“I…hadn’t thought of it like that,” Julia admitted reluctantly. She was a fool not to leave the detective work to Rich Peck.
“You contacted Roger even knowing the kind of man he is, and expected him to tell the truth. You’ve done some stupid things in your time, Julia, but this one takes the cake.”
Julia bristled. “The cake came three years ago, Jerry,” she reminded him. “Complete with frosting, don’t you remember? That was when I trusted Roger, when I believed in love and loyalty.”
“You believe Alek, don’t you?”
“Yes…” She did, and yet she had no confidence in her own judgment.
Jerry’s eyes narrowed. “Then why’d you contact Roger?”
“Because I hoped…I don’t know, I thought he might let something slip.”
“He did that, all right, another pile of doubts for you to deal with.” He rammed his hand through his hair. “Why on earth would you do anything so asinine?”
“I wish you’d quit saying that.”
“It’s true. Now are you going to believe in Alek or aren’t you?”
With all her heart, she wanted to trust her husband, but she’d been badly hurt before. She’d zealously defended Roger, even when faced with overwhelming proof of his betrayal. Her faith in him had nearly destroyed her family.
“I take it you didn’t fire him, then?” she asked.
“No. I won’t, either. If you want him out of here, then you’re going to have to do it yourself. I believe him, Julia, even if you don’t.”
“Jerry, please, try and understand. This is like waking up to my worst nightmare. Don’t you think I want to believe him? So much that it’s killing me.”
“I can see that.” He sighed. “Just leave it for now, Julia. Time will tell if he’s being honest with us or not. For the record, I’m sure he is.”
“I can’t let the fate of the company ride on your instinct and your friendship with him. I can’t take that kind of risk. I have no choice but to ask for his resignation.”
Jerry’s fists clenched at his side. “You can’t do that.”
“I’m the president of this company, I can do as I please.” She didn’t want to get hard-nosed about this, but her first obligation was to protect their family business. Jerry was silent as he absorbed her words. “So you’re going to pull rank on me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. The last thing we need to do now is argue with each other.”
“If you ask Alek to go…”
“Jerry, please, I have to, don’t you see?”
“If you ask for Alek’s resignation,” he started again, “you’ll receive mine, as well.”
Julia felt as if her own brother had kicked her in the stomach. “It’s funny,” she said unemotionally, “I remember saying those very same words to Dad three years ago. I believed Roger, remember?”
“A week,” Jerry said. “We’ll know more in another week. All I ask is that you give him the opportunity to prove himself.”
“As I recall, I said something along those lines to Dad, too.”
“Alek isn’t Roger,” Jerry said angrily. “What’s it going to take to convince you of that?”
“I know he’s not,” she said vehemently. “Maybe it would be best if I was the one who resigned.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Just give this time. If Alek sold us out, then there’s nothing we can do about it now. The deed’s done. It isn’t going to hurt us any to sit on our doubts for the next few days. Promise me you’ll do that.”
“All right,” Julia said. “One week, but then it’s over, Jerry. Unless there’s incontrovertible proof that Alek’s telling the truth. If not, he goes and I can return to running this company the way it’s supposed to be run.”
Jerry’s smile was fleeting. “I promise you, it’s going to be different this time.”
She stood to leave, then recalled her conversation with her husband that morning. “Alek mentioned an important meeting with marketing this afternoon.” She gave Jerry the particulars. “He said he’d like us both to be there. Can you make it?”
Jerry nodded. “With a bit of juggling. You’re going, too?”
“Yes,” she said, but she wasn’t looking forward to it.
Alek waited for Julia and Jerry to arrive. He watched the door anxiously, glancing repeatedly at his watch. Jerry was the first to show up; he walked into the conference room and took the chair next to Alek. Apart from them, the room was still empty.
“You talked to her?” Alek didn’t need to explain who he meant.
Jerry nodded. “I’ve never seen her like this. It’s tearing her apart.”
“It hasn’t been easy on any of us. I wish I knew how to clear my name. Julia would barely listen to me. It’s as though she’s blocked out everything and everyone, including me.”
“It would be a lot easier if she were a man,” Jerry muttered.
Alek arched his brows and laughed for the first time in days. “No, it wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, it would. I hate to stereotype, but maybe then she’d listen to reason. Sometimes I forget my sister is a woman—she clouds the issues with emotion.”
Personally Alek had no trouble remembering Julia was female. “Not all women have been betrayed the way she was,” he said. “I understand her fears, but at the same time I want her to believe what I say because she loves me and knows me well enough to realize I’d never do anything to hurt either of you. Until she does, there’s nothing I can do.”
