For His Eyes Only Read online

  “He’s setting his own son up to save his butt.”

  “Exactly. I’m so sorry, Jacey. I was stupid, and I was helping him, but it got out of hand and—”

  “No time to worry about it now. Do one thing for me and we’ll call it even.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  It was here. The moment Alex had anticipated for years.

  The finale of the Sleepless Siren competition was about to begin. At the end of the evening, while the news media were still present, his father would name him President and CEO of the company. He should have been thrilled. He should have been backstage helping with the demands of panicking contestants or at the entrance of the auditorium greeting guests and thanking them for supporting Insomnia. Instead, he was sulking.

  The memory of Jacey in his father’s office last night, her clothes rumpled and her face flushed with desire, was more than he could take. He’d been a fool to believe she was different from all those other women, the ones who jumped into bed with his father, intent on taking advantage of his money and power. The ones who had jumped into bed with him for the same reason. Clearly, she had been one of the same.

  He should have seen it coming. He’d known from the first day he’d shown up at her apartment that she didn’t have a dime to her name. Even if she hadn’t meant to use him, she probably couldn’t help it. He remembered from his younger days, before Insomnia’s business had exploded, that a seemingly endless flow of income was hard to resist.

  But then what would explain her insistence that she didn’t want him to give her a job? Her anger when he had offered to get her out of the contract if that’s what she wanted? He didn’t know. All he knew was that she’d allowed his father to touch her, and he couldn’t forgive either of them for that.

  So he sat in a seat in the middle of the auditorium, ignoring the bustle around him, unable to go backstage and oversee his own project for fear of running into Jacey. Their time at the beach house played in his mind like an old movie reel. She was the most passionate woman he’d ever met, and one he’d be unlikely to meet again. Even the prospect of controlling Insomnia didn’t quell his sadness at her sudden absence from his life.

  His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he dug it out with a sigh. “Yeah,” he answered without bothering to look at the caller ID.

  “Alex, honey, come pick me up at the front door.”

  “Mom?” He straightened in the chair. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see your big moment, of course. I hope you’ve saved me a seat.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  He rushed to the auditorium’s huge double doors, where his mother waited patiently, dressed to the nines in an elegant black dress. He smiled. She had always been the one classy woman in his life.

  They hugged. “Mom, you look fabulous. I can’t believe you came all the way down here for this. What if you run into Dad?”

  She waved her hand. “Something tells me he won’t be here. Too busy with other things, I’m sure.”

  Alex tried to ignore the pang of hurt her words induced. She was right, though. His father wasn’t the supportive type. He wouldn’t have any interest in watching the competition unfold—only in reaping in the profits after it was over.

  “He better be busy typing up my contract. This show has been a huge success.”

  He wished he felt as confident as he sounded. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d do if his father didn’t show up for the announcement of both the winner and his promotion. Jacey’s idea about finding a job elsewhere didn’t seem so farfetched when he considered that prospect.

  His mother followed him to the front row and set her purse in a chair. “I’ll just be glad to see him out of this business. He lost his affinity for it long ago. Forgot that the purpose was to make women feel good, not have them make him feel good.”

  Alex snorted. “I’m not sure he had much choice.”

  “What?”

  “Come on, Mom. Surely you’ve seen the way these girls throw themselves at Dad—and me, and anyone with any decision-making power. They want to be rich and famous. They’re looking for an in. It’s not like he had to chase them down.”

  She gave him a derisive look he hadn’t seen since he was a kid, like he hadn’t listened when she’d told him to. “I’m afraid that’s not entirely true, honey.”

  Before he could ask what she meant, she pressed a file full of paper against his chest.

  He looked down and took it. “What’s this?”

  “I didn’t want to tell you this until after the show, but there’s another reason I’m here.”

  He opened the folder before she could continue. A sick feeling took hold of him as he flipped through copied pages of signatures and letters condemning his father. One phrase kept catching his eye—East Bend High School.

  It couldn’t be true. It absolutely could not be true.

  “What the hell is this? What’s going on?”

  “Sweetie, I’m afraid your father is guilty of chasing some of them down. I tried to tell you. This is a copy of a petition from several of the high school girls he tried to seduce into a modeling contract that he never intended to fulfill. Unfortunately, with some of them, he succeeded. Your father’s a troubled man. Like I said, he hit it big and completely forgot what’s important.”

  Alex stared at the record of accusations, unable to digest the truth. But a small grain of hope sprung to life inside him. “You’re taking this to court, right? To get back your part of Insomnia.”

  “No, honey, this isn’t my doing. One of your contestants collected all of this information and I was hoping you could help me locate her after the show. I need to thank her for following through with this. She’s saved a lot of girls.”

  His eyes dropped closed.

  He recalled the story Jacey had told him about her childhood, about the pain of being ogled and groped by her mother’s lovers. She had told him about his father that night at the park, and tried to discuss it again at the beach house.

  He had refused to listen.

