by Alina Jacobs
"Again, this is why you should play nice, so they don't ruin the company out of spite. I met Grant at a Holbrook Foundation fundraiser once. He's intense. He reminds me a bit of you, now that I think about it," she said thoughtfully.
Wes stirred the food around on his plate dejectedly.
"This was fun, but I must be off," Dana said, gathering her bag. "We're starting shooting for a brand-new web series."
"Another Romance Creative production?"
Dana pinched his ear. "Everyone wants to find love." Wes's thoughts took a hard right turn and crashed into Liz.
"I'll see you around, baby brother," Dana said as she kissed Wes on the top of the head then kissed Kal on his snout.
After she left, Wes tried to collect his thoughts and prepare for the board meeting. He knew he would have to deal with the smug satisfaction on Grant's face. And Liz's.
He pulled up a new tab on his computer. After a brief hesitation, he typed in Liz's name. Pictures of her at a recent Holbrook Foundation party came up. She looked so elegant in that form-fitting dress. The back was open, and it accentuated her curves.
"She's not wearing a bra," Wes whispered. He shook his head then and barked out a laugh. Had he really thought he could ask her out? She was his enemy now.
He thought about Dana's words. Work with them.
Wes slammed the laptop closed. He knew what he wanted. Screw playing nice. He needed revenge.
5
Liz
Grant was giddy the morning of the board meeting.
"Try not to rub this in his face, Grant," Kate said. Her long legs were neatly crossed as she typed on her tablet. Liz felt short and dumpy by comparison, and she slid in her seat as the car made a sharp turn.
"What makes you think I'd do a thing like that?" The sun streamed into the car. Grant had his sunglasses on, and he looked sharp and important.
"Because I know you," Kate said.
Liz looked back and forth between the two of them. Grant grinned at his wife. Maybe it was due to the post-takeover haze or the lack of sleep, but Liz felt herself spiraling into the depths of depression and envy as she watched the subtle body language of the in-love couple. She wished someone would look at her the way Grant looked at Kate.
"I still can't believe that worked," Walter remarked. He had been on and off calls during the long morning drive. That suited Liz just fine, because she didn't want to have to make conversation with Grant and Kate.
"Yes," she said. "We were very fortunate."
"Look alive, Liz!" Walter said. "The difficult part is over. Now we go and survey our new conquest." He grinned at her, and she could see Grant's features reflected in his smile.
"Holbrook Enterprises is dominating the news," Walter crowed. "This takeover is being hailed as one of the biggest events in the past decade. You, Ms. Davenport, are worth your weight in gold."
"More," Kate said. "The price of gold is down."
Liz felt a rush of pride.
"You're a genius. I'm so glad you left Allie and Carter's team," Grant said as the car stopped in front of the Walsh Systech building.
Walter checked his watch as they stepped out of the car. "We're a little early."
"It's my company now," Grant said, striding through the front doors. "I'm right on time."
The receptionist waved them through with a wide-eyed look. As they made their way to the conference room, the Walsh Systech employees watched them with obvious apprehension. Liz felt a little nauseous when she did a quick mental calculation. A good chunk of these people had been made redundant with the takeover. They had to know their jobs were on the chopping block.
There was another man already in the conference room when they entered. Liz stared in shock when she realized who it was. As she struggled to regain her composure, Brayden, the source of her surprise, made his introductions.
Kate gave Liz an odd look as Brayden shook Kate's hand.
"Liz and I went to Stanford together," Brayden exclaimed jovially.
"Is that right?" Kate replied, taking her hand back.
"You look lovely as always," Brayden said to Liz. Instead of shaking her hand, he brought it to his lips and kissed it.
Liz managed a tight-lipped smile. Brayden had been the class weirdo in her MBA program. He always followed her around and, on numerous occasions, tried to ask her out. He was strange but harmless. Still, she always had an odd feeling about him. Throughout her time in the MBA program, Liz tried to never be alone with Brayden.
