Chapter 12
Helen spoke up, "What my client means to say is that you've not conducted yourself with the integrity Marduke expects of its employees." She shot me a look that bordered between amusement and admonishment.
"What?" Gina said, glancing at Helen. "No. I mean… why would you buy Marduke? You hate this place."
Did I break her brain? Did she not care that she was getting fired?
"I didn't hate this place. I just hated working for you," I admitted.
"My client is aware of your efforts to embezzle money from the company, Ms O'Neil," Helen continued before I could speak. Gina's head whipped toward Helen in absolute shock. So did mine. This was news to me.
The box of food slipped from Gina's hand and crashed to the floor with a dull thud. She didn't seem to notice. "What? How did you know about-" She snapped her teeth shut before she could finish the rest of that sentence.
Holy shit. Was it true?
"We're aware of the bank account in Florida," Helen continued dispassionately. "If you don't disclose the name of your associate and return Marduke's property by the end of the day, I'm afraid my client will have to press charges."
Maybe it was the mention of the bank or the matter-of-fact tone in Helen's voice, but Gina immediately caved. Tears began to well in her eyes. She simply looked at me. "I'm sorry. I needed the money!"
There was no attempt to lie; no attempt to throw anyone under the bus. Gina - the hardass manager who had ruled the floor with an iron fist, just… crumbled. She proceeded to tell me about her crippling addiction to shopping and how it had led to her massive credit card debt. Once Gina started winding down, Helen turned the recording off.
"Mr. Upton, I believe we have all the evidence we need. You may speak to Miss O'Neil freely."
Gina glanced at Helen, "What?"
I was also surprised, "What?"
Helen held up her phone, "On top of the evidence we've already collected, we now have a recording of Miss O'Neil admitting to embezzlement to fuel an addiction. It's something we can use in a court of law, should you wish to press charges against her. Given that, you're welcome to speak freely to her without worrying about her state of mind or willingness to provide that evidence."
Gina and I looked at each other, and something came over me. Helen was amazing… she'd taken charge of the situation and had done what was needed without compromising my authority in front of this bitch. My lawyer had delivered me the best present I could have ever asked for on this day. Whatever reservations I still had about Helen were quickly dissipating.
The deer-in-the-headlights look Gina was giving me was a wonderful follow-up gift.
"Gina. You're a horrible boss."
She opened her mouth to reply and I immediately cut her off. "I don't care about you stealing money. I care about the fact that you can't lead worth a damn. In the 11 months that I've been working here, you haven't provided a single bit of direction to me or anyone else. You're demanding, unreasonable, lazy, and you contribute nothing to this company."
That little spark of Gina flared to the surface; her eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth again to speak.
"Shut the fuck up. I'm talking."
I swear the look in her eyes made my dick hard.
"You were always such a tough bitch! Everyone out there is afraid of you or hates you. Most of them do both! And the moment we come in here and challenge you… God, Gina. You fucking caved so easily!"
Gina wilted, clearly not interested in putting up any sort of struggle. A large part of me was relieved that this seemed to be going so well. A small part of me wished she had put up more of a fight.
I sighed.
"You're to pack your personal belongings and get the fuck out of this office. You have an hour to do so. If you're here a minute longer than that, I'll have you arrested for trespassing and bring charges of embezzlement against you. You might want to consider moving out of town, because if I ever see your face again, I will have you prosecuted."
"You'll also need to sign the NDA and non-compete agreement I have here," Helen followed up as she reached for her briefcase and extracted a folder, laying it on the desk.
"I… I'm not signing anything," Gina said, her voice soft.
"Miss O'Neil," Helen said, "You've committed a felony. If we were to prosecute, my client would use all his resources to seek the full sentence for your crime, and he would win. You would spend a decade in jail and be released with a massive debt. I think it's in your best interest to comply.
Gina chewed on the side of her cheek and watched the both of us for a pregnant moment before sighing. Shoulders slumped, she padded over to the desk, signed the documents, and then circled the desk. She opened one of the drawers next to me and mutely began pulling things out of them. I moved from my position behind the desk and stood beside Helen, watching as she looked around and found an empty box in the corner. Andrew must have already suspected what I'd planned on doing. What an insightful guy.
Her eyes glistened in the office light with unshed tears, as she set to packing her stuff. A small part of me felt sorry for her.
"I'll leave you to it," I said as I turned to leave the office.
"Do I really need to move out of New York?" she asked. Her tone sounded meek.
