"It wasn"t me." Her voice was shrill, and she tried to get it together but it was so d.a.m.n hard with the way he looked at her, treated her. Why wouldn"t he listen? Did he think so low of her? Had he always felt this way? "I swear to G.o.d, Alex. It wasn"t me."
"None of this makes sense. None of it." The elevator doors slid open, and he shoved Tessa inside. She turned to face him, out and out crying now. It didn"t matter. She had no reputation to save. "The security guard will escort you out of the building. I don"t ever want to see you step foot into Worth Luxury again."
"Please give me another chance." She was begging. Begging for her job, her life, her love and he brutally rejected her as if she didn"t matter. As if she never mattered.
How could he be so cruel?
"You"ve ruined any chance with me." His voice was like steel, much like his eyes, firm and impossible to penetrate. "Goodbye, Tessa." The doors slid closed and she slumped to the floor, her bottom hitting the ground so hard she cried out. She sobbed the entire ride down, confused by his stern reaction. Why didn"t he let her explain? Why did he look at her as if he hated her? What had she done to him that was so awful?
That he wouldn"t listen to her made no sense. He might be stubborn, but he always listened. Usually he gave up the more bulldog tendencies to Hunter.
Not tonight. He"d given her no leeway, hadn"t wanted to listen to anything she had to say. She was guilty in his eyes. He"d needed no judge and jury, wouldn"t let her say a word. She was wrong. She"d deceived him.
If only he knew the truth...
159.
When the elevator stopped on the first floor, the doors opened and the security guard waited for her on the other side. Seeing her on the floor a ragged mess, sympathy filled his eyes and he stepped in, offering his hand so he could pull her to her feet.
"You okay, Miss Crawford?"
No, she wasn"t okay. She"d never be okay again but she couldn"t admit all her troubles to him. She gave him a false smile and let him tug her up. "Not really, but thank you for asking."
He remained mum, escorting her out of the building just as Alex had promised. She glanced around the expansive first floor lobby, the high ceilings, the billboard-sized posters of attractive models wearing Worth on the walls. She didn"t belong anymore.
She never would.
160.
Chapter Fourteen.
One year later...
"Have they found her?"
Hunter paused in the doorway of Alex"s office, his expression going blank. "I think you need to face facts that we"re never going to find her. Ever." Alex tapped his pen against the edge of the desk and gazed out the window.
It had been a year since that fateful night in his office when he"d accused her of being a spy. He"d believed it with every fiber of his being, had known it to be true. She"d betrayed him. Deceived him in the worst way possible, not only by becoming a loyal and trusted employee but also a woman he"d given his body to.
Given his heart to. He just hadn"t realized it at the time.
Unfortunately, he"d been wrong about the entire situation. Tessa had told him the truth. The spy was the vice president of marketing, Hunter"s right hand man, Stephen. He"d purposely tracked Tessa, had set her up so she would be the one to take the fall. After working so many years for Worth and realizing he"d never go as high as the position he currently held, Stephen had looked for a way to make a substantial amount of money on the side.
So he"d sold secrets to their rivals and a few of the top fashion blogs who he encouraged to spread the gossip. He"d chosen Tessa as his fall guy because she"d rejected him when she first started working at Worth. He"d been interested, had tried to ask her out and she"d refused his offer. He"d set her up out of spite.
Stephen was the worst sort of sc.u.m.
Hunter had been devastated, more determined than ever to throw up walls and never let anyone penetrate him or his trust again. He went through women like they were Kleenex, using them up and tossing them aside before they could get too close. Threw himself into his work, filling the empty vice president position with someone from within his team, a more than competent woman who knew what she was doing and wasn"t afraid to offer her opinion.
Just what they needed at Worth.
Alex had withdrawn. He hadn"t been with a woman since his last night with Tessa. Much like Hunter, he worked hard, harder than he ever had and that was saying much. Ignoring all social obligations and friends, he personally saw to the construction and renovation of the new London location, going there often.
Staying for weeks, sometimes months at a time, going over each and every detail until the store was finally ready to open.
He left for London tomorrow. The grand opening and launch of the new line was in four days" time. He was consumed with it, planning every little detail.
He had no idea what he would do once the store opened and everything fell into place. It was the only project that kept him from obsessing over the one thing he couldn"t have no matter how much he tried, no matter how much he wanted.
Tessa.
"I"m not ready to give up," Alex finally said, earning an eye roll from Hunter. "And neither can you. You owe me."
Hunter had turned him against Tessa. It was his d.a.m.n fault she was gone.
