by Sienna Grant
AnagraM
a A r m n g a
BY
Sienna Grant
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by Sienna Grant
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
For permission requests, write to the author, addressed
“Request: Copyright Approval” at [email protected]
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
The authors are in no way affiliated with any brands, songs or musicians or artists mentioned in this book.
Editor - Gillian Leonard
Proof-reader - Scarlet Le Clair
Cover - Sarah Paige @Opium House Designs
Formatter: Maria Lazarou ~ Obsessed by Books Designs
Acknowledgements
Hey all.
So I bet you’re thinking how this book came about… well I’m going to tell you all. So one day while venting to a friend we came up, or should I say she came up with an idea for a story. It would be a romantic suspense and as we went it got more messed up along the way. By the time we’d finished it would be a suspense with single white female themes. Now I love a challenge yes, but this challenge I thought would be a hurdle I wouldn’t be able to get over.
There were a few tears, a few angry messages to friends and fellow authors but it got there in the end.
So right now, I want to say the BIGGEST thank you to the amazing and lovely Cora. She dragged me out of my funk - she shouted at me when I didn’t think I could finish and gave me a good kick up the arse when it was needed. Thank you my friend for just being you!
I want to thank my betas, Joy, Nikki, Lesley, Natasha, Ronda, Tracy, Sarah and Sheryl. You guys are always there for me and I couldn’t publish without you.
My ARC team; you’re always ready to drop everything to read so a massive thank you!
The wifey who is always there for me to vent and where would I be if I couldn’t. Love ya! And also Karina for pushing me you were a constant pain in the ass but a good one. Xx
Also Stacey McWilliams and Lizzie James we’ve become so close recently and I thank you both for your friendship. Also our sprint team thank you so much for being there all the time.
Gillian Leonard - Wow. When I wrote this I knew being American based I’d need a US editor and you smashed it! There was a few tears from me but you worked so hard to get this right. You’re amazing and made this story so much better.
Maria Lazarou - As always your formatting skills blow me away. You know you’re the only one for me. Thank you lovely! You’re an amazing friend and love you lots.
Finally, my group and the lovely Carmel Breffit. Since going back to work you’ve run my group for me and you’ve pushed me every step of the way, I hope I can repay the favour to you. You’re a little star, thank you so much.
Finally, last but not least. My readers. If it wasn’t for you guys there wouldn't be books so yeah I adore you all.
Well I’ll see you again very soon xxx
Blurb
ANAGRAM
A word…
A hidden meaning…
A simple game…
It’s a man’s world, so as the first female CEO of the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world, I have to bring it to its knees every day. I live for my job because I’ve worked damn hard for it.
I’ve been called everything from a ballbuster to a man-eater, but I wear the titles with pride. It means I’m feared and respected.
I have everything a powerful woman could want: the perfect job, the perfect Manhattan address, and the perfect man who’s as dominant in the boardroom as he is in the bedroom.
Until someone decides everything, I have should belong to her.
Even when you’re on top of the world, you still have to watch your back. I didn’t, and in the blink of an eye found myself at rock bottom.
I lost everything from the man I loved, right down to my dignity.
Now my life has become a puzzle—an anagram that needs to be unraveled.
I always thought I was irreplaceable.
I was wrong.
Prologue
What do you do to the woman who ruins your life?
Do you sit back and let it spiral out of control or do you plot out your revenge?
For me revenge was the focus of my life. It has been for a while now. It is her fault I am like this; her fault that I did not get what I wanted out of life. Now it is my time to take back what I lost.
The quiet click of the camera sounds a lot louder in the stillness. It gives me a sense of meaning in my shitty life.
Click after click I take one after another.
I am getting quite the collection now, if only I could show them off. But time will tell its story and I will be there to narrate it, step by step.
Waiting for the polaroid snaps to dry out and then develop is a lengthy process. I sip on my coffee while I wait and think of all the things that I could inflict on her. Putting down my cup I take my notebook and pen and begin to bullet point all my tactics, although I don’t know exactly until I get there how it’s going to go, I’m not too sure how to plan it. Maybe I will let fate take its course instead.
As the picture takes form, a satisfied grin settles on my lips and one by one I place them on the board on the wall. Her and him. One by one I will take them down and anyone else who gets in my way.
Picking the news journal up, I circle the job that is going to change the course of my destiny with red ink. Reagan Quinn is about to meet karma in the worst form. I take one last look at my artwork on the wall to appease my mind’s eye and pull the door closed behind me, pushing the single key into the lock and turn it.
Once in the bedroom I hide the key in my dresser and slip on my shoes. I brush down my white shirt before pulling on a sweater.
