Enjoy! I promise next chapter will be soon tomorrow.
Chapter Fourteen:
I was working on a sonar mapping device when Nessa came in.
"Hi," I said softly.
"Hi," she said. "Usually, I'm the first one in."
"I know," I said. "How are you doing?"
"Okay," she said. "Thank you for sending Paul over. I'm afraid I would have played Phantom of the Opera over and over if you hadn't."
"You're welcome," I said. "If you need counseling or anything let me know."
"I will," she said with a smile. "Now this is the part where I ask you to leave."
"What?" I said, confused.
"I need to address my subordinates without you around as backup otherwise it is going to look like I don't have a backbone. While I appreciate everything, you've done, I need you to leave so I can work on how to rebuild trust in this department."
"I understand," I said.
She suddenly leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. I kissed her back. Nessa suddenly let go.
"I like you," she said. "I want more than a work relationship with you. Do you want that too?"
I kissed her and she kissed me back.
"Does that answer your question?"
"I'll discuss what we need to do with HR in a few days," she said. "You're welcome to watch the meeting on the surveillance network."
"I will," I said. "You know why they went after you, right?"
"Because you care about me?" she said.
"Because I'm falling for you," I said and kissed her again.
I then walked away, leaving Nessa breathless.
…
I watched from the office I still had trouble calling my own.
"I'm glad you all got my message," Nessa said.
She paced around stage of the presentation room.
"So, this is what happens when Carina and August are uninvited to a Jensen event. Next time we include her so if she ruins my dress again, I can punch in her the face."
This got a few laughs.
"Thank you I workshopped that joke on my cat yesterday until he threatened to jump out the window if I didn't stop. We're on the first floor so I wasn't worried, and practiced two more times."
A few more people laughed.
"Okay the Nessa Lutze comedy hour is over. Seriously, thank you for the all the texts over the weekend. It made me feel less alone and embarrassed. Beyond my underwear, what was revealed on Saturday were some flaws in what I thought was a good system here. Three people are missing from the team because of that incident. I know I feel hurt and betrayed, but also guilty for not seeing what was in front of me. Guys if you have a problem with me, look my Irish skin may be as pale as paper, but I can handle anything you have to say to me. I want us to work as a team and talk things out instead of plotting humiliating revenge.
Therefore, I have spoke with HR and we're going on retreat this week. We're to sing silly songs, do stupid trust exercises and all that idiotic stuff. I know we hate it, but the science says that these experiences do improve relationships among peers. Do I think this will solve all our problems? No, but it's a start.
Finally, Dr. Spencer Reid. I'm in love with him. He's in love with me. We're not dating, so much as figuring out how to make a relationship, work between an owner, and a chief technical engineer. Oh, and you can watch that video of him stripping all you want, just not in here.
That concludes the meeting. Thank you. I hope we can be a better team in the future. And that I don't lose any clothes at the company holiday party."
There was clapping, followed by a standing ovation. Nessa looked shocked.
I smiled and closed the feed. She was even more brilliant than I gave her credit for.
…
"I know as a face of the company, what I did was highly reckless, but the thing was at that time, I cared more about changing the narrative of two woman being exposed to me looking like an idiot. I have no regrets, especially as it resulted in the Hinson acquisition."
"I only have one problem with it," one board member said. "My wife can't stop watching it. I think my wife accounts for eight percent of the seven million views on YouTube."
"In all seriousness," another member said. "Jensen loved Nico like a second daughter. I have no issue with what you did and I think Jensen is watching from above and is very proud."
"If stripping what was required to get Hinson's company, I would have had Wendell Logan to do so years ago," another member said.
"As you can see Dr. Reid," the chairman said. "No one here has any issue with what you did. The Hinson acquisition made it even more worthwhile. You don't need to worry about us."
"Thank you," I said.
"What is going on with the investigation?" a board member asked.
"Three Jensen tech employees have been arrested and all have said that they were put up to it by Carina and her mother. They have been questioned, but the case is still being built. Sophia Tulane asked to return to New York as her husband's health is failing. I have PIs tailing her."
"Carina's been banned from several high-profile events," a board member said. "A friend who follows such things, found her sobbing about all the 'indignities' on a friend's YouTube channel. She also called Nessa a fat cow and Nico a traitor and her friend's YouTube channel was shut down."
I felt heat rise in my face.
"There will be more consequences," I said. "I have been shot at. I'd rather them take direct aim at me than the people I care about."
"What is the nature of your relationship with Vanessa Lutze?" a member asked.
"We're in love, but we don't know how to manage the relationship yet. We're working with HR on the matter."
"Good Luck, Dr. Reid and thank you for being so transparent with us," the chairman said.
…
It was simple child's play. I had wigs from several costume parties to choose from. A gun was kept in the pent house because Alexander felt we needed to own. It was relatively small so it fit nicely in my purse. I also remembered to wear gloves.
I hadn't taken the train to DC in years. It gave me time to think. I never imagined Jacob would have had a child before meeting me. I knew he didn't love me. I could live without love so long as the velvet boxes said Tiffany on the inside. We grew distant fairly quickly. Jacob didn't know how to play the role of husband who didn't love his wife while I was a star in my role. There was no doubt he was brilliant, he just wanted it all. We can't have everything, I learned from young age, so settling was important.
Jacob fought me at every turn to raise Carina and August right. He didn't realize children born into privilege, needed to be raised differently compared to how we were raised. He had silly ideas like not letting them have a TV in their rooms until they were teenagers and I put my foot down. Bribing cops to rip up speeding tickets was part of life. He failed to recognize his children were special. Oh, what a tragedy it turned out to be.
The idea of shredding the gowns came when I met with the PIs and learned what these disgruntled employees where whining about. One was complaining about his degrading fabric wasn't getting enough attention since Spencer Reid came into the picture. I immediately concocted a plan, and knew both women didn't have the same level of security as Spencer's house. Carina was eager to help.
The employees folded like cards. They didn't choose the fastest escape routes. It is being made clear that Carina was involved, but I was the mastermind.
I found the facility and used a fun little device I ordered online years ago that deactivated alarms. I took the stairs to the second floor as my intel had suggested. No one made a comment about the woman with brown hair in a bun and a black pantsuit.
She was reading a book at her desk. The woman didn't seem to notice me Her pink dress was worn and ugly. A splash of blood wouldn't ruin it much more.
Not trusting my aim, I shot her in chest. Throwing the window open to set off the alarm to fake an intruder, I tucked the gun under the bed and screamed.
"Someone shot Mrs. Reid!"
His own mother wasn't safe so long as I was alive.