Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75891 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
I hadn’t gone too hard with this first volley, just enough for her direct superior to get her out of the building as soon as possible. I knew she wouldn’t be fired outright; there’d have to be an in-house investigation just to cover their asses, but with the information I’d sent as a teaser, there was no way they could leave her in place in the immediate future.
My reason for being here was to ensure that they did their job one and to see for myself the beginning of her destruction. Who told her to muddy my waters? I trailed her all the way down the sidewalk and around the corner until she was out of sight, a slight smile tugging at the corners of my lips.
Some people might say I’m being too harsh. After all, people have affairs every day, which means someone is being cheated on somewhere right now as we speak. Those people were not raised by Chase Thornton; in fact, my father would probably have nuked them both by now, whereas I was more into playing with my food like a cat with a mouse before devouring.
I had another refill of coffee because there was no telling when I’d be back here to enjoy. My cat-and-mouse game had many legs, all spread out over time for my enjoyment. I finally listened to Dale’s last message, and it was more whining and pleading followed by threats and mudslinging.
Apparently, he was more annoyed by seeing me with Julius at the restaurant than he was about the breakup. It stuck in his craw that I could be out with another man so soon after leaving him, which meant that I was a cheating slut who had been with said man all along. I think most cheaters’ logic is born in the toilet.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I imagined what was going on behind the walls of the building across the street. If I know anything, there’s a mad scramble to confirm or deny what had been written in my little fire starter. As a communications company, they had no choice but to take any hint of subterfuge seriously.
As one of the minor executives, Dale would already be drawn in, not to mention the fact that he’s her senior on the job and the one who had trained her personally when she first came on board. Some of the dirty water will be splashed on him for sure, but that was just the beginning.
I’m sure by now that he has no idea what his little darling has been up to; at least he’s not that much of a dog. But once I leak the news of their affair, there’s no way people won’t suspect him of knowing or even taking part in her scheme, evidence or not.
I left the little coffee shop Dale had introduced me to and stood outside on the sidewalk looking up at the building with a smirk.
DALE
What the hell is going on? That didn’t look good. I made myself look busy so as not to be drawn into the drama until I was called, but it wasn’t easy. Nothing seemed to be going my way today or the last couple of days, to be exact. Not since the night Jessica left me.
I’d convinced myself at first that her only use was her family name, that she didn’t mean more than that to me. After all, what man, worth his salt, would put much stock in a woman who barely let him kiss her after years of dating?
I knew everyone thought we were sleeping together, after all, she spent time at my place. But no one would ever guess the ice princess was very hands-off behind closed doors. She’d claimed to want to wait for marriage, which I now think was a crock because she was rather close to that guy at the restaurant.
Just the thought of the two of them sitting so close, feeding each other across the table as they laughed with each other was enough to have my blood boiling again. My colleagues had teased my mercilessly, which had led to the confrontation and me being arrested, something else I hold her responsible for.
I had to endure their questions not only about the breakup but about the new guy, which only made me look like a fool. To save face, I’d made up some story about her trying to get back at me for working too many hours lately, but even I knew that story had holes in it.
Most of them had come to know her a little bit and knew she wasn’t that kind of girl, so there was still doubt on their end, and there was no escaping the looks. I could tell they wanted to ask more, but I was saved in part by that arrest. I knew it was only a matter of time, though, before the questions started up again.