Betrayed 2(38)

“If you did that to Julia, then I have to wonder why you didn’t just use your considerable influence against Marshall. It’s obvious to me that you could have had him ‘taken’ care of. I don’t mean to be blunt, but you are one scary woman.” She smiled like that was the best possible outcome of this meeting. It was as if she was happy to hear that she still had that edge and could wield it with authority.

It was a Sunday morning and we were having brunch with eggs benedict and a delicious Mimosa. I drank mine after hearing her confession hoping that it would dull my senses.

“I like to think that I have my hand in just about everything. I lost a step when I got involved with Marshall. He made me feel worthless and not even my husband has been able to do that the entire time that we have been married these past five years. You were hired because I saw a little bit of me in you.” I was wearing a red leather skirt and a black blouse with just the hint of a cleavage. I could tell that the waiter would have gladly given his left nut to be with either one of us. He was spilling the water, not able to take his eyes off the beauties that presented themselves in front of his eyes.

“Joseph, you know that if you’re not careful that you will have to be punished.” I saw him cringe to Lillian’s comment, but I think I saw a glint of anticipation in his eyes to go along with it. “Try and do your job and bring us a couple of more waters that you spilled.” There was definitely something between them and I wondered what this punishment would entail. I almost envisioned him bending over her car and her slapping him repeatedly until his ass cheeks were as red as the color of my leather skirt.

He was young and impressionable. I could see how he could easily get caught up with an older woman with more experience. She had given me the impression that stepping out on her husband was not a common occurrence. The light bulb finally went off over my head. It wasn’t that she hadn’t cheated on her husband before. It was the way that Marshall made her feel. She was the one that was always in control and Marshall had changed that by giving her a reason to think that they had something more than what she had with other young men.

“I can see that I have you all wrong. You claim to be innocent, but I don’t think that you are even close to that. Marshall really did get to you and that’s the reason why you want to hurt him.” I took a bite of the eggs benedict with the hollandaise sauce and it was the best that I had ever had.

“It shouldn’t matter my reasons for doing this. It should only matter that the check clears for your payment. I don’t just want him humiliated. I want to ruin him. You have his head up in the clouds that he doesn’t even recognize his downfall. I’ve been there to circumvent several of his contracts. I just had to hint at his mental instability and I let you do the rest. He’s not acting like himself. He usually knows how to avoid those pitfalls, but he can’t think of anything but you. This is working out better than I could ever imagine.” She was an evil genius. She was the puppet master that knew which strings to pull to make her subjects dance for her amusement.

“I underestimated you. I thought that you were broken, but I see how wrong I was. You were just waiting patiently to strike and you used me to break his will. Like you said, he hasn’t been in his own right mind and doesn’t recognize a hostile takeover when he should see it coming from miles away.” I’d found out that Marshall liked to play fast and loose with business deals.

“What I do is of no concern to you. These next two weeks are very critical. I don’t care what you have to do, but you need to keep his mind occupied. Sleep with him or don’t and that’s entirely up to you. I just don’t want him to see it coming. I’ve already placed all the players on the board. It’s just a matter of sitting back and watching it play out. The only thing that is a bit of a wrinkle is if he is able to stop it before it happens. I’ve said too much and you really don’t need to know any of this. I thought that it was time for you to understand who you are dealing with. Cross me and he won’t be the one that I ruin. You can either take that as a threat or a promise. I really don’t care. If you would excuse me, I have some people that I want to discuss a few things with. Finish up your meal and then leave.” She had only brought me here to rub it in my nose and then to cause a chill to go down my spine with the tone of her voice.

“I don’t even want to think about what you would do to me for failure. Learning about who you are certainly puts a new fire underneath me to get this done as quickly as possible. I need to get you out of my life.” She really was a piece of work. That girl was a master of manipulation. She had me fooled and that was not an easy thing to do. I prided myself on knowing how to read people and she had pulled the wool over my eyes. I was blind. I could certainly see the writing on the wall after she had let me see who she really was.