For Love or for Revenge Book 3 Read online

  For Love or For Revenge (Book 3)

  Helen Cooper

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Copyright © 2012 by Helen Cooper

  Chapter 1

  “I think I’m done with you now Becky.” Connor looked at her coldly as he zipped his pants up. “Don’t bother coming back to the office or I’ll have you arrested.”

  She swallowed hard. A sudden feeling of emptiness filled her and she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t say anything as he got his stuff together to leave. There was nothing she could do at this point.

  “Tell me why Becky.” He turned around and looked at her from the front door. “I just want to know why.” He was almost pleading and she felt her heart contract. She loved this man; with his smiling eyes and strong cheekbones.

  “I can’t talk about this Connor.” She looked at him wondering if she was doing the right thing.

  “How much did they pay you?” He spat out.

  “What are you talking about?” She looked at him in confusion.

  “How much did they pay you to be my whore?”

  “Excuse me?” She looked at him hurt. “No-one has paid me anything and I am not a whore. You asshole.”

  “You just like to give it up to men you are trying to ruin.” He laughed angrily and ran his hands through his hair. “I thought you were different. I should have known you were a bitch as well as a gold-digger.”

  They both stood there in shock as she slapped him across the face.

  “What did they offer you Becky?” He looked at her bleakly.

  “They didn’t offer me anything Connor. I’m doing this for me.”

  “What did I ever do to you?” He looked at her confused.

  “You took away my bookstore Connor.”

  He looked at her with even more confusion on his face.

  “You took away my bookstore. You fucking bought the building from under me to build condo’s and you wouldn’t even meet with me.” She looked at him with hatred.

  “I see.” He looked at her blankly.

  “You wouldn’t even meet with me you bastard.” She started crying as she shouted. All the emotions she had held in the last few weeks came pouring out.

  “And Mike told you this?” Connor spoke quietly.

  “Yes. He told me everything.” She wanted him to tell her that money was more important than people. She wanted him to admit to her face that he didn’t care about the lives he hurt. She wanted him to give her a reason to hate him more. She wanted to get rid of the hope that rested in her belly.

  “Ok.” He walked to the door. “You have to do what you think is right Becky.” He looked at her sadly. “You seem to know what you are doing.” And then he walked out the door.

  She was furious. How could he just leave her without even trying to defend himself? He didn’t even ask her to rethink going on the TV show. She was about to bring his world crumbling down in less than 24 hours and he didn’t even care.

  She went to her bedroom and curled up into a ball and cried. She felt as if her heart was breaking. Connor had come to mean so much to her. She didn’t understand why or how this could have happened. She wanted him to say he was sorry, she wanted him to say he regret what he had done but that he wanted to move on. She would have been able to forgive him. She believed everyone was entitled to a second chance. She wanted to believe that she had touched his heart and made him realize that life was about more than money.

  But he hadn’t cared at all. He had just walked out of her life and now there was going to be no happy ever after. She grit her teeth as her heart ached for him. It was hard for her to reconcile that the man who had held her so tenderly and stared at her with such trust could be the evil man she thought he was. “Oh Connor, why didn’t you stay?” She whispered to her phone. She wanted to call him. Wanted him to come back so that they could have a chat. She just wanted everything to be okay again.

  And then she saw all the books. The thousands of books that lined her tables and chairs, floors and boxes. The books she could no longer share with the characters that came to her bookstore. He had ruined her life and for nothing, he didn’t really need the money. He had more money than he would ever need in his life.

  Chapter 2

  Becky got to the TV studio at 6am. She wanted to see Mike and Gayle arrive. She wanted to be sure that everything felt right. She studied herself in the rearview mirror as she waited and applied makeup. She hadn’t been able to sleep the night before. She had tried Connor to give him one more chance to make things right but he didn’t answer the phone. Her heart and soul felt hollow.

  Mike and Gina arrived together, driving in a brand new BMW. They were laughing as they got out of the car and she could see they had no regrets or concerns with exposing Connor Dade to the world. She watched them kiss with disgust. She didn’t trust Mike and now she had even less respect for him. He had been trying to hook up with her but he was very obviously with Gina. She quickly got out of her car and walked up to them. They sprung apart quickly but when Mike saw who she was he grinned.

  “Glad you finally made it, we’ve been waiting on you.” Mike sputtered out. Becky looked at him with derision. He really was a piece of scum. “Gina, this is Becky.” He gave Gina a look and Gina looked at her with narrow eyes.

