“I have connections. I can make things happen for you. I know you have the drive. I can see it in your eyes. And you’re talented. You could be one of the biggest names in the industry with the right teacher. And the things I could teach you …” His voice trailed off suggestively, and Lexi had to fight down the bile that rose in her throat.

Lexi took a deep breath and controlled her raging temper. “Please listen to what I’m going to say so I don’t ever have to speak to you again. I have no desire to ever work for you. As a matter of fact, if you so much as look sideways at me, I will be filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against you. i hear the guys in prison really like a man with a big mouth and deep … pockets.” David reached out to take her hand, but Lexi stopped him. “Touch me again and you will lose a finger.”

David pulled his hand back as if she had slapped it, but kept his twisted smile in place. “Bitch,” he said smugly as he walked away, leaving her fuming in the corner.

Vincent watched David Reid stalk away from Lexi, looking like the pompous ass he was. They had spent quite a while huddled together in the corner—seven long, excruciating minutes to be exact. Vincent knew that because he had watched the entire encounter from start to finish. It began rather cozily, the two with their heads together. When David ran his finger down Lexi’s arm, Vincent had an overwhelming urge to beat the life out of him. Vincent couldn’t see Lexi’s face very well from his angle, but from the shit-eating grin on David’s face, Vincent assumed the conversation was going Reid’s way.

He spent the first half of their conversation hoping Lexi would deck David. He then spent the last half of it wondering what the two of them could possibly have to talk about privately. His paranoia began to set in.

“What is she doing now?” Jade came out of nowhere, her eyes fixed on Lexi and David. “Is she throwing herself at him too?”

“I have no idea.” Vincent turned away when he saw Reid finally leave Lexi’s side.

“He looks awfully happy.” Jade sneered.

“I need a drink.” Vincent walked away, hoping to clear his head. He needed to get the picture of Lexi and David out of his mind before he did something stupid. Hitting him wouldn’t fix anything, even though it would make Vincent feel a hell of a lot better.

As he tossed back his drink, Vincent caught a glimpse of Jade and her barely-there dress making a bee line for Lexi, who stood in the corner looking annoyed. He knew by the expression on Jade’s face that this wasn’t going to end well, so he made an attempt to intercept Jade.

Unfortunately, before he reached his destination, Elizabeth caught his arm and introduced him to a number of the board members for Mello industries, one of the biggest pharmaceutical research companies in town. As he shook their hands, he lost sight of Jade. All he could do was hope for the best, but he truly expected to see security heading toward Lexi and Jade shortly.

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Lexi’s head throbbed as she pulled a bottle of aspirin out of her purse and took two, then paused and popped a third into her mouth. That’s when she saw Jade. She debated chugging the entire bottle and just putting herself out of her misery, but then decided it was time to have it out with the high-priestess of evil once and for all. This conversation had been a long time coming.

“Jade,” Lexi greeted the woman in a disinterested voice.

“I despise you.”

“I assure you, the feeling is completely mutual. Nice talking to you. Are we done now?” Lexi glanced at her watch and shook her head.

“Not by a long shot, you whore.”

Lexi threw back her head and laughed. “I’m a whore? That’s rich. By definition, doesn’t one actually need to be having sex to be a whore, Jade?”

“Enough!” People glanced in their direction when they heard Jade’s highpitched shriek.

“Quiet down, you fool. There are reporters everywhere,” Lexi warned.

“Worried about a little bad press, are you? I would think you’d love it if the magazines printed stories about you and your beloved Vincent.” Jade’s voice took on a maniacal cackle as she spoke.

“If you have something to say, just say it so you can go away.”

“He loves me, so back off.”

“If you were so certain of that, you wouldn’t even be worried about me, Jade. I’d be nothing more than a blip on your insecurity radar instead of a meteor plummeting toward the middle of your relationship.”

“Admit you’re in love with him.”

Lexi debated denying it, but there was no point anymore. Everyone could see it. Hell, Erik even took pictures of it. “Yes, I’m in love with him.”

Jade’s jaw fell open in shock that Lexi had answered truthfully. As if trying to talk herself out of what she heard, she shook her head from side to side. “You don’t love him, you can’t. You don’t even know him.”

That comment made Lexi’s blood boil. “I don’t know him? Are you serious? Let’s see how well you know him, Jade. What’s his favorite color?

Favorite food? His biggest fear? When he was little, what did he want to be when he grew up? Who is he named after?” Lexi stood toe-to-toe with Jade and didn’t flinch, even when Jade seemed ready to gouge her eyes out. Jade’s fury turned to stunned silence as she opened her mouth and closed it a few times, but never uttered a peep.

“He likes it when I wear red,” she feebly offered as if bored by the questions.

Lexi stepped right in Jade’s face and laid into her. “His favorite color is purple. His favorite food is a bacon cheeseburger, extra tomato. He hates your rabbit food. Biggest fear is drowning. Want to know why? When he was fourteen, he went cliff diving with his friends and nearly drowned. He wanted to be a pilot when he was little so he could ‘fly like the birds,’ and he was named after Elizabeth’s favorite uncle.”

“What does any of that matter? I’m the one in his bed.”

Lexi sarcastically clapped her hands. “Congratulations for being able to spread your legs. You have a completely superficial relationship with him, Jade. Admit it. Physical, not emotional. You know where he lives, where he works, and how much money he makes. You know what designer clothes he looks best in and where he likes to eat. You know about Vincent, but you don’t know him, you don’t know the man inside. You have no idea what’s in his heart.”

That sent Jade into a tirade. “And you think you do? You’re some poor, pitiful girl whose whole family up and died on her. He feels bad for you. It’s pity, nothing more.”




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