They arrived at the restaurant soon enough and were led by the hostess through the intimate setting to a table in the back. He walked to her side and pulled her chair out for her, waiting until she was seated before returning to his own seat. Eden was nervous, and it didn’t help that he kept looking at her like she was dessert. She didn’t really know what to say, this being her very first real date since marrying Dominic. There certainly had been little room for wooing in that union. He’d shown Eden money, and she’d readily jumped on the opportunity never once contemplating the consequences.
“Uh oh, this date isn’t starting off well if you’re looking ready to leave already.”
Eden had the good graces to look embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Wes, it’s not you. I just have a lot on my mind.”
“Want to share? I’ve been told I’m a very good listener.”
Eden smiled. “From your trove of women?”
He chuckled, and her smile widened at the sight of his reddening ears. “What can I say, I love women.”
“And they certainly love you.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Eden laughed. “Immensely.”
The rest of dinner continued on that amiable note, and the occasional moments of silences, which were thankfully few and far in between, were easily filled by conversation that did not pertain to any personal matters on either side. Wes did not want to part so soon, so Eden agreed to continue their evening at a bar a few blocks away from where they’d eaten. Far too absorbed in her companion, Eden failed to notice the man covertly trailing behind them as she and Wes entered the bar.
Just as he’d done throughout the night, he remained inconspicuous, but close enough that he could see his intended target. James was given very specific instructions, and he carried them out with the expertise attributed to his name. He remained ever vigilant, cataloging every minute detail for his report.
The man she was with touched her like he owned her and hung onto her with appalling familiarity. James took out his camera to take pictures. They stayed for a time, lost in the cigarette smoke that hungover the crowd like a cloud. They sat close, side by side, his arm slung over the threadbare couch they’d claimed as their own. He drew her to his side, and she remained there for the duration, lulled by the gentle strains of jazz filtering through the speakers. To anyone else, they appeared the perfect couple out on a date. To James it was proof of his employer’s wife’s infidelity. Heads were surely going to roll and James was happy to know he wouldn’t be on the end of that falling axe.
* * *
Eden’s mind was reeling. She sat immobile inside her desert hot car in a complete state of shock, wondering when she would wake up from this nightmare. She tried swallowing around the lump in her throat but found bile crawling its way up, threatening to make her sick. She drew in deep steadying breaths in an attempt to calm herself, and even though the tears pricking her eyes were just shy of falling, she refused to give into them. At least not yet. With tremulous fingers she started the car, shifted into gear, and wrapped her fingers around the steering wheel. She needed to get home. Home to Liam. Home to stability because she feared the world was crumbling beneath her feet. In a daze, her mind revisited the scene from earlier, still unable to grasp that she’d been released from her contract at the brokerage.
Eden parked her car in her designated parking space. She caught a quick glance at the clock on the dashboard and cursed softly. Annie had asked her to come in early today because they needed to discuss a few things, and after the incident of a few weeks ago, the last thing Eden wanted was to further infuriate her boss. She grabbed her coffee cup and her overlarge purse before jumping out of the car and hastening to the office. There wasn’t anyone at the front desk. Courtney, their receptionist, was scheduled to come in at ten, and the five other agents working here followed their own personal schedules, so the office was relatively empty when Eden walked in. Her heels clicked and clacked against the linoleum floor stifled only when she reached the carpeted floor next to her desk.
She set her purse down and although she wanted to check her messages, she knew now wasn’t the time. Eden found Annie in her office but was taken aback when she saw Sarah Ronald seated across from her. Although partners, Annie was the face of the brokerage, she was the one who spoke to the clients and designated the listings to the agents. It was quite rare for Sarah to be in the office. She was the silent partner who dealt more with the financing part of the business. Eden instantly knew something was up. Apprehension made her palms sweat and her heart race as she desperately tried to think whether she did anything wrong. She’d been on her best behavior since she’d failed to close on the multi-million dollar property a few weeks back. And regardless of being reassured that she’d done nothing wrong and that her job wasn’t in jeopardy, Eden had worked doubly hard to prove herself again, doing all she could to sell as many properties as she could. In the following weeks, things had looked, for all intents and purposes, as if they’d been back to normal. She’d foolishly allowed herself to think she was in the clear.
“Have a seat, Eden” Sarah’s tone was curt, being the more serious of the two, she indicated with a cock of her head to the adjacent chair beside her own.
Eden did as bidden and settled into the chair, licking her suddenly dry lips as she silently waited. The silence was deafening. “Is...is there something wrong?” she decided to break it, unable to withstand it any longer.
Annie rustled with some documents on her desk before clearing her throat and looking at Eden with clear blue eyes. “Sarah and I went out on a limb for you and gave you a chance at our company believing that you could contribute something great here. And you have. You’ve been great up to this point.”
“What point? What did I do?”
“It’s come to our attention that you’ve been going behind our backs and making deals with clients without our knowledge and keeping a percentage of the commission for yourself.”
Eden chortled. “You can’t be serious,” she asked incredulously, but looking at the dire expression on their faces, Eden was mortified to see that they were absolutely serious. “Come on, you guys can’t actually believe I would do something so stupid.” She shook her head, her eyes bouncing from one woman to the other. “I would never do something like that.”
“We have proof.” Annie sighed, extending a folder to Eden. “It’s all there. And the worst part is you’ve been badmouthing our agency to our clients.”
“That’s not true! I...I wouldn’t do that!” She hastily leafed through the folder, all the while trying to defend herself to the women who’d already passed judgment. Eden couldn’t believe what she was seeing, if she were in their shoes, there would be no contesting this. Her signature was on more than a dozen contracts she didn’t remember signing or making the deals in the first place. “This is…this isn’t me…please—”
“We’ve done all we could for you, Eden, but unfortunately your time here is over.”
“Please…please don’t. Annie, you know I would never do this. I love working here. I love this job, why would I jeopardize that?
“Money is always a great incentive,” Sarah retorted, and Eden felt like she’d been smacked. She wasn’t cold, but tremors shook her body as she unsteadily got to her feet.
“Thank…thank you for the opportunity. I’m…”Innocentdidn’t get a chance to get through the tears choking her. Before they could fall, she whirled around and ran out of the office, remembering to grab her bag.
* * *
Still largely mortified and completely devastated that she’d just lost her job, Eden remained in her car even though she’d pulled up to her home nearly an hour ago. She’d honestly loved working at Banks and Ronald. It’d given her purpose, drove her to be better than she was. It’d challenged her, made her feel like she was part of something bigger than herself, and she’d been damn good at it. But now it was all gone. Ripped right out from under her. It wasn’t as though she couldn’t start again, she had enough credentials to get hired at any brokerage firm, but it wouldn’t be the same. Despite the competitiveness, there’d been a light camaraderie about the place that been amazing to be around. God, how could they think she was capable of that? Someone was framing her, setting her up to make her look bad, and Eden had a sinking feeling she knew who that someone was.
