Checkmate

Co

She wasn't really surprised. Well, actually she kind of was since Co

"Are you going to release me?" Jacob asked, sounding unsure which only piqued her curiosity since most of the men that Co

"How long ago did he tie you up?" she asked as her eyes shot to the clock on the wall. She hadn't seen Co

"Five hours ago," Jacob muttered pathetically, confirming her suspicions.

"And what did you do?" she asked casually as she added a spoonful of vanilla and caramel flavored creamer.

There was a slight telling pause before Jacob said, "It wasn't my fault."

"What wasn't your fault?" she asked, pouring a dab of cream into her mug.

"H-he knows."

"Knows what?"

"About the plans, meetings, suites, everything," he admitted, making everything in her go still.

"Where is he?" she asked in a bored tone as panic shot through her.

She realized that he would have found out about the project sooner or later, but she was kind of hoping on it being later, after she had a signed contract with McGill so that he couldn't interfere and take over. Now she was going to have to hunt him down, kick his ass and make sure that he knew that this was her project and that it was off limits to him. Then she would be right back to trying to figure out how to convince them to let her do this. Maybe she could -

"I think you and I should have a talk," Co

Thankful that he saved her the time of having to hunt him down to kick his ass, she grabbed her drink and headed for her office, knowing that he'd be right behind her.

"Hey, what about me?" Jacob asked, but she ignored him. "Seriously, I have to use the bathroom. If you could just make a little tear in the tape I'm pretty sure that I could-"

Co

"Hey!"

He ignored her as he took her seat and yanked her back onto his lap. Once he had her settled, meaning trapped, he reached around her and picked up her cup of cocoa.

"Don't even think about it," she warned evenly as she struggled to get off his lap, but the arm he had wrapped around her waist held her right where he wanted her.

He ignored her and finished off her cocoa as she was forced to sit there, watching as her precious cocoa was stolen. Once he was done he placed the coffee cup back on the desktop with a little more force than she felt was necessary and shifted her on his lap so that she was facing him.

"Anything you feel like sharing?" he asked as he leaned back in her chair, clearly making himself comfortable as he studied her.

"You're an ass."

"Anything else?" he asked in a deceptively calm tone, but there was no missing the anger in his eyes.

"Yeah, stop touching my cocoa," she said as she tried to climb off his lap, but he didn't release her.

"No. Anything else you want to tell me, Rory?" he asked, reaching up and pushing a damp strand of hair away from her face.

"I hate you?" she offered with a sweet smile.

For a moment he didn't say anything as he studied her, finally he leaned forward and grabbed the folder he'd dropped on the desk and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked as she cautiously opened it, this was from Co

"My bargaining chip," he said, sounding arrogant, a little too arrogant for her comfort.

With a feigned casualness, she opened the envelope and pulled out the crisp white papers inside. She ignored him as he shifted her on his lap and looked over the papers. With one glance she knew that she was looking at a contract and a few seconds later she knew that it was a contract from McGill. When her eyes landed on the third paragraph she felt her brows pull together and her jaw pop.

"You.....son......of.....a.......bitch!" she bit out with barely controlled rage as she jumped off his lap and whirled on him.

"Checkmate, sweetheart," Co

"Checkmate?" she repeated in a strangled tone as she fought against the urge to jump him and go for those damn nipples that she was becoming so fond of. "You stole my project, you son of a bitch!"

"Did I?" he asked in a bored tone as he leaned back in the chair and appeared to think it over. "I think you just might be right about that, Rory," he said with a shrug.

"You've gone too far this time, Co

"Oh, but I'm not even close to being done," he drawled as he reached out, picked up the contract and made a show of looking it over.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, reminding herself that this was the way the game was played and that she couldn't make her move until he laid all the cards on the table. When he was done, she was grabbing her pliers and going for his balls this time.

He'd done a lot of horrible things over the years, but stealing her project was by far the worst thing he'd ever done, besides ruining her life that is. How was she supposed to explain to McGill that this was her project and that Co

"You arranged a meeting and tried to go behind my back, altering my project. For that," he paused to meet her glare, "you're going to have to pay."

"It's my project, Co

"Do you want to yell some more or are you ready to cut the shit and get down to business?" he asked and god help her, but she considered slapping that smug little smile right off his face.

"Yes," she grated out.

"The project is yours, Rory."

"For what price?" she asked, already knowing that Co

"I'm glad you asked," he said with a content little sigh that had her right eye twitching and her hand inching towards her tool belt.

"I have a few conditions of course,-"