by North, Paige
Taking his company from under his nose was the least I could do to punish that fucker for what he did. Still, why did he have to be Adley’s father? I’d never had a love like that in my life and never would again thanks to him.
Sighing, I finished my drink and cashews and stood to stretch.
It’d been a long day taking over Carlyle Development, seeing Adley’s tear-stained face, and tomorrow there was much to do. I headed inside the penthouse straight to my office where I opened my laptop and began an email to my new staff. Some I’d let go, some I’d kept, and some I brought over from my offices in the City, setting them up with apartments and transportation in the Hamptons. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be in town, long enough to get this shit show cleaned up.
Once the memo was sent, I opened up another email and wrote this one to just Adley.
Part of me wanted to start with an apology.
But what would I be apologizing for? For wanting to be a good, honest person who came clean about what I knew? For taking over her father’s company, which might have seemed ruthless to her but was no different from what I did to other companies every day? Her father had taught me well, and now I was the best in the business. I couldn’t apologize for knowing my shit.
I could’ve torn their company apart, but I planned to keep its integrity.
She might’ve thought I was a monster, but I was being nicer than I’d normally be for her.
I decided it was best to keep things professional, not even discuss personal matters, if we could avoid it.
First, I let her know that I’d already bought a large parcel of land for a multi-million-dollar development deal. That was on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. Second, I let her know I’d be having an event tomorrow evening at The Catch, the seafood restaurant at the end of the pier, the one where her father entertained customers all the time. The event would be for potential buyers to gather, so I could take a look at them.
I wanted her to be there. I wanted her to know the details involved.
Attaching links for her information, I showed her the land I’d purchased, included blueprints, and full plans for development that my City team had already put together for me. I knew she would be pissed off as hell to find that I’d done all this without consulting them. She would surely accuse me of being a predatory animal who’d been planning this takeover for quite some time, and she wouldn’t be wrong.
But that’s the way it went in big business and she may as well get used to it.
P.S., I added at the end, dress to kill. I’ll expect you to know the details enough to carry on full conversations with all the clients, and I’ll expect you to make at least one sale before the night is over.
In other words, she better look like a million bucks.
But that part wasn’t for the clients.
It was for me.
4
Adley
I’d heard of people waking up in the morning feeling like life as they knew it would be ending that day. I hadn’t known it this morning. Had no freaking clue, actually. But maybe walking by the ice cream parlor and having all those memories had been my wake-up call that Dex Banner was back in town.
Back to wreak havoc, from the looks of it.
My father wouldn’t answer his calls the rest of the day. My mother told me to give him time. That was probably for the best, because I had a thousand and one questions for him, and I knew we wouldn’t be able to talk about them without me getting upset.
To make it worse, I got an email from my new boss after dinner. He couldn’t leave me alone even during down-time, could he? Couldn’t give us a day or two to recover. Nah. Let’s get right on the wagon and start the bullshit, why don’t we? I ignored it for a while, because I wasn’t ready yet.
Maybe I didn’t have to do this.
Maybe I could find a job in another industry, so I wouldn’t be in violation of the non-compete clause. But what else did I know how to do? Carlyle Development was my life. I’d gone to college and graduated in business just so I could help run my father’s company. My father’s, not Dex’s.
Fuck.
Punching the heavy bag in the basement after dinner, doing my best roundhouse kicks, I imagined Dex’s face as the target of my uppercuts. Even Kitty Purry got into the fun, jumping on the bag’s base and pretending to ambush Dex’s imaginary feet. Getting evenly sweaty all over, it was the best workout I’d had in a while. When I’d released all the stress I was going to release for the evening, I showered and settled down at my desk with a glass of merlot to read this stupid email.
There was some business event tomorrow evening that he wanted me to attend. I could take tomorrow during the day to rest before new policies fell into place, he said, but he expected me to spend the day reviewing the attached files and getting acquainted with the information.
I couldn’t believe I was getting emails from Dex as CEO of my father’s company. No matter how long I lived, that would never stop being surreal.
I got up, walked over to my punching bag, and gave it one more shot. Then, I came back and let out a huge breath. I could do this. There was nothing this life couldn’t throw at me that I couldn’t handle. I’d gotten through the summer of my graduation year, I could get through this.
Opening the files, I began to read.
Little by little, my heart dropped.
This motherfucker had already used our remaining cash to put us into jeopardy with a very large, very unnecessary investment. On top of that, I knew this piece of land, this property he was wishfully thinking he could sell to potential buyers. It had significant problems over the last few years and would be super difficult to turn a profit on.
My blood boiled.
Why would Dex do this? Deliberately put us in such a bad position so soon after taking over the company? Was this some sort of plot to run us into the ground? Why bother with the investment then? Just cut our losses and start from scratch. I felt like I was living in some sort of alternate reality where good was bad and bad was worse, and my very first boyfriend came back to haunt me and ruin my life after everything we’d given him.
Oh, wait, that was truth—my bad.
