The 5-Year Plan (Friends to Lovers Romance Book 1) (11 page)

When she entered the office, the silence that fell lifted the hairs on the back of her neck. She could feel the stares follow her into Peter’s office, but she kept her chin up and her eyes straight ahead. Soon everyone would know she’d been cleared and the real culprit had been caught.

Stopping at Peter’s door, one glance at his face made her pause. He glanced up, his mouth set, his jaw tight, and his eyes hard. Terror iced her hands and face. That wasn’t the face of someone about to deliver an apology. The look in his eyes clearly said he was ready to drop the ax on someone. That someone was her.

With her heart pounding, she took a seat opposite Peter. Sweat dampened her palms. She clutched her purse as if it was a lifesaver. All the plans she’d made on the way here evaporated.

What now?
She could only pray that it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

Peter didn’t say anything for a long time. She couldn’t bear the suspense. “You called me in?”

Picking up a paper—
what is it with him and papers!
—he dropped it in front of her. It fluttered back to his desk. “This is a copy of an email that Rose and her team unearthed this morning. It was buried in the deleted files but Rose brought in an expert who managed to retrieve it.”

She glanced at the paper. Words swam in front of her eyes. She couldn’t read it. “What is it?” She croaked out the words.

“You should know. You wrote it. To Soma. And told them your fees for the files you’d stolen from TerraDyn.”

Her hands trembled as she picked up the paper. Victoria read the words but they made no sense. The digital signature was hers as was the email address. But she hadn’t written this. Why couldn’t they see that someone was deliberately framing her? She looked at her former boss. Stomach churning, she shook her head. “I never did anything like this, Peter. You have to believe me. You have the wrong person!”

He curled his upper lip. “This new evidence means TerraDyn is going to press charges.”

She stood up. “What—you want me to admit to a crime that I didn’t commit? Beg you for mercy. Well, forget that. I’m going to fight. And when I’m done, you’re going to be the ones begging me to forgive you!”

His lips lifted in a sardonic smile. “If that is how you want to play it, that’s how we’ll do this. You can expect the police to show up at your door later today.”

“No!” The word tore out of her. “No!”

She leaned her fists on his desk. “I’ve been framed.”

He steepled his fingers together. “Really? By whom?”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “I don’t know.”

Peter stood up and buttoned his suit coat. “In that case, there’s nothing much left to say.”

She pressed her lips tight. She couldn’t think of anything to say that would sway him. Picking up the copy of the email, she left. Tears burned hot in the back of her eyes and threatened to slip out, but she held her chin high and kept going. When she neared Trent’s office, she slowed. Did she dare talk to him about this now? If Peter found out that Trent was helping her, he’d probably fire Trent, too. But Trent needed to see this new email.

Before she could decide, Jason strolled over. He glanced over his shoulder and then said. “He’s out.”

She nodded. “Tell him I dropped by. I’ll call him.”

“Sure. But, uh, I think he went to meet his ex.” He made a face. “Not cool, hun, but that girl is a looker. I can see how she keeps Trent coming back for more. My advice—don’t expect too much from Trent.”

Her skin chilled, but Victoria clenched her fists and kept a tight control on her emotions as she strode out of the office. It was only after she emerged from the building that she allowed the tears to slide down her cheeks. She walked without any idea where she was going. Finally, she stopped at an outdoor café and sat down.

Why hadn’t he told her he was meeting Cynthia? He could have texted or called. Was there more to his relationship with Cynthia than she knew? Was it possible that he was juggling her and another woman? But Trent had always been a one-woman guy—sure there’d been a lot of them, but he’d never had more than one girlfriend at a time. And last night—no, he hadn’t faked that.

Of course, it was possible that Jason was just trying to get reaction out of her—or he was getting back at Trent for telling her that Jason was married. Angry, she shoved the papers in the purse, dug out her phone, and called Trent. He didn’t pick up so she left a stumbling message for him to call her.

