Page 3 of In Charge

Chapter 2

Robbie

That was not at allwhat I expected in a senior VP working for Dad. It had been years since I spent any time at the office with Dad, and something must’ve changed. From what I remembered, Dad hired nothing but men or ugly women. Money and hot women didn’t go hand-in-hand, he always said, and pretty women in the office were a distraction he couldn’t afford. He was a bit of a hound dog, and he was at work to make money, not lose it.

I’d been prepared to meet a middle-aged unattractive woman with zero personality, but Maya Stone was sexy as hell. And young. Forty years ago, she’d have been just my dad’s type, but there was no way Dad was banging her. He was too old, and she was ... too serious. She called me Mr. Pennington either because she was angry I was late or to make sure I understood who was boss, but it had the opposite effect on me. I hated to admit exactly what it did to me. Who would’ve thought I would get turned on when a hot, sexy woman called me by my dad’s name? And her disciplinary tone made it that much worse.

She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on, and that was saying something. Her black pencil skirt hugged her perfect curves and highlighted her long slim legs, and that thin cream-colored blouse she wore revealed a hint of her lacy bra. I tried not to stare, but my eyes had a mind of their own. When her chestnut eyes landed on me, I swear she saw right through me. She was much too smart for me. I’d have to be careful if I wanted my plan to succeed.

I had no one to blame but myself for my shock at her appearance. I should have asked Dad more about her. I knew better than to assume. Assumptions always got me in trouble. In this case, I’d been wrong. Very, very wrong.

How am I supposed to sabotage a woman like that?

Dad had been trying to get me to come work for him ever since I graduated, but I’d resisted until now. I didn’t give two shits about his company, and working under Dad was the last thing I ever wanted. He was a Class A-1 prick. He had abused and dumped four wives. The first two he discarded after they both failed to give him a son. They gave him daughters—three each. He even had the nerve to serve both divorce papers one week after the last daughter was born. He divorced his third wife after three years of no children, and he left my mom one week after I was born. The man never married again.

Don’t get me wrong, good ol’ Dad took care of his ex-wives and children. Out of responsibility, he made sure all his ex-wives had nice homes and hefty bank accounts. But he was never there for any of his children. He tried once to take me away from Mom, but her lawyer had been good. She got full custody of me, and Dad got two weekends a month. As a kid, I valued that time with Dad. I wanted to bond with him and do fun things like go to baseball games or the park, but all he wanted to do was work. He made me sit in his office for hours listening to him lecture to me about business management. I hated every minute of it.

But what really sickened me was that he never fought to see his daughters. Not once.

Dad loved work more than anything else, and this agency was his life. So when he begged me to come work for him again, I said yes. Not because I wanted to take over the business or help ensure Dad’s legacy lived on long after he was gone. No, I said yes so I could destroy everything he built. I’d planned to sabotage everything the VP did and leak client secrets to the world. Once the clients were thoroughly pissed off and signed with new agencies, Dad would crumble and wither away to nothing.

But that VP was Maya, and she earned her position under the leadership of man like Dad. That meant she was damn good at her job. The only way a woman as hot as her could rise to the top with Dad as a boss was if she was smart. And I had no doubt she was. I saw her framed diplomas on her wall. A Bachelor’s degree in business management from Columbia and an MBA from Yale. She went to fucking Yale. I didn’t know hot, sexy people like her went to ivy league schools. I sure as hell didn’t meet anyone like her at Harvard.

When she wasn’t trying to be a hardass, I bet she was nice, too. Granted, she had been rude and short with me, but that was my own fault. I flirted with the HR assistant for as long as I reasonably could to make sure I was late for this meeting. I shouldn’t have done that. I wanted to piss the VP off, and I succeeded. I got the treatment I deserved, just not from the kind of woman I was expecting.

No matter what, I couldn’t lose focus and let her get to me. Her hotness changes nothing. I had a plan, and I didn’t need her to be old and unattractive to execute it. All I had to do was keep my dick in my pants.

***

AN HOUR AFTER MY MEETINGwith Maya, I stepped off the private elevator that opened into Dad’s office. Dad spent most of his time at the office working, so he converted most of this area into living space. The main foyer was set up like a typical living room, with two large leather sofas and flat screen TV on the wall. There was a private bathroom with a shower and two offices. One was converted to a bedroom, and the larger of the two served as Dad’s private office. The only thing missing was a full kitchen. There was, however, a large bar with a half fridge that I assumed Dad kept fully stocked snacks and drinks.

Dad owned a large townhouse a few blocks away, but he spent most his nights here. He had no reason to go home. He was a lonely old man. I’d expected him to work until he died. His announcement to retire at the end of the year had been a shock to everyone who knew him. Most of all me.

I stared at Dad. He was too engrossed in the work in front of him to even notice I entered. Tired of waiting for him to take notice, I knocked to get his attention.

“Robbie!” Dad looked up and smiled. “Did Maya get you settled in?”

“No, she had to run off to a meeting.” I didn’t feel the need to tell him the specifics on my first meeting with Maya. If she wanted Dad to know I had been late—and a jerk—she’d tell him.

“Now, don’t go pissing her off. I need her. She’s the best I’ve got.” Dad stood and slipped on his jacket. “I need you to help me keep her happy, especially if you want to prove to me you can handle taking over the agency.”

“We’re a long way away from me taking things over.” I glared at him. We’d already had this conversation. Several times. I didn’t want the agency. I only agreed to come here to learn and spy. As an insider, it’d be much easier to do maximum damage. But if it made Dad feel better to think I wanted the company, so be it. “Besides, Maya seems capable.”

“Oh, she is. Smarter than any man I’ve ever hired. Didn’t know women could be so smart.” His voice was raspy and harsh.

“You have six extremely smart and successful daughters, Dad.” I narrowed my eyes on him. It was just like him to decide women have equal or higher intelligence to men, yet refuse to consider his own daughters could be smart? “You’d know that if you bothered to get to know them.”

“Not the same.” He waved me off, and I bit back my temper. He grabbed his cane and headed for the elevator. I didn’t see Dad much but over the past few years I’d missed how old he’d gotten. He turned seventy-two last year and he looked much older. “But she’s not my son. I’d prefer my son take over the business. But if you prove to be an idiot, I’ll hand the company to Maya, no doubt about it.”

“Just hand it over to her now and get it over with.” My voice was cold and distant. Dad already thought I was an idiot. He didn’t need me here to prove that. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do the job—I graduated with high marks—I just didn’t want to. Why work for more wealth when you’re already a millionaire? It was greedy.

“Bah, I told you. She’s not my son.” He waved his cane in my face. “But no matter what, you’re going to need her. She’ll take half the clients with her if she leaves.”

“So it’s about the clients, not her ability?” I rolled my eyes. Just like my sisters. My sisters were all successful and way smarter than me. But Dad didn’t see any of that. They weren’t sons, so they didn’t count.

“It’s both. She’s doubled our revenue in three years. No one’s been able to do that. And if her new client market pans out, it’ll triple this year alone.”

“So, it’s about the money.” Was there no end to his covetousness? Dad was worth more than 450 million dollars, and at seventy-two, he still thought only about making more. Greedy bastard.

“No, Son.” Dad swung his cane at me and hit my arm. “It’s about being the best. And she’s the best. You could learn a thing or two from her.”

“Hmm.” I smiled. If Maya was the best, then maybe I could use that to my advantage. It couldn’t have been easy for her to advance, and I’d bet she disliked my dad just as much as me. Instead of sabotaging the VP, maybe the VP could unwittingly help me.

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