The worst part of all this was something I hated to even think about. Hated it so much, it worried me, made me feel like I should seek psychological help for it. In spite of everything Dex Banner had done since he arrived this morning, the worst part…was that I still wanted him.
I dropped my forehead onto my desk and groaned.
Yes, I still thought about him every night, and every corner of this town reminded me of him and our summer together. Even now, as he ordered me to read all the files and—what was this? P.S. Dress to kill???—I still couldn’t stop imagining how he’d look at the event, what he would wear, whether or not I’d get those heart-stopping, gut-wrenching butterflies from hell I always got whenever I saw him.
This morning, he’d nearly killed me in his Armani suit. I couldn’t stop the knot in my stomach from forming just by looking at him. Even through my rage! That was some messed-up brain stuff right there. My body had always been terrible at hiding my attraction to him, and now it was even worse.
My friends had already heard about the takeover (good news travels fast), and were texting me about it, telling me who would be at the event tomorrow night. From the looks of it, lots of high profile folks including celebrities. I had to make an incredible impression. I couldn’t stop thinking about how Dex would look, what he would say to me, what kind of relationship dynamic we would now have because of all this.
God, it was all too much and my head felt like it would explode.
I downed the entire glass of wine. How would I handle this?
Right now, there wasn’t much I could do. Just print out the files, sit in bed reviewing them, then get to work on them tomorrow. Find something to wear in my closet for the event. Dress to kill. Yes, Dex, and guess what? The man hadn’t seen me dressed up in five years. I wasn’t eighteen anymore.
I
decided on the sexy coral chiffon dress with the cross-front. I didn’t have much in the way of boobs, but that gave me a sleek edge other women didn’t have, and I would use my cat-like frame to my benefit, not his. Trying it on and twirling in front of the mirror with a second glass of wine, I posed and pretended like every man present at the party wanted me.
So much, he would be sorry he ever asked me to go.
* * *
By morning, the whole world knew Dex Banner now owned Carlyle Development Corporation. News had broken, blowing up my phone and email, but I couldn’t focus on any of it. I had an impression to make tonight. Both in the aesthetics department but also for business sake, and I spent the day memorizing everything there was to know about the land purchase we were selling.
The event took place at The Catch, a restaurant my father always used to entertain his highest profile clients. I’d always associated parties there with my father and his empire, so it felt odd, out of place, to be there with Dex in charge. The valet took my car, and I stood there, clutch in hand, nervous as hell.
My hands were shaking, my heartbeat pounded against my ribcage, but I took several deep yoga breaths to infuse my veins with extra oxygen and get that heart rate down. I could do this. He would not take me down, no matter how many people gave me sorry looks for what had happened. This only made me stronger and he would be sorry he ever fucked with the Carlyle Family.
Above all, I had one job—to make my father proud. To continue his legacy.
I sucked in another deep breath and slipped on a sexy smile.
The restaurant doormen held open the doors and offered to escort me to the event, but I didn’t need them. Didn’t need any man to accompany this frail flower into the room. No, it would look more powerful to walk in alone. That way, all eyes would be on me. Already, the place had filled with familiar clients, business men and women I’d heard of before but never met in person, and the occasional musician, actor, or artist.
How had everyone been able to attend on such short notice? Or had Dex been planning this for some time? I wouldn’t put it past him.
“Good evening, Miss Carlyle, so nice to see you,” Joe said, taking my hand, kissing the top of it. I smiled but didn’t indulge him in conversation. For all the times Joe had told my father he would forever be his right-hand man, he sure did hand over the company quickly. I couldn’t trust him—couldn’t trust anyone.
My eyes scanned the restaurant’s outdoor patio, ablaze with bistro bulbs, live music, and the scent of the salty ocean air. I’d always loved taking part in these social events. Yes, they could be snobby but there was something so East Hampton about that, it was part of my culture, part of my life.
“Good evening.”
“Good evening.”
So many people greeted me with smiles, I was beginning to relax. Maybe they weren’t judging my father’s business decisions at all. Maybe everything would be fine, and this takeover signaled a new era for us, one inevitably destined to help take us into a more modern arrangement. I talked to many folks, worked the room, but not once did I see Dex. I was beginning to wonder if I’d been sent here alone to do his work, but then he appeared.
Before I even saw him, I knew he’d come into the room.
I knew because of the gasps from ladies, the whispers, the stares all in the same direction. He used to command that kind of attention even in high school, so why should now be any different? I turned in the direction of the gasps and saw him coming down the stairs in a tuxedo perfectly-tuned to his body. Jesus Christ.
How could one man look so fine?
While part of me reveled just knowing I had once been intimate with NYC’s most eligible bachelor long ago, another part of me deflated, because…so had everyone else. Dex was known for his endless string of non-committed conquests. The event’s private photographer snapped away, taking photos of him with Joe, Benjamin, Gabe, Sophia, and pretty much everyone on our board. When he was done there, he took photos with potential clients, New York City’s hottest socialites, and half the cast of Saturday Night Live.
