Defying Dorian: Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (44 page)

“It is? What do you mean?”

“Don’t you see? They’re jealous of you. The only question is, what are you going to do about it?”

I shrugged. Reaching down, I touched my bracelet for a moment. As I did, I felt my grandmother’s thin fingers wrap around my shoulder.

“You can’t let them win. You realize that don’t you?”

“Yes,” I said, as I let out a deep exhale. “I know.”

“Okay then. I’ll ask you once more. What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know for sure. For now, I’m catching up as fast as I can. I’m doing everything in my power to avoid a huge fight with them, as it will only make things much worse. It’s getting more difficult by the day though.”

My grandmother reached towards my hand, wrapping hers over it until they both covered my charm bracelet. I glanced up at her, and a reassuring smile came to her face.

“Fight. Never back down.”

I smiled back at her. “Now you sound like Gabe.”

A
fter the minor
flare-up in the lab with Fiona’s experiment, things had more or less returned to normal. Over the past several days, I’d received word from Andrew that the apparent friction between Fiona, Amanda and Melissa cooled. As I mentioned, in any other circumstance, I would have put a stop to the catty bullshit myself, but Fiona needed to rise to the challenge.

Apparently, she had.

Even better, Colin informed me at the close of business yesterday that in spite of her setback she’d logged enough hours playing catch up. With only a couple more days left to go in the competition, it looked as if everyone was doing well, including Fiona. And so it was first thing Friday morning I'd invited Colin to my office to discuss the status of things over breakfast and get his input on the eventual winner.

We spent the better part of two hours covering not only the hands-on lab results but also the intangible qualities needed in a position of leadership. Going on his fifth year at a senior level, Colin’s opinion mattered to me. I had no question I could count on him to be objective and unbiased when it came to issues like this. We were wrapping up breakfast when we got down to business end of things.

“Okay,” he began, as he laid three pieces of paper out in front of us. “We’re down to the last three now. Amanda, Melissa and Fiona.”

“Our three musketeers.”

Colin chuckled. “Hardly.”

Amanda and Melissa had seniority, not to mention nearly three decades of lab experience between them. Of course, Colin and I were both aware of their behavioral issues. Either way, picking between the two of them could just as easily be done with the flip of a coin. Tabling the discussion of them for the moment, we moved on to Fiona, with Colin offering up his perspective first.

“Well, as much as I would like to pick her,” he began, as he slumped back into his chair with an exhale. “I think Fiona is perhaps a bit too young, not to mention inexperienced, for this position.”

I nodded. “She’s resilient as hell though, Colin.”

He nodded. “That she is. But setbacks and stressors are one thing when it’s your own work. When you’re responsible for the work of a team, the errors in judgment tend to get magnified, as does the stress.”

“Mmm, hmm,” I said as he finished his thought. “And you don’t think she’s capable of making the transition yet?”

“No, she may well be. That’s not my point.”

“What is your point then, Colin?”

“Only that given some of the time constraints we’re under with the Link Protocol, why take the risk? She could always be groomed for a management position down the line. You know, once this effort is behind us.”

Colin was being pragmatic, of course. And, he had good reason to be. If I was in his situation, I would likely come to a similar conclusion. Of course, the inside information I had about Fiona put Colin at a disadvantage. Based purely on technical merits, all three women were all fairly equal. Leaving aside the childish antics of Amanda and Melissa for a moment, they did solid lab work. But… with the pressure of her grandmother’s illness, not to mention the mountain of debt associated with it, no one would be more motivated to succeed than Fiona.

Just as I was about to offer a counter to his statement, Colin’s cell phone started to ring. He picked it up from the table and flipped it over.

“It’s our supplier in Hong Kong, Gabe. I’ve been waiting for this call. Do you mind if I take it?”

I shook my head and gestured for him to continue. “No, go ahead.”

“Five minutes,” Colin said, nodding his head. He stood from his chair and made his way out of my office.

While he chatted, I munched a bit. I alternated between crunchy strips of salted bacon and gulps of bittersweet grapefruit juice as I waited for him to return. Leafing through the results, it became clear to me I’d have to trust my instincts. As an entrepreneur, it’s hard to explain hunches to non-risk takers like Colin. He evaluated things based on facts, black and white. And after all, that was his job, so it’s understandable.

