by Lexy Timms
Mr. Matthews drew in a deep breath as the investors cleared their throats.
“We’re worried about our money,” he said. “I think it’s okay to speak for everyone when I say that.”
“Have you checked your bank accounts recently? Because I’m pretty sure profits still dropped in there this morning,” I said.
“Yes, and twenty million dollars of our own money has been funneling out this door for over a decade,” an investor said.
“Look, there’s nothing I can do about that. Eventually, we will see that money back. Everything Mr. Bryant owns will be liquidated and distributed among the companies he stole from.”
“So there’s more?” Matthews asked.
“Yes, there’s more. Two of my subcompanies and at least two more outside companies in Miami. He was also defrauding his own company. A regular Bernie Madoff he was.”
“Does the FBI know this?”
“They do. They’re digging into every single branch-off he could’ve made to steal from other companies. You guys seem to come at me like this doesn’t affect me, when really I’ve got twenty men up in arms about things that don’t affect them. And before you bite into me for that statement, let me remind you that you did see profit today. And nothing about that profit dropped. You still saw the same return Miss Ternbeau predicted for you, and you will continue to see the same profit despite what happens because I’m holding this fort down, and I’m pushing this company forward, and I’m getting it through its most brutal time.”
“And we appreciate that,” Matthews said, “but your reputation with the media is being decimated. Have you not turned on a television?”
“I’ve been staying away from the media since they want to chew me up and spit me out,” I said.
“How could we not have seen this sooner?” an investor asked.
“Because the accountant before Ashley did a shit job. Which was why I hired Ashley in the first place.”
“Ashley?” Matthews asked.
“Do you have a problem with her having a first name?” I asked.
“Don’t get snarky with us. We feed this company,” an investor said.
“Right now, all you’re doing is weighing this company down more. I could be repairing my image right now, but instead, I’m playing Mommy Dearest to a bunch of men who can’t stay out of this building for more than a few days without freaking out.”
“Then give us regular updates,” Matthews said.
“Stay away long enough for them and you will,” I said. “Look, I had no idea that beach trip was going to blow up like it did. But it has, despite the fact that the picture on the front of this garbage newspaper was taken illegally.”
“Then I’ll end our pointless meeting with this,” he said. “Either you clean up your reputation by the end of next month when the clean balance sheets come out, or we’ll have to consider pulling out.”
“You mean you’ll have to consider pulling out?” I asked.
“No, we’ll all consider it,” another investor said.
I saw all of them nodding their heads, and I felt myself pale. Again? They were threatening my fucking company again? I watched as my investors got up from the table in a huff like the divas they were and marched out of the room.
Leaving me there to reel in the demands they were making once again.
My gut reaction was to talk to Ashley. She always knew how to calm my head during moments like this. But with all eyes on me, it was a bad decision to go traipsing into her office or worse, pull her into mine. I leaned back in my chair and turned it toward the window, staring out over the expanse of Miami. A city that had once held me close in its grasp now had me bleeding in its claws, and I didn't know how to stop it.
For the first time since this entire shitstorm began, my mind was silent. Almost like I’d accepted my own death.
Chapter 18
Ashley
I had to admit, when Jimmy called me and told me to meet him at a hotel, I got a little excited. There was something thrilling about sneaking around with him, something about the forbidden that made everything we were doing more tantalizing. He shot me the number of the hotel room and told me what time to be there, and I went home from work and put on my best outfit, a little black dress with a slit up the back and some black pumps I had bought a couple of weeks back. I put on my best pearls and lined my eyes so they would look bigger than usual. Then I put in my contacts.
I piled my hair on my head, secured it with a pair of chopsticks like I had the night we met, and started for the hotel.
I kept my sunglasses on and stuck to the sides of the place. I walked in through a side door and made my way up to the room. I looked from side to side before I knocked on the door. Then, I raised my arm up and perched my body against the doorframe.
But when Jimmy opened the door, he looked like hell.
“Jimmy, what’s wrong?” I asked.
His eyes raked up and down my form before he groaned.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
“What?” I asked. “What's going on?”
I stepped into the room and quickly closed the door behind me.
“You obviously thought–”
“Screw what I thought. Jimmy, you look terrible. What’s wrong?” I asked.
“You look amazing. Like you always do.”
“Stop changing the subject.”
“The investors cornered me today.”
“What do you mean cornered? And why wasn’t I there?” I asked.
“It happened so quickly. It was right after my meeting with my lawyer.”
“How did that go?” I asked.
“As well as could be expected. The digging could take months, and the trial could take months, and everything could take months even though I don’t have months.”
“What did the investors do?” I asked.
I sat down next to him on the hotel bed and rubbed his back with my hand.
