Page 7 of Fifth Avenue Devil

Shaking my head, I reach behind me to my massive slate desk and press the intercom button. When my personal secretary answers, I ask her to bring in two tumblers of superfine Japanese whiskey. She brings them in on a tray and then retreats, leaving us to sip our drinks in silence.

"Why are you really here?" I eventually prompt Cash. "Is it related to the Grecian papers?"

Cash shakes his head and stands up. Walking over to the window, he looks out at the crossing of Fifth Avenue and East 87thStreet. Miniature people rush around below, cars zoom by haphazardly, and two buses nearly collide while he stands there.

"I looked into Gellar Industries."

That's not what I expected him to say. I did ask him to make inquiries. But honestly, I'd kind of forgotten, since it's been a few weeks since Archer Gellar literally died right in front of me. What can I say? My attention has been in demand every second since then.

I'm the CEO of ViaLife, one of the biggest multi-billion-dollar industries on the planet.

"And?" I prompt. "What'd you find out?"

"Gellar was expected to have entrusted his company to his VP, Don Young. You know Don, we were on that yachting team to raise money for..." Cash pauses, screwing up his face.

"Children's cancer,” I supply.

"That's the ticket. Short guy, light hair, dresses like he just fell out of a 1970s Sears catalog?"

"Yeah, I remember. He was a stickler for the rules."

"That's him. Anyway, Gellar didn't appoint him as his successor. He appointed his daughter, Annalise."

I set down my whiskey, raising my eyebrows.

"Annalise? She doesn't have a business degree or anything, right?"

He grins and paces back toward me. "Nope."

Ugh. Of course Archer Gellar named his bratty daughter head of the company in his absence. It’s what I expected, but still a disappointing move from a man I considered more or less a peer. I shake my head.

"I don't know why Archer would appoint his daughter. He doesn't really seem like the type to care about family."

"I don't know why. I asked, and nobody seems to have an answer,” Cash goes on. “It's a bit of a mystery."

"It should make things easy for me. Annalise is a soft-spoken little thing. She's probably pretty stressed and overwhelmed, but she's doing it because her daddy said so."

"Could be." Cash drains the contents of his tumbler.

"I shouldn't have any problem buying the company outright, then. She's inexperienced and probably a pretty weak negotiator. It should be a piece of cake."

It should be a simple enough maneuver. And I like to think I’m a shrewd deal maker. As long as the girl doesn’t put up a lot of resistance, I should be able to move on with my life and forget this ever happened.

Cash sighs. "I looked up her photo on the Gellar Industries website. If you could do me a solid and not shatter her into a million pieces, that'd be great. I definitely want a crack at her after you're done, and I don't want a slobbering, whimpering mess. That's way too much emotion for me to handle."

I look at the ceiling briefly. "Cash, you are certainly welcome to the girl once I'm done. But if she puts up resistance to me buying her company, I'm going to crush her into fine dust."

"You sure about that?" He whips out his phone and shows me a photo. A sweet young blonde in a gray Chanel jacket, smiling at the camera. She looks almost exactly as I remember her.

Soft.

Sweet.

As tough as dandelion fluff.

Cash's phone starts ringing while he holds it up to my face. It’s Drew Hastings, ViaLife’s VP. He turns it around and curses.

"Shit, I should take this."

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