Free Caught Up: With An Alpha Billionaire (A BWWM Romance) (A Love Like No Other Book 1) by Heather Banks

and didn’t belong to Alex and MarkTec. “Did you develop the software during the hours you were in the office at MarkTec?”
    “Yes,” she said, her bright blue eyes sliding over to settle on Alex.
    “Were you being paid for these hours while you were in the office?” I asked, watching the court reporter madly type away on her stenograph machine.
    “I was a salaried employee,” she answered, still looking at Alex.
    “Could you explain that statement?” I prodded.
    “I wasn’t paid hourly. I was paid a salary. So I guess, yes, I was being paid for those hours, though not explicitly.”
    “Thank you. Are you aware that the law states that if you’re using a company’s resources, while being paid a salary by that company, anything you develop is property of that company?”
    “Yes, I am aware of that,” she answered, coolly.
    I frowned. “What makes you think, then, that you even have a case? You developed this software on MarkTec equipment, while being paid by MarkTec, so obviously, it belongs to them.”
    “I did other things while in my office, using my equipment, while being paid that were not explicitly part of my job,” she answered, smugly. “That doesn’t mean it was being paid for those things.”
    Obviously, I knew what she was referring to, and so did Alex.  I felt him stiffen next to me, going on the defensive.
    “What are you saying, Deirdre? That if this software doesn’t belong to you, then I treated you like a prostitute?” Alex demanded, angry.
    Deirdre smiled harshly. She seemed happy to have made Alex angry, to cause him to admit what had happened.
    “You said it, Alex, not me,” she said, anger in her voice.
    “I did not treat you like a whore,” Alex protested, loudly. “I can’t help it if you acted like one.”
    “Woah,” I said, laying a hand on Alex’s shoulder, trying to calm him down. Across the room, Hall was trying to do the same thing to Deirdre, who had started to come out of her seat at Alex’s comment, ready to attack.
    The court reporter kept typing. Great, this would look good on the record.
    “Fuck you, Alex! You treated me like shit! You used me up and then tossed me away, and then kept my best work for yourself,” Deirdre spat. “You couldn’t honestly think that you could screw me on your desk and then just disregard me without any kind of consequences, did you? I deserve to own that code, if for no other reason than to screw you over!”
    The room erupted into chaos, with Mark Hall frantically trying to shut Deirdre up, and Alex bellowing back at her.
    There it was. The cat was out of the bag. It was what Alex had said in that very first meeting; Deirdre was interested in nothing more than revenge – a jilted lover looking to get back at the man who hurt her.
    “Let’s all calm down!” I yelled, trying to get everyone to quiet.
    In a way, I felt bad for Deirdre. I tried not to think about Alex treating me the same way he treated her. He said he wouldn’t, but does a leopard really change its spots?
    Does a playboy change his playbook?
    Despite my concern, though, a big part of me was rejoicing, because her admission would be the end of the legal proceedings. Now that she had admitted she was after nothing but spite, and didn’t have a legal claim to the code, we could dismiss the case.
    Mark looked ready to spit nails, and Deirdre just stared at the table. For the first time, I could feel Alex relaxing.
    Everyone quieted down. “In light of these recent developments,” I said, looking around the room, “I move to dismiss.”
    Mark grumbled something under his breath, then looked at Deirdre. “Agreed,” he said, flipping his file folder closed. “I,” he said, stopping. “I have nothing to say,” he finished, disgusted.
    I nodded. “Thank you all for your time,” I said, trying to keep the happiness out of my voice.
    Everyone started to gather their things and get up to go. I stacked my papers into a pile and pushed myself out of my