by Rose, Carol
“Wendi or Michele?” Alex asked as he leaned forward to fill her glass. Eden’s boss was an old woman well beyond her productive years, but he knew Eden still felt a tie with Michele.
“Both! Michele gave the Pretty Me make-up line to Wendi, but she refuses to take care of it. She hands everything off to me. I’m directing the development of new products for the line, overseeing the marketing campaign, making the production decisions. Everything.”
“If its her responsibility, why do you handle it?”
Eden looked surprised. “Because the line will suffer if I don’t take care of it. Someone has to make marketing and product decisions.”
“But if you didn’t step in, Michele would soon see that Wendi’s not doing her job.”
“I’m not so sure. Michele’s rarely in the office these days. She spends most of her time vacationing with Carl,” Eden said, shaking her head. “And by the time, she did notice a problem, the ‘Pretty Me’ line would be significantly damaged. We’d suffer a loss of revenue.”
Alex heard the possessiveness in her voice, watching her as she took a sip of her water. It troubled him that she was still so tied to the company he planned to dismantle, but he brushed the thought away, concentrating on all the opportunities she’d have once free of Michele Cosmetics. In truth, she was getting a raw deal at the company. She deserved better.
“Would it seem like tattling to tell Michele that Wendi’s not doing her job?” he asked with sympathy, letting his gaze linger pleasurably on her face.
“I have told her,” Eden said with frustration. “But despite all our years of working together, Michele won’t hear a word I have to say now. She is truly behind Wendi. Or behind Carl who is, of course, Wendi’s uncle! And Carl is all that matters to Michele now so she supports Wendi’s every suggestion, applauds her so-called ‘innovations’ and generally makes an ass of herself when it comes to anyone questioning Wendi.”
Watching her, Alex recognized and regretted Eden’s frustration level. She was getting crap all the way around, mostly due to choices that were not her own.
He wanted to make it better for her. Whether she knew it or not, what was good for him would be good for her, too. Her situation now was intolerable.
Was she ready to hear his proposition? His team had originally targeted Eden in the hope that he could form an alliance and win her assistance in his takeover bid. But he was reluctant to speak now that the moment of truth seemed close at hand. This was dicey business, even more than the other business deals, he’d worked. It was complicated for the very reason that not only business was at stake here. He’d let things get very personal. It would have been so much simpler if he hadn’t liked her so much.
Regret wasn’t high on his list of worthwhile experiences, but as he sat across from her trying to find a good way to broach the subject of his take-over bid, he knew regret. There had to have been a less calculating way to get into her life.
At least, he hadn’t had sex with her…yet.
Depending on how he handled this, he’d either be her hero or her enemy and he much preferred the former role.
“It must be hard to come to this point after all the years you’ve worked with Michele,” he commented finally. “She’s been like your family and then she turned on you. You’ve handled the whole mess very professionally. Michele doesn’t deserve all the slack you’ve cut her.”
“No,” Eden agreed, her beautiful mouth in a wry smile, “she doesn’t. She deserves my letter of resignation on her desk two weeks ago, at the very least. I’d like to see her and her bimbo run the business now! And I’d have taken another position if my other avenues had panned out. But like I said, I’m trapped. If I leave Michele Cosmetics, I have to give up a career I love. Some people say business is business, but they’re wrong. The beauty industry is what I’m good at.”
After a short pause, Alex said, “Didn’t you say something about an uncle you might be able to work with in some capacity? What does he do?”
Would she confide in him about her compromised position regarding her family relationship to George Thompson? If Thompson had pulled his head out of his ass and offered Eden a position, Alex’s plans for Michele Cosmetics would have to be redeveloped. He could think of worse things. At least, Eden would get what she truly deserved.
From the expression on her face, however, he had to conclude that George Thompson’s head was still firmly lodged in its usual position.
“He runs his own business,” she said noncommittally, her face losing some of its lively sparkle.
“What kind of business?” Alex pressed. “Would he have any use for your expertise?”
Waiting while she formed her response, he considered how he could best tell her he knew of her disastrous family tie. He would never actually reveal the compromising information to anyone at Michele Cosmetics. He might, however, need to remind Eden just how vulnerable she was. If he could find out that she was closely related to Michele Cosmetics’ biggest regional competitor, others could. People who were gunning for her, unlike him.
Nothing good would come of Eden staying where she was now. She needed to take his offer, needed to move on. He’d spent the last ten years building up a multi-million dollar business. Knowing how to make an offer sound good was a deeply ingrained habit.
In the early morning hours, awake as usual to greet the dawn, he’d gone over and over his pitch. Deals always went better when everyone felt like they were winning. Could he make this one seem that way for Eden? Everything would work out so much better for them all if she could see that her own best interests lie with him.
Alex was hopeful. She was a smart, savvy woman.
Aware of an unusual tension as he prepared to make his pitch, he tried to believe she’d see how his proposition benefited her.
“So your uncle is in what business?” he asked again.
