Bailout (Out of the ATL Book 1)

by Kimbra Swain

  The face in the mirror looked confused and undecided. I gripped the edges of the sink and thought about her intoxicating laugh. The glint of playfulness in her green eyes. The softness of her cheeks despite the tears that fell. She was human. Could I destroy a human? She’d done it to me, but she seemed contrite.

  “The bigger question is do you want to fuck her or fuck her over,” I said to myself. I knew the answer to that one. The jump in my crotch answered that one for me. “Oh, hell.”

  Standing in my closet, I stared at all my suits. There had to be something other than an Armani or Calvin Klein. A new start. A new suit. Then it hit me, in a crazy binge with some buddies, we all bought Tom Ford suits to look like James Bond. It was a silly notion, but I fished the Tom Ford out of the closet. A navy coat with a subtle pinstripe would do just fine. I paired it with a crisp white shirt and navy polka-dot tie. Perfect. Product through my hair, cologne on my neck and all I needed was a watch.

  I loved watches. I preferred expensive ones, but I liked unique things too. I owned several wooden watches. The idea intrigued me and provided a great focus of conversation when trying to make it work with a lady. I pulled out my jewelry drawer of watches. Naturally, I picked a blue-faced Omega to match my James Bond suit.

  Once more I asked myself in the mirror before heading out the door, “What have you decided? Are you working with her or against her?”

  “No,” I answered myself. “I’m working for me.”

  When I entered the floor with my executive office, Kelly sprang to her feet. “Jamey? You look great.”

  “Yeah, decided it was time for something new,” I said marching into my office.

  “So, give me the run-down of yesterday with the takeover,” I said.

  She shut the door behind us and paused to stare at me as I looked down several blocks toward the Malone building. “Um, well, there are a lot of requests for interviews.”

  “No. Tell them that all media questions are to be directed toward Malone. If she wants me to talk to the press, she will let me know. I’ll just avoid them for now,” I said. “What else?”

  “The IT department is complaining about the recent shipment of chips. It seems that they are faulty like the tablets we sent to Malone two months ago,” she said.

  “Who are we getting these defective parts from?” I asked knowing that some parts we were receiving now were coming from Abrego’s outfit.

  “I’ll talk to Jerry in IT, and find out for you,” she said. “Also, Miss Malone’s assistant called to ask if you were available for dinner tonight.”

  I drew in a breath. “What should I do, Kelly?”

  My sincerity astonished her. “Why are you asking me?”

  “Because I don’t know what to do. I hate her, but part of me completely understands what she did. I would have done very much the same thing in her position although I’m still not sure why the success of Bright Technologies matters to her.”

  “I think you should go to dinner with her,” she said.

  “We were together last night,” I said. Her eyes widened. “No, no. Not like that. I went down to talk to Kellan, and apparently, she had the same idea.”

  “You were at Kellan’s when it was shot up?” she asked frantically.

  “Yes, we both were. I’m fine. Thanks for asking,” I said.

  She grimaced. “I’m glad that you are, but what were you doing with her?”

  “At the moment it happened?” I laughed. “We were actually dancing.”

  “You are smiling,” she said.

  “Yeah, it was an interesting conversation,” I replied.

  “You like her,” she insisted.

  “I’d like to fuck her,” I said.

  She threw her pen at me. “Jamey!”

  “What? It’s true. She’s hot,” I said trying to lead my cousin to think I was just the cad I lived my life to be.

  “You don’t fool me, Jamey,” she said immediately. I should have known I couldn’t fool her. She shook her head and laughed. Sitting down on the couch in my office, she stared at me waiting for the truth.

  I sat down in my chair and steepled my fingers. “Look, whether I go along with this little coup of yours and hers, or not, remains to be seen. But, I saw something in her last night that made me think that the tough exterior she puts off isn’t entirely solid. A vulnerability. I need to hold that in my pocket until I completely understand what she’s doing with Bright. It’s my company, and I will get it back.”

