Mistletoe Maneuvers

Twelve

As Rick watched the world disappear beneath them on the flight to the Bahamas, he thought about the previous evening and something became painfully clear: He could not take this company away from Lessa.

He had gotten too involved and there was no turning back. This was no simple affair. He could not hurt her.

So what should he do?

He had already bought the stock; their contract was signed a week ago. Once Sabrina sold him hers, he would automatically be the new owner of Lawrence Enterprises. He would then officially give Lessa back her stock and, at the board meeting, he would announce his support of her chairmanship. If Lawrence Enterprises was what Lessa wanted, it was exactly what she would get.

Their flight arrived shortly before noon. Sabrina had sent a car and together they drove to her office, where Sabrina was waiting for them. She leaned over her desk in front of Rick, causing her cleavage practically to fall out of her shirt as she pretended to sort through some papers.

“Well, well, well. It’s so nice to see you again.”

“I can’t tell you how happy we were to receive your phone call,” Lessa said.

She raised an eyebrow. “I bet you were.”

She motioned toward the chairs, encouraging them to sit. “Can I get you something? Tea? Coffee? Water?”

“We’re anxious to sign the contract,” Rick said.

“I have it right here,” she said, waving it in front of them. “Before I sign it and we make this all official, I wanted to take a moment to congratulate you both on your ridiculous performance. Although I must say, Lessa dear, you were a little stiff. But your trip together to Mara del Ray was a very nice touch.”

“I’m sorry?” Lessa asked.

“You, Rick, however, almost had me convinced. There was a look in your eye, one that gave me pause.” She laughed. “But you, Lessa…I never quite bought it. Then again, you had a much more difficult job. After all, how could you take up with the man who ousted your father? But I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m such a romantic at heart. And of course, everyone knows that for some, love is blind. Also, having tasted the goods myself, I know how, well, persuasive Rick can be.” She stood before Rick and caressed his cheek. “And now that you got what you wanted, Rick, and you’re through with Alessandra, perhaps you and I can rekindle what we once had.”

Rick froze. Sabrina knew. “Sign the contract,” he commanded. “Now.”

“What’s going on?” Lessa asked.

Sabrina looked at Lessa and flashed her an evil smile. “Is it possible she doesn’t know what you’ve done, Rick?”

“I bought some shares, after you fired me,” Rick said to Lessa.

“Some shares?” Sabrina said. “How modest.”

“Things have changed since then,” he said to Sabrina.

“I’m afraid you’ve been double-crossed, my dear,” Sabrina said to Lessa. “But don’t feel bad. I have all sorts of people working on this and I just found out myself this morning. Unfortunately it doesn’t change much for me. Because once Rick gets your shares, he’ll be quite invincible.”

Lessa glanced toward Rick, as if looking for some sign of reassurance that Sabrina was making the whole thing up.

“Lessa,” he said, “I have several other business ventures. Each one of them bought a significant share of stock during the period of time I was not working for Lawrence.”

“Spell it out, Rick, for God’s sake,” Sabrina said. She turned to Lessa and explained, “Once he gets your stock he’ll own the majority. Enough to wield significant control, like making himself chairman and CEO.”

Lessa sat silent, her eyes blazing with the pain of betrayal. “You were going to fire me?”

What could he say? Until he’d gotten involved with her, he had hoped to do just that. But everything had changed. “Originally, yes. I felt as if I had no choice. But I’ve since changed my mind.”

He could tell from the look in her eyes that she did not believe him. He wanted to take her in his arms and get her the hell out of there. To prove to her that he was sincere.

“Actually, Lessa,” Sabrina interjected, “considering the recent turn of events, I’m hopeful that you and I might work out a deal. You only have to give him the company back if he prevents a takeover, correct? Which is dependent upon me selling you my shares.”

And suddenly he saw where Sabrina was going with this. She wanted to take advantage of Lessa’s emotions to try and talk her out of her stock.

“We’re two women who have been betrayed by Rick,” Sabrina continued. “Sisters in pain, so to speak. Sell me your shares. Give me the company instead of Rick.”

Lessa appeared to hesitate. She couldn’t really be considering this, could she? “Lessa,” he began, “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“He betrayed not only your father, but you,” Sabrina said. She grabbed the contract and ran it through her fingers, as if ready to rip it to shreds. She walked over and sat on the edge of her desk, directly in front of Lessa. “I sign this and he gets the company. Sell me your stock instead and I’ll give you the same deal you were going to give me.”

“That’s enough,” Rick said angrily to Sabrina. He took Lessa’s hand. “I had changed my mind. I wasn’t going to go through with it. You have to believe me. When I bought that stock you’d just fired me. I had no other options.”

Lessa pulled her hand away and closed her eyes, as if fighting back the pain.

How could he have allowed this to happen? The last thing he wanted was for her to get hurt. “I don’t want your stock anymore. We’ll renegotiate.”

Sabrina’s voice snaked in. “Desperate words from a desperate man. You can’t possibly believe him, can you, Lessa?”

“You’re right, Sabrina,” she replied. “I don’t want to give this company to him. But I don’t have a choice. I can’t bear the thought of you breaking it up and selling it off piece by piece.” She took the contract out of Sabrina’s hands and laid it on the table. She picked up a pen and handed it to her. “Could you sign this, please?”

Sabrina hesitated before finally signing. She begrudgingly handed the contract to Lessa. “You just lost everything,” she said. “For what?”

But Lessa didn’t answer. She walked over to Rick and handed him the contract. “You worked hard for this.” And with that, she walked out of the room and out of his life.

How could she have been so foolish as to believe he really cared about her, to believe he would not betray her? And finding out through Sabrina only added to her humiliation. How could he have done this to her? Tears stung her eyes as she hurried toward the car. Just as she was about to get inside, she felt a hand on her arm.

“I need to talk to you,” Rick said, steering her toward a private area by the beach. “This is a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?” She shook her head sadly. “You warned me, didn’t you?” It had been a brilliant yet simple plan. A trap that she had walked right into. Did she really think Rick would ever agree to be partners, especially with someone he held in such low esteem? Their affair had been nothing but a distraction for him, an opportunity that she herself had offered. She didn’t blame him so much as herself. She had been a fool.

“When I bought that stock we were not involved,” he said.

“But after we were involved you didn’t tell me, did you?”

“I didn’t see any point until I could prove to you otherwise.”

“You planned everything, right down to your own firing. You pushed me into firing you just so you could buy stock. And then when I asked you back, you knew that you’d be able to get rid of me.”

“And I planned on firing you just as soon as I got my company back. That’s all true.”

“Revenge,” she said softly. She had fired him and he’d planned on doing the same thing to her.

“But that was before I got to know you. Before I began to care about you.”

She desperately wanted to believe him. But how could she? It might be another lie. The more she thought about Rick and Sabrina, the more she felt they deserved each other. Sitting there in that office, the two of them had been wily and frightening, firing each other, sleeping with each other, making deals behind each other’s backs. It made her sick. Maybe she didn’t have the stomach for this business after all. She needed a little time to digest all that had happened to her and consider her next move.

“When people care about each other, they help each other,” she said. “They look out for each other.”

“I’m giving you back your stock,” he said, as if that made everything all right.

“I don’t want it back.”

“I’ll pay you for it. I’ll pay a premium. Whatever you want.”

She looked into his eyes, desperately searching for some sign of the man she had grown to care about. She wanted to believe him, believe that this had all been a colossal misunderstanding, but how could she?

“You don’t get it, do you? It’s not about money. It never was.”