Easier that way, blaming Hunter for everything rather than face his cruel words and actions toward her.
"I don"t owe you s.h.i.t. You just insist I do." Hunter paced Alex"s office. The overall vibe at Worth had changed substantially, first with Tessa"s dismissal, 162 then with Stephen"s discovered betrayal. Employees knew to leave the Worth brothers alone, to give them a wide berth for fear they would snap at any moment"s notice.
Their anger and frustration over the mistakes they"d made had taken over their entire demeanor. Not ready to deal with the simmering anger his brothers were filled with, Rhett had fled. Headed out to the west coast where he pretended to run the Worth Luxury store location in Beverly Hills.
Everyone knew his store manager position was a front. He really spent all of his time fooling around, spending money, s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g women and partying. Rhett Worth had no plans in growing up any time soon, much to Alex"s eternal disappointment.
"You"re leaving for London tomorrow?" Hunter already knew he was leaving. He was just making idle conversation.
Alex had no desire for small talk. Even a year later he was still p.i.s.sed at his brother. Completely irrational, he knew this but couldn"t help it. "I am, though I"m not sure when I"ll be back."
"You don"t know how long you"ll stay?"
"No. But everyone is in capable hands as long as you"re in charge, correct?"
"Of course. But I"m just the marketing guy. You run everything and make sure it"s all going smooth."
"You"re more than just the "marketing guy" and you know it. I won"t be there longer than a few weeks, a month at the absolute most." Alex tore his gaze from the cityscape to study his brother. "I can"t stand being here for too long. I get- antsy."
"You never had a problem before."
"That was before I fired her." He would torture himself for the rest of his days if he had to. He couldn"t let it go.
163.
Didn"t want to let it go.
Hunter sighed. "It"s been a year, Alex. You need to stop beating yourself up."
"I won"t stop until I find her. So I can tell her I"m sorry." So he could tell her he was wrong.
"She"s not worth your agony. It was a business decision, and you took a loss.
Simple as that."
Alex wasn"t quite sure how it happened but next thing he knew he was clear across the room, holding Hunter against the wall, Alex"s hand wrapped around his brother"s throat. "Take it back."
"Jesus, Alex." Hunter"s eyes were wide and full of fear. He was big, but Alex was bigger. He"d kicked Hunter"s a.s.s plenty of times throughout the years though they hadn"t gone at each other in a long time. "Calm down."
"No." Alex pressed against Hunter"s throat, fury making his vision red. "You might be a cold heartless b.a.s.t.a.r.d, but I"m not. Not when it comes to her. Take it back."
"Fine, f.u.c.k, I take it back." Alex released his hold and Hunter shifted away from him, rubbing the side of his neck. "What were you going to do? f.u.c.king kill me?"
"Of course not." Alex smoothed his hands down the front of his jacket, p.i.s.sed that he"d lost it like that. He hated hearing Hunter referring to Tessa in such a callous, careless manner.
It came too close to how Alex had actually treated her that last night. Christ, would he ever be able to forgive himself?
"Felt like you wanted to." Hunter shook his head. "You act like you"ve got your s.h.i.t together but you"re spiraling out of control, Alex. If you keep this up, you"re going to need help."
164.
"Your concern touches my heart but don"t worry, I"m fine." Alex settled back into his chair, wishing Hunter would leave already. He didn"t need to hear his false concern or empty threats.
He"d already heard them what felt like a thousand times before.
"When was the last time you went out with a woman?"
"I don"t need women."
Hunter snorted. "We all need women. At the very least to screw around with. Don"t tell me you haven"t been with a woman since-her." He"d confessed everything to Hunter after he"d terminated Tessa, feeling like an absolute fool for falling for her. Alex had needed someone to talk to and Hunter had actually been supportive though not necessarily surprised. Alex always believed he"d been discreet in his affair with Tessa. He was wrong.
"You already know the answer," Alex said grimly.
"What the h.e.l.l made her so special, huh? Was she that good in bed?" Hunter held his hands up in front of him in a defensive gesture when he saw Alex"s snarl. "Seriously. What is it about Tessa that has you still pining away for her like some sort of lovesick teenage boy a year later?"
"I was in love with her. I just didn"t know it then, and I tossed it away. I tossed her away like she didn"t matter because I was too stubborn to listen. I let her walk out of my life like a complete a.s.shole and now I would give anything to have her back." Alex leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. "I don"t think I"ll ever get her. Ever. I blew it. She"s clearly hiding from me and doesn"t want to be found. I need to accept that and move on."
