The Seduction 3 (4 page)

“Gone where?” I ask
curiously.

She shrugs. “I never
know. He does his own thing. Our father was the only one who ate a
real breakfast.”

Isabelle looks down,
and I see the sadness in her eyes. The Ashcroft siblings may not be
relatives by blood, but they were his children too -- they spent most
of their lives with Ashcroft.

“I didn’t have a
chance to say, but I’m really sorry for your loss,” I tell her
quietly. “I didn’t know him very well, but I could tell he was a
great guy.”

Isabelle looks
surprised. “He was,” she says, softening. “There’s nobody
like him in the world.”

We sit silently for a
moment, and I feel a rush of warmth for this girl. I was an only
child, and always wanted siblings. I realize for the first time that
Isabelle, Riley, and even Brent are connected to me too now. I’m
not so naive to think we will all bond overnight, but maybe, in
time...

“What are you doing?”
Brent’s voice snaps through my thoughts. I freeze, a muffin halfway
to my mouth, before I realize his anger is directed at Isabelle.

“Nothing,” she says
quickly, looking down. “Just, she came in...”

“We talked about
this,” Brent hisses. “And here you are, going behind my back.”

Isabelle seems to
crumble right in front of me. “I know, I’m sorry.” She looks
nervous, getting to her feet and scurrying towards the door.

“We were just having
breakfast,” I speak up, confused by Brent’s anger.

His eyes flick back
towards me. “The car is here,” he says shortly. “Are you ready?
You have a busy schedule. You can’t be late.”

“Of course.” I grab
my plate and a glass of juice. I can eat in the car. “It was nice
talking to you, Isabelle,” I add as I pass.

She looks down at the
floor, shoulders tense, and obediently waits for Brent to leave
before she follows him out.

Weird.

* * *

I don’t have time to
think about the strange scene with Brent and Isabelle for long. As
soon as I get in the limo, I tap a quick text to Vaughn to meet me
later, and then dive into the first of a dozen thick reports on
Ashcroft Industries. I read as quickly as I can for the drive into
New York, but by the time we draw up outside a towering skyscraper in
Midtown, I’ve still barely got my head around the company.

“Right this way, Miss
Ashcroft.” A perky secretary greets me in the lobby, ushering me
past security to a glass elevator.

“It’s Fawes. My
name,” I add awkwardly. “I was never an Ashcroft.”

“Of course.” The
secretary gets out a palm pilot device, and I swear she’s sending
out a memo about my name even as we speak. “Everyone’s excited to
meet you.”

I think she’s just
exaggerating, but when the elevator doors open on the thirty-fifth
floor, she hasn’t lied. People are lined up in the hallway to greet
me, a blur of faces all shaking my hand and welcoming me to the
company.

“Thank you,” I
mumble, my head already spinning. “It’s great to meet you too.”

“We’re like a big
family here,” the secretary explains. “If Ashcroft trusted you to
take the reins, then that means we’re all happy to have you.”

Not everyone.

As we make our way
across the office floor, I notice a few people hanging back, scowling
in my direction. I remember that Brent has been a part of the company
for years, and has probably built up his own loyal following too. No
matter what the secretary says, I’m sure there are plenty of people
just waiting to see me fail.

I don’t know yet who
I can trust.

“I’ll leave you
with Cameron McCullogh.”

I’m deposited in an
impressive corner office, decorated with modern glass and chrome
furniture, and with drop-dead gorgeous views of the city.

“A pleasure to meet
you, Keely.”

I turn. A handsome man
in his thirties gets up from behind the desk, and comes to shake my
hand.

“Mr...” My mind is
already blank, but the man just flashes an easy smile.

“Call me Cam. I was
Ashcroft’s second-in-command here. Did you meet everyone outside?”

“Yes.” I nod. “I’m
afraid I can’t promise to remember all the names...”

Cam chuckles. “Don’t
worry about it. This is all a lot to take in, but you’ve got all
the time in the world to get to know us all. Cynthie?” He turns to
the secretary. “Hold my calls for the rest of the afternoon. I’m
sure Keely here has plenty of questions to get us started.”

Cynthie nods, and
withdraws, closing the door behind her.

