Page 2 of Dirty Deals

The woman straightened slowly, smoothing her skirt down over her hips. Curvy hips, Nik noted. Perfectly suited to her tiny frame. She turned to face him, and his breath caught in his throat as he met her eyes. Eyes that were a rich, warm brown, that up close he knew had little amber flecks that sparkled when she was excited—or aroused. He couldn’t hold back the memories any longer, and they flooded his mind. The sound of her laughter after one too many drinks as they stumbled up to his hotel room. The heat of her skin against his. Their passion as they came together, and the emptiness he felt when he woke up alone the next morning.

“I’m Jules Roberts.”

Well, fuck.

CHAPTER2

“You’reNikos Costas?” Jules hoped her shock was well hidden as she faced the one man she thought she’d never see again. What was he doing here?

One wild, impetuous night from her past with a man she knew only as Nik had changed her life forever. Now he stood in front of her, his darkening cheeks the only hint he was embarrassed about his mistake about her identity. His eyes moved over her, not hiding his attraction, and Jules swallowed a wave of self-consciousness. It had been almost five years since she last saw Nik, and a lot had happened. Her body had changed. She had changed.

The one thing that hadn’t changed was her own instinctive reaction to him. Every nerve ending buzzed, waiting for the touch of his skin against hers. Jules gripped the files close to her chest, a shield against the memories. This was work, and it needed to stay that way. At his curt nod in answer to her question, she waved towards a chair and took her own seat behind her desk. With distance between them, and sitting in a position of power, Jules felt more in control, regaining her equilibrium after his unexpected appearance. Worry and fear hovered at the back of her mind, ever present. Nik had the power to tear her world apart, and he didn’t even know it. Or did he? Was that why he was here? Had he found out about Ava?

The thought had her sweating, even in the air-conditioned office. Their one night together had life-altering consequences, resulting in a pregnancy that had left her shocked but thrilled. The fact she had no way to contact Nik, knew nothing more about him than his first name? Not something she’d worried about until now. The last thing she’d ever expected was for him to turn up in her life again.

When the chair of Coastal’s board had called her late last night to tell her to expect a management consultant named Nikos Costas, she had never dreamt it might be the Nik she met that night years earlier. Why would she? They had met at a conference in Edmonton, both of them away from home. He had told her that he worked in private equity. That was a far cry from management consulting.

Was the error a simple mistake, or was the chair intentionally hiding things from her to throw her off balance? The new chair had been one of the few board members opposed to her permanent promotion to CEO, but the rest of the board had supported her, and after six months she finally felt like she was holding her own in the job. There was always the possibility that Nik had changed careers, but that struck her as the least likely alternative.

Jules drank in his dark good looks, struggling to quell her body’s response to his presence. He was her polar opposite: where she was pale and blonde, he was dark, with black hair and olive skin that were a billboard for his Greek heritage. He was just a shade under six feet tall, which was still enough to tower over her own four feet, eleven inches. The night she had met him, he had been in the hotel bar with a crowd of men, laughing at something one of them had said. His laugh had been what attracted her first, deep and hearty, and it had sounded genuine. Looking up to see who was laughing, she had met his eyes and smiled at him. Flirted a little, feeling reckless and desperate and lonely. He had joined her and bought her another drink. Eventually he had invited her up to his room. She had been a little drunk, just enough to toss her inhibitions and say yes. It was a decision she had never regretted, until now.

Jules sat upright in her chair, using the relaxation techniques her therapist had provided for remaining calm and projecting confidence. Nik had obviously been surprised to see her, even more surprised when he’d realized she was the CEO he was here to consult with. Now he was seated across from her, and if he was uncomfortable at all, he hid it well.

Why would he be? They had shared one night, a no-strings-attached fling. This chance meeting should be something they could laugh about. Unfortunately, she couldn’t be quite so blasé about Nik showing up in her life.

“What can I do for you, Nik? Why are you here?” She was proud of herself for hiding her fear, sounding calm and professional. A miracle, considering she was a quivering mess on the inside. Nik’s reappearance in her life couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. Somehow Nik must have found out the truth and tracked her down.