Yet, I had the opportunity to mold Fiona, shape her and make her believe in her potential. Even so, I wasn’t a fool. Giving the newest, and youngest, team member that much responsibility would be anything but a hands-off option for me. Her authority would be challenged, there was no question in my mind about it. However, that wasn't an altogether terrible thing.

True growth comes out of adversity. She’d already had her share of it in life and managed to get through it. The real question for me was did I want to take a chance on her getting through even more when it meant my own ass on the line? In the end, Fiona could fail. After all, she’d never been subjected to this level of pressure. And since she’d been here, she’d been vulnerable on a couple of occasions.

It was by no means a done deal with her.

Swallowing down a final sip of coffee, I placed my cup back down in the saucer. I held it by the handle for a moment or two, gently clinking it against the edges of the dish while I mulled my options. As I did, my focus shifted from the pragmatic to the romantic and the moment when I’d complete my seduction of her. Now that the competition was near its end, I’d have ample opportunity to pursue my interest in Fiona.

Frankly, keeping my distance turned out to be more difficult than I anticipated.

What’s more, I wasn’t sure why, but until the other day, I hadn’t considered the possibility she might be a virgin. Now I couldn't seem to shake the suspicion.

The last time I remembered having sex with a virgin was… well, it had been a while. I had mixed emotions about the conquest if that was the case. But in the end I decided I wouldn’t veer from my objective until I found out for sure, one way or the other. Whether she turned out to be a virgin or not, I resolved to let what happened in the moment be my guide.

Around that time, I noticed Colin approach in my peripheral vision.

“Where were we, Gabe?”

Turning my head in his direction, I looked up at him. “I’ll make my decision and inform the team of it on Monday.”

He seemed taken aback by my sudden choice. “Okay, Gabe. I’ll let them know.”

I
had
no idea where I stood in the competition, but based on the fact that Amanda and Melissa weren’t bothering me as much in the past few days, I assumed they were probably struggling with their work. That was fine with me. It couldn’t happen to a nicer couple of people as far as I was concerned. In any case, it was mid-afternoon Friday when I sat in the lab waiting for my last experiment to wrap. Once it finished, I’d be done and with any luck, still in contention.

I still had about a half hour or so until it was finished running though. Under ordinary circumstances, I would fill my time with other busywork or at the very least, organize my current workload. But ever since the ‘mishap’, I had no intention of going anywhere while experiments ran. So instead, I stayed glued to a desk close by and waited. I glanced at my log book and made a few final notes until at last, I found myself with nothing to do.

Like literally,
nothing
.

I exhaled a deep breath, rolling my head around in a couple of small circles, relieved and proud I’d been able to recover from my earlier setback. Of course, I hadn’t won anything yet, but at least I still had a chance, and no one could take that away from me.

Just then, the last discussion I had with Gabe popped into my head. I had no idea if he’d been keeping tabs, although I suspected he did. If he had, would he be pleased with how I’d handled it? Although I'm sure it wasn’t the way he would have done things, I hoped he would.

In spite of his teasing ways, he’d been kind to me. I still had no idea why. I wasn’t anything special and certainly nothing like the women he probably dated. If for that reason alone, what he thought of me mattered.

As to the rest of it… His office dalliances and veiled overtures towards me, well, I’d blocked it out of my mind for the most part. Thinking about him in ‘that way’ would mean nothing but pure distraction for me.

But as I sat there, unoccupied, my mind wandered back to the first night we met. Knowing what I did about him now, I looked on the interaction in a whole new light now. My gaze lingered, out of focus, on the scribbles in my log book as the memory flooded back.

Aside from the obvious, like his thick, dark hair and brilliant blue eyes, the thing I remembered most were his arms. Muscular and lean, they looked as if they belonged on a man who worked the land for living and not one who wielded enormous power in the boardroom. I recalled the warmth of his hand as he wrapped his fingers around mine, swallowing them with a masculine squeeze.

His arms would feel the same, I was certain of it. He’d wrap them around my curves as I vanished into their strength and power. It would be nothing at all for him to sweep me off the ground as if I were weightless, a tiny waif. My breath slowed as the vision intensified. In my mind, I was close enough to smell him. His powerful musk sent my nostrils flaring as I inhaled with all I had before he…

Just then, the sound of a door slamming down the hallway brought me back to awareness. Checking the time, I glanced at my mobile phone. I still had almost twenty minutes left. The pressure of the past few weeks… It was terrible. Some of the worst I could remember.

