Page 7 of Lethal Salvation

He thought he heard her mutter something under her breath but when his eyes flashed to her face, she was merely looking at him waiting for him to answer.

“You need to learn to satisfy my needs quickly, Miss Benassi. I don’t have the time to train you and hold your hand like a goddamn babysitter. I’m demanding and if you can’t handle that, I suggest you pack your shit and leave.”

He was pushing her; he knew it and so did she. Gideon wasn’t even sure if he wanted her to tell him to stick his job up his ass and the chance at catching Carter with it or if he wanted her to stay and keep delivering this torture on a daily basis.

He saw her eyes flicker, a fire growing beneath the calm façade she was showing the world. He had the sudden urge to peel back each layer until she was nothing but heat and passion. As quickly as it came, it was smoothed away as if he’d never glimpsed it.

“Absolutely, Mr Cavendish. Is there anything else?”

The capitulation made his stomach settle but did nothing to ease the ache in his balls. “No.”

He turned on his heel and walked back to his office, slamming the door so hard it rattled the hinges and feeling more unsettled and gnarly than when he went out there. He fought the urge to reach up and loosen his tie. Showing a weakness by looking rattled to anyone was a mistake he’d learned at a young age, and letting her see him ruffled was a weakness.

Head down, he opened his emails and saw the Macey reports in his inbox with the time stamp thirty minutes ago. He wondered why she hadn’t told him she’d sent them over already. Perhaps she wanted him on the back foot. For him to feel contrite but he didn’t. She was there to do the work of PA as her cover, and she damn well better learn that he required, no demanded, utter perfection from his staff and executed the same level of discipline for himself.

He kept his head down, ignoring her when she delivered his lunch, not even saying thank you. It was how he’d be with anyone else, and he was resolved to act the same way with her.

By late afternoon, he’d finally got his head into work. The Macey contract was huge, a fashion house they’d been coveting for years and would finally give them the foothold in the US that they wanted.

What he didn’t like was the email he got from Carter asking for him to send over the financials for the take-over plan. Nothing good would ever come from Carter or his mother, Marsha, poking their noses in where it wasn’t wanted. This side, his side, of the business was clean, and he was killing himself trying to distance himself from the shady side.

His father marrying Marsha when he and Damon were eight and ten was when their family, and more importantly his father, began to change. Up until then their father, if not exactly winning any father of the year awards, was at least present and showed an interest in them.

Marsha had quickly had him and his brother shipped off to boarding school, which at the time he’d been glad of. He didn’t like her from the start and her cool looks and belittling comments, passed off as innocent observations and caring, even at the age of ten, had been clear to him. Damon, however, had hated boarding school and taken a long time to adjust. He’d been close to their mother and missed her terribly.

After that, it was home for holidays only and when Carter came along, they’d been made to feel even more as if they were unwanted strangers in their own home. The golden child had been worshipped by Marsha and his father.

Only when he’d finished his master’s in business had his father shown a renewed interest and pulled him into the business, handing off more and more of the reins to him so he could play golf or jet off on yet another holiday with Marsha. It was then Gideon had seen the real damage being done to his family’s legacy. Bad deals and business arrangements that didn’t sit well, or with people Gideon knew weren’t the kind of organisations they should be involved with. It only got worse when Carter got involved.

Gideon brushed his fingers through his dark hair, yanking at the ends in frustration. He needed Carter dealt with. His mind went to the little boy he’d been and for a while he’d been sweet, looking up to him and Damon but it had changed when he was about ten. Carter had become jealous, demanding, spoiled, and Marsha had indulged his every whim.

His father by that point had checked out and let them do what they wanted. A quiet life seemed more important than being a real parent to his sons. When Carter insisted on being involved with the business, Gideon and Damon flat-out refused. Carter was clever but he was lazy and lacked the work ethic needed to run an empire.

However, Marsha had gotten involved and before he knew it, his father had demanded he give Carter a place in the company, or he’d take Gideon’s position as CEO and have the board remove him and install Carter. He knew he could never allow his brother to run this company, so he’d agreed, feeling some control was better than none.

At least he’d thought that until he realised how badly Carter was dragging them into the dark, illicit world of illegal gambling, drugs, prostitution, and God knew what else. The call from Eidolon revealing just how bad things were had been the final straw for him and Damon and they’d agreed to work with the organisation in secret to take down Carter and Marsha. His only fear was his father would be caught in the web too. He’d had to lock that doubt away though because he’d tried to warn his dad. He and Damon both had and, while he understood it was difficult for him to choose one son over another, he had done exactly that and chosen wrong. He’d have to step up and pay for that mistake.

A laugh rang out, husky and sexy and he looked up at his closed door sharply. What the hell was going on now? Standing, he ran his hands through his hair to smooth the frayed ends and then adjusted his cuffs before opening the door.

Unjustified rage and jealousy shot through him as he took in the scene in front of him. Tom Lockett, his business analyst was sitting on the edge of Nadia’s desk, his body curved towards her, a smirk on his face as he flirted with her.

Gideon grit his molars so hard he could almost feel them crack as he fought not to react and lash out like he wanted to. Approaching slowly, he knew Nadia had seen him. The woman had instincts like a prey animal, always aware and watching. Tom, however, did not and jumped when he spoke.

“I didn’t know I was paying you to flirt with my staff, Tom.” He could feel the tension in his jaw as Tom gaped, his lips flapping before he let out a nervous laugh.

“Hey, Gideon, I was just coming to see you.”

“And yet here you are flirting with Miss Benassi.”

His eyes darted to Nadia who gave nothing away as she watched them, no enjoyment or anger on her face, just observing them and he had the sudden understanding of what a fly under a microscope felt like.

“No, I was just welcoming her to the company.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in the HR department now. My mistake, I’ll just reach out and make sure security is aware.”

Only select personal were allowed on this floor and that didn’t include low-level staff members unless invited. There were too many confidential memos and reports being left around to have any Tom, Dick, or Harry wandering around.

“No, I’m here to give you my findings from the IT department.”