"Svensson Investment, the private-equity firm I represent, owns a stake in Walsh Systech, so we have a board seat," he explained as he shook Grant's hand. "It's great to finally meet two of the world-famous Holbrooks."
That was the other thing about Brayden—he loved to schmooze. It made Liz's teeth hurt just listening to him talk. Thankfully, Brayden's brownnosing speech was interrupted by Wes, who walked into the conference room, followed closely by Robert.
He didn't shake hands; he simply took a seat at the head of the table.
"Thank you for attending today's board meeting," Wes said. Liz felt a little sorry for him. Gone was the devil-may-care, super-confident alpha CEO. Instead, there was a proud but clearly somewhat downtrodden billionaire.
"I'm sorry. It must be hard to have your company snatched away from you," Liz said in sympathy. Wes looked at her. Beyond the tiredness around his eyes, she saw an intense burning rage. It was all she could do not to jerk back in her seat. Regretting her decision to speak up, Liz continued to babble. "Look. I just want you to know we didn't purchase Walsh Systech to screw over your company. It was purely a business decision. This could be good for your company! Your employees will have access to all the resources of Holbrook Enterprises—"
"I don't care," Wes said in a clipped tone. "Let's continue with the meeting."
Grant looked between Liz and Wes with a smirk on his face.
"What?" growled Wes.
Grant chuckled. "I just find it funny, you know. Remember how at our last meeting you said you wanted to screw Liz? Take her back to your corner office and fuck her, if I recall exactly."
Liz could see the tendons in Wes's jaw. He was clenching his teeth so hard she thought he might crack one.
"Guess she screwed you," Grant said with a nasty smile.
"Grant," Kate hissed, "these meeting minutes are being recorded and are going out for public record since this is a publicly traded—"
Grant slammed his hands down on the table. Everyone flinched except for Wes. He glared at Grant. "The lesson you need to learn here is don't fuck with the Holbrooks," Grant said.
Liz sat ramrod straight in her chair. She couldn't believe Grant. What was his deal? She looked at Kate. Grant's wife was fuming.
"You know what the worst thing is?" Grant continued. "Liz did it! This girl fucked you over. She destroyed everything you've worked for, and she delivered it to me on a silver platter. That makes you look so weak, and we don't tolerate weakness at Holbrook Enterprises."
"Sit down!" Kate shouted at Grant.
He sat and crossed his arms, a satisfied look on his face.
"We will now commence this board meeting," Kate said through clenched teeth.
The rest of the meeting continued smoothly. They discussed the financial projections for the next year and short-term and long-range plans and how that would affect stock prices.
As soon as the meeting was over, Wes stalked out of the room.
The elevator ride down to the lobby was dead silent. Liz thought she would suffocate from the tension.
"There seems to have been too much testosterone in the room," Liz said, hoping to lighten the mood somewhat before they all crammed into the car for the ride back to New York City. Grant half rolled his eyes and put on his sunglasses.
"You were being such a dick!" Kate hissed as soon as they were all buckled in.
"It's not any worse than what he said to Liz the last time we were here," Grant scoffed.
"It was a bit over
the top, Grant," Walter said. "You have to admit that."
"You were laughing too," Grant said to his father. "Besides, Eric Davenport was furious that Wes talked to his sister like that," Grant countered. "I had to make it right with him."
"This is because of something my brother said to you?" Liz asked, incredulous. "I can handle myself. Thank you very much."
"I know, but," Grant shrugged, "I just don't care. I have the upper hand now."
"All you did was make Wes angry. Now he's probably going to retaliate," Liz said.
"Then we'll be ready for him," Grant said and took a phone call, signaling the conversation was over.
Though Holbrook Enterprises owned a controlling stake in Walsh Systech, Wes could still turn it into a nightmare situation for them, Liz thought.
I need to apologize to Wes before this all escalates, Liz decided. She hoped it wouldn't be too little, too late.
