by Leslie North
“Dmitry’s not here.” Alexey watched her eyes widen and then her smile faded.
“Why did they send me up here then? I was told that I would be given an interview with the head of the company.” She sounded disappointed and a little put out.
“What if I told you that I was the acting head of the company?” Alexey queried.
He watched her eyes widen and then her smile made another appearance as she cocked her head to the side and gave him another appraisal. “You’re either Alexey or Misha.” She chewed on her bottom lip as she decided, “You have to be Alexey. All of the pictures I found of Misha on the internet showed him wearing military garb.”
Alexey laughed, “You’ve done your homework. And, yes, I am Alexey Fedosov. At your service.” He performed a slight bow and then smiled at her, “Come. My office is this way.”
“…said the spider to the fly,” she murmured beneath her breath. Desiree was trying not to let the gorgeous man she was following intimidate her with his good looks, and obvious charm. She wasn’t sure she was succeeding.
Alexey Fedosov was the playboy of the trio; making headlines in all of the tabloids on a regular basis for his antics and partying ways. He had black hair and eyes that were the grey in color and reminded her of thunderclouds.
His shoulders were broad and his legs long, magnifying his already staggering height of 6’5″. She followed behind him, the hint of a tattoo just visible beneath the collar of his shirt. I wonder what kind of tattoo a man like that gets?
She let her eyes traverse the back of him, and found it just as alluring as his front. The man was a walking sex advertisement and she so wanted to partake!
Since stepping off the elevator and looking at the finest example of maleness she had seen in a long time, her heart was racing, her breathing was erratic, and she could feel herself flushing with the beginnings of arousal like she had never known.
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“HR, Janet speaking. How may I he-”
“Janet? Trent. I need you to send up a replacement for Pam. Her daughter was injured in an accident, and she just left to go take care of the children and such. I’ve no idea how long she will be gone, so send me someone that you weren’t planning on firing at the end of the week.” Trent said matter-of-factly. He didn’t really care if she fired twenty people each week; if they couldn’t do the job they could find somewhere else to work.
Janet Marshall worked as the head of HR for Coldwell Enterprises. She was not only a friend, she was the toughest woman Trent had working for him. She was also his second cousin and married to his best friend from college. While Janet didn’t have to work another day in her life, she enjoyed managing people and understood Trent in a way others didn’t. He was as alpha as they came, she’d never met a more dominating, arrogant man until Trent had come along.
“Oh dear! Which one of Pam’s daughters was hurt?” Janet asked with obvious concern in her voice. Pam had worked for the company for as long as she could remember, first as Trent’s father’s personal assistant, and now for Trent. She was one of the nicest women Janet had ever worked with and she only hoped that her daughter wasn’t too badly hurt.
“Susan,” Trent replied, thinly hiding his impatience.
The timing couldn’t be worse as Trent was in the process of acquiring a large production company in Europe and the contracts that had been drawn up by his European office were in chaos. He had been in the process of finalizing his corrections when Pam had announced that she must leave immediately. He needed these contracts fixed today!
“Oh, no. And she just delivered twins a few months back. That poor woman,” Janet commiserated over the phone. “Don’t worry about it; I have just the girl in mind. She’s only been working here for about six months, but her reviews are excellent.”
Janet was thinking of the young woman she had hired a little over six months back. Janet had interviewed her and been surprised at how mature she seemed for someone only twenty-four years old. Smiling to herself, she tried to envision how Trent would react to the young woman who wore her hair like a fifty year old, clothing that didn’t fit her body, or compliment her natural coloring, and honestly had no idea of just how attractive she could be. On top of all that, she was the most capable woman Janet had hired in months.
“Whatever - just send her up after lunch. I’m right in the middle of negotiations for that buyout in Germany, and Pam didn’t have time to make the corrections on the contract yet. I need them by 3 o’clock - if not sooner.”
“Not to worry. I’ll go tell her now and then send her to lunch. I assume that I can offer her the same benefits and salary that Pam was drawing?”
“Of course.” Trent started to hang up the phone when he heard Janet call him back. Sighing, he put the phone back to his ear and answered, “What?” Damn it, he had work to do. He didn’t have time to chitchat with Janet; that’s what her husband was for. He’d mention just that fact to Shawn next time he saw him.
Janet took a breath and thought about keeping this information to herself, but then she decided that Trent would want to know. “Shawn and I went to that symphony fundraiser last night.”
Trent waited for her to continue, and when she didn’t, he impatiently replied, “And? I assume it was a smashing success and all that.”
“It was, but that wasn’t my point.”
“Well, get to it. I have work to do and so do you.”
“I saw Marco Bresi there.” Janet said in a rush, holding her breath for the explosion she assumed was coming. When nothing happened, she paused, letting Trent digest what she had just told him. Marco Bresi was a very wealthy, and very influential businessman in Europe. He and Trent had a past marked with tragedy and Marco had stayed in Europe for the last three years because of it. Janet had been shocked to see him back in the States, especially in Denver.
