Resisting the Billionaire (6 page)

I patted my face dry with a paper towel and took a few deep
breaths. Armed with new resolve, I returned to my desk and picked up the
report. When the numbers danced before my eyes, I gave up and stuffed it into
my purse. Maybe I’d have better luck at home.

Stupid me– I decided to look up Carolina Oliveira.
Pictures of the Brazilian beauty filled my screen. With every click, an even
more beautiful version of her came up. Bronzed skin.
Dramatic,
passionate eyes.
Perfect body.

To make sure I drove the point home, I searched for images
of her with Jake. Immediately, a photo popped up of them standing on the red
carpet at a film festival. He looked amazing in a tux, with his arms wrapped
around the model’s tiny waist. She was dressed in a burnt orange gown few women
could pull off. They looked like the quintessential power couple.
Tall, beautiful and rich.

The taste of bile on my tongue prompted me to close the
browser. There was a burning at the back of my eyes and I closed my eyes to
relieve the pressure.

“You needed a reality check, Cora. No more daydreams,” I admonished
myself.

An hour later, Jake’s door opened.

“Cora, come into my office. We didn’t finish our
conversation.” His whole demeanor had lightened and I wondered if the talk with
his girlfriend had cheered him up.

Unaccountably depressed by the thought, I pretended to look
for something on my desk. “I’ll be there in a sec.” When I was myself again, I
walked into his office.

He grinned at me and I wanted to glower at his good mood,
but I kept my face neutral.

He must have sensed my mood because he sobered quickly. “Is
something the matter?”

“No, of course not.” I looked down at the report and spoke
briskly. “I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is, but something seems wrong
with
Bauen’s
financial statements. I need a bit more
time to find the cause though.”

 
“Very good,
Cora. You have excellent instincts.” There was a note of pride in his voice and
I raised my gaze in time to catch his look of approval.
 
“There’s no need to look any deeper. I
already know what’s wrong.”

“What is it?”

“Someone’s embezzling money and is very good at hiding it.”

“What? How could you tell?”

“Experience. Look at the operating budget. There’s no way
they could have spent that much on marketing on a company this size. They’re
cooking the books to hide their incompetency.
Bauen
has been suffering for the last few years.”

“Is it one of our companies?”

He shook his head. “No. One of our rivals. Their
headquarters is in New York, but they have a local office. They just outbid us
for a billion dollar project on the North Side. Do you remember the bid you
typed up a couple of weeks ago?”

“Yes, but if they are doing so poorly, how could they outbid
us?”

“That’s the million dollar question. My guess is that either
they have someone from City Hall in their pockets or they found out about
Weston’s bid ahead of time. And I doubt it’s the former. I know the
administrator in charge of this particular project.”

The implications hit me between the eyes and my mouth
rounded. “You think someone is leaking information from the inside? But who?”
It felt unreal that Jake and I were talking about corporate espionage. Didn’t
that only happen in the movies?

His
face hardened
. “I don’t know.
But when I find out someone is betraying me, they’re going to pay.”

I shivered at the unforgiving note in his voice and felt
sorry for whoever dared to cross this man. “How are you going to find out?”

“First, I’ll have the tech department make sure the system
had not been hacked. Then they’ll sweep the email correspondences. But whoever
had access might have been smart enough to do this the old-fashioned way and
not have left a digital trail.”

“If they don’t find anything, then what?”

“It has to be someone on this floor. I’d hate to think that
someone on the executive team betrayed me, but bids for projects this large
would only have come across a few people’s desks. I’ll have my head of cyber security
look into this further.”

“Is there anything I should be doing?”

“Just make sure you lock up sensitive documents and log out
of your computer when you leave your desk.”

Since I already took those precautions, I just nodded. This
job was certainly shaping up to be a lot more exciting than I had expected.

“Cora, I don’t want to go to school today. Can I stay home?”
Marcus stood at the kitchen counter, his gaze fixed on the half-empty plate in
front of him. His hair flopped over his eyes and I reminded myself to take him
for a haircut soon.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Of its own volition, the back
of my hand went to his forehead. It was something my mom did whenever we said
we felt unwell. I wasn’t even sure I would know if he had a fever from feel
alone.

