Page 26 of Rival to the Billionaire

I didn't have time to think about this at all.

And right now, the only person I can think of to help me pull this launch off is its biggest nay-sayer. The one woman who doesn't like the app. Doesn't like the risk it involves.

Doesn't like me.

But if I want this app to fly and to lift us from our stagnation as a company… questions will have to be addressed. Questions from the one person who wants to pull me and the app down.

Jenny.

Goddammit.

Finishing my Black Manhattan, I slide Chastity's room card into my pocket.

I’ll be damned if right now Jenny Forde doesn’t seem like the only person who can help me pull off this launch.

And now I have to go and make another deal with the devil. One hell of a deal.

ChapterEight

JENNY

The sigh I release is long as I enter the ginormous bathroom of the luxury suite where I have to stay with Ryder for the next few days.

The shower I have planned in the next few minutes better fix my life. The tension hasn't left my muscles since we hopped off the plane from Seattle.

While it's nice to think of temporarily living in the lap of luxury in a beautiful penthouse suite, I remind myself that I'm not really here because of the great view. I'm here for a much more important reason.

Keeping Hare & Holeton's Initial Public Offering plans on track.

As CIO, I'm responsible for making sure no unexpected security risks happen between now and the launch of the IPO.

Which is why my presence is required here.

Ryder Anderson is a walking, talking security risk, and I should know that better than anyone.

He's notoriously lackadaisical. He spends money like it's going out of style. He makes plans without proper planning and foresight and takes risks for no damn reason.

And he has no respect for rules.

And to think, with all of that, the board at Hare & Holeton gobbles up everything he says. Without his support, I can feel it…

I'll never be co-chairman here.

Never reach that acceptance level.

Never be able to leverage the power and significance I want to reach the upper echelons of the corporate ladder.

I'll be stuck as a token figurehead, forever. Which means my mother and sister will be stuck in our old neighborhood forever.

Taking care of them is a responsibility and a burden I can't even place a price on. And the only man who is responsible for our predicament is not taking care of us.

I have to do this to help my mother and sister. I have to believe in a better, brighter future. And removing Ryder Anderson from his position as CTO is the only way I can see that happening.

Now naked, I lean towards the huge, white, freestanding tub's tap and pour a handful of scented bath beads into it.

Overlooking the mountainous Las Vegas skyline, our honeymoon suite's bathroom is equally impressive: a giant soaking tub; an enormous, double-sided shower; a separate vanity with a large, white sink, and marble countertops. The suite is grand enough to fit a king.

In this case, it just so happens to fit Ryder, the King of Assholes.

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