Trent was silent as he let Janet’s words sink in. Serena’s father was back in the states. Trent immediately tamped down on the emotion that threatened to sideline his focus. He hadn’t thought of Serena for several months now, and wanted to keep it that way.
Serena Bresi had taken the fashion world by storm at the age of sixteen. Three years after that, she had met Trent at a fundraiser in New York City and they had fallen madly in love. At least, Trent thought she had been in love with him as much as he had been with her.
Their love affair had been the subject of all the social magazines and the paparazzi had hounded them mercilessly. When Trent had taken over Coldwell Enterprises from his father, he had immediately used his many contacts in Europe to expand the company overseas.
Everything had been going smoothly, or so he thought. Serena had signed a contract with a large fashion house in Milan and had temporarily moved to Italy. Trent had missed her, but had so many things on his plate in the states, that the time had just seemed to slip away.
Four months later, he had flown to Milan to surprise Serena for the weekend. He had gone straight to her flat, flowers in hand, surprised to find her home in the middle of the afternoon. The surprise had been on him, however, as she had answered the door with the arms of her current lover wrapped intimately around her.
Trent had been so furious, he had immediately left and returned to the airport. His private jet had been airborne several hours later. Serena had called him repeatedly, but he had ignored her calls. Trent valued honesty and loyalty above all else, and her betrayal had hurt him deeply. He had let it be known to the media, that they had decided to break things off, but were still friends. He’d had no wish to tarnish her reputation in the publics’ eyes.
When she had called him three weeks later during the middle of the night, he had reached for the phone, unaware that she was on the other end of the line. Having been caught off-guard, he had listened as she tearfully apologized and begged for his h
elp. It seemed that she had just found out she was pregnant and expected Trent to come to her rescue. Trent knew there was no possible way the baby was his since he hadn’t touched Serena for over five months.
Trent had been repulsed and hung up the phone without replying. Two days later, he received news that Serena had driven her car off a bridge. Her suicide note made it seem that Trent had refused to do the right thing and marry her, and that she couldn’t bear to shame her family by having a child out of wedlock.
Marco Bresi, Serena’s heartbroken father, had managed to keep the suicide note out of the media, but had vowed to get revenge for Serena’s death. He blamed Trent for causing her death. Trent had thought of telling Marco the truth, but didn’t think that her grief-stricken father was in any position to listen at the time so had kept silent.
True to his word, Marco had started to go after Trent, keeping their feud to the business world, thus far, but Trent knew that it was only a matter of time before Marco started trying to attack him in his personal life as well. Now that Marco had personally come to Denver, it seemed that time had arrived.
“Did you speak with him?” Trent asked.
“He didn’t give us a choice. He made a point of cornering us during the intermission. Trent, there was such hatred in his eyes when he asked about you. I know you and Serena broke up before her death…”
“Janet, let it go. I told you then, and I’ll tell you the same thing now. What happened between Serena and myself was between us. I will not discuss it and as she’s dead, there really is no point. Marco believes some things that are not true. I’ve tried to correct his thinking, but he doesn’t want to hear it. That is on him.” Trent took a breath and then continued, “Now, we both have work to do. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss with me?”
Janet wondered if she should just let it go like Trent had commanded, but then pushed forward anyway, “Trent, he asked me to deliver a message to you.”
Trent clenched his jaw and then looked to the ceiling before asking Janet to continue. Whatever the message was, he assumed it was more threat than anything and part of him felt bad that Janet and her husband had been put in the middle of his and Marco’s feud.
“Tell me.”
“He warned me that you were going to get what you deserve and that I should tell you to watch your back very carefully. He also mentioned a company called Global Tech. Does that mean anything to you?”
Trent cursed softly and quickly pulled his keyboard towards him and pulled up the information on the company they were currently buying out. When he scrolled down through the list of shareholders, he cursed again. How could he have missed something like that? Marco Bresi’s company owned thirty-two percent of the stock. No wonder he was in the states. He must have gotten wind that Coldwell Enterprises was in the process of negotiating a hostile takeover and was already talking with bidders, for when the company was split apart. The current shareholders stood to lose a lot of money when that happened.
Trent had dealt with Marco trying to derail other business negotiations, and Trent had made it a point to stay away from any company attached to the Bresi family name. He had no wish to harm Marco or his family, and didn’t have time for complications with this current negotiation.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he held his breath and then let it go in a rush, “Janet, don’t worry about it. I’ll handle the problem. Get me that assistant.” Trent hung up the phone and then went back to reading the contract in front of him, making marks with a red pen as he went. He would deal with Marco later. Right now, he needed to finish these contract papers.
