The 5-Year Plan (Friends to Lovers Romance Book 1) (12 page)

Cynthia’s lower lip quivered. She pulled in a breath and slipped a smile in place “We were good together, Trent. Don’t you remember?”

“If by good you mean in bed, then yeah, sure. But that didn’t last, did it? Don’t you remember? Our relationship went kaput long before our sex life, did. In fact, that might have been the only thing holding us together. We don’t have anything in common—you thought my work was boring, I thought your friends were…well, not my friends. And I’m sorry, but I never loved you. I’m not sure you loved me, either—you really loved the idea of being in love.” He shook his head. “Face it, Cyn, we’ve both moved on. Things have changed.”

“At least, give it a try. Let’s just go out for a couple of weeks?”

He stared into her eyes. And all he could think was—she’s not Tori.

Last night had changed everything. He knew his life was with Victoria. If there was one woman he could see as his wife, it was her. For once, he could look ahead and picture their wedding—Tori in white, lilies in her hands, a veil over her head. He’d wear a tux. They’d get married in a garden. The image of it left Trent shaking it seemed so real. The truth stared him right into his face—he was in love with Victoria. He didn’t know when it had happened or how, but it had. She was the one for him.

And he wasn’t willing to change that for anything.

He threw his napkin on the table. “I am truly sorry, Cynthia, but this isn’t going to work.”

She drummed her fingernails on the table, and then held still. “Is there someone else?”

He took a deep breath. “Yes. There is.”

“And she’s more important than your child?”

“They’re both important—so are you. But I can’t bring up a kid with an unhappy dad—I had one of those and it’s not good. And trust me, that's what would happen. I’d resent you, and then the kid, and I don’t want that. I want to be there for you, but beyond that, I can’t offer anything else.”

Cynthia glared at him. Tears filled her eyes. Suddenly, she stood, picked up her bag, and flounced out of the café.

“Cynthia?” He stood up but she didn’t look back. “Damn it!” Frustrated, Trent ran a hand through his hair and sat down again.

Well, it couldn’t have gone worse. At least he’d made his position clear. If Cynthia didn’t meet him half way, this wouldn’t pan out.

Picking up his coffee, he downed it. He needed to get back to the office and catch a few of the balls he had in the air, and then he needed to visit Tom, and then he could swing by to see Victoria. If he had her, he had everything. After paying his bill, he took a cab back to the office. He had the results of his log tracking and he wanted to do a quick review. He’d already called the hospital and Tom was doing well, but was still groggy from the sedation. They also had warned him visits would be kept to five minutes. But they expected Tom to continue to improve.

The accident had shaken him more than he’d ever expected. He’d never take anyone he loved for granted now—that included his father, Tom, and Victoria. As he stepped into the office, he heard the buzz going around. People were standing around in small groups, whispering excitedly. Something was up. He paused at the door to the IT department and wondered who he could catch to find out what was up.

Before he could he saw Peter Iverson heading straight for him. Trent swallowed the dryness in his mouth. Iverson didn’t look happy—in face, he looked a lot like his office nickname—Ivo the Terrible. Had he found out that Trent was helping Victoria? Trent pushed his shoulders back, but Iverson only beckoned for him to follow. “Come with me. We’re got a meeting.”

“What meeting?”

Peter headed for the board room. “I heard about your brother. How is he doing?”

Trailing along, Trent nodded. “Better.”

“Don’t worry about any prep. In light of the recent digital thefts, we’ve decided to enhance security. I know you have been fighting for this for a long time, so today is your day. You’ll get a chance to present that proposal you submitted about a year ago.”

Trent remembered the detailed plan he’d drawn up. No one had wanted to look at it due to the cost. If they’d put in the key fobs with the random number generators that he’d asked for last year, they wouldn’t be in this mess today. And Victoria wouldn’t be sitting at home.

But of course, he couldn’t say any of that to Peter. At least, he didn’t need to worry about the presentation. He really did remember it. “That’s great. But, uh…what’s been happening around here?”

