by Peggy Jaeger
I was glad I was alone when that thought broke through because my face and neck started flaming.
He could have been playing me all along. While he might not have known who I was when we first met, he did after I confessed in Gus’s, and he might be using that knowledge to gain some leverage over me in tomorrow’s deal.
But…something told me he wasn’t like that at all.
He’d been kind and comforting, evidenced by how he’d whisked me away from the hospital and the awful scene with the Evil Bitch and one half of the devil twins. He’d been caring, worried about my feelings, concerned I wasn’t eating enough. He even let me sleep in because I was exhausted.
The debating part of my brain said, yeah, he was all that, did all that. As Buddy-the-hot-guy-you-slept-with-Prince, not Duncan-the-wall-street-wiz-Prince. I needed to keep them separate in my mind.
After work and now dateless, I trudged home, changed into my house sweats, and climbed into bed with my scheduling book and laptop. Nell, Dan, and I were as prepared as we could be for tomorrow’s meeting, and I still had a business to run, clients to book, and workers to assign.
A little before eleven, my phone pinged. Nell, true as ever to her word, had reminded me to charge it the minute I got home.
Buddy: Still at this never-ending meeting. Bad food and my head aches. Plus, I miss you.
Aww.
I sent a reply to take two aspirin before going to bed and added a smooch emoji.
Within seconds, I saw the three little undulating dots signaling he was replying.
Buddy: Dream about me. I’m gonna dream about you.
I couldn’t formulate a response for that line that didn’t sound cheesy, so I simply added another smoocher and hit send.
My last coherent thought before falling into slumber land was the guy really knew how to write great flirt-texts.
Chapter Eleven
“You ready for this?” Dan asked the next morning when he shot into the office.
“As I’ll ever be.”
He dragged a critical eye up and down my suit. “You look good. Red’s the perfect, don’t-fuck-with-me, power color.”
I agreed, which was why I’d donned the vintage Lagerfield power suit I’d found in an upscale used clothing store a year ago. The color was a deep crimson with undertones of blue shot with black. I’d paired the tight jacket and skirt with a brilliant white silk blouse and three-inch faux snake skin pumps. My hair was tied up and back into a conservative twist, and I’d gone sparse in my makeup, with nude tones on my eyes. My one indulgence was the brilliant red lipstick slashed across my lips. Like the suit, the color gave me a feeling of power and of being in ultimate control.
“That’s what I was going for,” I told him just as Nell walked into the room. I couldn’t help but smile at her. “Great minds.”
She looked at me then down at her dress. The shade of red she’d chosen was a few shades brighter than mine but still made a statement. With a laugh and a twinkle in her eyes, she twirled around.
“You never go wrong with red,” she said, accepting Dan’s kiss to her cheek.
“I asked El this, and now it’s your turn,” he said to my best friend. “You ready for this?”
“Bring it.” Her voice was as strong and determined as I’d ever heard it before.
With a smile filled with love and pride, he said, “That’s my girl.”
Exactly at two o’clock, the secretary we all shared announced our visitors and escorted them into the conference room.
I’d Googled Anthony Culverson the night before in preparation for this meeting. I wanted to know what to expect, looks-wise. In digital form, he appeared to be an ordinary sixty-ish man in a well-cut suit. But in person, reality reflected what a one-dimensional picture couldn’t. The moment Culverson walked into the room, the air changed, electrified, and grew charged. On my computer screen, his face was an attractive one for a man his age. A little tightness around his eyes, a chin that was starting to grow slack. In person, those little concessions to age were invisible. At a towering six foot six, he took command of the room just by entering it.
A suit that I knew cost as much as a year’s rent on our office space was tailored on his impressive form to perfection. Threads of silver were sewn into the mahogany of his natural hair color, giving him an air of distinction and posh. Deep bark-colored eyes swept the room, missing nothing and taking in everything.
Anthony Culverson would be a worthy opponent across any business negotiation table, that was certain. If I didn’t despise him for wanting my business, I might have been impressed by him.
But I wasn’t. Not even close.
Behind Culverson was a diminutive woman clad in a suit similar to mine for cut, color, and power presence. Hers, though, I recognized as part of the current season’s couture line. Hair the color of midnight was cut clean and sharp to her shoulders and glowed with a healthy shine garnered from the best products a professional salon offered. She was a few years younger than me, probably a similar age to my stepsisters. The eye color and aquiline shape of her nose and jaw hinted at a familial relationship to Culverson.
Duncan Prince was the last person to enter the room. I’d made a promise to steel myself against any reactions seeing him again would spike through me. This was a professional meeting, and it wouldn’t do for me to go all gushy-eyed and tummy quivering just because we were in the same space.
I broke that promise the moment our gazes met across the span of the room.
Broke? Shattered, decimated, obliterated the promise was more correct.
Those mile-wide shoulders were clad in another form-fitting suit jacket that just screamed for me to run my hands all over it. A deep gray with a pinstripe so fine the suit almost looked completely one color. A lighter grey tailored shirt sat under the jacket with a jet-black tie dropping from his collar. His trousers had a pleat so sharp, it could slice a piece of paper. Black shoes were buffed to a high sheen, every gorgeous hair on his head perfectly in place.