Janet shook her head as she said “Goodbye” to a dead line. Trent exasperated her with his ability to be rude without trying. One of these days she hoped he learned to curb his impatience, just a little bit. Shaking her head, she placed the call that would bring Trent’s stand-in assistant to her office and hoped that whatever Marco Bresi was planning would fail before it got off the ground.
*****
Trent Coldwell was the CEO of Coldwell Enterprises. If someone were to ask what the company did, the answers would vary. Coldwell Enterprises had many interests, but mainly purchased failing companies and then either sold them off in pieces, or turned them around and made them leaders in their market. They did their job very well.
At the age of thirty-one, Trent Coldwell was one of Denver’s most eligible bachelors, never lacking for female companionship, but never being seen with the same women for more than a few weeks. The fact that he was richer than Croesus didn’t hurt his eligibility either.
Trent Coldwell had inherited the company from his father upon his retirement, and had immediately implemented changes. He had successfully taken it from a small regional firm, and created an international mega-company with interests worldwide.
Not known for his patience, he briefly thought of calling Janet back and making sure that she was sending him someone who knew how to work and wouldn’t burst into tears at the first sign of criticism. He was a perfectionist and expected the same from his employees. He often spoke his mind and had been told by more than one employee that he should take lessons in how to communicate effectively. Trent scoffed at the idea. He communicated fine. He told people what to do and they did it. End of story. He saw no reason to explain his requests as he was the boss and as they worked for him, it shouldn’t matter why he wanted something done. His employees were paid to take care of the job to the best of their ability. Deciding that he would just send the girl away if she were unsuitable, he went back to reading his contract.
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“She's adorable,” Fiddah said to Tariq as Sara walked away. He was watching her walk with his usual blank face. He turned to look at Fiddah.
“Amir keeps saying that. I do not see it,” Tariq said and picked up his menu. Fiddah laughed.
“This is you we are talking about.”
He lowered his menu and narrowed his gaze at her. “I am not the problem here,” he defended himself. The waitress reappeared to take their orders. She was watching him and blushing whilst he was speaking to her. Fiddah watched the waitress turn red.
“When do you plan to marry?” Fiddah asked Tariq as soon as the waitress left. Tariq frowned at his grandmother.
“What brought this on?” He was confused with her sudden change of topic even though it was not the first time she had questioned him about marriage.
“The waitress was blushing when she was speaking with you but you did not even notice. Makes me wonder if you notice women.”
Tariq sighed before he replied. He was so used to women blushing in his presence that it did not even faze him anymore. The waitress came back carrying their drinks. Tariq sunk in his chair and watched her. She noticed him looking at her and she immediately started smiling. He raised one eyebrow. He waited for her to leave before he commented.
“Marriage is not for me and even if it was, she would not be my type,” he said and took a sip from his glass. Fiddah shook her head. For years, she had been trying to convince him to marry but failed.
“So what, you will bury yourself in the company until your death bed?”
“I like my job.”
“Too much! You need a life outside your job. You need a family.”
“I have one.”
“Of your own! I want great grandchildren. Do not deny me that!”
Tariq was never going to win this argument. Fiddah was tenacious. This was not their first time discussing his love life and it was certainly not going to be their last.
“How about you pick a wife for me?” Tariq said and grinned at her.
“Does that even make sense? Is it so hard to court a woman?” Tariq laughed gently.
Sara heard Tariq laugh. So it's capable of laughing, she said to herself. She turned her attention back to her food. It surprised
her to hear him laugh. She had never heard it and never thought she would. He was so uptight and mean.
“Can you see me courting a woman?” Tariq asked Fiddah.
“There is no hope for you,” she replied. He grinned at her. “Don't you want love?” she asked.
“No.”
“What?”
“It doesn't exist.” Tariq was determined to stick to his beliefs. In his eyes, love did not exist. It was simply heightened infatuation. As he took a sip from his glass, he noticed Sara attempt to eat an olive but it fell back on the plate. No table manners even? She could not walk like a normal person. She talked too much. She had poor dress sense. And now this! What other weird trait was she going to exhibit? He watched her eat. He could tell that she was really enjoying her food. She sat up and licked her lips, then took a sip of her drink. When she was not eating, she was talking. It's as if she never stops. Tariq shook his head and looked away from her.
Sara was finally done with her delicious lunch. Food made her happy. As they were leaving, she made sure not to make eye contact with Tariq. It was not the case for Keira and Kaleena. They both stared at Tariq as they walked past. Tariq chewed slowly and watched them, watching him.
“Please stop staring at him,” Sara said feeling awkward.
“He's so handsome,” Keira said.
* * *
There was a lot of work that needed to be done to get the new field up and running. Sara's workload tripled faster than she anticipated. Amir told her that they had to pull some long nights. Sara walked into his office to brief him on a report she had been working on. To her surprise, Tariq and Amir were both sitting on the sofa discussing the appropriate barrels to use. They both looked up when she walked in. It was the first time she had seen him since that Saturday at the mall. She bowed to them. Only Amir responded.