Iverson didn’t spare a glance for the people who were openly chatting with one another. He glanced at Trent. “I suppose some kind of reaction is only to be expected. We’re going after Ashwood—criminal charges.”

Trent stumbled. “Victoria?” He felt as if his world went blank. Blinking, he stared at Iverson. “But…why?” Iverson told him about the email they’d found.

Trent glanced around. He had to get out here now. Tori needed him and he was being dragged into a meeting.

Dammit! All he wanted to do was get to her, gather her in his arms, and assure her everything would be okay. Unfortunately, that looked like it was the last thing he could do.

Trent still hadn’t returned from the office. Since he was not the type to work late, Victoria could only wonder what was keeping him. Maybe he’d stopped off to see Tom, but how long could that have taken?  He also hadn’t answered any of her texts or messages. Well, she’d just have to reach him later. At least she wasn’t in jail yet, but she also wasn’t at home, either. That might be the only reason why no one had arrested her. Or maybe Peter had been bluffing about that?

She didn’t know, but she had a few other answers she was going to get.

She knew Trent better than anyone else did—meaning she knew that he had a gullible streak. Victoria couldn’t shake the feeling that Cynthia wasn’t being entirely honest with Trent. And since Trent had had his chat with Cynthia, it was her turn now.

Trent might be mad later on when he found out she’d been pushing into his affairs. But by then it would be too late. Impatiently, Victoria waited for the other woman to arrive. When Cynthia finally swept into Delight like a movie star, the three men here to buy bagels turned to take a second look. Victoria tried to look at Cynthia with some level of detachment. She was an attractive woman. Men certainly liked her. She had a great body, and she knew how to use it with dresses that showed off her figure and a seductive hip sway. But her haughty looks weren’t going to cut any ice with Victoria.

Gesturing to the chair next to her, Victoria smiled. “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”

Cynthia sat down, her purse on her lap. “I couldn’t figure out what you wanted, but Trent and you have always been close. So I guess I just wanted to see if you had anything to add to what he told me.”

Victoria didn’t know what Cynthia and Trent had talked about, but she couldn’t imagine Trent making promises that he wouldn't keep. She’d ordered two teas and a couple of Danish pastries. She pushed one toward Cynthia, but the other woman shook her head. “I have to watch my figure.”
              “Aren’t you eating for two now?” Cynthia’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything. Victoria took a small bite of her Danish. “I can imagine the distress that you must be going through. Trent is a hard guy to land.”

“He sure is.” Cynthia rolled her eyes.

Victoria nodded. “Some of his ex-girlfriends have gone through hell. He just isn’t the kind of guy who makes a commitment.”

To her surprise, tears sprang into Cynthia’s eyes. She dabbed at them. “I really thought this baby would make a difference for us—you know, bring us closer. But he doesn’t want me.”

“He said that?”

“He said he’d be there for the baby, but he won’t marry me.” Her voice broke on the last two words.

Ah! The picture was becoming clear now. Cynthia had marriage in mind—and probably not much else. Although she’d never doubted him, Victoria was relieved to hear that Trent hadn’t made any commitment to this woman. “So what are you going to do now?”

Cynthia pulled the Danish closer and took a bite. She chewed, swallowed and admitted, “I’m not sure.”

Victoria decided to try playing her hunch. “You could always admit the truth, Cynthia, and let this go.”

Eyes going wide, Cynthia stared at Victoria. “What do you mean?”

Victoria drummed her fingers on the table. Cynthia was a good actor, but she wasn’t great. “You’re not pregnant.”

“How can you say that?” Cynthia pressed a hand to her belly. Her cheeks flushed. “I am not listening to this.” She stood.

It had been a stab in the dark, but Victoria was happy it’d worked. Cynthia’s refusal to discuss this any further told her more than she needed to know. In a strange way, she felt sorry for the other woman. How desperate was she to hatch this scheme?

“Sit down. He’s going to know soon enough. And I’ll bet he already suspects that you’re not telling the truth.” Okay, so that was stretching, but Cynthia sat down again. Victoria sipped her coffee. “I could help you.”

Sighing, Cynthia took another bite of her Danish. “Help how?”

