Reckless (Bertoli Crime Family #2) (38 page)

“What the hell are you doing barging in here without knocking, Charles?” Father demanded. “I was having a private conversation with my son.”

Charles walked over to his desk, sparing a quick glance my way. “Oh yes, your son.”

My dad scowled in annoyance “Yes, my son. You do remember Tyler, don’t you?”

Charles laughed. “Of course I do. Who couldn’t remember the cocky asshole that’s caused Armex major problems and robbed me of my rightful position?”

The only thing keeping me from turning Charles’s face inside out was knowing that I’d probably spend a night in jail and would be sued for millions of dollars. Still, it’d almost be worth it.

Dad froze, staring at Charles suspiciously. “Show some respect, Charles. I’m not going tell you again.”

Charles’s face twisted into a mask of fury. “What I remember, Mr. Locklin, is being promised a promotion.”

“So that’s what this is all about,” Dad muttered, his eyes glued to Charles’s annoying mug. “You’re still upset over all that.”

“You’re damn right I’m upset, sir!”

“I suggest you get over it. You’re an asset, so I’m going to cut you some slack, but you’re pushing it.”

Charles grew silent and stood there fuming. I watched him closely, wondering if I was going to have to drag him out of the office if he refused to leave. I’d enjoy manhandling the little prick immensely.

“Fine,” Charles snarled finally. “I didn’t want have to do this, but you leave me no choice.” Keeping his eyes on my dad, he stuck his hand inside his blazer, reaching for something.

My eyes went wide and I was gripped by panic as Charles grabbed something.

I guess I’d been watching too many movies, but my heart was suddenly in my throat, and I quickly leaped across the space separating us. A second later, I collided into Charles with a grunt, knocking him to the floor and sending the folder in his hand flying.

“What the hell? Get off of me!” Charles yelled, struggling to push me off.

Scattered across the floor, I saw pictures, scores of them. My dad was already picking one up. “What the hell is this?” he demanded.

I got a glimpse of one of the photos, and immediately a feeling of dread twisted in my stomach.

In the photo you could see Victoria and me, her legs pushed back to her head, and the back of my masculine figure as I pounded away.

Anger threatened to overwhelm me, and it was all I could do to keep from going over and choking the worthless life out of Charles.

“That,” Charles said smugly, rising to his feet and dusting himself off, a look of sick pleasure coming over his face, “is your son fucking his stepsister.”

My father looked at me with question. The look I returned him told him all he needed to know.

“Looks like Tyler” he muttered. “But I don’t see his face.”

“Keep looking, you’ll find it in there somewhere,” Charles purred. “Now that we know the situation here—let’s discuss my promotion. Or these are going straight to the media.”

“You son of a bitch!” I yelled, going for Charles. Dad grabbed me before I took a few steps and pulled me back.

Charles grinned at me with that smug look of his, pissing me off further. “So you see, James, your son is nothing but a liability to this company like everyone has known all along. I’m not asking for anything that isn’t warranted here. Tyler will forever be a thorn in Armex’s backside while he remains employed here.”

Dad looked around at all the photos scattered around his office, gathering his thoughts. “So let me get this straight. You want me to get rid of my son in exchange for your not releasing these photos to the press?”

Charles beamed. “Correct.”

“Charles, I’m not the sort of man that responds well to blackmail.” Dad snorted and turned toward me. In his eyes, I could see the anger reflected there. After all the great work I’d been doing lately, I’d now managed to upset him again.

“I’m sorry—” I began.

My dad waved me off. “Don’t be.” He turned back to Charles, who was smugly adjusting his clothing, looking as if he knew that my title, what he’d been after for so long, was finally his. “These photographs are truly unfortunate,” Dad said. “And I can’t tell you how upset I am that my son is a part of them.”

“Don’t worry,” Charles said, casting a triumphant glance my way. “No one will ever see them, and maybe Tyler will learn to have better judgement in the future—”

“But I won’t be meeting your demands,” Dad interrupted.

Charles froze. “What?”

What the hell are you doing?
I wondered.

“You heard me,” my father growled, tossing the photograph he’d had in his hand to the floor with the rest of them.

“You’re making a very big mistake,” Charles warned.

“In fact,” my father retorted, unperturbed. “Once my lawyers are done with you, you’re going to be lucky if you avoid jail time.”

Despite the dire situation, I let out a mocking chuckle. At least he had my back.

Charles shook his head in disbelief. “You’d throw your company’s image down the drain all on the account of your son? Someone who disrespects the position he holds?”

“Our competitors will use it against us, no doubt. But we’ll recover,” Dad said, walking around to his desk and placing both hands on either side, fixing Charles with a glare that looked as if it could burn a whole right through him. “But you? You won’t recover.”

Charles was at a loss for words, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

“Now you can take your threats and shove them up your ass, because you’re fired.” He said, making Donald Trump sound like an amateur. “Get him out of here.”

“My pleasure.” I grinned.

Though I was worried about what would happen with Armex and the effect on my relationship with Victoria if the pictures were released, it was comforting to know that my dad had my back.

I walked over and grabbed Charles by the arm. “Let’s go.”

“You can’t fire me!” Charles yelled as I led him to do the door. “This place will crumble without me!”

Dad laughed. “Everyone is replaceable. Someday you’ll learn that, Charles.”

Charles struggled against my grip as I dragged him, but he was no match for my strength. I dragged him, kicking and screaming like the little bitch that he was, out of the office.

I walked over and gathered all the damning photos and stuck them back in the envelope and turned to face my father. “So,” I said. “What now?”

