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I lean my head back against the sofa and look at Rosie sleeping in her room from where I sit.
We live a simple life now. A safer one. I help her learn and I try my hardest to save our money so we can be secure. As I rub my eyes, my cell phone pings with an incoming text, and I notice right away it is from a number that I am not familiar with.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Doubtfire.
I smile despite myself, and I don’t hesitate to reply.
Bring it on, Neanderthal.
For added color, I include an angry face emoji. Juvenile, I know, but it portrays how I am feeling right about now.
Take the money, it is not worth the fight.
But that is where he is wrong; it is totally worth the fight. George and the kids are worth it all.
See you soon. Be ready for us.
I can’t wait.
I close my cell and throw it on the sofa next to me. The stupid grin on my face tells me I am enjoying this way too much. I like our banter, and I also love to push his buttons. And surprisingly, the work is making me feel alive, especially since it is the first act of competition I have had with a person over the age of twelve in a long time. I start to formulate a plan in my head, because I know I need to play dirty—it is the only language these men understand. Looking the part in a conservative black dress is not going to cut it this time.
CHAPTER EIGHT - BENJAMIN
I grab the paperwork from my desk and rush out the door. My head is throbbing from the incessant messages Sasha continually sends. It is slowly driving me mad. That, on top of my heavy workload, has me nearly bursting a blood vessel today. There’re a million things to do and not enough time to do them.
Michael, Jonathan Beasley, and the mayor of William Heights are all in the boardroom, and Emily and George will be here any moment. I stalk past Sandra, making my way down the hall, just as the elevator opens. Emily steps out, and I stop dead in my tracks. Holy shit.
Long gone are the casual teacher clothes and the messy ponytail I saw last week. It has now all been replaced by her signature shiny, long blond hair, glowing skin, big round eyes, and pouty lips all complemented by a slight flush to her cheeks. Her curvaceous body is encased in a red dress, one that’s still appropriate as a corporate look, but she’s making it so much fucking sexier. My pulse races at the thought of unzipping her dress, just to discover what is hiding underneath. If I had to guess, black lace underwear is what I would find.
Her eyes meet mine, and I watch her smile grow from across the foyer. Not a smirk, not fake, but a genuine full smile. She pays no attention to Natasha or Naomi or whomever it is who sits at our reception. As she confidently strides toward me, I wait, with my breath caught in my chest, for her. We look directly at each other—everything else is mere background noise—and as infuriating as she is, this look she gives me makes me feel powerful. My eyes scan her face, and I drink in her sparkling blues. Then, just for another moment, I let my eyes wander for a bit.
“What are you staring at, Neanderthal? Haven’t you seen a woman before?” she asks with a quirked brow, standing right in front of me, her hands on her hips, clearly toying with me. I half think about grabbing her by the hand and leading her to my office and fucking her on my desk. The thought alone is making me hard, but I clear my throat and get a handle on myself.
“So glad you could join us.” I remain professional as I pull open the conference room door, and she steps through. I shake George’s hand, and then he follows. I take a breath, catching the hint of lavender, and I wonder how the hell I am meant to concentrate on this fucking case with her looking and smelling like that. For once, I am glad Beasley is Michael’s client and he is running point on this.
“Emily! Great to see you again,” Michael says, but I don’t miss the look he gives her, and jealousy coils in my stomach. I watch him and the other two men with him devour her with their eyes, pissing me right off. She smiles and shakes their hands, ignoring their ogling. She knows how to play the game. I totally underestimated her.
“Fuck,” I mumble to myself as I take a seat opposite her and George, with my team now outnumbering them, four to two.
“Thank you for joining us again. As you know, my client here, Mr. Beasley, is extremely keen to purchase the school property, and we have since discovered that Mayor Simplot also believes that new condos would be beneficial for the community,” Michael states, kicking off the meeting straightaway—not here for small talk.
“Oh, is that right?” Emily says, and I sit back and watch everyone in the room like a hawk.
“Well, Emily, I know the school does wonderful things for many kids in the community, but developments like this don’t come into the community very often, and from what I understand, Mr. Beasley is offering a fair sale price, which would only benefit the kids.”
“Hmm… I see.” Emily nods again, and I don’t know how I know, but she has something on us.
“Look, you need the money, and I have it. Let’s just stop playing dress-up because we all know you have no idea what you are doing and don’t have experience dealing with the top end of town. Just go back to the kids and look after them and leave the big business to us men, darling.”
My fists clench in my lap as our client tells Emily what he really thinks of her. I have a sudden urge to punch the stupid idiot in the face for speaking to her like that. I wait for her explosion, but it doesn’t come. I watch her as she takes a measured breath.
“What my client means to say—” Michael starts.
“I understand perfectly what Mr. Beasley is saying, and with all due respect, Mr. Beasley, you don’t know the first thing about me. So let me just make this really easy for you. We do not want your money; we are not selling the school, and Mayor Simplot, if you begin to make city decisions to financially ruin the school because you are being paid handsomely to do so by Mr. Beasley here, I will take the recording I have of this conversation and submit it to the anti-corruption watchdog.”
Checkmate.
“Jesus,” Michael says under his breath, but loud enough for me to hear.