  “I don’t want anything from this company, Alex,” his mom continued. “I’m perfectly happy now. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to inherit your fair share of it, and it looks like after tonight, you may very well have the entire thing. Jacey got him to confess on video and has already turned it over to the press, along with the signatures. It’s only a matter of time before the law knocks on his door.”

  His lungs grew tight. He checked his watch. Only five minutes before the curtain opened.

  “Mom, I need to—”

  “I’m so sorry that you’re hearing all this, baby. I know he’s your father and you’ll always love him, but—”

  “No, I understand, Mom. I understand.”

  He understood that he had completely overestimated his father. Sure, the man was a business genius, but he had sacrificed his own integrity and the emotions of young girls to feed his own greed. Everything Jacey had tried to tell him had been true. And she hadn’t allowed his father to touch her—she’d forced herself to make him do it so she could get unquestionable proof of his crimes.

  Idiot. He had let his loyalty to Insomnia cloud his vision of reality as much as his father had. If his feet had been on the ground, he would have seen the warning signs stamped all over his dad, and he’d have chosen to listen to the woman he loved instead.

  He loved Jacey. How could he have been blind to something so obvious? He stood, ready to rush backstage to find her, but the curtain opened. Back in his chair, he took a few breaths and glanced at the program. She was third this time. He could wait that long. As soon as she stepped offstage, he would go get her.

  But the second performance came and went, the curtain opened one more time, and there was no sign of Jacey. No props, no music, just a blackness that matched the void in his heart.

  Déjà vu washed over him. But this time, much more than the competition’s results would be affected by her absence.

  A hush fell o
ver the audience. Then a chorus of murmurs. The emcee made a brief appearance to announce that Jacey was ill and wouldn’t be competing tonight. Alex looked around, noticing the empty seat next to him. Where the hell was Kim? Why hadn’t someone told him about this?

  He kissed his mother on the cheek and bolted to the dressing area. Empty.

  He searched the locker room, the showers, the makeup counters. Nothing but scattered jeans and shirts, and the scent of too much perfume. His forehead dropped to the side of a set of lockers.

  “She’s not here.”

  Alex raised his head and turned toward the source of the information he’d already figured out. Kim approached him, her expression dull.

  “Where have you been? What do you know about Jacey?”

  She handed him a mini CD in an orange case. “She said you can go to hell if you don’t believe her after you watch this.”

  He suppressed a bittersweet smile. That sounded like something she would say.

  “What is it?”

  “A copy of the footage she got of your dad while she was in his office yesterday. She recorded him on a webcam and I retrieved the video after you two left. If you don’t want to watch it on your own, his incriminating statements will be all over the news tonight.”

  He closed his eyes. It was over. His dad’s life, Insomnia’s reputation, his own career and his relationship with Jacey. Trashed.

  “Yeah, I’ve heard all about that and I really need to apologize to her. Do you know where she is?”

  “She said she was leaving. That was last night so I’m sure she’s gone by now.”

  “Leaving? As in leaving town?” Last night?

  Kim nodded.

  Alex grabbed his hair and almost pulled it out. “Please handle the journalists when this is over. I have to see my mother off.”

  He ran from the room without waiting for an answer. Cheers and whistles from the auditorium floated out to the parking lot, but it didn’t mean a thing. A couple of police cars and several news vans had gathered outside, probably thinking his father was in there. Later tonight, the scandal would be common knowledge, Insomnia’s success and the entire competition nothing but a sour memory.

  But somehow, despite his certain unemployment and the prospect of his father going to prison, finding Jacey was all he could think about.

  “Thanks for letting me crash here for a few days.”

  Early Sunday morning, Jacey stuffed her nightclothes—the last of her meager belongings—into a suitcase and looked around Monica’s tastefully decorated home. She’d planned on getting out of town last night before anyone discovered her absence from the competition, but Monica had insisted that she rest before the long flight to New York. Jacey had to admit, it had been a good idea. The past week’s events had exhausted her.

  Monica smiled and tied her hair in a ponytail. “No problem, hon. You look much better.”

  She looked in the mirror of Monica’s master bathroom, where they both stood applying makeup. “I doubt that,” she mumbled, noting the circles beneath her eyes. No amount of concealer could cover up the pain of losing Alex.

  “You’re going to be fine,” Monica insisted. “Javier will take good care of you. He’s preparing an office for you as we speak so you can start tomorrow. And don’t even think about paying me back for the plane ticket. I owe you for taking care of Danielle the way you did.”

  “I don’t have any background in accounting. I owe you for talking your cousin into taking me on.”

  “Honey, please. You’re a math whiz. Every time you help Danielle with homework I sit by feeling like a complete idiot. Javier will kiss my feet for finding someone who actually keeps his books accurately.”

  “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

  Monica put down her lipstick and turned to her. “Are you all right? This is what you want, isn’t it?”

  She nodded. “It’s what I want.”

