Page 84 of Corporate Escapades

Vic’s nostrils flared at the sound of his name, but he silently vowed to keep his temper. “He’s using you,” he replied through clenched teeth. “Don’t you see it? He wants to ruin you so he can take over your accounts!”

“Just stop,” she said, jumping up from the table. “Enough. Tom likes me.”

“No, Paris, not enough. I love you. Do you hear me? I tell you I have these deeper feelings for you, and you brush me off like some high school pup. It’s difficult for me to say these things to you, or to see you making such a major mistake.”

“I can’t do this right now,” she whispered. “I can’t.” Turning away, she headed for the door. She heard every word he’d said, and it set her mind to spinning once again.

“Where are you going?” called Vic. “We said we’d work through the tough stuff. This is the tough stuff!” Paris didn’t respond.

Vic, frustrated with the awful turn of events, threw the dinner plates in the sink and headed out to the balcony to get some fresh air. As he stood watching, he saw Paris emerge from the shadows and walk out across the park. All he wanted was a chance with her. Was that too much to ask?

Thirty minutes after the blow-up with Paris, Vic heard a knock at the door. His heart quickened hoping she had returned. Springing up from the couch, he bounded across the living room and swung open the door. There she stood in a low-cut black dress that hung much too short. Angela Martini. Vic’s heart fell.

“Hey, handsome, mind if I come in?”

Vic stared for a moment, unsure of what to say. Her tone, while sweet, was surely laced with venom. Before he composed a response, Paris turned the corner and nearly ran into Angela. Without a word, she shook her head and turned to leave. Angela didn’t notice the near-collision.

“Well? Are you going to let me in?” she asked.

“No,” he growled. “You need to leave. I’m not in the mood for visitors.”

“Oh, come on now,” she coaxed.

“No, Angela. Leave,” he demanded and shut the door in her face. Waiting on the other side, he heard her swear, then walk away. He didn’t know how he would fix things with Paris, but her return had to mean something.

Wednesday evening, Dom again sent Molly to deliver urgent files to Tom. The door was closed, as it was the last time. She approached with caution. Surveying her surroundings, Molly noted only a couple of people were left in the open office, but they were far enough away that they most likely wouldn’t notice her pausing outside Tom’s door. Pulling out her phone, she hit record and listened. She could hear the same voices once again—an unknown woman and Tom.

“He rejected me when I went to his place last night,” pouted the woman. “I don’t know. Maybe we need to let this go? It was so easy at first. He played right into my seduction. I thought for sure he would figure me out when I shut off his alarm, but he didn’t. Honestly, I was shocked I was able to coax him into submission in his office. If that didn’t get him fired, I don’t know what will? Now he's turned cold, and I fear he may know something’s up.”

“Angela, come on. You can’t stop now. Where’s your head? We’re so close to getting what we want!” his voice raised an octave. “You want to run the company, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” replied Angela. “Ever since those two idiots got themselves into trouble, I’ve been dreaming about it nightly.”

“In order to get what we want, we need to continue derailing them in any way possible. You need to go over there after work and try again. I’m meeting Paris for dinner tonight. The deal is as good as done.”

“I’m shocked she hasn’t questioned the number of clients you keep giving her,” said Angela. “Her parents will be pissed when they find out she’s taking on so little.”

“I know,” laughed Tom. “I plan to tell them on Friday that she hasn’t stepped up to the plate, and she’s only doing the bare minimum.”

“I don’t think that’ll be enough to get her ousted,” replied Angela.

“It’s all good. You see this?” he asked. “This is Jessamine’s necklace. She won the bid for it at the charity auction and it was delivered this week. I swiped it from her office before she knew of its arrival. I plan to give it to Paris as a gift. When Jessamine sees it, she’ll accuse Paris of theft, but for everything to come together, I need you to make it appear as though Vic is now sexually harassing you. We should plan a place to meet and I’ll videotape the scene. We can send it straight to his ex, Janel. She’ll be so mad, she’ll take care of the rest for us. The board will have to let him go in order to save face. Our futures are in the bag.”

Molly gasped and pulled away from the door. She prayed her phone recorder was as dedicated as she needed it to be. Clicking it off, she stowed it back in her purse. She didn’t even bother to slide the files under the door. She would deliver them directly to Paris and Vic. They needed to know exactly what they were up against, and time was of the essence.

Chapter seventeen

It was six-thirty, and Mya and Chase were seated on Mya’s sofa discussing the week along with further improvements for Vic and Paris to work on. It was obvious something had, once again, gone awry between them. They put on a show for the board and their coworkers, but they couldn’t fool Chase and Mya, which meant it would only be a matter of time before others began to notice.

“I didn’t wanna bring this up, but Vic and Paris had a second sleepover this past weekend,” said Mya. “I hoped they’d work through their issues, but here we go again.”

Chase rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. “Oh, sister, what are we going to do about them? I think they have genuine feelings for one another. On more than one occasion, I’ve noticed how they look at each other when the other isn’t paying attention. It’s not with lust. Before this whole situation was put into action, I never would’ve guessed Vic was capable of such emotion, but I’ve seen some major changes in him over the passing weeks.”

“Yeah, I feel the same about Paris. She’s actually living her life again. For a long while, I worried she’d never make it back from the emotional scarring Alli’s death created. I’m thankful she seems to be healing some, but this stuff with Vic is a setback for sure.”

“You know you’re a huge part of her return to normalcy, don’t you? You’ve stood by her no matter how she acted. You loved her unconditionally, even though it hurt. I’ve seen first-hand the damaging blows that girl has dealt you, but you stayed through it all.”

“I love her. She’s my family,” shrugged Mya. “Not to say there weren’t times when I wanted to give up.”

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