Page 30 of Craving You
“Oh,” I say.“Well… Okay.”
“Ready?”he asks, kissing me.
“Uh,” I say, turning around to grab my laptop and phone.“Yep.”
I walk with Remy and Cam to the conference room.Tris is already here, but we are still missing a few clients and board members.This meeting happens four times a year.It is essentially a time for everyone related to the company to get together and give one giant update.It lasts hours, so I am going to be typing a lot of notes today.I am also going to be covering a few of our updates, but I already have everything typed out for us.I’ll just have to add in any commentary from others if it seems notable.
I am getting everything set up when I hear more people come into the room.“We will get started in just a few minutes, everyone,” Cam says.“Ready, Lorelei?”
“Yes,” I say.I glance up but do a double take when a man across the large table is staring me down.He leans back in his seat with a smirk on his lips.I know him… but how?
“Oh fuck,” I say.A few people look over, and I get glared at by both Cam and Remy, but they both instantly flip back to brother and boyfriend, rather than my bosses, when they see the panicked look on my face.
“What’s wrong?”Cam asks softly, but I don’t answer.Everyone else is lost in their own world, but this man… Matthew Hernandez… He is staring me down just like he did in that club.Just like he did every time he sat in the front and watched me before eventually ending up in one of the back rooms.
“Lori,” Remy says, making me look at him.
“Everything okay?”Tris asks as she comes over and squats down.
“Why is Matthew Hernandez here?”I ask softly.
“He is a new client,” Cam says.“Why?Do you know him?”
“He… He came into the club maybe twice a month,” I say.
“Fuck,” Remy sighs.
“It’s no big deal,” Cam says to me.“We will talk to him after.Okay?”
“He’s paid me, Cam,” I say, ready to burst into tears.“Since I first started there.”
“Just breathe,” Cam says.“Whatever happens, we can fix it.Okay?”
“If the media…”
“Then we will stand by your side and defend you no matter what,” he says.“Okay?”
“Okay,” I whisper.
We turn back to the table, and Tris moves her things down to sit with us.Matthew is still looking at me.“Want me to give the update?”Remy asks.
“No, it’s fine,” I sigh.
“Okay,” Remy says before turning to everyone else.“Lorelei is going to give some basic updates before we get into our quarterly plan.”
“Who is she?”Matthew asks simply.
“She is my younger sister and Remington’s partner.She is our COO and handles all administrative dealings,” Cam says, and Matthew nods.
“Just wondering.She’s not been in meetings before,” he says.
“She has always been privy to the meetings.We’ve just adjusted her schedule so she can attend,” Cam adds before looking at me.
The conference room hums with the quiet murmur of anticipation as I stand at the head of the long, polished table.Every pair of eyes is on me, and I take a deep breath and pick up the remote to the projector.I am forcing myself to not look at Matthew; otherwise, I will meltdown in front of everyone.
“Good morning, everyone.Let’s dive straight into the numbers,” I say, clicking the remote in my hand.The first slide appears, and their eyes shift from me to the screen.“We have once again exceeded expectations this quarter.Our revenue for quarter three hit $2.3 billion, which is a 15% increase compared to the previous quarter.This marks our sixth consecutive quarter of growth.”
I glance at Cam, and he nods, telling me to keep going.“The growth was driven by the remarkable performance of our Sentinel line of cybersecurity products.We saw a 22% growth in subscriptions, largely fueled by our new AI-driven threat detection module.Early adopters are already reporting a 35% decrease in security breaches, which translates into strong retention and positive feedback.”