6
Wes
"So much for taking the high road," Wes muttered to himself as he pulled at the tie that felt like it was strangling him. "Why is it so hot in here?"
"This is unacceptable. That Grant Holbrook is out of control!" Robert yelled as he walked into Wes's office. "Why didn't you challenge him? Why did you let him talk to you like that?"
"I was trying to make it easier on the employees."
"That display from Grant shows that the Holbrooks have no intention of being nice. The takeover wasn't about business. It was about revenge. And I propose we concoct a revenge scheme of our own."
The thought of revenge shook him out of his daze. "I shouldn't have let them walk all over me like that," Wes snarled.
"The Holbrooks are despicable. I wish we could just burn them off the face of the planet," Robert said.
"What are you thinking?" Wes asked.
"I don't know," his COO admitted. "I think Rhonda has a few ideas up her sleeve. You know how she is."
"Are you still dabbling in explosives?" Wes asked Robert playfully.
"What did you have in mind?" Robert asked, a dangerous glint in his eye that Wes didn't like. "Blow up their tower?"
"No, no," Wes said. "It was just a joke."
Wes and Robert speculated about what the Holbrooks could have planned for Walsh Systech. Neither thought Grant would be anything other than ruthless.
"I need to go for a run or something," Wes said finally. "I didn't sleep much last night. I can barely function."
"I can tell," Robert said.
When Wes arrived back at his town house, Kal tip-tapped around him.
"You aren't used to seeing so much of me. Are you, boy?" Wes asked the dog, playfully tugging him back and forth.
While he was changing out of his suit, his phone rang. He ignored it. It rang again. He sent the call to voicemail. Then it beeped with a text message.
This is Liz.
From Holbrook Enterprises.
Do you have time in the next few days to meet up?
I'll buy you a drink.
We should talk.
"What the hell?" Wes sat down on the bed, one sock on his foot, the other in his hand.
Liz wanted to meet up with him. A part of him felt warm and happy, then the cold cynical CEO shut that down hard.
"She doesn't want to meet with you for any good reason," he said. He started composing a text message about how he would never have drinks with her.
Then he remembered Dana's suggestion about playing nice. He groaned. He knew she was right. Maybe he should try one more time. But he was so angry. He took a deep breath and called Dana.
"Call her—don't text her—and set up a meeting," Dana ordered. "You have to make nice."
"You're right. I just—"
"Want revenge?" Dana snorted. "That only happens on TV. Trust me. You don't even have a real plan for revenge."
"But Robert—"
"Robert's an idiot. An elaborate revenge scheme is just a fantasy. Be a man, and try to make the best of this. You have employees that are relying on you. Try to use this as a stepping stone to negotiate a better deal. Be the bigger person."
"Be the bigger person," he repeated after Dana hung up.
Steeling himself, Wes called Liz. She answered on the first ring; her voice sounded slightly nervous.
"Good evening, Liz," Wes said.
"Hi…"
"How can I help you?"
"I just wanted to know if you wanted to get a drink with me." She sounded slightly breathless.
"Is this business or pleasure?" he purred into the phone.
She squeaked, and he laughed.
"Oh, I just wanted to apologize for Grant's behavior."
"Business it is, then."
"Something like that," Liz said.
The phone was silent for a moment, and Wes thought the connection had been lost.
"So, six at the Olive and Twist tomorrow? I can text you the address," she finally said.
"Sounds fine," Wes said. "It's a date."
"Ah, yes a date. Sure thing."
Wes smiled as he tapped the phone to end the call.
He had always been too busy to date, but here he was, going out after work hours with an actual woman. It was just too bad that it was with his sworn enemy.
"Stop," he said to himself. "This is just a friendly gesture." The sex-starved part of his mind that he normally kept under lock and key said, Maybe we could make it something more.
The next evening, Wes was the first to arrive at the Olive and Twist. When he sat down at the reclaimed wood counter, the bartender gave him an odd look.
