Sleeping With My Boss: A Standalone Novel (An Alpha Billionaire Romance Love Story) (A Dirty Office Romance) (122 page)

“Damn!” Adam said too loudly into the
phone. “No, I haven’t spoken with him today. Find him though, quickly! If the
police or the press finds him first, there is no telling what the old SOB might
say to get himself into even more trouble.”

“I know. Adam, I’m looking. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he said as he disconnected
the call.

CHAPTER
SEVEN

ADAM

  
Alicia
called me around six. “I found Miles. I see why you were so worried about what
he would say. He’s an idiot for such a smart man.”

“I know,” I said. “You can fill me in on
the details at dinner if we’re still on?”

I could almost hear the smile in her voice
as she said, “There is nothing I’d rather do tonight. You sound better than
earlier, I’m glad.”

“Yeah, I feel better. I’ve spent the day
with Mac going over just exactly what Marjorie can and cannot do as far as my
firm is concerned. I stand to lose a chunk of money, but she cannot take my
business over.”

“That is good news!” Alicia said happily.
“Does this mean she can’t fire me, either?” She sounded like she was kidding,
but it had crossed my mind, too.

“Never!” I told her, “My employees, and my
lover for that matter, are out of her control.”

“I’m really glad things are looking
better, babe. Where are we having dinner?”

“At Romaletti’s, if that’s okay?”

“Of course.”

“Would you mind meeting me there at seven-thirty?
I just have a few more things to take care of first.”

“Not at all, I’ll see you then.

Alicia was already seated at the table
Marco saves for us when I walked in at seven fifty-five. She was looking out
the window watching the ducks and I got to study her profile as I approached
the table. She’s so beautiful it takes my breath away. When she looked up and
saw me, I could see the light in her eyes, and I loved it. I bent down and
kissed her cheek. “Hi, baby, I’m sorry I’m late.” I had stopped and bought her
a bouquet of orchids from a street vendor. I handed them to her and she buried
her nose in them and then smiled up at me. “It’s okay, I was just getting
worried.”

“I’m sorry you worried, but all is well.”
She didn’t ask any questions about why I was late and I was glad. I was just
happy being here with her and I didn’t want anything else getting in the way of
that. Marco prepared an exquisite meal for us, and while we ate, I said, “Okay,
tell me what happened with Miles today.”

She rolled her eyes. “So, I was in my
office making phone call after phone call and he was suddenly on the line
saying, ‘Hi there, young lady, I hear you’re looking for me.’

“‘Yes, Mr. Brigham, I have been. I’m sorry
to have to tell you this, but the District Attorney has issued a warrant for
your arrest.’ He cussed so much and so loudly I had to hold the phone back from
my ear. Finally, he calmed down and said,

“‘So what now?’

“‘I need you to meet me at the station, to
turn yourself in.’

“‘And why the hell would I want to hand
myself over to the piranhas?’ was his reply.”

I shook my head. I could just hear him.
“So what did you tell him?”

“The truth,” she said. “I told him,
‘Because, sir, if you don’t, they’ll come looking for you. It won’t be pleasant
when they find you, and they’ll make sure the media is on full alert, as well.’
He didn’t agree to turn himself in right then; he wanted to see me at the
office first, so I agreed.’”

She looked like she was remembering
something else. She had a pained expression on her face and I asked, “Did he
not show up?”

“He showed up. It was just that in between
that time was when Marjorie came in shooting off her mouth and I smacked her,”
she admitted. I couldn’t help it – I laughed loud enough for other people to
glance at our table. Marjorie had it coming, and I was sorry I missed it.

I laughed again and she said, “I’m so
sorry. She made me so angry I just wasn’t thinking.”

  
“I
don’t know why you’re still apologizing.”

“She marched into my office and told me
she was taking over the business and I were going to be fired.”

“Sounds like she asked for it.”

  
“I’ve
never hit anyone in my life.”

“Some people don’t understand anything
else,” I told her. “Besides, I’m sure everyone knows she goaded you into it.
Tell me more about what happened with Miles.”

 
“I
spent a half an hour telling him what evidence the DA claimed to have. He
denied killing Vick again, but then added that, ‘the stupid little bastard had
it coming.’”

“He has no filters,” I said. She nodded
and grimaced.

 
“So
what happened at the police station?” I asked

  
“He
was read his rights and booked. I watched the video. It’s grainy and it could
be Miles, but I don’t see it as proof. Anyways, I pushed for the bail hearing,
and he was let go on two million dollars bond and he had to surrender his
passport.”

“Did he cuss a lot?”

She laughed. “Under his breath,
thankfully. Brett called while I was there, though, and told me he found
David.”

  
“Great!
Where is he?”

 
“He
is surrounded with police and federal agents. They are there for his
protection, but Brett says the manpower is overkill.”

“Yeah, the Feds have some kind of stake in
him they’re not telling us about.”

“Right? So anyways, Brett is going to look
into that. There is one more thing…”

“What’s that?”

“Probably nothing, but I ‘ran into’ Jack
again at Starbucks after I left the courthouse. Once again, he said it was a
coincidence, but I’m beginning to wonder…”

I didn’t like that at all, but I also
didn’t want it to damper what I had planned. “We’ll talk about that later,
baby. In the meantime, promise me you won’t be alone with him until we figure
out his angle.”

“I don’t think…” The look on my face must
have convinced her not to argue because she said, “Okay, I promise.”

