“By now you’ve heard the news. We’ve got one of Jay’s prized publishing houses! It’s all happening! And this is just the beginning. We’re going to bury them!” She said before clenching her teeth together tightly.
“How did you manage that?” Kasey asked, still in disbelief.
“He didn’t tell you? He’s even sneakier than me,” Renee huffed, shaking her head.
“Who didn’t tell me what?”
“Jay made a deal with me. He wanted you back at Passions so bad that he agreed to give me one of his publishing houses in exchange for you.” She grinned like the Cheshire cat as she revealed the truth.
“Are you serious?” Kasey yelped.
“Don’t worry, my darling. There’s no way I’ll actually hand you over, you’re my golden goose.” She squeezed her arms tightly around Kasey’s shoulders before releasing her and walking behind her desk.
“He’ll be mad, but he’ll get over it. He should’ve known I would never do a fair deal with an enemy,” she shrugged and sat in her seat just as her phone rang. She held up a finger indicating she needed a moment, but Kasey dismissed herself, walking back to her office in a daze.
Jay had sacrificed one of his publishing houses just to get her back to Passions? The realization hit her like a ton of bricks, as Nicole’s words replayed in her mind. That didn’t make sense if Jay’s sole purpose for courting her was to increase his profits.
He had chopped his business just to get close to her, and now Renee was going to make sure he got nothing in the deal. Guilt and remorse washed over her and she sat at her desk, forcing herself to take a deep breath so that she could think straight.
There had to be something she could do. Maybe it was too late to stop the deal, but she needed to talk to Jay and understand why he would do something like this. He loved his companies. If he was willing to give one up just for Kasey, what did that mean about how he felt about her?
The thoughts clouded her mind, and she was certain that Jay was serious about their relationship —it was more than a business deal. He had gotten in bed with Renee to win her back and there was no way he could come out of the deal unscathed.
Rubbing her temples, Kasey brainstormed options, knowing that she couldn’t just sit still and allow Jay to be taken advantage of, but she didn’t know how she could stop him when Renee was already acting on the ridiculous agreement.
Chapter 41
Jay
“Are you kidding me?!” Mitchell’s voice boomed through Jay’s office as he learned the news.
Jay had tried not to tell his business partner, hopeful that Kasey’s return to Passions Publishing would be enough to sway his opinion on such a major decision he chose not to include him on.
“Mitchell, calm down,” Jay urged, although he understood the reaction. It was rare for Mitchell to be the one losing his temper, but that only made him feel worse.
“Calm down?” Mitchell looked from one side to the next, as if Jay could be talking to anyone else. The wrinkles in his forehead disappeared as his face relaxed. “You can’t be serious,” he scoffed in disbelief.
Jay had made a deal behind his back to sell off one of the three publishing houses owned by Passions Publishing in an effort to get Kasey back. It was impulsive and selfish, this much he knew. But losing Kasey made his professional successes feel worthless, and Jay wasn’t willing to go back to a life that didn’t include her.
“Mitchell, I can’t think with you screaming like a mad man,” Jay fought to keep his cool.
It wasn’t like he intended the deal to go this way. His temper was raging just beneath the surface, but with Mitchell losing his cool, Jay had no other option but to be the level headed one.
“What is there to think about? You made a bonehead decision, and you did it behind my back! There was no thinking involved when you did it, so why should there be any now?” he sneered, looking across the office at Jay.
Usually, Mitchell sat across from Jay’s desk in the soft leather loveseat, planning for the day, or recapping how their strategies had been executed. But, today, Mitchell couldn’t be confined to a chair, choosing instead to stand at the bar, fighting the need to down three fingers of whiskey before noon.
“I was making a play to get Kasey back,” Jay admitted, his voice low with embarrassment.
“I think it’s pretty obvious what you thought you were doing, but it didn’t work out that way, did it?” Mitchell’s words were laced with sarcasm, his hands resting on his hips as he scowled at Jay, who sat in the chair behind his desk looking defeated.
“I can’t believe she would renege on our deal,” Jay whispered, more to himself than Mitchell.
“You can’t believe that Renee, the woman who has been your arch nemesis for over a decade, made a deal with you and didn’t come through? Are you hearing yourself?” Mitchell repeated Jay’s actions, and even he heard the naiveté he’d exhibited.
Renee was a snake, and he knew it. She was not to be trusted, but in a weak and desperate position, Jay had done the unthinkable. Now, he was without one of the major publishing companies he’d built from scratch, and on top of that he didn’t have Kasey to help him rebuild.
“Jay,” Mitchell began before taking a deep breath. “This is the first time you’ve made a bad decision for the business, but I think it was such a bad choice, we may not be able to recover.”
