ME: What else is hard?
DALE: You're dangerous. A guy could easily get addicted.
I won't lie and say little butterflies aren't rumbling around in my stomach.
"How could you do this?" a man harps, glaring at me, pissing me off by interrupting my goofy grin time.
My smile evaporates as I study him.
"Buy a company legally and sell it? Because it's my legal right to do so."
"You bought up shares without anyone knowing, in a cunning, manipulative manner, and now you're destroying thousands of lives of the employees."
"Actually," I say, raising a finger as my darkest smile spreads, "only the management team-such as yourselves-will be replaced. Without severance, as is obvious. I mean, in a buyout, no severance is necessary from the newly established proprietor."
"This isn't a buyout. It's a fucking takeover," Baldy to my left growls.
"What happens when it's your company in this situation?" one asks, a veiled threat lying on the table now.
I smirk. "I'm too smart for shares. I own ninety-five percent of my own company. Those other five shares belong to one investor. He makes a killing off his five shares. You see, unlike you, I never took my company public, because of a risk just like this. Besides, you're the ones who were selling shares."
"Because we thought we were selling them to multiple investors," another snarls.
"And you were. I just bought them all-for more than they paid-from them."
"He's your father," one says in desperation. "This is his company."
"Actually, he only owns ten percent now. His wife took the company public and sold off her shares little by little until she only held twenty-two percent. I now own fifty-seven percent, and had the vote of four other shareholders to proceed with the sale. It's legal. Get over it."
They continue to argue and to try to plead to my humane side. When that doesn't work, they switch back to intimidation tactics. My father's lawyer is here to represent him and my stepmother, but I'm busy typing in a message to my buyer for this place so I can hurry up and get back to sexting Dale.
ME: Just to be clear, you've signed the contract stating all employees outside of management will remain in place?
FINN: Yes. I don't feel like training a new staff. And this business is already cultivated a large clientele. It's an unreal acquisition. Can't thank you enough for offering it to me first.
ME: Don't thank me. You're paying damn good money for this.
FINN: Thanks for reminding me. See you in a few weeks to close the deal.
ME: Make that Thursday. Speeding it up. The native money suckers are growing restless.
FINN: Perfect. See you Thursday. Just send the specifics when you have them.
The paperwork is waiting and ready for Finn, so it's not a hassle to move up the final signing.
I peer up at my lawyer as he goes all badass, spitting out a bunch of legal jargon and tossing out a few threats of his own. Lawsuits start shutting up people pretty quickly. Especially when delivered on my behalf.
I mean, if I'll steal my own father's company right out from under him, obviously I won't blink about leaving the rest of them in ruins.
This has been a long, two-year process to get to this point. Vivica is amazing at what she does though. It could have taken much longer in the hands of someone else.
Then she set me up with a buyer so I could force the deal through quickly, not leaving room for someone else to swoop in and start causing problems.
"If we're done here for the day, I need to go get my hair done. I have an important meeting in the morning with a few people."
I stand abruptly, not letting them know that it's my team of lawyers I'll be meeting. Demarco, the awesome lawyer he is, nods like he's going along with it.
"This isn't over," a guy hisses.
Demarco guides me out, and I look up at him as soon as we exit the building.
"Can they legally do anything at all?" I ask as we shuffle through Manhattan sidewalk traffic.
"No," he assures me. Again. I've asked that several times. "When your father and stepmother moved the business here and opened it up to the public to gather more investors and generate more wealth, they opened the door to a possibility such as this. I'm sure he underestimated you up until this point."
"You don't judge me?"
He snorts. "I sued a ninety-year-old woman for one client, because she didn't salt her icy sidewalk, and my client slipped and fell while delivering a package to her. Trust me, this case is actually one I enjoy."
Right.
Forgot I hired sharks like me.
"Good."
I remember I never messaged Dale back, so I quickly do.
ME: Is it too soon to admit I miss you?