My heart rate jumped just looking across the room at him. I knew he’d smell as fabulous as he looked.
I was pulled out of imagining how great Buddy smelled when Culverson made a beeline for me, his hand outstretched.
“Miss Jones. Anthony Culverson.” He took my hand and pressed it once, firmly. The South drawled in his voice. “A pleasure to meet you.”
I couldn’t truthfully say the same, so I replied, “Mr. Culverson.”
I pulled my hand from his and gestured toward Nell and Danny.
“This is Penelope Newbery.” He shook her hand. Because Nell was such a pixie, he bent a bit so he could look her in the eye. Nell hated when anyone did that. She found it condescending. I could tell from the quick way his lips tightened at the corners that she’d pressed his hand much more tightly than he’d done to her.
One point for our team.
“And this is our financial manager, Dante Krebs.”
With every ounce of Napoleonic deportment, Dan lifted his chin as high as he could, grabbed Culverson’s hand, and pumped it a few times.
“This is my lawyer, Caitlin.” Culverson indicated the woman with him. “And my financial advisor Duncan Prince.”
I found it interesting he didn’t provide his lawyer’s surname but did Buddy’s.
Nell gave him the stink eye when he took her hand, as did Dan. When he shook mine, he lingered for a beat longer than propriety dictated, long enough to know the squeeze he gave me was for supportive reasons, not as a professional greeting.
He acted as if he were meeting all of us for the first time, so I was fairly certain he hadn’t told Culverson he and I knew one another.
And in the purely biblical sense of knowing one another.
Dan took over the meeting and pointed to where we should all sit. Like two warring factions coming together to discuss a peace treaty, Nell, Dan, and I sat on one side of the table opposite team Culverson. I was directly across from the man who wanted to usurp my b
usiness, Dan on one side of me, Nell my other.
“Thank you all for meeting with us today,” Culverson began. “First, I want to tell you both,” he nodded toward me, then Nell, “how impressed I am with y’all. I was shown the article in the Times Business section last month, and I must say, you two girls have come a long way in a short amount of time.”
The hair on the back of my neck went stick-straight at the use of the term you girls, and from the corner of my eye, I spied Nell’s spine stiffen. Her hands were folded on the table in front of her, and her knuckles looked as if they’d been drained of blood.
I was set to verbally pounce on him when Dan’s leg nudged mine with a warning under the table. I kept my retort to myself.
“In fact, it was Caitlin here who showed me the profile piece.” He smiled at her. “Got me to thinking I could use successful businesses like yours as part of my corporation. Y’all might know I acquire up and coming companies that I see potential in. Buy ’em out or partner with the owners. You two are good businesswomen, but you need someone with the capability to take your companies to the next level. You gals are a bit limited in your reach and ability to grow and haven’t got a lot in the way of accumulated capital. I’ve got a worldwide network of links at my disposable, plus the cash to invest in growth.”
“We’ve been doing fine, thanks, without any outside help,” Nell said. The acid in her tone could have liquefied a century-old slab of concrete. Dan nudged his knee against mine again, hard, a sign to pass it on to Nell.
I did.
Unfortunately, she didn’t take the hint.
“We like running our own businesses without any outside interference, and we’re not looking to change that.”
Culverson’s bonhomie dimmed a bit.
“Well, now, for the record, that’s all well and good, little lady—”
“It’s Newbery.” Goosebumps sprouted on my arms from the ice in Nell’s tone. “For the record,” she added.
“Yes, well. I can understand you feeling that way.” He shifted in the chair and snuck a glance at Duncan. “Your first business is like your first-born child. You feed it, nurture it, and sometimes even baby it. But then you realize you want it to grow and mature and blossom into something more. Realize and reach its potential. From what I’ve seen of your financials, it’s gonna be hard for y’all to grow without a substantial influx of cash and contacts. I’ve got that cash and those contacts at my fingertips.”
“Mr. Culverson,” I said, noticing Nell was all set to speak again, “what Miss Newbery says is true. We’re happy with the way things stand right now with both of our companies. We’ve got a stable line of employees, neither one of us has taken a loss at any time since we started up, and I think I speak for both of us when I say we’re not looking to expand globally or even outside of New York at this time. We’re happy with things just the way they are.”
“Nonsense.” He shook his head. “All business owners look to expand and grow. It’s part of the American entrepreneurial spirit that made this country great. It’s the only way to stay competitive, current, and relevant in today’s market.” He turned to Duncan. “Show ‘em the projections you drew up, boy.”
Boy? Okay, what? Who spoke like that to people? If I didn’t like Culverson before, I sure didn’t now.
Buddy cleared his throat and handed each of us a file folder. Inside were various papers with colored graphs and pie charts. As I flipped through each page, I realized how much time and effort he’d put into this for Culverson. The question that popped into my mind was when had he done all this research? Before we’d met or after?
I mentally slapped myself for even considering it had been after.