I paused, hand on the doorknob, but I didn't look back at her, "I know New York is huge, but do you really want to take that chance?" I opened the door and paused, looking down at the leftover rice that had spilled out of Gina's broken carry-out container. "And clean that shit up before you leave." I left without another word with Helen right behind me.
Vikram, Andrew, and the two guards were on the other side of the door, sipping on coffees. Andrew looked at me with a question in his eyes. I nodded, "That was satisfying. Thanks for the box."
"Yeah. I figured," he responded. He took another sip of coffee, "You replacing her?"
"No," I said, eyes scanning the room and ignoring all the rubbernecking going on as people across the office were trying to put together what was happening. "I've got someone in mind for that."
As I left Gina's office, I caught sight of Natalie again. Our eyes met for a moment and I could feel her questions on me from halfway across the office. "Gina's going to be busy packing her stuff. Is there another place I can go for the next couple of meetings? Somewhere without anyone nearby. It might get loud, and I'd rather not have an audience."
"Yeah," Andrew said. "There's a couple of empty rooms down here, but if you're really looking for privacy, I could take you to one of the empty floors."
"Great. Lead the way." I looked at Vikram and pointed out Natalie. "See that woman? In about fifteen minutes, could you bring her with you up to the floor we'll be on? Just explain to her that the company has just come under new management and they would like to speak to her. Andrew will come back down here and escort you.
"Yes sir," Vikram said, and stayed behind as Andrew lead the way back to the elevators. I glanced at Natalie again and saw her looking at me with open curiosity all over her face. She mouthed a question that I interpreted as 'What's going on?' I gave her a fleeting smile in hopes that would assuage some of her concern.
Moments later I found myself and Helen three floors up and in a fully furnished office that felt sterile and unused. The two security specialists stayed in the hallway and Andrew shut the door behind us, telling us he'd back shortly with Vikram. Helen immediately launched herself at me and crushed her lips to mine in a searing kiss. Her tongue invaded my mouth, and I could feel her moan just as much as I could hear it. Her fingers dug into my shoulders. I was momentarily surprised by the kiss, but then slipped my arms around her waist and pulled her into me as I allowed my tongue to meet hers for a quick duel. After a few moments of intense making out, she pulled her head back while maintaining full frontal contact against me and looked up at me, her eyes burning, "God Marcus, that was hot."
"Thanks," I said as I tried to catch my breath. "I mean it Helen. Thanks for everything."
"Of course," she said, giving me what felt like a sincere smile and said, "I have your back, Marcus."
We spent the next few minutes making out and grinding against each other through our clothes. Seeing as we wouldn't have time for more, we parted a few minutes before Vikram returned with Natalie, and I spent that time looking around the office, trying to think about things that would cause my erection to settle down a little. I looked out the window and saw the New York streets below from 10 stories up.
"This floor is empty. Maybe I should make it into an office for myself or something," I said.
"That's not a bad idea," Helen replied, checking her hair with her phone camera to make sure it looked presentable before anyone came in, "Your apartment certainly isn't an appropriate place to run your day-to-day affairs."
"Yeah. I don't like the furniture though. Or the lay-out. It feels a bit claustrophobic in here with all the hallways."
"I'll talk to Andrew and see if there are any other floors available," Helen replied, putting her phone away now that she looked completely professional again. "Maybe see what options are available-"
A soft knock at the door interrupted the conversation. I pulled myself away from the window and made my way over to yet another walnut desk that would be perfect for banging Helen on. I leaned against it and said, "Come in." The door opened and in came Natalie.
She was beautiful as ever - her upturned eyes giving her a slightly exotic, disney princess quality. Her irises were so dark that they were almost indistinguishable from her pupils as she stared up at me through long lashes enhanced tastefully with mascara. Her nose had a slight nubian quality to it and complimented her large, expressive eyes and generous, plump lips. It was all framed by a mass of black that fell around her face in a fashionably messy style. She was sweet, smart, with a transformative smile and a cutting wit. In the entire time that we'd known each other, we'd been good friends, but since the break-up with her ex about a month ago, it'd felt a bit more flirtatious. Had we both been single when we first met, I'd like to think it could have gone somewhere. Now that Jessica and her ex were out of the picture, maybe it still could.
--------
Author's Note
Read Complete story Now [100+Chapters].
Visit: https://eroticnovel.org/
I've officially launched my website where you can find 50+ updated stories all in one place! ❤️