Page 206 of Savage Suit
“Mr. Keegan, when you take your seat, we may begin.”
Claude’s words was news to me. To my knowledge, today was supposed to be a joint presentation, and I shouldn’t have been dealing with Amage one-on-one until after,if,KMG won the contract. Not that it mattered anymore.
I looked to Noah. His jaw was clamped and his annoyed expression let me know that he, too, was unaware of this decision. It seemed as if he’d given me the floor when he’d offered me the computer. And, even if he had, he wouldn’t take kindly to anything Claude said.
The asshole smirked. “Noah?”
He glared at Claude and began to speak.
“This is a joint presentation, no?” I inserted quickly
Everyone was glancing between Noah and Claude.
“I thought it best for you to present alone, Ryan, as Sauncier had their project manager do. Unless you think she is underqualified, Mr. Keegan?” Claude probed, the smile on his face pissing me the hell off.
Fucking dickwipe.
“Of course not,” Noah replied, anger replacing all other emotions. He nodded to me. “You’re going to do great.”
His deep voice arrowed to my heart, and I thought I’d burst into tears. He walked to his designated seat and gave me a thumbs up after he sat.
I opened the trunk, hoping I’d packed everything a few days ago. Finding my large presentation boards pleased me. Noah and Reid set up the easels. Once I placed the boards in the correct order, I indicated the middle with a sweep of my hand.
“Amage.” It still amazed me none of their pillar fragrances had been given the most obvious name.
“A name is not required,” Claude spat. “We already have one.”
“Then it behooved you to let me in on it,” I retorted. “You are quite aware of the importance of a name,monsieur. Since I didn’t have a name—I barely had a story behind the new fragrance—I created one to aid in my strategy.” I shrugged. “Using it is up to you.”
I knew they wouldn’t. I doubted they even intended to give KMG the contract. The thought depressed me a little more, but I was determined to give it a shot.
Realizing the men remained silent, I stooped down and pulled out the carton containing product prototypes. Before standing, I carefully cut away the plastic wrapping, then walked around the table, handing each man a black and gold box with an abstract Art Deco design. Back in my place near the boards, I set one box on the top and kept one for myself, which I carefully opened as everyone else did the same. I pulled out the bottle and held it up. It was an upright golden wave with a beautiful, ethereal woman as the stopper that was encircled with crystal.
Even before I removed the top, the others were doing so and sniffing the fragrance inside. Noah stared at me and set the perfume in front of him. His eyes gleamed with pride. Love.Misery.
Unable to bear it, I set the bottle on the table, my hand shaking. I turned away.
“You are in violation,madame.” Claude’s words landed like a thunderclap in the silence. “You did not have permission to produce samples of the fragrance.”
My shoulders slumped and my head pounded. Noah didn’t respond to Claude and I knew why. He didn’t want anything to interfere in the message he was trying to imprint on my soul. He wanted me to give him a chance to explain. Winning the contract didn’t matter to him. He’d come because he was a competitor. Perhaps, at first, he’d been willing to engage Claude’s pettiness. Not anymore.
I drew in a deep breath and turned, facing Claude and studiously ignoring Noah. “I had twelve, one point five milliliter samples produced,MonsieurAmage, for the purpose of this presentation.”
“We only produce vials for samples,” he said flatly. “You have misused your budgetary funds.”
Rage swept over Noah’s face. Reid leaned over and spoke to him, giving me the chance to address Claude Assface Motherfucker.
“My use or mishandling of Keegan Media Group’s budget is of no concern to you, sir,” I snapped, “since it has no bearing on your bottom line. Mr. Keegan allotted me a certain amount of funds to create the most competitive bid. I have no proprietary rights to your fragrance, whatever it might be called.” I glared at him. “I have no plans to take those samples with me. If you think I’ve have committed too grave an injustice, I will leave now.”
“Please continue with your presentation,” Boyd Andrews interjected before Claude had a chance to respond. “I am very interested in the rest of what you have to say, Ryan.”
“Before you go on,madame,” Claude said, “I must have very bad news about Noah’s parfum for his mother.Itdoesn’t have a name, so—”
“It does,” I said. “If you will let me finish, I can show you.” I shifted my weight, unablenotto glance at Noah. He’d been so busy with KeeTel, and fucking Megan, he hadn’t seen everything.
Lips trembling, I blinked to clear away my rush of tears. Before I broke into sobs, I looked at the presentation boards. For a moment, all I saw was Megan riding Noah’s mouth and cock. I wanted to sink to the floor and curl into a tight ball. At the very least, I wanted to be alone, away from Noah and Reid. Away from Claude and Channing.
“Ryan…” Noah cleared his throat. “Do you need to take a break, Ms. Hagen?”
