Page 22 of Yours to Conquer

“No worries, there isn’t much left in there,” I tell her.

With our arms full of bags and our wallets a little lighter, we make the walk back to Ahz.

“I can’t believe the dress was three hundred dollars. That was insane, but it’s so perfect.” I say as we round the corner to Ahz.

“You have a billionaire boyfriend; make him pay for it,” Trevor says.

“We don’t have that kind of relationship. I’ve never asked him to pay for anything. He has a ton of money, but he lives a simple life. I make enough to buy my stuff,” I reply.

“Girl, what’s the point of having all that money if you can’t enjoy it?” Trevor looks at me as if I’ve grown another head.

“Oh, he enjoys it. I don’t think he wants for anything. As for me, I’ve always taken care of myself. I’ve had some help along the way, but mostly, I try to depend on myself.”

“Speak of the devil,” Kat says. I follow her eyes and see my hunk of burnin’ love walking out the door of the restaurant at Ahz. He doesn’t look pleased.

“See you later,” I say as I make a mad dash to Anthony. He sees me coming and throws out his arms to hug me. I drop my bags just before I reach him and jump into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. Looking over my shoulder, I see my friends disappear into the employee entrance of the building.

“Wow. That was quite a greeting. Did you miss me?” he asks with little enthusiasm. He seems troubled by something.

“Yes, I missed you so much. What are you doing here?” I slide down his body and set my feet firmly on the ground. He reaches down and grabs my bags.

“There’s a problem Damon, and I have to address. Since you’re going to get some calls about it, I figured I’d wait for you so we can all come up with a plan together. Let’s go. Damon is waiting for us in the conference room.” Well, that doesn’t sound good. I follow him back to the conference room located behind the restaurant. There are a few offices back here, but most of the offices are at either Anthony Haywood’s Corporate Offices or Zenith.

Anthony leads me into the conference room and sets my bags by the door, then guides me to a seat near the head of the table. Damon is already there. He finishes up on the phone call he is currently engaged in.

“I have asked Katarina to come in. Since she will be my wife, this situation is going to affect her as well.”

I look at the expressions on both men’s faces. Upon closer inspection, Anthony looks tired, while Damon’s expression is one of intensity.

“What’s going on? You both look like someone just stole your favorite toy.”

The door opens to the conference room. Kat walks in and takes a seat next to Damon. “What’s up? Your text is concerning.”

I’m the only one that has no clue what’s going on. “Would someone tell me what’s happening?” I demand.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Anthony clears his voice before he speaks. “I got a call from aLos Angeles Timesreporter about two hours ago. He was calling as a courtesy. Last night, a drunk driver plowed into a crowd near the Nokia Center. When the person was arrested, they had an under twenty-one stamp on their hand from Ahz. Unfortunately, their blood alcohol level was at .21. We have pulled all the security footage and have a team looking through it with a fine-toothed comb. I promised the reporter an exclusive look into Ahz if he would hold on to the story until tomorrow. He’ll call you, Emma, to set up a time to come and meet you.”

I am shocked by this information. There is no way anyone under twenty-one got a drink at one of our bars. We have a nearly foolproof policy in place. “The first thing we need to do is prepare a statement.” I look around the table at everyone. “My suggestion would be just to say we’re investigating the allegations,” I offer. “Will we lose our liquor license in the interim?”

Damon runs his hands through his hair and exhales. “No, the only way we will lose our license is if they can prove we served an underage drinker. This is an awful situation to be in, and I can’t sayhow important it is that we don’t give out too much information until we know the facts.”

“Damon’s right; the security footage will tell the story. The report will be ready for us tonight. The fact that Damon and I are owners will increase the media attention. Not to sound arrogant, but we are worth a ton of money, and there are many people who’d be happy to see us fail.”

“Are you sure you want me to handle this for you? I’m new at this job, and I don’t want to mess it up.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. I can feel the stress that this is going to weigh on all of us. If Ahz goes under, then Kat, me, and hundreds of other employees will be looking for a job, not to mention the financial and emotional impact it will have on Damon and Anthony.

“I’ve known Emma for over a decade, and I think she is the perfect representative. She is quick on her feet and speaks with intelligence and eloquence.” Kat leans back in her chair but keeps her eyes on Damon.

“I agree with Damon. Let’s keep it to a brief statement if they ask us. Once the investigation finishes, we can figure out if we need to address it in a more in-depth manner,” Anthony says.

A cell phone rings, and we all check our phones instinctively. Anthony answers his and walks toward the door to talk privately. Within a few minutes, he’s off and returning to the conversation. “Sorry, that’s something else I’ve got going on. My plate seems to be pretty full right now. You all know I’ll be heading to Texas on Sunday. I should be back by Wednesday.”

“We got this. Go find out what’s happening in Texas, and we’ll hold down the fort here,” Kat says.

“All right, then. Let’s talk tomorrow at the festival. I don’t see anything else happening tonight.” Damon helps Kat up, and they walk hand in hand out of the door.

“Are you okay?” I ask Anthony. I walk over to him, take his hand in mine, and look into his eyes. I’m a staunch believer the eyes arethe windows to the soul. The eyes will always tell you the entire story. His eyes look tired and almost beat today.

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