“Twenty fucking million.” Every way I look at it, one company stands out above the rest. Worth eight million for a single client list.
I could fucking throw up.
“You’ll sell if you have to, hold on to the best investments only. I’ll help where I can, but I don’t see a way out. You’re going to have to shift money and hold out for the right timing.”
“I need at least a hundred grand a month for a different investment.” All the numbers for payroll and transitions tally in my mind. The company will earn it back, but not in the first quarter. Probably not for the first year. It has to float.
“For what?” My father’s tone is exasperated. “You’ll be lucky if you have enough for your personal expenses.”
“I’ll leave those numbers to my financial manager,” I bite out, irritated but also fucking terrified. I saw what happened to my family years ago when my father lost it all.
As if reading my mind he states clearly, “You might be fucked, but you’ll survive this. You’re going to have to sacrifice a number of things, but I’m calling the lawyers, I’m calling everyone. I will do everything I can, but I’m not sure there’s much we can do but sell. Take the hit. Reinvest when there’s time. At least it’s only twenty million lost.”
I can barely swallow, my eyes closed as I realize what I would do if things were different. A quick eight million is right there.
“Fuck,” I say and breathe out. I promised her. I promised her she didn’t have to worry.
“I can’t fucking believe I signed.”
“I can’t believe he was that fucking stupid.”
“It’s his first on his own.”
“Even still, he should have fucking known to talk. He could have made fucking sure there weren’t whispers and deals in the making. If he’d told his father, at the very least, he could have been given a heads-up.”
Investors talk. Politicians are paid. Deals are made. It’s how this business is run. But only those in certain circles are privy to high-level information. Wyatt’s father would have known. He would have stopped him from buying property whose value was days away from plummeting.
“If the sellers knew”
“Do you know how long litigation would take? And that’s if you can prove it.” I swallow thickly. There’s a reason they say the business world is run by crooks.
He got fucked over. And I signed the dotted line to come along for the ride.
Just then, the office door opens, Andrea calling out behind Wyatt.
With my phone pressed to my ear, my father cursing and repeating lines of the contract. Wyatt stares back at me, his eyes rimmed in red and looking like hell. His light tan skin is blotchy like he’s barely keeping it together.
“I fucked up. It’s a lot of fucking money.”
“Sir,” Andrea starts, a nervous energy around her.
“It’s fine, Andrea.” I wave her away as Wyatt takes hesitant steps inside the barren office, his hand running down his face. “I’ll call you back,” is all I say to my father without taking my eyes off my good friend, who just made a horrific deal … one for the both of us.
Suzette
I knock softly at Adrian’s door and go in. It’s the latest I’ve ever visited him, but he’s been busy all day and evening. As it stands I’ve barely seen him the last two days, and when I do, he’s reserved with me and soft in a way he hasn’t been before. I nearly left, thinking maybe he just needed space and wasn’t telling me, but I thought better of it.
I messaged: I have work I can do too, do you mind if I stop by later tonight?
His response told me everything I needed to know: I’d love it if you did.
So with all these nerves still wreaking havoc inside of me, and the realization that I’m head over heels for a man and I think he may be head over heels for me too, I crack open the door to his office.
“Adrian,” I call out, saying his name as if to gauge whether or not he’s done even though he told me if I came up at nine he should be finished.
Sitting at his desk, Adrian runs his hands over his hair. “Suzette,” he responds, my name a murmur on his lips. His stress is apparent even from the door.
“Come have a drink with me,” he offers and I instantly relax.
I go around his desk and fold my arms around him from behind, resting my chin on his shoulder. He leans into me for a kiss on the cheek and I feel like I could burst with all the things that threaten to spill out of me. There are so many things that I can’t decide what to say first. That I love him? That I’m in love with him? It feels almost childish, raw and vulnerable. It doesn’t escape me that I’m insecure and he hasn’t given me a reason not to be. I’m holding back and he hasn’t as far as I know. This is the part of the relationship where it doesn’t feel even.
He may be my boss, the devil in a suit, rich and powerful and I’m lowly compared to him on the surface of it all, but I’ve never felt inferior. Not until now. Not until I’ve realized how I feel and that I’m terrified to admit it, just in case he doesn’t feel the same.
Adrian turns his face to mine and stands up, pushing his chair out of the way before I can speak. I can taste alcohol on him. He’s been drinking, no doubt to get rid of the stresses of the day, though it’s a good stress. At least I thought it was. The numbers are good and I’m excited for our meeting next week. I’m not sure what all it will entail but I already have a business plan laid out. It’ll be wonderful, I can reassure him of that.
“I need you,” he whispers against the crook of my neck and the warmth of his breath forces my head to fall back and desire spreads through me like wildfire.
He’s almost frantic at my clothes, pushing my skirt up and lifting me onto the desk. A gasp leaves me and it’s all too welcomed. Maybe he needs this as much as I do. Adrian strips off my panties with an efficient movement as he looks me in the eyes, his emotions running through them too fast for me to name them all. He undoes his belt and zipper and pushes into me with the same ferocity he used that first day. He’s not shy about putting his hands on my body wherever he wants them. He touches me everywhere he can reach, with a firm grip on my thighs and my hips. Adrian fucks me in the way I love him to, with possessive strokes. Pleasure pools between my legs at how close he is and how intimate it is to be used like this.
My nails dig into his shoulder as I moan his name. His thrusts are merciless and the pleasure builds and builds without warning.
We’re in danger of knocking things off the desk now and it’s so hot to see him unraveling like this.
All too soon, I come first and then he follows. It’s only when he leaves me, both of us still catching our breath that I realize he’s fully clothed.
“Would you want me still if I couldn’t afford it?” His question came out of nowhere.
“What?” My head is cloudy with lust and my legs still tremble as I try to gather what he’s said. “Afford what?”
“To support the split. To fund the company during the changes.”
I pull back so I can look into his eyes, following his movements as he undoes his tie and then reaches into his desk for tissues, no doubt to clean up. I’m surprised that he’s talking business after six, let alone the second he finished inside of me. Of all the things I want to respond, I want to tease him about it, to lighten it and allay any worries he has.