Worth the Scandal (18 page)

And saw who sat behind his computer staring intently at the screen.

“Tessa?”

She jerked her head up, brown eyes wide, skin pale and looking like she just got caught.

He walked inside, his entire body stiff. Ice-cold shock rippled through him at seeing her in his chair, her hands curled around the edge of the desk, knuckles white. Fuck, had Hunter been right all along?

“What are you doing?” His voice was so calm. Too calm even to his own ears.

“I—I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

“I told you to go home tonight.” He paused, trying to compose himself. Rage wanted to leap out of him and lash out at her. “Why are you here?”

She offered a trembling smile and pushed the chair away from his desk. “I didn’t want to go home so I decided to stay and work late. I went to make some copies but the machine wasn’t working right so I was in the copy room for twenty minutes at least before I finally fixed it. When I came back, I saw your office light was on and thought you’d already come back.”

“I just got back now.” Interesting how she had a complete alibi. Why did she feel the need to say she’d been gone for twenty minutes? So he would believe she couldn’t possibly be the one who’d just tampered with his computer?

Bullshit.

Her cheeks flushed red. “I can see that.”

He rounded the desk and glared at his monitor, fear trickling through him. “How long have you been on my computer?”

“I came in to drop off the report you’d asked for and noticed the monitor was still on. I was just about to turn it off when I realized it was open on a page regarding the line that’s going to be featured at the new London store.” She sunk her teeth into her plump lower lip. “Did you leave it on there?”

“No.” His tone was clipped, he saw her visibly flinch. “Were you looking for something, Tessa?”

Her eyes went even wider and she stood. “Are you accusing me of pulling up the information on your computer?”

“Are you confessing that you did?”

“No!” she gasped. “I would never do that.”

He watched her, crossing his arms in front of his chest. God, how he wanted to believe her but it all fit too perfectly. She was here, in his office, with some lame alibi that sounded too practiced. Looking at information she had no business seeing. She was supposed to be someone he could trust. Not only as an employee but as a lover.

Not that he’d ever trusted any of his lovers…

Tessa’s betrayal cut like a knife, slicing clean through his heart.

“Get out,” he said quietly.

“Wh—what?” She blinked at him.

“You heard me.” He went to her, circled his fingers around her upper arm and jerked her toward the door. “I want you out of the building.”

“But, Alex, I…”

“I’ve heard enough. Consider yourself terminated. I’ll have the personal items from your desk delivered to your apartment tomorrow.”

He escorted her out of his office, past her desk and toward the elevators. Her entire body trembled, her breath coming in jerky spurts and he wanted to scream. Wanted to ask why, how could she do this to him? To the company? To his entire family?

Tears streamed down her face, her eyes bloodshot as she stared up at him. “Why are you doing this? Why won’t you let me explain?”

Alex tugged her close, so close he could kiss her. He would never do that again. “Explain what? How you lied to me? How you deceived me into believing you actually care about your job and for—me?” He choked out the last word.

“How can you not believe me?” A sob escaped her, and she covered her lips with trembling fingers.

“Hunter called me just before I arrived.” He watched her, wanting to see her reaction but she still looked the same. Wretched, full of tears and so achingly beautiful it hurt. “They knew someone was on my computer looking at confidential information.”

“It wasn’t me.” She jerked out of his hold. “I told you. I was stuck in the copy room. It had to be someone else.”

“Convenient excuse, nothing else. You’ve been using me all this time. Trying to get close to me, pretending that you wanted this—relationship. All along, you’ve sold me out.” Reaching out, he pushed the button for the elevator. He had to get her out of here, couldn’t stand hearing her excuses any longer.

“Check the cameras.” She pointed at the one that pointed directly at the elevators. “You’ll see who got off the floor and went to your office. It wasn’t me, Alex. I swear it. Please believe me.”

How he wanted to—but he couldn’t.

Alex released his hold on her and pulled his cell out of his pants’ pocket, hitting a button on the speed dial. His dangerously angry gaze remained locked on her, so cold, so completely unapproachable. The person answered on the first ring and she realized quickly he’d called down to security, asking about the cameras and if the guard could review the tape in the last half hour.

