Page 8 of Dirty Seduction

CHAPTER THREE

KNOX

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I glance at my watch, irritated.

“Where is she?”

“Late,” Alexandra says, looking as unimpressed as I am. Although I can guarantee she’s in a better mood.

Late yesterday afternoon, my father dropped a bomb on me. One I hadn’t seen coming and was still haven’t trouble wrapping my head around.

“Knox. Can I see you in my office?” Ward had asked from my office doorway. By the time I looked up from my email, he had disappeared, but I heard him call out, “Today.”

Where’s the damn fire?

I chugged back the rest of my last coffee for the day and noted that it was after three pm. Then, pulling on my jacket, I made my way down to my father’s office.

Mindy, my PA, shot me a questioning look on the way and I lifted my shoulder. It wasn’t like him to be so brisk. Something must have happened, so I was concerned.

Was it a design copyright rejection?

Did we lose a supplier?

HR issue?

When I stepped into his office, I found Ward standing behind his desk with his hands on his hips. He was wearing a navy Armani suit with a white shirt. The top buttons were undone. It would look casual if he didn’t have the handkerchief in the top pocket. I recognized the paisley silk from this year’s Verity & Co.

Like me, he had a heavy watch on his wrist, which cost an astounding amount of money. His was silver. Mine was gold.

And nowhere near the price of his.

“What’s going on?” I asked, shutting the door behind me and walking in.

“Flounce has just announced they’re releasing their new collection the same week we are,” Ward told me.

Flounce Couture, a competing fashion house, benefited from the market loss we recently experienced. And I took it back.

“What? They know we always release in the third week of September,” I growled.

Ward and I stared at one another as the implications sank in. We launched two collections a year. The Fall/Winter Collection and the Spring/Summer Collection - the latter was due to kick off in two months.

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