by Shain Rose
Jett cleared his throat. “A cordial business relationship?” His hand went to my thigh under the table. The shock of it shot between my legs as he squeezed and glared at me. “I swear I’ve heard that phrase before.”
I bit my tongue, wanting to kill him, wanting this meeting to be over, wanting to gouge a hole right through the Italian leather of his outrageously extravagant Cucinelli with the heel of my stiletto. Instead, I dug my nails into my hands as I fisted them in my lap, holding my reaction in.
“Either way,” Jett looked over his shoulder, and I followed his line of sight to Gloria, the severe-looking assistant. “I think we should consider more than that. Gloria, would you hand out the new contract?”
She stood from her little corner desk, and every man in the room shifted slightly. The woman looked like an hourglass, curvy in all the right places. When she walked, she strutted, and when she passed out folders, she leaned in. I saw the way she’d handled her position at the desk up front. I knew she was handling this in just the right way too. Each move she made was calculated.
Maybe she thought she needed to woo them for Stonewood Enterprises’ sake, or maybe she just wanted a date later that day. I couldn’t be sure.
Until I saw the way Jett tracked each of her movements, the way she looked back at him and parted her lips when she saw him staring at them.
He had been—or still was—sleeping with that woman.
They didn’t do a good job of hiding it either. As I looked around the room, the men’s smirks at Gloria and Jett’s display showed how camaraderie could so easily be built.
I wanted to roll my eyes. When Gloria dropped my file in front of me instead of placing it in my hand, I glared at Jett and shoved his hand off my leg.
He winked. If I didn’t pride myself on being a professional, I would have kicked him in the shin.
Steven’s voice drew my attention away from my immature thoughts. “Mr. Stonewood—”
“Jett. We’re on a first name basis at this point, I would think.”
Steven cleared his throat and then a small laugh bubbled out of him, high and awkward. “We just might be with the number you’re offering.”
“Good. The rest of the contract stays the same.”
Steven nodded fast and blurted, “Sure. Sure.”
My eyes bulged, my stomach dropped, the oxygen whooshed out of my lungs and didn’t seem to come back in. But no one was paying attention to me.
Mark slapped Steven on the back and laughed.
John was mumbling how he couldn’t believe it. Everyone talked excitedly. One of Stonewood Enterprises’ guys began talking tactics with one of our guys.
I scrambled for the file and skimmed the pages looking for the godforsaken number. When I saw it, I gasped.
Like I said, no one was paying attention to me. Or so I thought. Then I felt his hand back on my thigh, squeezing. I snapped my gaze to his. Jett’s eyes twinkled in an arrogant way. “Welcome to Stonewood Enterprises, Victory Blakely.”
12
Jett
The number on that contract was well worth the look on Vick’s face. Her mouth dropped open and her cheeks hollowed out as she sucked in a breath. Her lips jutted forward as if they were trying to aid her in sucking in air.
The way she’d walked in today, confidence pouring off that skintight sweater dress, had riled me. I knew immediately I would acquire her company.
Stevie’s company would prosper under our name, but most companies would. We didn’t even look at companies that wouldn’t.
I’d gone beyond our normal MO when I’d set up this meeting, deciding to personally sit down with Samson and Sons.
Stevie spoke up from across the table. “We’re honored to be starting this journey with you, Jett.”
Kiss ass.
“Great. Seems the people in this room are indispensable to your company. We’ll want you all working here starting next week to get everything situated. Gloria will iron out the scheduling details with you.”
Stevie looked a little shell-shocked.
I chuckled. “I pride myself on productivity and adaptability. Should everyone here have a desk next week?”
Stevie stuttered as he looked around. “Um, well, uh, sure. Yes. Everyone here has something to offer.”
Vick cleared her throat, like she’d finally come out of her shock. “I’m sorry. You expect us to move into this building by next week? Steven, we have obligations, and our colleagues at Samson and Sons are already concerned about the acquisition. Us moving next week will only add to that concern.”
“Thankfully, Stevie—I can call you Stevie, right?” I asked as I stared across the table at the man she thought was her perfect match. When he nodded, Vick practically growled under her breath, making me smile. “Great. Stevie doesn’t have to worry about that anymore. We’ll be taking care of every employee as we always do at Stonewood Enterprises. Lucky for all of you, you’ll be in our tower next week.”
One guy from Samson and Sons hissed a celebratory yes under his breath, and I saw that most of them were genuinely excited about the move.
Vick’s posture was bone straight, her hands rested on the contract as she twirled her pen back and forth furiously. As my people addressed the details, I watched her. Her lashes didn’t lift because she wouldn’t look up from the documents. Her hands didn’t shake but there was extreme tension in each twirl of that pen. I’d ruined her perfect picture of Stevie, and I could tell she was having a hard time accepting that.
Good.
The girl needed a wake-up call. “Antonio,”—my colleague’s head snapped up—“would you show everyone around.”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll have Ms. Blakely catch up with you later. I’d like a word with her.”
