Page 14 of Sinful Negotiations

Once Tessa finished her part, he pushed away from his desk and left his office to speak with the secretary.

“Can I help you, Mr. Cross?”

He dropped Tessa’s resignation on Sherry’s desk. “Please contact Human Resources and inform them of Ms. James’ resignation. Also, call security and have her access codes and passwords removed from everything.”

“Anything else?”

Aidan tracked Tessa’s progress to the elevator, watched her step inside, and the doors close. Her gaze flicked to his once before lowering. “No. That will be all.”

After returning to his office, his mood turned downright cantankerous. Staff avoided him, and it was for the best since one of them relayed information to Chandler James. He had a gut feeling who that person’s identity was and waited for her to take the bait. Jacket in hand, he stormed from his office to meet Tessa on the floor in renovation.

“If there’s anything important, you know how to contact me,” he murmured to Sherry.

“Yes, sir.”

Once at the elevator, Sherry rose from her desk and approached him. “Something I can do for you?” He inwardly flinched when she touched his arm but didn’t pull away. This was it. He knew it was her.

“I wanted you to know Ms. James wasn’t right for you, or this company. The affair would’ve ended badly for both of you. I meant what I said in the elevator.”

His face tilted and he leaned over to make direct eye contact with the mole in his company. He had his suspicions, but now he knew with certainty Sherry funneled information to Chandler James. “You’re fired.”

Aidan turned his back to his ex-secretary, withdrew his cellphone from his pocket, and called security. When the elevator doors opened, he stepped inside, but faced Sherry again.

Wide eyed and pale, she stammered, trying to produce an excuse. He didn’t blink, pushed the second-floor button, and smiled. “You have ten minutes to gather your personal belongings, and security will escort you from the building.”

Her eyes narrowed to thin slits. “I want one million for the photographs. I still have them in my phone and will upload them to the internet if I don’t have the money in twenty-four hours.”

When the doors began to close, he stopped them with one hand. “Do it, Sherry, and I will have you charged with extortion. You can masturbate with them in prison. Don’t ever speak Tessa’s name again, and you’ll never see a penny from me.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can and will,” he growled, as the elevator doors closed.

Chapter 14

Tessa called off work the next day. Aidan assured her everything was fine, that the remaining staff had been informed of the ruse along with security, but the fake resignation wasn’t the problem. She wasn’t happy with her life.

Random cellphone calls where no one spoke started after Sherry was fired. Was the woman stalking her? And the black van? She was sure she’d seen it several times outside the apartment complex.

Monday and Tuesday night, she didn’t sleep a wink and had to set her phone to vibrate. Many times, she picked it up, intending to call Aidan or hoping he’d called her.

Late Tuesday afternoon a dozen white roses were left on her doorstep with a red silk ribbon securing them together. Tessa sniffed the fragrant petals and searched for a card, but there wasn’t one.

She filled a vase and placed them inside, admiring the perfect petals with a whimsical smile. Aidan? Her lips twitched because he’d never sent her anything before. She considered throwing them away but decided against it. They were only roses.

By Wednesday morning, she’d resolved to forget the incident and focus on her job. Paranoid every time someone glanced at her wrong kept her on edge. Being at work was better than sitting at home and flinching every time a door closed, or a dog barked. She needed familiarity, and for life to return to normal.Nothing happened, she reminded herself, making her way into the office.

When Aidan stepped off the elevator, she tensed with the overwhelming urge to run to him. Dressed in all black, he looked like the devil on the prowl...dangerous, delicious, and tempting. He paused in the corridor, slightly turned his head over hisshoulder, but quickly continued in the direction of his office. Five minutes later, an email slid across her screen.

“Be in my office in ten. We need to discuss the new contract.”

New contract?Tessa sifted through the files on her desk, but couldn’t find a new proposal, so there was nothing to discuss. She wasn’t up for a confrontation of any kind, so she fired a reply to him with one line.“I don’t have a new file, so please forward the information.”

There, that should do it. Tessa refocused on the numbers on her laptop screen, forcing Aidan out of her mind. It wasn’t five minutes later when he stormed into her office and slammed the door.

“I need information on the new contract now.”

Her gaze didn’t lift from the screen. “I don’t have anything as I explained in the email, Mr. Cross.”

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