GoingUp (7 page)

“Yes.”

At the thought of Reese, for some strange reason she felt a
little happier on the inside. “Well, for friends of Reese I think we can
definitely cut you a really good deal.”

“Wonderful, because when I got word he was having your image
pixelated out of the soft porn video collection we’d been accumulating, I was
worried he was going to start keeping your little shows to himself. But since
you’re going to give me a good deal, I guess that means you and I can go on
late-night rides together as well.”

Koko’s smile died instantly. “I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”

“You sure you don’t? Because I was really enjoying our
Tuesdays and Thursdays together, and now my days have been all switched around.
Whole schedule fucked up and I don’t get to sit in on the peep show anymore.
You think that’s fair? I mean, it’s not like
you
cared who watched, so
why should he? Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to be satisfied with the DVD I
made.”

Koko was speechless, but thankfully Constance wasn’t. Her
friend came to Koko’s side and took Koko’s hand in hers. “I think you need to
leave.”

“I haven’t ordered yet.” He finally glanced up at the menu.
“I’ll take Philly cheese skank sandwich.”

“Get out,” Koko ordered. “And don’t ever come back.”

“Fine, but if you want to take your show public again, I’m
working Friday through Monday.”

“You have sixty seconds or I’m going to call the cops.”

He held his hands up. “Fine, fine, fine.” He winked at Koko.
“I’ll be seeing you around, doll.”

Shaken, Koko watched as the man strolled out of the deli as
if he didn’t have a care in the world. When the door closed, she turned to find
Constance staring at her. “Who was that?”

“I have no idea,” she answered honestly.

“He seems to know about you and your….little…kink.”

“Obviously.” He must have been the one Reese said he would
consider killing. After meeting him she could see why. “Wow, that was surreal.”

“Are you serious? Some stranger just came into our place of
business and outed you, and that’s all you can say?”

She didn’t really know what else to say. Yeah, it sucked. In
a big way, and she was going to let Reese know as soon as possible, but getting
upset about it wasn’t going to do her any good now. Besides, this was a horrible
side effect of the lifestyle she’d chosen. “I guess it’s a good thing no one
was here or that could have been a bit embarrassing.” To say the least.

“I was here. My husband could have been here. Or worse yet,
customers. What do you think would happen if our clientele heard his filth?”

“We might pick up more business,” she teased, trying to
lighten the mood.

Constance yanked off her plastic gloves and tossed them down
on the counter. “It’s not a laughing matter.”

“It’s also not the end of the world,” Koko reminded her.
“He’s one guy. One obviously disgruntled guy.”

“These days one guy can make one post on one webpage and put
an end to everything we’ve worked hard to build. And I’m not going to lose my
business because you feel the need to get your freak on in public places.”

“I shouldn’t have to change who I am to please anyone. What
I do on my own time…”

“Affects others. Especially when you do it wearing a shirt
with our deli name on it. You’re fond of saying you’re a grown-ass woman. Well,
act like it and handle your business before you end up the sole owner.”

Koko reached out for her friend. “Constance, you don’t…” But
the other woman held her hands up and walked into the back room, leaving Koko
to face the fallout of her consequences all alone.

Chapter Five

There was work to be done and not nearly enough time to do
it, but Reese was going to go at it guns blazing so he could finish as much as
possible before he left. He didn’t want to bring the drama of work with him to
dinner tonight. He just wanted tonight to be about them, and if he were lucky,
they’d be naked very soon after dessert.

When his phone rang, it startled him. He’d been so deep in
thought that for a moment he’d forgotten where he was. Picking it up, he
pressed it to his ear. “Desoto.”

“Mr. Desoto, there’s a Ms. Brown here to see you, sir.”

Just the sound of her name made him smile. “Send her back.”

He heard a muffled conversation before the speaker became
clear once more. “She’s asked for you come out to the lobby and meet with her,
sir.”

Reese scrunched his brow.
How odd
. “Okay, let her
know I’ll be there in a few moments.”