I felt irrelevant.
Nobody was looking at me even though I looked fine and fabulous. Though I’d always fraternized with some of East Hampton’s biggest names, competition had just turned up five thousand notches and nobody cared who I was. I may as well have blended into the backdrop or disappeared into the sea.
But then…
Dex Banner’s dark, scanning gaze landed on, who else? Not the chicky gazelle in red with the Myrna Loy hairdo or the Scarlett Johansen lookalike jumping in his way to shamelessly flaunt her Brazilian butt lift. Not one of the city’s richest men who owned half of Park East, nor the senator paying more attention to his daughter’s male date than his wife, but the wall decoration pushed up against the sconces, nursing her wine. The most talked about loser in town since yesterday.
Me.
Suddenly, I felt like the chatter of the room, the lights and music, all melted away leaving the two of us standing in a blinding white void. His eyes, dark and predatory, studied me, my body, even my aura, as though I’d dressed just for him. Between Dex and me was a tunnel, a wormhole connecting us, painfully reminding me that we had a past—a really good past that ended in the most unexpected and terrible of ways.
He moved through the room, grinning politely and tapping people on the shoulder by way of greeting, but his gaze always returned to where I stood. I couldn’t stand being alone and started talking to the first person I saw, introducing myself, and finding out who they were and what relation they had to Carlyle Development.
“I heard what happened to your father. He’s not here, is he?” the older man asked, a bemused look on his face.
“No, I don’t think so.” I moved away to find someone else to chat with. Clearly, people would want to know about my dad, but I wasn’t here to discuss him or anything about yesterday. He’d already endured enough humiliation.
Dex watched me carefully, never coming closer to say hello.
He did, however, stop to talk to a few gorgeous women, which irritated me more than I cared to admit. I wasn’t doing enough. And I wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d found his way over to me. Standing with another SNL cast member was her agent, Bentley Fox, a man I’d met on a few occasions, a guy I knew loved to talk and shower me with attention. He’d asked me out last year during a cocktail party on the beach, but I’d turned him down.
He hadn’t been my type, but then again, nobody had been my type since Dex.
Still, he would do.
“Adley!” Bentley kissed my cheek and rested his hand on my shoulder. “How have you been? I heard about what happened.”
“Yeah, can we not talk about that?” I said, angling my body so I would appear my thinnest and most goddess-bodied from where Dex stood. I wasn’t sure why it was so important for me to garner his attention right now—that would be a discussion for a therapist sometime in the near future—except it did.
It was über, ultra important.
I smiled at Bentley and pretended like he was the most fascinating person in the room. “So, how are you? I heard they’re casting for a new TV show set here on Long Island?”
“Yeah, yeah, but shh…” He pressed his finger to his lips. “You’re not supposed to know about that, but I’ll go ahead and tell you because you’re easily the sexiest woman in East Hampton.”
“Oh, stop.” I bent over laughing like he was so incredibly charming, like I loved the praise when in reality it made me uncomfortable, but anything for the sake of getting noticed. One glance at Dex, and I caught him talking to a few more gold diggers, socialites named after European cities who’d never worked a day in their lives. “You are so funny, you know that?”
“Oh, well…” Bentley straightened up, puffing out his chest. For an older man in his forties, he wasn’t terrible looking but he wasn’t a silver fox either. I knew my comment had inflated his ego. His hand landed on my shoulder again.
I didn’t particularly li
ke having his hand on me, but it did the trick.
Across the room, Dex’s eyes darkened even more. He glowered at Bentley like he wanted to rip him in half. I laughed at every one of the man’s inane, boring jokes and made him feel like he was King of The Catch. In fact, this party was about Him only. And we were here to put him on a pedestal and swoon and fawn over him. Bentley Fox was the man of the hour.
Dex Banner, who?
I played my cards right, and soon Bentley cornered me, pushed me into an areca plant and after his second drink, began telling me how fucking amazing I looked in my dress. “Especially this part…right here…” He reached out with his pinky to brush the exposed space between my breasts, where most women had cleavage but I only showed tanned, soft skin.
A half a second later, Dex swooped in, gripping my wrist.
5
Dex
“Ah, there you are, my lovely Head of Sales.”
The smile on my face belied the eruption taking place inside my head the moment I saw Fox touching Adley. I could’ve killed him, but then I would’ve been no better than old Carlyle.
“Mr. Banner! So nice to see you.”
“Excuse me for the intrusion, Mr. Fox.” I pulled Adley away from the sexual harasser lucky not to be dead right now. “But I need to speak with Miss Carlyle in private.”
Fox and several others stared at me in awe, as I led Adley down a short service hall into the first room I could find, like dragging a toddler behind me, and locked the door. Around us were shelves containing tablecloths, seat cushions, and other dining room odds and ends.
Adley ripped her wrist out of my grasp. “What is the problem? Like people are not going to wonder what you’re up to?”