Conflicted (Secrets and Lies) (10 page)

"Leave your things here. You can collect them at the end of the day," he commanded.

It made me uneasy to leave anything personal in his office unattended. He glanced at me expressing his impatience with me for stalling. I leapt out of my chair biting my lip shyly. His lips curled into a smile that brought out his dimples. The burn within me was starting to settle in between my legs making me bite my lip even harder.

For the love of Christ, I need to get a hold of myself.

We went down the hall side by side on our way to the elevator bank. It was the most comfortable I had been since laying eyes on him. It didn't stop the heat coursing through my body or the faster pace my heart took around him but it was bearable. Ethan hit the up button before shoving his hands into his pockets. He angled his head to the ceiling. After a moment, he peered over catching me in full on stare mode. His lips twitched displaying his delight.

"We're going to level five. We'll do a thorough walk through of each floor and the departments that cover them so you can acquire a solid understanding of our operations. Once we've visited every floor, we'll discuss what your role will be. We'll be starting with the top floor to visit the other executives first."

I inhaled shakily giving him a small nod. He must have sensed my anxiety because he couldn't contain the smirk that spread across his face. I ran my tongue across my lip with my teeth lightly biting the bottom one. I glanced at Ethan and caught him staring at me. His eyes burned as he stared at nothing but my lips. My cheeks burned along with the rest of my body.

"It seems appropriate to meet the individuals that are responsible for such an illustrious company. After all, it is their hard work that brought this company to where it is today," I said hoarsely. I shook my head frantically trying to pull myself together.

The elevator pinged announcing its arrival. After walking through the doors, we settled on opposite ends of it. I propped against the railing relieved that we would be around other people within a matter of minutes. The heat began to rise around me turning the elevator into a sauna. It was as if the fire running through me surrounded us making the inexplicable draw to him even more difficult to handle. I kept swallowing to rid the drought in my mouth.

One, two, three...oh who am I kidding. All the counting in the world isn't going to stop anything happening inside of me right now.

I couldn't take the intensity between us any longer and thoughtlessly gazed at him. He was leaning against the railing with his arms crossed and his eyes closed as softness glided over his face. Ethan opened his eyes to catch me staring again. He chuckled and my stomach flip-flopped with the sound. It was starting to make me angry that I had such a lack of control over myself when around him.

My research of the company before interviewing gave me enough of the background of the figureheads to the company as well as its dynamic. Liam Fitzgerald and his cousin Sean Fitzpatrick started it. It wasn't until later that Colin Sweeney joined them. Their families had been a part of the south side for generations and came straight off the boat from Ireland. Each family made this area their home with each generation becoming more affluent within the community until they evolved into this finance company.

Being a privately held company, those three men were the exclusive shareholders. Liam Fitzgerald passed away several years ago. When Liam died, his sons inherited his shares. Ethan received ninety percent of the shares while his brother Devin got ten percent. I was curious why Ethan came out so far ahead of Devin. The media took an interest in it too but eventually it faded away. After interviewing with Ethan, I researched enough to know that he never formally stepped into his rightful executive position. He chose to retain his status as senior vice president. My investigation gave me the basics of the company and its personnel. It led me to believe that they were very cautious on what they released to the media regarding the company and their personal lives.

When meeting with Sean and Colin, it was evident that they despised being bothered with such things but they were willing to tolerate it for ten minutes. Both men were taciturn and detached while we spoke with them. The idea of being alone with either of them gave me shivers. The way they gaped at me freaked me out. I couldn't place it but they stared me down as if I was a ghost. Their icy glares were enough to squash some of the naughty sexual desires I had standing next to Ethan.

The meeting with Devin was much different. He didn't seem as interested in me as Sean and Colin. I focused more on the tension between those two because it was tangible. The hatred between them was alive and well. I was glad that we weren't with him for too long because Ethan became stone cold.

We spent the rest of the day making our way between floors. The fourth floor was home to the accounting and analyst departments. The third floor housed sales and marketing. The second floor was the busiest floor of them all being occupied by production and project management. We were back on the first floor that housed senior management and human resources. There were also several large conference rooms that bridged off from the receptionist and lobby area.

Ethan spent a substantial amount of time going over what each department did for the company as well as the key points to their success. This company worked with some of the most prominent people and companies in the world. Their focus seemed to be investments but they also had lending programs. My head was starting to hurt as I absorbed all the information.

After we hit every corner of the office, we headed back to his office. On our way back, the mood shifted between us. When we were with other people, I didn't struggle nearly as much to manage my raging hormones around him. It was when we were alone that my body refused to have any control over itself.

When we reached his office, he politely opened the door. I strolled to his desk to take a seat. Ethan sat down placing his palms on the desk giving me a hard glance. I squirmed in my chair wondering what he was thinking to have such an inflexible look behind those beautiful eyes.

"What did you think of your first day?"

I smiled timidly. "I feel real good about it. The workflow to the operations is highly remarkable. What will my position entail?"

Ethan lightened up with a crooked grin. "I'm glad you've asked. We do a walk through of the company with all our entry-level employees to find out where they will be the best fit. Regardless of what we post in an ad, we leave plenty of room for change."

I stared at him curiously. He looked at me grazing his fingers across his chin.

"I believe that you'll fit best with our team that handles all the pitches to potential clients. Connor O'Shea will give you further details on what he expects of you. You'll report to him tomorrow morning," Ethan declared.

It was obvious he had more to say so I nodded. My eyes flickered from his desk to him.

"You can complete that paperwork now. I'll turn it over to HR before I leave for the day," he said, pointing at the file in front of me. "You'll need to be buzzed into the building tomorrow but we'll have a badge for you by the afternoon. The last item I want to discuss is salary. What are your expectations?"

