Page 133 of The Price of Scandal

“Derek,” Lita said expectantly.

“What about Derek?”

Her hands fluttered to her mouth. “Oh, God. You don’t know. You haven’t seen it.” Her bottom lip, painted a flawless red, quivered.

“Seen what? I’m a little busy trying to squash some corporate espionage.” It was harsh. I was harsh. But I didn’t have time for her dramatics.

“Derek came on to me. At lunch yesterday. I thought it was just harmless flirting, but… God.” She crossed to the couch and sank down gracefully, covering her face with her hands. “He suggested that we go back to his place tostrategize.”

My stomach turned to ice. My intestines tied themselves into Christmas light knots.

“To strategize?” I asked hoarsely.

Lita nodded and blinked back tears. “Emily, he wanted to talk about my position in the company once you’re gone. I swear nothing happened. I told him to go to hell and left him at the restaurant. But someone saw us. There are pictures.”

“Pictures,” I repeated.

“They make it look… intimate,” Lita said. “I’m so sorry. I should have told you. I just didn’t want to see you get hurt. Oh, God.” She brought her fingers to her mouth once again. “You don’t think Derek is behind that girl claiming we scarred her, do you? What could he possibly gain from that? What would he gain from any of this?”

She was rambling. The words were spewing forth like runoff into a storm drain, and I just needed her to shut up.

“You don’t hold me responsible, do you? Oh, I couldn’t stand it if you thought I had some part of all this. I would die inside. We’re a team, Emily.”

“Ms. Stanton, I have your father on the line for you,” Easton said from the doorway.

“I need to take this,” I said. My throat ached from the scream that wanted to be released.

“Of course.” Lita rose and crossed to me. She laid a hand over mine that was fisted on the desk. “If you need anything from me, you know I’m there for you. I’m always here for you. I always have been.”

“Thanks, Lita,” I said flatly.

On impulse, she leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “You’ll be okay. You always are.”

Numbly, I picked up the phone.Derek.The name echoed over and over in my head.

“Dad?”

“What in the hell is going on?” he demanded. “I’ve got board members calling me. Reporters calling me. Between you and your brother, your mother sent me fifty-four text messages this morning.”

“Dad, someone stole my formula. They’re shopping it to La Sophia. I need to find the girl who’s making the claim and figure out what’s going on.”

I trusted the wrong man.

My father’s sigh was heavy. “No, you don’t.”

“I have legal pulling the patent paperwork. I’m going to throw everything I have at them. I’m not going to tolerate espionage. I’ll track Nina down. I’m checking in with the other subjects. I’ll prove this is a lie, and then I’ll sue every fucking media outlet that dares say otherwise.”

Jane jogged back into the office looking angrier than I’d ever seen her. She handed me a printout. It was a gossip blog post.

Chief Marketing Officer Lita Smith and public relations guru Derek Price got cozy over a quiet lunch. Emily Stanton, friend to Smith and alleged girlfriend of Price, was nowhere to be found.

The pictures.

Derek was leaning in chin resting on his hand and staring into Lita’s eyes as if she were the most fascinating woman on the planet. Her head was inclined in a question. His hand rested suggestively on hers. It wasn’t a kiss. It wasn’t a sex tape. But the intimacy I saw in that photo cut me to the quick. The next was worse. Derek holding Lita’s hand at his tie, looking smoldery.

I was going to be sick. I just wasn’t sure from which end.

Tight-lipped, Jane shuffled that printout to the bottom and tapped the next. It was a collection of headlines.