“They’re giving me until the end of next month to clean up my act or they’re all going to take a step back.”
“Why? Did they even check their accounts today?”
“That's exactly what I told them, but their eyes are glued to the media, and apparently, my public image isn’t all it’s cracked up to be right now. They’ve once again threatened to pull out if I don’t fix things.”
“Did you tell them to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine?” I asked.
“I was firmer with them than usual. I told them barging in on me like they were doing all the time wasn’t helping matters. That I didn’t look phased because I had twenty men panicking on me every few hours.”
“No, you didn’t,” I said with a giggle.
“I did. And they weren’t appreciative of it.”
“Well, they are walking on you a little bit. Are you sure there isn’t a chance you could rebuild your investor board?”
“Ashley, it would take years. Big Steps and its subcompanies would go under completely before I rebuilt.”
“So what do they want you to do?”
“That’s the thing. They didn’t give specifics. Just ‘clean up your image before the end of next month.’ ”
“So they don’t even have a standard. For all you know, they’re planning on pulling out anyway,” I said.
“Yep.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this at work?”
“Because I figured with all eyes on me it didn’t look good pulling you into my office to talk.”
“You could’ve come to mine.”
“Still wouldn’t have looked good,” he said.
“You know, if you wanted to talk about the investors, you could’ve invited me over to your place,” I said.
“Paparazzi are swarming the other side of the road from my complex. They aren’t technically breaking the law, but they’re being a pain in the ass. I couldn’t risk you getting bombarded by them as you came up.”
“They aren’t at my place.”
“Are you sa
ying you don’t like the hotel room?” he asked.
“I’m saying I understand. You’re floundering, and you’re grasping at straws. I’m simply trying to walk through your mindset. What you do understand and what you don’t so I can better help you.”
“You’re amazing, you know that?”
“Only because I have you,” I said.
I cupped his face and turned his gaze my way. His back straightened up as his hand perched behind my body. My thumb graced his cheek as his eyes danced between mine, and then his gaze fell to my lips.
“You know, it’s kind of hot you wanted me to meet you at a hotel,” I said.
“You naughty little girl,” Jimmy said with a chuckle.
“Maybe we could make the most of it?”
I watched Jimmy’s eyebrows hike up onto his forehead as I leaned in to kiss him. My lips pressed against his, and his hand met my lower back, pulling my body into him. My arms slinked around his neck as we sank to the bed, our tongues colliding in an effortless lust. He rolled me over, my legs parting for him as the fabric of my dress rolled up. His hands were inching up the inside of my thigh as my hands grabbed at the collar of his shirt.
“You’re so warm,” Jimmy said.
“Touch me,” I said. “Anywhere you want.”
My hands ran through his hair as his fingers danced along my skin. I loosened his tie and tossed it to the side, my fingers tracing along his buttons. I craved him. My body was shaking for him. I felt his cock growing against my thigh as his hand cupped my clothed pussy.
“So very warm,” Jimmy said.
I sighed as he massaged me, his lips pressing into my neck.
I rolled into his hand as I pushed his shirt off his shoulders. His lips drew my skin between his teeth, nibbling little marks onto my skin. I moaned and whimpered, pressing my body into his hand as he teased me with his touch.
But a commotion outside prompted us to stop.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Stay here,” Jimmy said.
He got up from the bed, and I sat upright. He held out his hand to get me to stop moving as he moved toward the sliding glass doors. He peered outside as the commotion grew, and I could tell by the fire rising in his eyes that it wasn’t good.
“Fuck.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Paparazzi.”
“What?” I asked.
“They found us.”
“Well, they can’t come in, can they?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter. They know we’re here together. It’ll only be a matter of time before the first article is published.”
“How did they figure out we were here?” I asked. “We staggered our entrances. I dressed like I don’t normally do. I came in through the side door. I did everything you asked.”
“The only thing I can think is someone saw me coming in and alerted the press for a quick fucking buck. Shit.”
“What are we going to do?” I asked.
“Give me a second.”
But the crowd was growing outside, and they were gazing up like they knew what room we were in. I got up from the bed, and Jimmy moved away from the window, closing the blinds in the process.
I looked over long enough to see everyone’s heads craned back, though.
They definitely knew what room we were in.
“It’s someone from downstairs,” I said.
“What?” Jimmy asked.
“They’re all looking up at our balcony. Someone from the front desk gave out our information.”
“Then someone from the front desk is about to lose their damn job.”
“Jimmy, now isn’t the time to react. We need to be proactive. We have to get this situation under control,” I said.
Jimmy strode over to me and took me in his arms. His lips crashed to mine, and I could feel his want for me. I gripped his shirt and pulled him into me, savoring his lips against mine.