  “Nice to meet you Gina.” Becky was sarcastic and annoyed. Gina looked like a pretty bitch. There was only one reason why Connor would have hired her and that made Becky’s blood boil with jealousy.

  “Yeah. Whatever. Let’s go in.” Gina flounced towards the main doors and Mike and Becky followed her. Every step Becky took made her think she was walking towards her impending doom. Something just didn’t feel right about these two. The security guard let them in quickly and a tall lady with a clipboard whisked them to makeup immediately.

  “This is soo exciting. I can’t believe I’m going to be on TV. Time for me to finally be a star.” Gina spoke to Mike but it was apparent that she wanted everyone to hear. Becky wanted to tell her that no one who worked for a TV show was going to be impressed that she was going to be on TV.

  “Becky?” One of the co-hosts of the show came up to her. “We are so glad to have you here. You are very brave.”

  “Uh thanks.” Becky smiled weakly. As the minutes passed her resolve was getting weaker and weaker.

  “I understand you know all about the sex scandal and how Connor Dade has been cheating millions out of money.” The man leaned in close and whispered. “I’m so excited that lucky son of a bitch is finally going down.”

  “I’m here to talk about my bookstore.” Becky looked at him in confusion. “Maybe Gina is the one who will be talking about that stuff with you.”

  “Gina?” Now he looked at her in confusion.

  “Yeah, the lady with Mike.” Becky went to point at them but they had disappeared.

  “Mike?”

  “Yeah. I’m not sure where they went but they are the other two people you are talking to today about Connor.” She trailed off not wanting to say his name anymore.

  “Becky, I’m not sure what you are talking about but you are the only one being interviewed and going on air today. I thought your manager explained it all to you.”

  “My manager?” Then it dawned on her that she had been set up. Mike and Gina had no intention of going on the TV. And she had no explanation why. “Excuse me, which way is the ladies please?” She walked quickly to the bathroom to decide what to do. She had known something wasn’t ri
ght and she knew she didn’t want to go on the air. She closed her eyes and prayed to God and then called Connor again.

  “Yes?” He answered the phone sharply and coldly.

  “Can I see you?” She whispered into the phone.

  “Where are you?” His voice was softer.

  “I’m at the TV station.” She answered honestly. “I’m not doing the interview.”

  “And what do you want from me?” His voice was cold again and she sighed.

  “I need to see you, please Connor.” She was practically begging him. “Please.”

  “Are you with Mike and Gina?”

  “No. Well, yes there are here but they aren’t with me now.”

  “I don’t really think we have anything to say Becky.”

  “Please.” She pleaded. “I need to see you.”

  “Ok. I’ll meet you at your house in 30 minutes.” And then he hung up the phone. She released her breath, happy that he was coming to see her. But now she had to get out of this studio. She walked out of the bathroom and ran out of the building quickly before anyone knew what was going on. She saw Mike and Gina having sex over the hood of the car in the parking lot and she ran quickly past them so they couldn’t see her. She laughed manically at herself as she got in the car. She was a fool to have trusted Mike; she had known from the beginning that he was a snake, yet she had still trusted him over Connor.

  She drove quickly to her house and arrived at the same time that Connor was pulling up her driveway. Her heart beat when she looked at him. He was wearing sweats and a t-shirt and she had never been so happy to see him. She got out of her car slowly and walked up to him.

  “Hi.” She said softly standing in front of him. She wanted him to sweep her up into his arms and kiss her. But he just stood there looking her over coldly.

  “Hello.” He looked down at his watch. “Can we make this quick? I have to interview some new assistants later today.”

  She stared at him in pain. He hadn’t waited long to start looking for someone new. It seemed as if he were really and truly done with her.

  “Sure. Do you have time to go inside and maybe have a coffee?” She tried not to sound desperate.

  “Coffee?” He laughed bitterly. “You brought me here for a coffee?”

  “What were you expecting Connor? I just want a chance to talk to you.”

  “You mean you don’t wanna fuck me? Oh wait, you’ve already done that in several ways.”

  She looked at him hurt. “I don’t want us to come to this Connor.”

  “You shouldn’t have thought about that before you went to the TV station to try and sell me out.”

  “But I didn’t go on the air.” She pleaded with him.

  “But you were going to. You still went to the station Becky. You were still considering it.”

  “Please hear me out Connor.” She placed her hand on his arm.

  “What do I get for listening?” He grabbed the hand on his arm and brought it down to his crotch. “Do I get a hand job? Or maybe even a blowjob?” He stared at her mouth and she flushed.

  “Is that all I am to you Connor? A sex machine?” Her heart beat fast as she glared at him. She was angry and excited at the same time.

