The Tycoon's Revenge (Baby for the Billionaire - Book One) (5 page)

He sent his men into the conference room next door, with a handful so they could start calling in employees to be let go. He could hear the yelling through his walls as some of those employees, very vocally, expressed their outrage.

It was six in the evening when Jasmine looked up wearily. “I really need to get home. I have something I have to do tonight,” she said to him. His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as he wondered what it was she had to get to. Was she late for a date? He knew it was none of his business but he’d decided he wanted her again and he didn’t want another man interfering.

“We can work on this more tomorrow. I can already see it will take us all week,” he said to her. He was going to find an excuse to go to her place within the next couple of days to find out why she was in such a hurry to leave the office.

“Thank you,” she muttered, like it was choking her to say the kind words. She quickly left, needing to get far away as quickly as possible. Derek was exhausted himself and decided to call it a night.

He walked out of the building, which was pretty much empty, except for the security staff. He drove home, wanting the night to get over with so he could be with her again. He tried to convince himself it was for his revenge but the more time he spent with her the more the line faded.

Chapter Four

Jasmine rushed in the door of the school gym. She hadn’t even had time to run home and change. Her son was in the fourth grade and very proud to be on the wrestling team. He had a match that started twenty minutes ago and she was praying she hadn’t missed it. She hated missing any events in his life.

She ran through the doors and found where the kids were sitting. She walked over to him and wanted to give him a kiss but knew that would embarrass him in front of all his friends.

“I didn’t miss you wresting, did I?” she asked with concern.

“No Mom, I’m up next,” he said with a shrug. He was trying to act like it didn’t matter but she could see the relief in his eyes she was there.

“Good. I’m sorry I got here so late but there was some extra work to be done at the office,” she explained.

“It’s okay, Mom,” he told her in his far too understanding voice. He was such a good boy. She couldn’t imagine her life without him in it. She walked over to the bleachers and sat down. When it was her son’s turn to wrestle, she cheered him on and clapped the loudest in the crowd when he won.

He ran up to her and gave her a rare public hug afterwards, forgetting for a minute he was too old to give his mother public affection.

“I’m so proud of you,” she exclaimed to her son.

“Thanks Mom, I have to go back over with the team now,” he said, as he practically danced back over towards his teammates. She’d love to go back to being a kid, carefree and excited so easily. Her stomach clenched as she thought about the excitement that rushed through her body when Derek had stood so close to her.

She pushed those thoughts out of her head. She was with her son now and wouldn’t think of Derek. She had to put up with him in the office but he wasn’t allowed to invade her private time. She sighed, as she realized how hard it was going to be to keep the man out of her thoughts when she had to work with him all day.

Age had been far too good to the man. His boyish muscles had matured and when he'd taken off his suit jacket, exposing his wide shoulders and large biceps, she had to fight drooling. She'd once known his body as intimately as she knew her own and she missed the feel of his hands on her. She hadn’t had any man’s hands on her in far too long.

Maybe it was time to start dating again. She’d been asked out by Jacob’s wrestling coach and put him off. Maybe she should just accept the invitation. She’d think about it and not do something rash because her hormones were in an uproar.

The match ended shortly and she and Jacob headed to the car. “How would you like to go to dinner tonight?” she asked him.

“Yes! Can we have pizza?” he pleaded with her. The kid could eat pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner if she let him.

“That sounds perfect,” she replied and headed to the local parlor. She gave him a bunch of quarters for video games and then sat watching him from the table. They soon ate and then headed home. Both were exhausted from their busy day and quickly went to bed.

The next morning, Jasmine rode the elevator up to her floor, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. She was hoping Derek would have other things to do that day and not want to spend the entire time with her in the office again. She didn’t know how many days in a row she could stand being with him all day long, before she exploded.

The man smelled far too good for a stuffy executive and when she was with him, she couldn’t get the images of herself wrapped in his arms, out of her head. She had to remind herself not only had he walked away from her, after stealing her innocence but then he had come back to take over her father’s company as well. He was heartless and she’d be much better off remembering that.

She could in no way allow him to know about her son. He cared only for himself and anything he deemed his, he’d take mercilessly.

She sat down at her desk and no more than five minutes later, her buzzer was ringing. She picked up, already knowing who was on the other line. “When did you get in, I have been trying to get ahold of you for an hour,” Derek’s voice snapped over the line.

“I got here a few minutes ago and I’m twenty minutes early, as it is,” she said with frustration.

“Get over here, we need to go through the rest of the files,” he commanded and then hung up.

She wearily got to her feet and walked to his office. The secretary wasn’t even there and she had passed many empty offices along the way. He really was changing everything about the building. All those familiar faces were going to be gone. She didn’t particularly like any of the people who were getting fired but it was still nice to have familiar faces around her. There was some comfort in it.

Jasmine walked in the door and Derek had to make sure his features remained void. She was stunning in her green skirt suit. It matched her eyes to perfection. She once again had her hair up in the unflattering bun, which he wanted to yank out, but her face was stunning. She wore hardly any make-up, being she was one of the few women who simply didn’t need it.

She sat down at the table and he sat next to her. Her light scent drifted over to him and he could feel his pulse start to race and his pants start to get far too tight. He’d have to take her far sooner than he planned just to get her out of his system. Then he could get his libido back to normal.

