Page 10 of Watching Her

Where there should be fury ebbing from every pore in the man, other than the single word of shock, he didn’t utter another word, nor did his expression indicate anything other than sheer boredom.

I almost wanted him to scream and yell or jump up and down. The only movement was in the flick of his eyes drifting down to my toes and back again. Still with no expression.

“Let me get you some towels. Again, I’m very sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” Even after issuing the statement, I seemed frozen on the spot. He was certainly a man of substance with being at least six foot four, weighing in at a trim two ten maybe and I would have thought someone of his stature was prepared to use intimidation tactics.

He didn’t.

Nor did he say anything else.

He simply sidestepped me and walked away, taking a solid step into the liquid pooling on the floor.

When he’d disappeared from view, I finally took a deep breath.

What a way to start a morning.

CHAPTER 3

Christian

Why the fuck had I decided to attend the meeting, let alone the ridiculous gala?

Oh, yes. Because doing so would smooth out the craggy edges of my often-sordid reputation. That didn’t mean I needed to enjoy the time spent.

When I moved my arm, I was reminded of the burn I’d received hours earlier.

As if a warning about the event.

“Go home, Jessica. You make me feel like the Grinch.” Usually, I wouldn’t care if my employees missed time with family and friends, dinner dates or other celebrations. They worked for me, the expectations noted prior to being offered a position in Tempest International. However, I’d burned out one too many qualified assistants in the past and had sworn to alter my professional personality.

Forget about the personal one.

“You are, sir. No offense intended.” My assistant tolerated my mood swings, everyday demands, and long hours without complaint. She was also the most capable assistant I’d ever worked with. For all those stunning qualities, she was given slack when handling me.

Which is also what she did very well, along with keeping my calendar of events straight. I was an extremely organized individual, but also excessively busy at least six days of the week.

I checked my watch, chuckling as I did. “It’s after four-thirty here, which means it’s after seven-thirty in Louisville. Go home.”

“I will, sir. However, I needed to verify information and once I did, I knew you’d want to know right away about my findings.”

I’d slipped out of the Triton Group’s board of directors meeting after her second text, her urgency requiring I do so. A charity board where I served as treasurer played second fiddle to Tempest International. While being treasurer for Triton was a perfect position considering my skills in creating immense wealth for my family’s business portfolio, I considered serving on the charity board a necessary evil.

“What did you discover?” The long meeting had increased my level of frustration. Plus, I’d been aware that at some point at least one of our employees would begin to ask what had happened to the company’s security advisor. Or maybe they just didn’t care. Even though Tempest was completely legitimate, that didn’t mean rumors didn’t fly.

People knew I had a short fuse. Maybe they’d keep their mouths shut.

Whatever had driven my assistant to slave hours, her dramatic pause was meant to ground me. I rarely showed emotion, except for when the competition was involved. And only with extreme joy in crushing their efforts.

Perhaps someone had noticed Brandon’s sudden absence. My evil side was rearing its ugly head.

“Covington will likely make a hostile move on the property in the South of France.”

Interesting. They chose this war to die on the sword.

Covington. In the world of hospitality, there were big dogs and those who were regularly eaten alive. As CEO of Tempest International, a real estate investment trust, I was used to dealing with the competition, but few had the balls to challenge our firm when it came to bidding on hotel properties we were already in the process of acquiring.

Bidding wars were typical, but once Tempest became involved, most dropped out.

They never won.