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I raise my eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“You know, a date.” Stacy looks at me like I’m some moronic intern — not CEO of the whole damned company. “A woman, man, or nonbinary individual of your choosing whose company you can tolerate for the span of one evening.”
“By that definition, I should just bring Beckett.”
“You know what I mean,” Stacy groans. “I’m just asking that you show up with some eye candy, have a drink, and be reasonably civil to the press. Smile pretty for their pictures, and give vague, optimistic answers to anything they ask.”
I roll my eyes. Stacy knows as well as I do that putting me in front of the press is like putting my wolf in front of a box of baby bunnies. Disastrous.
“What’s the significance of this gala dinner?” I ask. “Who cares if I make the stupid 40 Under 40 list? And why would I bring a date — apart from the fact that misery loves company?”
“It’s not about the list, Dimitri. A number of top financial analysts and investors will be there, including Ian Gray.”
“Ian Gray?” I snarl, my hackles rising. “As in that pompous ass-clown who gives financial advice in twenty-second snippets on social media?”
“That pompous ass-clown is one of the top personal finance influencers in the world,” says Stacy. “He has an audience of nearly a hundred million followers.”
I narrow my eyes. “Your point?”
“My point is that when this man talks, people listen. And lately, he has not had good things to say about you or this company. We need to change that.”
I let out a tired sigh. I fucking hate the games that come along with running a Fortune 500 company. “And how do you suggest I do that?”
Stacy glances over at her underlings, who’ve been so quiet I’d almost forgotten they were here. They seem to take the hint. The three of them hurriedly gather up their papers and hustle out of the room.
“Wow,” I say. “This must be serious.”
“Look, Dimitri. I’m not going to bullshit you. There are a lot of people both inside and outside this company who think that you should step down.”
At those words, my wolf snarls. Disloyalty has been a trigger for me ever since Rhys’s betrayal, and it fucking infuriates my wolf. I open my mouth to demand names, but Stacy holds up a hand. “Before you jump down my throat, let me just say that I am not one of them. I believe in everything you’re trying to accomplish here, but you need to make some changes.”
“Like what?” I growl. “Kissing Ian Gray’s ass?”
“Yes.” She lets out an impatient huff. “Ever since you ordered the layoffs and retreated to your castle in Aspen —”
“Not a castle.”
“— people see you as this erratic recluse who has no business leading this company. When stock prices took a shit, you lost the public’s trust. And investors don’t want to stake their fortunes on a volatile hermit.”
I give her a deadpan look. “And appearing at this ridiculous function with a woman on my arm is somehow going to ingratiate me with investors?”
“Seeing you out in public enjoying the company of another human being would go a long way toward improving your image,” says Stacy. “At the very least, it would help you seem like a normal fucking person and less like a wild card.”
Except that I’m not a normal fucking person. I’m an alpha wolf who’s shut himself off from his pack. My every waking moment is a battle for self-control, and I can’t concentrate on anything other than the beautiful woman sleeping in the room down the hall from mine.
Stacy must see the resistance written all over my face, because she lets out a heavy sigh and straightens the stack of papers in front of her. “I’m just offering my advice, Dimitri. You can take it or leave it.”
Chapter Seven
Dimitri
Fifty-six hours and twenty minutes later, I’m pulling through the gates at my home in Aspen. The lights are on in the kitchen, and my heart gives a jolt when I see Jules standing at the sink.
The past few days have been absolute torture — nothing but back-to-back meetings, takeout, and endless fucking traffic. I haven’t let my wolf out to run since I left, and it feels as though he might claw his way out of my chest if I don’t shift soon.
But I’ve had one thing on my mind these last two days, and she’s standing in my kitchen.
I’m certain my eyes are practically golden as I prowl in through the side door. Her intoxicating cinnamon scent hits me the moment I walk in, and I close my eyes and breathe it in.
