Page 75 of Five Mountain Daddies

“I appreciate your concern,” Isay.

“Trust me on this.” He stands up, still smiling, but now literally looking down on me. “They aren’t your friends. They only care about themselves, not about the company, and they’ll tear this place apart if you let them. You have to keep the union in line. Don’t be soft on Samuel, because he won’t be soft onyou.”

I stare back at him. “I’ll take that underconsideration.”

“Good. You need to trust me, Amelia. I have a lot ofexperience.”

He turns and leaves my office without another word. I watch him go, a stone sitting in my gut. He gives me such a bad feeling, but he’s right about one thing. He does have a lot of experience, and I do needhim.

But is it really so black and white? I don’t know why it has to be us against them. I don’t know why we can’t have a contract that works for all of us, but maybe that’s too idealistic and naïve. I want to give them what they want, as long as the company can continue to exist and make a profit. We can all worktogether.

I get up from my desk and walk over to my father’s filing cabinet. I open the bottom drawer and pull out copies of the last contract before carrying it over to my desk. I start going through it, making underlines and comments in themargins.

I need this negotiation, I realize. It has to go well for me. If I mess this up, I’m going to be kicked out of this office so fast I won’t even see it coming. Ingram is just waiting for me to mess up, which means I probably can’t take his advice, at least not entirely. He doesn’t have my best interests atheart.

Whose interests do I have at heart? I don’t even know if I want this job, but there are so many people involved in this company, and they’re all trying to make a living. And then there’s Samuel, that cocky, handsome bastard. I keep thinking about him down in that mine, in that cramped little tunnel, digging through the wall with those hugemachines.

I shake my head and get back to work. I need to concentrate. If I want this to go well, I’m going to need Samuel, even if I want him for more than justnegotiating.

8

Samuel

Ishouldn’t be surprised when I get a call from Amelia’s office inviting me up for a meeting. I have a little grin on my face the whole time as I’m escorted to heroffice.

She’s sitting behind a big oak desk, the sort of thing that big powerful CEOs like to use to impress people. Amelia’s assistant, this older woman with a perpetual frown, closes the door behindme.

“I didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” I admit to her as I walk over and sit down in the chair in front of herdesk.

“Well, we have a lot of work to do, don’t we?” She eyes me a little bit and I just grin at her, sitting back withease.

“What can I do for you, Ms.Evans?”

She rolls her eyes at that. “I was looking over your old contracts all dayyesterday.”

“And?”

“And I think I came up with something that might work.” She slides a stack of papers across the desk and I arch an eyebrow atthem.

“That’s not how this usually works, isit?”

She hesitates. “I have no clue, to behonest.”

I laugh softly. I have no clue either, but I like to mess with her, knock her off balance. She looks so fucking sexy in her little work outfit, a tight white blouse with a form-fitting black jacket over top. I lean forward and take the papers, skimming over the first few pages while she watchesme.

“I think you’ll find it very generous,” she says, a littleeagerly.

I glance at her but I don’t say anything. This is supposed to be a negotiation, even though we’re not doing it the official way. Normally, we’d be in a big room with representatives from both sides sitting across from each other. We should never be alone in a room like this together, since I’m pretty sure it breaks some kind of rule, but I’m not sure I care. Rules are meant to bebroken.

And I want to break even more rules with Amelia. I can barely concentrate on what I’m reading. I have a general idea of what we’re looking for in a contract, and I know this isn’t going to be enough. As I get deeper and deeper into it, I know this is a slight step up from the old version, but it won’t satisfyeveryone.

I finally finish, not bothering with the rest. I drop it back on her desk and she watches meeagerly.

“Well?” sheasks.

“It’s notenough.”

Her whole face falls. “Are youserious?”

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