Chapter Seven - Victoria
I know he’s jealous. Weston Conrad might be a lot of things, but he is not subtle. And I know he’s jealous because flirting with other men has always been my fallback with him when he’s difficult. There is no way he’s going to give up this contract to me, but it doesn’t matter. By the end of this day, Mr. Corporate will only have one thing on his mind. Me. And how I won.
I smile into the wind as I walk up the sand dune and come to higher ground. We landed on the deserted side of the cay, but that’s not uncommon here. Most of these little islands are small and uninhabited. Even the inhabited ones, like this one, have little to nothing in the way of buildings and amenities.
If you want a resort experience you don’t come to a place like Sandcastle Cay. You go to the main islands and stay in a real hotel.
Still, when I shade my eyes with my hand to block out the sun, I can’t see any structures at all.
“Hey,” Weston calls from behind me. “Look, Victoria. I know you think you’re going to play hardball with me today, but—”
“Wait,” I say, putting up my hand to shut him up. “Where are we?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, look, Weston. There’s no buildings over there. That’s the other side of the island and there’s no buildings.”
“What?” he says, looking around. “There have to be buildings. Look,” he says, pointing to the ridge off to the left. “There’s a roof. It’s this way.”
We start walking, both of us holding our shoes in our hands, and Weston continues to talk. “Whatever you need, Victoria, I’ll help you. But you’re not taking this contract.”
“I don’t want your charity. I can get this contract all on my own. I don’t need you, West.”
“No,” he says with a sigh. “No, you’ve never needed anyone.”
“Don’t get all broody with me, Mr. Conrad. I’m not playing your games again. Let’s just agree that we both get a shot. We’re both here, right? So we both get a shot to make our case and then Wallace can decide.”
“Whatever. But you know he’ll never sign with you. You have no contacts. He’s got no reason to think you’ll be able to pull this off.”
“It’s guaranteed, Weston.”
“Is it? How do you know Liam hasn’t hired other headhunters, hmm? Why would he hire the two of us? When he knows I can deliver?”
“Maybe you can’t deliver?” I snap. “Obviously he doesn’t have complete faith in you, Weston. If he did, I wouldn’t be here.”
“How did you get here?” he asks. “I know you have no connections in Miami. Not like I do.”
“I’m resourceful, West. You, of all people, should know that.” We reach the top of another ridge and both of us go silent for a moment.
“Where the fuck is everyone?” he asks.
I turn and look around. There is a building. It’s not big and it’s not extravagant—they never are out here. But there’s no people. “Are we on the right cay?”
“We better be on the right fucking cay,” West says. “I’ll kill that motherfucker if he dropped us off on the wrong goddamned island.”
“OK, well, if we are on the right island, then where is everyone? They can’t be inside. And there’s no boats? No planes? Just what the hell is going on?”
“You know what?” West asks.
“What?” I say, starting to feel a little creeped out. We are in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, on a deserted island, and might be in the wrong place.
“I’m starting to think you set this up. Did you tell that pilot to drop us at the wrong island? Are you sending someone else in to talk to Wallace five islands over?” West whirls around, looking at all the nearby cays. There’s plenty of them. We could probably swim to four, at least, that’s how close they are. But for what purpose? They all appear to be deserted too.
“Weston,” I say. “I’m sure you know by now that my headhunting business is on the verge of insolvency. So cut your shit and don’t make me angry. I don’t have the manpower to send someone else to do my job.”
“Your father is still involved. I keep track, Victoria. I keep track of every one of my competitors.”
“Well, then you’d know that my father is not doing well and the last thing I’d ask him to do is to come all the way out here and risk his health so I can play games with you.” I whirl around and point my finger in his face. “So don’t fuck with me. Why are we the only people on the island?”
He slaps my hand away and drops his shoes. “Don’t point at me. I don’t like it. You know I don’t like it because we’ve fought about that little move hundreds of times. So don’t fucking point at me.”
I rifle through my purse and get out my phone. Of course, there is no service out here. “That’s great. Now we’re stuck here all day and Wallace Arlington is somewhere else. Who the hell gave you this information?”
“What do you mean ‘who gave me?’ Where did you get your information?”
Shit.
“Victoria?”
Fuck.
“Victoria?” He’s getting mad now. “Who told you to be at that plane this morning?”
“Who told you?” I say. It’s not clever and it’s not much of a deflection. But I have nothing but the truth. And the truth will piss him off.
“A very good friend. A very reliable friend.”
“I guess he’s not so reliable, is he?”
“Who said it was a he?” West growls.
“Um…” Dammit. Think, Victoria. You can handle this overgrown child. You did it for years. “Of course it’s a he, Weston. You’d never take the word of a woman.”
“Oh, you’re going with that? Really?”
“You’ve always been a caveman. So don’t even deny it. How many women do you do business with, Mr. Corporate?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“I’ve earned the right,” I snap back. “If anyone can call you that, it’s me.”
“I do business with whomever is required. And hundreds of them are women. So don’t push your little feminist agenda on me, honey.”
“Honey?” I laugh. “OK, you’re on your own, Corporate. I’m going down to that building to see if they have a radio.”
“Well, if you looked at the roof,” he says, keeping pace with me as we walk down the overgrown path, “there’s an antenna, so they do.”
“Are you going to pull the big, strong man routine on me again? If so, save your breath. I’m not in the business of playing damsel in distress. And the antenna could be obsolete. I won’t know until I see for myself. Unlike you,” I say, looking over at him, “I don’t jump to conclusions.”
“I didn’t need to jump, Victoria. I saw it all with my own eyes.”
“Oh, fuck you. I won that Fullerton contract, too. Fair and square.”
“Fair? Square? Hardly.” He laughs. “You slept with me and then cheated me out of a contract. I can forgive you for a lot of things, Victoria, but stealing from me isn’t one of them. I gave you anything you wanted, everything you needed and you shit all over me.”
“I told you back then, it was delivered to your apartment with my name on it. It was for me, Weston. Not you!”
“Liar,” he mumbles. “We weren’t living together at that time. It was a very convenient one-night stand for old times’ sake. And you just happened to be there when the courier came and you signed for my package and took it. Seven million dollars, Tori. That’s what I lost on that deal.”
Fuck him. Just fuck him. He wants to bring up the past? I’m happy to bring up all the little things he seems to have conveniently forgotten.
“You will not win, Mr. Corporate. You will not. Because I’m the one who always wins when it comes to us.”
He stops walking and I keep going. But before I step off the path to make my way down the hill, I look back. He’s about twenty yards behind me, standing still. His hair is tousled and messy. His hands are fists, like he’s really angry. And his face. That handsome face, impassive. Because that’s how he rolls. He shuts down the minute he feels challenged.
“You win because I let you, Tori. And do you know why I always let you win?”
“Let me?” I snort. “Please.”
“Because I loved you. I loved you, but all you ever saw was a ticket. A ticket out of the prison you locked yourself in. And I’m telling you right now, Victoria Arias, for the hundredth fucking time, I’m nobody’s ticket but mine.”