“You’re just an asshole?”
“Yes. It works for me. And since you cuffed me and brought me here, you need to make it work for you. Let’s go do this.” I step back and to the side. She inhales and steps forward and I fall into step with her.
We arrive at the glass doors that separate the executive offices from the rest and I reach for the door but pause to glance over at Carrie. “Your father’s failure will be seen as yours. Standing with me outside your father’s circle to better your financial resources means job security to your staff. That’s what we want to give them tonight before the stockholders’ meeting goes public.”
“I know. I put all of that in the copy I gave you.”
“You included everything but a direct statement about your father’s failure. That will be discussed in the stockholders’ meeting. If you don’t address that elephant in the room, they’ll whisper about it later.”
“Right,” she says again cutting her gaze but immediately meeting my stare again. “He did fail. I don’t understand why he made those decisions. I don’t know how to explain that to the staff.”
“Don’t. Keep it simple. Mistakes were made. We’re going to make up the hit for those mistakes delivered in triplicate.”
“Right. I understand.”
I study her a moment, and I find steel in her jaw that settles in her eyes. Satisfied, I open the door and allow her to exit first because I might be an ass by design, but my mother taught me to open a damn door for a woman. It was another woman that taught me never to get close to anyone. It’s not a lesson Carrie West is going to make me forget.
***
Carrie
Reid walks beside me toward the meeting room, radiating confidence, power, and sex. He’s an animal, a wolf on the hunt, willing to kill, no hesitation in him. These things and this man affect me. I can’t pretend it’s not true and survive. I am aware of Reid Maxwell in every fiber of my being, this man I hate and also crave.
This man who could walk in front of my staff and destroy me and yet, I never even considered that option until right before we were entering the meeting. He’s the man that orchestrated a hostile takeover of my family business. I should have considered that. I’m crazy to want him. I’m crazy to trust him. I don’t trust him. I can’t, and the closer we get to the meeting room doors, the more I doubt his promise that he isn’t working against me. Actually, he didn’t promise at all.
Lifting my hand, I indicate our destination to Reid without looking at him, not about to risk him reading me. I want this over with one way or the other, and when I would just enter the room, Reid catches my arm, heat radiating over my body with the contact. He leans close, his mouth near my ear. “I am not your enemy,” he says softly as if he’s read my thoughts, as if he knows I expect the worst of him.
I glance up at him, my eyes daring to meet his piercing blue stare. “We’ll see inside, won’t we?”
“Yes,” he says. “We will.” His hold on my arm loosens but I have this feeling that he doesn’t want to let me go, and it’s a feeling that I don’t understand. That stirs a funny feeling in my chest, that I don’t want to feel with this man.
I shake off the sensation and enter the room, where fifty-seven people in rows of chairs wait. A room where Reid and I either stand together or apart. We reach the front of the room and I begin to talk. I introduce Reid and he nods. He takes the microphone from me after that introduction. “I just want to be clear,” he says, which I’m coming to know as one of his signature statements. “I’m behind the scenes helping Carrie navigate a ship with a hole. She’s captain. Everything goes through her.”
One of the tech guys says, “But you’re CEO?”
Reid gives him a deadpan stare and then says, “That is what we said,” and hands me back the microphone.
It’s not long after that when I send everyone home and Reid huddles up with me. “I’m not your enemy. I’ll be in my office with Gabe when you get done here.”
“Not tonight,” I say.
His lips twitch but he says nothing more. He just turns and leaves.
Sallie steps to my side. “He’s such an arrogant piece of perfection.” She glances over at me. “How’s that working for you?”
Too well and very badly, I think. I’m about as naked as a girl can get with a man.
***
It’s a good forty-five minutes before I clear the building and make my way back to the executive offices. My father’s office door—no, Reid’s office door, is open. I walk that direction and I’ve just reached the edge of the door when I hear Gabe say, “Let’s talk about Carrie.”
I freeze in my footsteps and suck in a breath. “Let’s not talk about Carrie,” Reid replies.
“Then we won’t talk about her, but in the interest of full disclosure, I’m going to show her some extra moral support.”
“Stay away from her,” Reid says brusquely. “And I mean, stay the fuck away from her.”
I’m stunned by how intense his reaction is while Gabe simply laughs. “Easy, brother. I’m not going to distract her. I know how much money is on the line.”
Right, I think. I’m money to Reid. Just money. And of course, he wants to sleep with me, but that’s a conquest thing. An unfinished thing.
“Hear me and hear me well, Gabe,” Reid states tightly. “You will not offer her anything but your professional services, which will come through me. Now, either move on to the next case we need to review or leave.”
Leave?
Crap. If he leaves, I’m busted listening in and about me of all things, though one could argue I have a right. I inhale and decide I can’t even consider rushing away. I could get busted. I have to charge forward. I straighten my spine and march toward the office, appearing in the doorway, and I am instantly blasted by the force of Reid’s stare. As if he expected me. As if he knew I was there all along.