With one last look in the mirror I am ready…
Time to play the game.
One
Reagan
As I look around my office, I know this is where I belong. Having a big corner office has always been my dream and I have finally achieved it. I stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, fold my arms across my chest, and look out. On a sunny day it brings in so much light, you feel like you’re bringing the outside, inside.
I’m the CEO for Hicks Life Solutions, and that makes me even more proud of myself. Not only am I the youngest in the company’s history at twenty-nine, I’m also the first female. The way I see it, a company that has been around for more than thirty years is damn good, especially being in the pharmaceutical business that we’re in. I didn’t get here without hard work. I’m determined and I always have been; even if it meant I’ve had to forego relationships. Of course, I’ve never been the kind of girl to hang on the word of some guy, to let him whisper sweet nothings in my ear and talk shit. I don’t giggle at stupid jokes and I don’t get all starry eyed at a compliment. If I was going to have a man, I’d need one who could handle me, a man who isn’t scared to take charge. There aren’t many of those around though. At least not that I’ve come across. Not until Everett Brooks came around in his sinful suits and showed me what I’ve been missing.
I promised myself I wouldn’t let him sway me, even if he did smell good and have a body carved f
or sex; there’s no way I was going to fall to my knees and worship him.
If only I could’ve kept that vow.
The red light on my desk phone flashes over and over again, halting all thoughts of Everett. That tell-tale light tells me that yet again my assistant isn’t doing her job. I slam my hands on the desk and push myself up from my chair to look through the glass that separates mine and my assistant’s office. She isn’t anywhere to be found.
A low growl scrapes the back of my throat; this was becoming a daily occurrence. The ringing wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, and I know she isn’t going to rush back for it, so, schooling my expression, I push back my anger and take a deep breath in through my nose before I slowly blow it out. Once I’m feeling a little calmer, I paint a smile onto my face and hold the receiver up to my ear.
“Hicks Life Solutions, how may I help you today?” My phone voice is sickly sweet, one I have spent years perfecting until I became CEO.
A CEO that answers her own damn phone.
“Reagan?” I recognized the husky voice on the other end of the line right away and sit down. It was none other than the director himself. Fuck! The director was going to love hearing his chief executive answering her own damn phone.
“Mr. Hicks,” I say cheerily. “Yes, it’s me.”
“No assistant today?”
“She’s currently away from her desk. Running an errand,” I lie as I glance back to her desk, but still she’s not there.
“She seems to spend a lot of time away from her desk. Can you not find her a job to do at her desk?”
“Of course.” It feels like the blood is pumping erratically through my veins as I drum my fingertips on the desk in front of me.
“Reagan, you really should get this assistant business figured out. I need you on top of your game, not playing secretary.”
“I understand, Mr. Hicks, and I’m dealing with it, of that I can assure you.”
“Good. Well, when you’ve sorted your little staffing problem out, call me back.”
“Yes, sir.”
The dial tone filtering through the receiver is not a good sign. My boss had cut me off. Fucking great. That’s all I need. First, I had an assistant that couldn’t stay in her fucking seat long enough to do the job I’m paying her to do, then I have to make excuses to the director of the fucking company, who hangs up on me. Well, I wasn’t made chief executive of the company because I’m as sweet as sugar. No, I was made CEO of Hicks Life Solutions because I’m a hard worker and I get results. I’ve been known to be ruthless and I don’t take shit from anyone. Terry Hicks knew that I could grab a deal by the balls, and I had shown already that the male competitors didn’t faze me.
Having a useless assistant wouldn’t either.
I’d never had a huge circle of people around me. I’d never been the kind to be in a massive crowd, even in school. Ruby Spencer is my best friend. We went to college together. She was this sassy and vibrant vixen, all red hair and fair skin, who doesn’t give a shit who she mouthed off too. We roomed together at Rutgers University, and from that first day of freshman year we were inseparable, and that is how it has been ever since. We really should not have been friends. If I remember rightly, it was Ruby who dragged me along. She’s always loved people. I was always the one who would sit back to people watch, try to figure them out. You could learn a lot from a person if you watched their character come to life before you. I don’t trust easily; I have a guard up, and if you manage to get through that initial forcefield, you have a friend for life.
My family have always supported my work and everything I have ever aspired to do. When my dad died three years ago, I felt like something died in me too. If I’m honest, I don’t think I’ve ever recovered fully.
Of course, when I met Everett Brooks, he somehow had me all figured out. It seems we are two peas in a pod. We both thrive for success and both run flourishing businesses.
