The VIP Room (40 page)

E
mma had been warned
that Saturdays were a busy day at the department store, but she wasn’t fully prepared for it. Customer after customer lined up at her register, piles of garments waiting to be rung up and bagged. She lost track of time, only aware it was time for her lunch break when Sophie and Jill showed up. Jill’s mother brought them to the mall to hang out for the afternoon and Sophie had promised to stop by the department store so Emma could help her change her infusion set on her insulin pump.

“Give me a minute,” she said, gesturing to the still four deep line of customers.

Sophie wandered off, a look of impatience stamped to her face—not that it was anything new these days. Emma had great respect for parents of teens. She had never imagined that taking on her little sister would be easy, but she hadn’t imagined it would be so difficult, either.

She finished with her last customer and grabbed her bag out from under the counter, calling to her supervisor that she was going to lunch. The woman just nodded, bogged down with her own line of customers. She wasn’t quite sure where Sophie had gone, but any place that displayed tight, low hung jeans in the window was probably a good bet.

Emma was thinking about half a dozen things as she walked through the store, so she wasn’t paying much attention to what was around her. She was still thinking about the report they’d shown on the news the night before, still thinking about all the families that didn’t deserve to be evicted because of her. The television station’s website had registered quite a few comments that were strongly in the tenants’ favor, but there were those that were supportive of DJC’s right to do whatever they wanted with a building they now owned. The law was clearly on DJC’s side, and some people saw that. It wasn’t helping their cause.

She was thinking about Sophie too, about the homecoming dance and the fact that a boy had asked to take her. It would be Sophie’s first official date, and that made Emma nervous. She wasn’t sure she was ready for this sort of thing. She didn’t know what advice to give to Sophie. Her experiences were more…unorthodox. How could she tell Sophie how to respond to a boy’s actions on a proper date when she had no experience to draw on?

And then there was school. She’d gotten a C on her last biology exam. Granted, she took it the morning after learning that she’d lost her job, but that was no excuse. She had to maintain a 3.8 grade point average to keep her scholarships. Not only that, but she was pre-med. Biology was one of those classes she really had to ace in order to get into the courses she needed for school.

There was so much going on in her head. Too many things to worry about.

Just as she stepped out of the department store, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her over against the wall, blocking her view of the busy mall.

“You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?” Dante Caito glared down at her, dressed as always in an impeccable suit that fit like it was made for him—which it probably was.

“And you like proving how powerful you are by forcing yourself on people.”

“I know you were behind the news story last night. Focusing it on that family with those poor, little kids was brilliant. We’ve been getting outraged phone calls at the office all day.”

“Good. Maybe now you can see that you can’t just mess with someone’s life without suffering a few consequences.”

He grunted as he moved closer to her, balancing himself on one hand that he pressed to the wall just above her head. “People will forget by Monday. Come February, they won’t even remember why that building was there in the first place.”

“Then you win again. So what do you care what I do?”

“Because I don’t like the unexpected. And you…you are unpredictable.”

“You took my job away from me. Now you’re trying to take my home. Did you really think I would just lie down and let you do it?”

“In my experience? Yes.”

“Well, then, you’re messing with the wrong woman.”

She stepped into him. He didn’t move, didn’t even seem aware that she was less than a few inches from his incredibly toned abs, his chiseled jawline. If he turned his head just slightly…and the smell of his cologne…

Emma pressed a hand to his chest, trying to ignore the heat that suddenly seemed to infuse itself through her palm and up her arm.

“If you didn’t want a battle, you shouldn’t have started the war.”

“You need to learn that I am so much more powerful than you will ever be. I will crush you, Miss Emma Allred.”

“You have to do a little more than that to scare me.”

She pushed against his chest in an attempt to get away from him. She thought for a moment that he wasn’t going to let her go. He studied her, his expression unreadable. For a wild moment, she thought he might kiss her. But then he backed up a step and gestured for her to go.

“Watch your back, Miss Allred. You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

Emma didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing the fear swim across her face. She walked away with her head held high, her shoulders strong, her spine straight. But she was scared. More scared than she’d ever been.

“
H
e was cute
.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“Emma doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

Emma glanced at Sophie even as she pressed the rounded inserter against her abdomen. “You say that like I’m not capable of having a boyfriend.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Emma popped the trigger, and the long needle that threaded the catheter under Sophie’s skin pushed into her body. Sophie didn’t even wince.

“If I wasn’t so busy going to school and keeping down a job, I might have time for a boyfriend.”

“When’s that going to be?”

It was a good question. Emma carefully pulled the needle out and bent the needle before tossing the trash into her purse for later disposal. Then she handed the insulin pump to Sophie to prime the tubing.

“What are you going to do for the rest of the afternoon?”

Sophie looked at Jill and Jill shrugged. “Probably just wander around the mall, check out a couple of the shops.”

“You should go to a movie.”

Sophie shook her head. “Nothing good out.”

Emma dug through her purse and handed her a ten dollar bill. “Make sure you eat something decent. And bolus for it.”

“Yes, mother,” Sophie said in her most annoying voice as she jammed the pump into her pocket and headed for the door, Jill behind her.