This could be the beginning of a terrific relationship, he thought as he waited for her response. Eden’s business skills commanded his respect, but he was most won over by the straight-arrow truth in her. Unlike a lot of people, she held to an ethical standard. Even as he acknowledged the thought, Alex recognized the irony. He liked her ethics…and he was here to get her to do something he knew would be contrary to her ethics. At least, that’s how she might see it.
Hopefully, she’d take a bigger view. If she could see that business was business and his taking over Michele Cosmetics was simply a good money decision, she might not go postal on him.
Alex very much wanted to stay connected to her. He enjoyed her company more than any woman he’d dated and he wanted her with a fierceness that left him aching. He normally didn’t sleep much, but with her there next to him, he wouldn’t mind the waking hours in the night.
Eden shook her head slowly, not answering Alex’s direct question. “I’m not going to work for my uncle. There are…conflicts. Problems there that are not be solvable.”
Swirling the liquid in his glass, Alex said, “This past month you’ve given Michele the time to realize her screw-up in appointing Wendi as her successor, even if she is sleeping with Wendi’s uncle. You’ve also tried to find other jobs in your line of work. What’s next?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted tiredly, her chin sinking into her cupped hand.
Alex waited, his brain almost unwillingly alert to every nuance of her expression. Normally at this moment, he felt his senses grow razor-sharp, sensing his opponents wavering. How long had he been in this business of making a profit on other people’s failure? It had grown to be a familiar role.
Eden looked up then, smiling at him. “Let’s not talk about my shitty boss or my revenge fantasies anymore. Tell me about your niece’s basketball game last night. Did she win?”
“They lost six to eight,” he told her, resisting the impulse to haul her over the table and make hot, hungry love to her. Distraction was a good
thing, he’d found. But instead of making a scene for Emiliano’s customers, he said, “Tell me about your revenge fantasies.”
Her smile grew lopsided. “You must be tired of hearing about the crap at my work.”
Alex said honestly, “No. I’m interested in things that affect you. Besides, you never know where a fantasy might lead you….”
He grinned. “Tell me how you’d revenge yourself on Michele Broussard.”
Eden’s face lit up in answering laughter and then grew more somber. “I’ve had chances over the years to sell her formulas. We’re a small, niche company compared to the cosmetics giants, but every now and then I’ve been approached to ‘assist’ other companies by giving them access to Michele’s proprietary information. But I wouldn’t do that.”
“Selling her formulas,” he mused, nodding. “That would be one way to pay her back. How else could we make her feel your pain? Talk to me. It’ll be therapeutic.”
She sighed, a somber expression on her face. “Like I said. There aren’t a lot of good options. The straight-forward method would be taking a hit out on her and Wendi, but I don’t think I can hide the cash trail.”
The tone of her voice was flippant enough to tell him she’d never use violence, but he saw the grim light in her eyes. For a moment, he wished he were just her boyfriend. Simple and uncomplicated. In that scenario, he’d whisk her off to his apartment, take her in his arms and make love to her until dawn—no thought of business, no need to tempt her into anything more than sleeping with him.
Eden said, almost to herself, “The board would have to appoint me CEO then, and I don’t think they’d hesitate because there’s no one else at the top who could possibly do the job. Sol Klineman knows my work. He and Sarah Briggs and A. R. Reynolds. Michele would find herself ousted from the company she founded.”
She fell silent then, her gaze brooding on the glass in front of her.
Watching Eden, Alex knew the moment he’d been waiting for was close. Without a doubt, the conversation had strayed into his territory.
She looked up, sending him a swift smile that faded as quickly as it dawned. “I don’t know any hit men, though. And I’m not much into eternal damnation, which I think is pretty much called for when you have a couple of people killed off.”
Looking down at his glass, Alex knew he had to make his move. There was no use in looking for just the right words. “There are other ways to find revenge. Even more satisfying ways.”
She glanced at him, her brows lifted in inquiry.
“This is about business,” he said. “A business revenge would be appropriate, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean?” She was frowning now.
Alex leaned back in the booth, releasing her hand. Despite his admittedly devious means of meeting Eden, he had his own kind of ethics. He’d found he could be somewhat flexible in his business dealings, but with her he wanted to be at least emotionally honest. He wouldn’t use the sway of sexual eroticism, wouldn’t sleep with her before he’d laid his cards on the table.
He very much wanted to sleep with her.
“I’ve told you a little about me,” he said, jumping in despite his uncertainty about her response, “and you’ve said that you’d heard a few things about the way I work. You know I buy companies, take them apart and sell the assets. I make a good profit and get the most out of already-foundering companies. I think of it as a kind of euthanasia.”
Alex sent a level glance across the table. “I can be very effective, Eden, and I don’t let people get away with taking advantage of me or of the people I care about.”
He paused. “I care about you.”
With a fierceness he found disconcerting, he wanted her to believe him. His plan was the best deal for Eden. It was the only way she didn’t end up getting shafted.
