He put his phone down and I heard him stumbling off, presumably to get another drink. While he was gone, I used the opportunity to set my laptop's camera up in a position so I could record the conversation more clearly.
“There we go, w-where's yours?” he asked when he returned.
I held up my cocktail and smiled. “Right here. So, what's new?” I asked, taking a sip of my drink.
“Oh, not m-much. Just some b-boring business stuff. What about with Lilah?”
“Oh, things are great! Work is outstanding. Our new campaign at Sinclair is just killing it!” I knew I had to rub our success from the nearly devastating tweet debacle in his face to get the information I needed from him, so I continued.
“We are kicking ass and taking names. Of course, I wasn’t so sure that was gonna be the case. That little act of sabotage someone tried to pull—it almost sank the company. Almost.” I watched his eyes light up immediately.
“Wait, it did?” he asked, suddenly very interested.
“Yeah. I have to admit, whoever leaked the tweet, and then contacted that blogger . . . It was kind of genius. The way he waited while we thought the hype had died down before he delivered the last blow, making the whole thing go viral. Absolutely brilliant, that plan was.
“Hell, it must have been some sort of James Bond mastermind. Oh my God, James Bond turns me on. Seriously, I'm getting hot just thinking about it. I wish I knew the guy. I have a thing for brilliant men.” I winked seductively and took a swig from my cocktail.
“All it took was a little bribe,” he spit out with a smug grin. “A little bribe to Asher's secretary. Hell, if he wasn't such a stingy bastard, maybe that bitch wouldn't have taken the $20,000 I gave her to leak the tweet. And the blogger, well, that sap cost way less than that. She's an angry, bitter little woman . . . or man, whatever she calls herself. Himself. I don't know. But that one, it only cost me less than $1,000, can you believe it?
“And, of course, the break-in . . . Well, I did f-feel like James Bond when I did that. Yeah, or maybe more like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. Or Jason Bourne,” he eyed me with what I’m sure he meant to be a seductive stare. It was not. “Bet that turns you on, Lilah? Doesn’t it?”
My facial expression hardened, and my voice became cool as ice.
“Are you telling me that you are the one who broke into the Sinclair Agency?” I asked, wanting a point blank confession.
He nodded his head and his smile widened. “Yep. I am. You like that, d-don’t you? You’re a naughty girl!” he exclaimed with a grin.
“No, actually I don’t like it, Brendan. What I do like is that you just confessed your crimes. Oh, and did I mention, I recorded it all? Yeah. I appreciate your cooperation, Mr. Savage.”
His face became red with wrath.
“You bitch! I'll kill you, I'll—”
“Oh, and you can now add threats to the list. Goodbye, Brendan,” I said coldly, and with that I cut off the call and immediately blocked his number. I checked the video recording to make sure it had recorded what I needed and smiled when I realized I’d gotten it all.
This was big—no, this was huge. Asher needed to know right away.
With trembling fingers, I dialed his number and told him that I needed to see him right away. He didn’t even question why, said he’d be over as soon as he could.
He arrived at my cottage half an hour later, and I could see that he had been in a rush. My heart fired up when I saw him, especially knowing he’d rushed over without question. The scent of whiskey was fairly heavy on his breath, so it was likely he’d dropped what he was doing.
“Hey,” I said, keeping things as simple as I could.
“Hi. Is everything okay? You sounded like it was an emergency on the phone.”
“Well, actually, everything is fantastic. I’m sorry if you were worried. You didn’t really give me a chance to explain on the phone. But I appreciate that you hurried over.”
“Of course. But, if everything’s okay, what was the big need for me to come over right away?” he asked.
“I’m glad you asked. I have something you need to see. Something that is going to change everything.” I said, smiling what I knew likely appeared to be a little on the unusual side.
“Ooooookay. Let’s see it, then.”
I stepped over to my laptop and swiveled it around so that Asher had a full view of the screen. I pressed play and watched his expression as he watched the video. At first, annoyance spread over his face. Clearly the sight of me flirting with Savage irritated him, which made me smile to myself. He even cut his eyes at me once as if he was questioning why I was showing him the video in the first place.
But when Brendan started spilling his guts, Asher’s smile lit up like a Christmas tree. A light of triumph burned brightly in his eyes.
“Yes,” he whispered, almost to himself. Without warning, he just began laughing loudly, and then he swept me off my feet and twirled me around.