“Take a seat.” Cam
gestures to the couch by the windows. “Can I get you a drink, some
iced tea? Twenty years in the States and I’m still not used to it,”
he adds with a grin. “As far as I’m concerned, tea should be
drunk steaming hot with milk and sugar.”

“No, thanks, I’m
fine.” I sit down, relaxing a little. There’s something about
Cam’s smiling blue eyes and faint Scottish accent that sets me at
ease. “I’m sorry you have to walk me through all of this. I know
you must be busy.”

“Nonsense,” Cam
insists. “I’m here to help you with whatever you need.”

“Well,” I start,
pulling out my legal pad and a pen. “Maybe you could start at the
beginning, with Ashcroft’s different subsidiaries?”

* * *

Three hours, and two
cups of ‘real’ tea later, and I’m getting a headache. Despite
Cam patiently talking me through the set-up and day-to-day
operations, we haven’t even begun to touch on the real business of
the company.

“What about the
investors?” I ask, closing my notebook for a moment and stretching
out my writing hand. “Brent says there’s a takeover bid, another
company wanting to buy up the business. Do you think I should
consider it?”

Cam leans back. “It’s
certainly an option. The share price has dropped since Ashcroft died,
and this would be one way for you to relieve yourself of the burden.
But this company has tried to launch a takeover bid before,” he
adds, “And Ashcroft turned them down every time. It’s a hedge
fund, real cloak and dagger. We don’t even know who’s behind the
money.”

“But what about the
share price?” I ask. “They say it’s gone down.”

Cam gives me a
reassuring smile. “Share prices bounce around all the time. Things
will stabilize once they see it’s business as usual here.”

“I just don’t know
if I’ll be more harm than good.” I sigh, looking around. It’s
not just this office, but factory plants and offices all around the
country. Thousands of people whose jobs now depend on me.

Cam keeps smiling.
“You’ve got time. We don’t need to make any big decisions right
away. I’ve got things under control here at HQ, so you just settle
in, get a feel for things, see how it goes.”

I exhale, relieved.
“OK, sounds like a plan.”

“I’ve kept your
schedule this week pretty light,” Cam continues, checking his
tablet. “We’ll take meetings with all the department heads, so
you can hear how they’re running things. And since the gala is
cancelled--”

“What gala?” I ask.

“Oh, you didn’t
know?” Cam pauses. “Every year, the company hosts a charity
fund-raising gala. Black-tie affair, we usually raise about
half-a-million dollars for good causes. It was Ashcroft’s pet
project,” he adds with a smile.

“But you said it’s
cancelled?”

Cam clears his throat.
“Brent said it wouldn’t be appropriate this year, since Ashcroft
just passed...”

I feel a flash of
anger. Typical Brent, ignoring people in need. He’d been the one to
hurry on the reading of the will, not caring about the charity
donations Ashcroft had left.

“When was it
cancelled?” I ask. “Is it too late to change the plans again?”

Cam looks thoughtful.
“That shouldn’t be a problem. We host it in the same place every
year, and I’m sure the caterers and staff are all still available.”

“Then make the call,”
I decide. “The gala is going ahead -- in Ashcroft’s memory. It’s
what he would have wanted.”

“What about Brent?”

I narrow my eyes.
“Screw Brent. He’s not the one in charge here. I am.”

Cam looks at me, slowly
breaking into a smile. “I can see why Ashcroft picked you,” he
says with a chuckle. “You’re going to do him proud.”

VAUGHN

I meet Keely in the
city at the Ashcroft Industries headquarters. I want to see what the
old man built on his lifetime of betrayal, and when I get there, it’s
everything I expected: a massive, fuck-off testament to lies and
deception. There’s no mention of my dad, or everything he
sacrificed to build the company. The glossy brochure in the waiting
area doesn’t even say that he started this place from nothing with
Ashcroft, it’s all boasting and puff pieces about the bastard
himself.

He deleted my father
from history so completely, it’s like he never existed.

I pace around,
impatient. Keely’s meetings have run long, and although some
assistant runs up to offer me a drink every five minutes, I don’t
want to spend another minute here more than necessary.

There’s no point in
stalking around and getting to know the place, when soon enough, I’ll
see it all destroyed.

Finally, the doors at
the end of the hall open. Keely comes out, laughing with some guy
right beside her, a tall guy in a suit.

