Page 21 of Ruthless Wars

Is a night of sin worth my soul?

Drumming my fingers on the freshly polished desk, I smile. For a cock that size, it’s worth a hell of a lot more. Just the thought alone is enough to make my fresh pair of panties soaking wet.

Blinking hard, I struggle to clear my blurry vision and my confidence wanes. Should I actually sign anything at all today?

It’s fine. Jean will be with me. And Evie too. Evie may be the biggest pain in the ass, but she’s one hell of an attorney. And probably on the brink of becoming my stepsister.

It doesn’t help that my first meeting this morning is with the representatives of the Alliance. But it’s fine. I just need a little coffee, an aspirin or five, and really dark sunglasses. Fishing an oversized pair from my purse and pushing them firmly up the bridge of my nose, I suddenly remember why I’m not a morning person.

But this should be just a cute little meet and greet with the Alliance. Or the coverup of a company shielding the Alliance.

Still, all they want is a quick and easy check-in—a dozen of their lawyers against a dozen of ours. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll be my one shot at charming them out of the deal.

Who am I kidding? In my condition? The best I can hope for is to say hello coherently and not fall on my ass on the way to my chair.

A quick knock sounds on my door and Evie enters, not bothering to wait for a “come in.”

When she sees me, panic floods her face. “What’s wrong? Are you crying?”

“No,” I say calmly, even though the two of her just burst my eardrum. “I’m fine.”

“Then why are you wearing ginormous sunglasses indoors?”

“I ... uh ...” I’m not going to lie, and not because I don't want to. But because I can't think at all, let alone think up anything half convincing. I’m at a loss.

After a slow, assessing scan of me, Evie’s eyes light up as her mouth widens to a giddy smile. “You’re drunk.”

“I am not.” My words are confident, matter of fact, and complete horseshit. Sighing, I drop my head into my hands for a moment, reconsidering that my words might technically be true. “I was drunk last night. I’m in the painful state of inching my way through recovering.”

“Well, fuck. That means you’re relying on me to save your ass. Hey, good news, sis.” Evie emphasizes the last word for effect, forcing me to lower my glasses to give her a full face of unamused squinting. “I found a loophole.”

Encouraged by the news, I sit up. “Really?”

“Well, maybe. So, we know nearly nothing about the Alliance. Because they're all super-secret. My guess is they want to stay that way.” With a slight shrug, I concede the point, and Evie continues. “There’s a stipulation that to be on the Long Multinational board of directors, whoever assumes that role has to give us a financial disclosure.”

“Wait.” I rub my forehead, desperate to make the pounding stop. “You're talking about the board. Why don't we just get back the subsidiaries?”

“Oh, honey. Those are gone. The Alliance controls them fair and square. But companies like that don’t just shit out over a hundred million dollars. It’s a hell of a lot of money. Even for us, and we’re a two-and-a-half-billion-dollar company.”

I love how she says us and the company’s value in the same sentence. I’m quickly coming to terms with the idea that Evie will inevitably be family. Hell, Dad was beside himself with pressuring her mom for an engagement. And the we and us she banters about delightfully only works in my favor.

“All right, so it’s a lot of money. And?” Blame it on the pounding in my head that’s only getting worse as Evie’s pitch excitedly ticks up higher, but for the life of me, I can’t keep up.

“And they didn’t drop it for a bunch of baby companies scattered across the globe. They did it for a seat on the board. So, how do we get out of an arranged marriage?”

Genuinely intrigued, I ask, “How?”

“We’ve got to look so unattractive, their only option is that we’re completely unfuckable.”

“Okay ...” I blow out a breath. “Now you’ve lost me.”

“The Alliance is the most private company in maybe the world. The Valor Group is no different. And according to the procedural rules, all incoming directors must provide a full disclosure of all assets and financial alliances. If any of their holdings are deemed a conflict of interest, they won't get a seat on the board.”

I give her a few staggered blinks. "Perhaps you missed the part where I'm not firing on all cylinders. I have no idea what you just said."

Generous in not making me work for it, Evie cuts to the chase. "If they want a seat on the board of directors, they can't have a conflict of interest. I'm pretty sure that boss bitches like us can make every-freaking-thing a conflict of interest."

“Evie, despite what I’ve said about you when we were kids ... or two weeks ago ... you’re absolutely brilliant.”

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