She drops her graceful, slender hands from the piano and gives me an eager smile.
“Did he buy it?”
3
JULIET
“He bought it,” I say, relieved that the ordeal is over—even if a new one is just beginning. “It went better than I expected.”
Olivia lights up. “I knew you could do it!” She smiles at me, full of warmth. “Come, sit, tell me all about it. Would you like something to drink?” she asks, then doesn’t wait for a response before calling, “Soren? Tea, and champagne. This calls for a celebration.”
She guides me over to the antique couches, and sits close, like we’re the best of friends. “Did he seem suspicious?” she asks, her brow creasing with concern.
“No… He thought I was just a regular applicant.”
“Good.” Olivia exhales. She must see the hesitation in my expression, because her smile shifts into something more sympathetic. “I know all this lying and subterfuge must seem crazy, but you have to understand, I’ll do anything to protect my family’s company. I just never thought I would have to protect it from Caleb.”
I nod slowly. I’ve heard this before—at this house, and on this very couch, when Olivia recruited me for this undercover mission.
At first, I had no idea what a twisted web I was getting myself into. Kelsey was at the fancy beauty salon she works for on Fifth Avenue when she overheard one of the regulars complaining how hard it was to find a reliable assistant. She knew I was in dire straits, so she recommended me to Olivia for the job. We set up a meeting, and I arrived here last week, thinking I would be running errands, fetching dry cleaning and overseeing household staff.
I was wrong.
Olivia wanted way more: A person to go undercover at her company, to help bust her co-owner for embezzlement.
Help her take down Caleb Sterling.
Her accountants recently noticed something was seriously wrong with the books. Every spring, hundreds of thousands of dollars were being shuffled out of certain accounts, only to be replaced a short while later. It was difficult to detect but the accountant said a sign of one thing—theft.
Apparently, Caleb is the only one with that kind of access—and the sophistication to pull it off. Now that we’re coming up on spring again, she needs someone to keep an eye on everything he does. And catch him in the act.
It wasn’t what I was expecting from the job, that was for sure. Lying… Sneaking around… Pretending to be something that I’m not… My first instinct was to tell her thanks but no thanks.
Then she told me what she was willing to pay, as a reward for evidence that would take down Caleb Sterling.
Half a million dollars.
It’s more than I could ever imagine making with my lackluster resume. Money like that would keep my mom at Meadow View, and maybe even help me go back to school and set me on my feet again. Get my life back on course, after seeing it derailed so completely. All that, and for what? Bringing a thief to justice?
I could live with that.
So, I said ‘yes’.
Now, I watch as Olivia twists the diamond rings on her fingers with anxiety. “You don’t know how long I’ve been hoping it’s not him,” she adds, her blue eyes beseeching. “Caleb is like a brother to me. I’ve known him my whole life. Our parents ran the company together. But if he is jeopardizing everything… It’s not fair on our employees. They’re family. If he’s stealing, cheating… Who knows what he’s hiding? He could bring the whole company crashing to the ground.”
Although I may not know what it’s like to live this kind of lifestyle, I do know a thing or two about trying to keep everything together for your family’s sake.
“If he’s doing anything shady, I’ll find out,” I reassure her. “As his assistant, I should be able to access his calendar, and keep an eye on everything.”
She nods. “Good. If he tries to steal any more money from the company… Well, you’ll be there to document it, and I’ll finally have the proof I need to remove him from the board and report him to the authorities for embezzlement and fraud.”
It all sounds simple, but now that I’ve actually met Caleb Sterling, I’m not so sure.
The butler brings in the tea service, and Olivia pours me a cup. “I’ll head into the office after lunch,” she says. “I should be able to intervene with Human Resources and float your resume to the top of the list—”
“You won’t have to,” I interrupt her. The plan was for Olivia to smooth-talk my way to the top of the list, but Caleb beat her to the punch. “He already hired me.”
She pauses in clear surprise. “What?”
“I know you said they’d need to deliberate. But he hired me. I start tomorrow.”
She blinks. She’s a debutante, the picture of poise, so this is the first time I’ve seen her feathers ruffled.
“That’s great.” She recovers. “Well done! I didn’t expect… But that doesn’t matter now.” She eyes me curiously. “What did you say?”
I bite my lip. ‘Frenched him in the ladies’ bathroom’ isn’t the answer I’m going to share. “I just remembered what you said about Caleb—Mr. Sterling,” I correct myself. “I didn’t let him intimidate me.” Much. “I think he appreciated my directness.”
“Good! Remember to keep that attitude, even if he gives you a hard time. You’re going to be very intimate with Caleb’s day-to-day.”
My cheeks flush. A hard time… I think of the way he kissed me until I was panting and feel a shiver of desire. “Mmmm,” I say, gulping my tea.
Olivia certainly doesn’t need to know how intimate we’ve already been.
“Be careful,” she tells me, her expression turning to concern. “He’s used to getting what he wants. But don’t let the charming exterior fool you. He’s utterly ruthless when he needs to be. You can’t trust him.”
“Well, that will make two of us,” I quip, feeling awkward—and way out of my depth.
She must sense my unease because she reaches out and squeezes my hand.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be amazing. And you won’t have to sneak around for long. The moment I have any evidence about what he’s doing, we can go to the authorities. And you can have your reward.”
I take a deep breath.
The money. When I think about that, and everything it can do for my family, it’s easier to ignore the uneasy feeling in my gut.
Even if Caleb Sterling is slimy and underhanded, it doesn’t mean I have to be. My mom taught me that. When others go low, you go high.
But sometimes, going high doesn’t pay the bills.
Olivia chats a while longer over tea, explaining the different people I’ll meet at the office, until she has an appointment to get to. A chauffeured car arrives to pick her up, and I take the subway back to Chinatown, trying to shake the queasiness in my stomach. The hard part—getting the job—is over.
But as I’m heading up my block, my phone buzzes. It’s Meadow View again. I wince, and pick up this time. “I’m sorry, I know payment is overdue—”