Tempting The Boss (20 page)

He tried to aim his gun through the pain, but he was hit again and everything went black.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Victoria jumped as Joslyn took a seat on the sofa and handed her a bright pink margarita with a neat rim of salt around the side.

“Oh honey, I know it’s been a long day.” Joslyn crossed her legs, her floral dress flouncing out around her. “Just relax.”

Victoria took the drink and tried to fake a smile.
Could Terry really be C. Jones? Where was he? And where did Joslyn stand in this?
“You know what, I’m suddenly not in the drinking mood. I got hardly any sleep last night and I’m going to be needed early at work tomorrow.”

“That’s a shame.” Joslyn pouted in a cute way that probably had men getting her whatever she wanted. “You can’t take a day off?”

“The joys of being in charge,” said Victoria with a weak laugh. “Are you sure Terry won’t be long? We can always reschedule.” She glanced at her phone once more and there was still no signal.

“Even if he doesn’t show up, you can sit and talk. I’m a good listener, promise.”

Victoria pulled her phone in closer to her. “I’m sure.” She met Joslyn’s gaze as her fingers moved over the screen of the phone, unlocking it by memory. “But I’m really not in the mood to talk today. Why don’t you tell me more about yourself?””

“Well, there’s not much to tell. My family comes from old money in Georgia. After my parents’ unfortunate passing a few years ago, I decided to travel the world and, you know, find myself.”

“How did that work out?” Victoria pretended to take a sip of the margarita. As soon as the glass left her lips, she set it on the table, setting it down at just the wrong angle, so the drink spilled everywhere. “I’m so sorry!” she shouted as the drink spread out over the coffee table.

Both of them leaped up to avoid the droplets that splashed on the floor. “Darn it,” muttered Joslyn as she ran back to the kitchen and brought back an armful of paper towels.

Victoria pulled the magazines out of the way as Joslyn patted down the table. She forwarded the address of where she was to the first person she could think of.
Dean.
Praying she somehow got signal, she tucked the cell back in the clip. “So who is C. Jones?”” She handed the mail back to Joslyn.

A flash of surprise crossed Joslyn’s face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Victoria took a step back. She didn’t know what she expected by bringing up the name, but it wasn’t that fear mixed with suspicion. “Just wondering, since it’’s on the address. It’s probably the old tenant. You only moved in recently, right? I still get old mail and I’ve lived at my place for years.”

“I suppose I never noticed.” Joslyn took the magazines from her.

And with that, Victoria was certain of it. Joslyn was lying, and she needed to get the hell out of here. “So, since Terry isn’t here and I’ve singlehandedly messed up the place, I think I should call it a night.”

Joslyn backed away and blocked Victoria’s access to the door. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Fear settled deep in Victoria’s gut. She tried to keep her expression calm and serene, not wanting Joslyn to see the effect she was having. “I’m very sorry, Joslyn. I promise I’ll make sure we have an entire day of girl bonding very soon. This just isn’t the right time.”

“Damn it, I said no!” shouted her future sister-in-law.

Victoria was more than ready to fight off the petite redhead, but then Joslyn played her trump card and pulled a gun out from behind her back and pointed it straight at Victoria’s head.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Victoria held her hands up, trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. Without her jacket on, her one and only weapon—the pepper spray—was in full view. She thought back to what Dean said.
Whoever wanted her dead wasn’’t skilled.
So Joslyn didn’t exactly know what she was doing.

Victoria could use that. “Let’s talk about this.”

Joslyn scoffed. “There’s nothing to talk about. You seem like a nice enough person, but Terry and I deserve our happily ever after.”

Victoria tried to get a read on the woman, to decide whether she was crazy or calculated. Of course, she could be both and Victoria could be screwed. “Let me know how I can make you happy. Terry is my brother, and I love him.”

“Please.” Joslyn rolled her eyes. “He told me how you fired him. You humiliated him in front of everyone and then spent the past few years flaunting your success in front of him. Getting your picture in every paper and magazine you could while your poor brother was hurt and struggling to survive.”

Victoria had to struggle to hide her disbelief.
Joslyn thought Victoria wanted the paparazzi following her around? And what did she mean by “struggling to survive”?
He started out with more money in that trust fund than some people earned in a lifetime. But she decided to keep her doubts to herself. “I never meant to hurt him. We can work something out. If he needs more money, I’m sure I can help.”

“I don’t need your charity, hun. I need everything.” She picked up a small circular device off the counter. “Cute, right? When it’s on, it blocks phone reception for anyone in range. Bought it online for a steal. I know how attached you are to your phone.”

Victoria’s heart quickened as Joslyn’s eyes fell to the phone on her hip.
Please don’t see the pepper spray. Please don’’t see the pepper spray.

“I need to make a call. This would’ve been easier if you’d drank your margarita like a polite guest, but I think we have to do this the hard way. Now toss your phone over here.””

Victoria plucked the phone from her belt clip and tried not to think about what Joslyn had laced the drink with.
Here’s hoping her text to Dean went through
. “So you’’re not going to shoot me?” She kicked the phone across the floor.

