. After the visit to his father, he was
n’
t looking all too well. A few days later he told her he was going to Florida on business. She had
n’
t questioned him because she knew his mood had something to do with her response to Harmon about whether or not she loved him. In her opinion, it would not have made a difference to the old man if sh
e’
d told him she loved his son.

Perhaps this was for the best. Better to let him down gently now than wait until he proposed marriage, she thought
.“I’
ll break it off when he gets back
,”
she whispered, looking out over the San Joaquin reservoir.

Her mind went back to that day and the events afterwards. At the time, all she knew was that her father had lost his job, but as she got older she learned that it was
n’
t just a job for him, he founded Fischer Industries. H
e’
d invested money he inherited from his father into the business, every penny of it.

Before her mother passed away a few years later, sh
e’
d told her that her father was blamed for putting bad products on the market, but there was nothing she could do. She learned that Harmon was behind it all but she was too sick to fight. With her mothe
r’
s last breath, she made her promise to do everything to clear her fathe
r’
s name.

Forcefully, she brought her mind back to the present situation and what she needed to do. With renewed motivation, Victoria took another trip to the archives. She felt that if she did
n’
t find anything by this, then perhaps there was nothing there to find. She also made another call to El
i’
s phone. This time he answered.

“
What took you so long
?”
his voice registered some urgency.

“I’
ve been trying to call you and you would
n’
t pick up
,”
she replied.

“
Did you listen to the tape
?”
he asked her.

“
Yes. Is that all you have
?
”

The phone went silent for a few seconds
,“
What more do you need
?
”

“
I do
n’
t know. What will the tape prove
?”
she asked Eli.

“
Marcy Hendricks
,”
Eli stated, seemingly ignoring her question.

Victoria was puzzled
,“
Who is that
?”
she asked.

“
One of the alleged victims for the skin rash. And there is one Thomas Brown who was the reporter who ran the story
,”
he told her
.“
All you need is the documents that proved these false allegations caused the company to lose. Then you will have your stock fraud
.
”

“
Why are you helping me
?”
she inquired.

There was no answer, only a click before the dial tone came on. Why was Eli being so mysterious? She wondered. Why did
n’
t he do something about this back then and how did he know she was at Fischer Industries? The questions started to plague her, but he was giving her valuable information and for that she was grateful.

She followed El
i’
s advice to look for specific documents from that time period. Not only did she find the financial reports for that year, but also the legal documents for compensation to the people who claimed they were affected by Fischer products. She wondered how willing these people would be to come forward, or would they even admit they were lying?

She spent the next few days pouring over the files. All the information she needed was there to bring Harmon to his knees. If she was so lucky to get the witnesses talking, that would surely put the nail in his coffin. She also found another document that confused her, but one that could put things into perspective.

There was one thing that crossed her mind that she had
n’
t thought of before. What would happen after she brought Harmon Grey to his knees? Would the company survive another scandal? Would the truth do more damage than good? Did she really care what happened next? These questions she must answer before she made her ultimate move.

None of the answers came easily. This was the company she grew up seeing her father nurture. It was the same company that cost him his life. Would it matter if it failed or succeeded? In addition, she found herself being all the more concerned for Koltan. She was
n’
t sure if this concern was out of guilt or not, and she also wondered what would happen to him if or when she exposed his father. Would he forgive her?

“
What the hel
l’
s the matter with you Vicky
?”
she voiced, vehemently into the empty office.

It only then occurred to her that through all this mess, she was only convincing herself that he did
n’
t matter, because deep down somewhere a small voice was telling her that he did.

* * * *

He knew she did
n’
t love him, but hearing her say it hurt very much. One of the things he liked most about her was her honesty. However, hearing her tell his father that she did
n’
t love him sent a pain shooting through his chest. More than that, his father proved to him that day that he was of little value. All the old man cared about was his company and making a profit.

Koltan was in Florida on business. He thought the time away would give him room to put things into perspective. When his business meetings were over he took a couple of days to make a very important visit. He would take this time to think about his future; whether or not that future was with the company or pursuing another drea
m…
whatever that was.

In the time away from Victoria, he realized how much h
e’
d fallen for her. She had feelings for him too, she just did
n’
t know it yet. What he felt with her certainly could not be one sided. She was fighting it and he was yet to discover why. Maybe this time apart would make her come to terms with those feelings, whether it was love, attraction or plain old lust.  It did
n’
t matter to him what those feelings were, he still wanted to be with her. He was willing to wait for her, no matter how long it took.

He also pondered what he discovered about his fathe
r’
s health. Now he knew why the man resigned in secret. If his health issues got out before he told the board, it could affect the company in a bad way. He had to admit that Harmon Grey made a wise decision when her handed over his duties and stepped aside quietly.

The only issue now was that, he did
n’
t trust his own son to take care of things nor did he trust him enough to make hi aware of his health issues. There was no love lost between father and son, but over the years Koltan did try to make the relationship work. It was Harmon who kept the rift between them with his dictator attitude and total disregard for what he, Koltan wanted or needed.

* * * *

It was an involuntary move on her part. She had grown accustomed to them having coffee at around ten
o’
clock each morning. This particular Tuesday morning she was feeling a bit out of sorts and badly needed her morning caffeine fix. She particularly liked the special beans Koltan imported directly from the Blue Mountains in Jamaica, rated as the ninth best coffee in the world. He had that special bean in his office only.

After a couple of knocks and no answer she pushed the door. Seeing his empty chair and his desk void of any files, she remembered that he was in Florida on business. For a moment as she stood in his office she detected the faint smell of his aftershave. She walked over to his desk and absently ran her fingers along the edge.  A flash of memory bolted through her mind, of the night they had sex on the desk. No Victoria, remember not get affected. Irritably she walked away from the desk, but not before a spot of heaviness settled in her stomach. Losing her appetite for the coffee she returned to her office.

The rest of the day was spent trying to focus on work, which was proving difficult. Every now and then there was a flashback or his face would suddenly appear before her. At times, she would expect him to walk through the door with his sunny smile, or run his hand through his hair when something upset him.

By the time the work day was complete sh
e’
d become agitated and impatient. In a sour mood she went home to tackle the problem of putting her findings together. It was while home it dawned on her that Koltan had
n’
t called since he left three days ago.

“
Tha
t’
s great. Makes it easier to end things
,”
she told herself while going through the old documents.

However, it was proving troublesome to concentrate when her eyes kept darting to the phone, expecting it to ring. It did
n’
t. By bedtime her mood shifted from being sour to being furious. How can he not call in three days?

The following morning her mood had not improve. Her impatience showed with her staff and around midday she could no longer stand it. She called Kolta
n’
s assistant and got the information about his hotel and schedule. She found out that his business meetings were done a day ago and he extended his stay for personal reasons. So many thoughts ran through her mind at this information but the one emotion that crept up inside her was anxiety.

She kept picturing him gallivanting with other women and it bothered her. The thought of him using this time away to get over her made her especially anxious. Of course she was going to break it off, but the thought of him breaking the relationship was not sitting well with her. Could it be that she hated to lose?

No, she thought, that was
n’
t it. She had grown attached to him. The office was empty without him. Hell, she missed him! The conflict inside her raged into a battle. What was she to do about it? Was Koltan someone she wanted to remain in her life or should he just forget him and move on?