Chapter 166

Victor drained his coffee cup. “I have an errand to run near here. I’ll be back by five to take you home or maybe out to do something fun since you hid at home all weekend.”

I glanced at the clock. “That sounds good. I have a meeting in ten minutes, but it should be wrapped up in a half hour.”

I didn’t tell Victor any details about this meeting because I wanted him to be surprised when I pulled off a great deal for the company. I found someone in need of an investor for a profitable venture.

“See you soon,” Victor said as he headed for the elevators.

Soon after he left, a young Alpha named Ronald Shoup arrived. The receptionist showed him into my office and brought us coffee and water before returning to her desk.

Ronald and I at a party a few weeks ago when he made me the offer, and he followed up with a meeting last week here in my office.

“Did you have the contract drawn up?” I asked. I didn’t want to sound overly eager, but closing my first big deal was exciting.

I wanted to examine the contract thoroughly before I signed it and gave him the cashier's check for a quarter million dollars that was locked in my desk drawer.

“I’m sure you’ll find everything in order and in line with what we discussed last week,” Ronald said as he handed me a folder.

I began to read the papers and found the language used in the contract wasn’t anywhere near as straightforward as he promised.

“I would like to have my company’s attorney look this over before I sign it,” I said.

I hardly understood a word of the complicated legalese used in the contract. It seemed like gibberish to me.

“Don’t you trust me?” Ronald asked, his eyes wide with shock. He seemed sincere.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” I assured him. “But you told me the contract would be simple and easy to understand.” I pointed to the five pages of legal mumbo jumbo. “Nothing about this contract is simple.”

“There isn’t much time for you to get in on the deal,” Ronald insisted. “And I have others eager to invest if you don’t trust me.”

Panic raced through me. I didn’t want to miss out on a great investment opportunity, yet something felt off.

A quarter million dollars was a lot of money to throw away. I began to try to read the contract again. But it still didn't make any sense to me.

What should I do? It would be foolish to sign a legal document I didn’t understand.

“If you give me the money today to show your good faith, I’ll give you a few days to have your lawyer go over the contract,” Ronald said with a big smile. “I will refund every penny if they find any irregularities.”

Ronald’s smile widened as he watched me squirm with indecision.

Giving someone I hardly knew that much money without a contract was insane, but my hand itched to retrieve the check from the drawer.

Maybe I should sign the contract. It had to offer some protection for my investment. Ronald promised on his last visit to sell the new building to pay off investors if anything went wrong.

Taking the check from the drawer, I tucked it in my skirt pocket before reaching for a pen. It didn’t feel right, but I didn’t want to miss out on the profits Ronald promised.

I picked up the contract and tried to make sense of it again.

“Miss Wilson,” the receptionist said from the doorway. “There’s a problem in the conference room. Some of the executives need your input.”

“I’m in the middle of a meeting, Janice,” I said. She was acting strangely, and it concerned me. Something must be wrong, and she didn’t want to speak about it in front of Ronald.

Janice wrung her hands. “The COO said it's vital to have your input, and it would only take a few moments of your time.”

“I’m sorry, Ronald,” I said as I got to my feet. “I’ll be right back.” I slid Victor’s eclairs in front of him. “Help yourself.”

“Okay.” Ronald reached for an eclair. “But please hurry. I don’t have any time to waste today.”

I hurried toward the conference room. What was so important that it needed my attention right away?

After leaving my office, I turned the corner and was pulled into an empty office. I almost screamed until I realized it was Victor who held my arm in his hand.

He held a finger to his lips and pointed to a news article on his phone.

“What is going on?” I whispered. “ Victor, let me go. I’m needed in the conference room.” I didn’t understand what he was doing.

“There is no emergency in the conference room,” he said. “I had Janice pull you out of your meeting to stop you from being ripped off by that parasite.”

“Are you sure he’s ripping me off?” Ronald seemed sincere. But then I remembered the contract was unreadable, and he wanted immediate payment.

“Read the newspaper article on my phone,” Victor said.

I took his phone and began reading.

“Oh, my Goddess!” Ronald was wanted by the police.

There were several warrants out for his arrest on fraud charges. After posting bail, he disappeared, and the police were looking for him.

“We need to call security,” I said.

“They are on their way,” Victor assured me. “They should be here any minute. They’ll hold him until the police get here.”

I covered my face with my hands. “I almost gave him a lot of money. I’m so stupid. When will you stop needing to save me?” I was almost in tears.

“You didn’t know, honey,” Victor said as he hugged me tightly.

“I knew something wasn’t right about him,” I said. “I wanted our lawyer to review the contract he wanted me to sign. But he’s a fast talker.”

“His kind always are.”

The contract and the cashier's check were in my pocket. I shoved the check deeper into my skirt pocket. I would redeposit the money into my account tomorrow.

Then I showed Victor the contract. “He claimed I would be half-owner of a new thirty-unit building being constructed by the river. Rent would have been thousands a month on each unit.”

Victor frowned and shook his head.

“There is no building, right?”

“Right,” he confirmed. “It’s an old scam.”

I was ashamed I had almost fallen for it. Why didn’t I listen to my instincts?

Victor and I moved into the hallway in time to see security guards heading for my office. Then we heard raised voices and a scuffle.

A minute later, the chief security guard emerged from my office and saw Victor and I standing nearby. “We’ve got him,” the security guard said. “And just in time. Here comes the police.”

The police took Ronald into custody and thanked me for helping them catch the wanted con artist.

“We’ve been looking for him for days,” one cop said. “We thought he must have left the city.”

“He was building up his bankroll before fleeing the city,” Victor said. He handed the contract to the cop. “He was trying to con Miss Wilson out of a quarter million dollars when she detected a scam and called me.”

The cop looked over the contract. “I’ll add this to the other evidence of his crimes. Would you be willing to testify against him, Miss Wilson?”

“Absolutely,” I replied and gave him a forced smile.

Why had Victor given me credit with the police? Ronald would have almost fleeced me for a quarter million dollars if it wasn’t for him.

“The city owes you a debt of gratitude for getting Ronald Shoup off the streets,” the cop said and shook my hand.

They took Ronald away, and Victor and I returned to my office.

I closed the door and leaned against it.

“Why did you lie to the cops?” I asked Victor. “If it weren’t for you, Ronald would be on his way to a tropical island with my money.”

He winked. “Word will get around, and other parasites won’t approach you.”

His explanation sounded good, but I still felt stupid. It was the kind of thing I would want to talk about with my best friend. But I didn’t have one anymore.

“Take me home now, Victor,” I begged. “I need to run.”

He nodded and opened the door for me. ”I’ll go with you.”