Victoria pushed her Danish around on the plate. “Why did you fabricate this lie?”

Cynthia lifted one shoulder and dropped it. “I loved him. I thought it was the best way to get him back.”

“Then why did you break up in the first place?”

“I didn’t. He wanted out. And I didn’t want to end up looking like a clinging, needy woman.”

“Which is ironically exactly what you look like.”

“Hey—you try being in love!”

Victoria sighed. “Yeah—it can be tough. So what’s the plan now?”

“I don’t know what to do,” Cynthia admitted. Her lower lip trembled. “He said he doesn’t love me.”

Victoria resisted the urge to pat Cynthia’s hand. She deserved some sympathy, but not that much—not when she’d tried to trap Trent. “The way I see it, the best way is for me to tell him you made a mistake. False read on your test. That way, you don’t have to face him again. And I’ll tell him you really did care for him.” It was the best she could do.

Cynthia ate the rest of her Danish and seemed to be considering the offer. “Thanks, but I made this mess and I should clean it myself.”

The woman’s courage impressed her. Victoria switched off her phone—she’d been recording their conversation just in case Cynthia had proven difficult. That didn’t matter now. It seemed clear that Trent had no thought of offering marriage. At least, one problem was solved.

“If it’s any consolation, I am sorry.”

Cynthia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s what he kept saying.” She sighed. “I just want a big wedding. I’m almost twenty-six. My mom was married at twenty-two. And Trent’s the first nice guy I’ve ever gone out with. I really could have made him happy, you know.”

Victoria gave in and reached over to pat Cynthia’s hand. “You know, he has a brother—an unmarried, nice guy. He was just in an accident.”

Cynthia sat up. “Really? I mean, that’s awful. Do you think Trent’s going to hate me for saying I was pregnant.”

“Give him time to get over it. He may be relieved. And give his bother a couple of weeks to get home. Okay?”

“Sure—and thanks.” Cynthia stood up. She started for the door but she turned back. “You know, I used to think from the stuff Trent said that he was really gone on you. And that you weren’t so nice. But you’re okay.” She waved with a wiggle of her fingers and walked out.

Happy with all that she achieved, Victoria headed home. She hoped Trent really would be more relieved than devastated. He’d been imagining that he was going to be a father soon, and now she was going to pull that rug out from under him. As she tried to figure out the best way to break the news to him, she headed up to her apartment.

Inside, she stopped.

Bob was sitting at her desk, her personal laptop open in front of him. “What are you doing?” She glanced behind her, realizing that not only had he unlocked her front door, but he’d also gotten past her password.

Clearly, he hadn’t been expecting her. Face red, he stood up. Rushing over, she grabbed her laptop from him and saw he’d been reading her emails.
You jerk
, she thought—you’re the one who’s been using
my login.

Her temper flared. “How dare you? You’re the one who is responsible for making me lose my job. You did it—not just with my home computer, you stole my work login! How could you do such a thing?”

Smiling, he spread his hands, “Babe, I can explain everything.”

“I don’t need explanations.” Victoria turned. She was getting out, heading back to the office, and telling Peter everything. So what if she didn’t have proof. And so what if it made her look careless. Better that than to make her look criminal. And now the police were welcome to arrest her. She’d tell them everything and let them dig up the evidence to nail Bob’s hide to the wall.

She barely made it to the door before Bob’s hand clamped down on her arm. With a vicious yank, he pulled her back. “What do you think you’re doing, bitch?”

“How dare you!”

He slapped. Hard. She toppled sideward and hit the wall. Her laptop fell to the floor. The knock left her head spinning and her cheek throbbing. She put her hand over her burning face. Bob always had his temper on slow boil, but she never really thought he was capable of violence against her.

It had been stupid to give him a chance to get his hands on her.

She scrambled to get up and run. He grabbed her hair and pulled her up. She screamed and he slapped her again. “Shut up.”

Shaking now, she clawed at his hands. He dragged her to the living room and threw her onto the couth. Tears of rage and frustration escaped her eyes. Not so long ago she thought she’d loved this man. She’d spent so much time with him, and this was how he repaid her?