  “Well you know me Becky. I’m the big bad wolf.” He looked her and she could see the pain in his eyes. He looked like a lost little boy and all of a sudden all of her anger subsided.

  “Let’s go inside Connor.” She took his hand and led him into her house. She walked him into the living room and sat down on the couch.

  “So why didn’t you go through with it?” Connor looked at her shrewdly.

  “I didn’t trust Mike and Gina.”

  “Gina? Gina was there as well.” He laughed bitterly.

  “Did you sleep with her as well?” Becky wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the answer to the question.

  “No.” He spat out the word. “So why didn’t you trust them?”

  “I just had a bad feeling.” She looked at him intensely, trying to break through his wall.

  “You seem to have a lot of them.” He broke her gaze and sat back. “Was there anything else you wanted to say?”

  “I just want to understand Connor. Can’t you get that? I lost my store because of you. I just don’t know what to believe: my brain or my gut.”

  “What are they telling you?”

  “My brain says you screwed me, you screwed my business and you got what you wanted without a care to anyone or anything but my gut tells me that there is more to the store than that.”

  “I can’t believe that you would think that of me Becky. Especially after the incident with the apartments.” He looked at her in bitter dismay. His eyes were blank and she felt a feeling of emptiness run through her.

  “I didn’t know what to believe Connor. That bookstore was my life.”

  “So just so you know. I didn’t even know that there was a bookstore in that building. Gina and Mike told me that the building was empty. I never displace small local businesses or families; if anything I try to help them find a better location. I would never have done that to you or anyone. And you know, as my assistant, that I would never have turned down a meeting with you to discuss the situation.”

  Becky nodded her head in agreement. Connor Dade never turned his back on anyone and he was never too busy to talk to someone who wanted his time.

  “I fired Gina because I realized that she was selling personal financial information about my companies to my competitors. I fired Mike when I realized he was lying to me about a lot of different deals and skimming money from my accounts with the help of Gina. I told both of them that if they ever tried to get a town with another business in town I would have them arrested.”

  “That’s why they hate you.” Becky sighed.

  “Yes, that’s why they hate me and want to cause damage to my name and business. They want the business community to think that I am shady so that no one will listen to my word and they can go and pull a con on another company.”

  Becky felt like crying. She had hated this man before she had ever met him and now she loved him and he hated her. “Please Connor, I’ll do anything to make it up to you. Please forgive me.”

  “Becky, I don’t know if I can ever forgive you. You slept in my bed while plotting to bring me down. I do not know if I will ever be able to trust you.”

  “Please.” She grabbed his hands and looked up at him with pleading eyes.

  “Show me how much you want to make it up to me.” He stared at her and tapped his finger against his chin. “Go and put on something sexy and dance for me.”

  “What?” She looked at him confused.

  “Go and put on something sexy and dance for me. Then I’ll decide if I am going to forgive you.”

  She looked at him in shock. She thought at first that he was joking but she realized that he was completely serious. “That’s what you want me to do?” She swallowed hard. She wanted to say no, she wanted to tell him to stop treating her like some sort of slut but she didn’t want him to leave and never talk to her again.

  “For now.” He grinned at her evilly. “Hurry up.”

  She got up and walked slowly to her room to change. He wanted her to give him a lap dance, like some sort of stripper. She glanced at him again and was happy to see he was wearing running sweats and a t-shirt. At least the fabric of his pants wouldn’t be too rough against her skin. She quickly pulled off her clothes and put on a thong, some short shorts and a crop top. She decided to go braless and knew that the crop top was pretty sexy. It fell to just under her breasts and exposed her midriff. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and spray on some body spray and hurried back to the room.

  Connor was still on the couch but he was reading a book.

  “What you reading?” Becky asked him the first thing that came out of her mouth.

  “A Tale of Two Cities.” He looked up at her and she saw his eyes darken. She felt a thrill of excitement. At least she knew he still
desired her.

  “I love Dickens.” She smiled at him.

  “That’s funny. I thought you loved dick?” He spoke crudely and she blushed. He certainly wasn’t going to make this easy on her.

  She walked over to him and stood in front of him. “Shall I play music?” She spoke softly, feeling embarrassed to be just standing there. She wished that he would reach up and touch her and bring him down to her.

  “It’s not necessary.” He stared at her and placed the book down next to him.

  “Okay,” she swallowed and turned around so that her ass was facing him. She lowered herself into his lap and started grinding back and forth. She felt his cock harden against her ass and she continued to rub back and forth on him.