Disrobed (The Billionaire's Secretary) (2 page)

He opened the door for Felicia, letting her in. The lobby of the Waldorf Astoria was something Felicia hadn’t gotten used to, though she’d been there twice, already.
It was modern with certain classic notes, and reminded her of something old but well-groomed, like many of the people who stayed there.

Tracey led the way, letting go of her arm to say hello to European connections that had just shown up. He smiled reassuringly and patted her hand. In a board room she was almost as comfortable as he was, but here…She handled herself with grace, but still wished she was at home with a bottle of wine and a good book.

“Hello, Felicia. How’re you?”

Felicia turned around. It was
Amanda. It took a moment to recover from the shock of getting more than a nod. Felicia almost walked away without responding, but remembered that it would affect Tracey.

“Hello, Amanda. I’m fine. And you?”

“Wonderful. Tonight is going to be perfect,” Amanda said with a devious smile. Felicia didn’t know what she had planned, but she also didn’t care. Felicia feared neither simple minds nor their simple plans. Looking over to the center of the lobby, she saw Tracey finishing his conversation.

“You ready?” He said with his perfect smile.

“I was waiting on you,” she said cocking an eyebrow. Tracey liked her sass. They neared the entrance to the Empire Room. The noises of people fraternizing could be heard.

“Alright. We may not
have to stay all night. I just need to do the rounds, shake some hands, and make sure that Amanda is…disarmed.”

Disarmed. As if she were a bomb. Felicia sighed. The description was accurate.

Tracey continued to speak under his breath as they navigated the hall, giving her brief reminders not to eye this person’s toupee too closely or not to bring of that person’s children. His gorgeous voice faded into the background as they approached the opening of the Empire Room, however. It was beautiful and large, larger than life. The twenty-one foot coffered ceiling with antique French crystal chandeliers and soaring arched windows were accented by a Napoleonic blue and gold theme. What kind of man was this, that this was the life he had aspired to? She realized how much she admired Tracey. He was amazing.

“…which I’m sure we’re both looking forward to,” he finished. Seeing that she was looking at the room, he stopped himself and admired it for a moment, putting his hands in his pockets as he did so.
After a moment, he motioned for her to enter.

“After you
, beautiful,” he said, escorting her in on her arm. As he did, neither noticed the scowling face of Amanda Woolworth curl into a wicked smile.

Later that evening, after the opening remarks, Felicia found that she was actually having a fairly good time. It was possible that it was the couple of glasses of champagne, or the fact that several noted comedians had shown up to the party
. She turned to see Tracey talking to an older gentleman. Someone important. He winked at her and she smiled back. It was their special way of checking on each other at social gatherings.

A short, bald man in a tuxedo walked up to the podium, champagne in hand.

“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have a surprise speaker. Would you please give a round of applause to Senator Woolworth!”

Several people consulted their programs. Felicia had heard no mention of Woolworth making an appearance. She looked over at Tracey,
whose eyes were scanning the room for the Senator. Looking where he was, she found him, near the podium and stepping forward to shake hands with his announcer.

The Senator was an older man with a full head of white hair. He looked good for his age, and he was tall – as
Senators often were. Sauntering up to the stage, he waved briefly at the audience and smiled brightly.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for allowing me to speak. I’ll show my appreciation by keeping it brief,” there was light laughter when he said that.

“I only wanted to say that it is good to see so many of you here tonight, and I’d like to publicly thank each and every one of you for coming. Have a good night, and enjoy the champagne. It’s good and there’s plenty of it.” There was more laughter at this.

He smiled and left the stage, smoothing out his tie and straightening his jacket.
Stopping to shake hands with a few people, Felicia was almost sure his eyes flicked over to look at her – just for a moment. He continued to make his way through a crowd of people that had gathered to introduce, ingratiate, or familiarize themselves with him. Felicia realized that he was moving toward Tracey, who was pretending to be absorbed in a conversation. It took her a moment to realize that it was with Amanda. Making her way through the throng of people, she felt compelled to get closer and hear what it was that they were talking about.