He pushed away my hand. “I’m not sick.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t want to go to that stupid school. I’m not learning
anything anyway.” He looked mutinous. Most of the time Marcus acted like a
grown adult, but when he was in a temper, I was reminded of how young he really
was.

I stifled a sigh. The weekend had been wonderful. The trip
to the steakhouse was a treat for both of us and we enjoyed our meal enormously.
He was excited about the two pairs of new jeans we bought for him. I felt
optimistic about our relationship for the first time in a while, but it looked like
Marcus’s moodiness had returned.

“I know you’re not being challenged, Marcus, but you have to
be in school. It’s the law.” I tried to be patient.

“Then it’s a stupid law. Just call the school and say I’m
sick.”

He said the last sentence almost pleadingly and I felt
another zing of guilt. Even though I made more money as Jake’s EA, I was still
far from being able to put him into a private school. I had been hoping to hold
off for another year; I would have some money saved by then.

“But you’re not sick. I’m sure once you’re there with your
friends, you’ll be glad you went.” I studied his unhappy face with concern. “Did
something happen at school?” Maybe I needed to call his school counselor.

My little brother’s face got alarmingly red before he
exploded. “I hate school! Mom would have let me stay home!”

“I’m sorry, Marcus. I’m sure if Mom were here, she’d want
you to go to school too.”

“That’s not true! Mom would have understood. You never listen
to me. You always treat me like a little kid. I hate you!” He picked up his
backpack and barreled his way to the door.

“Marcus!” I knew he was lashing out, but each word was a
direct strike to my soul.

The front door slammed behind him.

Feeling like an utter failure, I dropped my head into my
hands. I didn’t normally indulge in tears, but grief and self-doubt mixed
toxically and powerfully, bursting through my control. Tears streamed onto my
palms, seeping through the cracks in my fingers. My shoulders shook as raw,
ugly sounds emerged from my throat.

I missed my mom so damn much. Marcus was right. She would
have understood him so much better. In so many ways, I was finding my way like
a blind person. I was barely able to get my own life together; how was I
supposed to take care of a teenager?

I curled up on the sofa and sobbed, indulging myself in a
cathartic cry.

My eyes were puffy and tender when I showed up for work.
Alana looked triumphant when she saw me, but my misery insulated me from caring
about her pettiness.

As soon as Jake saw me, he honed in on my red eyes and demanded,
“Cora, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Jake. Just a rough morning.” I winced at the
sound of my hoarse voice.

“Is
there
anything I can do?” he
asked gently, his look almost affectionate.

I shook off the ridiculous thought. I had given myself a
stern lecture over the weekend about my inappropriate feelings for my boss, but
apparently I hadn’t absorbed any of it.

“No, it’s fine. Really. I won’t let it affect my work. Let’s
go over your day!”

His lips pressed together in annoyance, but he didn’t say
anything. I was relieved when he launched into his usual string of instructions
related to meetings and projects. I found solace in the busyness of the
morning. Every now and then, I felt his eyes on me as he came and went from his
office, but my posture didn’t invite him to stop.

“Who are you?” A heavily accented voice demanded.

My head snapped up and I met the contemptuous gaze of
Carolina Oliveira. She was even more gorgeous in person than on the cover of a
magazine. Her café-au-
lait
skin was flawless. Her
cheekbones could have been cut from glass. The skin-tight black dress she wore
hugged her figure to dramatic effect.

“Oh!” I said stupidly.

Her eyes narrowed. “Who are you?” she repeated with
impatience.

“I’m Cora
Branton
, Jake’s new
assistant,” I said briskly, trying to not let her rattle me.

“You call him Jake?” Her eyes were slits now and I wanted to
tell her it was not a good look for her, but I swallowed the catty comment.

“Mr. Weston insisted. Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll
check if he’s ready to see you?”

