Page 74 of Savage Bosses

I had no idea. @Desk_Pet: I hadn’t thought about that possibility.

With no useful advice from the chat forthcoming, I logged off.

My trepidation growing, I approached Anik’s office and took another breath before entering. The air in his office was even colder than when he had passed my desk. I closed the door, feeling like I’d just sealed my fate and met his biting glare.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t remember you?”

CHAPTER 11

Anik

O

ne Week Later

“You’ll need another half dozen votes to get a new rig approved,” Evan Sanchez said from across the table. We were sitting in Medallion, an upscale restaurant in the heart of New Orleans to discuss how Evan’s lobbying firm would benefit me. The man dipped a plump shrimp into the garlic butter sauce, coating the morsel before dropping it into his mouth.

Evan had ordered every dish on the table before I arrived and there was no doubt the man expected me to foot the bill.

“I’m trusting you’ll get me those votes.”

The little shit smiled. “There might be a small delay, of course. I imagine a few of the senators might have gone home before the next senate meeting.”

In the middle of a session? Not fucking likely. Evan made the mistake many often did when they looked at me. They saw a man far from his ancestral home and thought I was powerless. They saw me and made the assumption that I didn’t know America’s ways and couldn’t identify greedy men. They were wrong.

I pressed the chilled glass of arak against my lips, swallowing the herbal liquor in one gulp. “How long?”

“Two weeks ought to be enough time to convince the right politicians that oil drilled off the gulf is good for America,” Evan said.

“Do you have one in mind?”

“Senator Gibard is going to be our best choice on such short notice.”

I grunted, placing my glass on the table with an audible thud. The rich foods, the cost of which could have fed an entire homeless shelter for a week, and the half-empty bottle of champagne disgusted me. I ha d no issues spending money. Millions if it got me what I want. But this weasel ordered far more than he intended to eat. He was wasteful, just like the politicians he lobbied.

“Two weeks and a donation to the senator’s campaign.” I sweetened the deal. I held Evan’s gaze, letting him know with bone-chilling clarity not to fuck with me. “But any more delays will cost you as much as they cost me.”

He paled.

I didn’t waiver.

“I’d better get to work then.” The man stood. “It’s nice doing business with you”—he paused—“when your personal assistant called me, practically begging for an audience, I couldn't believe Anik Hijra wanted to do business with me again. I ought to send her a fresh bottle of this champagne as a thank you.”

Hearing him refer to my assistant instantly soured my mood to new depths. Boiled my blood. After today, I’d make sure Zoerina Prince begged for nothing from anyone but me.

“Lucky for her I was available.”

Raking my hand through my hair, I watched the lobbyist leave the dining table. The weasel ensured I knew he’d done me a favor by taking my appointment. Owing people, especially assholes was equivalent to a knife in my side. I much preferred the reverse. But paying a bottom feeder like Evan Sanchez was worse.

Because of my personal assistant’s scheduling mishap, I missed my appointment with Senator Johnson and my opportunity to rally his support for a second drill site. Leaving the task to Evan was a huge gamble if his choice, Gibard decided to be ornery.

Fuck!

Bribing politicians wasn’t new. Hell, most self-made billionaires were familiar with haggling, but I knew Gibard to be a special sort of weasel. Conniving, deceitful, and corrupt enough to switch sides if it proved advantageous. Loyalty to anyone but himself was not a trait he embraced.

I curled my knuckles into a fist at having to deal with Evan or Gibard at all. This replacement was Zoerina’s mistake. Not her first error, but it was by far the costliest.

In no mood to head home, I paid the bill and drove back to the office. Work. Burying myself in work was the best option to alleviate the tension coiling in my shoulders from tonight’s meeting.

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