“You bastard.”

Bob rolled up his sleeves. “Time you learned who calls the shots.”

She pushed herself upright. “Why? Why did you do it?”

He glanced at her. “Why what?”

“You—my login? Why’d you leave me to take the blame?”

He grinned. “They blamed you?” He shook his head. “Geeze—that’s why it stopped working. You stupid bitch. You couldn’t think of a good lie to tell them, could you?” He grabbed her hair again and pulled. “I was counting on some more money, babe! A lot more. Seems like I’ll just have to take that out of your hide, too, hun?”

She grabbed his wrist. “But you’re job—you’re doing so well!”

“Well isn’t good enough. And I wasn’t turning down that deal. It wasn’t supposed to hurt you. He said you wouldn’t be traced. All I needed was your password. And now you’ve messed it up.”

Mastering her courage, she dug her fingers in. He yelped and let go. She stood. “How dare you talk about all like it was my fault! You ruined my career, you bastard.”

His slap sent her reeling down onto the couch again. She smelled the copper tang of blood and tasted it from the cut on her lip. Standing over her, he shook his head. “Just a couple of times and we’d get enough cash. No way was I going to leave easy money lying around. Nobody caught on.”

“Until you got greedy and kept on stealing and stealing—you got me caught in the trap you created. How could I ever have trusted you?” She shook her head. The realization that she’d actually slept with him and harbored dreams of a future with him left her nauseous. She glanced at the front door. She had to escape.

Looking back at him, she cowered, tried to look beaten. It wasn’t hard. She was shaking and scared. What was he planning to do with her now that she knew the truth? Fear skidded up her spine as he stepped in front of her. Maybe he knew she wanted to run. It was obvious he intended to keep her here, but for how long?

“Who’s your partner?” Maybe if she could keep him talking, he wouldn’t keep hitting her. And he wouldn’t have time to think of something horrible to do to her.

His smile twisted. “You’d love to know, wouldn’t you?”

Victoria thought of all the people they’d suspected. Who could it have been? Not Sue. She’d once doubted Trent, but it couldn’t be him. She had one ace to play—Bob loved to brag. “Oh, come on—I’ll be you’re the real brains. This partner—you did all the work, didn’t you?”

Bob grinned and flexed his right hand—the one he’d hit her with. “It wasn’t so easy, you know. Took me a damn month to figure out that password of yours—I had to keep watching you type it in and type it in. And then that stupid friend of yours, Trent, had to show up with you—I knew what he was doing. I knew it right away that he was sniffing around. I thought about telling him to back off. But I knew that geek ignored anything except a baseball bat over the head. So that’s what I gave him.”

Throat tight, skin chilled, she rubbed her arms. Her face ached. “What did you do?”

He smiled. “You really want to know?”

“Bob—what did you do?” She stressed every word.

His smile widened to a grin. “Just sent a little message. That’s all.”

“Dammit, Bob…” The air caught in her chest. She felt as if he’d struck her again. “Tom…Tom’s accident! You had something to do with it.”

Bob raised his hands. “Hey—the guy brought it down on him and his own. Should have kept his nose out of my stuff and away from my girl.”

Shaking hard now, she stared at him. “How could you? You sent a man to the hospital just to send a message? That accident nearly took Tom’s life! He could have died!”

He pulled his hand back. “You think I’m going to let that geek put me in a tight spot? And don’t go all high and mighty on me. You were the one nailed for this—you just said so. You’re the thief!”

“But…”

“Oh shut up! You are such a stupid bitch. I don’t know why I bothered. If only you’d let things go, I’d have taken care of you. Why do you want to work anyway? But no! You had to get cozy with your geek and stick him on me, and then go all stupid—no, Bob, I don’t want your gifts! Well, now you know what happens to people who push into my business— I don’t like people who meddle.”

Victoria feverishly tried to think of a way to escape. Bob was working himself into an even worse temper. The mood he was in, he might do anything. If he could try to kill Tom, he wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to her. And who was going to stop him? Mrs. Anderson? Oh, why weren’t the cops here now to arrest her for thief?