What the fuck?

I tense, seeing the way
he leans in to murmur something in her ear. She smiles up at him, and
he rests his hand on her arm for a moment.

Jealousy slams through
me.

I stride over to them.
Keely turns, seeing me. “Vaughn!” She smiles. “This is Cam
McCullough. He was second in command to Ashcroft, so he’s been
explaining everything to me.”

I meet Cam’s eyes
with a glare.
Back the fuck off
,
I tell him without words, but the guy doesn’t flinch, just holds
out his hand for me to shake.

“Great to meet you,”
he says. “And Keely, I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early.”

She laughs. “I’ll
be right here, but I’ll need something stronger than tea.”

“Whatever you need,
I’m at your service.” Cam salutes.

I bet he is. I watch
his gaze move over her body, the round globes of her ass high and
tight under her skirt, and it makes me want to punch his lights out.

“You ready to go?”
I ask Keely, fighting to keep my cool.

“I’m all yours.”
She smiles, tucking a hand through my arm. I glare at Cam over my
shoulder as we walk away.

You hear that, buddy?
Look all you want. She’s mine.

“You mind if we do
some shopping?” Keely asks as the elevator doors slide shut.

I grab her right away
and kiss her hard against the wall. I thrust my tongue deep into her
mouth and feel her body go slack against me.

That’s right, try
thinking about some other guy when all you want is my dick buried to
the fucking hilt.

The doors open. I
release her, and she stumbles, losing her balance. I take her arm and
guide her outside. “Are you done with the meetings?” I demand,
wanting to get the hell out of there.

She blinks, still
flustered. “For today, but I need to pick up a few things while
we’re in the city. I’m going to need all kinds of new clothes for
these meetings. This won’t cut it,” she sighs, looking down. “Not
to mention cocktail dresses and a gown for the gala the company is
throwing this weekend...”

“A gala?” I ask,
half-listening.

“For charity.
Ashcroft ran it every year...”

As we catch a cab to
5th Avenue, Keely talks about what a saint and a martyr old man
Ashcroft was. I blank it out, still rattled by my jealous rage
upstairs. I don’t get jealous. I never give a fuck enough to care.
But seeing that Cam guy’s hand on Keely’s arm made me see red.

What the fuck is wrong
with me? Why should I care if some dumb schmuck gets a hard-on
looking at the girl? It doesn’t mean she’s going to drop to her
knees for him. Keely’s not like that.

But
what if she is?

I feel a chill. I
trusted a woman once. I even thought I loved her, back when I
believed that love even existed. But she was just playing games with
me, tying me up in knots until the day she fucked me over and
betrayed me.

I look at Keely, so
open and sweet. So eager to please me, she’ll take my cock any
place, any time and beg for more. I want to believe she’s
different, that she would never do that to me.

But I thought that
about Julianne too, and look what the fuck happened there.

Love
is bullshit. They all betray you in the end.

* * *

We hit Saks so Keely
can grab the things she needs. The clerk ushers her into a dressing
room. I move to follow.

“Sorry, sir. No men
allowed.” The older woman stops me. “But you’re welcome to wait
here.” She gestures to a seating area, filled with other
pussy-whipped guys toting handbags and carriers.

I flash her a
panty-dropping smile, the kind that makes women fall flat on the
floor and spread their legs. “You can bend the rules, I’m sure.”

Right on cue, the woman
blushes. “I don’t know...”

“I won’t tell.” I
lean in to whisper in her ear, letting my lips brush against her
skin. “It’ll be our little secret.”

I feel her shiver. “I
suppose...” She bites her lip, looking around. “Go on, before
someone sees.”

“Thanks, doll.” I
wink, and she turns bright red. Poor woman, I bet she hasn’t been
fucked right in years. Hell, she’s probably going to lock herself
in the storage room right now and get herself off, rubbing hard as
she imagines me sinking deep in her cunt.

Don’t say I never
contribute to society.

The dressing room is
empty, except a drawn curtain at the end. I yank it open.

Keely lets out a
shriek. “You scared me,” she gasps. She’s zipping up a silky
little cocktail dress. It’s got a tight bodice that shoves her
breasts high together: two ripe peaches, just waiting for a juicy
bite.