"You do, bro. You really do."
Alex knew Hunter spoke the truth, no matter how much it hurt. His reality was a nightmare, and he needed to resign himself it was going to be like this for the rest of his life.
165.
He would go on hurting, mourning the loss, wishing she was still by his side.
If he could go back and do it all over again, he would"ve told her how he felt from the beginning. That he"d been too scared to find love but it had come to him anyway in the form of a sweet, thoughtful woman with the curves of a G.o.ddess, the innocent beauty of an angel and the voracious appet.i.te of a vixen.
She was smart and kind, beautiful from the inside out. And he"d let her go because of his stupid pride. Had hurt her beyond repair. Hurt her so badly she hid from him.
Alex couldn"t blame her. He"d f.u.c.ked up big time.
He"d have the rest of his life to pay for it.
Tessa kept her head bent against the bl.u.s.tery wind that swirled around her, her scarf wrapped high around her neck and nearly covering her ears to stave off the bitter chill. A late winter storm, they called it on the weather report this morning.
b.l.o.o.d.y miserable was more like it.
She wanted to laugh. She"d been in England for little less than a year, and she already mimicked so much of their speech patterns and used their slang. It couldn"t be helped. She was surrounded by people every day with her job, listening to their pleasant accents, especially the upper crust ladies who wandered into the shop. They looked for little lacy sc.r.a.ps of nothing to please their husbands or boyfriends-or sometimes their lovers.
Yes, many of them had scandalous lovers on the side, or they were mistresses themselves. Tessa never judged. That"s what made her such an excellent salesperson at Mon Amour. She had her own secrets, her own shame to hide.
166.
Like how she allowed her heart to be broken by a callous, cold man who"d turned his back on her forever.
She picked up the pace, hurrying down the street, caught sight of her building looming in the near distance. After that terrible night when she"d been kicked out of the Worth building, after being so thoroughly rejected by the man she loved more than anything, she"d gone home. As in she"d gone to New Jersey, where her older sister had a small place of her own not far from where they"d grown up. Full of sympathy and rude, overly graphic words for Alex that only a sister could offer, Tessa had moved out of her Brooklyn apartment as soon as she could and into Gina"s place.
An unexpected and most generous severance check from Worth had arrived within two weeks of her termination, and she"d been half tempted to tear it to pieces. She knew it was some sort of gesture from Alex. No one else got a severance package when they were fired for supposedly leaking corporate secrets for the love of G.o.d.
Luckily enough Gina had intervened, telling her she could do a lot with that check, it was so substantial. They"d dreamed over that check for three nights running, planning and plotting. Making lists and checking them twice until they finally decided to go for it.
They were going to pursue Tessa"s childhood dream. Gina"s secret dream too.
So Gina gave her notice at the prestigious accounting firm she worked at, they"d put most of the furniture in storage and they"d moved to London. Their mother had been horrified, believed they were acting too rash. Gina wanted a change. Tessa was running away from her problems.
It worked for them.
167.
Once Tessa learned of her condition, she"d told Gina there was no way she was returning to New York, at least for a few years. Her sister had agreed she would stay by her side no matter what and help. They"d found a cute flat for a reasonable price and set out to look for jobs immediately.
Luck and divine intervention had landed Tessa in the right place at the right time, when she"d run into the woman who"d helped her that evening in Paris at the lingerie shop. Turned out Simone DuBois was the owner of a chain of Mon Amour stores. Surprisingly, she remembered Tessa, had been the one to approach her at a small coffee shop one quiet Monday morning when Tessa had been full of despair over finding a job and dealing with a horrendous case of nausea.
Just like that, Simone had offered her an a.s.sistant manager position at one of her London locations. Tessa snapped it up, though she warned Simone of her condition before she officially accepted the job.
Simone was also a single mother and understood. She"d become Tessa"s mom away from home. She even pampered Gina, always inviting the two sisters over for dinner at her cute little cottage. She also completely overindulged Charlotte.
Tessa smiled. Who didn"t overindulge Charlotte? She was the sweetest baby in the all the universe.
Finally arriving at her building, the wind blew her inside and she rushed up the stairwell to their third floor flat. Opening the door, the welcoming scents of dinner greeted her and she offered a quick h.e.l.lo, shedding her scarf and coat and setting them on the coat rack by the door.
"Dinner will be ready soon," Gina called from the tiny kitchen.
"I"m starved." They traded household duties. Gina worked four days a week at an international finance firm and Tessa worked Friday and Sat.u.r.day plus a few evenings at Mon Amour.
168.