“Meet me at the store at five.”

Sophie just waved her hand as she slipped out the bathroom door.

Emma turned to the sink and just stood there a moment, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She was only twenty-five years old, yet she felt decades older. Though, she didn’t look anywhere past her age. There wasn’t a wrinkle to be found on her round, pale face, though she would be happy to get rid of some of the spattering of freckles across her nose. Her eyes were still clear, still that pale blue that always seemed to catch people’s attention. And her hair…she’d never been good with styling her hair, but Martha made her go to this salon a few weeks ago and they’d cut it in a style that flattered the shape of her face instead of making it seem wider than it really was. She liked it because it was easy to care for, but she could see now that it made her look a little classier than she was, a little more sophisticated.

It was funny, but she almost didn’t recognize the pretty girl staring back at her from the mirror.

“Kids will wear you out.”

“Hmm?” Emma turned, unaware until that moment that she wasn’t alone.

“I heard you with your daughter. You wouldn’t know it from the way she was acting, but there’s a lot of love there. I could see it in the way she looked at you.”

“Thank you,” Emma said, a little shocked that her eyes filled with tears.

The woman just smiled, patting Emma on the arm as she walked away.

Emma turned her attention back to the mirror, her thoughts rebelliously turning to Dante Caito. He was the man responsible for all the crap that was happening in her life. So why couldn’t she stop thinking about the way he smelled, the way it felt when she touched him?

Maybe Sophie was right. Maybe she needed to make time for dating sooner rather than later.

S
everal days later
, Emma was checking the mail when Mrs. Remy approached her.

“Have you heard the latest?”

Emma shook her head, too busy wondering how the electric bill could be fifty bucks more than it was last month when the weather had been so mild over the last few weeks.

“Those of us who have leases through the end of the year? They’re going to court to have us evicted sooner, saying that the building is a danger and needs to be torn down as soon as possible.”

“What? Can they do that?”

Mrs. Remy shrugged. “They can do whatever they want. They’re corporate America.”

“That’s not right.”

Mrs. Remy laid her hand on Emma’s arm. “There’s no point in getting upset. The only recourse we have is to hire lawyers and fight them in court. But who can afford a lawyer these days?”

“It’s not right,” Emma said again, but Mrs. Remy was already shuffling back to her apartment, mumbling something about big business under her breath.

Emma went upstairs and paced her small living room, anger building up so tightly in her chest that she almost couldn’t catch a breath. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Now they couldn’t wait until after Christmas to throw these poor people out into the cold? Now he had to ruin their last holiday in their homes, ruin the one thing they have to look forward to?

She couldn’t stand it.

And it was all her fault. If she had just kept her tongue, if she hadn’t lost her temper… She had to do something.

She stopped pacing, and her eyes fell on the television. And then she remembered the technology expo. Wasn’t that this week?

A small smile slid over her lips. She knew what she was going to do.

“
H
ere
?”

“Perfect.”

Emma jumped out of the car and began dragging poster board out of the backseat. Todd followed suit, pulling them out from the other side.

“Are you really sure you want to do this?”

“Someone has to.”

“It doesn’t have to be you.”

Todd came around to her side of the car and gathered the boards she’d gathered along with the ones he already had. He carried them toward the park, glancing around as he did, watching closely for any sign of trouble.

It was three o’clock in the morning. Emma didn’t think they would run into any trouble, unless they found a squirrel that wanted to steal the corn nuts she had in her bag.

“They’ll see them before the presentation begins and have them all torn down before he even gets here.”

“Maybe. But at least someone will have seen them.”

It was a large, public park with a band shell right at its heart. The band shell was to be the hub bub of activity for the tech expo tomorrow. The convention center next door liked to hold these larger events outside in order to accommodate more people, and Dante Caito’s announcement tomorrow was likely to be a huge event.

Fortunately, they didn’t have as much security watching over this area as they likely did inside.

Emma and Todd spent more than an hour stapling posters to trees, tables, and the inner walls of the band shell, posters covered with pictures of the people being evicted from Emma’s apartment building with several different slogans, ranging from the mild—stop DJC from making this child homeless—to the inflammatory—DJC is heartless—written around them.

When they were done, there wasn’t a place one could look that wasn’t covered in the colorful posters. Emma looked around and laughter bubbled up out of her chest.

“This is so juvenile.”

“So is he. What is it they say? Fight fire with fire.”

“Yeah.” She walked up to Todd and pressed her forehead against his chest. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Anytime.” He kissed the top of her head lightly. “Let me take you home.”

Emma smiled up at him as he took her hand and led her back to his car.

H
er phone was ringing
before she was fully awake the next morning. She mumbled something incoherent as she pressed it to her ear.

“Did you really think my people wouldn’t find those posters you and your boyfriend put up last night?”

Emma sighed. “It’s too early in the morning for this, Mr. Caito.”

“You keep trying to get the better of me and you keep falling on your face. It’s beginning to get a little tedious.”

“Can I ask you something?”

He didn’t answer. But the line didn’t go dead, either.

