Chapter 15

Becka

Ethan smiled as if he knew that I had exactly all night, and he nodded. “An hour max. We won’t even order dessert.” He opened the door and gestured for me to enter.

I thought about how surprisingly at ease I felt with Ethan as we walked into the restaurant, my decision made. I had convinced myself that he was going to be a threatening entity, but he was the exact opposite, resembling more the student I had introduced myself to on the first night of the class I’d guest lectured, the first time I’d laid eyes on him.

I remembered the women in my class losing their shit over him as well and I had a moment of pity for him, imagining it must be somewhat difficult to go through life always having women’s eyes all over you, getting hit on constantly.

He guided me to a private booth away from the center of the room. I sat first, and he followed.

“You look beautiful,” he said. “Oliver has excellent taste in his personal assistants.” I bit my tongue to keep from correcting him. I was more his girlfriend than his personal assistant, not that I could possibly ever admit that.

“Of course,” he said smoothly, “we both know that you’re far more than just his personal assistant, don’t we, Becka.”

I stared at him. How did he know?

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said coldly. I realized I was going to need to take control of this meeting and not let him hypnotize me with his good looks and magnetic energy. I was here for one reason, to find out the real truth about Oliver and Neuotova, nothing more.

He was staring at me, that same smile playing at his lips. The server came over and, after fawning all over Ethan for a moment, finally managed to take our drink order.

“Does that happen everywhere you go?” I asked, finally.

“What, women flirting with me?” he asked. He leaned back in the booth as if we were old friends. “Yep, pretty much. They sense my energy and they don’t know what to do with themselves.” He smiled as if he was describing me right along with every other woman.

“That must be both annoying and highly effective in getting you what you want,” I observed.

“Sometimes,” he said. He stared at me and I felt myself slipping under his gaze. My body began to send signals that this was someone we were definitely attracted to. I felt my stomach with its butterflies, a wetness between my legs, and I knew if I touched my nipples right now they would be hard as rocks.

“So,” I said, straightening up and clearing my throat. I shook away any thoughts of Ethan in any other sense besides Neurotova and put the business of our meeting back at the forefront. “You said you had some documents that would prove that Oliver was a liar, that he was the one responsible for the animal testing, and that the list of CEOs you showed me was justified and not just a big witch hunt.”

Ethan nodded and reached beside him, grabbing the manila envelope he had been carrying and showed me. “It’s all in here,” he said. He slid it across to me and patted it. “Go ahead, open it.”

I stared at him, then kept my eyes on him as I opened the envelope and took out the sheets of paper. To my surprise, it wasn’t news articles or emails; it was a stack of bank statements. Ethan’s bank statements.

He had done a search for transactions from one specific source and printed them out; there were several hundred. I scanned the information for each transaction, my heart pounding in my chest.

The transactions, deposits to an account, went back for years. All ranged between half a million and a million dollars each. The recipient was Ethan. The sender… was Oliver. I looked for patterns and discovered the checks were deposited roughly once a month.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It’s my silence,” he said. “Bought and paid for. Oliver knows that I know the truth about him. And, he’s willing to pay to keep his dirty secrets under wraps. He’s willing to pay big time.”

The checks went back for years. Admittedly, the evidence looked convincing. But, checks could be forged and so could bank statements. I doubted that would be much of an obstacle for someone with as much money as Ethan had. “What secrets? All this says is that he’s a generous guy. Maybe he’s paying you so you don’t starve to death on the street.”

He looked at me as if he knew that even I couldn’t be that dumb, but that he would indulge me. “I used to work with Oliver, Becka,” he said simply. “I was something of his right-hand man, though he’d never admit that. He’d deny until his dying breath that I was ever an asset to Neuotova, but, the truth is, Neuotova wouldn’t be where it is today without me.”

“That still doesn’t prove he does anything wrong,” I said. “I thought you’d have emails or something. Actual… I don’t know… evidence.” I heard my voice faltering.

“Becka,” he looked at me and cocked his head. “Do you really think someone as smart as Oliver would be dumb enough to put his illegal activity in writing? Why would he pay me fifty million dollars a year if not to buy my silence?”

He stared at me and waited for me to answer. Of course, I couldn’t think of a single other reason. He’d been banking on that. He reached across the table and took my hand in his.

“You’re a beautiful woman,” he said. The warmth of his fingers and his palm surged through me straight to where my arousal was centered, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. The room started to spin and, for a moment, the only thing I saw in front of me was his beautiful blue eyes staring back at me.

“I want you to have everything you deserve to have in life. I owed it to you to tell you about Oliver and his deceit before you got in with him too deeply. I may be too late, but I hope I’m not.”

He released my hand and I felt the flush rising in my cheeks. I took a long sip of my wine and sat back.

“What exactly did he do?” I asked. “What silence of yours is he buying?”

Ethan went on to tell me a story of how he and Oliver had gone to school together and decided to begin Neuotova with investment money. They knew they had chemistry working together and that they both had bright futures in research ahead. Rather than work for an already existing corporation, they’d wanted to forge their own path.

