Page 47 of The Dom

What the fuck was she doing here?

I didn’t bother to ask how she’d gotten past the receptionist in the lobby. Wayne wasn’t necessarily the best person for the job, but Ashlee liked him, and he was a good kid. He could get better at what he was supposed to do, but it was damn hard to ‘teach’ someone to be a good person. I’d decided to keep him on, but I was going to need to talk to Chris about paying closer attention until Wayne was up to speed.

Flora strolled into my room like she owned the place, those cyan eyes of hers gleaming in a way that I didn’t like any more than I liked her attitude.

“It’s easy enough to slip into a group coming back from lunch. Security doesn’t always check those groups as thoroughly as they check people first thing in the morning.”

I definitely needed to talk to Chris.

“I’m not sure why you feel like you should be here,” I said, “but I’ll give you one chance to leave before I call security to escort you out.”

“I think you might want to hear what I have to say before calling anyone.” She sat down across from me, a smirk on her lips.

I wasn’t really in the mood for this, but I suspected it’d be faster to just let her say her piece and be on her way. “Go on.”

“That was a lovely picture in the newspaper,” she began, looking pleased with herself, as if she’d just outmaneuvered me. “You and…her. Though the reporter didn’t seem to know her name. Not surprising. I’m sure you don’t want everyone knowing who she is. Wouldn’t look too good, would it? I mean, dating an employee.” She shook her head, her lower lip poked out in feigned disappointment.

“Get to the point, Flora. I have work to do.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m sure you do. Other employees to take advantage of. People to unjustly fire.”

I sighed. “If you just want to run your mouth, I’ll call the company lawyer, and you can talk to her.”

“And if I want to threaten to tell someone that your new fuck buddy works for you?”

I gritted my teeth, but there were two things I needed to make clear before I called Chris to get her out of here. “Ashlee is my girlfriend, and she is a freelance contractor for the A&R department under Stu Hancock. You clearly haven’t learned anything about spreading lies.”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe they’re lies, maybe they’re not. Doesn’t matter. People will eat them up the same.”

“And I could sue you for both libel and slander.”

“But a lot of people will still think that Ashlee slept her way into a job she didn’t deserve.”

Shit. She had a point.

“So, you just came here to tell me your vengeful plans?” I doubted that was the case, especially since she knew all I needed to do was pick up my phone and I’d have a lawyer preparing an injunction and anything else she could to make Flora’s life miserable.

“I can’t find a job, thanks to you.” A scowl twisted her expression into something ugly. “I want money. A hundred thousand. Cash or a transfer if you don’t carry that much cash here at the office. No, I won’t take a check, and no, I won’t leave until I have either the cash in hand or see the money in my bank account.”

Blackmail. That sounded about right for Flora.

I knew that if I agreed to it, Jailene was going to have a fit. Logically, I understood that paying Flora off once meant that she’d probably come back for more, but I also knew that if I did anything other than pay her, she’d immediately start contacting media outlets just to beat me to it.

Legal action still would’ve been possible, but like she’d said, the rumors would already be out there. If that small amount of money could spare Ashlee from the same sort of shit Flora had pulled before, only on a larger scale, I’d pay it a hundred times over.

“I’ll do a transfer,” I said. “I don’t keep that much cash at the office. Do you have the account information?”

She wasn’t able to mask her surprise, but she covered it quickly, rummaging through her purse until she found her checkbook. “This will work, right?”

I almost wanted to laugh. I loved dealing with people who thought they were smarter than they actually were. Cash could be tracked, but generally only under a specific set of circumstances. A wire transfer of money was risky but made less so when it was to an off-shore bank or one under a false identity. Flora had just handed me all the information I’d need to give the police if I wanted to file a report.

If she left Ashlee and me alone after I gave her this money, I’d let her go about with her life as well. Going to the police wouldn’t be worth the time and hassle. If she broke her word about talking to the press or if she came back for more money, however, then I’d make this a legal matter.

But that was a problem for another day.

Thirty

Ashlee

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