“Carrie,” he greets, and I’m aware of Gabe turning his attention on me but I only see Reid.
“Everyone’s gone,” I say. “The coast is clear when you decide to leave. You won’t be accosted.”
He arches a brow, and I can feel my cheeks heat. He’s thinking about the cuffs. Or I’m thinking about the cuffs.
“And where will you be when I leave?” he asks.
“Most likely in my office working.” I glance at Gabe to find him watching me with a cunning stare and intelligent eyes, certainly sensing this push and pull between me and Reid.
“You did good in there tonight.”
“Thank you,” I say, “but we’ll see how true that is based on how they all handle tomorrow.” I glance between them but damn it, I’m pulled into Reid’s magnetic stare again. “I’ll leave you two to work.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Gabe offers.
“No, you won’t,” Reid states, giving Gabe a hard look before his eyes find mine. “Go back to your office, Carrie.” It’s an order and in his stare there is possessiveness, intense, fierce possessiveness. It overwhelms me. It consumes me.
And this time I take his command for two reasons: a) I’m suffocating in all that is this man, and b) I have no desire to start trouble between him and Gabe, which is where I believe this could lead. Someone else might see that as an opportunity, but I do not. I don’t wish that sibling divide I have with my brother on them. I, in fact, envy that they work together and obviously well.
I nod at him and then at Gabe and exit the office. They are silent in my departure, no doubt by intent, and I cross the lobby quickly entering my office to sit down. Reid was possessive, and Lord help me, on a pure female level I know what it’s like to be touched by that man like he owns me. My body says, oh yes, more, but my mind warns me to tread cautiously, to set boundaries.
I grab my phone and send Reid a text message: In case you think me taking that order means you now own me, you do not. It means I have more manners than you.
His reply is instant and yet another command: Don’t leave without me. I have something for you.
>
Damn him, I could assume that means about ten things, including his mouth on my body, and he knows it. He means to make me squirm and it worked.
Chapter Eleven
Carrie
An hour after Reid’s text telling me he has something for me, I’m sitting at my desk when Gabe appears in the doorway, looking as devastatingly handsome as his brother, with one variance: he actually smiles. No, two differences. I don’t think Gabe hates me. I should want him, not Reid, but that’s just now how I work, apparently. Instead I want the man who tortures me, taunts me, and in general, infuriates me. “You really were amazing in that meeting tonight,” he says.
“Thank you,” I say. “I appreciate that. I was—am, actually—concerned about how the staff will handle all of this.”
“You’ll get them through it,” he assures me. “And I also meant it when I said you can come to me if you need anything. However,” he pauses for impact, “it’s clear that would not please my brother.”
“That was pretty evident,” I say and cringe even as his eyes light.
“Then you did hear our conversation,” he concludes.
“Does he know?”
“Not unless you tell him like you just did me and from what I can tell, you hold your own with him.” He winks. “Goodnight.” He disappears around the corner, leaving me smiling with that comment over any other. I do hold my own. I cuffed the man and left him.
Reid appears in my doorway and he all but scowls at my smile. “I take it you like my brother.”
“He doesn’t seem quite as obnoxious as you,” I comment. “I do, however, prefer you over him at this point.”
“Do you now?”
“Yes, I do, because while I’d never let my guard down with either of you,” I say, despite being a little guilty of that with Gabe just now, “I prefer the brother that is what he is, without taking any prisoners.”
“You think Gabe’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” he states.
“I know he is,” I assure him.
“And that makes me what?”
“A wolf in handcuffs.”
He gives me a deadpan stare. I laugh. “That was funny,” I say. “You know it was. You opened yourself up for it. You wouldn’t even respect me if I didn’t take the opening.”
His lips quirk with a hint of what might be a smile. “Let’s leave for the night. I’ll walk down with you.”
That gets my attention and my rejection. I do not want to be in an elevator with this man simply because I want to be in an elevator with this man. “I’m going to stay.”
“No,” he says. “You’re going to walk down with me.”
“Back to bossing me around?”
His eyes burn into mine. “I’m not leaving without you, Carrie.” He says my name in a low, seductive way, a hint of the same burn in his eyes as in his tone.
“You’re ridiculously overbearing,” I comment dryly.
“Don’t you want to know what I have for you?”
“I feel quite certain that question is a trap.”
“It’s an invitation. To leave with me now.”
To leave with him now.
And go where?
And do what?
My gaze meets his and the air around us thickens, the charge between us palpable. I want this man and he wants me. I don’t know how I do that and work with him, which means I can’t sleep with him. I am, however, not getting out of the elevator ride, nor am I going to try. I’m not going to sleep with him and this is my chance to show us both that my willpower is steel. I grab my MacBook and several folders, sliding them into my briefcase before sliding it and my purse over my shoulder. “I’m ready,” I announce, and I swear I feel like I just said something naughty. I can’t put it back in my mouth and I don’t even try to talk over it.
I round the desk and walk toward him, but he doesn’t back out of my doorway and I can’t just back-up or stop without seeming scared or intimidated. I keep walking and end up stopping a foot in front of him. “I thought we were leaving?”