Everett is the owner of EB Pharmaceuticals. He was rumored to be the most eligible bachelor in the business and, dare I say, the sexiest. He’s not just single, he’s a self-obsessed playboy, and the man oozes sex. I clearly never stood a chance. I could’ve been wearing a fucking chastity belt and he would’ve found a way to get past it.
I need to clear my head of Everett. I look out into the sales office and still can’t see Bronwyn, my assistant. I am beyond frustrated. I huff and yet again stand, but the phone ringing again stops me.
Two
Everett
Walking my client out, I give him a fake-ass smile before shutting the door behind him and go back to sit at my desk. What a dick. I wish I didn’t have to deal with clients at all, but no one can do my job like me. It’s crazy to think how much money changes hands here, and most of it isn’t even legal. With fake contracts and more people on the take than there are straight down the line, it makes you much more cautious and makes you want to look into the backgrounds of people you’re dealing with.
Whenever I have a dilemma, I usually work it out with sex. I’m not the kind of man who really settles. It’s just not me, and I’ve never had it on one of my vision boards, let’s put it that way. Sex always helps ease the tension, but that’s not going to happen right now. If I could get away from here, I would, but I have back to back meetings today. The next best thing, though, is on the other end of that phone. I’m already thinking about having Reagan Quinn beneath me again—just her name has my dick straining against my zipper.
Picking up the receiver of my desk phone, I dial the number for Hicks Life Solutions. It rings for a lot longer than it usually does. That’s strange. Reagan is strict about letting the phone go unanswered. I’m about to hang up and try again later, when the call gets picked up.
“Hicks Life Solutions. How can I help you today?”
I know that voice. My dick knows that voice too, especially when she screamed my name. I can’t help but smile to myself at the way my thoughts are going. “Well, well, well. Reagan?”
“Mr. Brooks, what can I do for you?” She tries to keep it formal for appearance’s sake, but I still can’t stop the smile that stretches across my face.
“As much as I love the secretary voice, Rae, why are you answering your own phone? Do you not have an assistant to do that anymore? I mean, I know you women have this shit going on where you like to be treated as equals, but aren’t you a bit over-experienced?”
“No, I don’t have a secretary. Well, not after today. So, what can I help you with, Everett?” She sighs, obviously not in the mood, but hearing her cute, sexy telephone voice does things to me.
I lean back in my chair and get myself comfy. “There’s plenty you could do for me, but for now, we need to arrange to meet up.”
“Okay. What for? I mean, I know why you like to meet up, but this sounds different.”
“I want to run something by you. I’ve had a meeting with this company, I know you’ve dealt with them before…but I’m not too sure I believe what he’s saying. He seems like a shady fucker to me.”
“You do remember what happened the last time we had to discuss a product in your office, don’t you, or have you forgotten already?”
“Ms. Quinn.” I lower the tone of my voice. “How could I ever forget that?” Just plucking that monumental time from my memory when I fucked her over my desk puts me in physical pain as my dick hardens even more.
“Everett, I don’t have the time for this right now, I have a few things to figure out. I have quite a full schedule at the moment, but I’m sure I can fit you in sometime this week.”
Fit me in? What the fuck? She’d do more than fit me in. “I do love it when you go all professional on me, but we both know we don’t need an assistant to schedule our meetings.”
“Everett, please, not now. I have enough shit going on. I’m going to have to put you on hold for a moment.”
“Reagan.” I call out her name but all I get in return are those annoying fucking beeps that te
ll me my call is being transferred to someone else. I slam the receiver down before anyone can pick up the call, resting my arms on top of my desk.
As shocked as I was at hearing her voice on the other end of the line, I was more shocked that she cut me off.
Ms. Quinn will be feeling the sting of my palm for that. I can’t wait to turn her pale skin pink, and then ram my dick inside her so hard she’ll be seeing stars.
Joy, my assistant of seven years, knocks on my door and comes in. “Your next appointment is here, Mr. Brooks.”
I nod. “Thanks, Joy. If you could show them in.”
She gives me a smile.
“When this meeting is over, could you grab me a coffee and a sandwich, please?”
“Of course, Mr. Brooks. Anything in particular?”
“No. Anything will do.”
“No problem at all. I’ll show them in now.”
Here we go again. Now to get Reagan out of my mind long enough to do my job.
Three
Reagan
That man seriously knows how to get me all worked up. If I hadn’t had been so fucking angry about my assistant, I may have found it funny. Everett knows what tone to use on me and how to speak to me to get my core clenching. Although I did find some humor in hanging up on him, I know only I could get away with that. If I’ve even gotten away with it at all.
My assistant’s chair is still empty as I peer through the gap of the door. I search the open space of the main office until I find her, my teeth clamping together when I see her hanging off one of the cubicles, flirting with one of the sales agents.