"Yes?"
"Nothing," the man said. "You just look familiar. You aren't one of the Holbrooks. Are you?"
"No," Wes said coldly. "Could I please have a whisky neat? Whatever you recommend."
"Coming right up."
As he waited for Liz, Wes slowly twisted the glass around in front of him. He didn't have to wait long before Liz bounded in. Her hair was slightly askew, and she was a little flushed from the heat.
Wes couldn't help but smile when he saw her.
"Hey!" she said and stuck out her hand. He took it gently and shook it. "Sorry I'm late. Could I have a Bee's Knees, please?" she asked the bartender as Wes pulled out a stool for her. She was so close to him. He could feel the heat from the late summer sun radiating off her, mingling with the sweet scent of her expensive perfume.
"You come here often?"
"Often enough," Liz said, biting her lip. "I don't know why I even suggested it. I, well, never mind."
"What?"
"Nothing." They sat there in silence while they waited on Liz's drink.
He studied her, letting his eyes wander over her body, taking in her oval face, her large hazel eyes. You should date her for real, the lustful part of Wes's brain supplied. He shut that thought down.
Liz met his gaze and gave him a soft smile. "I really am sorry for how everything played out."
"I probably deserved it," Wes said. "I never should have been so aggressive with my comments at that meeting."
"It's not anything I can't handle."
There was another long silence. The server brought Liz's drink, and she sipped it gratefully.
"So, your birthday is in a couple days, right? Do you have any plans?" she asked.
"How did you know that?" Wes asked, surprised. "Even I don't want to think about my birthday."
"Sorry, I guess that's weird, but it's on your Wikipedia page," Liz replied. "You're turning thirty! Good thing you took your company public a month ago. You just made the billionaires-under-thirty list for Forbes this year."
Wes made a face. "I wish I could just skip this birthday. It's been such a terrible year. It's like, 'Welcome to thirty. Here's a black eye and a kick in the nuts.'"
Liz giggled. "I hear that. I'm almost thirty, but I feel like I haven't accomplished anything. All my friends are married or in long-term relationships with great guys. And I have nothing." She sighed.
A server tried to squeeze past th
em in the crowded bar, and while leaning in to make room, Wes accidentally brushed against Liz. He felt her shiver at the touch. Wes smiled at her apologetically.
"I'm glad you came out," she said. The breathless tone was back. It was doing terrible things to Wes's self-control.
"Honestly, I wasn't going to. You won. I thought you just wanted to rub salt into the wound."
"You called me a stupid girl," she retorted.
"And I'm sorry," Wes said. "I could give you an excuse, but there is none."
"It's too late now," Liz said.
"Is it?" he asked. He was very close to her; their arms were practically touching.
Liz looked over the rim of her glass at him, caught in his gaze. She had nice tits, and he wanted to take her home, undo her hair, and unwrap her from her business suit. Their fingers were so close they were almost touching, and he let his fingertip lightly graze the back of her hand.
Liz's phone rang over the din in the bar, breaking the spell.
"Sorry, I… it's late, so I probably should be going," she said, rummaging around in her purse. "I'll be in touch with information about the transition."
"Okay," he said and handed the bartender his credit card.
"I invited you, so I should pay," Liz said hurriedly.
"I don't make women pay," Wes told her.
Liz made a slight face.
"It's how I was raised," Wes said stubbornly.
"Fine," Liz said and smiled. It wasn't a soft smile. It was a professional smile. He wondered if that was what she looked like when she ordered the hit on his company. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other," she said as she slid off the bar stool. Her skirt rose up a little, exposing her upper thigh. She noticed him looking, yanked her skirt back into place, and pushed her way through the crowded bar.
"Rough date," the bartender said when he handed Wes his receipt. "Here's a shot on me. You look like you need it."
"It wasn't…" Wes started to say then thought, Screw it, and downed the shot.
7