Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Scandals 3)

Ms. Valerie told us that we could get new uniforms and clock out for the day. I scrubbed my hands in the bathroom sink until most of the blood was gone, but the image of the guy lying in the stairwell was permanently seared into my thoughts.

Maybe the Carson City Inn wasn’t such a bad place to work after all—nobody ever got stabbed there while I was on duty…

Chapter Two

Damien

“Damien, something happened! Jon’s in the hospital!” My assistant, Farrah, came running into my office with a wild look of panic in her eyes before I even had a chance to take the first sip of my coffee.

“What?” I shook my head in confusion. “Is it serious?”

“I think so!” She nodded quickly. “Gina said he never came back from his lunch break yesterday, and something happened—the new girl, Melanie, found him in his car…”

“Really?” I leaned forward and started to stand. “I’ll go talk to her.”

“Um…” Farrah took a step back and glanced over her shoulder. “She hasn’t made it in today.”

“Okay…” I sat back down. “Let me know when she gets here—she’s already late.”

“Yes sir.” Farrah nodded and walked back to her desk.

Jon was my boss and the CEO of Alcott Inc. If something happened to him, then the company was going to dwindle into chaos without him at the helm. I was just a department manager, but it wasn’t uncommon for executives that were a higher pay grade than me to ask for advice—which is exactly what happened once the news of Jon’s medical emergency started to spread. There were more questions than answers, but I gave them the guidance I could offer. I certainly had experience with it—just not at Alcott Inc.

Before I was a random cog in the wheel at Alcott Inc., I was heir apparent to the CEO position at Sinn Technology—my family’s company—but then my grandfather decided he was going to name my father as his successor. That might have made sense to most people, but they didn’t know my father like I did—which is why I decided that a future at my family’s company simply wasn’t for me once the announcement was made. Jon Alcott was a good man, and I trusted him, which is why I asked him for a job after I left Sinn Technology.

“Has Melanie called in or anything?” I walked up to Farrah’s desk after I had run of things to distract me from the fact that my boss was in the hospital. “It’s almost ten…”

“No sir.” She shook her head back and forth. “This whole situation is really weird.”

“What do you mean?” I furrowed my brow inquisitively.

“Well, you know my brother’s a cop, right?” She titled her head and leaned forward.

“Yeah.” I nodded—I really didn’t remember everything about her family, but I remembered her mentioning that her brother was one of Carson Cove’s finest.

“He said that things at the station are hush-hush right now—something happened yesterday, and Jon’s name was mentioned, but nobody will talk about it…” She raised her eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound like a medical emergency.”

“No.” I exhaled sharply. “It doesn’t…”

Sometimes I hate living in Carson Cove. If something really did happen, then there’s enough money changing hands daily to keep it quiet…

Melanie never did show up for work. Jon called me in the afternoon and gave me the same story that was running the rumor mill at Alcott Inc.—he had a medical emergency, but everything would be fine. Our newest employee found him in his car and saved his life. I doubted the story, even though I didn’t believe Jon was the kind of man to lie without a good reason for doing so.

Jon was recently divorced and lonely—that was no secret. Melanie had been working part-time at Alcott Inc. before she graduated from college, and her performance evaluations seemed to last a lot longer than any of the other new hires. I noticed because she reported to me, and there was another thing too—she really screwed up one of our biggest accounts before she even started working full-time. Jon seemed quick to forgive and forget, which was rather strange, in my opinion. I would have fired her on the spot.

If he’s fucking her, that’s his business. Hopefully, she isn’t the reason he’s in the hospital right now…

Jon’s medical emergency proved to be one that would keep him away from Alcott Inc. for a little over a week. I didn’t ask to be put in charge, but it sort of landed in my lap because people kept coming to me for advice. Every time one of the executives had a question, Jon told them to check in with me. I finally just said fuck it, started telling them exactly what they needed to do, and was basically running the company in Jon’s absence. I hoped he remembered it when it was time for my annual performance evaluation, as long as the only thing we talked about when the door closed was my salary—or my next promotion.

“Alright, Farrah. I’m done for the week.” I closed my office door and locked it. “If anything comes up, let me know, but otherwise…”

“I know.” She nodded. “It’s do-not-disturb over the weekend.”

“Thanks.” I smiled and walked to the elevator.

Melanie didn’t return to Alcott Inc. after Jon’s medical emergency. That seemed to confirm my suspicion that they were involved, but it really didn’t concern me in the slightest if it didn’t impact anything at the office. It did bother me that she didn’t even have the courtesy of quitting, but I was sure Jon would sort that out when he returned.

I doubted there would be any issues to deal with at Alcott Inc. over the weekend—and if there were—I hoped they could wait one damn night. I needed some time to myself because it had been a really stressful week—so stressful that I didn’t spend much time dwelling on the one thing that was normally at the forefront of every thought.