I expected him to go off on me, yell at me and shame me for putting us into this position. Instead he grinned at me and said, “It looks like we’re hiring.”

“
I
heard
you had quite a week,” Christine said to me as I stood before her desk. My boss was sitting there looking super sharp as usual in her leopard dress of all things, flawless makeup and an elegant updo, smiling at me as if I were the winner of some unknown prize.

Christine had continued to progressively show me more respect. She was even asking for my opinion on matters and complimenting me on what I wore, which was an absolute rarity.

All in all, I had to wonder if finally standing up to her that day I almost quit caused her to respect me.

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied respectfully.

She sat back in her seat, her eyes on me. “I heard that Tyler Locklin interrupted one of my auditions.”

I paused, not sure where this was going. Christine had known about this incident since the day it happened, but she was just now mentioning it. I hadn’t told her that I’d resumed my relationship with Tyler, not sure how’d she react—not that it was any of her business. “Yeah, but the audition was almost over when he did, and April got rid of him fairly quickly. I’m sorry, Christine, I know I said he wouldn’t cause any more trouble.”

Christine raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Did she?”

“Yeah.”

“Then what was he doing up here in my office after hours?”

I froze. Did she know? There’s no way she could’ve known, could she?

“One of the interns said she saw him coming up here.”

Relief flowed through me as I realized Christine didn’t know the extent of what went on in her office. I’d done my best to clean up and get everything exactly right, after all.

“He came up with some ruse to get his way up here. We had a little talk . . . and worked things out.”

“You did?” Christine asked in surprise. “Well, good for you. Don’t put up with any shit from him though.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay, enough with the chit-chatting, Victoria. Get to work,” she said. “I’m expecting a call from Pierre about scheduling a meeting.”

“Yes, Mrs. Finnerman.” I turned and began to walk from the office.

“Oh and, Victoria?” Christine called.

I paused, half-turning to regard her. “Yes?”

Christine had a serene smile on her face. “I could use some coffee.”

* * *

“
O
pen your eyes
,” Tyler commanded, removing the blindfold from around my head. He’d come and picked me up after work, a tradition we’d started before our little split. He told me had something to show me, but he would only take me if I agreed to put on a blindfold.

Suspicious, it took some convincing for him to get me to agree, but of course I eventually gave in. Tyler always gets what he wants. Besides, I’ve always loved surprises.

Anxious, I popped open my eyes. It was an empty building. “What is this, and why are we here?” I asked, confused.

“It’s yours. You’re standing in your new startup location,” Tyler said. “Sure, it needs some work, but we’ll have it whipped up in no time.”

“Oh my God,” I said, tears pooling in my eyes. “It’s amazing!” I managed before frowning. “But I had the impression you weren’t serious about this.”

Tyler waved me off. “Nonsense. I admit, I did suggest it a little too quickly before, but I’ve consulted with a few experts, and we’re going to make this work.” He grinned at me.

Tears came to my eyes and I felt weak in my knees. “I can’t believe this,” I said, noticing that little smirk he had on his face. “What? You have that
and
that’s not all
look going on right now.”

“It’s the best part. Christine Finnerman has agreed to send over her two best lieutenants to work alongside you.”

“April and Gabe,” I breathed, feeling dizzy. This had to be some sort of dream.

“I-I-I-” I stuttered, unable to find the words.

“Love me?” Tyler finished.

“Yes, of course that, but . . . what if this business fails? What if I fail? And do I even want to know what it took to get Christine to agree to that?”

“Then it fails and at least you tried. This is your dream, and it’s right in front of you. It’s time for you to go out and seize it. But I know you three aren’t going to fail,” Tyler said firmly. “All that slaving for Christine is going to pay off, trust me.”

“You didn’t answer my last question.”

“Details, details. Does it really matter?” Tyler said with a grin.

I don’t think I loved Tyler more than I did in that moment. I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a deep kiss.

“Damn, I should give you surprises like this more often,” Tyler breathed when I finally pulled back away from him, breathless.

I giggled. “Oh shut it.”

“Seriously, I want more of where that came from.”

I playfully poked him in the stomach. “Later.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.

Tyler stared at me wearily. “All right. I’m going to hold you to that.”

I smiled, then sighed a second later.

“What’s the matter now?” Tyler asked.

“I just don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you for all of this.”

Suddenly, Tyler’s face brightened. “I know exactly how you can repay me.”

I stared at him warily. “What is it?”

“You can be my date to Brad’s wedding tomorrow.”

“Ugh,” I groaned. “I don’t know. I don’t really have anything to wear.”

Tyler pulled me in close, the smell of his cologne that I so loved tickling my nose. “You’re in fashion. I’m sure you can find something. And it’s not a request,” he added. “It’s an order.”

T
here’s a saying
that you get what you pay for, and I got exactly that with Brad’s wedding. The event was a lavish affair, being held at the Promade. It was a small fortune to rent it for the day, but it was worth it.

All the wedding guests were dressed in the high-end attire designed by Christine. I’d supplied the money for top-notch catering, a band, and best of all, relieved my best friend of tremendous stress.

Not to say that he wasn’t still stressed. Even with everything I’d done to help, Brad still couldn’t help being nervous. It was his wedding, after all.

“Calm down, man,” I whispered to him as we waited. We were both dressed in almost identical tuxes, black and white, our shoes freshly shined and our hair nicely styled.

“You’re going to stroke out before Katie even makes her way down the aisle.”

“I just want everything perfect for her,” Brad replied, and I could understand.

All the guests were waiting. The music was about to start and I was about to walk with Brad out to the altar.