The Closer (18+) ✓

| 3.1 | dangling the bait

❝I'm not loving you, the way I wanted to
See I wanna move, but can't escape from you
So I keep it low, keep a secret code
So everybody else don't have to know❞

Chapter Three: 
Dangling the Bait

Sirens wailed in the distance as my hand dropped to my side, limp. I stared down at the phone I was holding, at the name on the screen. Deborah, the name belonging to my former boss. Bitter tears blurred my vision as I redirected my gaze to the haze of colors in front of me from the headlights of the cars passing by. Was this really happening?

The sound of footsteps acted as a warning that I was no longer alone. Whirling around, I glared at the man before me, no longer wanting anything to do with him.

"Have you come to gloat?" As much of a mess as I felt, I had enough strength to deliver that line with the venom it needed. It didn't seem to have any effect on him though, as he simply crossed his arms over his broad chest and smiled down at me like this was the best entertainment he'd had all night.

"I see no reason for you to get emotional about this."

"I just lost my job, asshole." I snarled, and looked away from the smug bastard's face. His being here wasn't helping at all...how did he even know? If I had lost it because of him, I needed to know why. I needed to know where I had gone wrong. "How the hell did you plan all this?"

"It was all thanks to you, Tris."

My head whipped up at his words. He was smiling down at me, his mouth pulled back into an amused grin.

"You offered yourself up on a silver platter the moment you rang up my friend's escort service."

His friend. That was the voice in the background. He had picked up the call for fun, as a joke. But that still didn't explain...

"And you're clearly no Rae Williams."

My brows furrowed at his words. "How would you know?"

"Because I've fucked Rae Williams."

His words hung in the air. I didn't know what to do with them apart from gape at the way he smirked down at me.

"I was curious, you see. Why would Rae Williams fly in from Seattle when all she needed was to hail a cab to get here?"

My eyes widened as I begun to piece everything together.

"And it was quite easy to find out who you are, Ms. Henderson. You're not a mere face in the crowd as you'd hoped to be. Not even here in Washington."

He had known. He had known from the start. And he had led me on.

I took a shaky breath and turned my head away. How could I have not seen this? All those subtle hints he'd been dropping from the moment he'd picked up my call, the fact that he drew attention to himself the moment we walked in. The only reason I'd been let in without an invite was because I was with him: the very heir of the company.

"So you decided to single handedly sabotage my whole career?" He clearly hadn't seen that coming. I turned back to face him, fury seeping onto my face. "You thought you could go on a little adventure tonight to meet your old fuck-buddy. Did it not occur to you that you were destroying my future? A job I've been busting my ass off for years to get?"

His smile vanished. A scowl grew in its place.

"Did you really think I was going to let some pathetic excuse of a corporate spy weasel her way into my dad's company affairs?"