Excited to see her, he powered down his computer then rose.
He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair as he headed out the door. By
the time he made it down to the lobby, he was once again the epitome of a
suit-and-tie guy. As usual, the lobby was an ebb and flow of people, but it
took only a few seconds for Reese to spot Koko standing near the check-in desk.
She wasn’t dressed in her normal delivery outfit of short skirt and deli shirt.
Today she was sporting jeans and a regular old T-shirt. Her hair was pulled
back in a ponytail, which made her look like a college freshman and not the
sexy business owner he knew her to be.

With a smile on his face, he made his way over to her. She
must have been looking for him as well, because in just a few seconds her gaze
connected with his. She quickly began to make her way to him, but instead of
looking as pleased to see him as he was to see her, Koko looked upset. The
concern on her face sent him to her side in record speed. As soon as he reached
her, he grasped her cold hands in his. “What happened? Is everything okay?”

Koko cleared her throat and took a step back, pulling her
hands with her as she did. The abrupt movement to sever their contact was as
clear as a slap in the face. The warmth of his pleasure was soon replaced by
the icy cold hand of fear. “What’s going on?”

She crossed her arms over her breasts and rubbed her hands
up and down in the few inches the position allowed. It was a move one did when
they needed comfort, which told him something serious was up.

“Do you want to take this to my office?” he asked softly.
“So we can have more privacy.”

Koko glanced around the room real quick then shook her head.

“Then let’s at least move this to the side a bit and out of
the flow of traffic.” He waited for her to nod her agreement before shepherding
them into a corner, away from prying ears and eyes. “What’s going on, love?”

“I’m not going to make it to dinner tonight.” A relief like
he’d never felt before lifted from him. “Or any other night for that matter.”
Then reality came crashing back down.

Any other night meant only one thing. “So you don’t want to
see me anymore.”

“It’s not as if I don’t want to, it’s that I can’t.”

That made even less sense. “Why?”

“I had a visitor today at the deli. He said he worked here.
He said…” Koko let out a deep breath. “Well shit, he said a whole lot of
things, but the long and short of it is, he made references to not only my solo
performance but our joint one as well. And he also said he had a DVD.”

“Who was he?” Reese growled.

“Who he is isn’t the point.”

“It so fucking
is
the point.”

“No, the point is this guy came to my job. Said these
horrible things in front of my business partner. It was only by the grace of
God there were no customers there.”

“I’ll take care of this. Just tell me his name.”

“I don’t know his name, and if I did, I wouldn’t say it.
This isn’t about him. This is my business and I can’t let it suffer for the
sake of great sex. I’m not a runner, bu—”

“Then stop running.”

“If this were just about me, I would. I don’t care what
other people think about me, but this isn’t just about me.”

“It was never just about you, Koko. Last time I checked, I
was in the elevator with you.”

“True, but we’re adults and when things go sour, we both
know how to put our big girl panties and big boy Underroos on and just march
forward, head held high. My business can’t do that. Constance can’t do that.
And I need her in my life. She might drive me crazy but I love her, she’s my
best friend, and she shouldn’t have to suffer for what we did.”

“
We
shouldn’t have to suffer for what we did. And
we’re not going to.”

“Reese, you can’t beat up the world.”

“It wasn’t the world who walked into your deli and threatened
you.”

“No, it was just a man, someone I’m not going to empower by
giving his description. He wants a fallout. He’s probably hoping I do come
running to you so he can provoke you into a fight.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I have no doubt you could take him in a fistfight, but a
courtroom would draw more attention, which would be even further bad press for
my company. It’s a no-win situation, and I think it’s best if we stop things
before we get too involved.”

“How involved is too involved, Koko? I’m thinking of you all
damn day. Wondering if we might have a future together. Wondering if we would
be as dynamite in bed as we are in elevators. So if any of these things fall
into the ‘too involved category’, then fuck it. I’m already there.” He studied
her stricken face. “And I don’t think I’m the only one. Am I?”

“It was only one night,” she said hoarsely.

