He was incredibly pleased to find out she worked for the company. He’d simply been planning on cutting off her cash supply by breaking her father. He would’ve been to the offices sooner had he known she was an employee. He should’ve done more research so he could’ve been prepared to see her that afternoon. Things were going so much better than he had hoped. He’d been expecting her to show up at his door, begging him to give her father some mercy.
Instead he had her working under him. That thought made his groin tighten once again. He really wanted her under him again. He wouldn’t take her until he was more under control, though. The whole point was to teach her a lesson for walking out on him, not falling for her all over again.
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration at how easily she got to him. There was a knock at his door and then Amy walked in. He didn’t like her personally but she was a shark when it came to business and a good addition to his staff.
She sauntered over to him, not quite able to control the fury in her eyes. “I thought we were going to be discussing everyone in the executive office who was going to remain on staff or be let go,” she said in her most seductive voice. It did nothing for him.
“I’m assuming you’re talking about Ms. Freeman,” he said.
“Ms. Freeman?” she asked in surprise. “Is she related to the previous owner?” she finished, losing some of her normally cool composure.
“Yes, she’s his daughter and I’m letting her keep her position for now,” he said in a voice that brooked no room for argument.
Amy stared at him, somewhat perplexed and more than a little angry. He could tell she was trying to figure out exactly what his and Jasmine’s relationship was. He didn’t have any desire to fill her in on his personal life. It was none of her business.
“Are you keeping her as some sort of power strategy?” she asked hopefully.
“Something like that,” he answered nonchalantly. The answer seemed to satisfy her. She once again put on her seductive persona. He sighed, as he thought he was most likely going to have to let her go. She was getting far too confident and starting to push boundaries.
She sidled closer to him. “Do you want to get some lunch, I’m starving. Or I could order in and we could eat here while discussing some more strategies,” she suggested as she sat on the edge of his desk.
Normally, he would’ve been turned on by the sight of a sexy lady propped up on the edge of his desk, deliberately showing off her uncovered thighs. He’d never been attracted to Amy, though. She wasn’t his type, in the least. He liked a far less power hungry type of person in his bed.
“Why don’t you and the other’s go out to lunch? I have a lot to get done before we start bringing people in. Besides, I will be going over some records with Ms. Freeman in a while,” he told her.
Her eyes narrowed again at the mention of Jasmine, and cemented his decision of letting her go. He wasn’t going to tolerate a jealous woman in his offices, especially when she had nothing to be jealous about.
There was another knock on the door and then his two most trusted employees stepped in, looking a bit frazzled. They weren’t easily shaken, so he was concerned. “What is it?” he asked them.
“Ms. Freeman basically kicked us out of her office and we weren’t sure of what you wanted us to do so thought it smarter to talk to you than cause a scene,” Greg said.
“I see, well you did the right thing. Ms. Freeman and I will be talking but for now go have some lunch and we will get things worked out this afternoon,” Derek said. He needed a break. It was always difficult when you had to fire people, especially when the takeover was a complete surprise to all those involved. He never enjoyed this part of his job. This company was his exception though and the ones who got fired were having it done because they deserved it.
The two men left before he could change his mind. Amy lingered for a moment and then followed them out the door. He called his head office and spoke to personnel there. He had them arrange a severance package for Amy and would have her employment ended before the day was out. Once she got back from lunch he’d send her over there. He hated when things got messy. He had a feeling she wasn’t going to go quietly, which was too bad.
He ordered some food to be delivered and then walked over to Jasmine’s office. He stood at her door and watched her for a while. She was engrossed in what she was doing and didn’t notice him standing there for several minutes. When she finally looked up and their eyes collided it was like he was being punched in the gut again. He really hoped that went away soon.