Page 27 of Dirty Rival

“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.

“I don’t need luck. I need to be good on my word.” He changes the subject. “You heard the conversation between myself and my brother.”

It’s not a question and I don’t play coy. “Yes.”

“Then you heard me tell him to stay away from you.”

“Loud and clear,” I assure him.

He arches a brow. “You aren’t going to ask why?”

“You want to own me,” I say. “Which means I know why.”

His hand snakes out and snags my hip, jolting me with the unexpected impact as he drags me to him. “I do own you,” he says. “Until the profit I’ve promised the board is delivered, I don’t want you distracted.”

My hand is somehow now firmly planted on his even firmer chest; my legs pressed intimately to his. “And you don’t think touching me like this a distraction?” I challenge.

“It is a distraction. One we can fuck right out of our systems and then it’s over.”

“Or you decide you really do own me and I’m not taking that risk.”

“Better safe than sorry, right?”

“Better stop while you’re ahead.”

“And yet neither of us are ahead now.” He surprises me by allowing his hands to fall away, a silent invitation to stay pressed intimately to his hard, perfect body, or move away.

It takes all that I am, but I step backward. I’ve barely recovered from his touch and the chill I now feel blasting off the water, which didn’t seem to be there moments ago, when he offers me an envelope. “What is this?” I ask, reaching for his offering, but he holds onto it, those blue eyes burning into mine.

“I never make a promise I don’t keep, good or bad.” He releases his grip. “Remember that,” he adds, and then he just walks away.

Chapter twelve

Carrie

The envelope in my hand scorches me the way the man who handed it to me does as well.

I watch Reid disappear around the corner, the path between my apartment and his, a well-frequented community area that runs along the beach, lined with buildings, most of which have outdoor restaurants, and all of which offer ocean views. I will not open this envelope where I might be seen. Therefore, only when Reid is out of sight do I rush into the building and make my way to the elevator, punching my floor. Once the doors shut, I stare down at the envelope, but I don’t open it. I dread opening it and while I’m not one to avoid or hide from trouble, the biggest, cruelest way, Reid could punish me for those cuffs would be to build me up and then push me right back down. To give what he’d taken and then take it away. I don’t want to believe that’s who he is, but he learned from Jean Claude Laurette a man nicknamed “The Beast of Wall Street.”

And so, I watch the floors tick by, which is quick since I live on the third floor and for a reason. It was cheaper. It’s what my first three bonus checks with the company allowed me to buy and three seemed a lucky combination. I thought it was and yet I’ve now put my place up for sale. Just the thought knots my belly, but it’s the right move. It’s what I need to do before I get in over my head.

The elevator dings and it’s only seconds later when I exit the car, walking left and sticking my key into the lock of my first home purchase, wondering if I will ever feel secure enough to buy in a building in Battery Park ever again. Shoving aside that negativity, I enter my little place, its dark hardwoods beneath my feet, and toss my keys on the table to my right. I walk down the hallway and through my living room without dwelling on the three oval windows that line the front wall that I completely adore, and the realtor assures me will help the place sell quickly, even despite the fact that my view is of the walkway, rather than the water, and the apartment is small with a rather compact kitchen to my left. It’s a beautiful space and location.

I head up the stairs and into my bedroom, the only other room in the apartment, and set my purse on the teal-covered bed. I then walk to the lounge chair in the same color, which is by a drape-covered window, kick off my shoes, and stare at the envelope with dread in my belly. It’s possible that Reid wanted me to say good things about him to the staff before he gave me my walking papers. I know this, though I don’t think that’s something Reid would do in such a cowardly way. He’s hard, arrogant, and impossible, but not a coward. I seem to be, though, since I haven’t opened the stupid thing.

I rip the seal and quickly scan the document inside. It’s a promise to double my pay at the six-month mark from the date of the takeover, in a lump sum. Part of me revels in this promise he has kept. The other part fears that he knows my demise will eventually be confirmed. Of course, this idea assumes he has a heart. Does he? I go back to the case he took for free, for the families of murder victims and the word “save.” He chooses takeovers that save everyone involved. If he does have a beating heart in his chest, is this payment his way of ensuring I leave with more, not less, but I still leave?

My stomach knots all over. I need to know. Straight up. Head on. Tell me how it is. I stand up and walk to the bed, grab my phone and return to the chair where I snuggle back down, ready to take whatever is thrown my way. I don’t hesitate. I dial Reid. “Decide you want to be owned tonight?” he asks, answering on the first ring.

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