A Matter of Trust (28 page)

Through a supreme act of will, she managed to stop thinking about Michael and spent the next several hours sorting through files, reviewing accounts, and contemplating the order in which she wanted to deal with the most recent requests for her services. Her phone rang as she was studying a rather unusual application for a security check at a local police station. It wasn’t the kind of work that was usually sent out to non-municipal agencies, and she wondered if someone suspected internal tampering. For a moment, she thought of the last time she had become embroiled in the politics of governmental intrigues and what it had cost her. It surprised her to find that the memory didn’t hurt quite as much as it once had, but she tossed the file aside anyhow.
Let the police sort out their own mess.

Glad for the distraction, she grabbed the receiver and said perfunctorily, “Sloan.”

“Sloan, it’s Michael.”

Sloan sat up straight, catching the edge of alarm in Michael’s voice. “What is it?”

“I just received a message that Innova’s board is convening in four days—an unscheduled review of the quarterly financial statistics and
supposedly
to vote on next year’s proposals.”

“Who told you?”

“E-mail.”

“Nice,” Sloan seethed. “What do you think?”

“That this must be due to Nicholas’s instigation. We’ve always taken care of these things at the end of the fiscal year. There’s not much I can do about it, I guess, but I
had
hoped to have a little more time. The presentation last week went well, and if I could just delay this board meeting, I think I would have a better chance of convincing them of my competency.” She sighed. “Of course, Nicholas knows this, too, which is why he’s making his move now.”

Sloan cursed powerfully under her breath. When she could speak calmly, she responded, “From what you’ve told me, your accounts are in good order, and, like you said, you’ve done well with the recent projects. Even if Nicholas pushes things toward a showdown with your board, you should be fine.”

“Yes, I do know that, and I’m probably as ready as I can be. Just the same, I wish I knew exactly what he had planned.”

“Maybe we can find out,” Sloan murmured almost to herself.

“I don’t want you to compromise yourself because of my situation,” Michael said firmly. “But I am grateful for the offer.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay far away from anything that might turn into a problem.” Sloan was already silently considering possible avenues of inquiry. “I’m sorry about this, Michael. I think that what you’ve offered him as settlement is more than fair. I’m sure some of this is prompted by the fact that you’re leaving him.”

“Well, that’s one part of this debacle that I have absolutely no regrets about. It’s something I should have done a long time ago.” Michael fell silent, thinking of the magical weekend they’d just shared. She recalled a vivid image of Sloan, leaning across the front seat of her car that morning, stroking her cheek for an instant as she whispered goodbye. The look in Sloan’s eyes had made her feel as if she was something precious. It was a feeling she hoped she would never lose. “The other part is you. I love you.”

Sloan smiled, the husky tone of Michael’s voice instantly arousing her. “I love you, too.”

“Is there a chance I might take you out to dinner tonight? I’ll have to work nonstop for the next few days, but we both have to eat, right?”

“More than a chance. You can count on it,” Sloan said with certainty. “Hey, I know you can handle him. Just do what you do best and don’t worry too much, okay?”

“I’ll try,” Michael answered. Since Sloan was practically all she could think about, that might not be too hard. “I’ll see you tonight, then.”

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

As soon as Michael hung up, Sloan buzzed Jason, stating without preamble, “It’s time to get everything we possibly can on Nicholas Burke. How are you doing with the virus trace?”

“Getting there. What’s the rush?”

“Michael’s getting ready to take him on, and if there’s anything we can offer her as ammunition, we need it now.”

“I’ve got some things working,” Jason said. He didn’t think Sloan needed to know exactly how much time he had spent perusing the files at Innova while repairing the damage from the virus. Nor how easy it had been to backtrack into Nicholas’s personal logs.

“Make it fast, because Michael doesn’t have a lot of time.”

“Don’t worry. I’m on it.”

“Good.” She set the phone down, thinking of all they needed to do and trying to quiet the surge of rage she felt for Nicholas Burke.

*

“I don’t really care, you know,” Michael mused, running her fingertips slowly along the edge of Sloan’s rib cage. They were tangled together, partially covered by a sheet, still languorous in the aftermath of their lovemaking. Their clothes lay scattered across Sloan’s living room.

“You don’t really care about what?” Sloan stretched and settled her arm more comfortably around Michael’s shoulders, holding her possessively close.

“Whatever Nicholas is planning,” Michael murmured. She was much more interested in the way Sloan’s breasts rose and fell gently with each breath and in the faint flush of her skin that lingered after her passion was spent and in the muted echo of desire that still tingled in her own limbs. “At this moment, I feel invincible.”

“Well, you conquered me.”

Smiling, Michael ran her nails down Sloan’s abdomen, watching the muscles flicker. “I noticed.” She added seriously, “Besides, nothing is as important as this.”

“I understand.” Sloan kissed the top of her head and said with a mixture of contentment and worry, “You matter more to me than anything else, too. But this is your work, Michael. This is a huge part of your life. There’s no way he’s going to take that away from you.”

“Tomorrow I’m sure I’ll agree.” Michael pushed up on one arm and shifted until she was lying on top of her lover, whose legs parted automatically to accept Michael’s thigh between them. Their breasts fit together effortlessly. Resting on her elbows, her hands framing Sloan’s face, she whispered adamantly, “But right now—if it were impossible to ever leave this room, I wouldn’t be sorry.”

Sloan had no doubt that she meant it, because a part of her longed for exactly that—to be only with Michael and to know nothing else. But tomorrow would come, and eventually they would need to face the world.

“You’ll work this out,” she said softly, forgetting her resolve to be rational as she ran her hands lightly down Michael’s smooth back to the round, firm swell of her buttocks.