“I don’t know what Julia believes anymore and she doesn’t either,” Jerry said after a moment. “I talked her into giving the matter a week.”
“A week,” Alek repeated. “Nothing can happen in that short a time. The paint won’t reach the market for another two to three weeks at the earliest.”
“Unfortunately, there’s more than that to consider from her point of view,” Jerry said.
“She’s miserable,” Alek added. “She doesn’t eat properly, she’s working herself to death and she’s sleeping poorly.” In truth he wasn’t in much better shape himself.
He loved Julia, but he couldn’t force her to trust him, he couldn’t demand that she believe him. She would have to come to those conclusions herself. In the meantime he was left feeling helpless and hopeless, and worst of all, defenseless. She was judging him solely on her experience with another man, one who’d hurt and betrayed her.
“I thought Stanhope was out of our lives once and for all,” Jerry was saying. “I should’ve figured he’d be back since we’re on the brink of a major product breakthrough. We should’ve been prepared.”
“No one could have known.”
“I should have,” Jerry said, his lips thinning with annoyance. “Only this time Roger knows he doesn’t have a chance of stealing anything, so he’s undermining our trust in each other.”
The marketing people rushed in with their displays. Most of what they’d be reviewing was geared toward television and radio advertising. The magazine ads had been done a month earlier and would be coming out in the latest issues of fifteen major publications.
The advertising executive glanced at his watch. Alek sighed. Jerry did, too. Everyone in the room was waiting for Julia.
“Virginia, please, I have a meeting with marketing.”
“But I’ve got Dr. Feldon’s office on the line. If you could wait just a few minutes.”
Julia looked pointedly at her watch while her assistant haggled for the first opening in Dr. Feldon’s already full appointment schedule.
“That’ll be fine, I’ll make sure she’s there. Thank you for your help.”
“Well?” Julia said when Virginia hung up.
“Five o’clock. The doctor’s agreed to squeeze you in then.”
Julia nodded. She wished now that she’d put her foot down about this appointment issue. A doctor wasn’t going to be able to tell her anything she didn’t already know. She was suffering from stress, which, given her circumstances, was understandable.
“You won’t forget now, will you?” Virginia called after her as Julia headed for the elevator.
“No, I’ll be there. Thank you for your trouble.”
“You do what Dr. Feldon says, you hear? We can’t have you getting sick every afternoon.”
Julia grinned. The never-married Virginia was beginning to sound like a mother. “I’ll see you in the morning,” Julia said. “Why don’t you take an early afternoon?” she suggested. “You deserve it for putting up with me.”
Her assistant looked mildly surprised, then nodded. “Thank you, I will.”
Every head turned when a breathless Julia burst into the conference room. “Sorry I’m late,” she muttered, sitting in the chair closest to the door.
The marketing director smiled benignly and walked over to a television set that had been brought in for the demonstration. “I thought we’d start with the media blitz scheduled to air a week from this Thursday,” he said as he inserted a DVD.
Julia couldn’t help being aware of Alek. His eyes were on her from the moment she’d entered the room. She expected to feel his anger; instead she felt his love. Tears clogged her throat. It would’ve been less painful if she’d found him with another woman than to learn he’d been talking to Roger, no matter what his reason.
“Our ad agency tested this twenty-second commercial and is very pleased with its effectiveness.”
The figure of a man and a woman came onto the screen. The husband was on a ladder painting the side of a house. The woman was working on the lawn below, painting a patio table with four matching chairs. Two children played serenely on a swing set in the background. The music was a classical piece she recognized but couldn’t immediately name. The announcer’s well-modulated voice came on but Julia couldn’t hear what he was saying.
The room started to spin. The light fixtures faded in and out as though someone was controlling a dimmer switch. She thought she heard a woman cry out but even that seemed to be coming from far away.
When she regained consciousness, Julia found herself on the floor. She blinked up at the ceiling. Alek was crouched over her, his arm supporting the back of her neck. His eyes were filled with anxiety.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You fainted,” Jerry said. He was kneeling beside her, holding her hand, patting it gently. “I’ll say this for you, Julia, you certainly know how to get a man’s heart going. You keeled right over.”
“Where is everyone?”
“We had them leave. Alek and I will review the commercials later.”
“I don’t understand it,” she said, struggling into a sitting position. “One moment I was perfectly fine and the next thing I knew, the room started whirling.”
