Chapter 6 Veda
VEDA
My hand pushed the wet rag around the bar for the dozenth time this evening.
When Victor called to ask me if I could cover him, I didn't hesitate.
No way I was sitting at home stewing over what happened at work today all by myself. Being here in the atmosphere of what felt like home was the best place for me.
And it didn't hurt that it was a very slow evening and Regan had come by to hang out with me and keep me company.
"You're doing it again," she chided, catching me in the act of smiling to myself as I thought of how incredible Asher was at making my body feel so good.
"Doing what?" I spat playfully. I knew Regan was watching me because I'd felt her eyes every time I picked up a towel or washed a dirty glass.
She knew me better than anyone, and she knew when I was keeping something from her.
"You're smiling again. What's gotten into you? You're happy. You're never happy." She twisted her ginger ale glass in the puddle of condensation under it on the bar top and lifted one eyebrow at me in curiosity. "You like the new job or something?"
"Or something," I sighed, and I couldn't stop the smile again.
"I'll have another," I heard from the end of the bar where a lonely older man sat with an almost-empty beer.
I nodded at him and said, "duty calls" to Regan, but I knew I wasn't getting out of telling her what was going on.
She knew I'd gotten the job from Clayton with the intent of proving Asher wasn't fit for duty, but she didn't know the gruesome details of trying to snare him in a sexual harassment suit.
I felt too embarrassed by it to actually tell her. Not that trapping Asher in a suit meant I had to sleep with him, necessarily, but that was where it'd gone.
She'd put the pieces together sooner or later anyway, because she was right. I was never this happy.
Screwing Asher Locke had shaken something loose inside me.
I got the man his beer, but I took longer than I needed to in doing it.
I felt stupid for even entertaining Clayton, but his money had already paid off my debts.
I could use that as an excuse as to why I was so happy, but Regan would see right through that too.
When I finally meandered back to where she was seated at the far end of the bar, she was waiting.
"Now tell me…" She eyed me suspiciously. "What's going on?"
I couldn’t help myself. Even with all my reservations, the truth bubbled up and out of me like a bottle of champagne bursting as soon as the cork was released.
"I, uh… I sort of had sex with Mr. Locke." The stupid grin refused to budge off my face now.
It felt permanently etched there like a new tattoo, despite having seen how riled Asher was when he left the office so abruptly.
"You what?" Regan's jaw dropped and she shook her head. "That creepy guy wanted to pay you a jillion dollars to destroy his brother?"
"Hey, shh!" I hissed, leaning closer. "NO…"
"What are you talking about?" Regan picked up her ginger ale to sip and I instinctively wiped away the condensation puddle as I responded.
"His brother…" The words came out through gritted teeth as I chewed the inside of my cheek, but I didn't give her a chance to say more. "I slept with the boss and" —I lowered my voice to almost a whisper— "it was incredible. Eek!"
Regan almost choked on her drink. She coughed and spat ginger ale all over the bar, drawing the attention of the man down the way while I patted her shoulder and inevitably rounded the bar to pat her back a few times.
When she'd gathered her composure, she looked utterly shocked.
"You did what?"
"It was so amazing, Ray." I slumped onto the stool next to her and stared off dreamily as I wiped up her mess and continued.
"He was so… like… animalistic and demanding, and then so sweet and gentle.
" I leaned in, whispering softly, "And he literally wiped me clean and kissed me and made sure I was alright and—"
"Christ, woman," Regan groaned. "You were sent there to expose his flaws and this is how you do it?"
Her words made my chest pinch with guilt and my shoulders sagged as I withdrew.
She was right to be skeptical, even mildly harsh.
Asher was actually a pretty intense guy, but he was hurting, not bad.
And besides, he was so caring and nurturing after having basically dominated me.
It left my head spinning in a mix of guilt and elation.
"I didn't really mean for it to go this way," I told her, but it was exactly the way I thought it would go—just way faster than I ever expected.
There was an awkward silence as Regan set her glass down and turned to face me.
I couldn't tell if she was secretly judging me for moving so quickly or if she was rethinking our entire friendship. Then she said, "Well, it was good, at least."
I spent the next twenty minutes telling her how I stood up to him, how Asher tore me apart in front of his board, and then how in my defiance, I was able to expose his real need for something more than just screaming at employees.
Replaying it in my mind only reminded me of that recording on my phone, though I'd never be one to let her listen to that.
"So he just left the office looking upset then?" Regan listened quietly all the way to that part where she raised the question like it was the highlight, and maybe it was.
"Yeah, but…"
The bell over the bar's door chimed as it opened, and I looked up over Regan's shoulder to see none other than Clayton Locke stalking through.
He had a scowl on his face, which I was pretty sure was a normal thing for him now that I'd gotten to know him better.
I muttered a curse word under my breath as I slowly pushed off the stool and retreated.
"What?" Regan asked, and she turned over her shoulder to see Clayton stomping toward us. "Oh," she said flatly. Then she stood and watched me take my post behind the bar. "I'm gonna go sit over there. That guy's a creep."
"Yeah, yeah, deserter," I grumbled, taking her dirty glass. "At least raise your hand to order a drink in a few minutes so I can get away from him!" I hissed as she started walking away, and she wiggled her fingers over her shoulder.
Clayton strutted right up and took the seat Regan just left while I turned my back so I didn't have to look at him and started washing the dirty glass.