Jay’s head popped up when he heard Mitchell’s voice crack. His best friend was never emotional about business, but he could sense this deal had more to do with the secrecy than the details. He had gone behind his back, and that hurt Mitchell more than anything.
“I’m going to talk with the lawyers and see what we can do,” Mitchell added before Jay could think of a way to express his remorse.
His mouth opened, but Jay couldn’t find the words before Mitchell made his way out of the office, closing the heavy glass door behind him. Alone with his thoughts, Jay pounded his fist against the thick wood of his desk.
How could he have been so stupid?
There was a better way to get Kasey back, after what was nothing more than a misunderstanding. She’d found a phone number in his pocket, but it was from before their relationship began. Even more, he’d never called the girl and never intended to.
Kasey was upfront about her insecurities, and it was his job to protect her, and build up her confidence in him. His actions had pushed her away, making her believe something that would never be true. There was no other woman in the world Jay wanted. Kasey was more than his wildest dreams. All he wanted was for her to see how much she meant to him, but it all fell through the cracks, leaving him holding nothing but ashes from the fire.
Just then, an alert sounded from his computer. A new email, from Renee, announcing the expansion of her business. His stomach dropped and his temper returned. She was announcing what she’d gained in the deal as if she had fulfilled her end.
“Jessica!” Jay growled into the intercom on his desk before instructing his assistant to contact his driver. He had a plan and wanted to set it in motion as soon as possible.
“Danny is downstairs now,” Jessica responded after a brief pause.
Jay’s chest heaved as he grabbed his suit jacket so aggressively, the coat tree almost toppled over.
“Send any important calls to my cell,” Jay ordered in a deathly tone as he passed Jessica’s desk.
“Yes sir,” she answered, although he had already stormed past her. Jay was on a mission, and the determination on his face stopped every employee from approaching him with ideas or feedback.
The ride down the elevator was fast, as his thoughts raced with ways to handle such an enormous problem. Jay wasn’t used to being the one to mess up, but he’d grown quite successful at cleaning up other people’s messes. In his heart, he believed that this would be like any other bad decision, and he’d talk his way back to the top.
“Mr. Canton,” Danny was too cheerful as he held the door open for his boss.
“Not today, Danny,” Jay shook his head.
There would be no conversation during the ride. Jay wasn’t interested in what courses Danny would be taking this semester, or how his on-again-off-again relationship was holding up. Typically, the two would chat their way through the city, as Jay stared at Saint Paul passing him by. But today, the city he loved so much seemed gloomy and depressing, fitting his mood.
“We’re here,” Danny announced, disrupting Jay’s thoughts.
He jumped, looking out the window to see Rockwell Publishing emblazed on the large sign in front of the office. He’d always thought it was gaudy, but today it annoyed him more than ever.
“Wait here. This won’t take long,” he ordered, before stepping from the black Mercedes.
His steps were calculated as he stormed through the halls to make his way to Renee’s office. Her door was open, and she sat with her legs crossed, propped on her desk. A glass tumbler sat beside a notepad sitting on her desk, and the cocky smile on her face let him know she was expecting him.
“I thought you’d be here earlier, but once the email blast went out, I knew it wouldn’t be much longer. Come in, have a seat,” she extended her arm towards the couch in her office, but Jay empathized with Mitchell, unable to be confined to a seat with such rage coursing through him.
“When are you going to follow through on the deal, Renee?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Jay, there’s so much success going on here, it’s difficult to get anyone to leave such a thriving company,” she shrugged before slowly taking a sip of the clear liquid in her glass. Jay noted her lack of sophistication, drinking vodka from a whiskey glass. He could smell the sharp aroma, it made his stomach churn.
“Renee, cut the games,” he said, clearly annoyed.
“I’m being completely honest, Jay. I mean, I can’t exactly force her join the losing team, now can I?” She chuckled before taking another sip, clenching her teeth as the cool liquid warmed her chest.
“So, you’re going to be the snake I knew you were?”
“Well, I hope you’re not one of those innocent people who think they can wander into a pit without betting bit. Tell me you’re not that green, Jay?” She mocked him, enjoying it thoroughly.
“You’re going to regret this, Renee. No matter what it costs, I’m going to right your wrongs,” Jay said before turning on his heel.
He could feel the pressure building in his chest, and decided he needed to get out of the office as soon as possible, otherwise he would make another decision he wouldn’t be happy with.
Renee’s devilish laugh followed him down the hallway as he stormed through Rockwell Publishing feeling like a fool. He’d risked it all for a woman he was certain was the one. She wouldn’t even know how much he was willing to give up for her, and she wouldn’t be working with him. Now, his company was significantly weaker, and it was all his fault.
As he made his way back to the car, he vowed to find a way to make things right with Mitchell, refusing to force his friend to carry his loss.
