The Billionaire's Terms: Prison Or Passion (5 page)

Alicia had forgotten his presence in the room but she turned to him now, willing the older man to believe her. “I didn’t steal this money! I promise,” she said.

“I believe that’s for a jury to determine,” Jim said softly but firmly. He was trying to be hard line about the situation, but there was something in her expression and the way she reacted to the initial documents that was bothering him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Adam stared at Alicia, his features tight against his bone structure. He was watching her, his jaw clenched as she read through the evidence against her once more.

Adam finally acknowledged Jim’s question after coming to a conclusion himself. “No. I’ll take it from here,” he said brusquely to the other man, not bothering to look his way as he continued to watch Alicia with a steely glare. “I’ll call you if I need you.”

Alicia was having a hard time breathing as she watched the older man leave the office. The soft click of the door as he left sounded like the click of a prison door. She was in a panic. Even the smallest accusations like this would destroy her mother who hung on to reality with only a fine thread of sanity. And Maggie! Her career would be ruined. She’d only been working in her current job for two months. A senator would never be able to keep the sister of a criminal, even a suspected one, on his staff.

Lifting her tear brightened eyes to Adam, she implored him, “You have to believe me! I promise you, I had nothing to do with this.”

“All evidence to the contrary,” he snapped and walked around to the front of his desk to look down at her. He was furious, both with himself and with her. He’d been searching for this woman ever since he’d woken up after their one night together and hadn’t been able to find her anywhere. He’d even hired a private investigator but stopped the search after a week, feeling ridiculous that he was obsessing over a woman who obviously didn’t want to be found. And then he found out that, not only was she working in the same building, drawing a salary from him but that she was stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from him.

To make matters worse, the moment she’d walked into his office, all he’d wanted to do was to make love to her again. His body was instantly aware of every move of hers, achingly ready to sink his own body deeply into her and hear her cries of satisfaction, just as he had that one night.

At the same time, he wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her, assure her that everything would be fine.

But everything wasn’t going to be fine. He was furious that this tiny woman had broken a trust twice. Once by sneaking out without a goodbye and then by stealing money from his company. He refused to admit that he was hurt by her lack of goodbye but more than willing to put an emotion on her theft. He was furious.

No one took advantage of Adam Meyers!

Walking forward, he smelled her subtle perfume and gritted his teeth. “What are you going to do about this situation?” he demanded, walking behind her and leaned down, his arms hooking onto the back of her chair and his head only inches from hers.

“Do?”

 

“Yes, my dear. You stole a significant amount of money from me. I want it back,” he said quietly, his mouth close to her ear.

“But I didn’t steal anything from you,” she said breathlessly. Alicia frantically tried to come up with some way to counter all the evidence against her. Unfortunately, it was a very good case. She had no idea how her signature had gotten onto those deposit accounts but there must be some way she could prove it to him.

“Then prove it,” he said.

 

She bit her lip, trying to come up with a response. “I can’t right at the moment. But I promise I’ll find out who did,” she said.

 

“How are you going to do that?”

She pressed her body into the seat of the chair, pushing her mind to come up with a solution, one that wouldn’t damn her in the process. “I’m a good auditor. I’ve only been working here for a few months but I have worked as an auditor since college and I’ll find your money and who took it.”

“That’s going to be a little difficult,” he said and walked around to face her, leaning against his desk in a deceptively casual stance. “Technically, you no longer work here.”

Alicia gasped and spun around in her chair, “No!” Her eyes were pleading with him to not take that course of action.

Adam ignored her eyes and turned away to walk back around his desk. “Yes. I’m sorry, my dear, but I can’t have a suspected embezzler continue to work for me.” He watched her face drain of what color was left in it, again he had to fight the urge to comfort her. He reminded himself that he only wanted her luscious, sexy body and not her mind. There was no reason to comfort her. An idea slowly formed in his mind and he liked the thought.