He'd been texting me all day, asking how my little showdown with Asher had gone following the board meeting.
I couldn't very well tell him what really happened because I didn't really try to make Asher work for it—he made a move, and I was putty in his hands.
But now I had to answer for my behavior ignoring a man who'd given me half a million dollars to do a job for him.
My heart was pounding, and my hands shook a little.
I wasn't stupid.
If Clayton wanted to, he could take that recording of my agreeing to bring Asher down and play it for any number of people.
The bank records would show the huge deposit, and I'd be made a laughingstock. Not a good look for a professional woman who wants a serious career.
"You've been ignoring me, Veda."
When I turned around, glass in hand drying it, I saw that Clayton had loosened his tie.
It was the first time I’d seen him stone-cold sober, or at least not drunk.
He wasn't a bad-looking man.
He just didn't get the looks of the family.
"Penny kept me so busy all afternoon with things to do once Asher left the office." I twisted the towel deep in the glass and avoided eye contact with him while guilt swallowed me whole. My cheeks had to have been bright red. They were flaming.
"You mean, Mr. Locke?" he asked with both eyebrows raised in annoyance.
"I mean, Asher." Annoyance went both ways, though I wasn't stupid enough to really let loose on this turd. "There are two of you. I can't keep calling you both Mr. Locke. You're Clayton. He's Asher."
He grunted and nodded at the glass shelves over my shoulder, behind which was a mirror that reflected everything in the bar, making it easier for me to notice when someone wanted a drink while washing dishes.
Unfortunately, as I took the moment to glance at Regan hoping her hand would be up, I saw nothing but blue skies.
No one wanted my attention except the one person I wanted to avoid.
"Give me a shot… Johnny Walker Blue."
I almost groaned audibly.
I knew why men ordered that particular whiskey, and it wasn't because it was so amazing.
Besides, the price was ridiculous.
But the fact that I had to grab a step stool and stretch to my farthest to reach it, showing off my entire backside to the whole bar, played a huge role.
And Clayton was every bit the perv he thought his brother was without any of the redeeming qualities.
If Clayton was damaged by whatever had fractured the family, he didn't show it. All I saw were malice and spite and envy.
"What do you want, Clayton?"
I set the glass down on a shelf and whipped the towel into place back over my shoulder.
My tone was gruff and my voice raised a little too loudly, and the man down the bar eyed me for a moment.
It made me feel a bit better that I had a friend and apparently, a gentleman down the way who'd watch out for me.
But it wasn't like Clayton was going to do anything stupid. He was just annoying and crude.
"Tell me how your little meeting with my brother went once he kicked us out. He closed the curtains, and I'm pretty sure I know what I heard."
It made my skin crawl to think that Clayton might've been standing there listening to me screw his brother. Sickening, to say the least.
My cheeks burned as I turned and grabbed the stool to stand on and reach for his whiskey. It was better for him to ogle me than for him to see how embarrassed I was.
"You heard the way he spoke to me in that meeting. I just got more of the same…" Stepping up on the stool, I reached for the Johnny Walker and then popped back down to my feet to grab a glass.
"Yeah, I heard that part… What about what happened afterward?" What a jerk.
Clayton was pushing and I was over it.
I almost bit his head off when I remembered the money in my account and the fact that I could not pay him back if I wanted to.
"Afterward, he lectured me on what being his intern is." I turned abruptly as I poured some of the expensive whiskey into his glass and set it on the bar in front of him. "And then he reminded me that you hired me as his babysitter, but he's a grown man and doesn't need one."
The lies came out so easily, I could've sworn myself that it was the truth.
But I knew they wouldn’t hold up against his scrutiny long term. He wanted answers and he'd paid me to get them.
"So you didn't get him to flirt with you? No inappropriate conversation or touch?" He picked up his glass, sipped it with one eyebrow raised, and set it down in front of me like he knew I was lying.
But I held firm. "You saw how angry he was. Do you think it looked like he was in the mood to sexually harass me? What do you think he’s gonna do, bend me over his knee and spank me like a bad girl for being mouthy?"
As I said it, warmth flushed through my body and I had to hide the shudder of excitement at the thought of Asher Locke bending me over his conference table and spanking me.
Oh, my God, I was so done.
"Well, keep at him." Clayton sounded more relaxed now, like he'd dropped the bone and was moving on. "Because he's definitely going to crack. He's never ripped one off during a board meeting like that before. They're seeing him unravel in real time."
I scowled and finally—blessedly, on time—Regan's hand shot up. I noticed Clayton's eyes look up to the mirror and I glanced at her.
"Gotta take this," I grunted, and I walked away before he could say anything else. I would never tell him I had a recording of Asher screwing his intern. If I did, he'd try to use it, but all that would do is bury me in a scandal and shame.
I just didn't know how to get him the thing he wanted now. I never thought this through thoroughly. Not only was Asher not the type of man Clayton thought he was, but I also felt too conflicted to really put the nails to him.
Something happened between those two to make Clayton poisoned against his brother, but I didn't know what it was.
And something had happened to Asher to make him so broken, he'd turned to alcohol for relief.
But while I had zero interest in finding out why Clayton was a douche, I couldn’t say the same about Asher.
I had to figure out what broke him.
And I had to decide what to do about this horrible situation I'd gotten myself into.
I didn't think I could take Asher down the way Clayton hoped, and I didn't have a choice.