Page 100 of Savage Bosses

Asha laughed. “You mean he keeps interfering with Selene?”

Emir threw Asha a look. “It has nothing to do with her.”

Asha rolled her eyes. “Don’t lie to me, brother; I just heard the entire conversation she had with Baba upstairs. Did you really try to forbid a grown woman from doing her job?”

Emir exploded. “See what I’m saying. Why is he even talking to her!”

“Umm, because he hired her, remember! You seem to think she works for you, but she does not. She has always worked for Baba. In fact, she reports directly to him. If you wanted her on your team, you should have worked to woo her, not push her away with menial work, such as picking up your coffee.”

Emir knew Asha was right. He went about this entire thing all wrong.

Asha rubbed his arm. “Look, if it’s any consolation, I agree with you. Palenque is no place for her to be on her own. She won’t get far without Antonio, and he’s not taking her anywhere without you.”

“That’s what I was trying to tell her!” Emir exclaimed. “But she’s so headstrong; she wouldn’t even listen.”

Asha grinned. ”Oooh, you’ve got it bad.”

Emir huffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I will talk to our father and see if I can get him to change his order.”

Asha walked down the stairs past him. “Good luck!”

He’d need it.

When he reached his father’s room, he was sitting up on his bed with his glasses on and reading memos.”

Emir shook his head and knocked on the door as he entered. “Baba, why are you working? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

His father looked up and placed the papers he was reading on his lap. “And let you ruin the biggest contract we’ve ever had?”

Emir stood at the foot of the bed. “How could you approve sending Selene to Palenque alone, when you know they really don’t want us over there.”

His father released an exasperated sigh. “You can’t control everything, Emir.” He leaned forward and gestured for Emir to sit. “It’s just a few weeks, and it could mean big things for not only our business but for her career. Did you ever think about what Selene wants or why she even took this job?”

Emir shook his head no. He had to admit that he never even thought about it.

“Well, then. You can ask her when you get to Palenque. She left an hour ago. It’s an interesting story, and her ambition is admirable.”

Emir shot off the bed. “What?! Baba, how could you?!”

His father shrugged. “What other choice was there? She wanted to go, and she needed to be there for the negotiations. Apparently, some big oaf forbade her, and she was determined to leave today. Don’t worry, son, Selene is a smart girl, and she can take care of herself. I sent a few guards with her. She’ll be fine.”

Emir was so angry he could scream, but he knew that would do him good. The move was reckless, and thinking about Selene out there on her own made him sick to his stomach.

He stood and stomped towards the door. “I’ve got to go.”

His father grinned. “Take the private jet, son; you’ll beat her there. I made her fly a commercial airline.”

Emir gritted his teeth, knowing his father orchestrated all this. The man always got what he wanted one way or the other.

He’d take time to be annoyed at that later. Right now, he had a bad girl to find and punish.

CHAPTER 8

Expedition

S

itting on the ground cross-legged in front of the “I love Palenque ''sign, Selene unwrapped the Hermes scarf her sister insisted she take to South America from around her head.

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