Alicia held her hands out in front of her, imploring him to believe her. “But I can prove it wasn’t me if you’ll just give me a chance!” Her panic was so acute now, she was almost physically ill. She forced her stomach to calm down in an effort to convince him that she wasn’t what he thought her to be.

Crossing his arms over his chest he shrugged his shoulder. “Normally in situations like this, the culprit is just turned over to the authorities and they deal with the issue. But I’ll make a deal with you. Pay back the money and I’ll forget all about this, due to our short, previous relationship.”

Alicia shook her head helplessly. “I don’t have that kind of money.” She’d never had any money. It had always gone to her sister’s college expenses or her mother’s mortgage and living expenses. A savings account had never even been an option until recently.

The trap closed with her words. He felt a deep sense of satisfaction, knowing that he had her exactly where his body wanted her. After a long month where he had searched for her, failed to find her, and because of her absence, had been celibate since no other woman had even remotely interested him, he was finally obtaining retribution and satisfaction. The smile that came to his face didn’t reach his eyes. They were filled with pleasure though. “Well, then, we’ll have to work out a deal. Won’t we?”

The look in his eyes terrified her almost as much as the thought of jail did. It wasn’t a kind or concerned look. It was one of triumph. “A deal?” she whispered, terrified of his next words and what they might mean to her future.

He walked back around to the front of her chair and pulled the file out of her hands. Placing the file behind him, he turned back and then pulled her out of the chair, right into his arms. One hand stroked her cheek as his eyes bore into hers. “Yes, a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” she asked, her body already betraying her fear as his fingers touched her skin, making her body tremble at his simple touch. She tried to pull back slightly but his arms were bands of steel around her waist.

“How about a month for every ten thousand dollars you stole?”

 

“A month?” She tried to focus but her mind wasn’t working properly. Not with his hands on her skin and around her waist.

 

“Yes. A month where you work for me, but in an entirely different capacity.”

Alicia didn’t like the way he was looking at her but she was unable to pull out of his arms. Her body felt magnetized to his and her skin was already aching for more of his touch.

“What sort of capacity?” she whispered.

 

“I need a mistress. And I think….no, I know,” he corrected, “you’d suit me quite admirably.”

 

The idea shook her to the core. She pulled out of his arms and shook her head. “No!”

“What’s wrong with becoming my mistress?” he asked, his mouth smiling as he looked downward, noting that her nipples were already hard and noticeable through the thin fabric of her summer jacket. “I think you’d be ideally suited for the role.”

Alicia was so taken aback, she almost slapped him. “I’m not a whore!” she said, her fists clenching at her sides.

“No, just a criminal who has stolen a great deal of money from me,” he fired back. He stepped away from her and came around the other side of his desk. “So what’s your decision? Prison? Or my home?”
Chapter 5

Those two choices were beyond her ability to grasp. “What do you mean your home?”

He smiled but it was more wolfish than joyful. His eyes moved down her body, surveying her slim figure. “My dear, that one night with you only whetted my appetite. I’m afraid I’m going to have a great deal of need for you. Make your decision. I don’t have a lot of time at the moment,” he said and glanced at his watch.

She still didn’t understand completely what he was telling her. The words all connected together into a complete sentence but the meaning was too outrageous for her to absorb. Her hands went to her head, holding the sides as she tried to figure out what he was saying to her. The accusations of embezzlement were mind-boggling. And the insulting proposition was only minimally as bad. “I’d have to live with you?” she asked, clarifying his intentions in her mind.

He raised an eyebrow, staring at her with only a slight bit of humor on his handsome face. “Of course. I want your delectable body. And I want it on demand whenever the mood strikes me.”

Her mind recoiled in horror. “That’s obscene,” she gasped, taking another step backwards, her blue eyes looking into his hard, dark ones as if she could somehow convince him of her innocence.

His eyebrows snapped together angrily and his mouth thinned before he replied, “No, stealing that much money from me is obscene. What on earth would you need all that money for? You make a good living on what I pay you.” He stood up and looked down at her dispassionately. “But then you’ve had your mother and sister to take care of for the past ten years, haven’t you? I guess you wanted a little spoiling yourself, huh?”