“That is a lovely dress, young lady,” said an older gentleman next to her. She stopped and smiled. It was Mr. Boldwin from the Epoch Group, a British company

“Thank you Mr. Boldwin. You’re looking dashing, yourself,” she said.

“Thank you for saying so, madam. I dare say I shall give some of these younger chaps a run for their money,” he said, winking. They both laughed. Felicia snuck a glance at Tracey. He was talking to the Senator and Amanda. Amanda was laughing a little too hard
, and brushing her hand along his arm whenever she could. Poor Tracey. This had been sprung on him, and while he was maintaining his composure, she knew it couldn’t be easy. It wasn’t hard to guess who was the cause of the Senator’s appearance. Amanda was trying to pressure Tracey into a date using her father. 

“I think you and I can look over the new law. Make sure everything’s in order. Why don’t you come to the house for dinner next weekend?” The Senator smiled as he talked, patting Tracey’s arm. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for
, but somehow he felt he had been set up.
However
, he thought,
I need that bill to pass
.

“That’
d be great, Senator.”

Tracey glanced over at Amanda. This was her doing, though it didn’t seem her style.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t underhanded enough. She just lacked the subtlety and intelligence. Her icy blue eyes were trained on Felicia as she possessively rested a hand on his shoulder, smiling viciously. The “’What now, bitch?’ look” was what Cheryl used to call that expression.

Felicia stared back in anger. She could be ferocious when she wanted to. She was well-educated and mild-mannered, but there was a part of her that wanted to take off her earrings and kick this white bitch’s ass!

Gaining control of herself, she looked away and took a few deep breaths. She was sure that there was nothing that would please Amanda more than to have her act a fool and get dragged out of the party. She scanned the
scene, looking for a familiar face to distract her. That was when she spotted him. Behind Amanda, in another circle of chatting socialites, stood Felix. He was talking with wide gestures that were careful never to spill his drink. Every movement was cool, calculated. It was clear to her, knowing him, that he was enjoying being the center of attention, though she was sure that he respected or liked no one in that small circle. It was clear to her, now. He was pathetic. Broken. She resented the fact that such a man had ever held complete sway over her world.

She looked over at Tracey. His shoulder
s were broad, and his laugh was easy and earnest. His confidence was authentic, not a piece of theater used as a tool to manipulate and control. Felicia looked back at Felix. After a few moments he turned to look back at her, meeting her hazel eyes with his steely grey. He seemed surprised, but raised his glass politely and went back to his conversation.

That’s right Felix,
she thought.
Don’t even think about coming over here.

As
Felix told his story to a captivated audience, he could think of one thing, and one thing only. It was her, burning on the edges of his peripheral vision. Felicia Aimes. His infatuation with her had started as a small desire, burning in a corner of his heart when they were dating. He’d taken it for granted, taken her for granted, and after she’d left it had surprised Felix to find that his feelings for her persisted. Now, she was beginning to consume his every thought. He had thought the term was over used at his country clubs and in his social circles, but there seemed to be no better phrase to describe her than “ebony goddess”. Ebony goddess indeed, he thought, continuing to sip champagne and feigning interest in the insipid conversations of two or three spoiled, soft, socialites.

He wanted to worship her, but his form of worship was domination. He needed to control and own her completely. Felix smiled inwardly. An ex-girlfriend of his had once called him the devil. She, however, had been no better than he.
Simply a selfish sociopath who hadn’t gotten the upper hand in the relationship the way she had intended. Felicia, on the other hand, was better than him. He knew it, and didn’t care. Life wasn’t fair and, as far as Felix was concerned, this was a very good thing. All that mattered were results. And he was very good at getting the ones he wanted.

Felix
had been at the party for about half an hour, fraternizing with the guests. He disagreed with the idea of being “fashionably late”. The prey was often far easier earlier in the night, and by the time the so-called “fashionable” people got there, a person who played his hand correctly could be a rock star. Even if you hadn’t known a soul there only hours earlier. That, incidentally, had been exactly what had happened this night. Felix couldn’t help glancing around the party.

