Mason opened up his laptop, picked up the remote to the projector, and pushed a button. The white screen on the opposite wall lit up with the images of the video Lanie and the girls had recorded from the closet next to Scott’s office at Foreplay.

David broke off our staring contest when he heard his own voice claiming a kickboxing accident as the reason for his ugly mug. I chuckled because that shit was funny.

I looked at Mason and jerked my head toward the door. He nodded and went over to stick his head out into the waiting area. A couple of moments later he swung the door open wide, and in sauntered Dez with Scott Christopher in tow.

Scott came to an abrupt halt just inside the door, his attention immediately taken by the giant white screen playing an action-packed movie with all the right ingredients of a blockbuster: highly illegal business dealings mixed with very amateurish porno action.

Mason closed the door behind Dez because we were way past the line of inappropriate behavior in the workplace. Scarlet Lotus didn’t need sexual harassment charges on top of the scandalous activities already well under way.

David bolted out of his chair when he saw Scott. “What the hell are you doing here?” I think it was safe to say he was surprised. And maybe even a little pissed.

If the flexing of his jaw muscles and the clenching of fists at his sides were any indication, I’d say Scott was just as stunned and every bit as pissed. The tension between the two of them was so thick it crowded in like the cramming of a dozen people into a phone booth.

Scott looked at David and then jabbed a finger in the air toward the Oscar-winning performance. “What the fuck, Stone?”

Plan B was looking very promising.

“You tell me! I thought you said your place was secure!”

Scott glowered at Dez, and I wasn’t about to have that shit, so I stood up and pulled her behind me. Of course, Dez wasn’t going for any of that damsel-in-distress stuff. I’d swear the chick was a dude under that skirt if it weren’t for the fact that she clearly was not.

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She stepped around me and lifted her chin in defiance. “I recorded that video. Did a pretty good job of it, if I do say so myself. Oh, and I quit. By the way, I’m not scared of you, so if you come after me, you better know I’ll monkey-stomp your goddamn ass.”

Scott waved her off like she was an annoying gnat. I was pretty sure he actually did consider her to be another inconvenience, one he didn’t have time to worry about, which was a good thing. With any luck, he really would leave her alone. The same would not be true for Stone.

My guess was that Scott knew David’s arrogance was what had gotten Scott into this predicament in the first place. Scott had to remedy that right here, right now, or else be prepared to go to war with the drug dealers and influential people he was involved with. It was a given that the suppliers of his cocaine were ruthless killers when it came to protecting their commerce, but he couldn’t discount the high rollers to whom he sold not only cocaine but pussy as well. Their hands might have been baby soft and clean as a whistle, but their money allowed those same hands to stretch far and wide and hire another pair willing to get dirty for the right price.

“Do you have any idea what will happen to both of us if this gets out? Fuck that. I’m not going down with you. You better fix this shit. Pronto!” Scott turned toward me and put his hands on his hips. “What’s he got that you want?”

“Half of my parents’ company … and Delaine Talbot’s contract.”

I’d never seen a person’s face turn that shade of red before.

Scott’s head did this really slow turn toward David that sort of reminded me of Linda Blair in her most infamous role. “You stole the contract?” he yelled.

Naturally, I couldn’t have all the yelling. “I’m going to need you to keep your voice down, Christopher. There are other employees here, and the walls aren’t really all that thick. Speaking of which, I’m told yours are pretty thin as well. Might want to get that fixed,” I said with a wink that went unnoticed because he was still glaring at David with murderous intent in his eyes.

“Oh, stop being so dramatic,” David told him, smug as you please. “The contract is safe, and nobody is going to see it as long as Crawford hands over his half of the company. Relax.”

I laughed. “Perhaps you missed the memo, David.” I lifted my hand toward the screen. “Clearly, I’m in a better position than the chick getting cocaine snorted off her stomach while you stuff your clumsy fingers inside her sister’s pussy like she’s the Thanksgiving turkey at the crack house down the street.”

David smirked. “I’m calling your bluff. We may not be best friends anymore, but we were once upon a time. I know you. You’re too sweet on that little girl to let me make a fool of her publicly. Hand over the company and destroy all the copies of this goddamn video, or I’m exposing you and her.”

He was right. I would do anything to keep the secret of our relationship from the public eye, even if it meant watching Scarlet Lotus be run into the ground by the likes of David Stone. But I still had one more trick up my sleeve.

Plan C it was, then.

“Mason,” I said for a second time.

Again Mason got down to business with his laptop, and the video from inside Scott’s office stopped, only to be replaced with a different scene. This one did more than make my skin crawl. It made something not altogether human take shape inside me. I couldn’t watch, but there was no escaping the sounds of the conversation that had taken place right before the assault. At first Lanie was pissed and David was smug. When she laughed at his proposal, he was the one who got pissed. And then he tried to force himself on her.

My body shook, fists clenching, jaw ticking, leg bouncing. I wanted to kill him. He was in my sights, a big fat-ass bull’s-eye practically tattooed on his already battered face. The worst part about that moment was watching him sit there expressionless while taking it all in. There wasn’t an ounce of remorse in his whole body. When Lanie screamed, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Turn it off,” I told Mason, who did so as quickly as he could, but not before the scene where I burst through the door and grabbed David to throw him off my girl.

“Kickboxing accident, huh?” Scott asked. “Dude, you’re sick. I can’t believe you did that.”

“Oh, don’t act all self-righteous with me, you prick!”

“What the bloody hell have you done now?” A new voice entered the conversation, and we all whipped around toward the sound. Harrison Stone stood in the doorway with that authoritative look that said we were all in trouble.




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