Pulling out the email, she read it again. Whoever had sent it was good. If she’d been given this evidence and had it point against someone else, she would have accepted it at face value, too. There was nothing to indicate that this wasn’t the real deal.

But what about when this had been sent—and if she could get the original email, she could expand the information to see if this had been sent from her laptop or another computer.

The waiter came over and asked for her order.

She realized she couldn’t eat, and didn’t want a drink. She pulled out a tip, left it, and walked out of the café.

When she reached her apartment, she saw Bob lounging near the front door. A small shock rippled through her. She’d completely forgotten about their dinner date. But that was supposed to be tonight, and she was meeting him. What was he doing here in the afternoon?

In no mood to entertain him, she snapped, “What do you want?”

“I was in the vicinity and dropped over to give you this.” He pulled out a bouquet of roses from behind his back. “And to be honest, I couldn’t wait to see you.”

Victoria glanced at the vivid red buds. She couldn’t smell any scent from them and some of the petals seemed touched with brown wilt. She shivered. She couldn't go through with this date, not after the news she’d received and certainly not when she’d just slept with another man. “Bob, I am sorry but I have to cancel.”

He scowled, and then smiled. “Oh, come on, babe. Headache?”

“You wouldn’t believe how big a one. There is a lot going on in my life right now and I can’t deal with anything else for the moment.”

He put an arm around her shoulders, but she shook it off. Eyes narrowing, he stared at her. “What problems? Tell me everything. I’ll handle it.”

As if!
He couldn’t do anything about her current situation, and she certainly didn’t want to discuss it with him. Suddenly, she couldn’t go through with this charade. She couldn’t pretend to like Bob when their relationship was long dead.

Digging into her purse, she took out her apartment key. “It’s got nothing to do with you, Bob.”

“If it has to do with you, it has something to do with me.”

She faced off with him. Since he wasn’t taking subtle hints, she would have to spell it out. “We don’t have a future together, Bob. There is no you and me. There’s nothing. That’s what I tried to tell you last time, but you just don’t want to understand anything.”

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

She shook her head. “Listen, Bob. There’s someone else in my life right now.”

He folded his arms, tucking the roses under one arm. “I don’t believe you.”

“Excuse me?” She raised an eyebrow. “This is not about you believing anything, and what—do you think no other man would have me?” She raised a hand. “You choose to believe whatever you want. Let me just lay it straight out—I don’t want to go out with you today, tomorrow, or any day of my life. We are over. End. Period. Done.”

He banged a hand on her door, making her jump. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do.” Scared as she was of his temper, she stood her ground. It was time to make her intentions clear. She wasn’t tolerating his anymore, and she wasn’t a child he could intimidate and force to do his bidding.

Leaning in, he spat out the words. “I am going to make myself very clear. You belong with me. And any man who comes in between us is going to get the beating of his life. You got that?”

Mrs. Anderson’s door opened. “What’s going on out here? Do I need to call the police?”

Bob threw the roses down on the hall carpet and ground a heel on the petals, scattering them like splattered blood. “I’ll be back. For dinner. So you get dressed and get your head straight. We’re not done.”

Turning he headed for the elevator. Mrs. Anderson poked her head out. “Should I call the police?”

“Thank you, but I don’t think that’s necessary.” She watched Bob leave, and unlocked her apartment with shaking hands. She wouldn’t put it past Bob to try and beat up Trent if he found out she was dating him. But she’d get to that problem when the time came. For now, she had other worries—like when would the cops come to arrest her for corporate espionage. Was that even a crime?

She dumped her purse and keys on the kitchen counter, walked over to the couch and sat down. Her life couldn’t be in a worse state. Her five year plan was a disaster. She didn’t have a baby or a job. The guy she liked was missing in action. Remembering Tom, she placed a call to the hospital. They wouldn’t tell her anything—she wasn’t family and the nurse she tried to talk to got huffy and hung up on her.

