Princely Passions

“And being the good person that Alicia is, she tried her level best to find out what I knew without breaking her confidence to the Firm,” I say toward Preston who nods to me.

I can see he’s about to say something so I pause to let him speak.

“Imagine my surprise when Derek and I meet for a round of drinks and he tells me that the woman he’s been seeing just got promoted that works in his account,” Preston says to Nadia. “A promotion from this department during the middle of the year is something that usually has to get signed off by the CEO. By me. And I had no idea what he was talking about.”

“You both knew?” Nadia asks Preston and I.

I shrug and walk toward Alicia. “I suspected you were rotten,” I say nonchalantly. “But I also wanted to see how far you would take it. Only this morning did I realize you were attempting to set Alicia up for the fall and that was how you were going to exit. That’s when I had all the pieces I needed.”

“As did we, Ms. Moore,” Preston says to Nadia. “Take it from someone who’s been on Wall Street a long time. You got greedy. And greed makes you careless. On the Street, Bulls rush in and Bears play it safe, but pigs get slaughtered.”

“Oink oink, boss,” I turn around in surprise and see that Alicia has gotten up. She’s balled her fists and looks like she’s going to rush Nadia. I go over and place a hand on her shoulder, calming her down slightly. She’s mad. With good reason.

Nadia for her part hangs her head in defeat. “It was supposed to be a foolproof plan,” she says, all but admitting her guilt.

“It never is when you’re stealing,” Preston says with an air of finality. When Nadia doesn’t respond, he nods to the uniformed police officer who walks over to Nadia. He stays a few feet from her, but his intention is clear. She looks at him and then at Preston and then nods, grateful for the small courtesy of not being dragged away in cuffs.

The cop and Nadia leave the room and walk unobtrusively toward the elevator, where an unmarked police car is waiting to take Nadia to the Manhattan Jail.

Preston looks at me and then at Alicia. “I’ll leave you two alone,” he says. “Ms. Sullivan, consider yourself demoted back to Analyst, and think about taking the rest of the day off.”

She barely has time to nod when he turns and leaves the room as well. She seems a bit surprised by his haste.

“Don’t worry,” I tell Alicia, taking her hand and moving her face back to me. “The guy is in back-to-back meetings throughout the day and barely had time to come to this one,” I say.

She shrugs. “So, like watching a Managing Director get arrested for trying to steal $30 million is just another entry in his calendar, huh?” Alicia asks me with a bit of snark.

“It’s Wall Street, babe,” I reply back with a chuckle. “If you’re not taking money from somebody, then somebody’s taking it from you.”

Alicia sticks her tongue out at me and takes a step closer. “So I have the day off …” she says, trailing off.

I know where this is going and I pull her closer. She can feel my cock come to life against her thigh. “The Omni Hotel is right across the street, you know?” I ask her.

“What if they don’t have rooms?” Alicia asks with the wide-eyed innocence of someone who doesn’t know the full power of a billionaire.

I grab her hand and lead her out of the conference room as I say, “Then I’ll just buy the hotel and fuck you in the lobby.”

To her credit, Alicia takes it in stride. “Oh okay,” she says. “As long as you have a plan to fuck me, I think we’re good.”

I grin.

I’m going to enjoy her.

Immensely.

179

Alicia

“So, lemme get this right,” I say as I come out of the bedroom to Derek’s private jet to the main cabin. The plane just took off and I got out of my work clothes and put on something sexy.

There’s music playing through the speakers and Derek is making cocktails at the bar. It’s like a flying palace. Seriously, a girl could get used to this.

Anyways, back to what I was saying.

“You used me?” I ask him pointedly. “You realized I was digging through something and you let me keep going hoping it would get Nadia to try and take me out?”

Derek shrugs. “I mean, it’s not like you were in any real danger. Unless, you know…embarrassment.”