“Are you married? Do you have a girlfriend? Is this something you’d get off doing to her?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“What would you do if someone did this kind of thing to someone you loved? Would you just sit back and let it happen?”

“I’d ruin them. But that’s who I am.”

“Then you and I aren’t all that different.”

She disconnected the call and closed her eyes, tossing an arm over her head to block out the sunlight streaming through her bedroom window. She wondered why he refused to tell her about his romantic status but was quite open about answering her other question. Was it because he didn’t want her to know he was alone? Or was that his way of protecting someone he loved?

It made her smile, though, his mention of Todd. It confirmed what she’d suspected for some time now.

He was having her followed. That was how he knew which jobs she was interviewing for, how he knew she was behind the television news story, how he knew the about the posters. But it was also how he was playing right into her hands.

She was going to outsmart him this time.

E
mma wandered through the crowd
, vaguely aware of the chatter around her. Most people were trying to figure out what Dante Caito was going to announce today. Since it was a technology expo, most leaned toward something to do with the software division of his company, but others thought it was a real estate development project. There was some thought that he was going to announce a merger with another company—Juno Technology was the likeliest candidate, apparently. But no one seemed to have a solid lead.

Kurt Michaels, the head of Michaels Tech, came out and tapped on the microphone to get everyone’s attention.

“Welcome to the third day of the Annual South Plains Tech Expo!”

The crowd clapped and cheered, the noise almost deafening despite the venue. Emma made her way to the far left of the space, a perfect place from which to watch the show.

“As most of you here are aware, DJC, Inc. is a leading force in the technology arena. Dante Caito has taken the simply smartphone app and elevated it to new heights, creating applications that can do everything from display 3-D games to lock the doors in your house from a state away. And now Dante is planning a project so big, so complicated, that it will blow your minds.”

Michaels held up his hands to calm the crowd as they again exploded into cheers.

“Before I give too much away, why don’t I bring out the man himself? Ladies and gentlemen, Dante Caito.”

He walked out on the stage like he was Moses parting the Red Sea. His hands were raised to acknowledge the applause of the crowd, a big smile on his full lips. Emma found herself studying the suit he was wearing or, more precisely, the way it fit, before she could pull her thoughts back to the task at hand.

“Thank you, Kurt,” Dante said, gesturing to Michaels as he walked off the stage. “And thank you for this warm reception. Wow, I was not expecting such enthusiasm. But I suppose I should have. We are a tight community, are we not?”

Again, cheers, applause, and comments screamed so loudly and clearly that Dante actually responded to a few before turning his attention back to his reason for being there.

“As you know, my company has often ventured into technology. As Kurt kindly pointed out, we developed smartphone apps that changed the way people looked at their phones. We built computer security software that changed the way banks do business. We’ve worked with the government on encryption software that could, potentially, change the way in which the world shares information. And that, my friends, is just the beginning of what DJC’s software development division has planned for the future.”

More cheers rose all around Emma. But then something changed; something took their attention from Dante’s eloquent speech. As she watched, a huge banner unfurled behind Dante. It was made of two white sheets sewn together, words written in black spray paint. It read: “DJC warps the law to get what they want. Don’t let DJC evict innocent families from their homes!”

A gasp went up in the crowd. Murmurs spread from the front of the crowd all the way to the back. Emma heard some of the comments, mostly shock that someone had the nerve to do such a thing. Others wondering which innocent people DJC was evicting.

Dante didn’t even seem to notice the banner, or the change in the crowd.

But the show wasn’t over yet.

As he began to talk again, the microphone shorted, squawked, and then went out. No one could hear a word he spoke. And then loud music began to play, an old Beatles song,
Hello, Goodbye.

That got Dante’s attention.

He looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. Emma was kind of hoping he’d show the crowd his temper. He noticed the banner then, and she could visibly see the tension dropping onto his shoulders, but he didn’t react in any other way. Instead, he gestured to someone off stage. Almost immediately, his blond assistant came out, a small, battery powered mic in her hands. She quickly wired her boss up, sliding the power pack into his pocket with a certain familiarity that made Emma wonder if their relationship was more than just employer/employee. Not that it really mattered.

The music abruptly stopped. They must have found the little computer bug Leslie put into their system.

Dante was so busy watching Emma and Todd, he’d completely missed Leslie coming from the other direction. And he missed the small crew Leslie organized to help her hand the banner just a few hours before dawn.

Dante waved his hands and began to speak again.

“I apologize. These live events never go quite to plan, do they? But if you will allow me—“

“What does that mean?” one clear voice called out from the crowd. “Who are you evicting?”

“That involves another business deal within another division of DJC.”

“But you know about it.”

Dante stepped back slightly, his head tilted downward as he struggled to find the right words to say. Emma loved it, loved that he was unsure of himself for the first time since their fateful first encounter.

“I think it would be best if we stay on topic,” Dante said. “This is, after all, a tech expo.”

“Yes, but don’t you think your supporters are interested in all aspects of your business?”

And that was when Emma knew it was a reporter. She had hoped there would be reporters present, but she hadn’t been sure. Now…there was no way people would not pay attention to this story.

Score one for the underdog.