Deadly Temptations by Mina J. Moore

CHAPTER 1

 
 
    DENISE
MILTON marched into her office and bit off a growl at the files piled on her
desk. Things were bad on a company-wide level. Informing people they no longer
had a job was a bitch and something she didn’t look forward to. The
preparations seemed worse than the actual sit-down. The overjoyed voice
belonging to one of the people on her list of doom carried over and Denise
rolled her eyes. Gina Rhodes waltzed into the office ten minutes late. Early
for her. Instead of getting right to business she mingled in the hall outside
Denise’s door and did a trial run of The
Inquirer on why Johnny didn’t get to
school on time because his mother was late coming back from an overnight
affair.
    Denise swore Gina knew
more about everyone else in the company than Fred Kern who had been employed
when they had laid the first brick. Damn sponge.
    The annoying voice
drew closer and Denise cringed. The ass kissing Gina was bringing wouldn’t
nullify her lack of time-keeping. She could write a dissertation on The Many Ways of Fucking up at Work .
    Denise studied the
files on her desk hoping Gina would keep walking. No such luck.
    “Hello. And how are we
doing today?” Gina asked as she bounced over to the window and admired the view
from the corner office.
    She turned with a fake
smile which made Denise want to hear someone’s nails scratching down a blackboard
instead.
    Denise put her pen
down. “I’m good. I’d be a lot better if you started coming in at your scheduled
time and got to work. It’s okay to get coffee and say hello but I really don’t
want to hear about Johnny’s mom every morning. That is a conversation for lunch
or break.” God, it felt good to tell her that. Denise was tired of biting her
tongue. It wasn’t her style.
    Gina pursed her lips
and adjusted her frilled shirt which did a half-ass job of hiding her ample
boobage.
    Denise pointed at
Gina’s top and arched an eyebrow. “You also need to mind how you dress. It’s
not professional.”
    Gina’s face turned red
and not from embarrassment. She planted her hands down on Denise’s desk and
leaned over.
    “I don’t hear Mader
complaining about my time or dress. Maybe this little reprimand should come
from him since he is my boss.” Her eyebrow quirked up in mock amusement.
    Denise wanted to punch
her. This had gone on for too long. Denise had been in plenty of meetings where
tearing employees apart over the same type of behavior was commonplace.
Tardiness wasn’t Gina’s only issue. The quality of her work did nothing to
improve Denise’s opinion.
    Denise’s team had
stepped in on numerous occasions to pick up Gina’s slack. Morale had plummeted
in the last couple of months and with downsizing barreling its way down the
executive pike, this had potential to get ugly.
    No way in hell Denise
would agree to lose a good employee so Mader could keep his hussy. Only someone
having an affair would put up with such crap.
    Denise leaned on her
elbows and glared up at Barbie wannabe. “I may not be your direct supervisor
but as a senior manager with this section, I am allowed to make certain
recommendations.”
    Gina smirked.
“Recommend all you want, darling. Until Mader tells me himself, you will have
to deal. No one else complains about the way I dress. As a matter of fact, I’m
pretty well liked around here.” To drive her point home, Gina smoothed her
hands down her hips. “Pure jealously.” She whispered while turning on her four
inchers and leaving the office.
    Denise took a deep
breath, threw her pen down on her cherry wood desk, and pushed her chair back.
She was damn tired of this bullshit. Mader needed to keep his dick in his pants
and take care of the issue.
    Corporate insisted on
reductions and they would happen soon. Their section had to let two employees
go and she knew who was on her crap pile. Human Resources would back her up all
the way.
    As senior managers for
this division, working together on projects was