Marco sent over a rich piece of chocolate
cake and when we finished our dessert, we walked around the duck pond again and
watched the swans glide across the surface. Toward the end of the deck was an
old-fashioned light post. I led her over to it and turned her so her back was
against it. She grinned up at me, thinking I was going to kiss her, but I had
bigger plans. I knelt down on one knee and watched her eyes widen.

“What are you doing?” I pulled the velvet
box I was carrying in my pocket out and flipped it open to reveal the ring
inside. “Adam…”

I laughed. “Shush! I was going to wait for
Christmas to do this, but with all that’s been happening; I thought we needed
something to look forward to right now. Alicia Winston, will you marry me?”

She looked stunned. We had spent so much
time talking about mine and Marjorie’s marriage that we had never mentioned our
own happening someday. I had thought about it though, a lot. I knew I wanted
her to be my wife more than anything in the world and I was sure that somehow
everything else would work out if only we were together.

Alicia’s face told me she felt the same
way once the shock wore off. “Yes, oh, Adam, yes, I’ll marry you,” she said
with tears in her eyes.

I slipped the beautiful diamond on her finger
and then stood to kiss her. Marco’s staff came out on cue and suddenly violins
were playing somewhere across the pond. We kissed in the moonlight, feeling the
warm glow that love brings with it. It was a beautiful night that I knew I’d
look back on forever when I needed to smile.

When it was time to go, I left my car with
the valet at Marco’s and told him I would send for it tomorrow. I drove
Alicia’s car to her apartment, and we barely made it across the threshold
before we began tearing at each other’s clothing like teenagers. The stress of
the day and the excitement of the evening had manifested itself in an
animal-like lust that neither of us could – or wanted – to control. When we
were fully inside and the door was locked behind us, I lowered her down to the
carpet in the living room and began my exploration of her body with my hands,
lips, and tongue.

Alicia moaned and writhed on the carpet,
begging for more. I gave it to her, licking and sucking her to an almost
screaming orgasm before I finally slid my throbbing erection inside of her. It
didn’t take long for both of us to explode simultaneously, and I held her
afterwards and rocked up inside of her for a long time before looking at her
face and saying, “Damn! If that’s what stress does for us, I think we need more
of it.”

 
“I
agree,” she said as she snuggled into me.

 
We
lay there like that for a long time enjoying the silence like only lovers can
until it was rudely shattered by the ringing of my phone. I refused to let go
of her, so I half-dragged her along with one hand while I reached my jacket and
pulled the phone out of the pocket. I looked at the face and said,

“Hmm, it’s Mac. I wonder why he’s calling
so late. Hey Mac, what’s up?”

“Marjorie’s dead.”

I pulled my arm out from underneath Alicia
and sat up. “What?”

“She’s dead, Adam. The police are here…”

“Jesus, I’ll be right there.” I ended the
call and Alicia said,

“Your face is as pale as a ghost. What
happened?”

“Marjorie is dead.”

CHAPTER
EIGHT

ALICIA

  
Adam
tried to go without me, but I wouldn’t let him. When we got there, we were
turned away by the officer guarding the door. Adam told him who he was, though,
and insisted on talking to the detective in charge of the case. They made us
wait for half an hour before two detectives appeared at last. The older one
introduced them, but directed everything toward Adam. “This is Detective Cane
and I’m Samuels,” he said. “How did you know what happened?”

“My partner called me. He said he received
a call from Marjorie’s lawyer. I don’t know why he called Mac and not me.
Anyways, we came right over. But, I still don’t know what happened to her. Was
it an accident?”

The detective acted as if he had just
noticed me then and said, “And you are?”

“My name is Alicia Winston. I am Mr.
Hanson’s associate.”

The detectives exchanged a glance that
said they weren’t buying the “associate” thing at eleven-thirty pm, but they
didn’t push it. I had my hand on Adam’s arm. His muscles felt tense and I could
tell that he was growing impatient.

“What happened to her?” he asked again.

Instead of answering his question, the
detective said, “Mr. Hanson, maybe you and your ‘associate’ can come inside
with us and answer a few questions.”

“Fine,” Adam agreed. He was definitely
annoyed. He’s used to being the one in control. This was going to be hard on
him. We followed the detectives around the caution tape and into the lobby of
the building.

Once inside, the detective that had been
doing the talking thus far said, “Mr. Hanson, would you follow me?”

“Ms. Winston, I’ll need you to come with
me,” instructed the other detective. I looked at Adam and he gave me a slight
nod before following the detective to a seat across the room. It was going to
be a long night.

I followed Detective Cane across to a
couch in the lobby and he gestured for me to take a seat. I looked across the
room at Adam. He looked lost and even a little nervous, which was totally out
of character. My heart was aching for him. I looked towards the detective and
said,

“Can we please just get this over with?
It’s been a long day.”

He sat down next to me. “Ms. Winston, can
you tell me how well you knew Mrs. Hanson?”

I sighed; my headache had finally grown
into a full-blown migraine. It was hard to think around the way it was
pounding.

“I did not know her well. I had met her on
several occasions, and we weren’t on the best of terms.”

“And why was that?”

“Because I have been seeing Adam for the
past six months or so. He and Marjorie were separated for quite some time
before he and I began seeing each other, but she was a bitter woman, and she
was angry with me for whatever reason.” The detective raised an eyebrow, and
made a note on the little pad he carried.

“How did Mr. Hanson get along with his
wife?”

“Ex,” I corrected him. “It was an ugly
divorce. Adam obviously wasn’t pleased with what was going on between them.”

“May I ask where you were earlier this
evening?” the detective said as he absently scratched his head with his pen.
Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.