He knew he was affecting her just as much as she was affecting him. He could see her chest rising faster as her breathing deepened. He could even see her pulse speed up through the delicate skin of her neck. He was going to test his limits of control that day.

He scooted far closer to her than was needed. He could see she wanted to move away but her stubborn attitude refused to allow her to show any weakness. Their shoulders were brushing together as he leaned in to look at the file she currently had opened in front of her.

“So what have you been doing the last ten years?” he asked her. For once in his life he had zero interest in the business in front of him that needed to be done.

“That’s none of your business, it has nothing to do with my job,” she snapped and tried to pull his attention back to the file. “This is Anthony, he works in accounting. I have spoken to him on a few occasions and even went to my father because it looked to me like he was into some unethical business practices but my father said it was fine. I would personally not trust him,” she finished, as she pushed the folder closer to him.

Bringing up her father was as good as throwing cold water in his face. His libido was put on hold as he took the file. He looked through the exceptionally detailed folder and then added the man to the fire pile. They continued to go through the files one by one and they mostly agreed on who deserved a chance to stay but every once in a while they came to an impasse.

She would argue for some person to stay but she’d lose. Once he set his mind on something, it was difficult to change it.

She pulled forward another file and made her case for the man to stay employed. He looked through and decided to let him go. He tossed the file into the termination pile and she snatched it back out. “I really think you need to interview Henry. He’s a good man and does exceptional work. You don’t even know him, so you can give him the courtesy of at least speaking with him, before you end his employment,” she demanded.

Derek raised his eyes at her outburst. She’d argued for a few people but hadn’t been so emphatic about it. He wondered who this Henry was and if he was possibly her reason for having to leave yesterday. He moved him over to the interview pile, just because he wanted to see who the competition was.

“Thank you,” she said although it came out through clenched teeth and didn’t sound like a ‘thank you’ at all. It sounded more like she wanted to call him a few names.

“I need some lunch, let’s go out,” he said, suddenly needing to get out of the offices for a while.

“I will eat in,” she said, completely shutting him down. He didn’t like to be refused, which she was better off learning now.

“It will be a business lunch so you’ll accompany me,” he demanded. He grabbed his jacket and walked to the door, holding it open for her to exit. If looks could kill, he would’ve been melted right on the spot.

She jerkily got up and followed him out. He could practically see the steam rising from her ears. He was amused by her attitude and surprised by that amusement. He wasn’t used to being so openly disobeyed but he liked that she was unafraid to challenge him.

He drove them to a diner he enjoyed several times a week. The staff knew him well and led them to a private table in the back of the restaurant. He liked the place for its privacy when he needed to talk to a client, or take a date out. He used it for many different purposes. He was a person that didn’t mess with a good thing once he found it.

Jasmine narrowed her eyes further as she looked around at the intimate restaurant. It was the middle of the afternoon and there were candles burning on the tables. She glared some more at his back as she followed him to the table in the corner.

If he really thought he was going to try to seduce her, he had another thing coming. The hostess sat them down and then asked what they would like to drink. He ordered an iced tea. Normally Jasmine didn’t drink alcohol, especially in the middle of her work day but she had the feeling she was going to need a glass, if she was going to make it through the rest of the day without snapping at him.

“I’ll take a glass of red wine,” she said with a smile. He raised his brows at her but didn’t say anything. She was testing her limits. Let’s see if he’d fire her for having a glass of wine at a lunch he’d forced her to accompany him on.

Their appetizers came out and Jasmine found she was starving. The food was excellent and it disappeared quickly. Derek chuckled as she looked at his plate. She always had enjoyed good foods, good wine and great sex. His groin tightened once again.

The rest of their meal came out and they ate comfortably. She let her defenses down and chatted with him as the wine loosened her tongue and the food sated her stomach.

She excused herself to go to the restroom and was adjusting her hair when Amy approached her from behind. The woman didn’t look happy at all.

“I see you’re getting very cozy with the boss,” the woman snarled. Jasmine had no idea she’d been fired. She just now realized she hadn’t seen her in the offices all morning.

“It’s a business lunch, not that it’s any of your business,” Jasmine said and then made to go around her.

“It looked a lot cozier than a business lunch. I wouldn’t get too comfortable with him if I were you. He likes to add notches to his bed post but he gets bored quickly and then tosses you out even faster,” Amy said with anger.

Jasmine stared at her as she realized what the woman was saying. She was one of his cast offs. She was horrified to have her thoughts turned into reality.

“I see the light is dawning. Yes, we’ve been intimate a long time. I’m actually expecting him to propose marriage at any moment but it seems he wants to sow some more oats before settling down,” Amy said with a smug look on her face.

“How could you want to be with a man who won’t be faithful to you?” Amy asked.

“He can have his flings now, because once he puts that ring on my finger, he will be mine and will no longer have any desire to find whores,” she said as if she really didn’t care and then looked at Jasmine, implying she was one of those whores. She walked out of the bathroom, leaving Jasmine staring after her.

Jasmine took a few more minutes, before finally walking back to the table. Derek was looking at her with curiosity. She realized she’d been gone for a while. She didn’t say anything to him, she just gathered her jacket and started heading for the door. She didn’t offer to cover her portion of lunch. He’d insisted she come with him, so he could pay for the overpriced meal.

Derek paid for their lunch and then met her out at the front curb. He couldn’t figure out what had changed from the time she’d left the table, to the time she came back from the bathroom. She’d been starting to relax around him before she’d left.