Her face softened a little in the candlelight before she said simply, “I like you, too.”
“As you’ve talked about the things going on at Michele Cosmetics,” he said, automatically laying the foundation, “it started me thinking.”
“About what?” she asked, a tiny pucker between her brows.
“Michele’s business,” Alex responded. “And it’s value…and things like that.”
She frowned, clearly trying to puzzle out his meaning.
Leaning forward again, he took her hand in his, somehow needing the physical connection. “Would you really like to see Michele get what she deserves?”
“Yes,” Eden said slowly. “I gave her twelve years of my life. I never thought it would come to this. For years, she was the most honest, fair-minded person I knew. I respected her, but now….”
“You feel betrayed. Like she was lying to you all those years. You’ve talked about how she’s neglected the company in the last three or four years. How out-of-touch she is with the business and the industry in general. You’ve said she’s getting older and needs to retire. Sales are dropping because you’ve had your hands tied by not being completely at the helm.” He paused, letting his words sink in as he made his case, praying she could see his sincerity. He only wanted the best for her, no matter how self-serving his initial actions had been.
“Michele is making stupid, foolish decisions. She’s screwed you over because she’s getting her rocks off with a man who wants to get his niece a job. And this after you’ve done nothing but give the company and Michele your best. She doesn’t give a crap about anyone but Carl, and through him, Wendi.”
“Michele thinks she’s in love,” Eden murmured, a bitter, sad smile on her lips. “She gave her life to this company after her son died. I guess when she met Carl, she felt he was her last chance at having a personal life.”
“Maybe so, but that still doesn’t give her the right to screw you over and hand her company to Wendi.”
“I can’t disagree with you,” Eden said shortly. “So what are you suggesting I should do?”
“I think,” he said, his voice soft, “you could help me get control of Michele’s company. If we break down the production lines, sell off the formulas and the buildings as well as the equipment. Maybe even sell the use of the company logo—there’s real money to be made. And all I’d have to do is gain control of the board of directors.”
Eden stared at him, surprise on her face.
“Gain control of the board…with my help,” she concluded slowly, her gaze fastened on him.
“Yes. This way, you could get revenge on Michele, and let’s not forget Wendi, by helping me gain control and break down the company into profitable, easily-disposed-of assets. It’s really the only way to insure you get what should have been fair compensation for all the investment you have in Michele Cosmetics.”
Sitting across the table, her hand slack in his, Eden continued to stare at him, her expression unreadable.
“Like I said,” Alex said, “I’ve been thinking about branching out of the computer industry for awhile now. And a week or so ago, after you’d told me a little about what was going on, I started thinking about…Michele getting what she deserves. Why should she get to keep a company you’ve maintained for her? If you get booted out, maybe she should, too.”
Eden pulled her hand out of his grasp. “So…you’re talking about a takeover? Like you’ve done with Connelly Data and Grafix Net and the others?”
“Something like that.” He nodded, still trying to gauge her response. Was she understanding how this could really work for her? Could she see that he was really on her side?
“Just like that,” she snapped her fingers, “Michele Cosmetics a thing of the past.”
Alex laughed softly, “Well, maybe not that easily, but it wouldn’t be hard. After I started thinking about it, I talked to my right hand guy, you remember meeting Bryan Zilkowski?”
She nodded.
“Well, I talked with him and several others. We gathered some data and
ran a feasibility study. It looks good.”
“Good,” she said, her face blank, as if she were stunned.
Alex pressed home his point. “It would serve Michele right, wouldn’t it? Over and over, she promised you the CEO position when she retired, and then she screwed you and brought Wendi in. With my plan, you could return the favor. Wendi Williams would get squat—no promotion in two years, no job bought for her by her uncle. And you’d get a nice settlement and nothing to keep you from seeking a job in the industry you love. Win-win.”
“Except for Michele,” Eden said slowly.
“And Wendi and Carl,” he interpolated.
“And everyone else who works at Michele Cosmetics.”
Alex frowned. “The rest of the employees get settlement packages as well, of course. And you get your revenge. Beautiful, isn’t it? You get what you deserve.”
“I don’t know, Alex,” she traced a pattern on the table cloth. “I’m not sure I want to completely bring the company down. I mean, there are a lot of people in the company who like their jobs and might not want to start over somewhere else, even if they do get a settlement. I’d be changing their lives completely…just to accomplish my own ends.”
He fell silent, hating this moment. He really didn’t want her to feel pushed, but she was sitting on the edge of a precipice anyway. Better to jump with a parachute than get pushed over the edge with nothing to cushion her landing. With his plan, she might pull something out of all these years of work. Still, he hated having to reveal everything he knew in order to help Eden see her own best interests.
Alex shrugged, burying his anxiety. It had do be done. “So…what are you going to do? Stay there, working until Michele retires or until Wendi and Carl make up some reason to fire you? What else can they do with you having trained Wendi and being so much more damned efficient than she is?”