Page 45 of Fifth Avenue Devil

He rolls his eyes. “If you don’t make a substantial list, I will fire employees based solely on their metrics.”

“Do what you think is best.” I square my chin and start making a slightly longer list than I’d originally intended.

As I'm making a few final notes on the employee list, I notice that Nate’s hunched over a separate sheet of paper out of the corner of my eye. His pen moves quickly, decisively, in stark contrast to my own hesitance.

Curiosity gets the better of me. I lean forward slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of what he's working on so intently. Is it a counter to my own list?

Nate's head snaps up and he catches me looking, eyebrow arched in amusement. With a soft smirk, he casually flips the paper over, hiding the contents from view.

"Can I help you, Annalise?" he drawls.

I feel a flush creep up my neck at being caught snooping. "Just wondering what you're scheming over there.”

Nate chuckles, low and sinful, as he stands over me. "So suspicious. If you must know, it's a list of employees I think will thrive in the new Gellar-Vialife offices."

“Let me guess. It's a fraction of the size of my list?"

"It's called trimming the fat. Something you'll need to learn if you want to succeed in this business."

His condescending tone makes me bristle. I stand abruptly, palms flat on the mahogany table as I glare at him. "Don't patronize me, Fordham. I'm not some wide-eyed girl you can manipulate."

Nate towers over my petite frame. "Believe me, I'm well aware of that.”

The way he looks at me, hungry and heated, sends a shiver down my spine. I inhale sharply, willing myself to focus.

"This company, these employees? They are my top priority. I won't let your ruthless tactics destroy what my family built."

"Like it or not, Annalise, we're in this together now. So you better get used to me and my methods."

He plucks the list I made from the desk, frowning.

"Interesting choices. But you know as well as I do that not everyone here is going to keep their job."

"Then maybe you should teach me," I shoot back. "Show me how to be the ruthless, callous CEO I apparently need to be. That’s part of the deal I agreed to, if you’ll remember."

Nate studies me for a moment, as if weighing his options. Then a sly smirk appears on his face.

"All right, Miss Gellar," he whispers. His breath is warm on my cheek. "I wonder if you even know what you’re asking?"

I jerk my chin up defiantly. “I think I do. My father named me CEO for a reason.”

“Your father named you CEO because he knew you wouldn’t rock the boat. And he was right. But that’s okay. I will rock the boat for you.”

He leans over the paper and writes a list of eleven names in his elegant, slanted cursive. Eleven names, a reduction from the sixty-eight on the printed list.

My jaw drops. “You can’t think that I’ll let you fire fifty-seven people!” I gasp.

Nate narrows his eyes at me. But after a long moment, he nods. "You can keep three corporate-level managers when we move to the new offices."

I stare at him, my heart pounding with frustration. I scan over the names on the list. How can I possibly choose just three?

“But–”

He stills my protests with a hand on my arm. “This is a difficult task. There’s no doubting that. But you have to do it. If you don’t, there will be a CEO turnover. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. A company merges or is bought out, the new CEO doesn’t make drastic changes. The next thing you know, the board announces a new CEO. And then, whoever is in your place will make these cuts without knowing anything about your employees.”

He slides me his revised list. I suck in a breath as I see that Nate has been severe and heavy-handed. But his words ring through my head.

Nate could be right. There’s no one on the board that will stand up in my defense. I won’t get another swing at this fastball.

---