She drew herself up in exaggerated affront. “I do not need
you to call. Jake is always happy to see me.”

Jamie was right. This woman was a piece of work. “I’m sure
he will be ecstatic to see you.” That seemed to soothe her ruffled feathers.
“But, I still need to check to make sure he’s not in the middle of something
important.”

Instantly, she was all prickles and thorns again. “I
am
important! I am his
amor
.”

Don’t roll your eyes,
Cora.
“Ms. Oliveira, if you’ll just wait–”

But she was already at Jake’s door. Without even knocking,
she barged in.

I stood up from my chair, but when there was no angry shout
from Jake, I planted my butt back in my seat. The supermodel threw me a
triumphant look over her shoulders before she shut the door.

I stared at the door for a long moment, battling the bizarre
rush of emotions. If Jake was shallow enough to overlook her character flaws
because she was beautiful, then maybe they deserved each other.

I shook my head at that thought. A few weeks ago, I would
have said that the arrogant woman was a perfect match for His Exaltedness, but
that had all changed. I hadn’t call Jake that nickname in weeks. He was still
infuriating, but he didn’t deserve someone like Carolina Oliveira.

I refused to acknowledge the other emotion scratching at the
edges of my consciousness. I rubbed my forehead. This morning was just all
around shitty. My thoughts veered toward my fight with Marcus and I almost gave
in to another bout of tears.

“So when are you going to let me take you out to lunch?”

I groaned at the sound of Troy’s voice. I so didn’t want to
deal with him today and raised my head to tell him so.

“Hey, what’s wrong, Cora?” The look of surprise and
compassion on his face drove away my irritation. Apparently, my face still
showed the ravages of my crying jag.

I flapped my hand in dismissal. “It’s nothing.”

His lips thinned in determination. Marching behind my desk,
he clasped my arm. “That’s it. You’re going to come to lunch with me and tell
me all about it.”

“Troy! I can’t. I’ve got work to do!”

“It will be waiting for you in an hour.”

He snagged my purse and stuffed it into my arms and tugged
me behind him. Unless I was willing to cause a scene and kick and scream, I
felt helpless. I had to lengthen my stride or risk being dragged.

“What about Jake?” I gasped, desperate for an excuse to stop
him.

“Jake, I’m taking Cora to lunch!” Troy bellowed and hustled
me out of the office. I heard the faint sound of Jake stomping through the
office, but we were already at the elevator, the doors sliding closed. The last
thing I saw was Jake’s scowling face glaring at us.

“Oh God! He’s going to be so mad.”

“Fuck it! Why would he be mad? You obviously need a break
and he can’t deny you a lunch hour.”

I wasn’t about to tell him his brother warned me to stay
away from him. Jake was probably going to fire me for this.

Troy took me to a quiet Italian restaurant and got us a
table in the back. Against my protests, he ordered us both glasses of wine and
the house special.

“Railroading people is a Weston trait, I see,” I said dryly.
Somewhere along the way, I had given in. I had no fight left in me today.

Not offended one whit by my comment, Troy responded mildly,
“We Weston men have many wonderful and unique traits. And yes railroading is
one of our more renowned talents.” His eyes widened as if he were sharing
something worthy of awe.

To my surprise, a giggle escaped. Then I was full on
laughing. It was a nice release after this morning’s build-up of negativity.

He grinned, his blue-green eyes dancing. “See, I knew I could
cheer you up. So tell me all about it.”

I shook my head, a smile still on my lips. “Nothing to tell.
Just a fight with my brother.”
And an encounter with your brother’s lover.

“Yup, I know all about those. What was it about?”

I considered his offer for a moment, but I finally shook my
head. “No, let’s not talk about it. It’ll blow over.”

“I may not look like it, but I’m a good listener.”

“I’m sure you are.” There was something very open and warm
about the younger Weston brother that put me at ease. I touched his arm and
smiled. “I appreciate the offer, but really, it’s just sibling stuff.”