Vick said, “Oh, that’s not necess—”
Stevie stood. “Great. We’ll see you both soon.”
Vick bit down on her bottom lip, and I was a little concerned she’d make it bleed.
Everyone filed out.
I let the door click shut and then listened to the clock tick to see if she’d say anything first. The woman hated silence.
“I guess we’ll be working together,” she blurted, clicking her pen like she was trying her best to release her emotion somehow.
“Are you mad?” I asked, wanting her to finally admit that reality sometimes sucked.
She sighed and looked to the ceiling. “No. I’m just—” She dropped the pen and shoved away from the table. “It’ll be good. This will be good.”
“It’s good that Stevie gave up his company after you swore he wouldn’t?”
She shut her eyes, scrunched up her face, and then snapped them open to look at me. Honey-colored eyes never looked so mean. “Anyone would have taken that offer. Steven isn’t an idiot.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“What?” She stood up fast. “How can you say that? You barely spoke to him.”
“Right. And the grand old speech he came up with wasn’t even original. He finished it off with the line you fed both me and him. ‘A cordial business relationship.’”
“You don’t know that he got that from me,” she said.
I stood up and stalked toward her. “I know damn well he got that from you.”
She glared up at me and put her hands on her hips. “Think what you want. You have no evidence.”
“As a lawyer, you should know there aren’t coincidences that big.”
I could tell she was biting her cheek, probably trying to hold back from agreeing with me. “Either way, Steven’s smart enough to know an amazing opportunity when he sees one.”
“Or he’s just like every other person in this world, Vick. Money talks. Little Stevie’s nothing more than a boy who inherited his daddy’s business a while ago and has bent to whichever way the wind blew, the water flowed, and the sun shined. I’m sure those guys have been telling him what to do with that company since the day he walked through Samson and Sons’ doors.”
>
She shook her head. “You’re wrong.”
I smirked. “He doesn’t have a backbone, doll. You and I both know it. He’ll probably make a perfect husband for you. He’ll roll over when you tell him to.”
She spun away from me, paced back, then threw up her hands before she stomped around me to grab her file. “It is official. I hate someone. I literally hate you. I thought it was impossible. I really do try to see the good in everyone, but there is not one thing good about you.”
The satisfaction I thought I would feel slipped a little. “Surely you don’t mean that.”
“Oh, I mean it.” She folded her belongings under her arm. “Walk me back to where my colleagues are. I really don’t want to be alone with you anymore.”
“Not what you said this past weekend.” I knew I should have quit. Should have left well enough alone. Yet, she’d walked in here today like we were playing chess and she’d already won. She stood tall with so much confidence in that dress. She ran her hand along its logos, as if the dress could have formed a crease.
Acting like that dress was prim and proper was a joke though. It fit her like a second skin. Every guy in the room had been looking at her if they weren’t already distracted by Gloria. She couldn’t hide the fact that she had legs for miles and curves that every guy wanted to explore. And that high neck just reminded me of all the sensitive spots she had under it.
It ignited a feeling inside me I couldn’t name. It snowballed quickly when I saw the way Stevie looked at her, like she was already his.
Did he think that? Did she want him to think that?
“You made it perfectly clear last weekend what we were,” she replied.
I tilted my head a bit at her accusation, not knowing exactly what she meant.
Her eyes narrowed and her finger poked my shoulder as she whispered, “You left my bed and my house without a goodbye. Obviously, I was a one-night stand—or whatever number we’re on—but I won’t be one again.”
I stepped back and shook my head a little in surprise. “That’s not what that was.”
“Oh, please.” She turned back toward the door, leaving me behind.
I grabbed her elbow and spun her back to me, pulling her close. “I had work, Vick.”
“You always have work.” She looked down at my lips. They were so close to her I could practically taste the strawberries.
“Yes, that’s true. I really did have time-sensitive obligations though.”
“Well, you didn’t wake me or leave your number.”
“You already have my number.”
She shook her head. “So, you wanted it to be something more than—you know what? That’s not the point.” She stepped back and jerked her elbow out from under my hand. “My point is it shouldn’t have happened. I don’t ever want it to happen again. I just don’t want to be around you. You’re …”
I folded my arms over my chest, waiting to hear her description. I wanted to hear her give in to calling me a name, wanted to break down the fluffy wall of clouds surrounding her.
“Come on, Victory, you can do it. I’m what?”
She licked her lips. “You’re not what I want. But I’m sure you are for someone else.”
“Good save. You almost gave into expressing how you really feel. We’ll have to work on that.”
“I’m not working on anything with you.”
“Oh you are, doll.” I pulled open the conference room door. “You work for me now. Starting next week, you’ll be working on everything with me.”
She scoffed.
When she tried to slide by me, I gripped her elbow again, leaning down to whisper, “I intend to start with working on your honesty. I don’t want rainbows and roses; I want the truth.”
She didn’t turn toward me. She kept her eyes on the hallway and mumbled, “My truth is rainbows and roses.”
I chuckled a little. “Would it be rainbows and roses if I took you back inside the conference room to fuck you in this dress? If you were going for conservative, you missed the target by a damn mile.”
