Page 5 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
He waltzed in like he owned the place and greeted the woman at the front desk. It was without a doubt a nightmare in the making.
“Oh, shit,” I muttered to myself. “Please don’t let that be him.”
“Mr. Statton. Good afternoon!” Jasmine spoke to him cheerfully.
“Fuck.” I sighed.
Might as well pack up my shit and get the hell on!
I was so caught up in my thoughts; I missed when Jasmine directed him to me. He turned, looked at me, and started laughing. “Oh, this is just perfect.”
“I’ll see myself out.” I stood, prepared to eat my foot…literally.
“No, no. You’re here to talk business, am I right?” he asked as Jasmine looked between us, confused. “I won’t let a simple accident impede a potential deal. Let's talk.” He opened the door to his office and waved me in.
I swallowed my pride and reminded myself why I was there.
Huge contract, girl. Major. Big money. Years of success and industry connections. Suck it up and get it done!
It took an extra bit of effort to continue my path as I passed him and smelled the sweet scent of strawberry glaze on his lips. Salt, meet wound!
The wound burned a lot less after I stepped into the office and saw the stack of papers on the edge of the small coffee table by the window. They were all in Rose’s name, and most had those alarming red stamps across them. “Past Due!” Ifever there was a perfect confidence booster, that was it. He might have purchased the business, but it looked like it was still struggling.
“How can I help you?” He paused. “I’m sorry. Because of my surprise at seeing one another again, I don’t believe we were formally introduced. I’m Raymond Statton, the new owner of this wonderful establishment.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Statton.” I gave him a firm handshake and took pleasure in the shock on his face. It happened every time. Men never expected it. And yeah, I laid it on a little thick for them, really leaned into the grip.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Brown. That is your name, right?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Jericha Brown. I own JLB securities.”
“Oh, yes. Now I know where I remembered the name from. I came across your business during my research before acquiring this company.” He pointed to the chair, offering me a seat before he sat down. “So, what brings you here today?”
“Rose was an old friend of mine, and I had come to offer her a short-term partnership,” I explained. “I realize she is no longer a part of the company, but I would still like to potentially discuss that deal with you if you’re open to it and have the capacity.”
“Sounds interesting. What are you thinking?”
“We have a large contract approaching, and I need additional manpower,” I explained. “I’d need some of your men to join my team for a temporary sub-contract.”
“And you chose this company for that?” he laughed.
“You find that funny?”
“Not to speak bad about your friend, but she was horrible at this business.” He leaned back in his chair and pointed to the stack of papers I’d noticed when I first arrived. “Looking at current numbers and her historical reports, I’m not even sure why she ever opened it.”
Because she was a backstabbing ho!
“I’m sorry to hear that. Forgive me, but it had been a while since we spoke. I didn’t know things had gotten so bad.” I stood. “Maybe I need to look elsewhere.”
“I didn’t say that. I’m running the show now. However stressful it may be, this still needs to be a successful endeavor. I had hoped to offload this place quickly—it's what I usually do—but I need to take more time to build it up before it even looks remotely enticing to a buyer.”
“If it's so bad, why did you buy it?” I waited for his answer with a raised brow.
“I like a challenge. Unfortunately for me, your old friend is a tremendously good liar.” He sucked his teeth. “She lied about how bad things really were. Did some fantastic masking of the financials too. If I could find her, I would sue her.”
“She’s missing?” I frowned. I had been out of the loop for a while, but it seemed unlikely I wouldn’t have heard about her going missing.
“Deposited the check, transferred it offshore, and no one’s heard from her since.” He tapped the desk with his finger. “I have a private detective working on it now.”
