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Anne Rothman Hicks & Ken Hicks Praise Her, Praise Diana (v5.0)
Colin F Barnes [Code Breakers Code Breakers Alpha (v5.0) (ep
Cheryl Ann Smith [School for The School for Brides (v5.0) (e
Carly Phillips [Lucky 01] Lucky Charm (v5.0) (epub)
Diana Palmer [Long Tall Texan Donavan [SR 843, MD 1020] (v5.0
Diana Palmer [Long Tall Texan Harden [SR 783, MD 1004] (v5.0)
Anne Perry [Thomas Pitt 01] Cater Street Hangman (v5.0) (ep
Clive Cussler [NUMA Files 08] Paul Kemprecos (v5.0) (epub) id
Colleen Gleason [Gardella Vam Bleeding Dusk (v5.0b) (epub) id
Cottam F.G Klatwa Magdaleny

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.After that touching experience Julia had gotten deeply involved working with the foundation whenever time would allow, getting to know some of the children the charity helped and making some good friends along the way.An idea percolated in her head and she put it on hold when Kimberly walked in with an armload of files.“They may have pulled more files than you need,” she said with a smile.“That’s okay.I’ll take a quick look at them and give you back what I don’t need.I know what I’m looking for.Do you have a minute?”Kim plunked down in the seat across from her.“I do.Tell me what you need and I’ll sort through half the files.” Kim handed her a stack while keeping several for herself.Julia thumbed through a few.“I want to see the names and addresses of all the patrons of the hotel since it opened.How long they stayed.How much they spent.I also want our profit-and-loss statements for all the months we’ve been operating.”“Okay, that’s easy.”Kim put her head down and sifted through the files on her side of Julia’s desk, while Julia did the same.Julia took a good look at a file that seemed out of place.“I guess this one got in here by accident,” she muttered.When Kimberly glanced up, she explained, “It’s a copy of my contract.” Julia shrugged and then noted a mistake—the date of the unsigned contract was incorrect.“Must be a typo,” she said.“The date is wrong.”“Legal prides itself on never making mistakes,” Kim said jokingly.“They go over every word with a fine-tooth comb before sending it out.”Julia glanced at the date again.It had to be wrong.Trent hadn’t come back to Los Angeles to see her, until one week after the date typed in the contract.He hadn’t known anything about her losing the Bridges account until he’d seen her that night.She’d worked with Tempest’s legal department enough to know that they were as efficient and fastidious as Kimberly had stated.She stared at the unsigned copy of her contract, that early date glaring back at her.Then she blinked.“He knew,” she said under her breath, trepidation crawling up her spine.“What?” Kim glanced up again.“Did you say something to me?”“Uh, no.” Julia tossed the files down on her desk, deep in thought, emotions wreaking havoc with all rational thought.She peered at Kimberly.“You know what, just leave everything here.I’ll sort through this stuff by myself and give it back to you when I’m done.”Kim nodded.“Okay.If you’re sure.”“I’m sure,” she said and stood.Kim rose as well and turned to leave.“Uh, Kim?”“Yes?” She turned fully to face her.“How long have you worked for Tempest? Since the beginning?”“Yes, I was here when we opened.I transferred from the Tempest in Dallas.”“So you’d know what my office looked like before?”Kimberly nodded, appearing slightly puzzled and Julia added, “I’m just thinking about a color change.”“Oh, but it’s so feminine and pretty now.It seems to suit you.Mr.Alonzo, our first marketing vice president, wanted dark oak, dark walls and dark shutters.It was so dreary, I hated coming in here.”Julia’s heart raced.She didn’t like the suspicions bouncing around in her mind.“I don’t suppose you remember when Trent had the office remodeled?”“I sure do! It was on my birthday.Mr.Tyler gave me the day off, so I couldn’t possibly forget that.It was on a Friday.He had a whole crew come in and redo the office and when I came back on Monday, everything had been changed.That was exactly one month ago tomorrow.”Julia’s stomach clenched and she flinched.“One month ago?”Before Trent had come to her apartment in Los Angeles with flowers and sweet words of apology.Had he known all along about her losing the Bridges account? Or had he…Julia closed her eyes and steadied her trembling body.Had he orchestrated her losing that account somehow?“Yes, one month.” Once again Kim nodded, then looked at her with concern.“Is anything wrong?”“No, I’m fine.” She managed a brief smile.“I’d better let you get back to work.”“Okay.” Kimberly walked out of the office and Julia leaned forward, bracing her hands on the edge of her desk.“It couldn’t be,” she muttered, while a deep sense of dread coursed through her entire system, telling her it very well could be.She knew about Trent’s bet with his brother.She knew about his competitive streak; he’d told her countless stories about besting Brock when they were younger.Making his hotel succeed meant more than money to him.He had something to prove.Thoughts flashed in her head.Miracle worker.I checked you out.Trent’s timely reappearance in her life at about the same time he’d fired his marketing VP and one week after she’d lost the Bridges account seemed too coincidental not to have been premeditated.She hadn’t thought about it before, but now as she glanced around her office, she noted how very well this office suited her.The wall colors and soft carpeting and even similar pieces of artwork on the side table resembled her L.A.apartment, despite the western theme.She might have thought it a nice touch, if Trent had gone to the trouble after he’d secured her employment here, rather than before.How deceitful of him.How arrogant.Her entire body trembled with fury.Before she condemned him to the gallows, she’d confront him.Grabbing the unsigned contract, her only tangible evidence, she strode out of her office.She filled her lungs with fortifying oxygen, yanked on Trent’s office doorknob and flung the door open.“Hold on, Brock,” Trent said into the receiver.Covering his hand over the phone, he looked at her.“Give me a minute, darlin’.I’m almost through.”“You’re through now,” she growled.“Hang up the phone, Trent.”Trent’s brows rose in surprise.“What the hell?” He cast her a confounded look then returned to the phone.“I’ll call you later.” He hung up the phone and stood, gazing at her with annoyance.“What’s bothering you?”“Just answer one question for me, Trent.Did you or did you not orchestrate my losing the Bridges account so I could work for you?”Trent narrowed his eyes.“What gave you that idea?”She tossed the unsigned contract onto his desk.He glanced at it, his expression giving nothing away.“Just answer the question, Trent.Truthfully…if you’re capable.”His brows rose and a tic worked at his jaw.“I made a deal with the restaurant chain, yeah.”“And was I part of that deal?”Trent walked around his desk and then leaned against it, bracing his hands along the edge.“Close the door, Julia.”She turned to slam the door then faced him again, folding her arms across her middle, too furious to move.She stood there, waiting, irked by his nonchalant posture.“Well?”“Were you part of the deal?” He took a minute to answer, his mouth tight, his eyes cold.“Yeah.I wanted you to work for me.”“So you sabotaged me!” She blew up, her fury unrestrained now.“Do you know how hard I worked on that Bridges account? Do you have any idea what landing that account would have meant to me?”“I’m paying you a very generous salary,” Trent said.“Nothing I did was illegal.The people at Bridges wanted this deal with Tempest.They’ve been pursuing us for years.”“What deal?” she asked, her fury mounting.He hadn’t even tried to deny any of it.“They’ll be putting their restaurants in our hotels in strategic cities across the country.We’ve been in private negotiations for some time now.I simply made that happen sooner than expected.Everyone stands to win.”“Except me!”“That’s a matter of opinion [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]