Wrong (Breaking the Rules) (22 page)

My head pounded in conjunction with my ringing alarm clock. Jordan’s naked body was draped heavily over me. His soft snoring was adorable, and I bit back a laugh so I wouldn’t wake him. Slowly, I eased out from underneath him, but his arm grabbed my hip and pulled me back over.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, voice gravelly with sleep.

“Some of us have work to do today,” I teased. His hand slipped down to my lower body and I gasped.

“Make love with me before we have to get up,” he commanded sweetly.

Pushing him over, I straddled his stomach. “I think we have enough time for that,” I grinned and eased myself down over his now hard cock. One of his hands grabbed a breast while his other hand slipped down to my clit. He groaned as I rode him slowly. His hand dropped from my breast to my hip and urged me to go faster. Complying, I sped up my bouncing and whimpered as I felt my orgasm getting close.

“That’s it, babe. Come for me. I want to see your beautiful face when you cry out my name.” His thumb and finger softly pinched my clit and my body convulsed as my climax took over.

“Jordan, oh my God,” I breathed as my body kept clenching around him with my aftershocks. Soon after, his own release pumped into me, and I collapsed onto his chest.

His hands softly rubbed my back, and I would have been happy staying conjoined like that for the rest of my life.

“I think we need to move that table back a few feet from that exhibit. Don’t you think the exhibit needs to be the centerpiece, not the ice sculpture on the food table?” I asked Stan. It was completely weird being around him today after yesterday’s embarrassing event, but I had no choice. I chose to ignore that it had ever happened and proceed like normal.

“You’re right. Let’s move it over about six more feet,” he agreed.

We each grabbed an end and repositioned it farther down. Satisfied, we went back into Stan’s office to discuss the timeline of events that were to happen tonight.

“Once the guests arrive, we’ll open up the silent auction for them to come in and view the items. The bar will be open and the waitstaff will walk around serving hors d’oeuvres to our guests. At the end of the first hour, Mr. Callahan will make a toast and announce our sponsors. I would like our main sponsor to say a few words, and then we can open the buffet. After everyone’s finished, we’ll have a cocktail hour for everyone to mingle and view the exhibits. At the end of that hour, we’ll have Mr. Callahan speak on behalf of the museum to thank everyone for coming. After that, we will close out the silent auction and notify the winners.”

“Okay, Stan. So where exactly do you want me during all of this?” I questioned.

“Well, I think you might do well to schmooze with the guests. A pretty girl like yourself will make them feel welcome. Are you still leaving at three to get ready?”

“Uh, yes. Okay, I will greet the guests and make sure they are enjoying themselves.”

“Pepper, you can go ahead and go. It’s close to three and everything is set up and ready. I will stay and let in the caterers and support staff. Get here about six thirty so we can iron down anything before the guests arrive at seven.”

I nodded and left quickly before he could say anything more about my looks. It was evident that Stan suddenly had a newfound infatuation with me, and it was getting to be quite annoying. He’d never showed any real interest until Jordan had walked into the picture. Men were difficult creatures.

When I arrived back at the apartment, there was an envelope propped up against the door. Picking it up, I realized it was addressed to me. After reading the note, I suddenly felt ill.

Peppermint Pussy,

I see you’re doing well for yourself. You’ve gone on to have a successful career while some of us have nothing. Maybe I should finish what I started all those years ago. Enjoy the gala.

C

Well this sucked. Not only had he decided to threaten me, but he also knew my schedule. Letting myself inside, I slammed the door behind me.

“Jordan, you need to see this,” AJ said from across the table.

I got up and walked over to him.

“Have you heard of Aidan Holdings?” he questioned.

I shook my head, wondering where he was going with this.

“Well, apparently Aidan Holdings, which I can only assume spells Nadia backwards, was opened up about a year ago as a subsidiary of Compton Enterprises. The documentation on this account is vague at best. From what I can see, there were multiple deposits each month from several different companies. I am assuming they are investors into this Aidan Holdings. It seems that every so often Aidan Holdings will pay out to a particular company a little over what they originally invested, and then you see a blast of deposits right after from new companies that hadn’t previously paid in. I’m guessing they are using these payouts to prove to new companies why they should invest. It appears that Aidan Holdings is robbing Paul to pay Peter. Then, they are showing deposits into both your and Jackson’s trust as employee bonuses. Afterwards, they take part of the money and send the check to the original investor. The excess seems to be getting wired into an offshore account called NC Limited. Jordan, I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface, but I think this is huge. As unfortunate as it is, I believe Lou Jennings was a pawn in this scheme. He is clearly one of the many investors awaiting their payouts. With your dad’s death, it would appear that things are starting to unravel. She’s clearly having trouble keeping it up by herself.”

I couldn’t believe how big this whole thing was turning out to be. This couldn’t be good for our company’s future.

“So what do we do, AJ? Do we call the IRS? The SEC? What about Nadia’s involvement?” I demanded, frantic for answers.

“Calm down, Jordan. I’ve got a call in to my good friend Pete at the SEC. He’ll tell us how to proceed. In the meantime, don’t let Nadia know that we are onto her. If we can get past their divorce, then things won’t be as complicated when it hits the fan. All of this will eventually come to a head and your company will receive some negative publicity. I’m hoping that, by us bringing it to the SEC, we’re showing good faith that we’ve identified the fraud and will do whatever means necessary to correct it. You and Jackson are innocent, and so is Lou Jennings for that matter. Unfortunately, you will all suffer in some way because of this. How much will depend on what we uncover.”

I sighed and rubbed my face in frustration. Dad had really left us with a big mess. It seemed so uncharacteristically like him. If I had to guess, Nadia had somehow manipulated him into getting involved in this scheme. The woman was a viper and I questioned to this day why my brother had even married her.

“Okay, AJ. I will keep a lid on it. Just let me know if you need anything else from me. What should we do about Lou? He’s going to demand his money pretty soon, and we can’t give it to him until we figure everything out.”

“Jordan, we need to have a meeting with Lou and his attorney. I bet that they will want to cooperate with us once they find out that the SEC will be getting involved. Lou runs an empire himself. He isn’t going to want this to ruin what he has worked so hard to build. We’ll meet with them tomorrow, and by then I’ll know more from my friend at the SEC. Hang in there, Jordan. We’re going to figure this out.”

“I’ll set it up. It might be a little difficult though. I sort of punched Lou’s attorney yesterday. And then I discovered I’m dating his daughter. Let’s just say it was an awkward dinner last night.”

AJ roared with laughter until tears rolled down his cheeks. “Damn Jordan! It’s pretty boring most days doing my job, but that right there is entertainment. Get the appointment set up. Grovel if you have to. It’ll be harder than hell keeping a straight face at that meeting.”

“Thanks for the support, AJ,” I replied, rolling my eyes at him.

After he left, I shot Elizabeth a text.

Me:
Wish me luck. I’m about to call Lou and beg him and your dad for another appointment. AJ found some interesting information. I’ll fill you in later. Miss you.

Elizabeth:
Cole left a note on my door today.

Me:
What the hell? What did it say?

Elizabeth:
Basically that he knows my schedule and wouldn’t mind finishing what he started long ago.

This guy was psychotic, and it made me nervous that he was threatening her at her home.

Me:
I’m coming over.

Elizabeth:
No! Andi just got here and she’s going to help me get ready for the gala. I’ll be fine, I promise. After the gala, we can leave together so I will be safe then. Call and make your appointment. I’ll see you at seven.

Damn, she was so stubborn. If I ran into that guy, I was going to hurt him. But the fact that I knew he had a gun made me sick to my stomach. I needed to look into getting my own very soon.