We watched as Fiona put something into the bottle of bourbon she opened while my back was turned. I came back with two glasses, poured us each a drink, and then downed mine as she appeared to take a sip of hers and set it aside. I then continued to drink myself stupid and downed glass-after-glass as I commiserated with my assistant about being forgotten.
Then, I slumped back onto the couch and Fiona had to grab what was left of my fifth or sixth glass and put it on the coffee table. I winced as we watched my assistant slap my face to wake me up, but I had zero memory of any of that happening. She worked to tug my belt open, then the button on my pants, the zipper, and then she tugged my pants down just enough so that she could climb on top of me.
I didn’t know what the hell she put in my drink, but I was hard as a rock while simultaneously drooling all over myself. She slid one of her legs on either side of my body as she straddled me and sank her pussy down over my uncovered dick.
“What the fuck?” I screamed at the television. “No! Tell me that didn’t happen” I yelled at the image on the screen. “No, no, no!”
After a few more minutes of the bitch bouncing on me as my arms flopped to my sides, she got up, dimmed the lights as low as possible without turning them off completely, propped her phone on the table beside the couch, and initiated a video call. Then she climbed back on top of me again and started to whisper into my ear. My mind suddenly recalled that. She was telling me to say the things that I then heard myself say out loud. It wasn’t until I heard my father-in-law screaming at me that I realized something was wrong. It pulled me out of the stupor I’d fallen into.
“No.” The one word was like a whimpered plea. “Tell me Violet didn’t see and hear that,” I ordered my father.
“I wish I could, son.”
I heard the way Fiona mentioned her come-on from a year ago. It played over and over in my head. I should have fired her then and there, but I didn’t.
Fiona might have drugged me while plying me with alcohol to get the results she desired, but the truth was, everything that happened rested firmly on my shoulders. I left a viper to slither around my office when I should have had her removed at the first sign that she wanted more from me than a steady paycheck.
I was the one who didn’t fire her a year ago when she came onto me.
I was the one who sulked and felt sorry for myself.
I was the one who stuck around the office for a pity party hosted by my assistant.
I drank the bourbon, ate the cake she brought, told her my fears, and sat back and let her prey on them. She played me well, too. She was the one who was supposed to get me to my surprise party. Instead, she used that time to taint my relationship with my wife and best friend. I had believed her. It was that belief that the two people closest to me had betrayed me that made me drink that bottle, and whatever she’d dosed it with, down to damn near the bottom.
What she did was tantamount to rape, as I never gave consent and was clearly passed out when she first pulled my pants down and mounted me. Obviously, she was caught on the video putting something suspicious in my drink. Still… I invited the situation into my life. Worse yet, I never confided in my wife about what happened on my birthday the year before, and that had been one of her steadfast rules for us as a couple when we first got serious. There had been too many women, even a few previous assistants, who had tried something with me. My wife was clear that she would not tolerate the disrespect of having a woman try to get with me, knowing I was married, and still work with me day in and day out. She said she could trust me all day long, but any woman who took that step knowing we were married was not a loyal employee anyway.
She was right. I had listened and followed those guidelines every single time except with Fiona. With her, I took her at her word that it had been a joke because her work ethic and behavior up to that point had been impeccable. Even after that incident, she had been nothing but professional. Apparently, she had been biding her time.
I knew how Violet would take it. Besides the fact that she had apparently seen me with another woman riding my cock, had heard the vile things that came out of my mouth, the past sat there ready to damn me. The kicker would be that I could have stopped it all from happening long before it did. Not only that, but by keeping the incident from her, I’d not only lied by omission, but I had failed to keep my promise to her.
A swift knock on the door was all the announcement I got before my mother breezed in. She glared down at me as she came in to greet my father. Her eyes drifted to the television briefly before my father reached over to the remote and powered it down, so she wouldn’t have to see the evidence of how I betrayed my family.
“Your wife is completely heartbroken. I’ve just been to see her.” My mother’s announcement had me bolt straight to my feet.
“Where is she?”
Mom shook her head. “No, son. She does not want to see you right now.”
“I have to go to her. I need to explain what happened.”
“She already knows exactly what happened. Violet had a message for me to bring to you because she didn’t think you would remember the conversation you two had last night.”
“I don’t,” I whined as my ass hit the sofa cushion again. “I don’t remember seeing her at all, let alone talking to her.”
Mom nodded once. “She thought that might be the case. We could all tell in that video-call that you weren’t behaving normally, and that something was wrong with you. Violet said she could have forgiven you the dalliance with Fiona, because it appeared that your assistant manipulated the situation and that there was alcohol and maybe something more involved. Your wife said, while it hurt, she would find a way to understand and forgive you.”
“That’s good, right?”
Mom’s head shake was subtle, but it crushed the hope I had that I could salvage my marriage.
“No, Ridge. Violet is stuck on the fact that Fiona offered herself to you a year ago, and you didn’t tell her about it. Not only did you fail to keep your promise to your wife about situations like that, but you also failed to act and therefore left the door wide open for Fiona to do exactly what she did.”
I knew that would be Violet’s response. I didn’t blame her one bit. Even if I still hoped that I could convince her that it was done out of good intentions, it would no longer matter. Failing to act a year ago, not confiding in my wife, it had all cost me everything. The crazy part was, I couldn’t fault my wife for hating me. That didn’t mean I planned to give up on making things right.
“Do you think she’ll speak to me?” I asked. My mom pursed her lips together tightly and looked away before she picked up a garbage bag and started to pack up the rest of the decorations that somehow exploded across the room. The reminders of the surprise party I’d always wanted but never got to attend. Fiona had robbed me of so much and I wasn’t sure I could even register the half of it as I sat there on the couch wishing I could rewind time.
Chapter 12