  The job, at least, was what she wanted. It required the use of her mind instead of her body, and it was located in a city far away from Insomnia and her childhood home—two places she never wanted to see again. It was perfect.

  Even as she tried to convince herself of that, the loneliness that had been building inside her since she woke up continued to grow. She didn’t know how she would get by without her daily conversations with Monica and Danielle. And Alex.

  Oh, Alex. She took a breath and released it slowly, her eyes dropping closed. Visions of his body filled her mind. His face, his gaze on her…

  “Well, we should get going if we’re going to make it to the airport on time.”

  She snapped to attention. “The airport. Right.”

  Monica picked up the suitcase with a lot more spunk than Jacey could muster. She didn’t like to feel upset that Monica seemed to be rushing her out the door, when her friend was probably just happy that she was finally getting what she wanted from life.

  At least, what she had always thought she wanted. Those dark eyes entered her mind again. She pushed the image away.

  She took one last look around Monica’s house before heading out the door and into the passenger side of her friend’s BMW. She swallowed hard as they drove out of the city, her experiences and memories nothing more than a racing blur on the other side of the window pane. They passed the street where Alex had taken her to the park, and a lump rose in her throat. Then they turned onto the road that led to Alex’s condo, and she nearly choked.

  Monica shot her a concerned glance. “Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. It’s nothing. I mean, Alex lives out here. I didn’t know this road went all the way out to the airport.”

  “You learn something new every day.”

  “Yeah.” She certainly had. She’d learned it was possible to love a man so much that his absence caused physical pain.

  Even as the thought entered her mind, she clutched at her chest. It hurt. She missed him like hell and she hadn’t even left yet. Why did he have to react so badly the other day in his father’s office? How could he believe she was so shallow, and why couldn’t he see how much she cared?

  “Honey.” Monica touched her arm. “We’re here.”

  Jacey sighed and reached for the door handle, preparing for the sights and sounds of approaching airplanes. But the view out the window revealed a tall building and a uniformed valet who opened her door. Monica popped the trunk, and the guy started removing her bags.

  They were parked in front of Alex’s place.

  She whirled to face Monica, her frustration growing when she saw her friend’s grin. “What are you doing? I’m going to miss my flight.”

  “There is no flight,” said a deep voice beside her, and she turned. Alex stood next to the car.

  Instinctively, she started to reach for the hand he offered, but then she remembered the way he had blown her off as a greedy tart looking for fame and fortune, and she withdrew her arm.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not interested.” She tried to breathe steadily even while her heart galloped at his sudden nearness.

  Alex continued to wait patiently, and Monica leaned toward her. “Get out of the car, Jacey,” she whispered. “I refuse to take you anywhere else.”

  “You can’t do this to me. All my things are packed up, and I—”

  “You’ll be fine. Go.”

  Jacey glared at her. “Fine. But we’re not done with this.”

  Monica kept grinning, so she gave up and stepped out of the car while hope and anger collided inside her. What could Alex possibly want? Probably to offer his financial assistance yet again. She just couldn’t make him understand that she didn’t want it.

  “Look, Alex, if this is about—”

  He put a finger to his lips and led her by the elbow to the building’s courtyard, dragging her suitcases behind him. They sat on a bench beneath a palm tree and he offered her a folded piece of paper.

  A check.

  She clenched her fists, certain that steam was about
to blow from her ears. But before she could lay into him, he placed his hand over hers and said quietly, “You won.”

  Huh?

  “What?”

  “The contest. You won. This is your prize money.”

  “That’s impossible. I wasn’t even there last night.”

  He shrugged. “Apparently it didn’t matter. There wasn’t any rule that said people had to vote for a contestant who actually showed up. You made enough of an impression during the first two shows.”

  “You’re insane. Have you forgotten that the contest was rigged?”

  “No, it wasn’t. When you didn’t show, I didn’t bother putting in votes for you. Not to mention that after my mother and Kim showed me the truth about my dad, I wouldn’t have dreamed of carrying out his ridiculous plan.”

  “So you know it’s true, then.”

  “Yes.” He looked down, then straight into her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Jacey. I completely overreacted when I saw you in the office. I never thought my own father could be capable of such a thing.”

  “What happened to him last night?”

  “He’s being questioned, and authorities are searching his home and office for evidence. The press is having a field day. That’s all I know right now, and frankly, I’m not too interested in hearing anything else.”

  She squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry too, Alex. I never wanted to hurt you or the company. I just couldn’t let that happen to Danielle or any of those girls.”

  “I know.” He sighed. “Insomnia is closed for now. Obviously the contest and the modeling contract are moot, because there won’t be any summer catalog. But I wanted to make sure you got the money. You earned it, Jacey. By yourself. Kim went back and counted votes and even without my help, you made it through each round. Congratulations.”

  She swallowed. She couldn’t have cared less about the contract or the money.

  “What are you going to do now?”

  He pressed his lips together. “That depends.”