Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
DEIDRE
A s I walk into the lobby of Victoria’s office, my stomach churns at the idea that I have to continue lying about my relationship with Luke to everyone. The fewer people who know, the less of a chance for Victoria to find out.
“Hey, Deidre,” Rachel says with her regular happy greeting.
“Hi, Rachel. How are you today?”
“Good,” she answers. “Victoria was in a tiff until some people came in for a meeting.”
“What people?” I ask, glancing toward the conference room area.
“Some guy who was here before,” she states. “I don’t remember his name, but he is a somebody.”
“Really.”
“Oh, since you’re here,” she continues, “I have some more mail stuff for you that you’ll probably want to look over.”
My eyes stay fixed on the glass windows of the conference room, but it’s hard to see who’s in there.
They’re at the farthest end away from where I’m standing by Rachel’s desk.
The last person’s body is just barely seen from the corner.
I don’t dare get closer, hoping to keep my presence from Victoria.
She’s still not happy with the fact that I’ve been trying to push for the updates with the app.
“Here you go,” Rachel says, followed by a thud on the desk.
My head turns to look at her. “What’s that?”
“A contract or two.”
“I shouldn’t have any more contracts to sign.”
“I think these are just preliminary,” she suggests.
My eyes lower to the large envelope and instantly go to the return address. “Can you double-check to make sure that there isn’t anything else for me, please?” I ask, wanting to get a better look at who’s with Victoria without Rachel noticing.
“Sure.” She turns partway in her seat, which causes most of her back to face me.
I tip my head to the side, wanting to confirm Victoria’s guest. The moment I see the client, my blood boils with rage. How dare Victoria go behind my back?
“Nothing else,” Rachel states.
“Thanks,” I say sharply, snapping my head back in her direction.
“Did you need to speak with her?”
“No,” I reply. “I’ve got what I need. Thanks, Rach.”
She smiles and says, “You’re welcome.”
“Have a great weekend,” I say, turning for the elevator.
“Thanks, you, too.”
Once the elevator doors close behind me, my demeanor changes.
I now know that my suspicions about Mr. Warren are accurate.
For starters, his company was the return address on the envelope that Rachel just gave me.
Plus, there’s the fact that he is the person talking with Victoria.
I never agreed to sign a contract with his company, so why would Victoria be meeting with him?
I still can’t shake this feeling that I know him and don’t like something about him.
I remain calm and stoic until Tony’s on the road and taking me to Luke’s place.
“Everything okay?”
“No.” I don’t elaborate.
“Care to share?” he pries.
“I need you to look into someone for me,” I explain.
“Name?”
“A Mr. Joseph Warren.”
“In regard to?”
I glance over at the envelope. “UA Capital and why he would be meeting with Victoria right now without me.”
“Is she soliciting new clients?”
“Not that I’m aware of. She shouldn’t be doing any soliciting with a company that is a sponsor of Flirt since I know it would be a conflict of interest.”
Tony’s and my eyes meet in the rearview mirror. He nods and that’s the end of our conversation.
The next day, while Luke and I are in the middle of having lunch at his place, my phone rings. With my mouth half full of food, I quickly answer it when I see that it’s Tony.
“What?” Tony returns on the other end.
“Sorry,” I say, swallowing more food. “I asked if you found anything.”
“Yes.”
“Who is it?” Luke asks.
Tony, I mouth to Luke. I take a chug of my drink and ask, “So?”
“I think it’s best if I come and tell you in person,” Tony states.
“Why?”
Tony doesn’t reply.
“Where are you?” I ask.
A knock comes from Luke’s front door.
“I got it,” Luke’s maid Tess says, moving quickly.
“What did he say?” Luke asks.
“Hello, Mr. Tony,” Tess greets.
Tony smiles and nods, then walks briskly toward me. “Deidre. Luke.”
Luke nods as I stare at Tony, waiting for him to say more.
“I’m glad you’re sitting down for this.”
“Why?” I ask nervously.
“You know, Mr. Warren,” Tony states.
“Yeah, I know. I met him when we had a meeting with him for an ad campaign with me and his company.”
“No,” Tony corrects, shaking his head. “You know him.”
“I do?”
“You both do.” He looks at Luke. “Do you remember meeting him?”
“Should I?” Luke asks with a confused expression. “I don’t remember meeting a Mr. Warren.”
My heart pounds against my chest.
“Had I seen him the day of your meeting with Victoria, I would have caught this sooner,” Tony states.
“About?”