Ethan was the business man and Oliver had focused on the research. Somewhere along the way, Ethan said he’d discovered inconsistencies in the financial records. He had begun an investigation with the help of one of his most trusted interns, and he had discovered that, under the cover of night, Oliver was using animal experimentation to accelerate the research and prepare products for mass release.

As he told the story, I tried to imagine a younger Ethan and Oliver at work together; they both hated each other so much, but it sounded like they had started out much like Lisa and me, best friends.

“When I found out,” Ethan was saying, “of course I was furious. I threatened to fire him, but he said I couldn’t because the company would go under. Unfortunately, he was right; he definitely had the upper hand with the research. But,” he took a sip of his beer, “I knew I couldn’t continue working in such a dishonest, unethical environment.

I admit my anger got the best of me; I felt like I was trapped. I told him that I would leave, but I also told him that I was going to take him down with me.”

I shook my head. It all sounded so out of character for Oliver. Of course, the entire situation seemed crazy for Oliver or for Ethan. Oliver didn’t seem like the type of man who could harm a fly, never mind a rabbit or a small mouse… but neither did Ethan, now that I was sitting across from him.

I didn’t know who to believe; both seemed so compassionate, so committed to the causes they believed in. And, Ethan had some pretty substantial proof right in front of me: bank statements that proved Oliver was paying him off for something. For his silence? For his acquiescence?

“Let me ask you this,” he said, taking my hands again. “I told you things the first night I met you. You’re smart, and I know you began researching my claims immediately.” I tried to stay noncommittal in my eyes and didn’t nod or shake my head. “Has anything I’ve told you turned out to not be true?”

I thought for a moment, and slowly shook my head. He had me there.

“So maybe, just maybe, you could trust the evidence I have given you, and know that my interest here is in helping you. I like you, Becka, and I don’t think you have any idea of what you’ve gotten yourself into with Oliver. He used to be a very good man; hell, he was my best friend!

But he changed. The promise of wealth changed him.” He shrugged and, for a moment, I saw true sadness cross his face. Either he was legitimate, or he was a hell of an actor. I felt my heart reach out to him.

“I’m really sorry all of that happened,” I said quietly.

“It’s life,” Ethan said, nodding as if he believed it. “And,” he looked at his watch, “I’ve used up the hour I promised I wouldn’t exceed.”

I would have given him more time, but he stood up, so I followed. I had a thousand questions, but none that I could form into actual words.

We paid our tab; he paid, of course, and then we walked out to the parking lot. A whole new crop of women were standing out there, waiting for the valet to return their cars, some with husbands and some without. I tried to ignore their stares, tried to act as cool and calm as Ethan, but the wine had gone to my head and, instead of feeling threatened by the women, I found myself feeling an element of possession around Ethan.

I put my hand on Ethan’s arm and he slid his arm around my waist. I leaned into him, fitting easily into the crook of his arm and shoulder. I glanced triumphantly at the women and at their narrowed eyes.

He walked me to my car and asked if I was okay to drive.

“I can drive you home if you like,” he offered. “I’ll have someone bring your car to you in the morning.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “I’m fine.” I wasn’t, but I knew drunkenness wasn’t my problem. I had a feeling that as soon as I was out of Ethan’s energy field, my head would clear up pretty quickly.

He leaned in, his hot breath contrasting the cool air of the night, and he kissed me. I was surprised at first, at the sensation of his lips on mine, but my body took over screaming ‘yes, this is right!’ in my head.

I leaned into him and he put his arms around my waist, pulling me against his body. My body reacted like it was oil and he was fire; I melted into him and he consumed me. I felt my knees buckle and his strong muscles holding me up. His kiss was deep and hot, his warm lips pressing against mine firmly.

I opened my mouth to allow his tongue to slip in, and our kiss deepened. I had my arms around his shoulders and I pulled against them; our bodies were so close it would have been impossible to slip even a piece of paper between us.

“You taste so good,” he whispered, and I pulled away.

“What?” I asked. He’d sounded just like Oliver when he said that.

“You, taste, so, good.” He punctuated each word with a kiss. “You taste like fine wine.”

I let out a small laugh. He was tasting the wine on my lips and my tongue.

“I wasn’t expecting you to kiss me,” I said shyly. I knew it was wrong, it would upset Oliver to no end, but, a voice in the back of my brain reminded me that Oliver and I were not official anything… except that I was officially on his payroll for Neuotova.

“I wasn’t expecting you to show up,” he said back. “So, we’re even.”

When I got home that night, I couldn’t sleep for the confusion I was feeling in my mind and my body. The truth was this: regardless of what Ethan had told me about Oliver, I was distracted by Ethan’s body and energy.

I was attracted to him, there was no question. Not just to his body and his face, which was enough, but to his energy and his charisma. I was drawn to the fact that he knew he was sought after by every woman with a pulse and probably a lot of men, too.

My phone pinged as I lay in my dark bedroom. I rolled over and clicked the screen, thinking that it may be Ethan.

Oliver’s name flashed on my screen.

How was your meeting with Ethan? the text said.