12. Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Nova
I didn't want to be alone with Anson. But he'd asked to talk to me before I left Sentinel, and it wouldn't have been professional to say, " I'm too tired to have my defenses up against whatever hatred you want to spew at me ."
I hadn't slept much the night before, and then had left Savannah early to get to my meeting with plenty of time to spare. I'd been nervous, and looking like I had my shit together when I didn't, had been exhausting.
Anson's executive assistant, a pleasant African American woman in her fifties named Charmaine, had left me in his empty office while he had to finish something. Making people wait was a stupid power play. But I was used to it and didn't react to that kind of masculinity.
I stood at one of the windows, and gazed at the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sentinel was beautiful. I'd been excited when Mama and I first moved here. But it never became home. Until Savannah, I hadn't felt at home anywhere. With Anson, I had started to get comfortable, but now I just had dark memories of that time and this place.
I heard the office door open and close behind me. I saw Anson's reflection in the window, and after taking a bracing breath, I turned, my face blank of emotions. Working as the executive assistant of Nina Davenport had taught me to school my feelings. I had held a position of trust with Nina, and I couldn't let anyone see if I was upset or happy or excited. I was the bulwark against turmoil as I stood between the CEO of Savannah Lace and our employees and customers.
"Thanks for waiting." Anson walked up to his side of the desk. "I'm sorry we had a snafu with lunch and didn't have any food at the meeting."
Bailey had made a fuss about how the meeting wasn’t supposed to be so long, and how, if she had known, she would have ordered food.
I didn't know what her role was, but she wasn't a project manager, and she was definitely shitty assistant material, if that was what Anson had hired her to be. Her title was non-descript, and it was apparent from how his leaders treated her that she was seen as Anson's fiancée and not a colleague. She was someone you were polite with but didn't confuse her relationship with their boss as a reflection on her capabilities.
"Not a problem." I wouldn't have been able to eat, even if there had been food, not when my stomach was in knots. Seeing Anson again last week had been gut-wrenching, and now having him so close to me was not easing said gut in the least.
I missed him, I realized. How foolish to miss someone I never had. The man I had fallen in love with didn't exist. I'd figured that out when Pete had told me that it was Anson who'd wanted me to be put in the same cell as that asshole Carre. I didn't know how Anson could've done that. I'd just lost my virginity to him, and he wanted me to be in proximity of a known sex offender? This man had no integrity, no ethics, and no morals. I didn't miss this man. I missed a version of him that he'd presented to me.
"Please sit." He held his hand to a client chair.
I did as he asked, and he smiled at me like he used to when I thought he cared for me. I waited for him to speak.
"You were well prepared," he remarked, and I could see the surprise in his eyes.
Had he expected me to be a fuck up like his precious Bailey? I wasn't engaged to the owner of Savannah Lace. I had to earn my living and my place in the company.
"That's how we do things at Savannah Lace. Thank you for noticing." I tried to infuse life in my voice, but I was exhausted, barely able to keep it together.
I wanted to sleep. I didn't know how I'd make the two-and-a-half-hour drive home. I'd probably have to pull over at a gas station and get some shut-eye.
"Since you'll be managing this project for Savannah Lace, you'll have access to a variety of our systems and software. IT will set you up."
I nodded. This was standard operating procedure.
"You will also have access to the project budget software and systems," he continued.
I frowned. "I don't need that. That will be under the purview of Miss Hyatt and Larue Homes."
He cocked an eyebrow. "But won't it make life easier for you?"
"My life is easy enough," I told him.
"Look, we usually give this access to a vendor. This is how we do things."
I highly doubted it. And then it struck me. He wanted to set me up to be a thief…again. Hadn't he said he'd show everyone at Savannah Lace who I really was?
"I'm happy to accommodate your needs, Mr. Larue. I'll talk to finance at Savannah Lace, and we'll coordinate with your teams on this."
His eyes went stormy, and I knew that I was on the right track. I knew he'd asked me to project manage as a ploy to get his revenge. But I had underestimated him. He was going to give me access to his systems, and then frame me so I'd end up in jail. I was confident that was his plan. I didn't expect him to stoop so low, but maybe I should have.
"Good."
I waited for him to say whatever else he had on his mind.