“I recognized him the minute I saw his picture when I started to look into who he was, as you asked,” Tony explains. “He’s the man your mother is dating.”
“What?” Luke and I say at the same time.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No, Deidre,” Tony replies.
My brain starts to run a mile a minute about what could be going on and that this is definitely not a coincidence. My mother has to have played a hand in all of this. It makes sense with the way Victoria has been talking to me, acting as if she owns Flirt .
“That bitch,” I breathe out. “That fucking bitch. She must have been looking for things…signs of me and my success on television, all while she was slowly trying to get information out of Mike.”
“Who?” Luke asks.
“My mother. I wouldn’t put it past her. It’s just a matter of which of the three of them is the mastermind behind it all. What else have you found, Tony?”
“You didn’t hear this from me, but I was able to get phone records between Victoria, your mother, and Mr. Warren speaking frequently. It started not long after your brother’s wedding.”
“Why can’t we have heard it from you?” Luke asks.
“I have special, not so legal, sources,” Tony explains, but doesn’t elaborate.
“She’s been feeding Victoria information so her soon-to-be-hubby can profit off of my success, all while doing it behind my back,” I scoff.
“So they both can profit,” Tony adds. “If Victoria gets you to sign the contract with UA Capital, or forges it, she’s set to make a pretty penny from you and them. However, if she finds you in breach of your contract with her, she could take ownership of Flirt .”
“Fuck.” I hiss.
“How can she do that?” Luke asks.
“There’s a hidden clause in the original contract you signed,” Tony explains. “They have a fake one on record for when anyone asks.”
Luke chuckles. “Note to self, never fuck with Tony.”
“You got that right,” Tony replies.
Luke scratches his head. “Why would she do that?”
“Who?” Tony asks.
“Dei’s mother.”
“Why wouldn’t she?” I say. “Look at how she manipulated me until I jumped out of that tree to then only to manipulate each new husband.”
“She has married up each time,” he agrees.
“I wonder if she’s using this deal as a way to lock in her next marriage,” I presume.
“Do you think she knew from the beginning of Flirt? ” Luke asks.
“No. Not if the phone records were more recent. Yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if she knows about it now thanks to Victoria.”
“Why would Victoria do this to you?” Luke asks.
“Because of the lack of business she has. She’s lost all of her clients except me.”
Luke taps the counter. “Do you think that she might have been trying to pull the same shit with everyone else’s contracts?”
“Not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised. It makes sense, though…seems like Victoria is getting desperate.”
“I would have to agree with you about that,” Tony says.
“That makes sense why Victoria’s been pushier with you on some things,” Luke adds.
“She’s desperate for money,” I say. “It all makes sense…especially how she’s been threatening me a little more about not breaking the contract.”
Tony steps closer. “What do you mean?”
“It wasn’t until ten months ago when Victoria started having her little posse of paparazzi floating around at my events. She’d have me stage things with other celebrities and all for it to hit the news as a means to boost attention and user interaction.”
“Did she hire them before or after the phone records indicating her calls with your mom and Mr.Warren?” Luke asks.
We both look at Tony.
“After,” Tony verifies.
“I would guess that they were there initially to do the job, to keep me in the spotlight. Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s using them to keep tabs on me.”
“What do you mean?”
“She questioned me about you…twice,” I inform.
“Me…why?”
“Because she’s looking for me to slip up so she can take the company from me. Any wrong move and she’d have the proof thanks to her minions.”
“We were never intimate in public,” Luke says.
“You were the only person other than Tony whom she’s seen at several events,” I say. “Tony’s used other guys depending on our location, so no one would guess who else was on security at a distance.”
“Smart,” Luke says.
“What do you want to do?” Tony asks. “How do you want to handle this, Dei?”
“We need to get me out of this fucking contract with Victoria.”
Tony points to the papers on the counter. “Do you need me to show you the official contract?”
“No. I believe you.” I chew on my lip and think. “If we’re going to do this… I’m going to need your help.”
Tony nods.
“We can’t go to the lawyers or cops, so I have to take matters into my own hands.”
“It’ll take a little time, but we can do it the right way,” Tony says. “We’ll need to see if we can speak with any of her previous clients discreetly. You’ll need to play Victoria, your mother, and Mr. Warren at their own game to get them to reveal what they’ve been trying to do.”
A wicked smile emerges on my face. I’m confident that I’ll be able to take my company back minus Victoria and her business, all while once and for all revealing just what kind of person my mother is to my family.
“Dei?” Luke calls.
“Hm?”
“What are you thinking?”
My grin widens.