Page 8 of The CEO's Revenge

I pursed my lips. Of course, he won’t respond. That would be the best thing for him to do – not respond.

3

MAX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsUOOfb-vE

-Jailhouse Rock-

Itook a deep gulp of air, opened my front door, and walked into my apartment. It was a surreal feeling.

I was – fucking free.

I could go into any damn room I pleased. I could open the refrigerator and eat anything I wanted. I could shower whenever I felt like it.

I was finally free after more than forty-eight months behind bars.

A smile curved my lips. This was no dream. I’d left my prison days behind me forever.

I looked around.

Everything looked the same as it had that morning the police turned up on my doorstep with a warrant for my arrest. I had left instructions for my weekly cleaning service that there was not to be one speck of dust to be found on my arrival and last week I had asked for my refrigerator to be deep cleaned and fully stocked with all my favorite foods.

I opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Dom Perignon. I popped the cork and drank straight from the bottle. I unscrewed a jar of beluga caviar, dipped my finger into it, scooped some of the shiny beads, and placed them on my tongue.

Yes… oh, yes.

I took another gulp of cold bubbles, closed my eyes and savored the taste. It was hard to believe that four years had gone by. I thought it would never end, but here I was. Finally, finally free to pick up the reins of my life and continue… but it would not be business as usual.

Oh no.

For one, there was no more Stein-Bart. I would never have believed it four years ago, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I didn’t need Robert. I thrived without him. From behind bars, I had set up my own operation – BB Tech Solutions.

Nobody knew that the CEO of BB Tech’s office was in a ten-by-ten cell he shared with another man. Nobody cared enough to ask what BB stood for, or I would have had to tell them it was short for Behind Bars.

If Robert thought he had destroyed me, he thought wrong. I went into prison accused of stealing a few hundred thousand dollars. Now I was worth millions. All I needed was a computer and internet access and I had both in the prison library where I spent every moment I could. Rick, who had married my sister, Michelle, had proven trustworthy and a good man. He had taken care of all the legwork outside of prison, and I had made sure he was more than handsomely rewarded.

He was now a very, very rich man and about to get even richer.

I walked towards the gigantic windows that overlooked the park across the street. The scene was beautiful, but thinking of what Robert did to me, made the familiar rage course through my veins.

The old adage about being stabbed in the back by those closest to you had proved to be true. He had set me up beautifully. And I knew why. In all the years since we had been partners, I knew I was the brains behind our operation while he just wrote the checks in the beginning.

I was so involved in work I had not sensed his underlying resentment of me and I was too loyal to break out on my own. Hell, I would have carried him for the rest of my life if he had not shown his true colors.

What a shame for him that he completely misunderstood me. I was about to secure us both the deal of our lifetimes, but he thought I was going to betray him and set up my own establishment. To stop me he set me up on a made-up embezzlement charge.

As I sat in front of my lawyer, I understood how much I had misjudged Robert. I knew the only way was to play along and get a reduced sentence. This way I would have a brand new start with no messy battles over intellectual property rights. Of course, Robert took the bait of dissolving our partnership… and I was free of him.

My jaw clenched to match my fists at the thought of my once best friend now being my sworn enemy. All through school I had covered his ass. Yet for reasons only he knew, he had turned on me. They say the past was the past, but those that said that have not been screwed over by someone they trusted.

There were old scores to settle before I could close the chapter on the last four long years.

As was my wont, inevitably, after thinking about Robert’s betrayal, my thoughts would always turn to Savannah.

Savannah, the woman I once loved. Deeply.

She made me believe she would be there forever, but she deserted me when I needed her most. She did not call me. Not once. I looked for her, but she never came to court. She pretty much dropped off the face of the earth in the middle of my worst nightmare. Not once did she ask me: What happened, Max? Give me your version because I’m your woman and I’ll stand by you, no matter what.

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