The Mating Rite (Big, Beautiful Werewolf) (Werewolves of Montana) (21 page)

Anger simmered in the pit of her stomach. She had acted recklessly, and now paid the price. Damn Darius and his irresistible sensuality! Damn her for surrendering to it.

She set her coffee cup onto the glass tabletop, resisting the urge to slam it down. She caught a flicker in his eyes. And her animal instinct sensed his heart pounding hard, smelled the sweat on his brow.

Ken lied.

“You accuse me of acting unprofessionally, but it’s an excuse, Ken. Because you brought me all the way out here to get the account, knowing you had no intention of giving it to me. No matter what I did. I did all the work, and she’ll get all the credit. And the commissions, too.”

Ken looked slightly guilty. “It’s business, Samantha.”

Her miniscule salary barely covered expenses. Ken had promised she’d be making more money.

“Do I get a raise at least, for bringing in Mitchell Ranch?”

He avoided her gaze. “There are budget considerations. The new expansion of the office, equipment costs…”

She knew the ones he failed to mention. “And the expense of moving Sienna here from the East Coast, and giving her a bonus and a bigger draw than the other sales managers.”

A bonus that would pay two month’s rent on her apartment. She wagered Sienna didn’t have to cook on a miniscule stove and make her sofa bed every morning.

“Who’s been discussing salaries? That’s against company policy,” he retorted.

“And promising promotions and withdrawing them isn’t?”

Ken’s mouth thinned. “Samantha, we need the accounts Sienna will bring with her.”

“Including the Mitchell Ranch account, our new client? The account I worked on and she barely knows about?”

Smoothing back his hair, Ken did not meet her gaze. “Sienna is arriving around ten to meet with Darius. She was impressed with your proposal. It is excellent.”

Terrific. Excellent proposals that Sienna would use to gain new clients and gain fat commissions. Something warned her Ken had planned this all along. It was so sly, and deceptive.

Lupine instinct surged again. She thought of Ken and his habits, such as drinking green tea instead of coffee, dining on vegetables and never any meat.

Maybe Darius was correct. There were more OtherWorlders surrounding her than she realized. Ken might be one…

Nostrils flared, she leaned close, trying to catch his scent, smelling only salt air and overpowering cologne and underneath, the unpleasant odor of old sweat.

“Samantha? Are you sniffling? You’re not going to cry on me, are you?”

Sniffing. There’s a difference. You act like a snake, but you smell like old shoes.

She thought of the four years spent with Comairise Energy and all the nights working extra hours. She thought of her co-workers and how close-knit they were, how she’d substituted them for the pack she’d left. How she’d made them into her little family.

But they weren’t a family, weren’t her friends. Samantha laughed. Darius was right.

What a fool she’d been!

Mistaking her laugh for acquiescence, Ken gave a relieved smile. “I think you’ll enjoy working under Sienna. She’s fabulous. You can learn a lot from her. She’s very smart and you’re…”

“Not?” she offered.

Ken flushed. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

No, but you thought it.
He suddenly had turned as transparent as glass.

Startled, she kept her own thoughts silent and guarded. Samantha picked up her coffee cup. She had a lot to consider.

Around ten, Sienna arrived. When introduced to Darius as his new account executive, he voiced a protest.

“I thought Samantha was managing my account.” Darius looked at her, his brows drawn together.

Sienna’s smile dropped. She turned to Ken. “You told me everything was all set to go. Did you not take the time to explain your decision to Mr. Bryant and Samantha?”

An awkward silence followed. Sam looked at Sienna, Ken and James and realized she could play this two ways.

Gracefully, with professionalism.

Or cutthroat and nasty. She looked to James, hoping he’d take her side.

“Perhaps it’s for the best. There is much you can learn from Sienna,” James told her.

So much for their friendship, and his support.

Sienna gave her a commiserating look. “Samantha, perhaps we should reconsider, seeing Mr. Bryant’s reluctance to change sales representatives. This is your baby, after all. You worked hard on this project.” She smiled at Darius. “And I don’t want to step on toes.”

A hollow ache filled her chest as she recalled Ken’s accusations. “No, I think it’s best if you take over, Sienna. You have more experience than I do.”

“Sam,” Darius began.

She held up a hand. “I’m best at research and writing proposals. Sienna is the right one for your account.”

They settled into the living room. In a few minutes, Sienna broke the tension by asking Darius questions about the Mitchell Ranch. The woman knew how to charm clients, Sam admitted to herself. In a tight gray T-shirt nicely displaying his tanned arms, Darius demonstrated how the cowboys wrangled cattle for a round-up. His biceps flexed smoothly with each exaggerated movement.

Blonde, slender and extremely pretty, Sienna was polished and sophisticated in a pink designer blouse and khaki shorts. Sienna put a hand on his arm.

“One must be very strong, like you, to rope cattle,” she told him.

Unable to stand the jealousy spearing her, Samantha excused herself.

Darius looked up. “Where are you going?”

“To my room to pack. Sienna has everything covered here.” If the woman sat any closer to Darius, she’d be in his throat. Faking a smile to soften the bitchy remark, she started for the hall.

“Maybe when you finish, you can work on those spreadsheets of your cost analysis,” Ken told her.

Squeezing her fists, she did not answer. Sam hurried into her room. Then she went into the office the team had been using.

Ken’s laptop stood opened on the conference table, the screen dark. Sam hesitated, deeply curious to see what he’d been working on before the fabulous Sienna arrived.

Trust your instincts.

Powering on Ken’s computer, she typed in his password.
That’s what you get for thinking I’m a dumb blonde, Ken. I memorized your password when you typed it in. Just in case I needed it, like now.

Samantha scrolled through his emails until seeing one from Jenner. As she read, her heart dropped to her stomach.