“Give those a look-see and tell me those projection numbers don’t make you want to rethink the whole idea of being comfortable where you stand,” Culverson said. “Now, we can do this one of two ways. I’ve given you a fixed number in there if you both sell me your companies outright, or we can form a limited partnership.”
Nell, ever true to form, didn’t even open hers. She folded her hands over it and continued to glare at the businessman. Dan, good financial manager that he was, and I both rifled through ours.
“As you can see for yourselves,” Culverson said, pointing towards the folders, “with a proper influx of cash and a restructuring of your business model to include expansion, both your businesses could see a twentyfold increase in profits within eighteen months.”
“Not interested,” Nell said. The tone in her voice said it all.
“You haven’t even looked at the proposal little la—”
She cut Culverson off. “Don’t need to.”
When her words sank in, his entire demeanor changed. The good ol’ boy manner flew, and his face went from open and accommodating to closed in a heartbeat.
“Seems you didn’t inherit your daddy’s business acumen, little girl,” he said to her.
“Excuse me?” What’s that expression that even a little bit of dynamite can cause a huge explosion? Nell may come in a petite package, but when she blows, she blows big.
Culverson nodded. “I know all about your daddy, Miss Newbery. He had quite a good business head on him until he decided to be greedy and got caught. Well, now he’s paying for it, and rightly so.”
I reached under the table and squeezed Nell’s leg. Hard. I didn’t think she even felt it.
“And then there’s your mama. Poor thing’s been hospitalized since he was carted away to prison, and you’ve been carryin’ the financial burden ever since. That isn’t easy, not by any standards. Nor is it fair.”
Her leg started to shake uncontrollably beneath my grip.
“I think that’s enough, Mr. Culverson,” I said. “You’re being rude and cruel for no reason.”
He shook his head, his expression hardening even more. “Business isn’t about being soft, young lady. All I’m saying is Ms. Newbery here could benefit from doing business with me. Give her a solid financial cushion for the future, one where she wouldn’t have to worry about paying all those bills for her mama. You could benefit from it too, seeing as you’ve got your own family financial worries right now.”
“What?”
He nodded. “I know all about your little sister, her accident, and the continued care she’s gonna require. Your stepmama hasn’t been the best person to manage the family finances, it seems, since your daddy’s death. She could use some help to ease her burden, and a windfall from you would go a long way in doing that. I always believe family’s gotta take care of family.”
For a moment, my vision actually disappeared. All I could see was black in front of my eyes. Just as quick as it fled, it returned, replaced by an all-consuming hot poker of anger. For the first time in my life, I understood the meaning of seeing red.
How? How had he known about Dolly? I hadn’t even told Dan and Nell yet what had happened to her or about my summons to the hospital by Vivi. But Culverson seemed to be up on every little detail.
In the time it took for me to wonder how he knew, the answer exploded in front of me.
Like a slow-motion video panning across a landscape, my gaze crawled to Buddy’s face. His eyes were half hidden under brows that had pulled down over them. A deep, cavernous groove had grown between his brows and his mouth, his irresistible, utterly fabulous mouth, resembled an upside-down U. His gaze bore into me.
There was only one conceivable way, my brain screamed, that Culverson could know about Dolly. And I was looking the reason square in the eyes.
He didn’t speak. Really, what could he say to me? He turned his attention to Culverson, his nostrils flaring, his lips slightly parted.
It was obvious I’d been wrong, so wrong, about him and his motives for being with me.
Christ! I’d actually known he was embedded with the enemy and still, still, let my emotions shove my better judgment out of the way.
“Ella?” Nell’s voice shattered through my thoughts. She was holding my arm in a grip
that had rivaled the one I’d used on her leg. “Ella, what’s he talking about?”
“Y’all don’t know?” Culverson asked. “I’d think business partners and friends would be more forthcoming with one another. Especially where money is concerned.”
“Shut up,” she commanded. She pressed down on my arm again. “Ella, you’re scaring me. Are you okay?”
I continued to stare at Buddy. “I’m fine.”
I watched him swallow, the collar of his shirt shifting over the notch at his neck with the effort. A spot I’d kissed and licked just twenty-four hours ago before moving downward and driving us both to the edge of reason.
Without blinking, I dragged my gaze back to Culverson. A tiny tick pulled at his jaw, and his hands were palms-flat on the table in front of him, almost as if they were supporting him. I couldn’t imagine what Nell had told him was something he was used to hearing. Anger sluiced off him in waves. His lawyer leaned in closer to him, and the expression on her face looked like fury to me. Just like Nell’s hand was on my arm, she’d wrapped a hand around his and was squeezing it, forcefully, like she was dragging him backward, trying to get him away from a fight or a beat down.
I took a deep breath and in one non-stop motion rose from my chair. Nell and Dan followed suit, and I could feel both their eyes locked on me.
“We’re done.” I was surprised I was able to keep my voice calm and low when all I really wanted to do was scream at the top of my lungs. “We don’t want your help, Mr. Culverson, and we don’t want to sell our businesses to you, partner with you, or do anything with you. In truth, if we were failing and a million dollars in debt, we wouldn’t crawl into bed with you. Please leave.” I swept my gaze from one corner of the table to the other. “All of you.”