Patience, Felix. It won’t do
to ruin the clout you’ve built by implying someone here is more important than you. You’ll need the admiration and respect of these people if you are to succeed.

Right now,
Felix had it. Every joke he made was laughed at. His well rehearsed stories of adventures abroad were listened to with awe. By the time he caught Felicia entering the room, he’d had a small crowd of five or six people around him. She hadn’t noticed, though. All her attention belonged to the man whose arm she was on. Tracey Gordon. Felix had to give it to Tracey. He was rich, handsome, and ambitious. Felix thought he was certainly a better man than he, and appreciated this fact. It was simply that he was in the way. Felix was a little sad at having to destroy him. Well, at least his relationship with Felicia. He was too strong, and his influence was like a shining light beaming onto Felicia’s blooming garden. While she was under it, the gates to that garden would never admit Felix. 

Felix had
known of Tracey in his days dating Felicia. He’d always known he was a threat, but had thought there’d be time to deal with him, later. He’d underestimated Tracy’s connection with Felicia until it was too late. In retrospect, it was clear that it was only a matter of time before their bond became too strong for Felix to reach through. Indeed, a mere few months after they had begun being friends outside of work, Felicia had packed her things and left without a word. One evening, he’d found that she had blocked his number, cancelled their joint gym membership, and removed every trace of herself from his apartment, leaving her set of keys with a note:
It’s over
. Felix had known better than to try contacting her after that.

He’d dated a few other women, and
had tried to put Felicia out of his mind. Tried and failed. She somehow only grew in her importance to him. He missed her naked brown curves, the scent of her in his bed, her laugh. No one had ever left Felix in such a state, before. It was more than that, though. No one had ever been intelligent enough to understand the secret that Felix knew well. The thing that had allowed him to control almost everyone he knew. It was simply this: control over oneself was a myth. Human beings were at the mercy of a hundred desires, each pulling them in a different direction. The best they could hope to do was choose the desires they cared to satisfy the most, focus their energy there, and be swift about doing it. Not everyone could be satisfied, after all. Not everyone could get what they wanted. Only the few ruthless souls who took the initiative to do whatever it took to get what they wanted. Life was just one case of “first come, first served” after another. The fact that she had known that he would be able to break her resolve and had shown the wisdom of making her break swift and sure revealed a facet of her character he had never witnessed. Taming her into a good little girl would be his life’s crowning glory.

In his research, Felix had discovered Tracey’s weakness
: the Senator. Tracey needed Senator Woolworth, and his ambition would lead him to do almost anything to get the precious connections at the Senators beck and call. From there, it had been easy to find the Senator’s weakness: his daughters. He was forever trying to satisfy the whimsical, spoiled desires of the girls who so closely resembled his late wife. Especially Amanda, who as fortune would have it, had a weakness for Tracey. Felix couldn’t believe how easy it was. He wanted to laugh to himself every time he thought of it, and sometimes did. He would promise Amanda could have Tracey if she did as he said. He would promise the Senator that Amanda would get what she wanted if he could get him a job with Tracey, and he would work his way into Tracey’s inner world. Just too easy.

He glanced quickly
over at Felicia, who was obviously trying to overhear Tracey’s conversation with Amanda and the Senator.
Too late, Felicia
. Felix smiled and turned back to his conversation. A few moments later, sensing eyes turn in his direction, Felix caught her looking at him. He could tell that he had caught her off guard with his presence, but made no move toward her. It was critical that he seemed unrelated to unfolding events, and approaching her was too suspicious.
Especially for such an intelligent woman
, he thought, smiling inwardly. He raised his glass silently, grinned politely, and turned his attention back toward ignoring the people in front of him.
That’s right Felicia
, he thought, careful not to look back in her direction.
It’s all a coincidence.
His mission for tonight was accomplished. Things were going according to plan. It was time to go.