I just needed some relief, a break, a release…

Looking up between strands of my hair, I noticed the lab was still empty. It wasn’t long, perhaps thirty seconds or so, before my mind once again conjured the image of us together. Soon enough, an urgent need stirred between my thighs. After a hard swallow, I inched my chair closer to my desk, leaving just enough room to slide my arm underneath.

Fiona what the hell are you doing?

All my senses went into overdrive as I battled my urge. In spite of being paranoid to the point of near panic, I found myself suddenly unable to stop. Before I realized it, my fingers slid beneath my lab coat and between my thighs.

Oh God. No, no, no…

I was so sensitive, more than I even realized. I’d neglected my needs, burying them below my awareness. And now I found myself paying the price for it as my index finger took on a life its own, making small circles through the fabric of my clothing. Touching my clit sent fire through my body, nearly paralyzing me in the process. Goosebumps raced to the surface as I intensified my efforts.

My eyes fluttered as they threatened to close. I grew desperate to see what Gabe would do next, and trying to imagine it with my eyes open proved more difficult by the second. I moistened my lips with flick of my tongue and sucked in my lower lip, pinching it with a tender bite. My fingers sped up, as I found myself unable to stop them.

Fiona, oh no… Please stop, stop, stop!

But I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be long now. Any second, less than a minute for sure. Holding my breath, I took one last look, making absolutely certain no one was around. Satisfied, I returned to my release, certain it was within my grasp.

Mmm, hmm… mmm, hmmm…. mmm, hmm. Yes Gabe, yes….

My entire body jerked forward as the wave of my climax approached. There was no turning back. It was coming, coming,
coming…
I gripped at the arm of my chair as the moment approached. And as it did, I yanked my head up and glanced across the room when I noticed it for the first time.

“Holy shit!” I exclaimed, snatching my hand from between my thighs. I banged it underneath the desk as I withdrew it.

“Ow!” I yelled as I jumped to my feet, colliding with the desk yet again, except this time with my knee. In the process, everything on top of the desk shifted as if it were in a small earthquake. A glass of water I’d poured spilled all over my lab notes.

“Goddamn it!”

Now completely frantic, I tried to clean up and regain my composure at the same time. Because to my horror, what I’d seen across the room,
a tiny camera
, had been trained on me the entire time. I'd never seen that there before, ever.

Who put it there? When? And why?

And then a more terrifying notion occurred to me.

Who was on the other side of it?

Over the next few minutes I worried to the point of near panic. But, it wasn’t long afterward my final experiment completed.

None of it mattered now…

Whoever was on the other side of the camera surely saw what I’d done. The terrible thing I’d done. Before long, I’d be summoned to Colin’s office and that would be it. And Gabe, when he found out…

I collapsed into my chair at my workstation, devastated.

Listless, I wrapped up what would be the end of my career with Hawkins Biotech, not to mention probably any chance I had at getting another job somewhere else.

Disgusted at myself, I dropped my head in my hands and immediately my grandmother popped into my mind. What the hell were we going to do now? Shame flushed to my chest and it wasn’t long before I felt the heat of tears following close behind. I stood from my chair to race to the ladies' room before they started to flow in earnest. But no sooner had I taken my first step than the speaker on my office phone crackled to life.

“Fiona,” Holly’s voice blared from the tiny speaker. “Gabe would like to see you in his office right away. It’s urgent.”

* * *

O
n the way
to Gabe’s office, there was a moment when I almost considered leaving the building, getting in my car and driving away. Since coming to work here, I’d experienced some of the most humiliating days of my life, and now I was moments away from what was likely to be the worst of them all.

But still, I’d come this far.

No matter what he had to say to me, I decided I wasn’t going to be afraid. If nothing else, I hoped Gabe would respect me for dealing with the situation in the lab and doing my job. Since coming to work at Hawkins Biotech, I’d taken the elevator ride up to Gabe’s office once before when he’d emailed. But for some reason, this time it seemed much longer than I remembered.

Much, much,
much
longer.

In fact, it might have been the longest elevator ride of my life.

In any case, I’d gathered up all my belongings prior to leaving the lab and clutched them against my chest as I exited the elevator on Gabe’s floor. I walked in the direction of Holly's desk, but as I drew near, I noticed she was nowhere in sight. I stood there for about a minute or so as I waited for her to return. She never did. However, it wasn’t long after Gabe appeared in the doorway of his office.