“Yes.” Michael lowered her head to capture a nipple as her fingers pressed between them, seeking the tantalizing welcome of Sloan’s body. “Yes, I will.”

“Oh jeez, here I go again,” Sloan confessed, feeling herself grow heavy and damp with desire. She groaned softly with the first promise of that exquisite pressure.

“This is getting to be fun.” Michael grinned, all thoughts of Nicholas and business forgotten. Nothing stirred her quite like watching Sloan succumb to desire. It was a heady sensation knowing she could steal Sloan’s control in these private moments. She thought pleasing Sloan was even more satisfying than being pleasured by her, and
that
was more satisfying than anything she had ever known. She closed her eyes, murmuring, “I love you,” as she gave herself over to passion.

*

Nicholas strode angrily toward Angela’s desk and demanded harshly, “What’s so important it couldn’t wait another few days? I don’t appreciate being summoned by my wife like an office boy.”

“Just a moment, I’ll see if she’s free,” Angela replied with an icy smile.

It wasn’t often that she saw Nicholas Burke out of control, and she had to work to hide her pleasure. She reached to her console to inform Michael that Nicholas had arrived, but he continued past her, sputtering, “Don’t bother to announce me. I don’t intend to wait.”

He pushed open the door and marched across the plush carpet to confront Michael, who was seated behind her desk. “Do you mind telling me what’s going on? I’ve got meetings scheduled and—”

“Yes, I know.” Michael rose and came around to the front of her desk to face him. “And an important board meeting to prepare for as well. I assume there’ll be more on your agenda than the budget. Like who will be running Innova this time next year?”

“That doesn’t have to be an issue,” he said quickly.

“Really? How is that?”

“Look at the proposal from
my
attorneys. It’s fair—and suited to your talents. You could stay on as head of design—”

“I don’t think so.”

“If you challenge me for control of the company, I’ve got the support of the division heads. You’ll lose.” He didn’t bother to disguise his contempt.

“You’ve overlooked something.” At his sudden expression of confusion, Michael reached beside her and pulled over a folder, then flipped the cover open and extracted several pages. Glancing at it, she began reading what she knew by heart. “Ramos—Design, Conklin—Advertising, Villanueva—Research, Davis—Marketing.” She looked up at him. “This is
my
list. There are more, Nicholas. I have a team ready to go—men and women with proven track records whom the board will recognize and trust.”

“You think I don’t have a list of my own?” he asked condescendingly.

“Ah, but Nicholas,
you
don’t have
me.”

For the first time he looked nervous. “We could avoid all of this if you’d just see to reason.”

“See to reason?” Michael asked coldly. “You mean ignore the fact that you attempted to sabotage my work? The very same work that is essential to the success of several major projects for some very important clients? Do you think that the board members will appreciate that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. “But if you make a statement like that in public, it’s slander. And my attorneys will have a field day with you.”

“Nicholas,” Michael replied softly, “I realize that you don’t know me very well anymore, but surely you remember that I’m not given to flights of fancy.” She leaned over to the phone and punched in Angela’s extension. After a second, she asked, “Is she here? Good. Ask her to come in, please.”

Nicholas looked in the direction of the door as it swung open. He lifted his chin perfunctorily. “Who’s this? I assumed this was a private matter.”

“No, Nicholas, this is business,” Michael answered. “Nicholas Burke, J. T. Sloan.”

The two of them stood a few feet apart, visually taking each other’s measure. A muscle twitched in Sloan’s jaw. Nicholas’s shoulders stiffened.

“I’ve heard the name,” he said. He didn’t extend his hand.

“Mayfield probably mentioned me,” Sloan replied, her eyes winter cold.

“Can’t recall.”

“No reason you should.” She moved away, because she had an overwhelming urge to punch him. That probably wouldn’t help Michael, but it sure would make her feel a whole hell of a lot better. It was difficult knowing that this man had been intimate with Michael for so many years and had clearly never appreciated how fortunate he had been. That he was trying to hurt Michael now made Sloan crazy.

“Sloan is the head of a computer security company I asked to review our network. We had a major intrusion last week—one directed primarily at me.”

“A computer glitch? And I should care...why?” Nicholas looked annoyed, staring from her to Sloan. Then he shot his cuff and made a show of looking at his watch. “Look, I’ve got—”

Michael nodded to Sloan.

“Have you ever heard of 18 USC 2511 and 18 USC 1030?” Sloan asked conversationally.

“What?”

“They’re federal statutes protecting against computer hacking and electronic eavesdropping. Conviction can carry prison time.”

Nicholas’s eyes narrowed slightly, but his face remained expressionless. “It seems to me that that’s more Mayfield’s concern than mine. I’m sure he can straighten out any...irregularities. Now, I have proposals to review before our board meeting.” He said pointedly to Michael, “If you change your mind, call my attorneys.”

“I think you might find what Sloan has to say of more interest than anything you are preparing for the board meeting,” Michael replied.

She left the statement hanging in the air unqualified and knew as he stopped, turning slowly back to them, that everything Sloan had presented to her early that morning was true. There was a wary look on his face and something close to panic in his eyes. How she could have been so wrong about him she would never understand. She could only believe that, over the years, they had both changed and that this was not the man she had once thought she loved. None of those feelings showed in her face as she met his gaze evenly.

“You’ve got a problem, Nicholas. One I might be inclined to help you with.”

“What are you talking about?”

She glanced at Sloan. “Sloan?”

“I’ll be brief,” Sloan said with a glint in her eye. “Hackers—even the very best hackers—leave fingerprints. Programming platforms have something called a history file, a kind of log of user commands. You can tell what a particular user does—where he goes—what files he opens, or downloads, or institutes.”