Alicia’s eyes widened with fear that he knew about her family.

He chuckled at her response. cheek in a soft caress. “Yes, Alicia. Take the deal. I can be a very generous lover,” he said, his eyes drilling into hers. “If you want to be pampered, there’s no other man who can do it as well as I can,” he said. He walked back to her, his finger sliding down her

I know all about your family and your extra jobs.

 

“This isn’t right,” she said, her voice faltering as he moved closer.

“What’s not right?” he asked, his hand sliding up her arm. “Our bodies were made for each other. That one night together proved that beyond any doubt in my mind. What couldn’t be more right?”

What was she supposed to say? That she wanted more from a relationship than just sex? That she’d spent the last ten years taking care of two other people and wanted to experience love? The hard look in his eyes told her he wasn’t interested in that. And her body was telling her that it wasn’t interested in that either.

“No, I can’t do it,” she said, taking a deep breath and shaking her head.

Adam stepped backwards instantly and walked around to his desk. “Fine. The police will be here in a few minutes,” he said and started pressing numbers on the keypad.

“No!” she said and slammed her fingers down on the phone, breaking the connection. “Fine!” she said in a panic. “Whatever you want.” She had no intention of following through on his proposition but needed time to figure out how to convince him of her innocence. He was angry now. She could feel the fury pulsating through his body as well as something more, something more primitive. Somehow, she had to get through to him but acceptance was the only way she could give herself additional time.

Adam didn’t know that he would feel this victorious but the tense knot in his stomach quickly eased at her words. “Good girl. I’ll call my driver and will have him drive you to your apartment to pack some clothes. He’ll then drive you to my place. I’ll meet you there for dinner,” he said and without another word, he pulled her closer and kissed her. It was a seal of ownership and despite Alicia’s anger over his claim, her body reacted, arching into his and glorying in the hard, male strength of him.

After several minutes, when she was clinging to him and almost delirious with desire, he pulled away and stepped backwards. If she hadn’t grabbed the side of his desk, she probably would have fallen to the floor.

“I see you’re stepping into the agreement with finesse.” His eyes raked down her body, noting her heavy breathing with satisfaction. “That’s good. I’ll see you at my place around seven o’clock tonight,” he said. Without another word, he lifted the receiver and pressed a button. “Bill, I’m sending Alicia Miller down to you. Take her to her apartment and help her pack up her bags, then bring her to my place. Come back to get me at the usual time,” he said and hung up the phone without any other comment.

“I have to get my purse,” Alicia said, her hands fisted at her sides in anger and fear.

His eyes showed no mercy. “You have three minutes to get downstairs. If you don’t meet Bill at the front entrance, I’ll assume you’re trying to escape and will call the police, shutting down the building so you can’t get away,” he said curtly.

Alicia didn’t look at him but she nodded her head. Without another word, she rushed out of the office and almost ran down the hallway to the elevator.

By the time she reached the lobby, she was breathless and knew she was about to run out of time. It was an awful feeling to be so controlled by another human being but she rationalized that she’d never really had any freedom. From the moment her father started embezzling money all those years ago, her life’s die had been cast. Oh, she could have gone about her happy way and finished high school in a foster home, separated from her sister while her mother would be institutionalized. But her upbringing, minus the criminal father had been, wouldn’t let her do that to her family.

And now, she was again trapped, taking care of her sister’s career and her mother’s delicate mental state against the horrible accusations that had been thrown at her this morning. As she watched the buildings pass in a blur through the limousine window, she thought back to her morning and how she’d been so thrilled with her one memory of her crazy evening with the man of her dreams.

Alicia laughed harshly, ignoring the startled look from the driver through the rear view mirror. She’d never even had a boyfriend. From the time she could start dating and was interested in boys, she’d had to start working. Initially to put food on the table as her mother attended the trial of her father. And then, after their savings ran out, she’d had to work another job just to keep the house.