Joslyn laughed. “I’m not going to get any money if I’m in jail for your murder. Terry probably wouldn’t even consider having me after that. No. You’re going to jump off the roof.”

~~~~~

The unknown number popped up on Dean’s phone for the third time. Dean glanced between the road and the glowing screen. Even if it was a client, he didn’t make a habit of driving on Manhattan streets while talking on his phone.

But when his phone rang a fourth time, he finally gave in and picked up. “Who the hell is it?” he bit out right as a cab swerved in front of him with absolutely no notice. He held himself back from cursing at the cabbie.

“Please tell me Victoria is with you,” said the deep voice on the other end.

“Huh? Is this a reporter?”

“No, you moron. It’s Gordon. I need to get a hold of her. She’s in trouble and neither she nor Jace are answering their phones.””

Dean’s blood ran cold at the mention of Victoria being in trouble. “What the fuck good is a bodyguard if he’s not going to protect her!”” he shouted into the phone.

“I need to figure out where she is. Last I talked to Jace, he said she was meeting her brother for dinner.”

“Son of a bitch. I knew that smug asshole wanted her dead. When I get my hands on him—”

“It’s not him. The fiancée, Joslyn Devereaux. Her parents died under mysterious circumstances. The police never convicted her of anything, but the lawyers did some fancy maneuvering and her sister ended up getting the entire family fortune. Billions of net worth went to the sister and Joslyn got nothing.”

“You’re saying she killed her parents?”

“I’m saying she’s used to money and just found out her fiancée was basically cut from Daddy’s will. I think Victoria might be with her already.”

Dean’s heart ramped up to a fever pitch as he tried to focus on the road. She was somewhere in the city and he had no idea where. “You need to find her. Track her phone, look at traffic cams, something!”

“This isn’t a fucking TV show! Her GPS tracker isn’t coming through for her phone and this city has millions of people in it. If Jace or she don’’t contact someone, there’s nothing I can do.”

“God damn it!” screamed Dean as he threw the phone. The sound of the plastic clanging against the old, beat-up dash echoed through the truck. Dean glanced up just in time to see a pedestrian jaywalking right in front of him.

He jerked the wheel to the side, narrowly missing the guy as his truck slammed into a trash can. For a second, he sat there in silence. He should be running somewhere. Looking for Victoria. She could be dying right now and he was sitting in the truck doing not a fucking thing.

Because that’s all there was. Gordon would know if she were at the office, and the bodyguard would answer the damn phone if she were at home.
What was a fucking handyman supposed to do? Drive around aimlessly until he happened to see her?
He punched the steering wheel. ““Fuck!”

Damn it, if driving around aimlessly was all he could do, that was better than nothing. He bent down to fish his phone off the floor of the passenger seat and tossed it on the seat. Right as he put the truck in reverse, he noticed the alert light flashing.
Maybe Gordon found her.

He yanked it up and his breath caught when he saw the text message from Victoria.

An address.
No explanation. No call. Just an address.

His tires squealed as he slammed on the gas. When he got his hands on Joslyn, the bitch was never going to know what hit her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“What do you mean the bodyguard is unconscious?” snapped Joslyn into her phone.

Victoria shifted her weight, trying to think of any way to get past Joslyn and make it out of the apartment. The cell phone blocker was off, so as long as she could call 911, she’d probably be able to hide out somewhere.

“What do you think he’s going to do when he wakes up? Forget that the same night his boss committed suicide, he was beaten by random thugs in the lobby. You better make sure that man never wakes up again.”

Victoria’s eyes widened. “You can’t kill Jace.”

Joslyn sighed and held the phone away from her face, gun still firmly pointed in Victoria’s direction. “I’m not going to kill him. I’’m telling the nice gentleman downstairs to do it.”

“What the hell is wrong with you!” screamed Victoria.

Joslyn’s smile disappeared, replaced with a sneer. “I’m going to need one of you up here. I think Ms. Green is going to need help getting up to the roof.””

As Joslyn hung up, Victoria’s heart sunk in her chest. Jace could be dying at that very moment. All because of her. In some futile attempt to protect her. “Why? Why cause this much destruction over money? Let Jace live and I’ll give you anything you want.”

“It’s not just money. It’s what I deserve. It’s my birthright.””

“If anything, it’s Terry’s birthright,” bit out Victoria.

“And where would Terry be if it weren’t for me?” asked Joslyn with a smug smirk. “He would be a broke beach bum. I brought him back to where he belongs. I brought him back to a family that doesn’t even want him. But he and I will be restored to what we were meant to be.”

A knock banged on the door behind Joslyn, and Victoria jumped.
No, no, no, no.
Joslyn she could handle. She could catch her at a weak moment. Overpower her. Something. But now there were going to be two of them…

Joslyn opened the door and the doorman from downstairs stepped inside. Instinctively, Victoria took a step back as he moved past Joslyn, a conspicuous red substance splattered onto his formerly pristine uniform jacket.

But this could be a good thing. She was probably paying whoever this was and the one way Victoria was sure she had Joslyn beat was with money. “Whatever she’s paying you, I’ll quadruple it if you get me out of here.”

He turned a stern expression on her. “I don’t know how much good that will do me when you send the cops after us, lady. At least with her, I know I won’t get turned over to the police.”

Joslyn smiled in victory. “He’s right. Police only make things more complicated. I’m sure you understand, since you never bothered to call any last week. But I figured you wouldn’’t. You’re not exactly the type to admit weakness. That’s why this will make so much sense.”

“Nothing about this makes sense.” Victoria took another step back.

“The stoic socialite swan dives off the skyscraper. If it makes you feel better, your story will be told for years.”

“Not comforting.” Victoria’s mind raced.
Think. Distract them.
Even if Jace was incapacitated, Gordon might realize something was wrong. He could be sending for help right now.

Except he had no idea where she was. Even so, she had to stall. Had to do something. “Who is C. Jones?”

“She’s your killer,” said Joslyn with pride. “I’’m not stupid, you know.”

Agree to disagree
, thought Victoria.

“Things don’t always go according to plan, as you have made painfully evident. I’m well aware that if I’m even suspected of this, Terry will never marry me, and I won’t get a pretty penny. I tried to cover my tracks by having Donny here take care of you at your little My Daddy’s Dying party, but apparently your handyman has a temper. And when North Carolina didn’’t work out, I knew that the old saying is right. If you want something done right…”