How I wished we could spend one night together without the worries of the world dancing outside.
“You take the hotel room for the night,” he said. “I’ll put myself together and leave. Act like I had a meeting or something. I’ll make an extra special stop by the front desk to let the manager know I’ll be informing the community of their relaxed press policies.”
“Jimmy.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll do it with a smile,” he said. “In the morning, you can sneak out the back of the hotel, and no one will notice. I’ll have my driver waiting back there for you at eight in the morning. Since you’re in a fabulous new outfit, you can come to work in that and change. You’ve got clothes in that rolling wardrobe, right?”
“Yes. And I never thought I would need it, but now I’m glad I have it,” I said.
“Don’t order from room service. I’ll make sure a nice dinner is sent to you tonight along with a bottle of fine wine. I’ve got chefs around this area I would trust with this kind of thing, but the room service in this hotel I’m not so sure of any longer. Expect dinner around six.”
“Will do,” I said.
I watched Jimmy get dressed before he kissed me one last time. I wanted him to stay. I wanted him to stay with me, and we could sneak out together. I wanted to tear up this hotel room and use the jacuzzi tub I knew was in the bathroom. I wanted to hold him while we bathed, eat dinner with him, and walk like nothing was going on outside.
Like the world wasn’t trying to rip us apart.
Instead, I watched him leave, and it left me wondering if we could really do this. We couldn’t even meet at a hotel without being spotted and without the world wondering what debaucheries were taking place. Nowhere was safe and no one was safe, and that meant we weren’t safe.
Could I really stay in a relationship with a man if I didn’t feel safe?
I sat on the edge of the bed and allowed the tears to come. I didn’t try to stop them, and I didn’t try to wipe them away. There were moments when things felt perfect, when it felt like the world was finally looking up at us instead of down on us. Then, there were moments like the one I was in when I was sitting in a lonely hotel room shut off from the world with my dress rolled up, hickies on my neck, and an emptiness in the pit of my stomach.
And I was back to wondering if things could really work with us.
Chapter 19
Jimmy
I lay in bed all night wondering what Ashley was doing. Was she using the jacuzzi tub and drinking the wine I sent her? Was she curled up naked in bed and enjoying the plethora of movies on the television for her to watch? Did she enjoy the steak I sent her? What did she think about the crème brûlée?
I hadn’t heard from her all last night, so it shouldn't have shocked me when I woke up to an email from her saying she was taking a personal day.
But it hurt.
I felt sick. It seemed like every time I needed her for something, she was taking off, calling in sick when she wasn’t sick or taking personal days when I needed her here the most. The investors were floundering and hounding my inbox, and she was needed to keep an eye on balance sheets and transactions that were taking place.
And yet, she was nowhere to be found.
It hurt. And the worst part was, I had no idea why she was avoiding me again or why she wasn’t at work when this company was at such a critical point. Yes, I had given her back the laptop so she could remote in, but at this juncture with the company, it was imperative we put up a strong front. Every time she didn’t come into work, it made corporate look weak. It stirred up rumors and mutterings between everyone who saw me here but didn’t see her. If she wanted the rumors to stop, this wasn't the way to make them stop.
No matter her reason for calling out, I wasn’t going to let her slip away this time. I wasn’t going to let her back away from me like she had before. We were on good footing, and just because yesterday fell through didn’t mean things weren’t going to work with us. She was being paranoid. We could make this work. Every company went through rough patches like this,
and we needed to find a way to work through the stress.
At least, I kept telling myself that.
“Knock, knock,” Trish said.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“So, Markus popped back up on the map.”
“In China?” I asked.
“Nope. On the other side of Canada. Don’t know how he got there, but he’s there. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for his own company.”
She tossed the papers onto my desk before she sat down in the chair in front of me.
“So why is he not in handcuffs?” I asked.
“Because he only went in to hand off the paperwork he’d signed. His lawyer is working with him to keep him as off the radar as possible. At least, that’s what we assume.”
“So, again. Why is he not in handcuffs?”
“Because he only popped up on a camera outside of a store a few minutes after he dropped the signed papers off to his lawyer. He’s got a small pad in the scenic area around there that he kept off the books. The house was in the name Lou Roth.”
It made me sick to even hear that fucking name.
“The investigators believe he’s coming back down to Miami eventually to wipe the rest of his businesses clean and take off. To declare bankruptcy in the US installment of his company, he has to be in the US, specifically, in the state where his headquarters operates.”
“So he’s coming back,” I said.
“That’s what the investigators think. But it doesn’t look good. He can file from any place in Florida so long as he files in Florida. If he succeeds, he can dissolve, take off to a place with no extradition, and that’s that.”
I nodded my head as I chewed on the inside of my lip.