“You were told I was coming. You should know why I’m here.” Nik’s face was impossible to read, showing no emotion. He was very different from the man she’d spent the night with, his impatient tone grating on her already-raw nerves.

Jules shook her head. “I was told to expect a management consultant named Nikos Costas, a finance expert. I was hoping that meant I was getting someone to step in and fill my old CFO role. Unless you’ve changed careers, you’re no accountant. You’re not a management consultant either. So I’m asking again—why are you here?”

Nik’s mouth had pulled down in a frown as she spoke, and she had the impulse to reach out and smooth the wrinkles that formed around it. Jules clasped her hands under her desk, fighting the urge. Touching Nik was out of the question. Giving in to her desires were what had got her in trouble last time.

“They told you I was a management consultant?”

He let out a short laugh, one that was nothing like the one that had attracted her to him the first time. This laugh had a bitter note.

“Are you familiar with WYCK Capital?” he asked.

A chill went through Jules at the name. “Of course. They’re a private equity firm with ownership in a number of casinos in Ontario. They also hold a large number of Coastal shares. Why?”

“I’m one of the partners. I negotiate all Canadian deals for them. I’m here to examine our investment and decide how best to move forward. By the time I’m done here, we’ll be making a decision on either buying the company entirely or divesting ourselves of all our shares in Coastal Casinos.”

The words were delivered without emotion, as if Nik didn’t know—or care—about the bomb he’d just dropped on her world. Dread and fear enveloped her, and Jules fought to project professional detachment. Nik was a partner in WYCK Capital? This could be either very good or terrible, with terrible having the higher odds. There was no in-between. If Nik determined that the company was struggling too much, they might dump their shares and take a loss, causing long-term financing issues for Coastal. If the shares were too expensive, they could pull their capital to invest somewhere else. Those options would damage the long-term viability of the company—and risk her future and that of every employee of Coastal.

Including her. Losing the job she was only now getting comfortable with would be devastating. There were only a handful of high-level casino jobs in Vancouver, and most of them were at Coastal. If the company collapsed, what would happen to her? She needed her job to support herself and her daughter, and casino jobs in Vancouver were limited. Leaving Vancouver, her family and friends, would crush her.

On the other hand, if they came to an acceptable purchase price, WYCK could take over Coastal, and the cash injection might help them expand. It was a lifeline at a time when Coastal needed one. The problem with this scenario? The risk that the existing management team would be replaced, leaving her in the exact same position as if WYCK had walked away. No matter what, this deal was going to turn her life upside down.

Trying to resist the urge to panic, working to quiet her jumbled thoughts, Jules zeroed in on the true meaning of Nik’s words. “You’re here to start the due diligence process. When will the rest of your team arrive?”

Early in her career, before joining Coastal, Jules had worked mergers and acquisitions at a major accounting firm in Vancouver, and she had been on more than one due diligence team prior to a merger taking place. Due diligence might take months and involved dozens of people. There would be no way to keep this under wraps, which would lead to gossip, speculation, and fear within the team. She needed to work fast to put together a communication strategy to keep people from jumping ship.

A hint of surprise crossed Nik’s face before he shook his head. “No team, at least not yet. I’ll spend this week digging into last year’s financials, looking at projections, visiting the properties in person. Once I’ve decided whether we’re going to make an offer for the company, then I’ll bring in the team. I find that spooks the existing employees less. We don’t want to lose any key people before the deal is finalized. After it’s done, we will keep on many of them in their current capacity, unless we determine they are not performing up to standard or their responsibilities are duplicated elsewhere and we can streamline. Losing key people tends to make our investment less valuable, so this is better for everyone in the long term.”

Some of Nik’s impatience had disappeared as he answered her question, replaced with a touch of enthusiasm.

Jules nodded at Nik’s assessment, relieved that it sounded like his company handled their takeovers using industry best practices. Not all of them did. No matter what happened, the next few months might be rocky, but if she didn’t have to worry about the future of her people, or herself, she could focus on other things. Like deciding when to tell Nik he was a father. That was a conversation she wasn’t looking forward to, but now was not the time.

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