  She smiled and stood. She’d carried a folder into the room with her. Carefully, she laid it on my desk. “Here, this will help,” she said and trotted out the door.

  I pulled the folder over to me. The letterhead was from Malone. Inside contained a contract and a hand-written note.

  Mr. Elliot, I have no intentions of taking your company from you permanently. My actions today I hope will save Bright Technologies. Bringing it under the Malone umbrella, for the time being, will establish a semblance of faith in your operations. You should see an immediate upswing in your sales and inquiries. Malone will take the hits for you while Bright strengthens under its stability.

  After a time, it is my full intention to sell all the shares I hold in Bright back to you personally. I will not return them to those who so easily gave them away as if they were worthless trash. They didn’t deserve to hold them in the first place.

  I know what you must think of me right now, and hopefully, I can prove to you that the moves I’ve made were not only in the best interest for Bright but for you as well.

  Sincerely, Alexandra Malone

  I flipped through the contract that named me as CEO of Bright Technologies as well as a Vice President of Purchasing at Malone Enterprises. My salary would double its current payout even though I technically hadn’t collected a salary in months. After a span of two years or the complete reversal of Bright’s downward slide, Malone would sell the shares she held back to me at a fraction of their potential worth.

  I rubbed my head. It seemed too good to be true. Pulling up my accounts on the computer, I accessed my bank account. The balance blew me away. A half million dollars sat in my account which was on the verge of overdraft status just yesterday. Each credit card I had was paid in full. Opening my email, I found a note from the bank regarding my condo. I clicked on it, and it said that the condo was paid in full and that the deed would be mailed once the state processed the ownership change. I expected it to be in the name of Malone Enterprises, but to my surprise, it was deeded to Synclair James Elliot.

  I groaned and pushed away from the desk swinging my chair around to stare at the shiny blue building that walled in my apparent savior. Every prideful bone in my body screamed at me to be a man and tell her to take all of it and shove it up her pretty ass, but I couldn’t.

  Swinging back around to the desk, I buzzed Kelly.

  “What’s up boss?”

  “Get me Alexandra Malone on the phone,” I said.

  “Sure thing,” she said.

  Fourteen

  ALEXA

  In the middle of the night, I got up from the couch with Garrett. Placing a blanket over him and kissing him on the forehead, I stalked away to my bedroom. Turning on the shower, I stood in the warmth of the spray and thought of Mr. Elliot. I couldn’t get him out of my head. This was very bad. The last time I had a guy like this on the brain, it cost me a million dollars.

  One night out at an art gala, I’d met Thomas Richter. He was a lefty pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. Tommy had stunning blue eyes and a slender muscular body. He asked me to dance, and I couldn’t tell him no. He asked me out several times, and eventually, I gave into him. We slept together after that first date. The sex was fantastic. I wasn’t in love, but I loved making it with him. I attended a couple of ballgames, but pitchers didn’t play all the time. I only got to see him play once.

  He called me over one night to join him for a few drinks at his house in Alpharetta. Sebastian dropped me off, and I went into the house
as I always did to find him already engaging with a beautiful brunette on the couch, in his large living room.

  “Hey, Lexy, come join us. This is Anna,” he said with her lips wrapped around his cock.

  Stunned for a moment, I stared at her working on him. “Um, Tommy, I’m not interested in a threesome,” I said.

  “That’s okay. Anna can leave, and you can finish this for her,” he laughed. An empty bottle of crown sat on the table. His flushed cheeks and drowning eyes clearly indicated that he was drunk.

  “I don’t think so,” I said turning back to the door. Grabbing my phone, I dialed Sebastian.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Come get me now,” I said bolting down the long private drive to the front gate. Tommy stood at the doorway screaming at me to come back. I looked back at him to see that the talented Miss Anna had followed him to the door like a dick sticker. I pushed the button for the gate to open, but it wouldn’t. I started beating on the keypad as he shut the door laughing at me. I felt a panic attack coming on, so I picked up a rock from the side of the drive and beat the hell out of the keypad until the gate opened. As I slipped through, Sebastian pulled up.