“Get fucked, Jett.”
“I intend to.”
She yanked her arm away and stalked down the hall. “Not by me.”
“We’ll see, Pix. We’ll see.”
13
Vick
The day hadn’t gone as planned. I met up with our team and listened to starry-eyed Steven ooh and ahh over being a part of the Stonewood team. I wanted to be frustrated with him, but he had done the smart thing, the thing I would have done, what anyone would have done.
I couldn’t be sure if he’d done it for himself or the company. Either way, it benefited everyone. Stonewood Enterprises always made companies better. I just worried that some of the team wouldn’t be able to move on with the rest of us.
When we got back to the office, it was nearing the end of the workday. None of us were allowed to share the news with the others but I knew some associate lawyers caught on. They eyed me with either sadness or disdain. One colleague, Liz, met me as I was exiting the building. “You don’t have to say what I already know, but I’m probably getting laid off. So, I think you should know that Mark and John have it out for you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not news to me. They would probably poison me if given the chance.”
Her brown hair blew in the wind as we stepped onto the city sidewalk to head toward the L, Chicago’s elevated subway. “They would probably poison every one of the associate lawyers if we weren’t doing all their legwork for them.”
I nodded and wove through the usual stream of people leaving work. “They don’t want anyone encroaching on their monopoly of Steven’s ear. They practically control his brain.”
She laughed. “But you have Steve’s ear too, right?”
I sighed. “We aren’t dating.”
“Really? Everyone says you are.”
I nodded when we reached the stairs up to the train tracks. “We’re not. Just friends for now. Maybe more in the future.” I shrugged. “I’m this way.” I pointed to the stairs and she eyed them like they might be infested with bedbugs.
“You want to do an Uber with me?”
I shook my head. “I like the L.”
“Huh. Wouldn’t have ever guessed that about you.” She put her hand on her hip, and I decided she meant no harm with that comment. Once, a very long time ago, I might have thought I would end up just like her, a little privileged by my parents’ money. Everything worked in my favor in high school. I saw myself exactly where she stood, with the same mentality, the same outfit, maybe even the same job.
I turned to the stairs that held so much more life above them than people gave them credit for. I surged forward, hearing the man with the guitar who I always listened to for an extra minute. He plucked at the strings and hummed a song that consumed him. I dropped money in his case, and he nodded a thank you without breaking from his song, without opening his eyes. The world had weathered him and his voice. Yet, when he rasped the words to his song, it flowed like a soft breeze through a field, like it was comfortable, like it was home, like it belonged and was right where it was supposed to be.
This L, so full of life, so full of unfamiliar people, and hustle and bustle. This was where I breathed and felt home.
Even on my worst day, I was thankful for the moment, for the opportunity to be right where I was.
My phone buzzed as I got on the train, and when I took my seat, I read my message.
Mom: If you don’t answer, I will come to visit.
Miranda Lambert started singing immediately.
“Hi, Mom,” I answered, my voice high and bouncy.
“Oh, don’t jump right into the sarcasm, Victory.”
“I’m not. I’m happy to answer when a warning is attached.” I rolled my eyes and looked out the window to the streets we passed below. Night and darkness lurked, ready to overtake the city. By the time I reached home, only the streetlights and buildings would light my way.
“Are you on your
way home?”
“Yes.”
“What’s that noise I hear?”
“I have no idea.” She was talking about the train.
“Is that the L?”
I sighed. “Why are you calling, Mom?”
“So, you’re on the train? You have a compromised immune system and you’re using public transportation?” Her voice started rising. “Do you know how worried we are about you living in that city?”
“Mom, I can’t keep having this conversation with you.”
“She says she can’t keep having this conversation.” Her voice was muffled and I knew my father was standing over her, rubbing her back. “Well, I don’t want to have this conversation over and over either, Vick.”
I sat up a little straighter. “Then, let’s not have it. I’m fine and I had a long day at work.”
“Work.” I heard my mother physically relax, she sighed into the phone like she was deflating and sitting down. “How is work, honey? I am so happy you are working with Steven.”
She would be. Steven was safe. He followed the rules, he gave the right impression to parents, without fail he acted like a gentleman.
I knew because my family and his had always been close. Before Steven’s father passed away and left him the company, our parents used to double date. Now, my mother stayed in very close contact with his.
“Yes, Steven is a great boss and friend.”
“Isn’t he? And Darcy called me today to tell me they sold to Stonewood Enterprises,” my mother squealed. The Stonewoods were like America’s royal family. “I can’t believe you know them, that Brey married Jax. Who did Samson and Sons have the meeting with? Was it Jax or Jett, the oldest?”
My mother loved celebrity gossip. She loved talking about almost anything, really. The woman could talk for hours about nothing and everything. I liked to think I inherited her uncanny ability to make anyone feel comfortable.
She could almost fool me into having a normal conversation with her. “Yes, but I didn’t say much. I think he’s always amicable because he knows I’m Brey’s friend.”