Relief coursed through her and she slumped against the wall. He would realize his mistake and take back her termination. She just knew it. He was furious, had acted too rashly over her supposed betrayal but he would discover the truth and be contrite.

He had to. There was no other way around this.

Panic filled her when he turned away, murmuring into the phone. His shoulders were so tense and she wished she could go to him, ease his discomfort with a stroke of her hands. Hold him close and whisper that everything was going to be all right. They would find whoever was stealing company secrets and leaking them all over the Internet soon.

His call finished, he turned to face her once more, his expression like a stone wall. Disappointment flashed through her, her heart falling to her toes when she noted the coldness filling his gaze.

“The camera was conveniently cut approximately an hour ago.” He exhaled loudly, his nostrils flaring. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him so angry. “What did you do to it?”

“It wasn’t me.” Her voice was shrill, and she tried to get it together but it was so damn hard with the way he looked at her, treated her. Why wouldn’t he listen? Did he think so low of her? Had he always felt this way? “I swear to God, Alex. It wasn’t me.”

“None of this makes sense. None of it.” The elevator doors slid open, and he shoved Tessa inside. She turned to face him, out and out crying now. It didn’t matter. She had no reputation to save. “The security guard will escort you out of the building. I don’t ever want to see you step foot into Worth Luxury again.”

“Please give me another chance.” She was begging. Begging for her job, her life, her love and he brutally rejected her as if she didn’t matter. As if she never mattered.

How could he be so cruel?

“You’ve ruined any chance with me.” His voice was like steel, much like his eyes, firm and impossible to penetrate. “Goodbye, Tessa.”

The doors slid closed and she slumped to the floor, her bottom hitting the ground so hard she cried out. She sobbed the entire ride down, confused by his stern reaction. Why didn’t he let her explain? Why did he look at her as if he hated her? What had she done to him that was so awful?

That he wouldn’t listen to her made no sense. He might be stubborn, but he always listened. Usually he gave up the more bulldog tendencies to Hunter.

Not tonight. He’d given her no leeway, hadn’t wanted to listen to anything she had to say. She was guilty in his eyes. He’d needed no judge and jury, wouldn’t let her say a word. She was wrong. She’d deceived him.

If only he knew the truth…

When the elevator stopped on the first floor, the doors opened and the security guard waited for her on the other side. Seeing her on the floor a ragged mess, sympathy filled his eyes and he stepped in, offering his hand so he could pull her to her feet.

“You okay, Miss Crawford?”

No, she wasn’t okay. She’d never be okay again but she couldn’t admit all her troubles to him. She gave him a false smile and let him tug her up. “Not really, but thank you for asking.”

He remained mum, escorting her out of the building just as Alex had promised. She glanced around the expansive first floor lobby, the high ceilings, the billboard-sized posters of attractive models wearing Worth on the walls. She didn’t belong anymore.

She never would.

Chapter Fourteen

One year later…

“Have they found her?”

Hunter paused in the doorway of Alex’s office, his expression going blank. “I think you need to face facts that we’re never going to find her. Ever.”

Alex tapped his pen against the edge of the desk and gazed out the window. It had been a year since that fateful night in his office when he’d accused her of being a spy. He’d believed it with every fiber of his being, had
known
it to be true. She’d betrayed him. Deceived him in the worst way possible, not only by becoming a loyal and trusted employee but also a woman he’d given his body to.

Given his heart to. He just hadn’t realized it at the time.

Unfortunately, he’d been wrong about the entire situation. Tessa had told him the truth. The spy was the vice president of marketing, Hunter’s right hand man, Stephen. He’d purposely tracked Tessa, had set her up so she would be the one to take the fall. After working so many years for Worth and realizing he’d never go as high as the position he currently held, Stephen had looked for a way to make a substantial amount of money on the side.