DALE: I think you just like feeding my addiction. I'll call you tonight. Answer when I do.
ME: Make me. ;)
****
DALE: Is it Friday yet?
ME: I wish. Can you talk?
DALE: I can text. Right now there are four other Sterlings around me, and I'd rather not deal with the eavesdropping and embarrassing sound effects that will follow.
I laugh for reasons unbeknownst to me. In between meetings, I talked to him pretty much the entire day yesterday. And it ended with me hanging up for the last time and getting really acquainted with my rabbit. No, not the furry kind.
Bestiality is not my thing.
But vibrators are definitely my thing.
Sighing, I text him again.
ME: In that case, I won't mention that I wanted to face-time now because I'm naked.
DALE: Give me five seconds.
ME: KIDDING!
DALE: That's a horrible way to joke. Now I'm sitting with four of my cousins, and hiding a boner under the table. I believe that will get you punished.
I squirm in my seat, swallowing the knot in my throat as a thrill zings through me.
ME: Define punishment.
DALE: My hand across your ass, soothing away the burn as it turns a pretty shade of red.
I'm squirming again.
ME: Promises. Promises. Now I'm wet. But at least I don't have four others hovering around me to witness it.
DALE: This was a bad idea. I should have waited to sext you when I wasn't surrounded with no escape.
I grin, practically giggling like a girl.
DALE: By the way, Friday is also the day my asshole friends are having an untimely party. I should go, but I'd like it if you were there with me. I get that you don't like social things, but I hope you'll make an exception.
The bottom drops out of my stomach.
His friends? Being around his cousins and all the other ritzy popular people in Sterling Shore?
Popular people, Harley? This is not high school! You're a badass now, and popularity contests are for the weak.
ME: Sure.
I'm glad texts don't reveal tones. At least he thinks I'm totally chill right now and not internally freaking out.
DALE: Then I'll pick you up from the airport.
Now I have to go straight from the airport to their party? That's a six hour flight! And I'm not one of those unicorn women who step off the plane looking like they just walked off a runway.
In fact, I hate those women a little.
ME: I'll need to stop by my house and freshen up first. You can just pick me up from there. George is well-versed in airport pickups. He assured me of that.
DALE: You don't want me seeing you after a six hour flight before you freshen up, do you?
How does he know these things? It's diabolical for a man to be that intuitive.
ME: You scare me sometimes.
DALE: I'm just getting started, pretty girl. I'll call you as soon as I get out of here. I'm currently shoving Maverick to keep him from reading over my shoulder. I feel fucking ten again.
I laugh while texting him back, and I start looking for something sexy to have on when he calls. Because it will be face-time.
ME: No worries. I need to prep for my meeting with Finn Collier tomorrow.
I start to put my phone away, when it suddenly dings. Then dings again. And dings a third time before I can get back into my messages.
DALE: Finn Collier?
DALE: Finn Collier the underwear model?
DALE: Why in the hell would you need to be meeting with Finn Collier?
Is he jealous? Is Dale Sterling seriously jealous right now? I wish I could go back in time and tell my seventeen-year-old self that one day this would be my life.
ME: Finn Collier started as an underwear model, but he was a venture capitalist like you. Now's he's dipping his toes into the world of CEOs and about to have more hands-on responsibility. Weird stones to step on, I know. But he's cool and we have business to discuss.
DALE: How bad would it be if I told you I don't like knowing you're going to be alone with Finn Collier?
The fact he thinks a guy like Finn would even try to steal me away makes me fall a little harder for him. Dale really does think more of me than I ever thought he would.
The few models I played with were broke gold diggers-they weren't like Finn. Finn is a man of his own making with taste in women that rivals his taste in fine wine. Hell, even if he was interested, I'd never notice.
I'm too far gone for a freaking Sterling.
ME: I like knowing you're jealous. As far as Finn goes … I guess it's a good thing I have someone to come back to. <3
Chapter 23