Chapter 42
Kasey
“Are you getting pink again?” Kasey asked Nicole as the two searched through colors at the nail salon. Kasey asked Nicole out so that the two could chat, but now she began to fear Nicole’s response.
“I’m getting nude. And you can quit with the small talk. I know something is weighing heavy on you.” Nicole read her like a book, as usual.
“What are you talking about?” Kasey feigned shock.
“Kase, you barely said a word over breakfast, and you’ve been a prisoner to your thoughts since we got here. You usually get your nails done on the weekends, so I knew something was up when you called.”
“Well, its Jay,” Kasey decided against denying it any further.
“Well, there’s a surprise I didn’t see coming,” Nicole teased, finally choosing a color from the wall of polishes.
“Seriously. Things are different now, and I need some advice.”
“What’s different?” Nicole asked.
“When I confronted Renee about the deal with Jay’s company, she told me he gave it up in exchange for me,” Kasey paused at the sound of Nicole’s gasp as her hand covered her chest.
“I knew it!” she squealed.
“You did not!”
“Well, no, not that literally. But I thought it had something to do with you all along,” Nicole explained, a little too excited for Kasey’s liking.
“I can’t make sense of it. Why would he make such a terrible deal?” Kasey asked her best friend the question she’d been trying to make sense of since she learned the news.
“Are you kidding me? Isn’t it obvious?” Nicole huffed, as Kasey chose a shade of blush polish.
“Isn’t what obvious?” she turned to ask.
“He’s trying to prove to you it’s not about business. He built those companies from the ground up, Kasey. If he’s willing to give one away—to an enemy at that—just to have you back, doesn’t that prove something to you?”
Kasey hadn’t considered that, refusing to believe Jay could care that much for her. She didn’t want to get her hopes up with possibilities, but now hearing it from Nicole forced her to see things from a different perspective.
“Nicole, that’s crazy,” was all she could say, shock capturing her thoughts.
“What’s crazy is Renee finding a way to get her hands on a third of Passions Publishing when she was so far behind them in every metric,” Nicole shook her head as the two made their way to adjacent nail technicians, beginning their manicures.
“Yeah, I guess that never made sense,” Kasey admitted. There was a reason she stormed back to the office when Nicole first told her about Renee’s purchase of a Passions Publishing house, she just couldn’t believe it was possible.
“Well, I guess you’ll get to ask your new boss, because he’s shaken up his world to work with you again,” Nicole giggled, as she finished the sentence, obviously the change of events was as unbelievable to her as it was to Kasey.
“Well, that’s the thing. Renee is saying that she never intended to follow through on the deal, so I don’t have to go and work for him.”
“Would you actually continue to work for someone like that, Kasey? She made a deal, with a man who was out of his mind with desperation, and completely took advantage of him. Now, although she got the better side of the deal, she’s going to renege on her end? She’s slimy,” Nicole shook her head.
Nicole hadn’t said anything Kasey didn’t already know, but it left her with a new sense of contempt for Renee. She represented everything ugly about the publishing industry—overly competitive, greedy, and untrustworthy. It had become apparent that Rockwell Publishing wasn’t a good fit for Kasey within her first week of employment, but now she wondered if it was finally time to do something about it.
“I have to go talk to her and figure out what’s going on,” Kasey answered Nicole, knowing it wouldn’t be a good enough response.
“What is there to figure out? She made a deal with Jay to take over one of his companies in exchange for you coming back to his, and now she’s refusing to let you go.”
“I’m not a puppy, Nicole. No one owns me, or can choose whether or not to let me go,” Kasey was beginning to resent the way she was being negotiated for, like a pawn on a chess board.
“No, you’re an asset that both of them want professionally, but Jay wants you even more. He cares about you, Kasey. Even if you don’t want to work for him, you owe it to him to take a stand against a woman like Renee who is cheating him.”
Nicole’s words replayed in Kasey’s mind long after they hugged each other goodbye and went about their business. It was one of Kasey’s days to work from home, but she found herself turning towards the office instead of returning to her townhouse. There were too many unanswered questions, and she planned to get to the bottom of things before she could figure out her next move.
She could tell there was a lot going on from t
he movement outside the office. People were walking out the main doors carrying cardboard boxes, while others entered through the opposite set of doors empty-handed.
When she made her way in, the desks of many receptionists were unmanned, and she wandered to Renee’s office without any stops by security, despite her lack of a name badge.
“I was just going to call you. Let’s have a chat!” Renee spotted Kasey near her office, and walked the last few steps with her arm uncomfortably around her shoulder.
“What is going on?” Kasey asked, once they were inside the office that still looked too much like Jay’s.
“We’ve got to move staffers to the new office. Things are really looking up, Kasey. We may very well top Passions Publishing for the first time this month!” Renee smiled brightly at the announcement, but Kasey felt sick.
My One and Only: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Second Chance Romance Page 46