So he’d sold secrets to their rivals and a few of the top fashion blogs who he encouraged to spread the gossip. He’d chosen Tessa as his fall guy because she’d rejected him when she first started working at Worth. He’d been interested, had tried to ask her out and she’d refused his offer. He’d set her up out of spite.

Stephen was the worst sort of scum.

Hunter had been devastated, more determined than ever to throw up walls and never let anyone penetrate him or his trust again. He went through women like they were Kleenex, using them up and tossing them aside before they could get too close. Threw himself into his work, filling the empty vice president position with someone from within his team, a more than competent woman who knew what she was doing and wasn’t afraid to offer her opinion.

Just what they needed at Worth.

Alex had withdrawn. He hadn’t been with a woman since his last night with Tessa. Much like Hunter, he worked hard, harder than he ever had and that was saying much. Ignoring all social obligations and friends, he personally saw to the construction and renovation of the new London location, going there often. Staying for weeks, sometimes months at a time, going over each and every detail until the store was finally ready to open.

He left for London tomorrow. The grand opening and launch of the new line was in four days’ time. He was consumed with it, planning every little detail.

He had no idea what he would do once the store opened and everything fell into place. It was the only project that kept him from obsessing over the one thing he couldn’t have no matter how much he tried, no matter how much he wanted.

Tessa.

“I’m not ready to give up,” Alex finally said, earning an eye roll from Hunter. “And neither can you. You owe me.”

Hunter had turned him against Tessa. It was his damn fault she was gone. Easier that way, blaming Hunter for everything rather than face his cruel words and actions toward her.

“I don’t owe you shit. You just insist I do.” Hunter paced Alex’s office. The overall vibe at Worth had changed substantially, first with Tessa’s dismissal, then with Stephen’s discovered betrayal. Employees knew to leave the Worth brothers alone, to give them a wide berth for fear they would snap at any moment’s notice.

Their anger and frustration over the mistakes they’d made had taken over their entire demeanor. Not ready to deal with the simmering anger his brothers were filled with, Rhett had fled. Headed out to the west coast where he pretended to run the Worth Luxury store location in Beverly Hills.

Everyone knew his store manager position was a front. He really spent all of his time fooling around, spending money, screwing women and partying. Rhett Worth had no plans in growing up any time soon, much to Alex’s eternal disappointment.

“You’re leaving for London tomorrow?” Hunter already knew he was leaving. He was just making idle conversation.

Alex had no desire for small talk. Even a year later he was still pissed at his brother. Completely irrational, he knew this but couldn’t help it. “I am, though I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

“You don’t know how long you’ll stay?”

“No. But everyone is in capable hands as long as you’re in charge, correct?”

“Of course. But I’m just the marketing guy. You run everything and make sure it’s all going smooth.”

“You’re more than just the ‘marketing guy’ and you know it. I won’t be there longer than a few weeks, a month at the absolute most.” Alex tore his gaze from the cityscape to study his brother. “I can’t stand being here for too long. I get—antsy.”

“You never had a problem before.”

“That was before I fired her.” He would torture himself for the rest of his days if he had to. He couldn’t let it go.

Didn’t want to let it go.

Hunter sighed. “It’s been a year, Alex. You need to stop beating yourself up.”

“I won’t stop until I find her. So I can tell her I’m sorry.” So he could tell her he was wrong.

“She’s not worth your agony. It was a business decision, and you took a loss. Simple as that.”

Alex wasn’t quite sure how it happened but next thing he knew he was clear across the room, holding Hunter against the wall, Alex’s hand wrapped around his brother’s throat. “Take it back.”

“Jesus, Alex.” Hunter’s eyes were wide and full of fear. He was big, but Alex was bigger. He’d kicked Hunter’s ass plenty of times throughout the years though they hadn’t gone at each other in a long time. “Calm down.”

“No.” Alex pressed against Hunter’s throat, fury making his vision red. “You might be a cold heartless bastard, but I’m not. Not when it comes to her. Take it back.”

“Fine, fuck, I take it back.” Alex released his hold and Hunter shifted away from him, rubbing the side of his neck. “What were you going to do? Fucking kill me?”