“Fiona,” he began with a nod as he looked at me. “Come on in. Close the door when you do.”

With that, Gabe turned away from me and headed back into his office.

I swallowed hard and readjusted my precarious hold on my belongings. Moments later, I passed through the threshold, closed the door, and as I did, I saw Gabe at his desk. As he leafed through a stack of papers, he did a half-turn over his shoulder.

Our eyes met.

“Where is… Holly?” I asked as I stopped a few feet inside his office.

“Oh, I sent her home early for the day,” he said, with a casual wave of his hand. “We’ve all got a big week coming up. And anyway, she doesn’t need to be here for what we have to discuss.”

Just then, Gabe took notice of my heavy load for the first time. “What gives?”

“Oh,” I stammered, not sure of exactly how I should answer the question. “It’s just some things from my desk in the lab.”

“I see.”

He wrinkled his brow in confusion for a moment as he looked at me. Otherwise, his behavior seemed casual as always. Frankly, for someone who caught me
masturbating
, he certainly seemed unfazed. A few seconds later, he nodded in the direction of a large couch in his office.

“I’m going to have to ask you to remove your lab coat, Fiona.”

My stomach clenched. Okay, here we go. I was sure my dismissal was at hand now. I nodded and with shoulders slumped, I made my way towards it. I placed my armload down in a chair adjacent to the couch and a few seconds later, removed my lab coat. I swallowed hard. Gabe didn’t strike me as a cruel man. I hope I'd judged him correctly. I just wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

“Where would you like it?”

As I finished speaking, Gabe turned around and leaned against his desk in a half-seated position. He frowned at me as he considered the question.

“Doesn’t matter,” he began. Lifting his chin, he gestured towards an arm on the sofa. “There’s fine.”

“Okay.”

Clutching my coat in my hand, I walked to the couch and draped it over the leather. I smoothed it with a final stroke before turning to face him once again. As I did, I swung my hands in front of my body, interlocking them just above my waist. Reaching down for my bracelet, I covered it with my hand and squeezed tight.

Gabe only looked at me in silence for a moment. I supposed he was used to this sort of thing… firing people. But of course, I wasn’t. My knees literally flexed and bowed as they threatened to give way beneath me. The moments dripped by in syrupy agony.

“Let’s talk, Fiona,” he said at last, as he gestured with a
come hither
motion.

I shuffled across the room. My steps felt as if I moved through quick drying cement.

Once I’d drawn to within about a foot of him, Gabe began to speak. “We need to talk about the situation here. With your position. You know that don’t you?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay, good. This really isn’t something we need to be discussing in front of the rest of the team. You and I can handle it. All right?”

My mouth went dry. The slight wobble I’d experienced moments before threatened to transform into a complete collapse. This was really happening. Oh no, what was I going to do? What would I tell my grandmother? Nausea crept to the back of my throat, lacing my mouth with a sour taste.

Yet in spite of my internal distress, Gabe’s demeanor remained calm, unhurried. He held my gaze for a moment, confirming I’d heard his question a moment earlier. “Good. Okay then, we’ll get to that in a minute. But first, there’s something else we need to talk about, Fiona.”

I nodded, even though I was uncertain of what could be more important than my termination.

“I need to know exactly how committed you are to the company,” he began. Gabe flattened his hands against the edge of his desk, straightening himself into a standing position. “Are you willing to do whatever it takes to help Hawkins Biotech grow and succeed?”

Although I tried to mask it, I felt my face wrinkle with confusion. Why would Gabe ask me something like that when he just had me turn in my lab coat? Not to mention what happened in the lab with the video camera. Instead of responding, I stared at him as I tried to process his line of questioning.

“Fiona,” he said, snapping his fingers. “Hey. What the hell’s the matter with you?”

“Hmm?” I replied as muddled through my thoughts. “What?”

Gabe crossed his arms at his chest. “You aren’t gonna pass out again are you? The infirmary is closed for the day.”

“What? No. I just… I’m confused. What do you mean? Whatever it takes?”

He nodded. “Yeah. It’s a simple question. Are you willing to give everything to me? All you have? Yes or no? Everything about your future depends on the way you answer the question, Fiona.”