  “Get in,” he said helping me to the car. He jumped in and we drove away.

  The next day I got a call from Mr. Richter’s lawyer who said he was sending a bill for the keypad and gate. He also had a bunch of non-disclosure agreements for me to sign. All in all, after legal fees, the whole ordeal cost me a million. No more baseball, basketball or football players. I’d already sworn off lawyers and cops. I was running out of options. What I really needed was to get over myself and accept the fact that no relationship would ever work. Not even the casual kind.

  I dried off and walked to the kitchen in a robe to start the coffee pot, but I quickly smelled the evidence that someone already started it. I glanced at the clock in the hallway that said 4:32 a.m. Garrett stood leaning on the counter sans shirt with a coffee cup pressed to his lips. I swallowed a gasp and tiptoed to the coffee pot. He handed me a cup.

  “Thanks,” I muttered.

  He stared at me, but I refused to look in his eyes. I also refused to look at his bare chest. Pushing back memories, I took a deep breath. He chuckled. “You never change,” he said.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I shot at him.

  “You like what you see, but you push it away. In control. Never letting go,” he said.

  “Well, I’m so glad you know me so well, Garrett Shepherd. Isn’t it about time you put clothes on and got to work?” I said.

  He wrapped one arm around my waist pulling me to his side. “I’d rather lose the rest of the clothes and help you loosen up, but I’m well aware that you will rebuff me once again,” he said with a sly grin.

  “Then if you already know what I’m going to do, why bother?” I asked.

  “Because I like to see you blush,” he laughed. I swatted him on the arm and pulled away from him, but I didn’t realize he had the tie of my robe. When I stepped away, it loosened and started to fall.

  “Garrett!” I blushed struggling to keep the robe closed and on my shoulders.

  “One day, that robe won’t be the only thing loose,” he grinned. I walked to him and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Get the hell out of here,” I said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he grinned and trudged to the living room where I assume he left his shirt. He took the damn thing off on purpose. I leered at him as he buttoned it up. “If you need me, you know I’m here.”

  “I’m fine,” I said.

  “Not for that, Alexa. For whatever you need. You are right. We are friends. Please be safe,” he said as he closed the door behind him. He was a damn good man. Too good for me.

  I caught up on the news on the way to work. The barrage against my move to acquire Bright was still on-going. Ignoring the nay-sayers, I looked at the stocks. We’d taken a hit, but it wasn’t major. With the sealing of the first deal that I had lined up for Bright, the stocks would jump. I pulled up Bright’s financials and saw that indeed it received a boost despite the negative press.

  Entering the office, I strode past Charity who was playing flutter-eye with Damien across the room. Damien jumped up and followed us into the office, and I heard Charity scrambling around with the coffee machine.

  She rushed in a moment later with a coffee cup. Sitting it on the desk, she backed away and shut the door for our morning run down.

  “Alright, what have we got?” I asked.

  Sebastian started, “I talked to Garrett on the way up. We are definitely looking at the Abrego group. We should get Mr. Elliot over here as soon as possible, to find out what he knows about all of it.”

  “I agree. Perhaps after yesterday he will play nice, but don’t count on it,” I said.

  “He actually has called already this morning,” Charity said.

  “Oh really?” I was surprised to hear it.

  “In fact, he’s on hold,” she said.

  “What?”

  “He’s been there for almost thirty minutes. I told him I’d have him call you when you came in, but he insisted that he would wait,” she said.

  “Oh, hell,” I said. “Anything else right now?”

  “No, but do you still want to have lunch with Javier?” she asked.

  “Yes, please, set that up. Serafina is fine,” I said.

  She nodded and left the room with Damien. Sebastian stared at me. “Don’t let him manipulate you, Alexa.”

  “You act like this is my first go-around,” I said.