In the email, the company president gave Ken pointers into setting her up to secure the Mitchell Ranch account. Bryant had obvious sexual interest in Samantha, and Jenner wanted to capitalize on that to land the million-dollar account.

Make sure they have separate rooms on different floors so it doesn’t look as if she’s bait to get him to sign the contract. Why he’s interested in her, I don’t know. She’s as big as a cow. I don’t care if Bryant fucks her until the cows come home as long as he agrees to sign before the weekend is over. But if it goes badly, by all means hustle her out of there for damage control. Sienna will smooth things over. She’s much more attractive, anyway.

She’d been set up. Sam stared at the lazily blinking cursor.

Never had she felt so infuriated, powerless and demeaned.

Not even when she lived as a Lupine and Maxim had nearly raped her. Maxim at least was upfront. He wanted her fuck her to slake his lust.

Jenner had fucked her over for money.

“I’m a million-dollar whore,” she whispered.

Self-preservation urged her to power off the machine. But she could not move, nor breathe. A heavy weight sat on her chest as all her hopes and dreams of making it at the firm went up in smoke.

Did Darius know? Had he joined forces with Jenner to get her into bed? Had both of them orchestrated this? Sam gripped the table. Darius was a womanizer, but he had honor and respected women. He simply wasn’t that sly or sneaky.

Something inside her cracked. Sam sat back and thought of what Darius had said about doing business with Skins.

Sometimes the system worked against you. But other times, it could work for you.

She glanced at the printer, then back at the email and pressed the “print” button. Snagging the two copies from the machine, she folded them into her shorts pocket. Then she forwarded the email to her private account.

Thickness clogged her throat.
I have to calm down. I can’t let Ken see me upset or he’ll know and I’ll lose the advantage.

But her emotions were haywire and she balled her fists, wanting to scream. Filled with impotent rage, Samantha stared at Ken’s laptop. Wind blew through the opened sliding doors, whistling through the room. The temperature dropped but she was not cold. She blazed with fury. Ice crystals began forming on the keyboard.

Stunned, she stared. Then just as quickly, the ice melted, leaving a puddle of water on the computer, seeping into the circuits. With a snap and a crackle, the machine winked out and died.

Oops.

Sam glanced around and shut the lid. Nope, nothing to see here. She returned to her room, dragging out her suitcase, tossing several items inside and hiding one copy of the incriminating email inside her dirty laundry.

But she couldn’t help the slight smile on her face.

The smile faded. Had she caused that peculiar wind and the ice to form? Sam stretched out her fingertips, feeling nothing. Lupines could not call the elements.

She needed to clear her head. But first…

Sam walked upstairs into the living room and beckoned to her manager. “Ken? Can I talk with you in private a moment?”

On the terrace, out of sight and earshot from Darius, James and Sienna, she faced her manager. The man who’d promised her a promotion if she landed a million-dollar account.

Another promise broken. But this time, she refused to be a victim.

Sam withdrew the printed email and waved it like a flag. “The Mitchell Ranch account means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

He watched her warily.

She unfolded the paper. “This is my favorite part! ‘I don’t care if Bryant fucks her until the cows come home.’”

“Where did you get that?”

Sam considered the email. “This email is incriminating. But it’s such a well-written email, I could see this going viral. I could post it on Reddit, Tumblr and…bingo!”

She let the paper drop, watching with satisfaction as Ken scrambled to pick it up. He crumpled it and his face went purple.

“You little bitch…you’ll pay for this.”

“No, Ken. You and the firm will pay.” She smiled sweetly. “I want a full year’s severance pay with my resignation letter on Monday morning when I return to the office. Plus health insurance for twelve months.”

“You think you can get away with this? Blackmailing us?”

Sam folded her arms across her chest. “I already have, Ken. Because your alternative is long, costly litigation that I’m going to win. And if you decide on that route, I’ll ask for a lot more than a year’s salary. You can bet on that.”

It felt good to watch him lose his composure, even better to hear him grumble and agree to her terms. Sam put a spring to her step as she walked down to the beach. Kicking off her sandals, she padded down to the shoreline. Sand squished between her toes. The day was warm and bright, sunshine chasing off the early morning mist. Waves licked her feet, foamy and cold.

She relished the cold, for it sharpened her senses.

Crushed cedar chips and fresh rainwater threaded through the smell of salty air. She kicked at a frothing wave as she scented Darius behind her.

“Meeting over already?”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “Are you okay?”

A brief nod.

“Are you still sore from last night?”

Flushing, she hugged herself. “I’m fine.” Then she changed the subject, desperate to avoid what happened between them. Knowing her manager had hoped for that very thing to happen made it ten times worse.

“So, is Sienna finished gushing over you, Darius?”

A deep inhale. “Small talk breaks the ice before getting down to business. I find Sienna to be pleasant and interesting.”

As she glanced up, he added, “As a business woman. Nothing more.”

“Not as bait to get your ranch’s account?”

Darius stared at her.

“I found an email from Ken to the company president. HG instructed Ken to use me as sexual bait to get you to sign the contract with the firm. He realized you had obvious interest in me. But if you didn’t sleep with me, Sienna would be a good alternative.”

Red suffused Darius’ face. “That son of a…”

She fisted her hands and took a deep breath. “Why are you angry at them, Darius? You’re the one who requested me on the job. You demonstrated you were interested.”

“I wanted to help you, Sam.” His mouth flattened. “I wanted you to achieve your dream goal. I never intended to hurt you. Ever.”

“And now I’m resigning from my job over this. Ken has accused me of sexual impropriety, which is true! I slept with you.” Sam laughed, and the sound was bitter and hollow. “I just never realized Ken and HG manipulated the situation to their advantage. They wanted me to sleep with you so you’d sign. And then they could yank the rug from my feet and never give me the promotion I deserve.”