“Sometimes that’s all it takes.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do this.”

Koko went to leave but Reese grabbed her arm and pulled her
back to him. He lowered his lips to her ear. “Tell me you don’t want to be with
me and I’ll never bother you again.”

“I can’t be with you.” She pulled out of his grasp and
looked up at him, her eyes clouded with unshed tears. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.” This time Reese let her go but only so he
could get to the bottom of things. She said she couldn’t be with him, not that
she didn’t want to be with him, and that had left him just enough of an opening
to squeeze all the way in.

Irritated, Reese pulled out his cell phone and held down the
number one button. The hot key immediately began to dial the programmed number.
By the time Malachi answered, Reese was already on his way to the elevator.
Without waiting for the other man to say more than hello, Reese fired off, “We
need to have a talk.”

* * * * *

It had taken longer for Reese to ride up to Malachi’s floor
than it did to figure out who the guilty party was. There were two men besides
Reese who knew about the video, and two other men who’d been on guard duty the
night he and Koko made love. Out of the four men who could have been the
culprit, only one was scum.

To be fair and thorough, Reese called the two men who worked
the night shift. Neither was pleased to come in early, but the idea of being
unemployed was more daunting than having to show up in the middle of the day
for a meeting. Reese took each man to Malachi’s office individually and spoke
with them while Malachi and his six lawyers looked on with cold disdain. They
were reminded of the confidentiality clause in their contract as well as how
much they would be sued for breaking said clause. Panicked, each man swore up
and down he wasn’t the one who’d approached Koko, and one even volunteered on
his own to take a lie detector test.

Since neither man had been on Reese’s very short list of
who’d done it, the offer wasn’t taken up. Once Reese was finished talking to
them, he called Calverton into the office. Five minutes into the meeting,
Calverton was laughing so hard he could barely talk. He pleaded with Reese to
allow him to stay in the room when he interviewed Putney, but Malachi nixed
that idea. Malachi was a stickler for detail and he wanted everything on the up
and up. Reese finally agreed to give Calverton a play-by-play at a later time
then had Calverton send Putney in.

“Reese, I want you to follow my lead. Say nothing. Do
nothing. Unless I invite you to do otherwise.”

Reese looked over at Malachi and snorted. “That’s not going
to happen.”

“Oh, but it is.” Malachi stared at him with cold eyes
similar to those of Reese. “You will be silent, until it’s time for you not to
be silent.”

“Fine, as long as we both know where this is leading.”

“Ambulance or back of a police vehicle. I have no intentions
of holding you back. He deserves his comeuppance and she deserves her retribution.
On this we agree.”

“Exactly.” If this was the way Malachi wanted to play it,
Reese would go along with it…for now.

Before the two brothers could discuss it more, the door to
the office opened and Putney walked in. When he caught sight of all the men in
suits standing behind Malachi with Reese to the right of him, his easy grin
disappeared. He was no longer a man going into this blindly. Which made it all
the better for Reese.

Malachi rose from his seat then extended his hand to the
empty chair in front of the desk. “Please have a seat. You know most everyone.
Reese, my lawyers, names not important.”

Putney nodded politely and took the seat offered.
“Gentlemen.”

Malachi took his seat and folded his hand on top of Putney’s
employment folder. “Do you know why we’ve called you here, Mr. Putney?”

“I don’t suppose it’s about a well-earned raise.”

Putney’s snide tone grated on Reese’s nerves. The balls on
this man must have been ten times the size of his belly. And if Putney hadn’t
disrespected the woman he cared for, Reese might have been amused by his
bravado. Instead, he was insulted by it.

“I can honestly say a raise is not why you’re here.” Malachi
opened the folder and extracted a mound of paperwork. He took the first section
that was paper-clipped together and turned it out so Putney could see it. “This
is the confidentiality agreement you signed when you were employed with Sarraf
Enterprise. The gentlemen behind me will gladly go line by line with you to
point out how your little lunch outing is grounds for termination.”