Page 91 of The Bossy One

Thistaking a breakstuff wasn’t for wimps.

29

DECLAN

“Mr. Byrne. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.” The middle-aged white man in front of me was short and balding, but his smile was genuine and his handshake was enthusiastic.

“Mr. Ludvik Klima. I presume?” I asked. Ludvik was the CEO of Orel, the video streaming start-up Anil and I were considering acquiring. I appreciated the fact that he’d come down to the building lobby to meet me in person. Many CEOs would have sent an underling to meet me, to emphasize their own power. But Ludvik clearly preferred a more human touch.

It was a smart move. Orel wasn’t a big enough company to pull off “powerful.” But if they’d built a positive, functional workplace culture, one that could retain their best employees over the long run? That counted for something, at least with me.

Olivia would like him, I thought. I shoved the thought out of my head.

“Please, call me Ludvik,” he said. “We look forward to discussing the benefits of Snug acquiring our company. Although, between the two of us, there have been other offers.”

I knew that. Grayson had said as much last night over dinner. The little Czech video streaming start-up had caught the eye of important people in the tech and investing world. But I wasn’t about to let the pull of competition sway my decision.

“I look forward to meeting your team,” I said. “I have some questions about your second-quarter growth records from last year.”

“Absolutely, absolutely.” Ludvik ushered me into the elevator and up to his company offices.

Over the next few hours, I met with every important person at Orel, and some of the unimportant people too. Everyone was cheerful and kind. Parts of their coding were genuinely ingenious. But I couldn’t ignore the fact that their recordkeeping was a mess, along with some of their company protocols.

You could get away with a certain level of sloppiness as a start-up. But not at a global company like Snug. Integrating Orel into Snug would be a challenge, to put it mildly.

Normally I thrived on meetings like this. Anil specialized in charming potential partners, but I was the one who came in, asked uncomfortable questions, and poked around until we knew whether it was a sound investment.

But this time I found my mind wandering.

It didn’t help that I’d tossed and turned restlessly all night, tortured by images of Olivia on the other side of that wall, in her skimpy camisole. Sometime after midnight I’d given up and stroked my cock, desperate for some goddamn relief, however brief.

I hadn’t been this horny since I was a fucking teenager.

I returned my focus to the meeting, where Ludvik’s CFO was explaining the type of funding they’d require to expand their capabilities to the level they’d need if Snug implemented their tech on our app.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I discretely checked it under the conference room table.

Catie’s face beamed up at me from the screen. She was standing in front of an ornate old clock that took up two floors of an old stone building.

Catie wanted you to see the Astronomical Clock. Next up, we’re catching a puppet show at the National Marionette Theatre.

I grinned, imagining how much Catie and Olivia would both like that. I wished I could see their faces as they explored this beautiful city for the first time.

“Mr. Byrne? Does that answer your question?” the CFO asked.

I snapped my gaze up to find everyone staring at me. “It does, thank you,” I bluffed. “Send me those numbers so I can share them with my team, would you?”And so I can figure out what I missed while I was thinking about Olivia.

The presentation continued.

I should have put my phone ondo not disturbafter that. These people deserved my full attention. And I owed it to Snug to be at my best.

Instead, I kept my phone at hand, guiltily checking it every time Olivia sent me a photo of her and Catie touring a castle, or eating at a farmers’ market, or wandering through a park. She even sent one of Catie standing in front of what looked like a mural dedicated to John Lennon and the Beatles.

You don’t want to know what we’re spending on taxis,Olivia wrote.But we’re having a blast. Wish you were here.

An ache I couldn’t identify twisted in my chest.

I loved business meetings like this. But for the first time, I found myself wishing I was somewhere else.

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