Page 87 of Savage Bosses

Emir refused to play this game. He knew his father knew exactly what kind of history he was referring to. “Baba, the kind of history that brings drama and sexual harassment issues into an office when there is a boss-employee relationship.”

His father feigned innocence. “Oh, I see. Well, I had no idea.”

Yeah, right. Abdel Kaplan was akin to Allah; he had eyes everywhere, and right now, he was flaunting that fact.

“Well, now you do, Baba, so you must tell her the position is no longer available.”

Emir’s voice rose, but his father only shrugged. “Now, why would I do that? Selene Dubois is a sought-after design consultant for high-end firms in the Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas markets. You know she is beautiful. It’s too bad you never bothered to find out how brilliant she is. This is the perfect expansion of her talent.” Abdel shrugged. “In any case, she's already signed her contract.”

Emir knew his father wasn’t a womanizer. He hadn’t looked at a woman since his mother passed away five years ago. But he still didn't like any man, even his father, calling Selene beautiful in his presence. He knew his father was fucking with him, but he still hated it.

“You see, son, she won’t be working for you. She will be working for me. She is my direct report and not yours. I want to stay on top of the World Bank project.”

Emir grinded his teeth and counted to ten. He wanted to flip his desk over, but he wouldn’t give his father the satisfaction of seeing him lose his cool. He would go in for the kill if his father sensed any weakness.

He had to let it go and sabotage Selene’s position at the firm from within. He could not have that woman in his space after she made it clear that she wanted nothing more from him but a night of pleasure.

It would be harder to displace her because she wasn’t his direct report, but Emir had almost as much influence at KJR as his father. KJR was his home turf, and he was determined to find ways to make her life so uncomfortable that she quit before her ninety-day probation was over. Plus, he could not let his father succeed in building those libraries. He could not be a party to Palenque, or any other communities being forced to take something into their communities they did not want.

He would kill the project before it even began. His father underestimated him if he thought a beautiful woman and good sex could sway him.

Game On.

He gave his father a small smile. “In that case, Baba, when does your new report start?”

His father clapped his hands once and grinned. “You have two days to prepare. I want you to welcome her the Kaplan way personally.”

Emir swallowed the lump in his throat. It was going to be a long ninety days.

CHAPTER 2

Relocation

S

elene’s move to Aspen was sudden.

She’d only been there once with a random but rich lover who wanted to impress her. Aspen impressed her, even if the fool that brought her didn’t. She ditched him by day two and went on her own mini climbing and hiking adventure. It was summer, and Aspen’s air was warm but tempered by the wind off the mountains, and she never forgot how wonderful it felt on her skin.

That week in Colorado changed her life.

Now it was winter, and the smell of burning wood floated down from the mountains. The crisp, clean smell of snow permeated the air, until the sun burned it away. She knew by late afternoon, the sky would turn a hazy orange color that only nature produced. Selene didn’t ski, but Aspen’s scenery alone was worth the relocation.

It was a mile-high city with a downhill ski resort in the winter and unmatched hiking trails in the summer.

Selene wanted an easy and beautiful existence for the rest of her life. Growing up was hard for her. Although she handled hard better than most, she needed a drama-free break.

Before he died, her father was a celebrated jazz musician, but she only knew him as a two-bit drunk. Her mother ran off before she was five, so she was a mother to her younger sister, Tessa. Now that baby girl was married to a great guy she met on a reality TV show, nothing kept Selene in the NOLA.

She never let relationships get too heavy because they never lasted anyway. To her, a relationship was nothing but an agreement to help someone else carry their emotional baggage for a period of time in exchange for them helping you carry yours.

When it was over, she was always heavier.

Her last boyfriend gaslit her so well she didn’t know if she was coming or going. He talked a good game, The Black man as King and his woman as queen. The two of them changing the world together.

After two years, she realized that he meant he would be a king and sleep around with as many women as he wanted, while Selene served his every need to improve the world for the next generation.

God, she was dumb. But she was also young and naive. Now she was thirty-five and would never let another narcissistic Black man steal her joy.

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