He must have decided I wasn’t going to budge and nodded in
understanding. “When Jake and I were kids, we fought over everything. I’m
surprised my mom isn’t in an asylum. We drove her crazy with our antics.”

Jake was always so self-contained, it was hard to imagine
him as a disobedient child. “Oh?” I raised my eyebrow in curiosity.

That was all the prompting Troy needed to tell me stories
that had me in stitches. It made it hard to eat the scrumptious linguine, but
somehow I managed to finish everything on my plate.

“Holy cow! Your parents are saints,” I gasped, holding onto
my sore stomach.

“So they tell us every chance they get.” He ran his fingers
through his golden hair, sending the strands in all directions. His full lips curved
up mischievously and his blue-green eyes glinted with mirth.

I sighed softly. “You Weston men sure are pretty.”

I didn’t realize I said it out loud until Troy purred, “Oh,
that’s good to know. I’ll make sure to pass on the compliment to Jake.”

My mouth flapped open and closed and my eyes rounded in
horror. “No! Please don’t! I didn’t mean to say it out loud!” My fingers were
claws digging into his arms.

Troy must have seen I was in a full-blown panic mode because
he said soothingly, “Hey, calm down. I was just kidding.” He patted my hand.
“Why are you so freaked out about a little harmless comment?”

“Jake would flip out if I’m not completely professional,” I
confessed. “He fired his previous EAs because they were personally interested
in him. Not that I am interested,” I hurriedly added, “but I don’t want my
comment to be misconstrued.”

Disgust crossed his face. “Oh, Jake’s just wary because of
that bitch, Sophia.”

“Who’s Sophia?”

He assessed my face for a moment before he lowered his voice.
“She was Jake’s assistant a couple of years back. She was a barracuda. Despite
Jake’s cool exterior, underneath he is a big softie. He never could resist a
damsel in distress and Sophia Chandler played an Oscar-worthy role of a woman
down on her luck.

First she claimed she didn’t have an apartment because her
roommate’s boyfriend was moving in and they wanted their privacy. Since she
wasn’t on the lease, she was essentially homeless. Jake fell for her lies and
offered to put her up in a company condo. Then a supposed ex-boyfriend started
stalking her so she clung to Jake like Velcro. Long story short, Jake spent a
lot of time with her and he fell into a relationship with her. It was very short-lived
because he realized she liked being a billionaire’s girlfriend more than she
liked him. She tried to get him back, but he rebuffed her.

Then little things started to go
awry with our business deals. Rivals had our proprietary information. We
started to look into a possible leak when Sophia sued Jake for sexual
harassment. He was furious, but he didn’t want any bad publicity for the
company so the lawyers settled with her. Then we uncovered evidence that the
bitch had been selling confidential information to our competitors. Apparently,
she was willing to do whatever was needed to get her grubby hands on money,
whether that was as Jake’s girlfriend or as a spy. But by the time we found
out, she had already left the country. Jake blamed himself and even tendered
his resignation to the board. Of course they refused.”

The story threw a whole new light on Jake’s distaste for
assistants who were trying to snare him. I grimaced in sympathy.
 
“What a horrible woman. He must have felt
so betrayed.”

“Yeah. He felt so guilty about the failed deals that he
worked even harder to make up for the lost revenue. He worked longer and longer
hours, determined to prove to everyone that he could be trusted with the
company.”

That would explain why Jake was so merciless when it came to
the interests of the company. He felt like he had to atone for his previous
lapse in judgment. My heart ached for him.

Troy’s lips flattened in anger. “After the episode with
Sophia, he became more cynical and distrustful about the people around him. Family
is the one exception. You seem to be softening him up, though.”

I shook my head at his misguided impression. “No, I don’t
think so. Please, Troy. Promise me you won’t mention my comment to Jake. At
best, it’ll make things awkward between us. And I like working for Jake, so…” I
trailed off uncertainly.

Troy stared at me for what felt like a long time before he
smiled slyly. “I promise I won’t tell.”

I had the uneasy feeling he was mentally rubbing his hands
together in glee.