Changing into her yoga clothes, she lost herself in exercise. At least she’d look good in her mug shot, and it almost kept her mind off her problems. It also let her vent her physical frustrations.

Ever since she could remember, she’d lived her life according to a set plan. Now, she didn’t have one. She didn’t want to flit from moment to moment like Trent, but it was clear that her scheme to organize her life wasn’t working anymore. Her old ideas had taken a beating, and she needed a new approach to put her life back together.

As she changed from one yoga pose to another, her mind cleared and new thoughts began to appear. She grabbed a shower, changed into jeans and a casual shirt, and picked up her cell phone. It was time to call Cynthia.

-----

Trent sat opposite Cynthia in the small café where she’d insisted he had to meet her. When he’d gotten the call from her, he hadn’t wanted to put her off, despite the fact that he couldn’t be more swamped. He didn’t want to delay this discussion. Last night with Victoria had really opened his eyes. He knew in a way he never had before just what he wanted.

Cynthia turned her cup of coffee in its saucer. “Sorry, I’ve been so busy. It’s been hectic. I changed apartments, and then there was all this decorating, and you know.” She waved a hand. Her dark hair gleamed as she pushed it back from her face.

Once he would have found the move enticing. Now a jab of annoyance tugged at him. “Can we just get to the point?”

She fluttered her eyelashes. “I hope you’ve given some thought to our situation.”

“Well, of course. And I want to be an involved father. That means being there for the birth, the feedings, pick and drop from school, park visits—everything.”

A smile bloomed. She put her hand on his. “That’s wonderful, Trent. I am so glad we’re on the same page. I want this child to grow up with two parents. And I know we’ll make an amazing team.”

“Whoa—slow down there, Tonto. Team?”

“Well, how else can you raise a child?”

He pulled his hand out from under hers. Something wasn’t right here. He glanced at her coffee and then leaned his elbows on the table. “Have you told your parents?”

She flushed and looked away. Twirling a strand of hair around her finger, she shook her head “No, actually. Not yet. There’s so many things that can go wrong early, you know.”

A little surprised, Trent leaned back. Cynthia belonged to an extremely close knit family—he’d met them. Her parents lived in the city and her brother worked in the Stock Exchange. It was hard to believe she wouldn’t have gone running to them first. He knew her father had never approved of her dating Trent—dad had made that more than clear the two times they’d met. This wouldn’t come as a happy surprise to anyone of them, so maybe that was why she was wary.

Maybe she needed some support. “We could tell them together if you like.” She pulled her lips into a small pout. Stirring her coffee, she told him, “I don’t want to dump this on their heads so unexpectedly. I was thinking it might be a good idea for them to get used to our engagement and then a quick marriage—”

“Wait. Hold it.” Trent raised a hand. “You won’t dump on them, but you will on me? And engagement? Marriage? I am sorry, Cynthia, but that is not what I had in mind when I told you that I wanted to be an involved parent.”

The movement of her spoon halted. She glanced up, her eyes bright. “If you’re not around all the time, how are you going to be an active parent? And I don’t think us living apart sends the right message to our child of being wanted.”

“I will be around, but not as your husband. There are plenty of people who make parenting work without being married or living with the other parent.”

Her lips pressed in a thin line. “That is not what I had in mind.”

“I get it. I can appreciate you’d want stability and commitment, especially now. But I can’t give you everything you want. Frankly, it’d be cruel to everyone involved if I went along with some kind of charade simply for the sake of the baby. I am sorry. I know that’s not what you wanted to hear, but all I can give is a promise to be there every step of the way.”

Her chin lifted and the gleam in her eye sharpened. “It has to be marriage.”

“Why? Don’t tell me that you’re suddenly against single, unwed mothers?”

“No!” She shook her head. “If it’s not marriage, it wouldn’t work out.”

He put his palm flat on the table. The cloth felt rough under his fingers. “Why the hell not?”

“I want both parents to be there for the child.”

“And I will be there. But we’re going to be just two friends raising a child together.”