Page 18 of Mending Our Chance

9 Marcus

I knew I was scaring her. She was too brave to admit it, but her body couldn’t lie to me. The whites of her eyes showed, and her strong fingers were trembling as she typed out a series of hurried messages on her phone. A lot of good those carefully crafted words will do. Trying to get a grip on my rage, I stared at the passing sidewalks on the ride back to the office. But the view from the cab did nothing to calm my seething mind. My company was gone. That reminder was enough to light my world on fire, and the conflagration storming inside was spilling out of the seams.

When we reached the conference room fifteen minutes later, I was able to pace about like the caged animal I had become. Not wanting to provoke me, Felicity had left me to roam as she buried herself in a stack of papers. She hadn’t bothered to change out of that stunning dress that had distracted me earlier, and even with everything going on, I still couldn’t help shooting glances through the glass wall of the conference room at her as she darted from the fax machine to the computers, all while carrying on a conversation on her phone. But I wasn’t watching her because I had a raging hard-on for her; I was watching her because she had said she would figure this out. And I believed her.

Right now, I was useless. All I could think about was the mistakes I had made. Our company had been publically traded. Harold had strong-armed me, since I had never got round to copyrighting my product. I had made a drastic mistake, one which Harold had exploited, and I didn’t know how to get out of this mess. I was too green in the business world. There was nothing I could say or do to help Felicity, and we both knew it.

Turning my back on Felicity, I looked out of the piss-poor view that our offices afforded. My hands found resting places on the glass panes, and I leaned forward, wishing to break the clear obstruction and feel the wind on my face. The low groan that escaped my lips was entirely necessary. If I didn’t let out these raw feelings, I was liable to start throwing things.

A moment later, a small slam alerted me to her presence as Felicity dropped a pile of documents on the conference table. Barely turning my head, I cast her a side-long glance. Unobserved, I took in her cool, collected demeanor.

“You should have left me at the restaurant,” I lashed out at her.

Felicity’s fevered gaze never left the documents she was sorting through. “No. We’ve been over this.”

We had. She had insisted on figuring this out with me. On the side walk, as we waited to enter the cab, she had looked up at me and without hesitation told me that we were in this together. And here she was, fighting for me, while I threw a tantrum worthy of a Spanish bull in a corrida. I suddenly felt ashamed. “I’m sorry, city slicker.”

“There is nothing to apologize for.” Felicity shuffled a few sheets of paper, then turned in my direction. Shaking her head, she gestured at me to come to the table. “Your partner screwed you. I had been wondering how the fuck he was smart enough to manage this—”

“He had help.”

“I know. This document confirms it.” Felicity skimmed the papers in her hands. “These are from a contact of mine who owed me big time. They are the official copies of what Harold filed with the bureau and government entities. Marcus, this isn’t good.”

I didn’t need to read them to know I had been royally screwed. I lifted a chair and considered hurling it across the room. When I noticed Felicity’s darting gaze, I reconsidered. Setting it down, I flexed my fingers as wide as they could possibly stretch.

Although used to hot-tempered men, Felicity continued to eye me warily from across the table. Then she crossed her arms and cocked a brow. “Marcus, knock it off.”

“No.” I gripped the back of the chair so hard that the whites of my knuckles showed, but I still managed to keep the legs on the floor. “This is my company. I was the one who brought him on board.”

“There has to be a legal loophole. If you would quit raging and maybe lend a hand, we could find a way to beat this.” Felicity waved her delicate hand at the mass of paperwork. “Otherwise, get out and let me be.”

“My company has been acquired behind my back—the shares, the name and framework—all of it! I’m done for.” My legacy was gone—that one thing I was trying to prove that gave me worth. Sure, I had my family’s affluent name, but that was an empty worth in my consideration. My birth was what gave me a claim to wealth; not what I had done. My one chance to stand on my own two feet and earn my own wealth and power was this business. And in one fell swoop, it was gone.

“We will fix this, Marcus. Now, shut up and help… or leave.” Felicity kicked off her dainty high-heeled shoes and planted her hands on her hips. “Here is what we know. Harold did not come up with this on his own. It’s clear he was approached by the buyers to betray us, especially because they had the resources to find a crack in our fortress. That means there are other cracks, and we are going to find them.”

We. Us.

Suddenly, the rage extinguished. Waves of relief, calm, and even hope, enveloped me. I blinked hard, staring at the woman in the forest colored dress. In her capable hands I saw my future. Felicity was the life raft I had hooked onto, and thank the Lord for that, because she was fighting like hell for this company.

Gratitude swelled inside my chest. I sat down hard, no longer hearing the words rattling off that sharp tongue of hers. All I could think about was the fact that this woman was an angel. Did that mean that she really did care about me and the company?

I suddenly found it hard to breathe. I needed to know if I could count on her to stay with me. I was terrified at the thought that she would help me out, then launch me into the world on my own and leave me. I didn’t want her to go, I wanted her to stay on no matter what happened here on out. I need you, city slicker, now more than ever—and that needing is never going to stop.

I shot out of my chair, startling her. Her gaze snapped to mine as I stalked toward her. “I need to know two things before we go forward, Felicity. The first is if you think that this company is salvageable? Don’t lie to me and don’t spare my feelings.”

Felicity didn’t hesitate to respond. “Yes, Marcus. Without a shadow of a doubt, we can save this company.”

Felicity dropped her eyes to the paperwork and pursed her lips. She was an enigma—so focused on the work yet keenly aware of our personal dilemmas. Closing the distance between us, I reached out and gently captured both her hands in mine. “The second thing I want to ask you is are you with me? Because, Felicity, I can’t do this without you. I can’t promise you money in compensation, but I can promise you that if we make something of it, you are entitled to all of it.”

“You stupid man.” Her fingers dug into mine as she bit out, “That is the kind of sentiment that no doubt got you into this mess in the first place.”

“Well?” I wanted an answer to my question. I slowly rubbed a thumb over her knuckles. The energy flowing from our touch was intoxicating and riding the waves of my emotions was undeniable desire. I wanted this woman, in every way possible.

Felicity took a huge breath and closed her eyes as she admitted softly, “I’m in, Marcus.” But before I could think about my next move, she continued, “This is my shot too. I have been accused of always lecturing from a place of theory and never from practice, so you see, my reputation is at stake too, and I won’t quit on a project just because the going gets hard.”

I squeezed her hands before letting them go, feeling too full to trust myself to speak. But Felicity wasn’t finished, and her next words shot straight into my chest.

“This betrayal hurts me too, Marcus. I’ve been stung before and this time I’m fighting back. So, I’m only telling you this once and I expect you to believe me: I’m not running from this thing. I am putting this company first and I expect you to do the same.”

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