"How has it been for you to be back in Sentinel?" His tone was conversational as he leaned back on his leather office chair.
"It's been fine."
He nodded thoughtfully. "The town thinks you're a thief, and were glad when you were run out."
Ah, here it comes.
"Okay."
"That doesn't bother you?"
"I can't feel bothered by something I didn't do."
I had to calm myself because my heart was now in overdrive.
He rose then, and came around his desk, leaning against the table right next to him. He looked down at me. "You're still maintaining your innocence?"
"Until the day I die." I let him see whatever he wanted in my eyes. I had nothing to hide.
"I'll forget about all of this if you return my grandma's ring." He watched me as he spoke.
This man could break my heart again and again. He'd never believe me. Even if someone rammed the proof down his throat, he'd still think of me as a deceitful bitch. I had hoped that seeing me in my professional avatar would make him question his beliefs.
"You've got to drop this fascination you have with your grandma's jewelry and my perceived involvement in how it went missing," I quipped. "Now, here's something for you to consider. We were together for several months, and I never asked you for money. I didn't even let you pay for a can of pop, Anson. You really think I'd steal when I knew I could ask, and you'd give me what I wanted?" I let that sink in and felt my heart stutter when he smirked.
"Give you what you wanted? Come on, you can't be that na?ve. I was going to scrape you off after that night anyway. I popped your cherry, and that's all you were worth. Did your mama tell you to save it for the biggest payday?"
He spoke casually, like he was telling me about a vacation he had gone on. I wanted to cry. I wanted to let him see the damage he'd done. But that would only give him pleasure, and I would not give Anson Larue a piece of me, good, bad, or sad. I deserved better.
"Honey, if I was looking for a big payday, there were others, grown men I'd have gone to, not some boy in university pretending to be a man," I threw back at him. He'd talk to me about his insecurities, about his fear of failing, about not being able to run the family business.
His eyes narrowed with anger but also respect. He remembered the girl . Well, he was meeting the woman now.
"Now that we're done with the personal banter. Is there anything else you need from a work perspective?" I wanted to move away from him but, again, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction that his scent rattled me and reminded me of the first time in my life when I felt loved for who I was. Since then, there had been others who'd come to care for me, and I was grateful for their presence in my life—but Anson had been the first.
"Yes." He was playing at being controlled and calm, but I could see the turmoil, the anger beneath the surface. I could still read him. Could he see what was within me as well? Hopefully not. He'd use that knowledge to hurt me.
"Well?" I looked at my watch, telling him that I had to leave. It was a petty gesture, but I was too tired for any other.
"Don't recommend your lovers for my projects."
I frowned, baffled. "Huh?"
He clenched his teeth, and his hands held onto the desk tightly. "Are you fuckin' Beau Bodine?"
The laugh that escaped me did so without my permission. It was a genuine one. "You think I'm sleeping with Beau?"
"Are you?" he demanded, his blue eyes boring into mine.
I couldn't stop laughing. I wasn't sure if I was hysterical or if it was funny that Anson thought I'd be sleeping with my half-brother.
"No, Mr. Larue, I'm not in a romantic relationship with Beau. He's my friend, Trevor's, brother."
"Is Trevor your lover, then?"
Now, I was even more amused. He looked offended. "Trevor's fiancée, Katya, is also one of my closest friends. So, no, I'm not sleeping with him either. In fact, he's like a brother." He is my brother.
"What's your connection to the Bodines?"
"Mr. Larue, my personal life is none of your business." I pushed my chair back, and stood up. "If that's all, then I'll say goodbye. I have a long drive home, and a lot of work to catch up on tonight."
"You can stay in Sentinel," he drawled.
"I prefer not to." I picked up my backpack and held it out to him. "Miss Hyatt wanted security to check my bag before I left. Would you like to get that done here or downstairs in the lobby?"
"I don't give a shit if you steal a pen or two, darlin'." His face was still drawn. He didn't quite know what to make out of me. I loved his confusion.
"In that case, you have a good rest of your day."
I walked out of his office, and then the Larue Homes headquarters. I got into my car, and started driving. It wasn't until I cleared Sentinel that my hands stopped shaking and tears started to pour down my face. I pulled over at a gas station. It took me thirty minutes to find my bearings before I could drive again.