Treachery

I’m sitting in the fucking conference room of my office staring at three newbie attorneys who couldn’t find their dick in their pants without a detailed map.

Columbia.

Harvard.

Princeton.

These three idiots came with high marks and expensive degrees, the brag framed on their walls a load of bullshit, apparently, given how badly they’ve fucked up the merger between Hollister Technologies and Maxim Communications.

This project should have been easy as cake, the marriage of two power mongers that control over half of the information networks ru

This isn’t the biggest money to be had, which is why Gabriel wasn’t all over it, but instead of greasing a few palms and sticking to grey areas, these three stooges decided to follow the actual laws in the states where the companies operate and got us caught in a shitstorm of loudmouthed complaints and threats about monopolies and antitrust suits.

I lean back in my seat, eyeing each one of them as they squirm in front of me. Except this time, it’s not the need to take a piss that makes them wiggle, it’s the hell I’m about to rain down on them for making it necessary for me to be here.

“You,” I point at the stout fucker on the left with chubby cheeks, a ruddy complexion and wire-framed glasses. “Tell me, Larry. Do you even know the definition of loophole?”

He tugs at his collar, sweat rolling down his neck.

“My name is James, Mr. Caine.”

“Not right now, it’s not. For the next hour that I’m tearing you all a new asshole, your names are Larry, Curly and Moe. Because rather than handling this merger with the finesse needed to keep the shareholders happy, you three dumb fucks decided to actually comply with federal regulations and reporting guidelines.”

My eyes snap to the middle guy.

“Curly, explain to me why I have the governor of a flyover, forgettable state leaving me messages that he has the FTC breathing down his neck because you decided to give a goddamned statement to the media.”

Middle Guy’s eyes widen so much that I can see the veins behind them. He swallows hard, shifts in his seat, and looks to Larry and Moe like they might be able to help him.

Realizing that Middle Guy is useless, I snap my gaze to the asshole on the right.

“Moe, tell me how many times you idiots have been instructed-“

My phone vibrates over the surface of the table. Glancing down at the screen, a

Holding up a finger to tell them to give me a minute, I thumb the screen and bring the phone to my ear, pi

“This better be important. I’m already in a shitty mood because of the Hollister fuckup.”

“Drop it for now, and meet me at Luca’s apartment.”

My feet stop in place. “Why?”

“Somebody trashed her place.”

My jaw tics. “What was she doing there?”

Gabriel sighs into the phone.

“To gather more clothes to take to your house. At least, that’s what she claims.”

Skin bristling at that, I hate myself for even listening to him about letting her leave with Ava.

Of course, she went home.

This is Luca we’re talking about.

A woman who’s impossible to tame and a serious headache just because she can be.

“Who the fuck trashed her place?”

“I don’t know, Ta

Storming back to the conference room, I point at the three dipshits pissing their pants because my expression screams murder.

“You three. The good news is you have a day to fix your fuckup before I get back. The bad news is you’re too stupid to fix it and will probably be fired anyway. Get to fucking work.”

I hear a low groan through the phone.

“Please tell me those weren’t James Schaffer, Luis Halstead and Calvin Graham. They’re our best associates and have the most experience in the firm.”

Too angry to see straight, I wouldn’t give a shit if they were Santa, the Easter Bu

“This is why you should be here more often. I’m not suitable for dealing with morons.”

“I’m there every day.”

Not today he wasn’t, so I can’t be blamed.

When I don’t say anything, he mutters, “Whatever, I’ll smooth it over tomorrow. For now, get to Luca’s. I’ll see you there.”

William Cross’s words are filtering through my thoughts as I storm into my office to grab my keys, the subtle tick tock he said to me on repeat with every step I take.

It isn’t until I leave my office and storm to the private elevator bank that Lacey runs up behind me, her heavy panting indicating she’d been chasing me for some time.

“Your father is on line one,” she breathes out, her face red and the veins on the side of her head bulging.

Afraid she might stroke out as she gets older and stays out of shape, I make a mental note to buy this woman a gym membership to add to her yearly bonus.

I’ve been speaking to my father way too much to be comfortable these past few days. Considering where I’m headed and why I’m headed there, I know I should take the call, dig a little, see what he has to say about the game they are playing alongside ours.

Still, I’m not in the mood to deal with him.

The elevator doors ding open as I snap out my response.

“Pencil him in for three months from now. I’ll be out of the office for the rest of the day.”

“Thank God,” she mumbles as the doors close. I pretend I didn’t hear her. Lacey tends to openly pray a lot when I’m in the office, and I make another mental note to address that in next year’s updates to the company policies.

It takes me another twenty minutes to get to Luca’s shitty side of town, my jaw tight as I weave through traffic, my foot slamming on the brake every few seconds because people have no idea how to drive.

When I pull into her parking lot, I spot Gabriel’s Jaguar, Mason’s Range Rover and Ezra’s Ducati all illegally parked near the fire lane.

Parking behind them, I wonder why they didn’t ride together as I get out and march into the building.

The elevator takes too fucking long, the building about one strong wind away from crumbling down to its foundation. It pisses me off that Luca lives here, that she’s been reduced to this. And while I know I played a role in it, I also know that she could have already fixed this nightmare if she would just give me what I want.

But no.

Not Luca.

She would rather hold on to her damn pride by fighting me tooth and nail. And that says something about her. She’s not the type to worry about living in the gutter when it comes to how she sees herself. Flashy cars and expensive houses aren’t what impress her.

I recognized it back at Yale. Fucking hated it because it made my life harder. But at the same time, I loved it because it set her apart from everyone else.

Luca better fucking fix her life when she gets the money owed to her. If she so much as donates a pe