Total pages in book: 224
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1079(@200wpm)___ 863(@250wpm)___ 719(@300wpm)
She stands there at my back, watching me, and when I round the desk, she’s still looking at me. “I will make you regret this. Not now. Now you’ll get your payday, but one day.” She turns and leaves, shutting the door behind her.
She hates me and I’ve barely gotten started. I’ve yet to force her to make hard decisions, like seeing her father in his true light. The path to getting there will surely be filled with more hate, but at least if we do end up naked, there’s no risk of her actually confusing me with that hero she already assured me I am not. And I’m damn sure not the guy any woman, most especially this one, takes home to their father. My cellphone rings on the desk where I set it and I glance at the caller ID. How well-timed. I decline the call. My father is toxic. He needs to stay away from this, and everything for that matter, and so does Carrie’s father. It can be no other way.
Just like us fucking has to happen and so does her hating me. Our families are enemies and she doesn’t even realize just how deep that runs. Which actually makes her perfect for me. I can want her all fucking day and night, but she’s safe. There will never be more than hate. And so, we’ll hate fuck when this is over—or hell, maybe before it’s over. It won’t make it all better, but I will. I’m going to make all of this bigger, better, and then I’ll be gone, which is just the way Carrie West will want it.
Carrie
Don’t think of him with his head between my legs? Asshole. He really is an asshole. He said that to make me think about his head between my legs and his mouth, too. And that damn cologne of his, woodsy and earthy, I couldn’t stop smelling it when I left him in that room.
I walk past Sallie, and just as I’d feared, she follows me into my office. By the time I’m on the other side of the desk, she’s shutting the door and crossing to stand in front of me. I sit. I would rather not be eye level. She sits. Wonderful. “What is happening?” she asks. “And why is that man still in your father’s office?”
The words I have to speak hang in my throat, but I have to say them to everyone tonight. I need to practice now. “My father’s retiring. Reid Maxwell’s firm is now the majority stockholder. And Reid Maxwell is the man sitting in my father’s office.”
“Oh my God,” she whispers. “A hostile takeover.” Panic lifts in her voice. “We’re under siege. My God.” She stands up.
“Sit,” I say, feeling like I’m repeating what just happened between me and Reid.
“I can’t sit.”
“You can. Sit. I need you to listen to me.”
She sits. “Are you being fired?”
“No. I’m working with Reid to make some positive moves forward and the plan is for me to reclaim the role of CEO.”
“And controlling stock?”
“I’ll have the opportunity to be majority stockholder, not controlling. Not now.”
“That’s not good.”
“A successful CEO of a monster company like this one is not bad.” It’s true, I remind myself. “We are going to be bigger and stronger.”
“Without your father?”
“This kind of thing happens often, and if we do what Reid Maxwell wants us to do, we’ll all have bright futures.”
“So you will be CEO, right?”
“I don’t know. We’ll see.” I want to comfort her and tell her everything will be okay, but I’ve never made promises I can’t keep. I don’t lie. I hate lies. They’ve burned me. They’ve hurt me. I don’t want them to hurt anyone else.
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“We made mistakes, Sallie. You know that.”
She nods. “Yes. The two big projects that went bottom-up in six months.”
“Yes. Stockholders don’t take kindly to those kinds of losses.”
“You were against those deals,” she says. “We did report after report to convince your father to walk away.”
“It’s done. We can’t look back.”
“You need to make sure the board knows you said no to those deals.”
“Reid knows.”
“Which is why you’re still here and your father is not. Will you get your father’s seat on the board?”
“That’s up in the air,” I say, and I hope it really is at this point. “For now, there will be a mandatory staff meeting at six. No one can miss it. Please arrange it.”
“I will.” She starts to get up.
“Sallie.”
“Yes?” she asks, settling back into her seat.
“Please don’t bail. If I make it to the other side of this, I’ll take care of you. I promise. I’ll make it worth your while.”
“And if you don’t make it to the other side?”
“Do a good job, and you might survive even if I don’t. I’ll make sure Reid knows how good you are, and you do the same.”