  “It is your first go around with a man who has seen you weak,” he reminded me.

  Closing my eyes to maintain my composure, I heard him shift in his seat. “Is that all, Bastian?”

  “I’m sorry,” he said. He meant it.

  “It’s okay. Just go,” I said. He stood looking at me with pain in his eyes.

  Leaning back in my chair, I took a deep breath. Picking up the receiver instead of hitting the speaker button, I said, “Hello?”

  “Good morning, Miss Malone,” his chipper voice came through the line.

  “Good morning, Mr. Elliot. I’m sorry you had to wait so long. I only arrived just a few moments ago,” I explained. We started our day here earlier than most executives. Generally, I made it to the office by 8 a.m. It was only 7:30 a.m. now.

  “It’s okay. I wasn’t sure what time you’d get in the office. I received the contract that you sent to me. When did you send this?” he asked.

  “Yesterday afternoon before I left the office,” I explained. It was the last- ditch business effort that I thought I could give him to get him to agree to work with me instead of against me.

  “I would like to talk to you about it over lunch,” he said.

  “Actually, I have lunch plans,” I said. “But you are welcome to come by the office at any time. If you sign the contract, I have an office here for you.”

  “I’d like to talk to you outside of the office,” he said. “Perhaps dinner?”

  “Sure, that’s fine. Just arrange the details with Charity,” I said.

  “No, I want to arrange the details with you,” he said forcefully.

  I took a deep breath. “Sure. Where and what time?” I asked.

  “I will pick you up at 7:00 p.m. Just tell me where to find you,” he said.

  “By 7, I should be at home. If something changes, I’ll let you know,” I said.

  “Sounds great. I will see you then, Miss Malone,” he said and hung up.

  I sat back in the chair and buzzed Charity.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Get in here,” I said.

  She laughed hysterically. “I’m glad you find this funny,” I spouted at her. I had told her about my conversation with Mr. Elliot and filled her in on how he refused to schedule the dinner with her.

  “He didn’t say where we were going. How am I supposed to know what to wear?”

  “He’s manipulating the manipulator! It’s
great. You’ve met your match, girl,” she laughed.

  “I’m tired of all of you insinuating that this reckless, arrogant prick is somehow a match for me,” I growled.

  She continued to laugh. “It’s because you are your own sort of arrogant. Hell, I dare say the first time the two of you have sex, it will be angry sex. Yum.”

  I buried my face in my hands. “Oh, dear god, please stop.”

  “Is this a bad time?”

  “Fucking hell!” I exclaimed as I looked into the playful green eyes of Mr. Elliot standing in my doorway. He laughed, but sobered when I tilted my head at him. He pulled on his lapel and winked. “Get out, Charity.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” she said stalking past him. I wasn’t sure what look she gave him as she exited, but it caused him to laugh.

  “Please, come in,” I said as I stood.

  He walked in wearing a navy pin-stripe suit that was neither Armani nor Calvin Klein. “Something wrong with my attire, Miss Malone?”

  “No, of course not,” I said. “How much of that conversation did you hear?” He grinned. “Oh, hell!” I said and buried my face in my hands again as I felt the flushness warm my cheeks and spread down my neck.

  “I heard two girls talking about silly things when they thought no one was listening. I won’t hold either of you to it,” he said.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Elliot?” I asked through my hands.

  He slid a file folder across the desk to me. Peeking through my hands I stared at it. I took a deep breath and reached for it. Opening the file, I found the contract I’d sent to him yesterday afternoon. Each page was initialed at the bottom and the final page was signed. I gawked at it. “It’s all in order,” he said.

  Looking up at him, I didn’t know what to say. “You said you wanted to talk about it over dinner.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it now. Just wanted you to have the signed copies for your records. I fully intended to sign it, but over dinner, we can discuss the minutiae of the contract,” he said confidently. “I also want to thank you for the arrangements you made on my account and paying off my condo.”