I fidgeted in my chair letting guilt consume me. It drained some of the heat coursing through me and slowed my heart down. I could already tell that lying to him was going to make me feel like shit. He pierced his eyes at me demanding an answer sooner rather than later.

"Whatever you see fit will meet my expectations," I replied quickly.

His face tightened and I flinched. Ethan jotted down a figure before sliding the post-it over to me. I sucked in a quick breath at the amount. I nodded and he relaxed into his chair. I took the paperwork and started to complete it. It didn't take too long to finish it. I stuffed the completed papers into the file.

He smiled. "I think that about does it for today."

He rose to walk me out. I scurried past him pausing only for a moment. I doubted touching him again was a good idea especially since my body had thrown a fiesta while I worked on those forms. If he brushed my side, I'd shed my clothes in a New York minute so his hands could travel all over me.

"Uh, thanks again Ethan. I'll see you tomorrow," I said before leaving for the day.

"When you arrive, check in with me. I'll take you up to the third floor," he said, lingering at the door.

I glimpsed over my shoulder to see him still standing there staring at me with unwavering eyes. I faced forward picking up my speed to get to the parking lot. I'd figure out how to deal with this bizarre attraction eventually.

CHAPTER EIGHT

The following day I met Connor's team. His team had six people - Cade, Calder, Camron, Cane, Collin, and Cory. My jaw dropped when Connor rattled their names off in a spitfire fashion. It frustrated me to be on an all-male team. It was going to make getting to know the females around here a joy. I guess anything was better than working with Ethan. I'd rather suffer under torture tactics than attempt another whole day with him. It took all night to purge the dirty thoughts of him out of my system.

It didn't take long for me to find my footing with my team. After a few weeks, I was like one of them. I got to know the majority of the people on our floor through the guys. They took me under their wing making it a point to make sure they introduced me to everyone. I discovered that these guys were the cream of the crop and handled all the best marketing projects. Just by being in their presence, I had been able to snag plenty of lunch and happy hour invitations. I found some solid ground with quite a few people and started to lay the foundation for finding out more for Harrison.

We worked out a schedule for updates and planned to meet face to face for any big news. We spoke on every Friday to recap any findings from the week. I hadn't discovered anything useful yet but Harrison assured me that it would take time and to focus on my relationships with people. I was adjusting into my new routine without too many issues. Even though my presence there was under false pretenses, I was getting a lot out of the experience. The content that we marketed bored the shit out of me but preparing the presentation was something I enjoyed. There were days I'd have to remind myself of my true purpose for being there. Waves of guilt accompanied those reminders. I dealt with the mixed feelings. I'd made a choice to be there. With all choices, there were consequences that inevitably followed and guilt was one of mine.

~

I was an idiot for drinking the night before with the rest of house. I had next to no sleep making me struggle throughout most of the day. It was an eye-opening lesson that I was no longer in college because slacking off in the real world didn't go unnoticed. Some people gave me strange looks. The guys went out of their way to poke fun at me about it. Their blunt comments about being able to smell the alcohol in my pores happened throughout the day.

I buried myself in my work trying to do my best to expel the nagging guilt that was growing by the day. I was good at separating myself from the story. My research in the past never led me to the front door of the content I was attempting to secure. I never had to deal with looking people in the eye while screwing them over. Most of the people here were great. They were just as innocent as the people that this place may have wronged.

We had a big pitch coming up within the next few weeks so I decided to stay late putting in an extra effort towards my particular part. My assignment was finding a catchy way to lure in a potential client with words while the boys worked on the imagery. This one had me stuck. If we nailed it, the company would secure a new account that would generate millions.

And probably rip off just as many more. Ah, give it a rest Mia.

I heard faint voices coming down the hallway. A shiver ran up my spine when their cold tones registered in my mind. My spot on the floor happened to be near the exit so I was able to catch conversations that echoed off the hallway walls. Plenty of office gossip passed through my ears but nothing that would validate anything Harrison was trying to prove. That was until now. I listened as the chatter in the hall became crisper.

"We should be able to set up the meeting soon. My source tells me that the last pieces of the puzzle are being validated now. It's rather interesting that this particular information landed at our doorstep but I'm not going to question it," Sean said evenly.

"Are they coming here or are we flying out east?" Colin asked flatly.

"We'll fly out for this unveiling. It's something they've wanted for the better half of the last two decades," Sean sneered.

The tone in his voice made my skin crawl. I didn't think evil had an audible sound. I sensed that they might have stopped by the elevators. Their voices were no longer becoming louder.

"It may be enough to finally smoke them out. It will give us the payout we've waited for all these years," Colin responded bitterly.

"If this doesn't get them out of hiding, I don't think anything ever will. I suspect that this particular discovery is the only thing that will do it," Sean declared.

The elevator pinged announcing its arrival and their voices echoed away taking their discussion out of earshot. I curled my palms but my fingers slid all over from the sweat that was coating them. It was clear that most of what Harrison proposed was the truth. They were about to get retribution against someone that wronged them. I didn't have a lot to work with in what they were talking about but something big was about to happen soon. The pressure in my head increased. The reality of how dangerous this was for me tapped at the top of my skull screaming - "I told you so you idiot."

"What are you doing here?"

Ethan's deep voice rang through my head. I looked up to see him standing against the entryway. His deep brown eyes penetrated mine. I didn't hear him talking with the other two so it was unclear if he was with them the whole time or if he sprang up out of nowhere. He tended to do that from time to time. My body instantly aroused soaking him in.