Just One Night, Part 2_ Exposed(13)

And that one fact gives her all the power in the world.

Her lips spread into a Cheshire grin. “Do you think I fucked him? Dave, that is. Would that upset you? Or would it just even the playing field?”

She stands up, crosses to me. She stands close, too close. “I would never fuck Dave,” she purrs. “I’d fuck you, though. Tell me, Kasie, have you ever been touched by a woman?” She reaches forward and brushes her hand against my breast. I jump back, shocked and completely thrown. When I asked Barbara to invite Asha into my office, I had a plan. I had set a trap for a wolf. I hadn’t understood that the predator I faced was a viper.

“I’m not a lesbian, not exactly,” Asha explains, answering a question no one had asked. “It’s more like authority, privilege . . . entitlement that I’m attracted to. I like to strip it away like so much unneeded clothing. I’d love to see you naked, tied to a bed, your body responding to my touch even though you wouldn’t want it to. I’d love to see you completely vulnerable with no semblance of control. Then again, you’re completely vulnerable now, aren’t you? And if there’s anyone in this room with control, it’s me.”

Is Asha trying to commit career suicide? She reports to me! If I told Human Resources what she’s saying to me now . . .

My cheeks heat up as what she already knows comes crashing home to me. Her smile is gentle, almost sympathetic.

“You’re not going to tell anyone about this conversation, Kasie. You can’t. One of us cares about her personal reputation, and I can destroy it with a word.” She leans her shoulder against the wall next to me, too close but not touching me. “I bet you made yourself vulnerable to Mr. Dade. That’s a man who can make a woman beg; I’m sure he can make you beg. And I bet that man is hung. Guys with big, rough hands like his always are. I bet your pussy’s sore for days after he’s done with you.”

“Get out of my office.”

“But you’re the one who asked me to come, didn’t you, Kasie?” she asks. “You brought me here to toy with me, find out what I know. Well,” she says, inching even closer. I turn my head away but I can still hear her whisper, a malicious seduction that makes me shiver: “What you’ve found out is that I know everything and now it’s my turn to play.”

She pushes herself off the wall and starts to walk toward the door.

“I don’t have as much to lose as you think,” I call after her. “If Tom already knows what I’ve done, as you suggest, then he’s known for a long time. And I still have my job. Nothing’s changed for me here.”

“Ah, but Tom is comfortable with corruption as long as it works to his purposes. But even he knows that if Dylan Freeland, the founder of our company . . . the fucking godfather of your fiancé, ever found out, your office would be mine.”

“So why are you talking to me?” I ask. “Why not tell the world?”

She shrugs. “Because this is fun. And if Dave hasn’t exposed you yet, it’s because he’s giving you another chance. He’ll back up any lies you spew. It’ll be his word . . . and yours and Robert’s against mine. I wouldn’t stand a chance. But if you slip up again? And Dave finds out?” She wags her finger at me. “That’s when the real fun begins.”

She smiles again knowing everything she said is perfectly clear and totally ambiguous. Then with another shrug she says, “See you at the meeting!”

I watch her leave and then, with the wall pressing into my back, I slide to the floor; my knees come to my chest and I bury my face in my hands.





CHAPTER 5





I DON’T KNOW HOW I got through that meeting. Every one of Asha’s comments and questions were completely appropriate. Her composure was perfection. Mine, not so much. I knocked over a bottle of water on my files, I tripped up on my words, I had to ask Taci to repeat her proposal for Maned Wolf’s international repositioning twice.

The problem was not what Asha knew. The problem was that Asha didn’t lie. She treasured the viciousness of complete honesty. She used truth as a weapon every bit as much as I used lies as a shield. That meant that if anyone ever asked Asha the wrong question . . .

Even now as I sit in my office, alone among a pile of paperwork, the thought makes me shudder. When did I become the fly in the web? But no, that’s wrong. The fly is an innocent. I am not.

Most of my coworkers have already gone home. Barbara left ages ago, but I’m still here, as is often the case. This office was once my sanctuary and I hope that in my solitude I can find a way to recapture that feeling.