He just stands there, big, beautiful, and all power and control; a man who I am certain in this moment wants to control me, to own me. Oddly though, I’m not sure this pleases him. I search his face and…no. No, I do not believe it does and yet, it’s there. His need to do just that. It radiates off him, a hard push that all but demands I submit, and I am suddenly warm all over. I want to be owned by this man, but in that wholly female, while we are naked kind of way, that ends when I put my clothes back on. Only it won’t with Reid. I know this. That will be the price for my pleasure. He’ll own all of me.
That’s not going to happen.
I lift my chin, letting him see this decision in my eyes, and he must. He abruptly steps backward as if he senses or reads my limits, as if he actually cares what I feel. I would like to think that he does. I want to believe he has that capacity in him. Or maybe his need to reject me wins over his need for a conquest. I dislike this thought too much and shove it aside. I join him in the lobby, falling into step with him as we walk toward the door. He holds it for me, and I pass through, aware of him watching my every move.
We start walking again, and the silence between us is not comfortable. It’s heavy, it’s filled with the push and pull between us, with his charged energy doing both right now. All I can think of is the tiny elevator car, and that moment arrives when I step into the compartment with just him, and my heart is thundering in my ears. Reid punches the lobby level and we stand side by side, his energy filling the tiny space, while his earthy male scent teases my nostrils.
“Gabe was right,” he says.
Surprised by this comment I do not expect, I dare to look at him. “About what?”
“You handled the room well tonight.”
When Gabe had complimented me, it had felt nice, but from Reid, it’s unexpected. It’s different. It stirs a funny feeling in my belly that I want to reject but instead hold onto, pull close. “And you,” I say, considering him, “gave me room to do it.”
“I told you, Carrie.” He turns to face me, compelling me to do the same, as he adds, “I’m not your enemy.”
“I’m trying to believe that.”
“As I am of you,” he says.
“Why would you think that I’m your enemy?”
“Our first meeting wasn’t exactly friendly once we got past the orgasm.”
“No,” I say, hating the memory of his tongue on my clit now in my mind. “I suppose it wasn’t.”
“Then you know why I might be concerned that you’re an enemy. We need to learn to trust each other.”
“How?” I dare to ask, when he may well deliver one of his crass comments in reply.
“How indeed,” he says, but the elevator dings before I can object to that non-answer, and he’s already holding the door for me. I walk past him and he is immediately on my heels, the two of us walking toward the exit with him doing nothing to make good on his claim to have something to show me. We step outside and he motions to the right, my normal evening path toward Battery Park.
“I’ll walk you home,” he says.
“I’m fine,” I say. “I walk home every night by myself and,” I frown, “how do you know where I live?” I hold up a hand. “Never mind. We already determined that you had me investigated.”
“That, and I too live in Battery Park.”
I blanch. “How is that even possible?”
“Exactly what I said when you left me in that hotel room.”
My eyes go wide. “Did you, Reid Maxwell, actually just make a joke and at your own expense?”
“Never. I don’t tell jokes.” He motions me forward. “Let’s walk.”
But he did. This hard-as-stone man made a joke with himself as the punchline. This tiny glimpse of the man beneath all the hardness has me curious enough to happily comply. I turn and start walking and Reid is easily by my side, keeping pace. “Not that I’m trying to get rid of you or anything like that,” I say after a few steps, “but i
sn’t it hard on your firm for you to be away like this?”
“Gabe runs the firm day-to-day,” he says. “And I make a hell of a lot more money doing what I do instead of managing a regular caseload.”
“How did you even start doing this kind of thing? It’s not exactly standard corporate lawyering.”
“When I was still fresh out of law school my father managed corporate takeovers for Jean Claude Laurette.”
“The billionaire behind some of the biggest hostile takeovers ever done, and who is also a real estate developer?”
“Exactly, and no, he’s not involved with your company.”
My company. I like that he says this.
“I handled a great deal of the legal filings for my father in relation to his affairs, and it slowly morphed into more.”
“So, you’re more corporate raider than attorney?”
“My father’s the corporate raider, or he was until he had a stroke last year and finally decided to slow down.”
“He’s okay now?”
“As okay as a bastard like my father can ever be,” he says dryly.
I decide to leave that alone for fear he’ll stop talking, and I focus on him. “If you’re not a corporate raider, what are you?”
“Where my father would look for the big win at all costs, as would Jean Claude, I’m in the position now to pick or choose my moves. I work with a group of investors that home in on companies where everyone is losing, and we then ensure everyone wins.”
“Except my father.”
He glances over at me as we step on the sidewalk that leads to my building. “I can’t save your father from his mistakes. I can only save everyone else.”
Despite the truth of his words, they cut, and I look away, thankful that we are now in front of my building. I turn to face him. “Good luck with the stockholders’ meeting,” I say, the wind lifting off the nearby ocean, the Statue of Liberty alight in the near distance.